Innocence comes at a cost. During 1800's Mississippi and in one of the most divisive times in American history, nine-year-old and socially-awkward Apollo Murray has always felt loved and supported by his parents in their wealthy life. And he's always had his imagination to fall back on in case things became too lonely or mundane. However, that's all thrown for a loop when he discovers a bloody, jagged hole in a typically-perfect hedge on his way to school. A hole which also looks to be an attempted cover-up. And it only makes things worse when his interest is peaked, yet others around him only ever give disturbed shrugs instead of answers on what happened. Then, one night, he finds a terrified, mysterious girl with a different skin color than him, sneaking around his mansion. She warns him of the frightening monsters that lurk around his property, who are described to be tall and have long, flexible arms, and seem to link to the hole in the hedge. Thinking it will all lead back to the monsters, this new friendship forces Apollo to uncover twisted secrets about society that prove to be even darker than his imagination.