Married for centuries and now living half a world apart, two vampires wake as the sun goes down. Adam sits holding a lute, in his cluttered Detroit Victorian, as Eve wakes up in her bedroom in Tangier, surrounded by books. Rather than feeding on humans, like addicts, they are dependent on local suppliers of the "good stuff", fearing contamination from blood poisoned by the degradation of the environment. Adam visits a local blood bank in the dead of night, masquerading as "Dr. Faust", paying "Dr. Watson" for his coveted O negative, while Eve relies on their old friend Christopher Marlowe, who faked his death in 1593 and lives under the protection of a local man. After influencing the careers of countless famous musicians and scientists, Adam has become withdrawn and suicidal. His desire to connect through his music is at odds with the danger of recognition as well as his contempt for the corrupt and foolish humans he refers to as "zombies". He spends his days recording his compositions on outdated studio equipment and lamenting the state of the modern world whilst collecting vintage instruments. He pays Ian, a naive human "rock and roll kid", to procure vintage guitars and other assorted curiosities, including a custom-made bullet with a brass casing and a wooden tip. Having acquired substantial scientific knowledge over the years, the vampire has managed to build contraptions to power both his home and vintage sports car with technology originally pioneered by Nikola Tesla. Despite his reclusive nature he is immensely wealthy and remains a popular musician. He is horrified, however, when some intrepid fans turn up on his doorstep one night, and Ian promises to discreetly spread rumors about Adam living elsewhere to draw them away. When Eve calls, she recognizes that he is despondent and decides to come to Detroit. Soon after she arrives, Adam goes out for more blood and she discovers a small revolver under the bed, finds the wooden bullet and senses that it is newly made. She confronts him when he returns, chiding him for wasting the time and opportunities he has to enjoy the world as well as their relationship. They spend their nights cruising the empty streets of Detroit, listening to music and playing chess. But their idyllic seclusion is shattered by the arrival of Eve's younger sister, Ava, from Los Angeles. Ava gorges herself on their stash of the "good stuff", and hungry for excitement, persuades them to go out to a local club with Ian, where they hear Adam's music when the band finishes their set. Ava offers Ian a hit off the flask she secretly filled with blood and brought to the club, and Adam snatches it from her hand with supernatural speed, then insists that they all depart. Before dawn, Ava kills Ian by drinking too much of his blood, and Adam kicks her out of the house. Adam and Eve dispose of Ian's corpse in an acid pool in an abandoned factory. Ian's murder, and the appearance of another bunch of Adam's fans at the house, compel the couple to hastily return to Tangier with only what they can carry onto the plane. Desperately hungry for blood, they visit Marlowe, and learn that their long-time friend and mentor has been poisoned by a batch of contaminated blood. After admitting that he secretly penned most of Shakespeare's plays, he dies. Eve takes all of Adam's ready cash and leaves him with the promise of a gift. He is captivated by the music from a nearby club, where a Lebanese singer is finishing a haunting song. Eve reappears with a beautiful lute, and as they sit together outdoors and contemplate their likely demise, they spot a pair of young lovers kissing. "What choice do we have?" Adam remarks before the two of them approach the couple with their fangs out.