It’s December of 1989, and for high school senior Martin James, a self-described “long-haired heavy metal dirtbag,” all the world is endless gloom. Rob, the loudest, rudest, and most lovable of his friends, has just died from cancer, and Martin has no answers for the questions swirling around him. If a life can end so young, for no reason, then life must have no meaning at all… Martin’s drinking is getting worse. He’s feeling cut off from his friends. He seeks help at the Fountain of Martin, a sanctuary in his imagination where he counsels himself, but the Fountain is broken, and soon Martin is hearing the whispers of a stranger… Then one day the stranger comes calling, a gray-skinned man who orders Martin to commit an unspeakable act, and promises to destroy everything Martin loves if he doesn’t obey. As more terrifying encounters follow, and hidden worlds reveal themselves, Martin must decide if this battle is worth fighting, or if his only chance to save himself is to walk all the way into darkness…