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FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY
Over darkness a WOMAN'S VOICE speaks to us.
ABIGAIL (V.0.)
Italo Calvino once said that myth is the
hidden part of every story, the buried
part, the region that is still unexplored
because there are as yet no words to
enable us to get there.
(beat)
But I was there for the end. I took part
in it. And I think my words can help shed
light on what happened. My name is
Abigail. This is our story.
FADE IN:
EXT. IRAQI DESERT - DAWN
Harsh sunlight beats down over a bleak, unforgiving stretch of
rocky desert. Amidst this desolation rise the ruins of an
ancient Sumerian ziggurat, a massive stepped pyramid of mud
brick that was once the center of the city known as Ur.
SUPER TITLE: SOUTHEASTERN IRAQ, DHI QAR PROVINCE
SIX MONTHS AGO
AN EMACIATED SHEEP HERDER
kneels by the ziggurat, tending to a ragged band of sheep. He
is conducting the first of his daily prayers, listening to a
religious broadcast from Baghdad on a tinny RADIO.
Presently, we hear HELICOPTERS. The sheepherder looks up --
TWO ANERICAN RAH-66 COMANCHE HELICOPTERS
approach from the East. They touch down near the base of the
ziggurat, rotors stirring up clouds of dust.
FOUR FIGURES
disembark, their bodies covered in desert camo-gear. They
wear helmets with polarized face-plates and are armed to the
teeth. To the sheepherder they might as well be aliens.
One of the figures turns to the East. We can see the rising
sun reflected in the face-plate of his helmet -- and a hint of
a skull-like under-mask/respirator beneath the face-plate. He
raises a gloved hand, gives the "finger" to the new day.
Another figure (a woman) waves a hand, urging them onward.
They mount the central steps of the ziggurat.
INT. ZIGGURAT - SHRINE - DAY
The shrine is empty. The woman activates a wearable computing
device, calling up a schematic of the ziggurat.
She kneels, studying the floor. In the corner of the room she
identifies a particular brick and presses it. We hear hidden
COUNTER-WEIGHTS shifting and the floor opens up --
-- revealing a stone stairway leading down.
INT. ZIGGURAT - STAIRWAY - DAY
Dark. Sepulchral. Spooky. The figures descend into --
INT. ZIGGURAT - BURIAL VAULT - DAY
-- an empty room with an earthen floor. The sunlight from
above barely penetrates down here. One of the figures takes
out a battery--powered lantern, turning it on, illuminating --
-- walls covered with CUNEIFORM WRITING. The male figure who
flipped off the sun speaks via radio headset.
MALE FIGURE
That's great. We've got dick.
(turning to the others)
Is there any reason we had to embark on
this cluster-fuck during the day?
The woman removes her helmet. This is DANICA TALOS. A
vampire. Intense, appearing to be in her 30s. Possessing a
regal air. She wears a silver crucifix around her neck.
DANICA
Night-time's too tricky, Grimwood. You
know that.
One by one, the others remove their helmets. All vampires:
GRIMWOOD (30s), a hulking vampire with an imposing physique
and an even more imposing set of surgical steel teeth/fangs.
ASHER (4Os), a natural-born leader with easygoing charisma.
WOLFE (30s), quiet and deliberative. Right now he's readying
a portable ground-penetrating radar unit.
Grimwood studies the writing on the walls.
GRIMWOOD
What is this chicken-scratch?
DANICA
Cuneiform. Dates back about four
thousand years.
GRIMWOOD
So why here?
DANICA
Because this was the cradle of
civilization. He would've been
comfortable here.
ASHER
I don't know, Dan. Seems like another
dead-end.
WOLFE
I'm not so sure --
Wolfe looks at his unit, excited. The others gather round.
WOLFE
There's something beneath us.
ON WOLFE'S RADAR UNIT
We see a cross-section image of the soil and subsurface
features beneath them. SOMETHING has been buried down there.
ASHER
Is that a body --?
Wolfe makes a few adjustments on the unit. The image resolves
further. It's definitely a BODY. Then, we hear the low
RUMBLING of more hidden counter-weights and --
A SLAB OF STONE
slides down from above the stairs, sealing off the vault.
GRIMWOOD
What the fuck --?!
Grimwood pounds his fist against the stone. It's solid. He
tries to find a hand-hold, tries to shoulder it open in some
way, but the barrier is unmovable. They're trapped.
ASHER
Radio back-up. See if they can open it
from the other --
WOLFE (0.S.)
Guys?
Wolfe points at the ground. A tiny depression has formed,
with sand funneling into it.
Wolfe sets his radar unit down and kneels before the hole.
The grains of sand are falling faster now, the depression
gradually widening. Curious, Wolfe leans closer --
A CLAWED, ARMORED HAND
suddenly EXPLODES upward from the ground. It latches onto
Wolfe's neck. dragging him down head-first!
Wolfe THRASHES, his head still buried beneath the sand. He
knocks over the lantern, which FLICKERS, shorting out.
Asher rushes to Wolfe's side. Then Grimwood. They grab Wolfe
by the shoulders, SCREAMING, trying to pull him back.
Asher is KICKED by Wolfe's thrashing legs. He flies upward,
hits the ceiling, falls back onto the ground, stunned --
Danica joins Grimwood. Abruptly, they wrest Wolfe free --
headless. BLOOD erupts from the sand. Then --
A HELLISH CREATURE
unearths itself, ROARING. It's difficult to make out in the
flickering light. But what we do see is terrifying. Spiked,
demonic armor, clutching a sword. An elongated, helmeted face
with a blood-splattered set of hinged fangs -- hinting at an
inhuman physiognomy within. The hinged jaws open, coming at
us. And just as the lantern goes out for good we --
SUPER TITLE: BLADE III
CUT TO:
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - CORRIDOR - NIGHT
Danica moves down a modern architectural corridor lined in
glass and steel. VAMPIRE SOLDIERS stand ready nearby,
outfitted in body armor, clutching automatic rifles.
AT THE END OF THE CORRIDOR
Asher, Grirnwood, and another vampire, HENDRIX are gathered by
a titanium door outfitted with a biometric security system.
Danica joins them, studying a VIDEO MONITOR which offers a
darkened view of the interior of the vault. We can just make
out a FIGURE sitting there in the shadows.
DANICA
What's he been doing?
ASHER
Nothing. Just sitting there since we
brought him here.
HENDRIX
(nervously)
Do you think we've got enough security?
DANICA
Hendrix, if he wanted to out of there -
there isn't an army in the world that
could keep us safe. We didn't capture
him. He allowed us to take him in. You
understand?
(nodding to the door)
Now open up.
The others look at her like she's insane. Nevertheless,
Danica places her hand on the biometric scanner. Hendrix keys
in a series of commands on a nearby computer console. The
vault doors open with a HUM, allowing Danica into --
AN AIRLOCK-STYLE VESTIBULE
She steps inside. The vault closes behind her. We hear
BLOWERS as the air is cycled. A SECOND SET OF DOORS open --
INT. VAMPIRE SAFE HOUSE - CELL - NIGHT
Danica steps into a nearly pitch-black "clean room". We hear
BREATHING. Despite her calm demeanor, she's frightened.
From the darkness, SOMEONE SPEAKS -- a voice low and rumbling,
laced with an ominous gravity.
VOICE (O.S.)
Why have you woken me?
DANICA
Your people need you, Sire.
She kneels, bowing her head.
VOICE (0.S.)
(mocking)
"My people". You think I'm your messiah?
Your Savior?
We hear MOVEMENT. A pair of RED EYES pierce the gloom -- and
God help us, even though he remains partially shadowed, this
guy has to be the scariest mother-fucker we've ever seen.
VOICE
What makes you think I wanted to be
brought back?
A hand emerges from the darkness, armored. Danica wants to
bolt. Instead, she fights to keep herself from flinching as a
taloned finger brushes her throat.
DANICA
Times have changed. Science has made
great strides. Your blood, the sacrament
you provide -- it can set us free now.
VOICE
I see. And the one I killed earlier? He
was vampire?
(off her nod)
You must forgive me. It had been
centuries since I last fed.
DANICA
I understand.
VOICE
Then offer yourself to me, child --
(lifting her chin)
-- and let me quench my thirst again.
INT. VAMPIRE SAFE HOUSE - CORRIDOR - NIGHT
WHOOSH! The vault doors open and Danica stumbles out, all but
falling into Asher's arms. She's bone-white and there are
fresh BITE MARKS on her throat, BLOOD staining her shirt.
ASKER
Danica! Are you alright --?!
She nods, shaking, struggling to recompose herself.
DANICA
Let him out -- he wants to see what's
become of his world.
CUT TO:
A VIDEO MONITOR
LARRY KING launching into the intro of his show.
LARRY
Tonight, Dr. Edgar Vance, forensic
psychiatrist and author of the New York
Times best seller "Human Health: The Whole
Being Breakthrough". Also with us is
Martin Vreede, Chief of Police. They're
here for an hour and they'll take your
calls. Next on Larry King Live.
INT. LARRY KING LIVE - STUDIO - NIGHT
Taping is underway. Larry King sits at his desk opposite
EDGAR VANCE (40s), a smooth-talking pundit with a magnetic
demeanor and movie star good looks. CHIEF MARTIN VREEDE (50s,
square-jawed), joins via remote feed.
LARRY
Dr. Vance -- you're a psychiatrist and a
biochemist, isn't that right?
VANCE
Yes. I've long believed that in order to
achieve true health, we have to reconcile
the body and the mind. Of course that
also requires letting go of a lot of our
old notions and superstitions, which is
what my work is all about.
LARRY
Let's talk about that. How do you account
for the fascination with things that go
bump in the night? Movies, books,
videogames -- seems like we can't get
enough of our boogeymen?
Vance leans forward, skillfully playing to the cameras.
VANCE
Monsters provide a means for us to
transfer our more primal and darker urges
into something external. In the case of
vampires, you're dealing with taboo issues
like predatory rage and sexual sadism.
These are scary subjects for people to own
up to.
LARRY
So we pass the buck to someone else?
VANCE
Exactly. Historically, people suffering
from medical conditions have always been
our psychological scapegoats. In the
Middle Ages schizophrenia was often
attributed to demonic possession.
LARRY
And vampires?
VANCE
Well, there's a hereditary blood disease
known as porphyria that has symptoms
remarkably similar to the classic vampiric
traits. People suffering from this
disease are anemic, they become sensitive
to sunlight, they can't tolerate garlic --
LARRY
Which is too bad, since my doctor tells me
that's good for the heart.
(turning to Chief Vreede)
Chief Vreede? What's your take on all the
recent rumors we've been hearing about
vampires?
VREEDE
The only vampires I'm worried about are
the ones passing the bar exam.
(laughing)
Seriously, if vampires existed, don't you
think we'd be on to them by now? The
truth is, our streets have never been
safer. Homicides, assaults -- violent
crime is down across the board. If people
want to be concerned, they should focus on
criminals like Blade.
LARRY
Now who's this? Tell me about him.
VREEDE
He's a sociopath we've been pursuing.
VANCE
Blade is a very disturbed individual.
Even the name he's chosen for himself is
troubling. According to witnesses, he
operates under the belief that a vast
conspiracy of vampires live amongst us.
You have to look at the psychiatric
underpinnings here. What does a person
like Blade really want?
Odds are, he's really trying to work out
some kind of inner trauma. He thinks he's
slaying monsters, but he's really trying
to murder aspects of himself.
The sound of GUNFIRE pre-laps over from the next scene as we --
CUT TO:
EXT. MACHINE SHOP/PARKING LOT - NIGHT
-- a MASSIVE EXPLOSION ripping through an industrial building.
Banks of windows BLOW OUTWARDS, FIRE ROlLS, brick walls
CRUMBLE, raining debris everywhere.
A SCREAMING, BURNING MAN
goes tumbling into the night air. Buoyed by the explosion,
his body flies upward, trailing fire like a human comet.
MORE MEN (VAMPIRES) race out, some of them on fire.
CLOSER
as a FORMIDABLE FIGURE resolves out of the swirling flames.
It's Blade, striding towards us in slow-motion, body bristling
with weapons, the exaggerated sounds of his FOOTFALLS ringing
out like drums of doom.
He looks like the God of War. WHOOSH! We ramp back up to
real-time. Then faster as --
-- a TRIO OF VAMPIRE LOW-LIFES (STONE, GEDGE, and CAMPBELL)
run for their lives towards their vehicles. TWO MODIFIED
STREET RACING CARS are pulling out; a Mustang and an Eagle
Talon. Gedge is climbing into the Talon even as it starts to
move, pulling the door shut. At the same time --
-- Stone and Campbell climb atop two stretched and lowered
hardtail chopper cycles. Blade starts forward, drawing two of
his custom MACH pistols, but --
-- the Mustang comes SCREAMING IN REVERSE TOWARDS him!
Blade makes a SUPER-HUMAN LEAP over the speeding car.
Momentarily upside down, he FIRES through the windshield and
engine block as he flips. Within the car, the vampires ASH.
The Mustang EXPLODES. flipping over and --
-- Blade, now facing frontward again, continues to FIRE as he
lands, aiming at --
THE TALON AND THE CHOPPERS,
which haul ass out of the parking lot, swerving into the
traffic on the street beyond.
Blade KEEPS FIRING until he's out of bullets. Then --
ELLINGSON (O.S.)
No more bullets, Blade? Guess it's time
for you to fall down and go boom.
FOUR STRANDED VAMPIRES,
from the conflagration, their clothes still smoking, surround
Blade. Call them EMOND, DOH, DENLINGER, and ELLINGSON.
Blade holsters his MACH pistols. Then reaches for a wicked
looking CHAIN-KNIFE strapped to his thigh. The knife has a
button on either side of the hilt. As Ellingson RUSHES him --
-- Blade triggers the first button. ZZZING! The knife-blade
ejects from the hilt, trailing outward six feet on a razored
chain. The blade penetrates Ellingson's chest. He GASPS as
he starts to ASH. But before his disintegration is complete --
-- Blade hits the second button. The knife-blade retracts,
the razored chain WHIRRING back into the knife-hilt. Blade
SPINS, triggers the first button again --
The knife-blade FLIES OUT, the razored chain whipping around
Denlinger's throat. Blade tugs. The razor chain cuts through
Denlinoer's neck, decapitates him. As he ASHES --
-- Blade triggers the knife again. As it ejects, he whirls it
over his head, making a sound like a BULL-ROARER.
Blade drops low, swinging the razored chain. The chain slices
through Emond's legs. Emond's amputated legs ASH, the rest of
him tumbling onto the asphalt. He SCREAMS.
Blade retracts the knife-blade, whirls, THRUSTS it through
Doh's abdomen. who was coming up from behind. As Doh ASHES,
Blade returns to Emond, finishing him off --
-- and Blade is on the move again, RUSHING after the vampires
who escaped.
EXT. STREET - OVERPASS - NIGHT
The bike-riding vamps cut across traffic, then SCREAM down an
on-ramp to a busy street below.
BACK TO BLADE,
sprinting from the parking lot to the sidewalk. He touches a
hand to his ear. We SEE a tiny receiver tucked within.
BLADE
Whistler! I'm on the Stonebridge
overpass at Clemons --
WHISTLER'S VOICE
Got it! Heading eastbound, I'm just
beneath you --
Blade dodges past a HONKING car, stepping onto and over the
trunk, then leaps atop the safety rail of the overpass as --
A BIG-RIG CAB
hauling a semi-trailer THUNDERS beneath the overpass, sounding
its AIR HORN. It has safety cables running along the
perimeter of the trailer roof, like an aircraft carrier.
WHISTLER'S VOICE
-- GO!!!
EXT. BUSY STREET - NIGHT
Blade LAUNCHES HIMSELF into the air. He lands atop the semi,
then tumbles, nearly slipping off the edge as he --
-- snags one of the safety cables atop the trailer! He
dangles above the asphalt then SWINGS himself into the open
back of the trailer. We HOLD for a beat, then hear the
THUNDERCLAP of a high-performance ENGINE turning over as --
BLADE'S MATTE-BLACK DODGE CHARGER
ROCKETS out of the back of the trailer, sailing right over a
car that was tail-gating the semi, heading into three lanes of
on-coming traffic at fifty miles an hour!
Blade hits the brakes, sending the battle-scarred muscle car
into a spin, clipping other vehicles in the process.
INT. BLADE'S CHARGER - NIGHT
As cars continue to brake and COLLIDE around him, Blade puts
the pedal to the metal once again. The Charger accelerates,
tachometer red-lining as Blade pulls alongside the cab of the
big-rig, catching a glimpse of --
WHISTLER BEHIND THE WHEEL
Whistler grins, gives Blade a little salute and --
-- Blade reaches between the seats, ACTIVATING the newly
installed nitrous oxide fuel-injection system.
EXT. BUSY STREET - NIGHT
Hyper-speed. The Charger jets forward as the NOS nitrous
system boosts the car's speed by another 300 HP, leaving any
and everything in its dust. In seconds, it has caught up to --
STONE AND CAMPBELL
They draw TEC-9s, FIRING back at Blade. The bullet-proof
windshield holds as do the kevlar body panels protecting the
engine -- but the rounds chew the shit out of the bodywork.
INT. BLADE'S CHARGER - NIGHT
Blade gives his car another jolt of nitrous. The Charger
SURGES FORWARD as Stone and Campbell fall back, veering to
either side. Now Blade is ahead of them. He checks their
position in his rear-view mirror, then stands on the brakes --
EXT. BUSY STREET - NIGHT
The Charger drops from a hundred to fifty in a heart beat,
causing Stone and Campbell to rear-end Blade.
The vamps are ejected over the handle bars of their bikes like
crash-test dummies. Stone SMASHES through Blade's back
windshield, continuing into the front seat--
-- while Campbell tumbles over Blade's roof and across his
hood, somehow managing to cling to one of the windshield
wipers at the last minute.
INT. BLADE'S CHARGER - NIGHT
Blade clutches the wheel. He's got a HOWLING vampire in the
front seat, upside down, covered in windshield fragments and
another perched on his hood, obscuring his vision.
Stone tries to right himself, clawing at Blade. Blade
struggles, keeping one hand on the wheel while he --
-- reaches for a shotgun secured between the seats. He
FIRES. As the vampire ASHES, Blade hits a button on the dash.
The passenger door opens, spills Stone onto the road --
EXT. BUSY STREET - NIGHT
-- right into the path of an oncoming bus! WHAM! Stone is
ground to paste and --
INT. TOUR BUS - NIGHT
TOURISTS, mostly elderly. The passengers are jolted in their
seats as the wheels of the bus KA-THUMP over Stone's remains --
OLD WOMAN
I hope that wasn't a dog.
