|
Scene 1: The FBI Morgue in Washington, DC
(Nastassia Chase walks through a set of heavy doors and to her desk. She scans a set of papers and sees a sheet listing
an autopsy request on drawer 13. She sighs, loads unidentified body #IIA13769 from drawer 13 onto a table, and grabs her
paperwork and tape recorder. Nastassia's assistant, Andrew Parker walks in.)
Andrew: Morning, oooo, who's the creepy guy?
Nastassia: I don't have a clue in hell. All I know is they picked him up at the base in Germany and he's damn close to
seven feet tall.
Andrew: Well you know what they say about tall guys.
Nastassia: Well I'm fairly sure he didn't die of cancer of anything in the groin region, so I suppose whatever they say
will have to remain a secret.
Andrew: Well actually I was going to say something along the lines of "extra tall pants," but okay.
Nastassia: Gimme the scalpel. The big one.
(Andrew wheels out the tool cart. Nastassia cuts into the chest cavity, only to find it bone dry inside.)
Nastassia: What in the blue hell? Andrew, hand me the clamp.
(Andrew holds out the clamp the same moment Nastassia raises her head. She receives a large gash across her forehead,
which splatters a fair amount of blood into the mouth of the body. It shudders. Andrew and Nastassia stare at it, silent.
The body shudders again. Nastassia removes the tools from the body quickly and steps back.)
Nastassia: Dear Christ Andrew, go get some blood bags from the closet, now!
(Andrew gets the bags, all type o, and helps Nastassia line it into the body. Nastassia's gash is still flowing, and
blood is running down the side of her face. The body goes into convulsions, and Nastassia struggles to hold it down as Andrew
runs for help. The chest incision heals on the body and very suddenly it sits up, wide eyed, and takes a breath. Damian
grabs Nastassia and holds her very tightly. He tilts her head and licks the blood off the side of her face with a groan of
pleasure. Nastassia cries out and tries to escape Damian's grasp, but is unsuccessful.)
Nastassia: Who are you, what do you want, what is wrong with you?!
Damian: My name is Damian. There is nothing wrong with me other than the basic fact that I am not "human"
per say. As long as you're a good little doctor and don't run from the room screaming, and you somehow keep my dirty little
secret just so, I won't have to kill you. But you did taste very good, maybe I do want to drink you...
Nastassia: No, please, don't. Please.
Damian: Shhh, shh. Are you afraid of dying? Of leaving your darling husband and children all alone?
Nastassia: I don't have a family, please just leave me alone.
(Damian releases his grip on Nastassia. She quickly tries to run away. Damian knocks Nastassia to the ground and pins
her down. She cries quietly and squirms.)
Damian: Now that wasn't very nice, I trusted you and you violated that. Tsk tsk.
(People rush down the hall. Damian quickly composes himself and Nastassia tries to remain calm. They all look to Nastassia,
astounded,)
Nastassia: He has a disorder...it ah...causes a deathlike state sometimes, it's genetic. He has ah...temporary amnesia
and needs to stay under observation for a couple of weeks to make sure he doesn't fall ill again.
FBI person: Okay...ah...I'll arrange for a lab observation apartment to be set up as long as you can produce some kind
of report later. And for God sakes get him some scrubs or something, we can't have nude people about the building.
(Nastassia turns and glances, then quickly looks back.)
Nastassia: Yeah! Sure, will do.
(the FBI personnel depart. Nastassia stands, staring at Damian with a fearful look.)
Damian: Oh that was quite nice. You're an exceptional liar. I'm impressed, and I've told many a lie in my days.
Nastassia: Are you going to kill me?
Damian: No...not right now. Probably not anytime soon.
(Nastassia nods, and quickly finds some spare scrubs for Damian to wear. She turns away as he dresses.)
Damian: Did you just now remember your modesty or were you embarrassed because you liked looking too much?
Nastassia: Neither, I was actually taught some manners as a child.
(Damian grabs her from behind and hold on tightly. Nastassia winces and cries.)
Damian: Shh, shh, I'm not going to hurt you. I only ever intend to scare you. You're so helpless and pretty when you're
scared. It makes me want to hold you and comfort you.
Nastassia: Let me go. Right now. I'll take you up to the observation live-in lab so you can situate your life or what
have you, just let me go so I can arrange everything. Let me go!
(Damian releases his hold on Nastassia. She sits at a computer and types while Damian watches.)
Damian: That's not true, I'm no German.
Nastassia: Not what your lab report said...
Damian: No, I was in Germany, I was born in Boston, but I was never an American citizen.
Nastassia: How old are you?!
Damian: Let's see...twenty in eighty...two hundred and forty some odd years I believe.
Nastassia: Christ, how in the hell did you live two hundred years, watching everyone you knew die, watching your children
and wife age and die?
