While Megan fusses over the dusty sofa, Tucker arrives on a racing bike. In training for a race, he has a tale of extreme sports - whose participants have something other to fear than injury. Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, he calls this story "The Tale of Bigfoot Ridge".
Brother and sister Kirk and Dani take a break from snowboarding. By the trees, Dani sees what appears to be her missing sister Gina. Past Gina glides another snowboarder. When they pass, she's gone.
In her bedroom, Dani does homework. From the mirror, Gina's disembodied reflection calls for help. Dani calls back. A concerned Kirk overhears, and appeals to their mother, who urges Dani not to blame herself for Gina's disappearance. That night, Dani watches a home video of herself, Kirk and Gina larking about in the snow. Suddenly, Gina’s recorded image turns to the screen, and claims to be trapped at Bigfoot Ridge. Outside, Dani mounts the snowmobile, and drives off.
On the edge of the woods, upon the whistling wind comes Gina’s call. Dani reaches a wooden lodge. A hand taps her shoulder - it’s Kirk. They enter the lodge, and cautiously explore the derelict interior. Propped against a wall, swathed in cobwebs, is a Ski Patrol jacket - whose wearer has long been reduced to a skeleton. From another room calls Gina. As she approaches through the gloom, her eyes glow yellow. She calmly backs Dani and Kirk into a wall. Suddenly drained of energy, they slump to the floor. With a clap of thunder, lightning flares through the cabin. In its glow, Dani and Kirk’s faces briefly appear aged. When it fades, Gina has vanished.
From across the lodge calls a weary, older-sounding voice. In a hall-sized room, from a sofa before a lit fireplace, the older-sounding voice identifies as Gina. The grey-haired face of their teenage sister is lined with age. Her youth has been drained by the Umbra, a shape-shifting spectral entity. Out snowboarding, she followed off the backside what she thought to be someone from Ski Patrol.
Dani and Kirk help Gina to her feet. They pass a mirror. In shock, Gina beholds her prematurely aged reflection. Behind her reflected face, she sees what appears to be her younger self. The yellow-eyed, Gina-shaped Umbra serenely approaches. The siblings run back into the hall. While Kirk supports Gina, Dami starts a fire - the Umbra fears light.
As daylight fades, the wind howls - they're stuck here for the night. They need to stay in the light - but Kirk's flashlight is running low. The lodge's power is down. Kirk finds a door marked "GENERATOR ROOM". He manages to start the generator, but darkness remains. The working fuse box, he supposes, must be outside. He steps out into the storm. Stooped against the wind, he staggers toward a wall which holds a mounted metal box.
With the fire out, the Umbra, eyes aglow, slowly advances upon Dani. As she backs into a wall and collapses, it grins, and instantaneously transforms itself to resemble Dani.
With his flashlight, Kirk prises open the locked fuse box, and flicks a switch.
The lodge is flooded with soft light. The Umbra's clothes and features fade to inky blackness. The living silhouette compacts into a formless shadow, which convulses and vanishes. Kirk hurries in, and crouches by Dani. Overwhelmed with relief, Kirk and Dani hug. On the sofa, they find Gina, restored to her natural youth.
By the campfire, Quinn looks admiringly at Tucker’s new bike - and decides to borrow it for a ride home. He promptly crashes.
This episode provides examples of:
- Big Brother Instinct: Dani steadfastly searches for Gina, and Kirk follows Dani on her search.
- Big Damn Heroes: Just in time, Kirk gets the lights back on.
- Big Storm Episode: To a remote lodge, a fierce storm confines our heroes.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: The Umbra lures new prey by taking the form of earlier victims.
- Dem Bones: The eventual fate of Umbra victims.
- Don't Go in the Woods: To the shadowy depths of a remote woodland lodge, the Umbra lures prey.
- Eldritch Abomination: When forced out of human form, the Umbra is reduced to a living silhouette, and then a cloud of shadow.
- Glowing Eyes of Doom: The Umbra, when about to feed.
- Light Is Good: Any form of light is a defence against the Umbra. Unfortunately, the fire is running out of fuel, the lodge’s electricity is off, and Kirk’s flashlight is running out of batteries.
- Mr. Fixit: Very fortunately, Kirk’s mechanical skill enables him to fix the fuse box.
- Rapid Aging: Drainage by the Umbra has prematurely aged Gina. She gets better once it’s killed.
- Scenery Porn: Some lovely shots of the snowy hillside and wintry forest.
- Slasher Smile: The Umbra, when nearing victory.
- Vampiric Draining: The Umbra lures prey to the lodge by assuming recognisable form, whereupon it drains their vitality, which causes premature age, and eventual reduction to bones.
- Voluntary Shapeshifting: The Umbra appears to prospective victims in the form of previous victims.
