The story begins with Manny asking Sierra Santiago what she is staring at. Sierra replies with a counterstatement arguing that she is staring at nothing. Manny has asked Sierra to paint a mural in an unfinished five-story building in Brooklyn. While working on the building, she observes another mural from adjacent scaffolding dropping a tear. The mysterious mural makes her stare at it for a long time. As well, the mural was also fading to her surprise. Sierra’s attention is drawn by this mysterious incident. Therefore, she never finishes painting her mural because she spends most of her time glancing down at the cryptic mural.
Grandpa Lazaro has suffered a stroke and is incapable of uttering any word. Surprisingly, when Sierra returns home Lazaro speaks and advises her to finish painting the mural. Additionally, Lazaro informs Sierra that she was born a shadow shaper and she must avoid killers like Dr. Jonathan Wick. Sierra is unaware of shadow shapers and enquires from her mother, Maria Carmen Santiago, about the meaning of the strange name. Maria seems uninterested in the topic and snubs her daughter. Lazaro advises Sierra to get more details about shadow shapers from her classmate called Robbie.
Later that day, Sierra goes partying with her friends. During the party, she traces Robbie and asks him about shadow shapers. The two characters engage in conversation and share stories touching on shadow shapers and murals. Robbie trains Sierra on how to infuse spirits into the murals. All this time, Wick has been looking for Sierra to kill her. However, Sierra is elusive and evades all Wick’s traps. Ultimately, Sierra manages to kill Wick and avenge the deaths of her loved ones. The story ends with the main character becoming a heroine in her neighborhood and helping her friends to infuse spirits into paintings.
