Legend tells of an oak forest, in which anyone who died with a deep sense of regret would be reborn as an immortal vampire. By now, in the year 1980, the remnants of that forest have been paved over to form the streets of London, England. In these streets, the "Alleyway Killer" has been garnering publicity for murdering people and draining them of blood under the cover of night. Out for a walk one evening, Alan Everett stumbles upon a woman who claims she was being stalked, and who might have been the killer's next intended victim. Beyond being grateful to Alan for saving her, she also seems elated to see him face to face. She introduces herself as Marie Noblue and begs him to take her to his home, since she has no place to call her own. Alan is strangely comfortable living with this stranger, although her presence elicits fragments of memories that he cannot fully recall. When Marie is suddenly arrested under suspicion of being the Alleyway Killer, he does not know what to think. D