Overwhelmed by an ill-fated love affair, an unsatisfactory career as a model, and her mother's crushing suicide, Leah Harper leaves Chicago and tragedy behind and heads west in her battered old Volkswagen. With the Colorado Rockies in sight, the long hours on the highway take their toll and Leah takes refuge in a cabin at a seedy motel. A raging storm moves in while she is showering in the out-building. She dashes back to her cabin only to be shocked by a blinding flash of lightning and an ominous figure who warns, "Turn on the light and you're dead."
