The Initiation

Kelly Fairchild has a recurring nightmare of a man being burned alive in her childhood home. The dream began after a head injury at age nine, which left her with memory gaps about her early life. The nightmare continues to haunt her, hinting at a buried truth she can’t access.

In a psychology class, Kelly pitches a term project about investigating her nightmare through a sleep study. Peter agrees to conduct the study to help unravel its meaning. Kelly hopes the science will reveal a buried memory.

Frances, Kelly's mother, forbids Kelly from participating in the sleep study. The prohibition creates tension between mother and daughter. Kelly is left wondering about the dream's hidden truth.

Peter and Heidi review newspaper clippings about the burning man from Kelly's dream. They identify the man as Jason Randall, a former Fairchild department store employee and Frances' ex-husband. Peter suspects Jason might be Kelly’s biological father and notes Jason’s recent escape from an inmate revolt.

Peter drives to the Fairchild residence to report his findings to Frances. He warns that Jason may still be connected to Kelly and the nightmare. This revelation foreshadows danger linked to Kelly's past.

On the night of the sorority initiation, Dwight departs for a business trip. He is attacked outside his car with a hand rake and is brutally decapitated. The killer escapes in Dwight’s car, leaving the corpse in the trunk.

Just before Kelly and the pledges reach the store, the night porter is murdered while on rounds. The killer’s presence is felt as the pledges prepare to infiltrate after hours. This grim event sets the tone for what follows inside.

Kelly, Marcia, and Alison enter the department store after hours for the initiation. Beth decides to quit, leaving the trio to continue on their own. Megan, the senior, lets Chad, Ralph, and Andy break in to scare the pledges, expanding the danger inside.

Shortly after the intruders begin their scare, Andy is killed with a hatchet and Megan is shot with a bow and arrow. Ralph and Chad manage to scare Kelly and Marcia by hiding in a dressing room. The group eventually reunites with Alison and attempts to leave, only to discover they are locked inside.

Alison and Chad wander the store and discover the night porter’s body, followed by Chad’s corpse in a bathroom stall. Traumatized, Alison hides at a security desk on the ground floor while Kelly remains on the move, trying to evade the killer.

Ralph and Marcia share a fleeting moment in a retail display bed, then Ralph is shot dead by a harpoon gun. Marcia flees through the store and is pursued by the killer, who drags her into the elevator shaft, sealing her fate inside.

Kelly escapes into the boiler room, where she encounters Jason Randall. He pursues her toward the roof, and she bludgeons him with a pipe, sending him falling away from her pursuit. With Jason seemingly out of the picture, the path for escape remains uncertain.

Peter and Frances arrive at the store and find Jason lying on the ground, clinging to life. Peter mistakes a figure that looks like Kelly for his daughter and embraces her, only to be stabbed by Kelly in the stomach. The reunion devolves into a lethal confrontation.

Kelly confronts a mirror image of herself in Terry, her disturbed twin sister. Frances shoots Terry to prevent further bloodshed. Law enforcement arrives as Peter is taken away in an ambulance, and Kelly stares at her mother in disbelief amid the chaos.