The new kid on the block in the sleepy town of Salem Falls is Jack McBradden. Jack is only passing through, but decides to stay indefinitely after he meets Addie Peabody, who runs the Do-or-Die Diner with her old, drunken dad. But Jack must first check in with the police to report that he is a 671-B offender.
The truth about Jack is that he was a history teacher and the soccer coach at the Westbook preparatory school for girls in the town of Loyal. He was falsely accused of a crime, but took a plea due to his insistent lawyer. Now, Jack has the bad luck to be framed again, this time by young Gillian Duncan, the daughter of Amos Duncan, the pharm magnate of Salem Falls.
Gillian and two of her friends style themselves as young witches, meeting to cast spells and become "purified" when praying to the Goddess of Love and the Guardians of the East. When Gillian's obsession with Jack becomes too much for her to bear, she accuses him of assaulting her during a ritual ceremony in the woods. Of course, Jack is innocent. But he is helpless against his accuser.
The most interesting character in the film was Addie Peabody. Addie had a rough past herself when she was abused, and the result was her beloved daughter Chloe. But the girl died at age six, and the grief-stricken mom still sets out a plate for her from the delicious offerings of the diner. As her crusty old father says, "We all have our ghosts."
Addie was at first reluctant to believe in Jack's innocence. But after traveling to Loyal and learning the details of Gillian and the "wicca" from the proprietress of the New Age book store, Addie investigates the past incident at Westbrook and learns that Jack was railroaded. This revelation will be the basis for exposing the coven of the witches, as well as the darker secrets of a small town and the nefarious creature at the heart of the depravity of the little community.