INT. BLADE'S CHARGER - NIGHT
-- and we're back in Blade's Charger as Campbell continues to
HAMMER away at the windshield. The windshield spiderwebs.
Campbell manages to get a clawed hand through --
Blade swings his shotgun over, shoving it in Campbell's
snarling mouth. He pulls the trigger --
BOOM! Campbell's CINDER-REMAINS blow over the cracked
windshield. Blade hits the wipers, spritzes window cleaner -
but the mess turns to ashen sludge. making the view worse!
EXT. BUSY STREET - NIGHT
The Talor is up ahead, weaving in and out of traffic.
Fighting to see, Blade accelerates, gaining ground --
The VAMPIRE DRIVER leans out of his own wihdow, looking back
at Blade, FIRING an AUTOMATIC PISTOL --
INT. BLADE'S CHARGER - NIGHT
Blade's windshield, already weakened by Campbell, SHATTERS,
blowing glass fragments all over him. Undaunted, Blade calmly
reaches for his dash, hitting a button labeled "UV".
EXT. BUSY STREET/BLADE'S CHARGER - NIGHT
Roof-mounted UV DAYLIGHTS come on, bathing the car ahead and
(more importantly) the vampire driver with UV LIGHT!
The vampire at the wheel SHRIEKS, ASHES, leaving the car
driverless. Gedge tries to lean over and take the wheel --
INT. BLADE'S CHARGER - NIGHT
BURNING REMAINS blow back at us. Then the view clears and --
EXT. BUSY STREET - NIGHT
-- Blade SLAMS his charger into the Talon. The cars briefly
lock, grinding SPARKS. Then they disengage. Blade jerks his
steering wheel, gives the Talon ANOTHER SLAM.
The Talon hits the curb, riding halfway up onto a sidewalk,
PLOWING DOWN newspaper vending machines and table-top displays
piled with cheap wares, then a phone booth, a food cart.
PEDESTRIANS duck for cover and --
-- the Talon gets some serious air, ROLLING onto its side as
it comes back to earth.
EXT. INTERSECTION - NIGHT
--WK-KRUNCH-- the wreck skids to a stop against a streetlight.
The streetlight CREAKS, CRASHES DOWN on the wreck. BYSTANDERS
gather, murmuring amongst themselves --
Gedge drags his bleeding body from the wrecked Talon. He
staggers to his feet, clutching a pistol, limps away --
BLADE'S CHARGER
pulls up. Blade climbs out, shotgun in hand. The shotgun has
an under-mounted stake launcher. Blade FIRES at --
-- Gedge. The stake hits him in the back. KNOCKING him onto
the street. Bystanders SCREAM, falling back, taking cover --
Blade approaches, puzzled. Gedge is still alive, LAUGHING.
He looks at Blade, eyes crazed, flashing his fangs.
BLADE
Staked you with silver. Why aren't you
ash?
Gedge coughs blood, struggles to speak:
GEDGE
Why aren't you smarter? Not a vampire,
dumbshit -- set your sorry ass up --
Gedge tugs at his fangs. They're fake, PROSTHETIC. Gedge is
looking past Blade. Blade turns, looking up --
A ROOFTOP ABOVE
Danica is perched there. She backs into the shadows. But
Blade doesn't have time to investigate because --
-- POLICE SIRENS are drawing near. Blade retreats to his
charger. He GUNS it, speeding away as we --
CUT TO:
EXT. BLADE AND WHISTLER'S REFUGE - BOAT HOUSE - NIGHT
Blade's Charger pulls up to a boat house at the water's edge.
Blade climbs out, disappears inside.
WHISTLER (O.S.)
What the fuck happened tonight?
INT. BLADE AND WHISTLER'S REFUGE - BOAT HOUSE - NIGHT
New digs. Built into the decaying boat house, retrofitted for
Blade's combat needs. Blade is taking off his body armor,
tossing weapons onto a work table. He's frustrated.
BLADE
How should I know? He was human.
Whistler reaches for a bottle of whiskey, takes a sip.
WHISTLER
You've been getting careless, Blade. You
kill a vampire, they ash, don't leave any
proof of their existence. But something
like this, a human corpse, it's messy --
(shaking his head)
-- you better hope nobody IDed you.
CUT TO:
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - DANICA'S QUARTERS - NIGHT
CLOSE ON a digital video tape being slipped into a player.
PULL BACK to reveal Danica sitting before a monitor.
ON THE MONITOR WE SEE
Footage of Blade confronting Gedge, filmed from a high-angle.
Danica smiles and we --
CUT TO:
EXT. FBI REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS - DAY
Establishing.
SUPER TITLE: FBI REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS
WOMAN'S VOICE
It was horrible. The one car crashed, and
then the guy in the coat was shooting the
other guy --
INT. FBI REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS - OFFICE - DAY
CLOSE ON a TV screen. We are watching a news feed. A
REPORTER interviews a WOMAN at the intersection where Blade
executed Gedge. Now the reporter turns to the camera.
REPORTER
(on-screen)
That was just a taste of the mayhem that
occurred during tonight's brazen shoot-out
that left at least four people dead. Now
apparently an anonymous citizen captured
the whole event on video --
The IMAGE FREEZES. We hear the clatter of KEYBOARD KEYS as we
pan over to an adjacent computer monitor where a series of
VIDEO CAPTURES of the event flash by us in slide-show mode.
AGENT RAY CUMBLERLAND studies the screen. Ray is a career
agent. Dedicated and dogged to the point of annoyance,
utterly humorless. His office is cramped and institutional,
devoid of any personal touches. It's also overflowing with
files, photographs, and charts concerning Blade and Whistler.
A BULLETIN BOARD
features numerous surveillance photos of Blade and Whistler in
action, along with various news clippings and two WANTED
POSTERS ("UNLAWFUL FLIGHT TO AVOID PROSECUTION - MURDER,
AGGRAVATED KIDNAPPING, ARMED VIOLENCE"). Most of the photos
are blurry and indistinct -- akin to snaps taken of Bigfoot.
HALE (O.S.)
Ray! Heard we've got a lead!
WILSON HALE (20s), Ray's subordinate, rushes in, excited. Ray
stands, ripping down a photo of Blade and Whistler.
CUMBERLAND
Book us a flight, Hale. Time to take
these cowboys down.
CUT TO:
WHISTLER (0.S.)
Pack of Reds and some matches.
CUT TO:
INT. CONVENIENCE STORE - DAY
Whistler is buying a pack of cigarettes when he notices --
A BLACK AND WHITE TABLOID
on display nearby. The cover story features a BLURRY PHOTO of
Blade's recent melee with the vampires.
Whistler picks up the tabloid, studying it. Next to the photo
is an ARTIST'S SKETCH OF BLADE. The headline reads: "GUN
TOTING PSYCHOPATH CAPTURED ON FILM!"
Whistler nods to the CASHIER, hands over some more cash.
WHISTLER
I'll take this too.
EXT. CONVENIENCE STORE - DAY
Whistler exits the store, perusing the tabloid as he walks.
We hear the WHIR of a camera's HIGH-SPEED MOTOR DRIVE and --
A SERIES OF DIGITAL SHOTS
capture Whistler as he moves down the sidewalk.
ANGLE ON AN FBI AGENT
perched on a nearby roof, taking surveillance photos.
FBI AGENT
Subject is heading West.
WHIP-PAN to a parked CAR, Cumberland and Hale seated within.
CUMBERLAND
Got him.
Cumberland starts the car, starts following Whistler.
WHISTLER (0.S.)
Congratulations. You're famous. Just
what we needed.
INT. BLADE'S REFUGE - BOAT HOUSE - DAY
CLOSE ON the tabloid as Whistler slaps it down on a workbench.
WIDEN to include Whistler and Blade.
WHISTLER
Somebody screwed us. Your face is all
over the papers, the television. Media's
eating it up.
BLADE
Like I care?
WHISTLER
You should. Something like this --
(gesturing to the tabloid)
-- taking out a human, even one working
for the vampires -- far as the rest of the
world's concerned, you're public enemy
number one.
BLADE
Didn't realize this was a popularity
contest.
Whistler shakes his head, frustrated.
WHISTLER
Damnit, Blade, don't you see what's
happening?! The fuckers are finally
getting smart. They're waging a goddamn
PR campaign. Now it's not just vampires
we have to worry about, we're gonna have
to take on the rest of the world too.
(beat, adamant)
They've got us on the run. These last few
months we've barely been staying ahead of
the curve.
BLADE
You worry too much, old man.
WHISTLER
I've been doing this since before you were
born, Blade. The moment you stop
worrying, you're dead.
Then Whistler's face softens for a moment.
WHISTLER
Since the day I found you, you've been
like a son to me. I taught you everything
I know.
(beat)
But I'm tired. You understand?
EXT. INNER CITY STREET - NIGHT
It's rush hour and the streets are choked with traffic.
PEOPLE mill past on the crowded sidewalk.
We move from face to face, capturing brief portraits of
working-class desperation -- an OVERWEIGHT GUY, a PAIR OF
HOMELESS TEENAGERS, an ASIAN VENDOR, a STREETWALKER.
VOICE (O.S)
How about that one?
SECOND VOICE (O.S.)
No fatties. They taste like Cheetos.
THIRD VOICE (O.S.)
What about that shrunken apple-head
beeyatch-a-saurus over there?
VOICE (O.S.)
Fucking blow me, man!
We hear LAUGHTER and we WHIP-PAN over to a grimy office
building, ZIPPING UP the face of it to --
A ROOFTOP PARKING STRUCTURE
A SKATE-PUNK (SQUID) gets some air, flipping his board up into
a nice Ollie backside grab, then scoots over to --
-- THREE MORE PUNKS perched on a concrete ledge, watching the
people below them. They are: PROOF, FLICK and DINGO. All in
their teens, sporting copious piercings and tattoos. Flick
wears a ratty T-shirt from "The Lost Boys" movie.
DINGO
C'mon, just pick one.
PROOF
Once you buy a prize, it's yours and
yours to keep.
They keep looking. Then, Flick suddenly points, excited --
FLICK
Got it, got it! Baby on board!
ANGLE ON A MOUSY WOMAN (ABIGAIL)
moving below, her figure camouflaged beneath layers of
clothing. She's in her 20s, lugging a NEWBORN in a BabyBjorn
carrier that's strapped to her chest, clutching a bag of
groceries in either hand. She looks a little haggard.
As we watch, she reaches an elevated rail station entrance.
BACK TO THE SKATE-PUNKS
Dingo nods and smiles approvingly.
DINGO
Looks like we got ourselves a combo meal.
EXT. ELEVATED RAIL STATION - VARIOUS - NIGHT
A series of shots as Abigail makes her way into the station,
passing a few other PEOPLE here and there.
INT. ELEVATED RAIL PLATFORM - NIGHT
A depressing, dimly lit, partially open-air station. Abigail
moves out onto the platform, which is now deserted. She
glances around, a bit nervous, and finally sits on a bench.
Beat. Just the wind MOANING in the tunnels, across the
platform. Then we hear a RUSTLING SOUND --
Abigail looks right, sees nothing. We hear ANOTHER SOUND,
this time from the left --
Abigail looks up, briefly glimpsing a FIGURE ducking behind a
concrete pillar.
Unnerved, she stands, moving a protective hand over her baby.
She backs up a few steps, trying to look around the pillar --
-- but no one is there. Then a SHADOW MOVES behind her. She
SENSES it, spinning --
-- but again, she seems to be alone. Thoroughly frightened
now, Abigail scoops up her grocery bags, turns to exit and --
-- slams right into Dingo and Proof! She GASPS.
DINGO
Hey, pretty lady.
PROOF
Sophisticated mama.
Dingo and Proof reveal their fangs. Abigail SCREAMS, runs --
-- right into the arms of Flick and Squid! They grab her,
RIPPING the BabyBjorn carrier from her chest, SHOVING her back
at Dingo and Proof.
In seconds, Dingo and Proof have Abigail on the floor.
They're tearing away at her clothing, LAUGHING.
DINGO
Scream if this hurts, chica!
ON FLICK,
removing the BABY from its carrier. He holds the baby up -
only it's not a baby. It's a DOLL with the words "FUCK YOU!"
written on its chest. Flick is briefly confused --
-- and then the baby doll EXPLODES, covering Flick's face with
a cloud of GARLIC GAS!
Flick recoils, retching, wiping at his burning face --
FLICK
--aghhk -- it's fucking garlic!
ON DINGO AND PROOF,
looking back, alarmed. Then Abigail pulls her knee to her
chest. A SILVER SPIKE springs out from the toe of her boot.
She KICKS UP, imbedding the spike up through the underside of
Proof's chin. Proof ASHES.
Before Dingo has a chance to act, Abigail gets him in a
leglock, FLIPPING him back onto his ass.
ABIGAIL
jumps to her feet, shedding her coat and hat. Long tresses of
hair spill around her shoulders. She's not mousy at all. In
fact, she's beautiful. And cut like an Olympic athlete. And
equipped with a walking arsenal of weapons.
Dingo SNARLS -- CRUNCH! Abigail plants her heel in his face,
SMASHING IN his nose. She does a cartwheel, KICKS him again.
Follows that with flurry of PUNCHES. He goes down as --
-- Flick and Squid come charging! Squid gets her in a CHOKE
HOLD. She FLIPS him over her shoulder, KICKING him in the
nuts as he lands. He curls up, GROANING --
Abigail turns back to Flick, ELBOWING him in the throat --
-- then returns to Squid, ejecting a SILVER THROWING KNIFE
from a spring-loaded, automated dispenser strapped to her
wrist. She POPs the knife through Squid's chest. He ASHES --
FOLLOWING ABIGAIL
as she reaches behind her, removing a CRESCENT-SHAPED DEVICE
secured to her back. She holds the crescent in the center,
the curve pointing away from her, gives it a twist and --
CHINKT! The device extends from either end, telescoping
outward into a three-foot long metal arc. Connecting the two
ends of the arc is a powerful, BUZZING UV LASER.
Abigail LASHES OUT, lopping off Flick's arm. His arm falls,
ASHING. Abigail swings the arc around, pushing it forward
through Flick's mid-section like a cheese cutter --
Flick literally falls apart, his upper torso sliding from his
trunk, ASHING in the foreground, his burning particles falling
away to reveal Abigail in the background --
Dingo scrambles to his feet, running for his life.
Abigail gives her UV arc a twist. It retracts. She secures
it behind her back once again, unholsters a strange-looking
"bloop" GUN with a large barrel. She FIRES --
A rapidly-expanding spherule of ANTI-PERSONNEL FOAM splatters
against Dingo's legs, hardening instantly, tripping him up --
Dingo goes down again. He panics, trying to scrape the gunk
off his legs, manages to get one of his hands stuck to the
hardening mess in the process -- like a mouse in a glue-trap.
Abigail calmly approaches. She stands over Dingo, staring
down at him with a look of cruel indifference. She holsters
her bloop gun, withdraws another SILVER STAKE --
ABIGAIL
Scream if this hurts, chica.
-- and SLAMS the stake into his chest.
WIDEN OUT
Abigail turns, surveying her work. The ashen remains of the
vampires are popping and crackling like campfire embers. In
thirty-seven seconds she's managed to eliminate them all.
A train approaches, pulls into the station. PASSENGERS
disembark, flood the platform. They tramp all over the ashes
of the vampires, completely unaware of the recent slaughter.
Abigail walks against the stream of traffic, boards the train.
She is the sole passenger as the train pulls away.
INT. BLADE'S REFUGE - WHISTLER'S ROOM - NIGHT
Whistler sits on a cot, contemplating the tarnished wedding
ring on his hand. He slowly spins it around his finger.
INT. BLADE'S REFUGE - BLADE'S ROOM - NIGHT
Blade sits before a small Buddhist shrine, meditating.
Incense burns. His sword rests in a ceremonial holder. Near
silence punctuated by the intermittent ocean swell outside.
CLOSE ON BLADE'S FACE
We hear the SOUNDS OF VIOLENCE -- ECHOING SCREAMS, GUNSHOTS.
These are Blade's thoughts. The inner demons he is constantly
trying to tame. The sounds CRESCENDO and --
-- Blade opens his eyes. He listens. Something is wrong.
INT. BLADE'S REFUGE - BOAT HOUSE - NIGHT
Blade creeps into the outer room, sword drawn.
NOISE behind him, turns to see --
WHISTLER
standing in the shadows, clutching a handgun.
WHISTLER
What is it?
BLADE
What you've been worrying about.
They listen. Just the sound of the ocean swell. Then --
A WINDOW SHATTERS
TWO ARMORED SWAT AGENTS lower in on rappelling lines.
TWO MORE AGENTS
CRASH through a bank of windows on either side, swinging in.
They FIRE cannisters of TEAR GAS. As Blade moves to engage
them, Whistler RUSHES into the heart of the armory --
A reinforced door EXPLODES inward. MORE AGENTS storm inside.
FROM THE WATER,
a military Zodiac (inflatable boat) roars up one of the wooden
boat ramps, laden with gun-toting AGENTS. They jump out,
fanning all over the boat house.
He hears a
AGENT
On the floor! ON THE FLOOR!
Whistler FIRES at them, then makes a run for it. The agents
RETURN FIRE, but Whistler ducks behind a concrete pillar --
EXT. BLADE'S REFUGE - BOAT HOUSE - NIGHT
Cop cruisers, unmarked cars, and SWAT trucks sweep in, SIRENS
blaring, disgorging a small army of POLICE and FBI AGENTS.
POLICE BOATS are pulling up to the dock.
AGENTS CUMBERLAND AND HALE
emerge from an unmarked, wearing bullet-proof vests,
brandishing firearms. Cumberland barks orders into a radio.
CUMBERLAND
Lock it down! Keep them contained!
On the rooftops above, various SWAT SNIPERS take position.
INT. BLADE'S REFUGE - BOAT HOUSE - NIGHT
Blade BRAWLS with a half-dozen agents, sending them flying in
all directions. He grabs one agent, HEAD-BUTTS him, THROWS
him into the path of two others --
Then he reaches for another, THROWING him THROUGH a window at
the rear, out into the river which runs below --
ON WHISTLER
as he moves with increased urgency. The armory is filling up
with tear gas. Coughing and half-blind, he hurries to a bank
of computers, types in a series of commands --
THE VARIOUS COMPUTER MONITORS
around him synch up, showing the same protocol message:
Data protection routine enabled
-- Server 1 protection enabled...
-- Server 2 protection enabled...
In response, a rack of network storage equipment and removable
hard drives EXPLODES. Then a second rack of equipment
EXPLODES as well.
EXT. BLADE'S REFUGE - BOAT HOUSE - NIGHT
From their vantage point below, Cumberland and the others can
hear the explosions. Cumberland is on his radio, SHOUTING:
CUMBERLAN D
What's going on in there?