Damian: Oh well, it twasn't so bad, I actually joined Washington's army to get out of marrying, so I didn't have a family
of my own yet anyway.
Nastassia: Do...do vampires have families?
Damian: Well sure, some do. I've never gotten around to it.
Nastassia: Two hundred years of playing the field not quite enough?
Damian: Not so much. Haven't found anyone worth the hassle to be honest. Vampire women offer very little and humans
offer even less.
Nastassia: I wasn't under the impression they could mix anyway.
Damian: Well you'd be quite wrong, for one. For two, all anyone on your side knows is superstitious bullshit anyway.
Like crosses and garlic. The only stuff that's true is the mirrors, the sun, the doors, and the bloodsucking bit. We don't
go to hell for fucking or feeling true happiness. It doesn't quite work like that.
(Nastassia gets up from the computer and grabs keys from the desk. She begins to depart.)
Nastassia: You're coming?
Damian: Oh, yeah.
(She takes him up to a small apartment like lab, with 2 bedrooms, a dining room/kitchen, and a living room/lab. Damian
goes into a room and looks around.)
Scene 2: The Lab-Apartment
(Damian looks around the room curiously. Nastassia stands at the door, watching him. She yawns.)
Damian: Where do you sleep?
Nastassia: The other room. It connects though the bathroom.
Damian: I see. You should sleep, you are tired.
Nastassia: What if I don't trust you?
Damian: Then tie me down to the bed or something.
(Nastassia pauses, then retrieves some nylon cord from the lab. She points for Damian to get on the bed and first ties
his ankles. She straddles him to tie his wrists. Nastassia doesn't notice that Damian is visibly aroused and trying hard
to calm himself down. She leans over and ties his wrists as he grinds his teeth. She finished and slides off the bed, still
oblivious to how he feels. Nastassia exits to the bathroom and shuts the door, but it reopens just enough for the reflection
of the mirror to be seen by Damian. Nastassia strips down before brushing her teeth, taking out her contacts, and finally
getting into the shower.)
Damian: There is no god, there is no god, there is no god...
(Damian quickly expends so much energy trying to calm himself he sends himself into a dire need to feed. He instinctively
tries to get up but cannot from his bindings. Damian breaks into a cold sweat and twitches against the sheets. His vision
blurs. Nastassia comes in, wearing a towel.)
Nastassia: Jesus fucking Christ!
(She runs and gets 2 blood bags from a box waiting outside the door to the lab. She rips them open with her teeth and
pours the liquid into Damian's mouth. He drinks one bag and stops for a moment.)
Damian: You tied the ropes and I just got this huge fucking hard on and then you left the door open and then you took
your clothes off and then-
Nastassia: Quiet, just drink, you can tell me all about it later.
(Damian's vision comes back into focus. He drinks the second bag and comes back to sense. Nastassia pushes his black
hair away from his green eyes and looks into them, concerned. She unties his wrists.)
Nastassia: I'm going to untie you in case you fall ill again. There's a box with some clothes and a few more blood bags
on the table in the kitchen. I am trusting you not to kill me, but I think you're smart enough to know that would be the
end of you.
Damian: Doctor?
Nastassia: Yes?
Damian: You're very beautiful, I just wanted to say that.
Nastassia: I'm going to sleep now Damian, stay out of trouble.
(Nastassia departs to her room. Damian sits, bored. He changes into the clothes left for him, then sits in the kitchen,
bored. He looks towards Nastassia's room.)
Damian: (mentally, with narration) Go watch her...unbound. She'll never even know you're there. She wouldn't want you
to be bored the whole time she slept, now would she. No harm in just looking at her, it's not like she's naked or anything.
Do it.
(He walks into Nastassia's room.)
Damian: (mentally) Oh shit, oh shit, what if you get caught, she's gonna think you're tryin' to kill her for Christ's
sake. Calm down. Deep breathes. She's asleep. Ooo, she is naked under the covers. Damn that's hot as fuck. It's a shame
that there aren't any vamp women with as much class and brains as she has and hot damn are those some great tits. What I
wouldn't give to grab those. Mmm.
(Damian reaches out and lightly caresses Nastassia's chest. She breathes, as if to wake, but just rolls over. Damian
is frozen in place, but then quickly and silently exits from the room.)
Damian: (mentally) Christ that was close. What the hell we're you thinking you stupid fuck?! Are you trying to end your
existence forever?! Well that actually might not be so bad, minus the whole hell bit. Not like you're doin' too well here
anyway...
(Damian goes into his room and lies down. He pictures Nastassia in his mind and tries to shake the image.
Damian: (mentally) Always the one you can't have.
Scene 3: Bonding
(Nastassia awakens around 8 pm. She dresses and walks into the living room/lab area. It is eerily silent. Nastassia
quietly walks into Damian's room. He is completely motionless. She tries to awaken him, shaking his shoulders. Damian sits
up suddenly and grabs Nastassia to drink her. He quickly hurls her to the ground and turns away, angry with her.)
