College student Marian moves into the dormitory room where a young woman recently died and senses an alarming supernatural force as she reluctantly turns to the Others -- a small but diverse group of people dedicated to analyzing their extrasensory abilities -- who urge her to embrace her ""fearsome talent."" But she soon discovers that whatever gift of insight she possesses is both a blessing and a curse that puts her life in danger, forcing her to appeal to a famed medium, an empathic medical intern and a New Age ""sensitive"" among the Others.

As an unsure Marian considers withdrawing from the Others, she moves into a new apartment that harbors a vague yet sinister force hiding in the wallpaper intent on scaring her enough to ignore her supernatural gift, but she is more concerned to learn that some of the Others appear to be stalking her. Meanwhile, Mark is tormented by the responsibility of his empathic abilities and can find relief only in the arms of Satori, but they are prevented from becoming physically intimate because proximity causes their environment to explode.

A restless Mark is disturbed by his continuing dreams where he falls in love with Mary Jane, a mysterious beautiful woman from 19th-century London who also sees Mark only in her dreams. Ignoring Elmer's stern advice to stop his dalliance or risk his own destruction, a sheepish Mark asks love struck Marian to help him channel through to his would-be lover. Then an Internet search by Miles reveals that Mary Jane Kelly was the last victim of Jack the Ripper.