AGENT'S VOICE
(over radio)
Some kind of self-destruct program!
They're fragging their hard drives!
INT. BLADE'S REFUGE - BOAT HOUSE - NIGHT
Whistler keeps moving. An agent gets a clear shot at him,
FIRES -- Whistler is hit in the chest.
Blade SEES Whistler take the hit, but he's cut off from the
old man, being swarmed by agents --
BLADE
WHISTLER!
Whistler staggers, keeps moving. He makes it to another bank
of computers, launches the same protocol.
ON MORE MONITORS
Erasing information, purging themselves. We see commands:
-- Workstation 1 protection enabled
-- Workstation 2 protection enabled
With each successive command, the workstations themselves
begin self-destructing, EXPLODING one after another.
Another agent gets a bead on Whistler, FIRING a round into
Whistler's thigh. Whistler SCREAMS --
ON BLADE,
in anguish as he sees his mentor being slaughtered. Then two
agents are RUSHING HIM, tackling Blade. As one they fall
backwards, into another bank of windows --
EXT. BLADE'S REFUGE - BOAT HOUSE - NIGHT
CRASH! The three of them come FLYING DOWN in a spray of
glass, landing atop one of the police cruisers below. The
roof buckles under their weight, windows SHATTERING --
CUMBERLAND
Take him down!
An FBI AGENT raises a CODA net gun atop his shoulder, taking
aim. BA-BANG! Four projectiles expand out from the barrel,
carrying a STEEL NET which has been strung between them.
The netting hits Blade, wrapping around him, restricting his
movements. Immediately, a small army of agents DIVE on top of
him, PUMMELING AWAY, trying to beat him into submission --
INT. BLADE'S REFUGE - BOAT HOUSE - NIGHT
On the verge of losing consciousness, Whistler props himself
against a piece of machinery. He's bleeding, been shot to
hell. One of his hands is closed, clutching something.
Agents warily close in around him, guns raised.
AGENT
Move a finger and you're dead.
WHISTLER
(flipping them off)
How 'bout this one?
Whistler lets his other hand uncurl. He's got a REMOTE in his
palm, with a tiny digital timer counting-down.
AGENT #2
He's got something in his--
00:03. 00:02. 00:01. The timer reaches zero.
A SERIES OF EXPLOSIONS
rock the workshop, knocking the agents back.
EXT. BLADE'S REFUGE - BOAT HOUSE - NIGHT
CLOUDS OF FIRE and FLAMING DEBRIS MUSHROOM OUTWARD, catching
all unawares, sweeping them up off their feet with a hurricane
force. In the midst of the conflagration --
-- Blade briefly manages to tear free of his captors --
BLADE
WHISTLER!!!
-- but the wall of FIRE and LIGHT is rushing onward, sweeping
up everything in its path, turning the world to white.
INT. POLICE STATION - INTERROGATION ROOM - NIGHT
FADE IN. We are CLOSE ON Blade's perspiration-beaded face.
His eyelids flutter as he slowly regains consciousness.
CUMBERLAND (O.S.)
Rise and shine, sleepyhead.
PULL BACK. We are in a room with a one-way mirrored window.
Blade sits, hands cuffed behind him, BRIGHT LIGHTS shining
down on him. He looks disoriented, battered. Very weak.
Cumberland and Hale are sitting across from Blade.
BLADE
Who --?
CUMBERLAND
Special Agents Ray Cumberland and Wilson
Hale, FBI. We've been tracking you for a
long time.
BLADE
Whistler --
HALE
Dead. Just like all of your victims.
Blade shuts his eyes -- as if he could just wish them away.
CUMBERLAND
How many people have you killed? Thirty?
Forty? A hundred?
BLADE
Those were familiars -- people who worked
for them --
CUMBERLAND
And by "them" you mean vampires, right?
I suppose next you'll be telling us that
Bigfoot's in on the conspiracy too? So
what kills these bloodsu~kers, tough guy?
Maybe you can give us some pointers.
(counting on his ringers)
You can stake 'em, right? Then there's
sunlight -- what about crosses, Wilson?
Do those still work?
HALE
I don't know, Ray. What if a vampire's
Jewish?
CUMBERLAND
That's a good point. And does garlic work
on a Hindu vampire? Or do you need
saffron or something?
Hale laughs. Cumberland shakes his head, his smile fading.
CUMBERLAND
You can keep doing your song and dance as
long as you want, Blade, but it's not
going to play. You're a stone-cold
killer. And you're sick as fuck.
VANCE (O.S.)
Let's leave the diagnosis to the
professionals.
ANGLE ON DR. EDGAR VANCE,
standing in the doorway. He's the man we saw on Larry King.
He takes a seat by Blade, sets a leather case on a table.
VANCE
Hello, Blade. My name is Doctor Vance.
I'm with the Department of Mental Health.
I've been charged with conducting a
psychiatric evaluation of you.
(to Cumberland and Hale)
Gentleman, would you mind giving us a few
moments alone?
Cumberland nods. They rise, exiting the room. Vance smiles,
trying to project a sympathetic air.
VANCE
I imagine this must be very frightening
for you. But I want you to know that I'm
here to help. In order to do that,
however, I need to ask you some questions.
(beat)
Now. Can you tell me what day it is?
Blade just stares daggers at Vance.
VANCE
What about the President? Do you know
who's in the White House at the moment?
BLADE
An ass-hole.
VANCE
(sighing)
Alright then, let's talk about vampires --
what can you tell me about that?
INT. POLICE STATION - OBSERVATION ROOM - NIGHT
On the other side of the mirror, Cumberland and Hale have
joined Chief Vreede. We hear Blade and Vance via speakers:
BLADE
There's nothing to tell. They exist.
VANCE
And are you one of them?
INT. POLICE STATION - INTERROGATION ROOM - NIGHT
Vance sits forward, drawing closer.
VANCE
What about blood? When you drink it, do
you find yourself sexually aroused?
Blade just glares at Vance.
VANCE
You see, it strikes me that this business
of vampirism has strong connotations of
sexual confusion. Bodily fluids being
exchanged, that sort of thing. You have
to ask where that comes from. I'm
wondering, for instance, what your
relationship was like with your mother.
Were the two of you close?
Blade glares. If he escapes, he's going to kill this guy.
INT. POLICE STATION - OBSERVATION ROOM - NIGHT
Dr. Vance steps into the observation room, joining Chief
Vreede, Cumberland, and Hale.
VREEDE
What's your assessment, Doctor?
VANCE
He's psychotic, with paranoid features,
possessing dangerous levels of sociopathy.
He's exhibiting disorganized behavior. He
obviously doesn't have a properly formed
conscience --
(spreading his hands)
For his safety and the public's, I'm
recommending that he be transferred to
County Psychiatric for further treatment.
CUMBERLAND
That's unacceptable. This man's wanted in
connection with a laundry list of federal
crimes. I need him on a plane to the
Detention Center in Washington tonight.
VANCE
Agent Cumberland, that man is in no
condition to undergo prosecution.
Cumberland and Hale look to Vreede with disbelief.
HALE
Chief, we've got a federal arrest warrant
here that clearly supersedes --
VREEDE
I don't care about your warrant. We're in
my jurisdiction now. You've got an issue
with that, you take it up with the local
magistrate.
Dr. Vance shrugs as if to say he's sorry.
VANCE
I'm sorry, gentlemen, but the call has
already been made. A team from the
hospital should be here momentarily to
oversee the transfer.
INT. POLICE STATION - ENTRY WAY - NIGHT
Asher, Danica, and Grimwood enter, followed by FOUR VAMPIRES
dressed as orderlies. The orderlies carry a straightjacket,
various restraints, and a collapsible transport gurney.
Danica approaches the DESK SERGEANT, flashing a hospital ID.
DANICA
Hi. We're here to transfer a patient to
County General?
INT. POLICE STATION - INTERROGATION ROOM - NIGHT
Vance enters once more. He opens the leather case on the
table, removing a syringe and an ampule of fluid.
VANCE
(speaking softly now)
Just a little something to keep you
compliant. The normal dose is two, maybe
three hundred milligrams. But for a
strapping young hybrid like yourself --
Vance pokes the needle of the syringe into the ampule.
VANCE
-- I think we'll kick it up to a couple
thousand.
Vance reaches for Blade's arm. Blade struggles, tries to pull
back, but Vance manages to inject him nonetheless.
VANCE
There. That wasn't so bad, was it?
(smiling)
You're weak, aren't you? In need of your
serum. Who would've guessed a mere human
like myself could overpower you?
BLADE
(realizing)
You're with them -- a familiar --
VANCE
Going on five years now.
Vance extends his arm, pulling back his shirt cuff a little to
reveal a VAMPIRE GLYPH tattooed on the underside of his wrist.
Then he pulls his cuff back down, smiles at Blade.
VANCE
It's the end-game, Blade. All their plans
are finally coming to fruition. So just
sit back and enjoy the show.
Blade looks to the one-way mirror, SCREAMS.
BLADE
He's one of them! Damnit, he's working
for them!
Vance looks to the one-way mirror as well and shrugs as if to
say -- "The man's deranged. What can I do?"
INT. POLICE STATION - OBSERVATION ROOM - NIGHT
On the other side of the glass, Blade looks like a raging
lunatic. Vance enters. He extends his hand to Vreede.
They shake. As they do so, we SEE a vampire GLYPH on the
inside of Vreede's wrist as well. Another familiar.
INT. POLICE STATION - INTERROGATION ROOM - NIGHT
Blade stares at his own reflection in the mirror. He blinks,
trying to focus -- but the drug is starting to kick in.
INT. POLICE STATION - HALLWAY - NIGHT
An elevator door opens. Asher, Danica, and Grimwood exit,
followed by the orderlies who are now wheeling the gurney. As
they move down the corridor, they pass --
-- Cumberland and Hale, who are chasing down Chief Vreede.
CUMBERLAND
Just hold it right there --
Danica shoves Cumberland aside, hard, keeps moving past him.
Cumberland looks to Hale. Something isn't right about this.
INT. POLICE STATION - INTERROGATION ROOM - NIGHT
Blade struggles, in the full throes of the drug now.
BLADE'S POV
His vision is blurring, various objects in the room leaving
trails as he shifts his head from side to side and --
ASHER, DANICA, AND GRIMWOOD
enter, followed by two of the orderlies. Despite his
incapacitation, Blade attempts to rise. Danica plants her
heel in his chest, shoving him back down.
DANICA
Easy, lover. You're not going anywhere.
She draws closer, enjoying herself.
DANICA
We moved the humans around like, pawns,
Blade. Used them to flush you out.
Blade tries to LUNGE from his chair at her and -- WHACK!
Grimwood punches Blade across the jaw. A brutal blow.
GRIMWOOD
Don't worry, Captain Sunshine. Soon as we
get you out of here, you'll get a chance
to play.
Danica motions to the two vampire orderlies. They step
forward with the straight-jacket, start to put it on Blade.
Blade THRASHES madly. Asher LAUGHS, enjoying this.
DANICA
Don't make this any harder than it has to
be. You're all alone, Blade. No one can
help you now.
BA-BOOM! The one-way mirror SHATTERS, exploding outward in a
shower of SLOW-MOTION GLASS FRAGMENTS, carrying with it --
-- a BODY, one of the vampire mental health flunkies --
ASHING in mid-air as he sails into the room! Seconds later --
A MAN
VAULTS through the blown-out window, simultaneously drawing
two high-tech electronic pistols.
Meet HANNIBAL KING (30s), an audacious vampire hunter with an
irrepressible grin. Slapped to his chest is a "Hello, my name
is" sticker with the words "FUCK YOU" written where the name
should be.
KING
Why'd the Polish vampire starve to death?
Danica spins, enraged, recognizing King instantly --
KING
He kept biting his own lip.
DANICA
King!
The lights go out. Immediately, backup lights come on,
followed by FIRE ALARMS. In the ensuing confusion ~ both
pistols at Asher, who drops, allowing one of the vampire
orderlies behind him to take the hit.
THE VAMPIRE ORDERLY ASHES
But unlike Blade's victims, he disintegrates from the inside
out. (The reason is King's signature bullets -- SUN DOGS,
explosive rounds that give off concentrated UV light.)
King whips around, FIRING at --
-- Danica, who LEAPS behind the table. She quickly upends it,
using it as a shield, FLINGING it at King.
ON BLADE
He shifts his weight, throwing himself and the chair he's
sitting on to the floor. Then he KICKS OUT AND UP --
-- connecting with Grimwood's mid-section, sending him FLYING
BACKWARDS -- straight through the wall into the next room!
King holsters one of his pistols and hauls Blade up. At the
same time, he FIRES on Asher again, missing him --
KING
Let's FLY, kemosabe!
King drags Blade to the door --
INT. POLICE STATION - HALLWAY - NIGHT
-- into the neighboring corridor. Cumberland and Hale SEE
them. They reach for their weapons --
CUMBERLAND
He's getting away!
King FIRES into the room behind him, then pulls a GRENADE
secured to a bandolier and tosses it through the doorway --
An EXPLOSION rocks the interrogation room, filling the
corridor with smoke, knocking Cumberland and Hale back.
King turns his attention to Blade's handcuffs, FIRING between
them, freeing Blade's hands. Blade collapses against the
wall. He's shaking, close to passing out.
KING
Don't die on me, you undead motherfucker!
King drags Blade up. They continue down the corridor to --
ABIGAIL, THE FEMALE VAMPIRE HUNTER
we met earlier. She's engaged in hand-to-hand combat with a
half-dozen UNIFORMED OFFICERS. Three of them are already
down. In seconds, she finishes off the other three.
KING
Whistler! We need that serum NOW!
Whistler? Abigail spins, dispatching the last officer with a
kick to the mid-section while tossing a PNEUMATIC INJECTOR at
King. He snatches it, places it in Blade's hands.
Blade injects himself in the neck. Moments later, he's
reenergized. He looks to King, clear-eyed.
KING
Hey Blacula, you ready to shake and bake?
Blade responds by PUNCHING King across the jaw.
BLADE
Call me that again and I'll give you
fucking brain damage.
King massages his jaw, tossing Blade a pistol even as --
-- Grimwood rounds the corner, hungry for blood, TWO MORE
VAMPIRE ORDERLIES behind him.
Blade FIRES round after round of EXPLOSIVE BULLETS, causing
Grimwood and the others to fall back. Blade and King move,
joining Abigail. MORE SMOKE, darkness, only the emergency
lights to illuminate the station.
UP AHEAD,
a group of POLICEMEN spill from a stairwell, armed with bullet
proof vests. They OPEN FIRE --
Blade, King, and Abigail retreat into an alcove. They're
pinned down between the vampires and a group of policemen.
KING
We're pinned down!
(to Blade)
Can't you do something?!
BLADE
I can't shoot around corners!
ABIGAIL
I can.
As King and Blade lay down COVER FIRE, Abigail reaches behind
her, withdrawing a device that's been secured there. She
gives it a SNAP and it springs open, taking the shape of a --
FUTURISTIC COMPOUND BOW
Crafted from aluminum, its limbs imbedded in key positions
with vibration-dampening modules, this bow is capable of
firing an arrow upwards of 300 feet-per-second.
Abigail withdraws a SILVER ARROW with a time-delay explosive
tip from her quiver, nocks it in her bow and takes aim at --
A FIRE EXTINGUISHER
mounted at the end of the corridor. She lets her arrow fly --
MOVING WITH THE ARROW
as it banks off the side of the fire extinguisher, continuing
down the side corridor where it embeds itself in --
-- the shoulder of one of the vampires! The vampire SCREAMS,
grabbing the shaft, ripping it out. Then we --
MACRO-ZOOM ON THE ARROW HEAD
A tiny "egg-timer" dial on the arrowhead spins. It CLICKS in
place, a RED LED comes on, and --
-- the arrowhead EXPLODES, catching all three vampires with
the full force of a UV BLAST. Grimwood ducks away from the
blast as the other two vampires ASH --
BLADE, KING, AND ABIGAIL
come racing out of the alcove. They reach a stairwell. Blade
RIPS a steel door clear off its hinges, tossing it down the
stairwell at a phalanx of COP REINFORCEMENTS who are charging
up the stairs. The cops go down like ten-pins.
Blade and company have an opening. But as they charge
downward --
BLADE
(as King and Abigail
freeze)
My sword. They still have it.
KING
(apoplectic)
Are you insane?! We're practically home
free! We can't go hunting for your
fucking butter-knife now!
But Blade is already heading back the way they came and --
KING
Hey! HEY!!! COME BACK HERE!!! This is
supposed to be a rescue!
-- Abigail grabs King's shoulder, pulling him to the stairs.
ABIGAIL
Forget it, King. Let's move.
POLICE STATION - NIGHT
King and Abigail rush outside. The station is gated. FLASHING
POLICE CARS are surging through the mouth of the gate.
They're trapped. Then --
CRASH!
A window on the third floor of the station EXPLODES OUTWARD.
Blade drops three stories, landing before King and Abigail in
a cat-like crouch. With his sword in his hand. He looks at
King, grins, flips him off.
BLADE
Now we can go.
KING
(nudging Abigail)
Is he epic or what?
The police close in around them, pinning the trio down with
FIREPOWER. Yet King and Abigail seem unconcerned because --
HEADLIGHTS
are washing over them. A beefed-up, 70s Land Cruiser is
SCREAMING up the street. The Cruiser jumps onto the sidewalk,
SMASHES right through the gated wall. SCREECHES to a stop
between our trio and the police cars.
A DRIVER (DEX)
leans out his window, gives a little wave as the rear doors
pop open. Gruff and compact, he looks like a prize-fighter.
DEX
My name is Dex. And I'll be saving your
ass this evening.
Blade, King, and Abigail scramble into the back of the Land
Cruiser. Dex reverses, backing out the way he came.
The police from the squad cars are FIRING, but the Land
Cruiser is armored and the bullets harmlessly SPARK off.
INT. LAND CRUISER - NIGHT
In the backseat, Abigail looks through the rear windshield --
ABIGAIL'S POV
Grimwood is running after them, actually gaining on the Land
Cruiser. Chewing up the asphalt like a cheetah.
EXT. LAND CRUISER - NIGHT
Abigail leans out the rear window, nocking a non-UV arrow in
her bow. She takes aim at Grimwood, lets the arrow fly --
SHUNKT! The arrow sinks into Grimwood's eye. He goes down,
his somersaulting figure quickly receding into the background
as the Land Cruiser speeds away.
INT. LAND CRUISER - NIGHT
Safe for the moment, King basks in the adrenaline rush of a
battle well fought. Meanwhile, Dex is on a cell phone.
DEX
We have him. We'll be there soon.
KING
(to Blade)
So my entrance back there -- what do you
think? Too flashy? Right on the money?
King unhuckles his combat harness, revealing a bullet-proof
vest bereath it that's been riddled with imbedded slugs.
BLADE
Who are you people?
KING
My name's Hannibal King. I'm a hunter,
like you.
(re: Abigail)
And this little hellion is Abigail
Whistler.
Abigail just stares back at Blade, silently appraising him.
KING
That's right, Blade. You're not hearing
things. She's Whistler's daughter. You
see, Abby, Dex, myself -- we're all part
of Whistler's "contingency plan".
King reaches into an inner pocket, pulls out a pack of gum.
He selects a stick, offers one to Blade.
KING
Juicyfruit?
EXT. CITY STREETS - NIGHT
The Land Cruiser rockets away, disappearing into the night.
EXT. LUNA PARK - NIGHT
The Land Cruiser moves across an abandoned lot towards the
weed-choked ruins of an old amusement park. We pass by the
skeletal remains of a roller-coaster, a tilt-a-whirl, the
vandalized and wood-rotted remnants of a carousel.
Finally, the Land Cruiser turns towards a motorized loading
door in the side of a large warehouse and disappears inside.
INT. WAREHOUSE/GARAGE - NIGHT
As the door grinds closed, the Land Cruiser stops. King and
Abigail lead Blade through the darkness. In the gloom we see
a half-dozen vehicles in various stages of being retrofitted
with armored panels and weaponry, etc. SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS
mounted above track their progress.
BLADE
I thought the vampires murdered
Whistler's family.
ABIGAIL
They did. I'm the product of an earlier
fling of my Dad's, born out of wedlock.
After the murders happened, he kept me
hidden. He wanted me safe. Away from all
of this --
(gesturing around them)
-- but I guess hunting just runs in our
blood.
As King and Abigail lead Blade towards a stairway, Blade
catches sight of --
A LITTLE GIRL (5)
peering down at him from atop one of the rafters. As soon as
he spots her, she ducks into the shadows.
They reach the stairway. AUTOMATED GUNS mounted on swivel
arms lock on them with infra-red targeting beams.
ABIGAIL
When I came of age, I tracked my Dad
down, told him I wanted in.
(beat, shrugging)
Been doing it ever since.
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - NIGHT
We enter a sprawling industrial facility that is equal parts
mechanics shop, firing range, and laboratory. We glimpse a
virtual arsenal of new weaponry and medical equipment,
including DNA sequencers, microfuges, and electroporaters.
The new equipment fights for space alongside the old -
mountains of mothballed parts from the park's broken thrill
rides. Here and there we see the oversized fiberglass head of
a grinning fun-house creature or the mildewed torso of a
fortune-telling mannequin, frozen in its upended booth.
KING
Welcome to the honeycomb hideout.
BLADE
(looking around)
How do you bankroll this place?
KING
Internet porn. See, we're using cock
suckers to pay for the blood-suckers.
(off Blade's look)
Joke. Come on, man. This isn't some
piddly little hoopty-ass operation, Blade.
We take our jobs very seriously.
UP AHEAD,
TWO OTHERS pause in their work as King approaches. Dex falls
in behind them.
HEDGES (20s) is an engineer, always lost in his own world.
SOMMERFIELD (30s) is a frail-looking geneticist. She's also
blind, operating her computers via a voice-synthesis program
and Braille keyboard.
KING
You met Dex. This is Hedges, Sommerfield--
King gestures to them in turn. They're all refugees in one
way or another, sharing a common guardedness, their lives
having been shattered by the vampires.
KING
(nodding back)
The runt you saw earlier is Sommerfield's
daughter, Zoe. We call ourselves the
Nightstalkers.
BLADE
You sound like rejects from a Saturday
morning cartoon.
KING
We were gonna call ourselves the Super
Friends, but that was taken.
Abigail rids herself of her weapons -- bow, arrows, silver
stakes and knives. She hands her compound bow to Hedges.
ABIGAIL
Tiller needs adjustment.
HEDGES
I'll run it through the bow press.
Blade examines some of the equipment being developed.
BLADE
How many of you are there total?
KING
Enough. We operate in sleeper cells.
When one goes down, a new cell activates
to pick up the slack. Consider us your
reinforcements.
BLADE
Sorry. Never been much of a team player.
SOMMERFIELD
I don't think you understand, Blade.
Whistler meant for us to help you. When
he died, he activated an emergency
protocol. All his knowledge --
She gestures to the computer equipment around her.
SOMMERFIELD
--was transferred to our servers here.
BLADE
And what makes you think you know so much
about killing vampires?
King reaches for his collar, pulling it down to reveal a
telltale mass of scar tissue in the shape of a BITE MARK.
KING
Well for starters, I used to be one.
(in a sinister tone)
Do I pass the audition?
CUT TO:
EXT. PHOENIX TOWERS - NIGHT
We soar through the night sky, diving down towards a cluster
of gleaming, high-tech spires. As we isolate a penthouse
apartment atop one of them we hear an ANGRY SCREAM.
DANICA (O.S.)
Fucking Hannibal King!
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - PENTHOUSE - NIGHT
An impressively decorated loft bespeaking of money, power, and
a certain perverse esthetic. Danica slams her fist straight
through the wall, then spins around, enraged.
Asher and Grimwood are there too, their wounds being treated
by Hendrix and a VAMPIRE TECHNICIAN. At tie moment, they're
trying to remove the arrow protruding from Grimwood's eye.
An enormous ROTTWEILER sits nearby, attentively watching. A
TRIO OF GUARDS flinch with every act of violence. Danica is
strong. Clearly, no one wants to get in her way.
DANICA
I should've ripped his ripped his
bleeding heart out when I had the chance!
(pointing at Asher)
And don't you dare tell me "I told you
so"!
Asher raises his hands as if to say "no harm, no foul".
Danica continues her tantrum, SMASHING a statue apart,
SHATTERING a heavy glass tabletop. Finally, she gives it a
rest, collapsing into a chair, shoulders sagging.
ASHER
You through remodeling?
DANICA
Blow me.
ASHER
Face it, Dan. We got caught with our
pants down. We underestimated the
Nightstalkers.
GRIMWOOD
Pants down?! They practically fucking
ass-raped us!
Grimwood GRUNTS in pain as the arrow is removed. Asher
broaches a more serious subject.
ASHER
Has he been told yet?
VOICE (O.S.)
About your failure?
A MAN (30s) enters the room. The same being we glimpsed in
the vault. He has a haunting gaze and a commanding presence.
We will learn who he is momentarily. But for now, it's enough
to know that everyone in the room pays him deference.
MAN
Yes, I've been told.
He places a hand on Danica's shoulder. She tenses.
MAN
Perhaps it's time I entered the fray.
CUT TO:
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - NIGHT
CLOSE ON King buttoning his collar back up. Blade, Abigail,
and Sommerfield are gathered around him.
KING
You know the kind of woman that just
screams trouble? You see her and every
warning bell in your brain starts going
off but you still ask for her number?
Well that's all I ever hook up with. But
this betty blew 'em all away in the
shitstorm sweepstakes.
King reaches out to a keyboard, calling up a piece of
surveillance footage on a nearby monitor. The footage
features Asher and Danica and Grimwood. It's been slowed to a
near standstill and now advances frame by frame.
KING
Her name's Danica Talos. You met her
earlier. The man on her left is Asher,
her brother.
King types a command. The image ZOOMS IN, tracking Grimwood.
KING
The neanderthal behind them is Jarko
Grimwood.
King freezes the footage on Danica's grainy, pixelated face.
KING
I picked Danica up in a bar, had a one
night stand with her -- then spent the
next five years playing step-and-fetch-it
as her little vampire cabana boy.
(beat)
Eventually Abigail found me. Sommerfield
here managed to treat me with a cure. Now
I kill them.
(beat)
That's called turning a frown upside
down.
ABIGAIL
We need to pool our resources, Blade.
BLADE
Why?
ABIGAIL
Because He's come back.
King tosses a TOMB OF DRACULA comic book over to Blade. Blade
glances at the cover, then looks at them, incredulous.
BLADE
You gotta be kidding me.
KING
He's real, Blade. Dig beneath all the
movies and myths. All the layers of
bullshit that've cluttered our culture for
the last five hundred years and eventually
you'll strike the truth.
BLADE
(incredulous)
So the movies are true?
KING
(shaking his head)
The movies are just a comforting
fairytale compared to the real deal.
There's no happy ending with this guy.
Peter Cushing isn't going to run in at the
last second and save the day with a cross
and some holy water.
(re: the comicbook)
See, good old Brain Stoker, he wrote a
nice yarn. But the events he described in
1897 were only a tiny piece of the mosaic.
The rea1 Dracula's origin goes back much
earlier than that.
BLADE
How early?
ABIGAIL
Try six or seven thousand years.
Off Blade's astonished look we --
CUT TO:
EXT. MESOPOTAMIA - NIGHT
FLASH! We see the man we met earlier (DRACULA/DRAKE) on the
banks of the river Euphrates, striding towards us, engaged in
fierce battle with UBAIDIAN SOLDIERS. He's clutching the same
sword we saw in the ziggurat, clad in the same armor.
KING (V.0.)
Dracula's only one of the names he's gone
by. Now they call him Drake. If you
believe the legends, he was born in
ancient Sumeria.
As Drake SLASHES his sword downward we CUT BACK TO --
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - NIGHT
-- King continuing his story. As the hunter's monologue
progresses we will INTERCUT with Drake's own progression
through history. Brief, violent FLASHBACKS.
(NOTE: The backgrounds surrounding Drake will be
expressionistic, digital composites, constantly shifting. The
focus of the flashes is Drake himself, fighting a shadowy
horde, his attire continually evolving through time.)
KING
Nobody really knows the specifics of his
origin. But we do know this: he was the
first of his kind. The patriarch of the
hominus nocturna.
EXT. EGYPTIAN DESERT - NIGHT
FLASH! We are in Egypt now, circa 1650 BC. Drake wages war
against the HYKSOS. He is closer to the camera. And will
continue to move closer with each successive flashback.
KING (V.0.)
Every single vampire -- every single
monster that's walked the earth since then
-- owes their existence to Him.
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - NIGHT
Back to King, holding court before Blade and Abigail.
KING
He's like the Patient Zero of evil. The
original Serpent in the Garden of Eden.
And just like the Great White shark, he's
never had to evolve. This guy was born
perfect. Scour the history books --
EXT. THRACE - NIGHT
FLASH! The Peloponnesian War, Southern Thrace, circa 405 BC.
We see Dracula battling ATHENIANS. Even closer now, his face
spattered with blood. At the same time, the SOUNDTRACK is
gradually swelling, expanding in complexity and volume.
KING (V.0.)
-- read between the lines --
EXT. HUNGARIA - NIGHT
FLASH! 5th century AD, battling the GOTHS. With every swipe
of his sword, we WIPE FORWARD into the future.
KING (V.0.)
-- you'll find countless references to
Him. Always mentioned, never named.
EXT. EUROPE - NIGHT
FLASH! 8th century AD, the reign of Charlemagne. Battling
the VIKINGS. The FLASHBACKS come faster now, assaulting us
with ever-increasing rapidity.
Drake continues striding forward while the rest of the world
evolves around him, centuries whizzing by via computer
generated time-lapse photography.
KING (V.0.)
He's been there --
EXT. VARIOUS - NIGHT
FLASH! 12th century AD, the time of the Crusades. The
violence intensifies.
KING (V.0.)
-- moving behind the scenes --
FLASH! 17th century France, the time of Louis the XIV. The
pace becomes breathless.
KING (V.0.)
-- cutting a bloody path through the Ages
until suddenly --
FLASH! 18th century Russia, the time of Peter the Great. The
soundtrack is THUNDEROUS. Drake has become a bloody blur of
bestial rage and unfettered horror and --
KING (V.0.)
-- just like that --
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - NIGHT
-- King SNAPS his fingers. We are back in the present.
KING
-- he up and disappeared. About a century
ago the trail went cold. Then we heard a
rumor. The vampires were searching for
him -- trying to find the place where he'd
retreated. According to our information,
they found him in Iraq about six months
ago.
(beat)
And he was pissed.
EXT. DOWNTOWN COMMERCIAL DISTRICT - NIGHT
Grime. Neon. Near-silence as the cacophonous soundtrack
recedes into the background, replaced by the steady drone of
inner-city TRAFFIC.
ON DRAKE,
viewed through a long-lens, clad in modern, casual attire,
striding in SLOW-MOTION down a PEDESTRIAN-CHOKED sidewalk.
Slower. A HEARTBEAT. The pulse of the people. And over
this, intruding, the Doppler effect WAILING of an approaching
car as it rushes past us in a SCREEN WIPE until we are --
OUTSIDE A GOTH STORE
Drake studies a window display. Halloween merchandise.
Costumes and monster masks and -- VAMPIRE NOVELTIES. We see
vampire lunchboxes, Dracula plush dolls, plastic fangs, key
chains. Even Dracula bobbleheads.
Drake stands in stark contrast to the mass-marketed caricature
on display before him.
INT. GOTH STORE - NIGHT
Drake enters. The store is crowded with low-end junky goods
that might appeal to tourists visiting Hollywood Boulevard.
A pallid, Goth-guy CASHIER sits behind a counter, eating from
a takeout container. He's wafer thin, with a detached
attitude. A snot. Further back is a sultry GOTH VIXEN.
Behind them, on a TV, a cartoon is playing. An animated
vampire cavorts -- "LITTLE BIT" (like the Hot Stuff devil from
Ritchie Rich comicbooks)
DRAKE
In the window -- you sell vampire
merchandise?
Goth Guy looks up, wiping his mouth with a napkin. Doesn't
want to engage with Drake at all.
GOTH GUY
Uh, yeah -- look around, we might have a
few things.
He and the Goth Vixen have a snicker at Drake's expense. Then
she tries to be a little more helpful.
GOTH VIXEN
We've got Dracula lunchboxes. Did you
see those? And there're bobbleheads, Pez
dispensers. We've got just about
anything --
(selecting a vampire-
shaped vibrator, playful)
-- even vampire vibrators.
As Drake looks around, what he sees matches his ascending
rage. Costumes, candles, vampire Christmas ornaments.
Posters from different films -- Nosferatu, Lugosi, Lee -- then
Love at First Bite and The Little Vampire.
GOTH VIXEN
Here, check this out --
She reaches into a case, pulling out a soft-drink. The label
reads: "DRA-COLA" and has a stylized vampire on it.
GOTH VIXEN
"Dracola". Makes you want to cry,
doesn't it?
Drake just stares at the can. His mind seems to have
retreated elsewhere. Back through the ages.
GOTH VIXEN
Was there something special you needed?
Drake doesn't respond. A kind of melancholy has settled over
him. He's an outsider now. The world has moved on.
GOTH-GUY
Hey, guy, she's talking to you.
Drake looks up as Goth Guy pours a bowl of Count Chocula.
EXT. GOTH STORE - NIGHT
CRASH! Goth Guy comes flying through the display window, his
trajectory taking his body clear across the street and into
the display window of the store opposite us.
INT. GOTH STORE - NIGHT
Goth Vixen SCREAMS. Drake LASHES out. hauling her over the
counter. He sinks his teeth into her throat, drinking her
blood with wild abandon. He consumes it so quickly that his
skin flushes BRIGHT RED.
Then Drake tears his head away, lifting his face upward as he
flings the girl aside, unleashing an ear-splitting ROAR. And
for a brief moment, the bones of his face seem to shift, once
again hinting at another shape Drake might take.
EXT. THE CITY - VARIOUS
DRAKE's ROAR echoes through the canyons of downtown.
CUT TO:
EXT. LUNA PARK - NIGHT/DAY
Time-lapse. The sun rises over the decrepit amusement park.
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - ARMORY - DAWN
Sunlight slices down through skylights, bathing Blade, King,
Abigail, and Sommerfield in its warmth. Zoe has joined them.
She's still cautious and shy, but she's also curious.
BLADE
Why wake up Drake now?
ABIGAIL
That's what we've been trying to figure
out.
KING
When I was under the fang there used to be
talk about some kind of vampire 'Final
Solution'. But I could never figure out
why they'd want to destroy their food
source. I mean, seems stupid, right?
They've always had plans for the human
race. Seems likely that whatever they're
cooking up, Drake's return is a part of
it.
Blade nods, pensive.
KING (CONT'D)
Let's face it, Blade -- we're fighting a
losing battle.
So we kill a few hundred of them a year.
Big deal. There are thousands of them out
there. Maybe tens of th'usands. We need
a new tactic.
BLADE
Like what?
SOMMERFIELD
A biological weapon.
Sommerfield moves to her Braille keyboard, types.
ON A NEARBY MONITOR
we SEE a real-time magnified view of a virus replicating.
SOMMERFIELD (CONT' D)
For the last year I've been~working with
synthesized DNA in order to create an
artificial virus targeted specifically at
vampires. We're calling it DayStar.
KING
Think about it, Blade. We could wipe
them all out in a single move.
BLADE
So what's been holding you back?
SOMMERFIELD
(sighing)
We've tried it on a number of captive
subjects. We've got the disease vector
worked out fine -- it's easily
transmittable. But the lethality in
vampires is still spotty.
ABIGAIL
Bottom line is, we need a better DNA
sample to work with.
(beat)
We need Dracula's blood.
SOMMERFIELD
Vampire DNA is a hodge-podge of different
genes, mixed in with all sorts of useless
junk DNA. Because Dracula's the
progenitor of the vampire race, his DNA is
still pure. It hasn't been diluted by a
hundred generations of selective mutation.
It still has all the necessary cellular
compounds for the virus to code to. We
get his blood, we can boost Daystar's
viral efficacy to a hundred percent.
KING
So. You want to join our club? Can we
sign you up for a Nightstalkers secret
decoder ring?
CUT TO:
EXT. PHOENIX TOWERS - DAY
Establishing. The Sun at it's zenith
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - DRAKE'S QUARTERS - DAY
A darkened room, relatively austere. The only source of light
are a series of small, slitted skylights in the ceiling above.
From these skylights, narrow, blinding white shafts of
sunlight knife downward to penetrate the gloom.
DRAKE
sits in a chair, his body partially illuminated by one of the
sunlight shafts, his face turned upward into its brilliance.
FOOTSTEPS. Drake opens his eyes, SEES Danica hovering in the
darkness, just on the edge of a shaft of light.
DRAKE
This world sickens me. The humans have
soiled it with their filth.
DANICA
We can raze their cities to the ground.
We can bring the old world back.
Drake just stares at her, not convinced.
DRAKE
Come closer.
DANICA
(re: light)
I can't.