Damian: What in the name of god were you thinking, woman?! Are you trying to get yourself eaten?
Nastassia: I was just trying to wake you up. I wanted to know if you wanted to go out and see the city.
(Nastassia gives Damian a hurt expression. She gets up from the floor.)
Damian: Look, I'm sorry I threw you, just be more careful, okay?
Nastassia: Alright, now do you want to go out?
Damian: What's the catch?
Nastassia: You have to stay within my sight.
Damian: Fine, if I eat anyone you have to watch then.
Nastassia: Well, ah, okay but I'd really...prefer that you not.
Damian: It's no more inhumane than you eating a cheeseburger or a bratwurst or something.
Nastassia: I didn't say-
Damian: You don't have to, your prejudice is readily evident. Just because it's not what you consider normal, saint Nastassia,
doesn't mean it's not okay.
Nastassia: I really don't care that-
Damian: But you do. You care very much. Because there's nothing that separates you from the people I feed on. And that
makes you uncomfortable.
Nastassia: I don't care I just don't want to deal with covering up a body, stop accusing me of things. You don't know
me, you don't know what I believe or how I feel about things.
Damian: Oh. Well fine then. Let's go.
(Nastassia leads Damian through the building and out to her car.)
Nastassia: I have to go get some things from my apartment, after that I'll take you wherever.
Damian: Okay, but there isn't really anywhere that'd interest me and that'd be open at 9 at night.
(Nastassia drives to her apartment without speaking a word. Damian watches the scenery with awe. They stop in front
of a tall building and get out.)
Nastassia: Follow me.
(They start up the long flight of stairs. Damian falls further and further behind, watching the skyline. He hears Nastassia
scream and runs up to her. She is being held at knife point. Her assailant is trying with one hand to pull down her pants.
Damian grabs him and is slashed across the cheek.)
Assailant: Back off, fucker, you don't want no piece of this shit.
(Damian overpowers the assailant and bites into his neck, drinking until he's dead. He looks at Nastassia, who is against
the wall, shaking with fear and crying. Damian steps towards her, but she winces and backs away.)
Damian: Shhh, shh, I'm not going to hurt you, honey, come here. Take my hand, it's okay.
(Damian holds out his hand. Nastassia reaches out and touches it. He again steps towards her. He reaches down and pulls
back up her pants. She cries out quietly. Damian buttons and zips her pants, then backs up and grabs on to her hand.)
Damian: See, everything's okay, you just got a scare. I told you I wasn't going to hurt you. Everything's okay now,
right?
Nastassia: Okay.
Damian: Where's your apartment?
(Nastassia walks to the next door, still holding onto Damian's hand very tightly. She unlocks it and walks in. flipping
on the lights.)
Damian: I must say, you're got luck for shit Nastassia, you were only about ten feet from safety.
Nastassia: Tell me about it.
(Nastassia packs a bag of clothes and necessities while Damian wanders around her apartment. He is drawn to the books
and movies.)
Damian: Can we take some of these back?
Nastassia: Well sure, I don't know how much of it you'd enjoy.
Damian: You like ghosts and things like that a lot.
Nastassia: Yeah well until yesterday I though everything like that was just a bunch of bullshit.
Damian: Are you upset?
Nastassia: At what?
Damian: Well was I what you expected me to be?
Nastassia: Not at all, but I'm not upset by it.
Damian: Well what did you expect?
Nastassia: A stereotype I suppose.
Damian: Well don't be too set off, a lot of vampires are very stereotypical. Sex crazed and bloodlusty. A lot of that
other stuff is bullshit though. Like the crucifixes and the garlic. That's utter crap.
Nastassia: So what is true?
Damian: The mirrors, wood, the sun, hrm...I think that's about it. Oh we have pulses too, they're just very very slow.
Very slow. Unbelievably slow.
(Nastassia smiles at him and zips her bag shut. She walks towards the door. Damian follows behind her. They go down
to her car and get in.)
Damian: Let's just go back, I'm sure you've had enough for the evening.
Nastassia: Indeed I have.
Damian: Nastassia, tell me about your life.
Nastassia: Excuse me?
Damian: Well everyone has a story, what's yours?
Nastassia: Um...I'm 23, I'm 5'4" if I stretch, my hair is it's natural color. I graduated from Emory when I was
18, I got my doctorate last year, I have no family. I don't really have a whole lot of friends either because I work so much.
I joined the FBI forensics department to make some money but I think that for the most part I'm totally underappreciated.
I've never been married and I probably never will be. That's about it.
Damian: You're boring.
Nastassia: Gee, thanks.
