In Edgemont, Montana, the teenager Christy Wescot is very connected to her beloved sister Vanessa Locke. On her fourteenth birthday, Christy asks Vanessa to drive her convertible car, but she has a car accident, hits a rock and is thrown off the seat; however Vanessa is trapped in the car that explodes and she survives disfigured and totally burnt. Christy is sent to Pine Bluff Psychiatric Care Center for treatment while her sister is treated by her husband Dr. John Locke at home with the assistance of the nurse Claire Wells. When Vanessa has a heart attack and dies, Christy has a breakdown in the funeral service telling that her sister is alive in the coffin.