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Lady Angelique Beau Pre has been without contact of her fellow vampires and humans for many decades. She has watched the war from afar for nearly two centuries: the old traditionalists versus the new idealists. The divide has grown stronger and stronger over time and now it appears as though nothing can ever bring these feuding groups together. But Lady Beau Pre has become tired of her new life... she misses the parties and masquerades of the past, where vampires mingled with humans undetected and harmless. She plans a magnificent masquerade ball and invites groups from the two parties as well as a few choice humans.

The three groups meet at different locations: the traditionalists meet in a graveyard, the idealists meet at Taco Bell, and the humans are given the address of the location. All arrive at the appointed locations, with the humans arriving first without pomp. The idealists are next to arrive and ten minutes later the traditionalists arrive. Tension is already in the air when an idealist accidentally bumps into a traditionalist and nearly knocks them over. Mingling continues until Lady Beau Pre decides it is time to play some games! She decides that it is time for Blind Man's Bluff, her favorite game.

In Blind Man's Bluff, a person is blindfolded and must try to find the others merely on voice and chance (kind of like Marco Polo on land, only without calling out names). Much giggling and flirting ensues as the two groups finally lose their inhibitions and go after anyone, pinching playfully and tickling inappropriately. No one sees as Lady Beau Pre's masked human escort disappears out of the festivities. A few more minutes continue when someone decides to go for some fresh air. As they step outside, they find a body!

Someone has been killed!

They race back inside, yelling what they have found. Lady Beau Pre nearly faints, but her mortal escort manages to catch her just in time. Everyone rushes over to where the body lays and inspects. It is quickly determined that it was a young female human. There are no footprints and no weapon. Only a faint lingering scent of men's cologne hangs on the air. The vampires try to figure out who the scent belongs to, but the preceding game has gotten everyone's scents mixed up. The humans are frightened and want to call the police, but the vampires realize this would be a very bad idea as their secret would be uncovered. They manage to convince the humans that they will take care of everything as Lady Beau Pre tries to get the party going again.

Activity resumes, but everyone is talking about the murder. There are no clues, no evidence, nothing except the scent of the man. The two vampire groups have rejoined and are talking suspiciously about the opposite group. Reputations precede many, so suspicions are high. Lady Beau Pre is upset that such an event should happen at her party, so her escort leads her to a chair and serves her a goblet. She ignores it, too upset to be thirsty.

A few moments later, an idealist shouts an accusation at the traditionalists. They defend themselves and likewise accuse their opponents. Lady Beau Pre stands angrily and shouts that she is sick and tired of all this talk of murder and accusations. She will offer $100,000 in cash to anyone who can bring her the name of the killer... or better yet his body. This gets the vampires interested. They would love to be able to nail the other group.

They spread out and look for clues. Suddenly, someone finds a bloody dagger hastily stashed under a chair. Suddenly, everyone is checking each other for empty sheaths. Two people have missing weapons: Lady Beau Pre's escort and a traditionalist vampire. The traditionalist claims that he always wears the empty sheath for decoration, and Lady Beau Pre maintains that her escort has been at her side the entire time. The escort appears meek and timid beside the powerful lady. Before the accusations can get much farther, a human finds a letter bearing the insignia "Thief of the Blood." Two vampires bear this name, both of opposing factions and neither with the empty sheath.

Suddenly, an idealist perks up that there has been a rumor that the vampire hunter, who goes under the alias "Blood Thief," has been spotted in the surrounding counties. Suddenly, the vampires suspect the humans. However, Lady Beau Pre is offended by the fact that anyone might suspect her guests! Many humans have left already and she is almost miserable.
As Lady Beau Pre returns to her throne, a young traditionalist comes up to voice her concerns that the murderer is still among them. Beau Pre ignores her cries of warning and offers her goblet to the vampire. Her escort is slightly offended and mentions that the drink was meant for his Lady; it is her favorite. Beau Pre scoffs and offers the drink to the vampire again. The vampire takes the drink and starts gagging. Beau Pre screams and clutches at her escort as the vampire dies a slow, horrible death with the others watching stunned.

Now that an actual vampire has been killed, the rest of the humans flee, too afraid to stay. Accusations start flying again. The idealists are the ones who are blamed, but no one can be for sure. A fight is imminent, but the escort manages to calm them, reminding the vampires of the police and the questions that would be raised. Now things are getting serious. Everyone spreads out to look for clues.

Finally, a scrap of cloth is uncovered near the first scene. It is plain black and unobtrusive, exactly why they missed it in the first place. The person with the cloth comes back into the room, proclaiming that they have the final clue. Lady Beau Pre stands tall and demands that now everyone must be searched to see whose clothing is torn. First the idealists are inspected. No tears. Then the traditionalists. No tears. When someone approaches Lady Beau Pre she scoffs, but allows a brief inspection before shooing them away. Finally, everyone turns to the escort, the only patron left. His face is set and dark. Beau Pre voices her disbelief, moving away from him.

Suddenly, the escort pulls out a blade and lunges at Beau Pre, but the other vampires rush him and fight to get the blade away. They manage handily and hold him down while the police are called. The vampire body has already disintegrated, so they tell the police that he has killed one person and an attempted attack on another. As they wait for the police to arrive, the escort is revealed to be the "Thief of Blood" mentioned on the parchment and the two blades match perfectly.

THE END.