With a promise of more freedom and a chance to get out from under the thumb of a reactionary school board, the teachers of Tyler High have voted to become a charter school. Instructors and parents alike are thrilled with the prospect of independence. And yet....

The formerly laid-back principal has become unusually strict. And with her toadying secretary, she seems to be running the show. That isn't all. The janitors no longer work nights because of what they hear. The students are frightened by what they see. And things are happening on school grounds that defy rational explanation. But there is an explanation. It's just not anything that anyone can begin to believe--or hope to survive.