In the waning days of the Civil War, orphaned teenager Jebediah Abernathy becomes indentured to the notorious Beechwood plantation in southeastern Mississippi. There, the sadistic overseer Ramses rules, unchecked by owners who've been driven mad by the loss of their son in the war. Soon, slave boys mysteriously disappear. The ghost of Jebediah's father and an escaped slave sorceress lead Jebediah to the abductions' horrific truth, a knowledge that threatens to cost him his life.