John Parker is just a normal 12 year - old boy. He has two sisters and a brother that are away at college. Summer has rolled around and it's finally time for his siblings to come home from college. He is busy with normal summer things: parties, sleepovers, pools, sports, and his social life. But when his two sisters come home, no signs of his brother are shown. At first, John just thinks that his brother is delayed with traffic. But several weeks pass by and John and his family are worried sick about John's brother. To top it all off, one stormy night a stranger shows up at John's house, begging for a place to stay. John's family immediately invites the stranger in and gives him the guest room, but John has a bad feeling about this strange man: Every time he and the stranger are alone John finds the stranger stroking the piece of rope in his pocket. When an unexpected incident happens and destroys the guest room, John and the stranger are forced to share John's bedroom.