early 1800s. russia.

mariya hadn't ever planned to do anything but get married, make babies, and die.

this was not a positive or negative thing. no, it was a fact. she'd hoped that this husband of hers would be wealthy, at the very least, but hoping does not make it true.

the man she marries is soft spoken and underwhelming. worst of all, poor. masha thinks a man should make something of himself simply because he has the ability to do so. her husband tries and tries to show her he can be something more.

he's invited to a business dinner with foreign investors. masha is the charmer of the two, he brings her along to make an impression. the foreign investors are funny, and strange, and handsome. they are unimpressed with her husband-- masha can relate.

the dinner is nice. her husband doesn't talk much but she does. the trio of investors have endless questions for her and she feels the same. there's a mutual fascination.

mariya is glowing and satiated, sipping at the last of her wine, when they attack. the first of the three investors goes for the husband, getting their teeth into the flesh of his throat and ripping.

the other two descend upon mariya.

pain and warmth and laughter, distant laughter. it seems a nice way to go. surrounded by things pretty things, unburdened by children she resents. the room is fading to black when she realizes this is death, true death.

she fights, wrenching at skin with her nails, nipping with her teeth. it's not enough. masha dies.

then, she wakes up.

late 1800s. england.

mariya mary has been dead nearly four times longer than she'd been alive.

the men who turned her are alright. petulant, violent, vengeful. they teach her everything they know about vampirism, in small bits and pieces, and they are never ever meek. they call their group a coven. mariya likes that, thinks it sounds stronger than family.

but, and there's always a but, mary is getting restless.

the endless eating and fucking had been fun, for awhile, but it's not anymore. it's been 80 years and mary's never been a vampire on her own. she's seen the world, or, at least, europe, but she's never traveled without a man by her side. this endless adolescence is killing her.

late 1900s. the united states.

mary stole away from her coven at the start of the century and ran off to the united states.

she spent years aimlessly wandering the country. sometimes, she played at human. sometimes, she played at monster.

she had never been a big fan of music in her time. she'd no interest in the piano forte. but mary is in the south for the birth of the blues, of rock and roll. she finds it hypnotic. she sees all the greats in concert. sleeps with a few. it's an obsessive thing, this newfound love of music.

by the 80s, mary is more than proficient in every modern instrument she can think of. she had no natural talent for music but she has eternity to learn. one shouldn't be surprised if there's a shortage of music teachers in the mid-west-- mary has trained under and subsequently ate half of them.

she's in a couple of shitty bands, goes by the name molotov mary. it doesn't ever really work out for her. these poser assholes want to practice during the day, like that's something mary can just swing. she doesn't mind that she can't make it big; all the best music is underground anyways. mary can't ever make her tenure last.

2020s. the united states.

mary first hears of overbite when she's rifling through the phone of the woman she ate out and promptly ate. the band's marketing is cheesy, overdone. she hates them on impact, hates their whiny first single. a vampire band. what is this, 1987?

but then she sees him: blonde, smarmy, spotless. mary knows at first glance. this is the real deal. frontman wayne cross is posing on the album cover. his skin is spotless and his hair wild and his eyes predatory and that could all just be airbrush but she knows it isn't. he's like her.

mary flies out to their next show. she's in the green room while they're on stage. riko, the manager, finds her first-- acts like she's just another rowdy fan trying to get some from a rockstar. security tries to throw mary out-- mary drains him in a janitor's closet and saunters back. her first meeting with wayne goes like this: