Stephanie Lucas (22) tells the story of the time her brother died. When she was 17, her parents died. Now she raises her younger siblings George (4) and Carrie (6). They live in a modest house in Tallahassee, Florida.
Stephanie watches her siblings at a public swimming pool. She watches Carrie talking to someone and thinks it is the life guard. She gets Carrie and tells her to stop nagging the life guard. Carrie says she wasn't talking to the life guard, she was talking to a boy. Stephanie looks over and there is no boy.
Stephanie asks about the boy, but Carrie says she's not supposed to talk about him. Stephanie gets angry and says Carrie will be in trouble if she doesn't tell her. Stephanie starts to think maybe the life guard said something inappropriate, but Carrie says it wasn't him.
Carrie points to the boy and maybe Stephanie sees him for a second. A wind blows across the pool and then Carrie is lifted up three feet in the air and thrown across the pool. The life guard yells at Stephanie for playing too rough. Stephanie freaks out, grabs the kids and they leave.
Later, Stephanie is giving Carrie a bath when she notices bruises on Carrie's arms. Carrie says they're from the boy.
Another day, Stephanie is making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches when Carrie comes running into the kitchen, dripping wet and wrapped in a towel. She yells that the boy is here. Stephanie hugs both of her siblings and they move out that moment.
Later, in a motel room, Carrie gets up from bed to go to the bathroom. But she sees the boy and goes back to bed.
The next day, Stephanie quits her job and they leave Tallahassee. They move around from small town to small town in North Florida, but the boy always follows them.
They settle down to a trailer in rural Georgia, isolated from other people. Stephanie and Carrie are playing a game when Stephanie starts questioning her about the boy. Carrie says he's always there. Anywhere there is water. She tells Stephanie that the boy sometimes tells her stories. All the stories are about dead little boys.
Stephanie goes to the public library and does research on ghosts. She's embarrassed, but she keeps going. She comes to the conclusion that what they are facing is a water demon.
Stephanie is boiling water for macaroni and cheese. Carrie tells her that George has started asking questions about the boy. Stephanie says not to tell George anything, but Carrie already did. Stephanie gets angry at Carrie and goes to talk to George.
He's in his room, scared of a glass of water. George runs out of the window. Stephanie tries to ask him questions, but he runs past her. He runs into the kitchen. Stephanie is slow to follow until she hears a crunching sound and George screaming.
She runs into the kitchen and sees George's dead body crumpled against the broken dish washer. He's dead. Stephanie briefly sees the boy in the boiling water on the stove. Carrie grabs her hand and says he's still here and that the boy is chanting "kill the boy" over and over again. Stephanie grabs Carrie and runs.
They leave the trailer and never go back. Now Stephanie is wanted for questioning in George's death. They stay on the run, though, moving from town to town. The boy follows and they keep running. After George's death, they've lived in 13 states, none of them for very long. Stephanie says that Carrie is starting to get old enough now to get a job soon. And then they'll be a little better off for a while.