“You,” the dashing man in black intoned gravely, “are the chosen one. With one touch of the sacred stone, you save all of vampire kind, restore our humanity. Then…” He paused, felt the tears wet his cheeks as they were hers, the continued, “…we can be together…forever.”

She nodded, auburn locks bouncing about her delicate face. The moon dipped low as the sun threatened to emerge on the far horizon. The hour had come, the time for the fulfillment of a thousand prophecies. Tenderly and with one last look at her beloved she reached out and touched the Blood Stone of A’Renia.

In a blaze of fire she was consumed before a scream of pain could even escape her trembling lips.

“Curses,” muttered the man while another figure emerged from the shadows.

“I guess she wasn’t the one. Nice work on your part all the same.”

The maiden’s erstwhile lover sighed, “Yeah, whatever. I don’t how many more of these moon-eyed romantic little twerps I can woo like this. Silly tween girls, all mush and gullibility.”