How do you believe in the light when all you've seen, known and felt is the dark?
Big dreams aren't common in the small everytown of Darling, Colorado, but fifteen-year-old Phoenix Iver doesn't seem to believe in much of anything. As a tortured young soul with crippling, episodes of social anxiety and depression, Phoenix believes he is completely alone in this confusing world. As a result of these chronic, frightening visions, Phoenix leans heavily on his father, local police officer Herman, for comfort. Although, with a past and present both equally cloaked in mystery, Phoenix's understanding of who his father truly is remains unclear. But the one thing Phoenix does surely know about Herman is that he believes. He believes that the good always wins. He believes that the light will always prevail. He believes that we are all connected in life, and somehow, he also believes that we are connected in what comes after life. Then, on the brink of finally discovering the answers to the origins of his dark thoughts and the secrets of his father's past, Phoenix walks into the library at Darling High one stormy, snowy morning in 1999. Trailing just moments behind Phoenix are two students, who, instead of holding books, are holding handguns. Unleashing a torrent of catastrophic magnitude, the once quiet town of Darling becomes the epicenter of the worst school shooting in US history. Lives are lost. And if Phoenix couldn't believe in the light before, how can he possibly believe in it now?