Prologue
The blonde vampire and her hybrid date for the evening made their way across the field until they arrived at the neck of the woods.
"I fancy you, Caroline. Is that so hard to believe?"
"Yes."
"Why? You're beautiful, you're strong, you're full of light. I enjoy you."
"Well, I'm spoken fo-"
Before she could finish her sentence, her nose caught a delicious scent wafting in from the forest. The darkening of the hybrid's eyes signaled to her that he could smell it too.
"Someone's feeding?"
"No. Listen."
The blonde focused her hearing senses, and heard – what was that? Something that sounded like –
"Come, love."
She took his arm, and they walked into the dark forest, following the scent of fresh, warm blood.
There. Right in the clearing, there was a body.
Where the heart used to be, however, there was a now a hole.
"His heart's been pulled out!" she looked at him with horror. "One of your hybrids did this didn't they?!"
"Don't be ridiculous sweetheart. I would have had to order them to. No, this is something else."
Noticing something, the original hybrid knelt down, peering into the body. Sticking his hand into the hole, he pulled out a playing card.
The joker.