In the summer of 1841, Patrice Deveraux, a Black teenage girl, and her mother, Althea, are both free women living in New Orleans with the support of a white patron. Althea pressures Patrice to find a wealthy white husband. Although Patrice has a secret relationship with Amos, a blacksmith who saved enough to buy his own freedom, she knows they will have to part ways before the end of the summer. The same day her mother drags her to a ball to catch the attention of white man, Patrice and Amos make plans to spend one last night together. At the ball, Patrice defiantly meets the eyes of Julien Larroux, an attractive white man. He informally approaches her and says that he likes her spirit. They waltz together, but she does not fall for his charm and rather dreads the idea that she might be his mistress rather than being with Amos. After the ball, Patrice leaves her window unlocked for Amos to climb through, only to be shocked when Julien appears instead. He bites her on the neck, and when she wakes up the next morning, they find a dead body on the estate. It is Amos’s, and his neck is mangled with bite marks. While mourning for her lover later that day, she finally remembers her encounter with Julien the night before. Patrice attends the ball with her mother once more, and she pulls Julien aside to talk. He is surprised that she remembers the bite and indifferently confirms that he was the one who killed Amos. He admits to being a vampire and offers to turn her as well, believing that she is tough enough to survive their power-hungry world. With Julien’s bite, she wakes up a vampire and finds that the warmth of life and the world is missing. Julien happily talks about how they will take over the entire city. Before leaving the ball, she picks up an oil lantern and throws it at his face, setting him on fire and killing him. An old enslaved woman in the room joins Patrice and watches Julien’s body burn without saying a word.  On her way back home, a group of white men start harassing Patrice on the street. They ask if she is free or a slave, and she smiles knowing that she now has the power to kill anyone who threatens her new freedom.