DRAKE
And do you know why?
(off Danica's silence)
Once, all of my kind could brave the day.
We were true predators. The world was
ours. And then, somewhere along the way,
the purity of our bloodline became
diluted. Polluted with human DNA.
DANICA
That's impossible --
DRAKE
Is it?
Drake stands, drawing close to Danica. He grips her wrist --
DRAKE
You are bastard children. No longer as
pure as you pride yourselves on being.
-- and pulls her hand towards one of the sunlight shafts. To
her credit, Danica keeps staring at Drake. She'll be damned
if she will give him the satisfaction of seeing her break.
Drake pulls her hand closer to the light -- to the very edge.
And the tips of Danica's fingers begin to burn. She winces,
clearly in agony --
-- and Drake releases her hand. She cradles it against her
chest, blinking away tears that have welled up in her eyes.
DRAKE
My people. How far you have fallen.
Drake reaches out, brushes a tear from Danica's cheek, then
turns and walks away -- through the alternating shafts of
sunlight and darkness.
CUT TO:
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - ARMORY - DAY
Blade, King, and Abigail stand before a table where an
assortment of weaponry and ammunition has been laid out on
display. Hedges is there too, assisting them. Zoe watches.
HEDGES
We've got a wide assortment of ass-
kickery for your viewing pleasure --
(hefting a pistol)
Electronic pistol. Comes with a built-in
fingerprint security system. Fires a
three-shot burst in 1/500th of a second.
Bullets can also be triggered remotely.
King tosses Blade a bullet. He studies it -- it's more
complex than a standard round.
BLADE
Explosive rounds?
KING
But with a concentrated burst of UV light
instead of your standard hollow-points. I
call 'em sun dogs.
(to Hedges)
Hedges -- super-size me, baby!
Hedges tosses King one of the four-barreled firearms. On the
stock is an irreverent decal of the mud-flap girl silhouette.
KING
This little mamacita -- a modified
version of the Army's Objective
Individual Combat Weapon. Pick your
poison -- stakes, sun dogs, heat-seeking
mini-rockets. Whatever gets you hard,
this puppy will pump out.
(gesturing to Blade's
sword, sarcastic)
Of course it doesn't have the range of a
sword but --
Next, Hedges shows Blade the CRESCENT-SHAPED DEVICE that
Abigail used. He gives the device a twist and --
HEDGES
We call this the UV arc --
CHINKT! The device extends from either end, telescoping
outward. Connecting the tips is a concentrated UV LASER.
HEDGES
You hold the arc in the center, curved
away from you. Connecting the tips is a
powerful UV laser beam. Because of its
high focus, the laser cuts through vampire
flesh like a knife through butter.
KING
We're still trying to sort out fact from
fiction when it comes to Dracula. Turning
into mist? Kinda doubt it. But general
shape-shifting? Maybe.
HEDGES
(off Blade's look)
Not into a bat or a wolf or anything like
that. But another human, someone with the
same approximate body mass -- given enough
practice it might be possible.
BLADE
How?
HEDGES
He wouldn't have a traditional skeletal
structure. Probably something more like a
snake, with thousands of tiny bones in the
place of a normal array. Commensurate
with this would be an exquisite control of
electrical potential across his tissues,
resulting in an ability to effectively
change shape at will --
KING
(raising his hand)
Question. Have you ever been laid,
Hedges?
CUT TO:
INT. WAREHOUSE/GARAGE - DAY
Blade, King, and Abigail, newly suited up for war, moving
towards the Land Cruiser.
BLADE
Time to apply some pressure. The weak
link in the vampire chain of command has
always been their familiars. Vampires
can't go out in the day, so they get
humans to do their dirty work for them
Blood-running, safe house maintenance,
whatever --
(climbing in the Cruiser)
We bleed the wanna-be vampires, they'll
lead us to the real thing.
Blade starts the ENGINE.
INT. LAND CRUISER - DAY
Blade looks to Abigail, who sits in the back. She has a
laptop on her knees and is assembling an MP3 playlist.
KING
She's making playlists. Likes to listen
to MP3s when she hunts. Her own internal
soundtrack, you know? Dark-core, trip
hop, whatever kids these days are
listening to. Me? I'm more of a Kenny G
fan.
Finished, Abigail slips her earbuds into her ears, turns on
her portable MP3 player. MUSIC CUE. The smoking bassline of
Jurassic 5's 'A Day At The Races' kicks in as --
EXT. CITY STREETS - VARIOUS - DAY
-- Blade, King, and Abigail cruise the streets in a jagged
fast-forward montage.
EXT. SEEDY BAR - DAY
The Land Cruiser jumps the curb, SCREECHING to a stop in front
of a scuzzy bar. Amidst a wall covered with graffiti and
flyers we see a vampire glyph.
INT. SEEDY BAR - DAY
BANG! Blade KICKS open the door. A couple of LOW-LIFES take
notice. Blade moves around the bar, opening a refrigerator -
we see packs of REFRIGERATED BLOOD inside.
One of the low-lifes takes off running, back past the
bathroom, shouldering a door at the rear --
EXT. SEEDY BAR - REAR ENTRANCE - DAY
-- STUMBLING right into Abigail's arms. She trips him up,
swinging him around, pinning an arm behind him. She pulls the
back of his collar down, sees a VAMPIRE GLYPH --
We can't hear what the familiar is saying, but he's squealing,
raising his hands in a "please don't hit me anymore" manner.
EXT. CITY STREETS - VARIOUS - DAY
The Land Cruiser rockets down the streets.
EXT. VAMPIRE SAFE HOUSES - VARIOUS - DAY
In quick succession we see a half-dozen underworld dives --
-- a pool hall --
-- an internet cafe --
-- an electronics repair shop --
All are fronts for vampire operations, featuring back rooms
with refrigerated blood and high-tech coffin-like beds where
the vampires can safely sleep through the day unmolested.
In each new location, Blade, King, and Abigail resort to
oldfashioned strong-arm tactics:
-- Blade HEAD-BUTTS a familiar.
-- King PUNCHES a familiar across the jaw.
-- Abigail KICKS a familiar in the stomach.
Cut to a flurry of EXTREME CLOSE-UPS of VAMPIRE GLYPHS being
exposed on the backs of familiar's necks, one after another --
THEN A MONTAGE OF FACES
as familiars have their heads cainfully SMASHED against --
-- walls --
-- car hoods --
-- pool tables --
-- into windows and doors and garbage cans.
The bullying moves come faster, the shots becoming more and
more abstract until --
EXT. CITY ROOFTOP - DAY
-- WHAM! Blade tosses HOOP, a skinny familiar, off a roof.
It's a four story drop. Hoop falls, SCREAMING -- but then
jerks to a stop about twenty feet down, dangling upside down.
We see now that Hoop has rope tied around one of Hoop's
ankles. And Blade is clutching the other end of the rope.
Blade hauls Hoop back up -- but still keeps him dangling
upside down. King and Abigail look on.
BLADE
Want another spin, ass-hole? Eventually,
your head's gonna pop off.
HOOP
Shit! Oh Jesus, please, please --
BLADE
Who's your handler?
HOOP
I don't know his name, I swear I --
Blade prepares to drop Hoop again --
-- but a CELL PHONE in Hoop's jacket RINGS. Blade fishes it
out. The screen reads: EDGAR VANCE, 555-5631.
EXT. CITY STREET - DAY
Dr. Vance, the psychiatrist who gave Blade the mental
evaluation, is cruising in his Pacific Blue XKB convertible
Jaguar. He's wearing sunglasses, talking on his cell phone.
VANCE
This is Dr. Vance. Did someone page me?
EXT. CITY ROOFTOP - DAY
Blade ends the call, then looks to Hoop, smiling cruelly.
Blade lets Hoop drop. The familiar PLUNGES four stories,
SCREAMING. Lands dead-center in a Goodwill box below.
CUT TO:
EXT. VANCE INSTITUTE FOR WHOLE BEING - DAY
A high-tech office complex surrounded by meticulously-groomed
grounds. A sign with a swanky "VANCE INSTITUTE" logo zooms.
Blade, King, and Abigail approach, taking note of Vance's
Jaguar (complete with vanity plate), parked in front.
KING
Hey, Blade -- why didn't the vampire bite
Mick Jagger?
(off Blade's look)
Cause you can't get blood from a Stone.
As Blade walks off --
KING (CONT'D)
Hey, they can't all be gems!
INT. VANCE INSTITUTE FOR WHOLE BEING - LOBBY - DAY
The trio enter, drawing stares from a number of PATIENTS
gathered in a reception area. Nearby is a large display with
Vance's grinning face. Beneath it, text reads:
EDGAR VANCE, M.D.
PRESIDENT, VANCE INSTITUTE FOR WHOLE BEING
Nearby is a bank of monitors showing a snazzy video featuring
a BEAUTIFUL YOUNG COUPLE marvelling at a sunrise.
NARRATOR
(on monitors)
Regain control of your life. Wake to a
new dawn. At the Vance Institute for
Whole Being we believe in an integrated
approach to human health.
The image cuts to Vance himself, poised on the edge of his
desk, smiling. As Blade and company move through the
institute, the video plays counterpoint to their progress.
VANCE
I'm Dr. Vance. Welcome to our facility.
As a member of the medical profession I
want to assure you that I will do
everything in my power ro provide you with
the care and compassion that you deserve.
Past the RECEPTION DESK are the elevators with more monitors
showing the video greeting. As Blade, King, and Abigail
approach, TWO SECURITY GUARDS move to intercept them.
SECURITY GUARD
Excuse me, can I help y--
CRACK! Blade effortlessly tosses the guards aside, sending
them CRASHING into the nearest monitors.
INT. VANCE INSTITUTE - HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS
The trio continue. A DOCTOR steps out of a doorway. King
PUNCHES him in the face. We see another video monitor.
VANCE
What does it mean to be human? Since the
dawn of creation our ancestors have asked
ourselves that question.
They round the corner --
INT. VANCE INSTITUTE - SECOND HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS
-- nearly colliding with TWO MORE SECURITY GUARDS. Blade
takes them both out. There's another video monitor.
VANCE
The modern world today is filled with
countless challenges. In every direction
we look, toxic stressors are impacting
upon our happiness. We think we're
healthy, but the truth is, our immune
systems are engaged in a life or death
struggle to maintain our well being.
INT. VANCE INSTITUTE - OUTER OFFICE - CONTINUOUS
Blade, King, and Abigail storm in. An EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT is
moving to stop them.
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
I'm sorry but you can't --
Abigail KICKS out the man's knee, then slices her hand into
his windpipe, silencing him.
VANCE
Now, I'd like to take a moment to exolain
how a series of remarkable new
breakthroughs can immeasurably improve the
quality of your life
Blade aims his shotgun at the door leading to Vance's office.
He FIRES at the keycard lock, KICKS down the door --
INT. VANCE INSTITUTE - VANCE'S OFFICE - DAY
-- startling Dr. Vance himself, who is rising up from behind
his desk. Vance is wiping his mouth, not dressed like a
doctor would normally be. But we hardly notice this as --
VANCE
What --?
BLADE
Payback, Vance.
-- Blade aims his shotgun at Vance's head. Vance just
smiles, seemingly unconcerned as --
-- Abigail circles around the other side, getting a view
behind Vance's desk where --
VANCE'S BODY
lies on the floor. His throat has been ripped out. And this
body is dressed like a doctor.
King puts it together first, reaching for a silver stake even
as we hear the sound of POPPING CARTILAGE coming from beneath
the Vance double's flesh --
KING
Jesus, it's him! It's Drake!
The Vance double jumps atop the desk and swats the muzzle of
Blade's shotgun aside, re-directing the BLAST, which SHATTERS
a glass window. Then he KICKS Blade in the chest, KNOCKING
him clear across the office as --
-- King advances. The Vance double's face WARPS, the bones
in his head shifting around. He reaches for King, SLAMS him
onto the desk, TWISTS the stake from King's hand and brutally
SHOVING it into King's rib cage, pinning him to the desk top.
Then the Vance double whirls around to engage Abigail -- only
we see that it's Drake now, having taken Vance's shape.
DRAKE
BACK-HANDS Abigail across the face, a teeth-jarring blow.
She spins, falling --
-- and Drake is moving like a hurricane, LEAPING through the
window that was shattered by Blade's shotgun blast.
BLADE
gives chase. He looks out the window, SEES Drake landing on
the ground, some three stories below.
EXT. VANCE INSTITUTE - REAR ENTRANCE - ALLEY - DAY
Drake runs with inhuman speed. He effortlessly scales a chain
link fence, then BARRELS straight through a wooden barricade,
sailing over a trash dumpster. Seconds later, Blade follows,
catching sight of Drake rushing out into --
EXT. STREET MARKET - VARIOUS - DAY
-- a crowded urban market. What unfolds is a foot-chase at
super-human velocity. Vampire and hunter are moving at least
twenty miles an hour, BATTERING ASIDE various pedestrians,
SMASHING through and over stalls of merchandise.
EXT. BUSY STREET - DAY
Drake emerges onto the sidewalk of a busy street, four lanes
of rush-hour traffic WHIZZING PAST.
Abruptly, Drake cuts into the traffic, LEAPING atop the hood
of an oncoming car. The car's HORN sounds, brakes SQUEAL.
BLADE FOLLOWS,
jumping onto the hood of another car. More
HORNS sound.
In this manner. Drake and Blade race across the flowing
traffic itself. using the hoods and roofs of the cars like
moving stepping stones.
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STREET
Drake mounts the steps of an older apartment building,
THUNDERS his way through the main entrance --
INT. OLDER BUILDING - STAIRWELL/CORRIDOR - DAY
Blade is on Drake like a shadow. We're internal now, the
sound of Blade's LABORED BREATH moving to the foreground of
the soundscape.
Chaos. A BARKING DOG darting from a doorway. Up ahead, an
OLD MAN has been knocked over. An insane dash up two flights
of stairs, then down a corridor, passing MORE TENANTS.
Somewhere, a WOMAN SCREAMS. We hear GLASS BREAKING and --
WOMAN
My baby
-- there's another open door --
INT. OLDER BUILDING - APARTMENT - DAY
-- Blade tears into an apartment, passing a HYSTERICAL WOMAN,
an upended crib. He SEES a broken window by a fire escape --
EXT. OLDER BUILDING - FIRE ESCAPE - DAY
Cut onto the fire escape. A glimpse of Drake overhead.
Blade clambers up the fire escape, moving in a near-blur. One
story of steps up the rickety metal ladder --
SMASH! A LARGE PLANTER comes down from above, nearly striking
Blade. He lets go with one hand, swings outward --
-- then he's climbing again. A CLOUD OF PIGEONS take wing,
flapping frenetically about him, momentarily blinding him.
Another story, a third, a fourth. As he reaches the top,
Blade jumps, catching the edge of the roof above him --
EXT. OLDER BUILDING - ROOFTOP - DAY
-- FLIPPING himself over and onto the roof. He lands in a cat
stance, drawing his sword, quickly scanning the area.
DRAKE (O.S.)
So you're the hunter they all fear.
Blade spins --
DRAKE
stands on the ledge of the roof, cradling an INFANT in his
arms. In the full glare of the afternoon sun.
DRAKE
(re: infant)
Just so we understand each other,
Daywalker.
With his free hand, he massages his jaw. We hear a few more
Pieces of POPPING CARTKAGE as the very last of Drake's
cermanent features seem to settee into clace.
BLADE
Why did you kill Vance?
DRAKE
He'd outlived his purpose. He'd become a
liabi1ity.
Drake nods at Blade's sword --
DRAKE
Your sword -- I've seen that hilt before.
Eight or nine centuries ago. The hunter
who carried it was an accomplished
fighter.
EXT. SEASIDE CLIFF - DAY (THE PAST)
Drake in his armor, head to head with a 14th century VAMPIRE
HUNTER. The hunter has BLADE'S SWORD. Drake tears the sword
from the hunter's grasp, turns it around, thrusts it back
through the man's chest. And as the man GASPS we are --
EXT. OLDER BUILDING - ROOFTOP - DAY (THE PRESENT)
-- back to here and now.
DRAKE
He was honorable, in his own way. He
died a good death.
BLADE
I wouldn't know about that.
DRAKE
You lie. You're part of a grand
tradition, Blade. You hunters have
plagued my people since the day we first
walked the earth. And I have vanquished
them. One by one.
Blade pauses, looking for some kind of opening.
BLADE
How can you exist in the daylight?
DRAKE
I've always been able to. Haven't you
read Mr. Stoker's fable? I was the first
of the vampires. I am unique.
BLADE
(realizing)
That's why they brought you back.
DRAKE
Yes. My children seek to isolate the
properties in my blood that make me immune
to sunlight. Through me, they believe
they can all become Daywalkers.
Drake glances down at the street people. Throngs of PEOPLE
are massing there, pointing up at him.
DRAKE
The world's changed much since I went to
sleep. How crowded it's become. Look at
them down there. Lives brief as
fireflies. Do you think they can ever
grasp what it means to be immortal like
us?
BLADE
You're not immortal. I must've heard a
hundred of you people make the same claim.
And every one of them's seen the end of my
sword.
Drake smiles, intrigued by an obviously worthy opponent.
DRAKE
Perhaps I will as well, then. But I think
it's more likely that you will fall before
mine.
(beat)
Catch.
Drake tosses the infant at Blade. Blade twists around to
catch it, scooping it safely up. But when he looks back --
-- Drake is gone.
KING (O.S.)
Shit!
INT. VANCE INSTITUTE - VANCE'S OFFICE - DAY
CLOSE ON King being propped up against the wall by Abigail.
Blade has joined them. King is in terrible pain.
KING
Jesus, it hurts. I wanna be a vampire
again -- fuck! Did you see that guy?!
We're gonna lose, man. We're gonna
fucking lose.
Abigail ignores King, cuts open his shirt. She removes a
small aerosol cannister from her belt.
BLADE
What's that?
ABIGAIL
Fibrin sealant foam, it's an elastic
protein. Help me spread the wound open.
The foam should seal the hemorrhaging in
his body cavity from within --
Together they spread the wound apart. King is really hurting,
breathing hard as he tries to fight back the pain.
KING
Hey, hey -- what'd the one lesbian
vampire say to the other?
ABIGAIL
Shut up, King.
KING
-- see you in twenty-eight days --
King's voice trails off as he passes out. Abigail triggers
the dispenser, spraying a jet of compressed foam into it. The
foam condenses, sealing the wound up.
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - DAY
Blade and Abigail enter the HQ, hauling King between them.
Dex and Hedges rush to meet them, relieving them of King.
Exhausted and covered in blood, Abigail retires to her
quarters, stripping off her clothes.
