Sophia Montgomery is born with the ability to telepathically devour the memories of the dying. While looking for her next meal one night, she witnesses a brutal murder. Due to the odd circumstances that brought her to the scene, her sister, Sybill, convinces her not to report the crime. But despite their efforts to lay low, the two girls become entangled in a labyrinth of death and deceit, hunted by an institution dedicated to quarantining "defective" mutants like Sophia---all while trying to flee a past that should have stayed forgotten.