Dr. Suzanne Mathis, an in-patient psychiatrist at the local hospital, is introduced to a young, unidentified girl who was brought into the hospital the night before with a severe stab wound in her back. Thus far, the girl has provided the staff with no information about herself or the incident that led to her hospitalization. Once the girl is more stable, she is taken to a different room in the hospital for a blood draw, but she becomes aggressive after seeing the needle. Suzanne calms her down, and the two bond.

Meanwhile, the Mathis family begins to have troubles at home. The middle daughter Jules begins to fight with her older sister Helen because Helen refuses to help Jules out socially, now that both attend high school together. Suzanne's husband Peter has spent the last two years constructing a home for a friend through his property management company, Mathis Development, and has taken out loans to complete the home. However, the friend backs out of the deal on the day he was supposed to finish signing the paperwork to purchase the home. Peter starts to tell Suzanne about the house, but decides not to.

At the hospital, Suzanne sees a local sheriff who is looking for the girl. She tells him she cannot tell him anything without a court order, and he leaves. After the girl spends three days in the hospital, she must be transferred to a different hospital due to bed space and a lack of grounds to continue to hold her. While pleading with the social worker to continue to hold the girl or put her in foster care, the social worker informs Suzanne that she has already contacted every emergency foster parent except for Suzanne. The girl tells Suzanne that her real name is Mae, and Suzanne decides to bring her home as an emergency foster placement. The family's youngest daughter and former foster child Dani is excited to have Mae in the home, but Helen and Jules are not pleased with the arrangement.

In a flashback, a young girl is packing toys then escaping out of a bedroom window at night. A sheriff car comes along and releases a German shepherd to track her down as she runs through a grove. Back in the present, the Mathis family is making breakfast when a crow smashes into the kitchen window. Peter puts the injured bird in a box to take to a sanctuary, but Mae says it won’t live. Suzanne brings Mae to see her colleague Jerry who performs educational testing for foster care placement. Meanwhile Peter goes to a deserted bird sanctuary where a murder of crows ominously fly around. Peter leaves with the bird. At work, Suzanne dismisses nurse Adele’s warnings of the strange rumors about Amon County. Detective Alex Lopez finds Suzanne and asks to interview Mae. At school, Sebastian is impressed with Jules’ photo essay ideas for the school paper. Facing foreclosure, Peter goes to the bank to ask for a time extension on his mortgage payments. Suzanne hears a foster home placement has been secured for Mae. Jerry reports Mae had been home-schooled and performed well on math and reading tests. Mae told Jerry she had helped her brother with accounting on a farm but was reluctant to give him details. That evening, Mae watches Jules photograph objects for her photo essay. The next morning, Jules finds a spooky corn husk doll on her nightstand, a gift from Mae. Suzanne persuades a reluctant Jules to include the doll in her photo essay.

Detective Lopez pursues the Mae Dodd case and drives out to rural route marker 67 where Mae was first found. He finds a bloody knife and spots a bare footprint. He explores the nearby cornfield where he comes upon a rotting pig’s head mounted on a scarecrow’s body with a strange symbol on it. Suzanne and Mae visit the foster home which is crowded with happy young foster kids. In a hallway, Mae hisses at two young boys which scares them off. Mae is disturbed by a white Christian cross on the wall. As she leaves, the cross is shown hanging upside down. Suzanne and Mae stop at a store, but Suzanne panics when Mae disappears. She finds her sitting outside, then Mae tells her she has run away before. Mae confesses that she cannot stay in the foster home because there is no place to hide there. Quickly we see the flashback again of the girl being chased by the search dog. Mae tells Suzanne she feels safe with her.

As Suzanne leaves work, we see that her car has been marked. A judge grants Suzanne custody of Mae, after her parents fail to appear in court. Detective Lopez tells Suzanne the blood on the knife found outside the cornfield matches the blood on Mae’s nightgown and that both Mae’s prints and an unidentified individual were on the knife. In a flashback, we see Mae living with numerous other girls in one room and that Mae has been designated “the chosen one.” As ordered by the judge, Suzanne enrolls Mae in Helen & Jules’ school.

In a dream, Suzanne frantically searches for a Mae in a cornfield but wakes up suddenly. Detective Lopez does surveillance on the warehouse Suzanne visited [in the previous episode]. A van leaves the warehouse and he follows it to the cult’s compound (Amontown) deep in the woods. Suzanne visits a professor who knows a bit of history of Amontown. To the best of her knowledge, Mae is the only one who has escaped the cult and warns Suzanne about Mae’s potential disposition to hidden triggers due to her upbringing. Peter discloses the troubles he’s been having at work with Suzanne. Suzanne asks Mae if she knows whether or not anyone has ever left Amontown.

In Autumn 1922 in West Virginia, a man is burying a small body. A crow lands nearby and seems to communicate with the man who then walks off. In the next scene, a book called the Book of Covenants is closed which signifies the origins of Amontown. Jules tells Suzanne about finding Mae outside in the rain. Cheryl calls Peter to tell him someone has made an offer on his property. Suzanne finds Mae in the backyard with her sacrificial nest. Mae tells Suzanne that what she is doing is for wishes and that she wishes to stay with the Mathis family. She tells Suzanne that the Dodd family ancestors endured great suffering and through a crow, Caleb was shown how to help his people prosper through Lucifer.

Mae returns home and prepares to be sacrificed. Detective Lopez is told to drop the Amontown case. Suzanne sneaks into the Amontown compound as the sacrificial ceremony begins. Sheriff Wilkins finds Suzanne sneaking around and they fight but she gets away as a fire starts outside the church. Before Mae is sacrificed, the members are alerted to the fire and halt the ritual in order to save the church. Meanwhile, Peter, Helen, Jules and Dani spend the night at one of Peter's apartments as their front door was marked by members of the Amontown cult. Suzanne climbs the wooden platform in an attempt to save Mae from Abigail but the platform is set on fire by Noah. Mae and Suzanne jump to safety but have to fight Noah who still wants Mae to be sacrificed. Mae knocks Noah out. Abigail sacrifices herself in Mae’s place so the chain will not be broken. Detective Lopez shoots Sheriff Wilkins. Suzanne and Mae are safe. Suzanne goes back to therapy after taking time off from work to focus on herself and her family. Detective Lopez is promoted to lieutenant and obtains a search warrant for the Amon County properties. However, when they arrive, Amontown is complete deserted except for Sheriff Wilkins' dog.

The Mathis family has separated; Mae is living with Suzanne at the house and Helen, Dani and Jules are living with Peter at the apartment. When Suzanne visits to drop off a dessert for Thanksgiving, she tells Peter she isn't giving up on them, but Peter is angry she has brought Mae to the house after agreeing she would be allowed nowhere near the girls. He tells Suzanne the issue was never about Mae, implying it was Suzanne putting her work and charge before her family.