This story takes place in December, near Christmas day, in Ottawa, Canada. Emily, 17, has just completed her babysitting course. She also recently got her driver’s license. Her dad, the chief of police for Ottawa, has reluctantly allowed his daughter to take the family car to her first babysitting job.

A convicted killer who is nearing the end of his jail term is being escorted around the local mall by a policeman. As part of a new initiative from the jail warden, the killer is being assimilated back into society by doing some Christmas shopping for his family.The killer manages to escape custody and rushes out into the neighborhood, hungry and looking for a dark house to break into.

Emily and the escaped convict are on a collision course with grave consequences. The killer breaks into the house where Emily is babysitting. She is kidnapped. Being the daughter of the police chief makes Emily's situation even more dangerous. The killer hates cops and is looking for revenge for the last miserable 16 years spent in jail. It is revealed that the arresting officer, so many years before, was Emily's father.

Emily, at the mercy of her kidnapper, drives into the winter night, a sharp steak knife pressing into her ribs. Several opportunities for escape present themselves. The killer thwarts each one. Meanwhile, her father and mother, with the help of the provincial police, desperately try to locate their daughter. But the captor and the captive stay just out of reach.

The night of entropy eventually leads to a deadly showdown between the killer, Emily's parents and Emily herself.