Russell, a young, gay history professor currently living in Seattle, is called upon by his sister Dannie to execute their late mother’s estate. He is reunited with boyhood chum Mike and with his father, Reverend Marsh, the charismatic leader of a New Age cult. While exploring his memories, Russ wanders into a warehouse where hundreds of names are listed on the walls. As he sleeps that night, he dreams of a stone cudgel. He awakens to find a cudgel in his motel room. The town drunk warns Russ that it is an instrument of sacrifice, and a young liquor store clerk enlists him to help find her brother, who she believes has been taken by the cult. Russ’s Aunt Josie, who has been living in an asylum, tells him that his mother left a message hidden in her house which has been sealed by fumigators until auction. Looking for answers in the warehouse, Russ is taken on an unbelievable journey through the small town’s ancient, subterranean origins. When he escapes, he and Mike share a long–awaited tryst, after which they find the girl’s brother murdered. Russ begins to believe preparations are underway for a mass sacrifice, and engages the attentions of sexy seductress Susan in order to obtain information. After Susan rapes him and he is arrested for murder on the eve of the May Festival, the stakes are raised--maybe higher than the world has ever known.