Inspired by the classic Edgar Allan Poe story "The Tell-Tale Heart," the contemporized adaptation sees Lucas starring as a single father whose recently transplanted heart leads him on a frantic search to find the donor's killer before a similar fate befalls him.

For 30 days every winter, the isolated town of Barrow, Alaska is plunged into a state of complete darkness. It's a bitter time when most of the inhabitants head south. This winter, a mysterious group of strangers appear: bloodthirsty vampires, ready to take advantage of the uninterrupted darkness to feed on the residents remaining in town.

Police shoot and kill a convicted strangler after cornering him in a toy store. As the man is dying, he transfers his soul into a doll.

At Bella's 18th birthday party at the Cullens' house, she gets a paper cut, and Jasper attempts to attack her. The Cullens decide it would be better for Bella's safety if they left, so they get away from Forks, leaving Bella heartbroken. She finds solace in family friend Jacob Black, who incidentally is a werewolf. But before Edward left, he made Bella promise she wouldn't do anything reckless or stupid but, as he'd already broken his promise to 'be there for as long as she wanted him', she decides to break her promise. She goes cliff-diving, which makes Edward think she has killed herself, although it was purely for recreational purposes. So Edward travels to Italy, to provoke the Volturi so they will kill him. Alice finds Bella, and they begin a race to the Italian city of Volterra to stop him.