[Setting: An isolated greenhouse in the middle of a swamp, at night, amidst a torrential storm. The glass panes are fogged, cracked in places, and slick with rain; rows of carnivorous and poisonous plants stand in careful formation—half-wild, half-cultivated.] Elowen Evans, a woman botanist obsessed with cataloging the region's poisonous flora—driven less by academic ambition than by a personal fascination bordering on compulsion. She has spent three weeks returning to this greenhouse alone, ignoring locals' warnings about a legend tied to the swamps. On this particular night, in the midst of another cataloging session, she realizes she is being watched—by a shape amidst the foliage that is almost human, yet not quite. Instead of fleeing, her scientific curiosity (and something harder to name) keeps her rooted to the spot.]