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS' HEADQUARTERS - SHOWERS - DAY
Abigail stands beneath (he showerhead, turning her face up
into the scalding spray, rinsing the blood from her body.
CLOSE ON the drain by her feet, BLOOD swirling down it.
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - INFIRMARY - DAY
King drowses on a cot. His shirt is off and his chest has
been bandaged. He opens his eyes, SEES Blade above him.
KING
Hey, Blade -- say we're successful. Say
we wipe the vampires out. What happens
then? You ever ask yourself that?
(weakly)
Somehow I don't picture you parked on a
porch with a jigsaw puzzle.
King drifts back into unconsciousness again, leaving Blade
left to ponder his words.
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - LABORATORY AREA - DAY
Later, Sommerfield and Hedges consult with Blade and Abigail.
HEDGES
So basically we're in an arms race.
They're using Drake's DNA to build
themselves a better vampire --
BLADE
(noddin)
-- and we need his blood to kill them.
(to Sommerfield)
How's this weapon of yours coming along?
SODDERFIELD
We're almost there --
She gestures to a series of ampule-like prototypes. (We'll
see the completed version of this device later on.)
SOMMERFIELD
The virus is harmless to humans. So we
decided to go after the vampires' food
source. The one thing we know for sure
about vampires is that they have to drink
blood.
If we manage to pull this off, we'll be
able to contaminate every blood source on
the planet. They won't have anyone left
to feed on.
ABIGAIL
Doesn't do us any good if we don't have
time to finish it. We can't just sit
here. We need to take the battle to them.
Sommerfield lowers her head, thinking.
SOMMERFIELD
If the vampires are trying to isolate the
hereditary factor in Drake that makes him
immune to sunlight, they'll require
certain kinds of laboratory equipment and
provisions. For instance, there's an
enzyme called Taq Polymerase. And there
are only a limited number of suppliers.
(beat)
Give me a few hours. I'll see if I can't
hunt us up some leads.
CUT TO:
EXT. PHOENIX TOWERS - PENTHOUSE - NIGHT
Moving towards the mirrored windows we hear LABORED BREATHING.
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - DRAKE'S QUARTERS - NIGHT
CLOSE ON hands clasped together -- a man and a woman's.
CLOSE ON Danica' s face, covered in sweat, in the throes of
passion. She looks up, eyes glazed --
PULL BACK to reveal Drake, propped above her, thrusting away.
Danica has her limbs wrapped around Drake, holding on for dear
life. Both are awash in moonlight.
The two of them climax. Drake withdraws, studying Danica.
She's naked but for the tiny silver crucifix she wears around
her neck. Drake nudges the crucifix with his finger.
DRAKE
Why do you wear that -- symbol?
DANICA
(defensive)
Old habits --
She sits up, draping a sheet over her.
DANICA
I was a good Catholic school girl Once.
Drake nods, his thoughts distant.
DRAKE
I was there when they crucified him. He
died -- for their sins, not mine.
DANICA
(playful1y)
And what are your sins? Would you care
to confess them?
DRAKE
(shaking his head)
Too numerous to remember.
(nodding at the crucifix)
Take it off.
DANICA
Why?
DRAKE
I'll make you a better one.
Drake draws her in, biting her gently on the neck, sinking his
fangs into her flesh. He pulls his head back. Two rivulets
of BLOOD trickle from the fresh wounds.
DRAKE
There's an old saying --
Drake reaches for the sheet, pulling it away from Danica's
chest. Then he dips his fingertips into her flowing blood -
PAINTING a long streak of it down between her breasts.
DRAKE
Kill one man, you're a murderer. Kill a
million, a king.
(smiling)
Kill them all, a God.
CUT TO:
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - STORAGE AREA - NIGHT
CLOSE ON a pneumatic injector. PULL BACK to reveal Blade
injecting himself with his serum. No pain. No violent spasms
like before. Blade's body now accepts the serum.
ANGLE ON ZOE,
crouched on an old piece of carny equipment, watching him.
ZOE
Why do you do that?
BLADE
There's something bad inside of me. This
keeps it from getting out.
Zee considers this.
ZOE
Why can't you just be nice?
BLADE
Good question.
SOMMERFIELD (0.S.)
I think I've got a lead.
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - LABORATORY AREA - NGHT
Sommerfield stands at her computers, reading a tactile Braille
display. Blade and Abigail are nearby.
SOMMERFIELD
Biomedica Enterprises. They've been
buying up all sorts of supplies -- Taq
polymerase, bone marrow growth supplement,
genetic sequencing enzymes.
BLADE
We'll check it out.
CUT TO:
EXT. BIOMEDICA ENTERPRISES - NIGHT
A high-tech research park.
INT. BIOMEDICA ENTERPRISES - LAB - NIGHT
Hendrix, the vampire doctor we saw earlier, sits at a computer
workstation. Chief Vreede confers with him. We hear a KNOCK
at the door. Hendrix looks to Vreede. They obviously weren't
expecting anyone.
Hendrix moves to the door, checking a surveillance monitor.
He can't see anyone outside. He shrugs, turns to leave and --
CRUNCH! The door is SMASHED inward, taking much of the door
frame with it, flattening Hendrix.
Blade and Abigail step inside. As Blade hauls Hendrix up from
the ground, Abigail points her already drawn gun at --
CHIEF VREEDE
He was reaching into his jacket for his own piece, now thinks
better of it.
BLADE
Doing a little moonlighting, Chief?
Blade nods to Abigail. She reaches onto Vreede's jacket to
disarm him. Blade grips Hendrix by the shirt collar.
BLADE
C'mere. We need to talk.
Blade PUNCHES Hendrix in the face. Hendrix sags for a moment,
stunned.
BLADE
Now spill it, bite-boy.
HENDRIX
(wiping a bloody nose)
You know what we're doing. Drake has come
back to us. Soon we'll all be Daywalkers.
And when that day comes, the world will
truly be ours.
Blade nods towards the back of the lab where another door -- a
very secure one -- is located.
BLADE
What's back there?
Hendrix shoots a quick look to Vreede. Then he turns on
Blade, all fangs and claws, trying to tear Blade's eyes out --
Abigail FIRES her UV gun with blinding speed and --
-- Hendrix is dead before he knows it. ASHING all over Blade.
Blade brushes Hendrix' s remains from coat collar, shoots
Abigail a look: "Did you really have to do that?"
BLADE
(dryly)
Thanks.
Abigail cringes. Mea culpa.
Blade looks to the floor. Aside from some cinders, all that
remains of Hendrix are his glasses and a singed keycard.
Blade picks up the keycard, looks to Vreede.
BLADE
What's behind Door Number One?
VREEDE
They'll kill me --
BLADE
(an evil grin)
So will I. But I'll enjoy it more.
Vreede nods. They move towards the door. Blade slides the
security card. An inset light changes from RED to GREEN.
Vreede punches in a numeric code. The doors slide open --
INT. BLOOD FARMING FACILITY - MAIN ROOM - NIGHT
Blade, Abigail, and Vreede emerge into a cavernous room.
ABIGAIL
God in Heaven --
HUNDREDS OF HUMAN CADAVERS
hang from gantries, preserved in fluid-filled pods, suspended
by wires like nightmarish marionettes. The bodies are hooked
up to an elaborate system of biosensor feeds and IVs which are
designed to replenish vital nutrients.
BLADE
What was this place?
Vreede pauses before answering, looking uncomfortable.
VREEDE
It's a blood farming facility.
(elaborating)
They decided that hunting humans on a
piece-meal basis was too inefficient.
Why kill your prey when you can keep them
alive? Productive. Under optimal
conditions a donor can generate anywhere
from fifty to a hundred pints of blood a
year.
ABIGAIL
(sickened)
But where did you get all these people?
VREEDE
The streets. In any given year you've got
two to three million homeless people
wandering around America --
(shrugging)
No one cares about them. We're doing the
country a service, really.
Blade shakes his head, admiring the horrible efficiency.
BLADE
The vampire Final Solution.
Abigail moves towards one of the pods, touching her hand to
the glass, studyihg the comatose person within.
ABIGAIL
Are they aware? Do they feel anything?
VREEDE
(shaking his head)
They're in a chemical-induced coma.
They're brain-dead, vegetables.
Blade angrily SLAMS Vreede's face against one of the pods.
BLADE
Look at this! Is this the future you
want? You think there's a place for you
in their world?
Vreede starts crying, blubbering.
VREEDE
We don't have a choice! They're going to
win, don't you see that?! He's come back!
There's nothing stopping them now!
Blade pulls Vreede back so they're nose to nose --
BLADE
There's me.
-- and Blade releases Vreede.
BLADE
Go. You've got thirty seconds.
Vreede turns and runs, stumbling towards the door. Despite
his promise, Blade lifts his MACH. Without even looking in
Vreede's direction, Blade FIRES. We hear Vreede drop.
Blade turns to Abigail. She can hardly contain herself.
Nearby is a control console. Blade UNLOADS his MACH pistol
into it, damaging the interlinked life support systems.
One by one, the vital signs and EKGs on the pods flat-line,
their warning tones rising into a collective, PIERCING WAIL.
BLADE (CONT'D)
(feeling a heavy weight)
Let's go.
Blade and Abigail leave, turning the lights out as they go.
CUT TO:
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - STORAGE AREA - NIGHT
A basketball hoop has been set up in the back area and Dex and
Hedges are engaged in a wicked game of one-on-one.
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - LABORATORY AREA - NIGHT
Scm~erfield works, refining the virus. Because she is blind,
she doesn't need light.
H er computer's voice synthesis program has been activated and
it's currently reading the various statistics that appear on
her main monitor.
COMPUTER
CYTOGENETICS AUDIT DATA FROM -- AUGUST
FIFTEENTH, TWO-THOUSAND AND FOUR.
(beat)
AMNIOTIC FLUIDS -- INPUT DELAY/ZERO.
ABNORMAL SAMPLES/TWO. BANDING
QUALITY/SEVEN-POINT-TWO --
At the same time, Sommerfield is reading aloud to Zoe, who
sits nearby. The book is The Emerald City of Oz and it's in
Braille. Sommerfield scans with her fingers.
SOMMERFIELD
'The reason most people are bad is because
they do not try to be good. Now, the Nome
King had never tried to be good, so he was
very bad indeed. Having decided to
conquer the Land of Oz and to destroy the
Emerald City and enslave all its people,
King Roquat the Red kept planning ways to
do this dreadful thing, and the more he
planned the more he believed he would be
able to accomplish it --'
COMPUTER
CYTOGENETICS AUDIT DATA FROM -- AUGUST
FIFTEENTH, TWO-THOUSAND AND FOUR.
ANGLE ON A BANK OF SURVEILLANCE MONITORS
We see Whistler approaching through the garage.
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - NIGHT
The steel door slides open and Whistler enters.
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - INFIRMARY AREA - NIGHT
King drowses on a cot. He hears a NOISE, opens his eyes.
Whistler stands in the doorway.
KING
You get me those Fruit Roll-ups like I
asked --
(surprised)
Dude. Aren't you dead?
Whistler doesn't respond. King tries to sit up -- but
Whistler places his hand on King's mouth, shoving him down,
starting to smother him. King struggles, confused.
INT. NGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - STORAGE AREA - NIGHT
Dex manages to steal the ball from Hedges, makes a shot.
Behind them, Whistler enters the makeshift court.
130 INT. NIGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - LABORATORY AREA - NIGHT130
Abruptly, the sounds of the one-on-one game stop. We hear a
THUD from the back of the warehouse -- like someone falling.
COMPUTER
BLOODS -- INPUT DELAY/ZERO. ABNORMAL
SAMPLES/SEVEN. BANDING QUALITY/EIGHT-
POINT-ONE --
Sommerfield looks to the storage area. The silence is
unnerving. She turns off her voice-synthesis program. Then
closes the book.
SOMMERFIELD
Guys? You okay --?
ON THE DOORWAY
The basketball comes bouncing out. It rolls, coming to rest
against a workbench. There are BLOOD SPATTERS on the ball.
Sommefrield reaches for her cane. She TAP-TAPS her way to the
baLl, feels the blood. Knows what it is.
SOMMERFIELD
Zoe, go find some place to hide, sweety.
Zoe hesitates. Sommerfield senses it and lashes out with her
cane, BANGING a rack of equipment, startling the girl.
SOMMERFIELD
Damnit, go! Get out of here, Zoe!
The girl scurries away. Sommerfield TAP-TAPS with her cane,
moving towards the storage area. She finds a gun cabinet,
feels around with her hands, locates an electronic pistol.
INT. NGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - STORAGE AREA - NIGHT
Sommerfield enters. Dex and Hedges are sprawled on the floor
before her, having been slaughtered. Blood is everywnere.
She doesn't see them, of course. But we do.
THE CAMERA SHIFTS AROUND,
revealing Whistler crouched right behind her!
She's unaware of his presence. And as we watch, his facial
features shift. We hear the sickening sounds of CARTILAGE
POPPING and we realize that it's Drake, not Whistler.
With mounting dread, Sommerfield turns towards the sound. And
then Drake is upon her, rushing forward with a GROWL.
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - BATHROOM - NIGHT
As Sommerfield's AGONIZED SCREAMS echo through the warehouse,
Zoe rushes into the bathroom, looking for a place to hide. She
considers the lockers, discounts them. Then settles on --
A HEATING GRATE
near the floor. It's about fourteen inches wide -- just
barely big enough for her to squeeze into.
Zoe kneels, prying the grate off. Inside, a heating duct
extends four feet before making a ninety-degree turn upward.
Zoe climbs into the duct feet first, scooting her body
backwards. Then she reaches for the grate, securing it back
on, sealing herself inside.
INT. HEATING DUCT - NIGHT
Zoe waits. It's cramped and claustrophobic inside the duct.
She's managed to force herself all the way back to the ninety
degree turn by curling up into a near fetal position.
ZOE'S POV (THROUGH GRATE)
Mostly tile floor and a small portion of the open doorway
leading to the hallway outside.
She listens, trying to hear past the sound of her own
BREATHING which has been magnified because of the ducting.
The screams from the outer rooms have stopped. Then --
ZOE'S POV (THROUGH GRATE)
A pair of boots appear in the doorway -- Drake.
Zoe holds her breath. We HEAR Drake searching the bathroom,
opening the lockers and bathroom stalls.
ZOE'S POV (THROUGH GRATE)
Drake's boot-clad feet pass by the grate
again, closer, tn~s time. They pause for
an interminable moment --
Zoe shuts her eyes. She can't stand it. Finally, we hear
Drake's FOOTSTEPS receding away. Relieved, Zoe takes in a
breath and opens her eyes --
ZOE'S POV (THROUGH GRATE)
Drake's face is right there. pressed up against the other
side of the grate, staring at her!
Zoe SCREAMS. With a ROAR, Drake rips the grate off. He tries
to climb inside, but the width of the duct is too narrow to
accommodate the size of his upper body.
Instead, he reaches his right arm in, extending his clawed
hand as far as he possibly can. Zoe WHIMPERS, trying to
compress her mass into an even tighter ball --
ON DRAKE'S HAND,
having reached the limits of its extension -- his fingertips
only a few scant inches from Zoe's face.
Zoe's been allowed a moment's reprieve. He can't reach her!
But then we hear the sound of POPPING CARTILAGE. Of TINY
BONES shifting beneath Drake's flesh. Drake's fingers are
elongating, snake-like Reaching for Zoe's face, rapidly
closing the space whici1 separates them --
CUT TO:
EXT. LUNA PARK/GARAGE - NIGHT
The real Blade and Abigail are returning. The sliding garage
door opens and the Land Cruiser glides inside.
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - NIGHT
Blade and Abigail enter. The place is dark. They know
instinctively that somethong is wrong.
Blade tries a nearby light. The power is out. They both draw
their weapons. Blade turns on a FLASHLIGHT. They move onto
the darkness --
SHADOWS loom everywhere. It's like a tornado touched down
inside. Equipment lies smashed, tables and chairs have been
overturned. Sommerfield's lab area has been destroyed.
ABIGAIL
King --
Blade and Abigail rush to the infirmary area, but King is gone
and the place has been trashed. They move into --
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - STORAGE AREA - NIGHT
-- the back area. They find Dex and Hedges on the floor,
their bodies bled, desecrated.
ABIGAIL
(realizing)
Zoe -- where's Zoe?
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - VARIOUS - NIGHT
With increased urgency, Blade and Abigail search the
headquarters -- the bathroom, the garage, every nook and
cranny. With each moment, Abigail becomes more panicked.
ABIGAIL
Where is she?!
They can't find her anywhere.
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - SHOWER AREA - NIGHT
Blade and Abigail enter. A thin stream of BLOOD snakes its
way across the shower tiles. Taey follow it, discovering --
SOMMERFIELD,
her body propped up mock-crucifixion style in the showers. On
the wall nearby, someone has written a message in blood:
"IMMORTALITY WILL COME TO SUCH AS ARE FIT FOR IT"
ON BLADE
He knows damn well who left him the message.
As tears streak down Abigail's cheeks, she rushes to
Sommmerfield's body. Together, she and Blade get her down.
Abigail clutches Sommerfield, slowly rocking the body in her
arms. Blade puts a hand on her shoulder.
BLADE
Use it.
Abigail doesn't respond. Her whole body is shaking.
BLADE (CONT'D)
(more firmly)
Use it.
Abigail raises her head, her eyes filled with hatred. Blade
doesn't let up. He's like a drill instructor, galvanizing her
with his words.
BLADE (CONT'D)
USE IT!!!
Abigail lifts her head toward the heavens, letting loose a
TORTURED SCREAM that erupts from the very pit of her soul.
CUT TO:
EXT. PHOENIX TOWERS - NIGHT
Abigail's SCREAM ECHOES over the moonlit cityscape.
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - PENTHOUSE - NIGHT
CLOSE ON King's bloody face. A dog is licking it. King
stirs, his eyes fluttering open --
KING'S POV
The rottweiler we saw earlier is slobbering all over him.
PULL BACK to reveal King on his knees, shirtless, both wrists
secured behind him in a high-tech pillory. King tries to
twist his head away from the dog. The rottweiler GROWLS.
KING
Back off, pooch --
The rottweiler's jaws open, revealing more teeth than any dog
should probably have.
Its muzzle splits in two as both sides of the rottweiler
mandible fold back on either side of its head, disgorging a
hellish and barbed tongue stalk! The mutant dog ROARS, ready
to bite King's face off and --
KING
Jesus Christ!
-- Grimwood appears from off-screen, LAUGHING, pulling the
animal back. We see Danica and Asher now as well.
KING
What the fuck?! WHAT THE FUCK?!?
ASHER
His name's Beau. We've been experimenting
with porting the vampire gene over into
other species.
