As the new century dawns, a new-born baby girl is found in Whitby Abbey. She is taken and raised in total isolation by a naive couple who don't know what she is. Unseen acolytes keep the authorities ignorant of her existence. At the age of 14 she has her first taste of human blood and finally finds out what she is. She is a new breed of vampire, formed from the spirits of all the vampires that have gone before. At the age of 18 she has her full powers and targets only men that she feels deserve to die; drug dealers, men who abuse women, using her sexuality to lure them to their doom. Then she meets Madeline, a mortal woman forced by circumstances into a lifestyle she hates. Abbey falls in love with her but is desperate to keep what she is from Madeline.

They travel to Whitby, and at night, while Madeline is sleeping, Abbey leaves her to find men to feed on.

A police officer in Abbey's home town investigates some grisly murders but is confused by the evidence. People in a pub say a young woman barged past them, spilling their drinks, yet there is nothing on the video recording. CCTV in the town's market shows nothing, despite a man saying he is standing next to her. He travels to Whitby and meets a fellow officer who is equally confused by some deaths there. Gradually the police officer comes to the only conclusion that makes sense. He keeps it to himself for fear of ridicule while he tries to track down the woman he now knows is a vampire.