Holly and Jane have jumped off the bridge over their Alabama reservoir hundreds of times. But one day, Holly's jump goes wrong. Her body never comes up, but something else does—a sad creature of mud, full of confusion and sorrow. Jane knows it's Holly, somehow, trapped and mixed up with the river. But Holly doesn't know she’s dead, and that anything she touches will die, too . . . even those she loves the most.Meanwhile, Jane's family doesn't believe what she knows about Holly. They are threatening to place Jane in a mental institution, and her pastor thinks she is crossing over into the Devil's playground. In spite of her community's doubts, Jane can tell it's Holly, and she has to put her to rest.