As Asher pets the rottweiler, its muzzle closes back up again.
It looks up at him, panting happily, tongue lolling.
KING
You made a goddamn vampire dog?!
GRIMWOOD
Yeah. Cool, huh?
DANICA
Poor little King. You look so
distraught.
Danica wipes a little blood from the corner of King's mouth.
She touches her fingertips to her tongue, tasting his blood.
DANICA
You're tasting a little bland, lover. Not
getting enough fatty acids in your diet?
Have you tried mackerel? Lake trout?
KING
How about you take a sugar-frosted fuck
off the end of my dick?
DANICA
Oh, there'll be time to play doctor later,
believe me. But for now, we need to have
a little talk.
(beat)
Tell us about this bio-weapon you've been
building.
KING
I can tell you two things. Diddly. And
shit. And diddly just left the building.
Grimwood steps forward, throttling King for a moment.
GRINWOOD
Spit it out, you fucking fruitcake!
KING
Okay, here's the deal with the weapon -
(coughing)
It's a new flavor crystal formula. Twice
the chocolaty-goodness, half the calories.
Plus, it helps prevent tooth decay --
Grimwood moves in to choke him again, but Danica intervenes.
DANICA
You're brave, King, I'll give you that.
But underneath all your swagger --
She leans closer, caressing his face.
DANICA
-- I know what you really fear. What
would hurt you more than anything else.
King's smile falters for a moment. Maybe she does know. She
rubs her cheek against his.
DANICA
You don't want to go back to being one of
us --
(her lips grazing his)
-- do you?
King tries to turn his head away, but Danica grips his chin,
turning his head back. He's sweating now. Worried.
DANICA
I'm going to bite you again, King. And
then I'm going to leave you here while you
turn. I'm going to watch you, day after
day, while the Thirst keeps building and
building. And then, when you can't stand
it anymore --
She nods. Drake appears, holding Zoe. She's alive.
Terrified. Held firm in Drake's arms.
DANICA
-- I'm going to bring the little girl
for you to feed on. Would you like that,
King? Would you enjoy taking her life?
King shuts his eyes, sickened at the thought. Danica smiles.
DANICA
Now we're getting somewhere, my pet.
CUT TO:
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS' HEADQUARTERS - SHOOTING RANGE - NIGHT
Abigail sits in her workshop area, restringing one of her
bows. Nearby is a table with an assortment of equipment -- a
bow press, vise stand, string jig, bow scales and wrench sets.
Across the way is a shooting range with a variety of targets
set up, a wall of netting behind them to catch stray arrows.
There's also a chronograph outfitted with a ballistic computer
to measure arrow speed.
CLOSE ON Abigail's hands as she works with a quiet precsion,
re-setting the arrow rest, making minor adjustments to the
center-shot position and wheel timing, etc.
BLADE
appears in the doorway, watching her.
BLADE
You alright?
ABIGAIL
(brusque)
I'll be fine.
Blade nods. He's going to leave her alone -- but then he
hesitates, wrestling to say something.
BLADE
Don't let it turn inward.
Abigail takes a deep breath, pausing in her work.
ABIGAIL
It already has. Since I can remember
I've had this knife of sadness in my
heart. As long as it stays there, I'm
strong. I'm untouchable. But the moment
I pull it out --
(turning back to him)
-- I'll die.
Blade nods. He understands all too well. He leaves.
ON ABIGAIL
She stands, moving to the shooting range. She straps on a
quiver, takes aim at
A 3-D HUMAN-SHAPED TARGET
about a hundred feet away. Just in front of the target is the
chronograph, which looks like a miniature set of goal posts.
WHOOSH! Abigail FIRES an arrow. It flies through the arms of
the chronograph, sinking into the targets s chest. On the
screen of the ballistic computer, the arrow's speed is clocked
at 240 feet per second. We move CLOSER to her now as--
WHOOSH! Abicail FIRES again. The speed is 242 fps. CLOSER --
WHOOSH! Now the speed is 269 fps. EVEN CLOSER --
WHOOSH!WHOOSH!WHOOSH! 285 fps. 302 fps. 315 fps! The arrow
speed creeps up and up as we move CLOSER AND CLOSER to Abigail
until we --
-- PULL BACK. Abigail has fired every arrow in her quiver.
ON THE TARGET
The arrows have formed a cross in the target's chest. One
vertical grouping running up, another horizontal grouping
bisecting it.
INT. NIGHTSTALKERS HEADQUARTERS - GARAGE - NIGHT
Blade stands at the open entrance. Abigail steps out. Looks
like she's made peace with herself for the moment.
ARIGAIL
I'm ready to go.
HEADLIGHTS appear in the distance. Another Land Cruiser
approaches, weaving through the amusement park. It pulls to a
stop in front of them. The driver's side window rolls down.
A MAN (CAULDER)
sits behind the wheel. He raises a hand in greeting.
CAULDER
My name is Caulder. And I'll be your
driver this evening.
INT. CAULDER'S LAND CRUISER - NIGHT
Caulder's Land Cruiser glides through the streets.
BLADE
Where are you taking us?
CAULDER
Another safehouse.
ABIGAIL
We told you, Blade. We operate in sleeper
cells. When one goes down, a new cell
activates to pick up the slack.
EXT. DEEP-SIX AQUARIUM STOCK - NIGHT
Caulder pulls up in front of a fish supply store.
INT. DEEP-SIX AQUARIUM STOCK - NIGHT
Caulder unlocks an accordion security gate, opens the door.
He leads Blade and Abigail through the darkened aisles. There
are fish tanks on either side, aerators BUBBLING, aquatic
animals of every kind swimming about.
IN THE BACK
is another arsenal/lab area. This one is smaller than the
Nightstalkers' main headquarters. Caulder moves to a
computer, calls up a file. A dialogue box for a media player
opens. Caulder activates a video file.
CAULDER
Sommerfield left a video message for you.
ON THE MONITOR
The video plays. We see Sommerfield's face on the screen.
She looks grave, as if she might have been crying.
SOMMERFIELD
(on video)
If you're watching this, I'm already dead.
If Zoe's still alive, I want you to
promise you'll take care of her. I've
been reading her The Oz books every night.
We just started The Emerald City of Oz,
the one with the Nome King --
Her voice cracks and she pauses, wiping away a tear.
SOMMERFIELD
I think I've managed to cultivate a
workable strain of the Daystar virus. As
a precaution, I transmitted the genetic
sequence to Caulder, in case our main
stock was destroyed. In order for it to
achieve maximum lethality, you'll need to
interfuse it with Drake's blood. If it
works, any vampires in the immediate
vicinity should die almost instantly.
After that, it should take only a few
weeks for the virus to spread throughout
the rest of the world.
Zoe hesitates, deciding how to broach the next subject.
SOMMERFIELD
There's one other thing, Blade. You need
to know that there's a chance the virus
could destroy you too. Because you're a
hybrid, I'm not sure whether your immune
system will be able tolerate it.
(beat)
I'm sorry. We didn't have enough time to
properly test it.
The video cuts to STATIC. Abigail turns off the monitor,
looking to Blade. God only knows what he's thinking.
CAULDER
Take a look at the plague arrow.
Caulder reaches for a refrigerated aluminum case, snapping it
open. Inside, resting on a bed of form-fitting foam, is a
glass ampule that's been fitted into a stake-like contraption.
It looks like the head of a high-tech harpoon.
CAULDER
I only had time to fabricate a small batch
of Daystar. I outfitted it with a
compressed gas projectile, so you should
be able to fire it from one of the
fourbarrel rifles or a bow.
(beat)
Just make sure the shot counts, cause we
don't have enough for a second try.
A SERIES OF DISSOLVES
Abigail sits before a laptop, creating another custom MP3
playlist. We watch as she hi-lights songs with her mouse,
moves them over to her portable device with a few CLICKS.
Abigail unhooks her MP3 device, slips her earbud headphones
into her ears. The SOUNDS of Fluke's track Atom Bomb fade up,
gradually shifting from tinny source music to SOUNDTRACK.
MORE DISSOLVES
Blade and Abigail suit up, arming themselves. We SEE:
Blade loading rounds into his pistols.
Abigail selecting arrows, checking the range-dials.
Blade sliding silver stakes into his bandoliers.
Abigail working with Caulder, affixing the plague capsule to
one of her arrowheads.
Blade polishes his sword. Finished, he sights down the length
of it, takes a practice swing, then secures it in his back
scabbard with a flourish.
EXT. DEEP-SIX AQUARIUM STOCK - BACK ALLEY - NIGHT
We hear the RUMBLE of two motorcycles. Blade emerges from the
alley astride his signature Ducati ST2 crotch-rocket. Abigail
appears a moment later on her own customized bike.
Blade revs his engine. Then the two bikes take off.
CUT TO:
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - DRAKE'S QUARTERS - NIGHT
Drake sits before Zoe, who has been shackled to the wall, his
right arm encased in one of the armored gauntlets from his
burial armor. The rest of the armor has been propped up on a
stand nearby.
DRAKE
Do you know who I am?
ZOE
You're the Nome King.
Drake smiles at this.
DRAKE
The Nome King. I like that.
(leaning closer)
Tell me, child. Do you want to die?
Zoe is terrified but tries to remain defiant.
ZOE
I'm not afraid -- I'll go to Heaven.
DRAKE
There is no Heaven. No God. No angels.
No happy ending for good little girls.
The only thing you have to look forward to
is nothingness.
As Drake talks his pupils seem to widen -- until the darkness
nearly occludes the whites of his eyes. Zoe stares at him.
Can't tear her gaze away. His eyes are hypnotic.
DRAKE
But what if you could change that? What
if you could remain a child forever?
He reaches out, running a sharp fingernail over her cheek.
DRAKE
What if you could keep this little doll-
like face of yours until the sun itself
cooled to a cold, hard rock?
(beat)
Wouldn't you like that? Wouldn't you
accept that gift?
Zoe reaches out, calmly touches Drake's cheek.
ZOE
My friends are coming to kill you.
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - PENTHOUSE - NIGHT
WHACK! Grimwood PUNCHES King, whose body sags, weakened from
the beatings he has undergone. Asher and Danica look on.
KING
-- gonna be sorry you did that --
ASHER
Nobody's coming for you, King.
KING
Sure they are. Left a trail of digital
bread crumbs --
DANICA
Excuse me?
KING
One thing you need to know about us
Nightstalkers. When you join our club,
you get this nifty little tracking node
surgically implanted in your body --
GRIMWOOD
Bullshit.
KING
Scout's honor. One of us gets lost, the
others just dial up the satellite and
presto, instant cavalry.
Grimwood looks to Asher and Danica, unsure.
AS HER
He's bluffing.
DANICA
(smiling, playing along)
Okay, King, where did they put this
tracking node of yours?
He motions for her to draw closer, whispering.
KING
It's in my left ass-cheek --
WHACK! Danica slaps King's face, making him see stars.
KING
Alright. alright, it's in my right ass-
cheek --
WHACK! Danica slaps King again, this time knocking his head
the other way. He spits out blood --
KING
No, seriously --
(gasping)
-- it's in the meat of my butt, right
below my Bart Simpson tattoo --
Danica PUNCHES King's mid-section. He sucks air. Despite his
attempts at humor, he's hurting now. His body sags --
KING
-- pull down my tighty-whities -- see for
yourself.
DANICA
ENOUGH! It's not funny anymore!
Behind Danica, Grimwood and Asher both COUGH.
King lifts his bruised face, staring up at Danica through
blood-shrouded eyes. For the first time, we get a sense of
his true hatred for her.
KING
No, it's not, you horse-humping bitch --
(wincing as he breathes)
-- but it will be a few seconds from now.
DANICA
(coughing)
And what happens then, lover?
KING
Hammer time.
(beat)
See, that tickle in your throat you're
feeling right now?
Danica COUGHS again, blinks repeatedly, as if her eyes were
irritated. She rubs them, looks to the others. They're
feeling the effects too. And Grimwood's face is smoking!
KING
That's atomized colloidal silver.
Danica keys into the RUMBLE of the air-conditioning system and
a HISSING SOUND beneath that. She looks up --
KING
It's being pumped into the building's air
conditioning system.
ANGLE ON THE HEATING REGISTER ABOVE
We GO MACRO, shrinking down until we see a CLOUD OF TINY
SILVER PARTICLES blowing into the room. The particles are
dusting the vampires, being unwittingly inhaled by them and --
WE'RE BACK TO NORMAL
as the vampires react en mass, suddenly gagging, their throats
and faces on fire.
KING
Which means that the fat lady should be
singing right about --
GRIMWOOD
has caught the worst of it. A whole lung-full. He SHRIEKS as
He coughs up blue-tinged FLAMES, the flesh on his face
simultaneously burning away and --
KING
-- NOW
THE SKYLIGHT ABOVE THEM
SHATTERS as Blade crashes down. He lands in a cat-like
stance, then flips over into a cartwheel, KICKING Grimwood in
the face. As Grimwood goes down, Asher and Danica scatter --
Blade tackles Grimwood, sending both of them over the railing
into the lower level of the penthouse.
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - HALLWAY - NIGHT
ALARMS are ringing. Asher and Danica rush down the hall,
trying not to breathe the silver-contaminated air. We SEE
other vampires staggering from doorways, COUGHING, GAGGING.
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - DRAKE'S QUARTERS - NIGHT
Drake hears the ALARMS. He reaches for his sword, which rests
in a nearby stand. As he heads out, he strides past Zoe,
still chained to the wall.
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - PENTHOUSE - NIGHT
On the lower level, Blade and Grimwood are going at it.
REINFORCENENTS
flood in from multiple entry ways. It's an all-out melee.
Blade is seriously overwhelmed, but the sheer number of
vampires and humans is actually slowing them down.
Blade takes on a half-dozen of them at once, stunning one of
the familiars, using him as a human shield, TOSSING him aside
to trip up another on-rushing pair.
Then he pauses, instantly calculating the geography of the
room, the relative positions of the other combatants,
assessing decorations and furniture as possible weapons. His
battle plan ready, Blade engages his enemies once again.
MEANWHILE, ON THE UPPER LEVEL
Abigail appears at the lip of the smashed-in skylight. She
lowers herself down on a rope, rushes to King's side --
ABIGAIL
You alright?
KING
Nothing a hot tub full of Bactine won't
fix.
Abigail hits the release switch on the high-tech pillory and
the cuffs around his wrists open. As Abigail helps King out:
ABIGAIL
Zoe --
KING
Drake's got her.
Abigail nods, handing King her pistol. Then she's out the
door. Seconds later, King follows --
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - HALLWAYS - VARIOUS - NIGHT
Abigail pauses, slipping her earbuds in, turning on her MP3
player. The bumping-strains of Fluke's Absurd track kick in.
Abigail uncilps her UV arc, telescopes it outward and --
-- suddenly it's like we're in a first-person shooter video
game. She moves through the corridors with mathematical
precision, feeling the MUSIC in her bones, slicing through
every vampire she encounters with deadly efficiency.
VAMPIRES AND HUMAN FAMILIARS
are coming out from every doorway.
Abigail PUNCHES one in the solar plexus, DECAPITATES another,
finishes off the first. Then she's moving on, taking down a
third, fourth, and fifth vampire with her rapid-fire stake
dispenser. Throwing stakes with blinding speed.
After a half-dozen stakes, her dispenser is empty. Without
missing a beat, she presses a tab on the dispenser, ejects the
clip, then reaches to her belt where a back-up is secured and
slaps it in place. The mayhem continues.
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - PENTHOUSE - LOWER LEVEL - NIGHT
Blade unsheathes his sword. He parries two combatants with
clubs, then whirls around, DEFLECTING a GUNSHOT from a third
with the flat of his sword.
Grimwood is furious. His men are tripping all over
themselves. He grabs an antique battle axe that's secured to
the wall. He sees an opening, SWINGS at Blade's head --
-- Blade drops and the axe slices through one of Grimwood's
own men.
In an eye-blink, Blade is up again, advancing. He cuts down
another familiar, pushes forward, cuts oown a second --
Now Blade and Grimwood are face to face. Grimwood swings his
axe again. Blade hooks his sword beneath it, FLIPPING it from
Grimwood's hands.
Blade sweeps his sword around in a wide arc, CUTTING straight
through Grimwood's mid-section. The upper half of Grimwood's
body topples away --
-- then he rights himself. A half-vampire. He's still alive,
running forward on his hands, trailing viscera. He SPRINGS UP
at Blade, all claws and gnashing teeth.
Blade catches Grimwood by the throat, whirls him around --
-- and manages to IMPALE what's left of Grimwood with his
sword-point. Grimwood ASHES in Blade's arms. The only thing
left are his steel teeth, which CLATTER to the floor at
Blade's feet.
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - DRAKE'S QUARTERS - NIGHT
Abigail enters, SEES Zoe. TWO VAMPIRES GUARDS stand nearby.
In a flash, Abigail flings TWO SILVER STAKES at them. Both
stakes hit their mark and the vamps crumple to ASH.
Abigail hurries over, SHOOTS apart the lock on Zoe's shackle.
Zoe wraps her arms around Abigail, hugging her tight. Abigail
takes Zoe by the hand, pulling her towards the door.
ABIGAIL
Come on, hon. Let's get you out of here.
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - HALLWAY - NIGHT
King stumbles out into the hallway, pulling his shirt back on.
As he limps down the corridor, a GROWL makes him pause --
KING'S POV
Beau, the vampire rottweiler, lopes around the corner. Then --
TWO MORE ROTTWEILERS
emerge behind Beau. They're all GROWLING now.
KING
(under his breath)
Fuck. Me. Sideways.
The three of them break, BARKING like crazy, snouts splitting
open as their jaws flower apart.
CUT T0:
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - ATRIUM - UPPER GALLERY - NIGHT
Blade moves into the upper gallery of a vast atrium.
DRAKE
stands before him, waiting, sword in hand. He extends it,
touching the tip to the floor. A challenge.
DRAKE
Are you ready to die, Blade?
BLADE
Been ready since the day I was born,
mother-fucker.
DRAKE
(with a smile)
Then allow me to accommodate you.
Drake does a back-flip over the balcony. Forty feet down.
Blade follows, drawing his sword as he LEAPS --
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - ATRIUM - GROUND FLOOR - NIGHT
-- and lands. Now the two warriors face each other, swords
raised, eyes locked, their stances frozen. Like classic
samurai. Whoever moves first, loses.
Beat. MOVING IN on both men, CIRCLING around them. Slow the
heart. Slow the breath. Find the opening.
DRAKE
breaks first, bringing his sword over in less time than it
takes to blink an eye. No one could possibly deflect the
blow. And yet --
BLADE
manages a COUNTER-STROKE with super-human grace. He advances,
parries, his sword CLANGING and SINGING like a blacksmith's
hammer on sheet metal.
