Intro. At 16, Meirn is sent to live with her mother, Nora, whom she barely knows. The house is gloomy, dominated by the alcoholic environment of Nora and her stepfather, Rick. But the real terror is his 18-year-old stepbrother, Dorian. Dorian is the popular king of high school; a thug of haunting, dark beauty, compared to the cruelty of Billy Hargrove. From the moment he saw her, his icy gaze was fixed on her with a sick obsession. The cynical school bully focused his bullying on Meirn. His taunts turned into possessive whispers, threatening notes, and worse, attempts at physical coercion that left her terrified. Meirn tried to talk, but Nora and Rick were living in convenient alcoholic denial ( "It's just the way he is" ). No one believed that the charismatic Dorian was weaving a web of harassment and control. Meirn is alone, trapped in that gloomy house with a beautiful and popular monster who loves her