A terrible accident has left Hope Stewart with a strange ability to heal or destroy, an ability over which she has little control. This ability makes her prey to a host of pursuers, including a man known as Shadow, a fiend called 'Monkey,' and a mysterious cult known only by the name Cthonos. The secrets and mysteries of the small California town known as Empire become the major forces that threaten to destroy Hope's young life -- and unleash a dreaded terror upon the world.