Cut, thrust, block, diagonal downward slashes. The moves come
faster. Drake DUCKS, barely avoiding being decapitated.
Blade's sword cuts right through a column instead.
Drake retaliates. Blade locks swords with him. For a moment,
the two warriors are nose to nose. Then Blade twists his
sword free, cutting open Drake's cheek --
Drake GROWLS, back-flipping up onto a ledge. He touches his
fingertips to the cut, tastes his own blood. Then we hear the
telltale sounds of CARTILAGE POPPING. For a brief moment, his
facial features shift, giving us yet another glimpse of his
true form. As his anger increases, Drake begins to devolve.
He DIVES at Blade, HOWLING, raking his CLAWS at Blade's face.
He strikes out, KNOCKING Blade across the atrium. He SPRINGS
forward, dragging Blade up by his throat, sinking his fangs
into Blade's shoulder. Blide SCREAMS and we --
CUT TO:
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - HALLWAY - NIGHT
-- as King runs. He hazards a look back. The vampire dogs
are quickly gaining on him.
UP AHEAD
It's a dead-end. Just plate glass windows and a whole lot of
nothing beyond.
The dogs are almost on King when suddenly, King JUMPS,
snagging an overhead pipe. As he swings his body upward --
THE DOGS
skid on the floor, unable to stop their momentum, and CRASH
straight through the plate glass window.
EXT. PHOENIX TOWERS - PENTHOUSE - NIGHT
An EXPLOSION OF GLASS as two of the vampire rottweilers tumble
into the night. They fall like stones -- twenty stories down
into the traffic-clogged intersection below.
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - HALLWAY - NIGHT
King drops back to the floor, cackling, pleased with himself.
It takes him a second to realize that --
ONE OF THE ROTTWEILERS (BEAU)
-- didn't take a swan dive out the window. He's right behind
King. And now he's SPRINGING FORWARD --
WHAM! King is hit in the chest by the SNARLING beast. He
drops the pistol as he's knocked back onto the floor. The dog
LUNGES again --
With one arm, King struggles to keep his face from being bit
off, while searching blindly for the discarded pistol. King
locates it, FIRING into the beast's chest --
THE ROTTWEILER
ASHES, disintegrating all over King's face. King gets a
mouthful of the charcoal remains, tries to SPIT them out.
KING
(making a face)
Bad dog.
CUT TO:
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - ATRIUM - UPPER GALLERY - NIGHT
Abigail emerges onto the gallery with Zoe. She spots an
alcove, indicates that Zoe should hide. Then she slips a
silver stake into Zoe's hand. Just in case.
Abigail rushes to the handrail, looking down at Blade and
Drake. Her view is obscured. She can't get a good shot.
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - ATRIUM - GROUND FLOOR - NIGHT
Drake digs his fangs into Blade's shoulder. Blade struggles,
manages to slip a stake from his bandolier --
WHAM! Blade SLAMS the stake into Drake's ear canal. The
beast SHRIEKS in pain, dropping Blade. But all the gambit has
done is drive Drake into a berserker rage.
Drake swings his fist. Blade ducks. Drake's fist goes
through the wall, PUNCTURING a steam pipe. Steam vents --
Drake reaches in, RIPS an eight-foot section of the pipe from
the wall, bringing a SPARKING nest of electrical cables along
with it. He swings the pipe section around, WHACKING Blade.
KRUNCH! Drake swings the makeshift club again. He's a one
man demolition crew, decimating everything in his path. He's
SMASHING holes in the floor, the walls, plowing through
partitions of glass and steel.
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - ATRIUM - UPPER GALLERY - NIGHT
Abigail moves down the gallery, looks up --
A SERIES OF LIGHTING GANTRIES
span the length of the atrium ceiling.
Abigail balances on the handrail, then jumps out into space --
-- catching hold of one of the crosspieces. Like an acrobat,
she monkey-swings her way beneath the gantry. If she loses
her grip, she'll fall more than fifty feet.
BA-BANG! A bullet strikes just in front of Abigail, showering
her with SPARKS. MORE BULLETS follow.
ANGLE ON PAIR OF VAMPIRES
FIRING from below, trying to pick her off. Suddenly, UV
BULLETS strike each of the vampires. As they ASH we --
WHIP-PAN BACK TO KING,
having dragged his battered body out onto the upper gallery.
He's playing guardian angel to Abigail, laying down cover fire
so she can continue. But then --
DANICA
KING!!!
DANICA
appears behind King. She TACKLES him, wrestling him to the
floor, pummeling his face with her fist.
King tries to ward of f the blows, but he's sorely outmatched.
He swings his electronic pistol up --
Danica twists it from his grip, ejecting the clip from the
stock. King's sun dog bullets spill out all over the floor.
She tosses the gun aside, reaches for King again --
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - LIGHTING GANTRY - NIGHT
Back to Abigail. She's breathing heavily, trying to call up
new reserves of strength. She glances down --
Big mistake.
She forces herself to look back up. She swings herself
pendulum-style, manages to snag yet another crosspiece. A
SHOT RINGS OUT --
ANGLE ON ASHER,
down below, armed with a rifle. He FIRES again --
-- grazing Abigail's shoulder with the bullet. Abigail CRIES
OUT, nearly losing her grip.
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - ATRIUM - UPPER GALLERY - NIGHT
King rolls on his side, spits out a bloody tooth.
KING
No offense, Danica --
(gasping in pain)
-- but I've wanted to kill you since the
moment we slept together.
DANICA
I was that bad, huh?
King reaches a palsied hand for his discarded pistol, points
it vaguely in Danica's direction. She LAUGHS.
DANICA
No bullets in your gun, King.
KING
Yeah, but here's the beauty --
(wiping his bloody mouth)
-- these babies can be triggered remotely.
King pulls the trigger. The scattered sun dog bullets ERUPT
with UV LIGHT. Danica SHRIEKS, trying to shield her already
burning face from the glare. She runs, horribly wounded.
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - ATRIUM - GROUND FLOOR - NIGHT
Drake pummels Blade, flinging his body about like a ragdoll.
He grabs Blade by his ankle, swings him upwards some thirty
feet --
SMASH! Blade collides with the underside of a massive hanging
glass chandelier/lighting fixture.
Blade FALLS back to the ground, stunned, dropping his sword.
Drake pounces on him. Blade can barely fend off Drake's blows
anymore. In desperation he digs his fingers into Drake's
eyes.
Drake swings both fists downward, Hulk-style, SHATTERING an
entire section of the limestone flooring.
A SHOCK-WAVE ripples out from the point of impact, sending
waves of two-foot stone tiles flipping up into the air,
knocking Blade off his feet.
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - ATRIUM - UPPER GALLERY - NIGHT
King loads a sun dog into his pistol, steadies his aim on the
railing, and FIRES at Asher --
THE SUN DOG
screams across the atrium, striking dead-center in Asher's
open mouth. The bullet EXPLODES. UV LIGHT causes Asher's
skull to burn up from the inside out. His headless corpse
falls forward over the gallery railing. Then it too
carbonizes and BURNS UP.
Relieved, King sinks to his knees.
BEHIND KING,
we SEE Zoe slip from the alcove. She makes for the stairs.
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - LIGHTING GANTRY - NIGHT
King has bought Abigail more time. She swings her body
forward, hooking her legs over the next crosspiece. Then she
lets go with her hands. Now she is hanging upside down,
secured only by the tension in her calves.
Abigail reaches behind her, removes her bow. BLOOD from her
wounded shoulder drips down over her collar bone, reaching her
cheek, briefly obscuring her vision. She wipes it away. Then
she reaches back once more and --
-- because her quiver is pointed downward, a number of arrows
slide out. Abigail panics, twisting her body --
-- managing to lust barely snag the ~la~ue arrow as it tumbles
Past her!
Beat. Abigail shuts her eyes, trying to find her center.
With her eyes closed, she nocks the arrow and draws the bow
back. Then she opens her eyes.
She's only going to get one shot -- and she's going to have to
take it while hanging upside down.
168 a ABIGAIL'S POV 168 a
On Drake and Blade below, locked in combat. She tracks their
progress, waits for Drake to move into a better position --
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - ATRIUM - GROUND FLOOR - NIGHT
Drake shoulders a support column, SNAPPING it in two. An
entire section of the gallery walkway above comes CRASHING
DOWN, burying Blade in debris --
-- but it's not enough for Drake. He LEAPS forward, fishing
Blade out, hauling him up --
Drake head-butts Blade -- once, twice. Blade's eyes roll to
whites. Drake looks down, SEES Blade's discarded sword.
Drake scoops it up, STRIKES at Blade --
Blade manages to roll to the side, avoiding the blow.
Drake STRIKES again, dealing Blade a glancing blow --
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - LIGHTING GANTRY - NIGHT
ON ABIGAIL. Waiting. More blood has trickled down her neck,
into her eyes. But she can't wipe them anymore. She's
already got her bow drawn. She's committed to the shot.
We can hear ABIGAIL'S HEARTBEAT as she settles. She takes a
final breath, holds it -- and lets the plague arrow fly.
ON THE PLAGUE ARROW
as it streaks downward, hurtling towards Drake at more than
300 feet per second. Then, at the last possible instant --
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - ATRIUM - GROUND FLOOR - NIGHT
CHINGG! Drake deflects the arrow with his sword. It
harmlessly falls to the floor, rolling a few yards away.
ON ABIGAIL,
stunned, her expression melting into despair.
BACK TO DRAKE
swinging Blade's sword around. PLUNGING it into Blade's side.
As he pulls it back out again --
BLADE
GASPS, sinking downward. He's on his knees now, in shock.
Drake ROARS again shifting, conjuring up seventy centuries of
violence and predation. And the nightmare shape that was only
hinted at before, finally takes center-stage.
BLOOD suffuses Drake's flesh, turning his skin crimson. His
canines elongate, his lower jaw distends.
Jagged bone spurs erupt all over his body -- like he's growing
a suit of razor-sharp thorns. He doesn't need a sword
anymore. He's become a living weapon. Drake is gone. Now he
is --
THE BEAST
Drake swings the sword overhead. He's going to decapitate
Blade. And just as the sword reaches the top of its arc --
ZOE
emerges from the shadows behind Drake, clutching a silver
stake. She SHOVES it into Drake's back, pushing with all the
strength her little body can muster.
Drake staggers. The blow wasn't lethal, but it hurt all the
same. He turns on Zoe, enraged, his attention distracted for
one crucial second --
ON BLADE,
summoning the last of his reserves. He pitches his body
forward, managing to snag the end of the plague arrow. And
before Drake even realizes what is happening --
WHAM! Blade sinks the plague arrow deep into Drake's chest.
Drake drops the sword, turning back to face Blade --
Exhausted beyond measure, Blade sags.
INSIDE DRAKE'S CHEST - MACRO SHOT
as the arrowhead dispense the bio-weapon. We SEE the virus
flooding Drake's internal organs, causing them to blacken as
his circulatory system carries it throughout his body.
ON DRAKE'S FACE,
letting loose an INHUMAN SCREAM, vomiting up a spray of blood
mist. His monstrous features begin to melt, reshaping into
his more familiar face. At the same time we --
GO MACR0 ONCE MORE
Shrinking until we are amidst the spray of blood Drake
expelled. We continue shrinking until we are moving with the
individual molecules of Drake's breath as the plague virions
latch onto them, causing them to blacken and become necrotic.
Moving with the twirling molecules until they are inhaled by --
DANICA,
having retreated from her defeat by King. She clutches her
throat. We can see the virus infiltrating her system as tiny
BLACK THREADS expand across her face. She sways, falling onto
the floor. She reaches a beseeching hand towards King --
-- then dies, a final still-born curse on her lips.
MORE VAMPIRES
are feeling the effects now too. One by one they drop,
choking, going into convulsions. As they writhe on the floor,
we watch the Daystar virus ravaging their bodies.
BACK TO BLADE AND DRAKE
Drake slumps against the wall. Hero and villain are now
separated by only a few feet. Both at death's door.
DRAKE
Well done, hunter. Well done.
Blade stares back. At this point, he's just trying to remain
conscious. He's lost a ton of blood.
DRAKE
You fought with honor --
Drake shudders, his breathing becoming increasingly shallow.
DRAKE
-- as I knew you would. The humans are
coming for you, you know. In their eyes,
you and I are the same.
Allow me one last indulgence, then --
(gasping)
-- a parting gift --
Drake grows still, his eyes locked on Blade's.
ABIGAIL AND KING
rush to Blade's side. Zoe joins them. Blade is dying, fading
fast. Abigail shakes Blade --
ABIGAIL
Blade!
Her voice sounds distant and muted, overridden by Blade's own
HEARTBEAT which is fading up, dominating the soundtrack.
ABIGAIL
BLADE!!!
Blade's eyes can't focus anymore. They're clouding over.
BLADE'S POV
We drop away from Abigail and King -- like
we're falling down
a dark tunnel. Then the world FADES TO WHITE.
EXT. CITYSCAPE - DAWN
FADE IN FROM WHITE. We see the sky, the burning orb of the
rising sun. A trio of FBI helicopters ride out from the dawn,
swooping down over the stirring city.
ABIGAIL (V.0.)
It didn't take long for the authorities
to arrive.
INT. LEAD HELICOPTER - DAWN
Cumberland sits in the front passenger seat, Hale behind him.
EXT. PHOENIX TOWERS - PLAZA - DAWN
As the helicopters touch down in the plaza we see a small
convoy of POLICE and FBI VEHICLES converging around them.
Cumberland and Hale are among the first out. They rush
towards the Phoenix Towers entrance, guns drawn, DOZENS OF
AGENTS and OFFICERS behind them.
INT. PHOENIX TOWERS - ATRIUM - DAWN
The first rays of sun penetrate through the atrium windows
setting the scattered vampire corpses ablaze. Danica, Asher,
and the others all ignite.
ABIGAIL (V.0.)
When they got there, all of Drake's
people were dead.
By the time Cumberland and his men have entered, fanning out
through the atrium, all they find are a series of corpse
shaped piles of ash and singe marks.
ABIGAIL (V.0.)
In the weeks that followed, the rest of
the world's vampires also perished.
(beat)
We'd finally won.
ON CUMBERLAND,
surveying the scene, frustrated by what he's found. Then we
hear SHOUTS coming from the back of the atrium.
AT THE BACK OF THE ATRIUM
they find Blade. He's dead, slumped against a wall. There's
no sign of Drake. The vampire king is gone.
INT. FBI MORGUE - DAY
CLOSE ON Blade's face, his body being wheeled on an autopsy
gurney. PULL BACK to reveal that we are in an FBI morgue.
Cumberland and Hale stand nearby, overseeing everything as --
A TRIO OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS
lift Blade's body onto an autopsy table. They turn on a bank
of overhead UV lights. The lead examiner reaches for a
scalpel. But as he touches the scalpel to Blade's chest --
ABIGAIL (V.0.)
And Blade? Cumberland and Hale finally
got their body --
BLADE'S FACE
changes. We hear a series of POPS and CRACKS as subdermal
cartilage begins to loosen and shift. At the same time, the
skin begins to lighten as melanin is gradually leached away.
ABIGAIL (V.0.) (CONT'D)
-- but it wasn't the one they were banking
on.
ON CUMBERLAND AND THE OTHERS
as they react with varying degrees of shock.
BACK TO THE BODY
We realize that it's not Blade lying before them. It's Drake.
Somehow, even in death, the vampire king managed to take
Blade's shape and temporarily retain it.
ABIGAIL (V.O.)
The virus didn't kill Blade. But the
authorities very well could have. So in
the end, realizing that own his people
were doomed, Drake decided to give Blade a
gift.
(beat)
ABIGAIL (CONT ÔD)
By taking Blade's shape, he bought Blade
enough time to escape. Offering Blade a
second chance at life - -
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. SEASIDE CLIFF - DAY
A bright summer day. Blade stands at the edge of a cliff,
looking out over a sun-struck ocean. For the first time since
we've seen him, he's not wearing armor or sunglasses or
handguns or rifles. And were it not for the sword he holds,
we might even mistake him for an ordinary man.
ABIGAIL (V.0.)
And so Blade took it.
Blade flings his sword over the cliff, into the ocean below.
ABIGAIL (V.0.)
We never saw him again.
UNDERWATER
We see the sword sinking, reflecting the refracted sunlight
from above as it twirls end over end.
BACK TO BLADE
At peace with himself at last. After a moment's reflection,
he turns and walks away.
ABIGAIL (V.0.)
He disappeared completely.
(beat)
But that's what heroes do. They simply
fade out. And in this way --
A SERIES OF DISSOLVES
as Blade moves further and further away from us, dwindling
into the horizon until he disappears entirely.
ABIGAIL (V.0.)
-- they become legends.
FADE TO BLACK.
Over darkness we hear the sound of TRAFFIC.
EXT. THE SLAUGHTERED LAMB - NIGHT
FADE IN. We are moving towards a local punk dive wedged into
a crowded block in the meat packing district.
A DOORMAN (LUCIUS) stands outside, checking CUSTOMERS' IDs.We
hear HILLBILLY THRASH MUSIC coming from within.
ANGLE ON KING AND ABIGAIL
approaching. King holds his four-barreled rifle. Abigail
peels away, disappearing into an alley as King nears the front
door. The doorman recognizes King, knows he's trouble.
KING
Evening Lucius.
LUCIUS
King, what the hell are you doing here?
KING
Just a little sport hunting.
INT. CLUB CROWBAR - NIGHT
A BAND belts out a cover of Sam and the Shams' Little Red
Riding Hood. The band members look a little lupine. As King
weaves his way through the crowd, Lucius hurries alongside.
LUCIUS
Ain't no vampires left, King. So who do
you have to hunt?
KING
That's an interesting question, my friend.
And I've got a question for you in return.
INT. CLUB CROWBAR - BACK AREA - NIGHT
As King pushes his way through to the bathrooms, we hear an
UNEARTHLY ROAR coming from the men's room.
KING
What do you get when you cross a vampire
with a werewolf?
The door to the men's room EXPLODES OPEN. Abigail comes
flying out. She hits the far wall of the hallway, slides to
th floor. But she's up in an instant, pulling a knife on --
KING
(raising his four-barrel)
A fur coat that sticks to your neck.
A HILL-BILLY HIPSTER WERE-CREATURE,
wearing a blood-soaked Stray Cats-style suit. The ephedrine
nightmare creature looks at King, opening his elongated snout
to flash a set of razor-sharp canid teeth.
KING
Don't you know fur is murder?
As King FIRES point-blank into the were-creature we --
CUT TO BLACK.
CUE MUSIC.
END CREDITS ROLL