Ever since Emily Rose went into the basement of the school house, she has suffered terrifying and dangerous events. It makes her wonder if the island myth of the boy who died there is true. Some say that Frederick Smed was accidentally locked in the basement and starved during the summer break of 1931 but Emily finds evidence that suggests that Frederick's death was no accident and that one of the people involved was a member of the Rose family. Now Darien Harcourt-Kinney has returned to begin her reign but instead of being the friendly young woman the Aegins elected as their queen, she is paranoid and demanding. The grownups believe Darien simply needs time to adjust to her new life but Emily worries that it is something far more sinister - that the angry spirit of Dead Fred Smed has taken control of Darien's body and is intent upon taking his revenge against the descendants of those who murdered him.