Damian: Well, I'm almost 300. I have no offspring. I've never been married but I've been in love twice. I'm probably
the most unorthodox vampire on the planet in the sense that I'm really not into random promiscuous sex and I don't just go
out and kill people for the hell of it. I'm kind of depressed most of the time because I'm pretty alone most of the time.
I don't like being a vampire I think. I dont know though. It's all right sometimes, the eternal youth thing is pretty nice.
I travel a great deal; I just spent 13 years in Germany. I had 9 brothers and sisters, but all that's left of them now is
great great great grandchildren that don't even know I exist but pride in saying they had family in the American Revolution.
Nastassia: I'd be more interesting if I was alive for 300 years too.
Damian: I don't think so.
Nastassia: Why are you so sad?
Damian: Well quite the same reason you are deep down. Nobody cares if I make it though another day or not. I'm all I've
got.
(Nastassia says nothing in response. She parks the car and they go back up to the lab apartment. She looks sad.)
Damian: I've upset you.
Nastassia: Only because you're right.
Damian: Well that doesn't make it okay. I'm quite sorry.
Nastassia: It's fine, really. Don't let it bother you. Do you want to play poker or something?
Damian: You're just switching the subject, but sure. I'm going to win anyway.
Nastassia: Ha, why don't you put your money where your mouth is?
Damian: What money?
Nastassia: Fine, we play for bragging rights.
(They continue to play cards and watch movies until 10 in the morning.)
Nastassia: It's time for bed. Don't do anything bad while I'm asleep.
(Nastassia departs for bed.)
Scene 4: Dreaming
(Nastassia sleeps restlessly. Her dreams are unsettling. Damian again comes into her room secretly.)
Damian: (mentally) What's wrong, meine Geliebter? Who's hurting you in your dreams? Why do you look so tormented and
distressed?
(Nastassia gives a shiver. She has kicked her covers off the foot of her bed. Damian pulls the covers back on to Nastassia
and then sits on the floor next to her.)
Damian: (out loud, whispering) Ich liebe dich, you know that. I'll always love you. (mentally) Even though we've but
just met and you'll never love me in return, I will always long to have you in my arms. No matter what.
(Nastassia moans and makes a face as if to cry. She murmurs a soft "no" and rolls over from her side to her
back. Damian pushes her hair back from her face. He moves forward slowly and plants a small kiss on her forehead.)
Damian: (out loud, whispering) I'll never let anyone hurt you again. Not as long as I'm near you.
(Damian gives her another small kiss and leaves the room.)
Scene 5: A Week Later
(It is a week from Damian's arrival at the FBI lab. Nastassia and Damian have formed a close, but strictly friendly relationship.)
Nastassia: You know, you're going to be free from here soon.
Damian: No! I mean, where would I go, what will I do? I've not been in the DC area in so long.
Nastassia: Well we've still got a few more days. I'm sure we'll find a place for you to hide out until you can get to
wherever you want to go.
Damian: I don't know what I want anymore!
(With that the room falls silent. Damian stares at Nastassia intensely. She looks away, afraid that she might be giving
Damian the wrong message.)
Damian: Will you look at me, and tell me that you really want me to disappear from your life forever.
Nastassia: I didn't say that! I only know that's it's best for you to get back in a normal lifestyle. I couldn't keep
you here forever, not even a decree from god would be accepted for a permanent residence here.
Damian: Why do you deny me?!
Nastassia: Why are you so bent on something that can never be?
(Damian flies into a rage, throwing things, tipping furniture, and yelling. He tips a stack of papers, which hits the
"on" switch on a solar lamp. He screams and falls back, still under the beam. Nastassia runs over to him and breaks
the light. Damian is burned severely. Nastassia begins to cry.)
Nastassia: Damian, no, no Damian. You can't. No Damian, no.
(Damian's eyelids crack open a small bit. Nastassia runs about the room, looking for blood. She finds none and sits
beside Damian, knife at hand. Nastassia pushes the blade into the side of her neck and then withdraws. Blood gushes from
the wound as she leans down and places the cut against Damian's lips. Instinctively, he bites in and drinks until he is well
again. He blinks back into reality and realizes that he is drinking Nastassia. Damian pushed her body off of his, panicked.
Nastassia moans softly. Damian kneels beside Nastassia and holds her limp, weak body in his arms.)
Damian: Do you know what you've done? Do you know what's happening to you? If you're smart you'll die and you won't
fight it, do you hear me? Oh God, Nastassia, how could you, how can I live knowing I've done this to you? What were you
thinking?!
(Nastassia can do no more than moan. She is delirious. Damian picks her up and walks to the door.)
Nastassia: No...too many questions...
Damian: You're going to die if you don't get help.
Nastassia: I don't feel like dying. I feel like my insides are absorbing themselves.
(Damian lies Nastassia down on the table and watches her. She moans and twitches. He holds her hand.)
Nastassia: I'm not going to die, am I?
Damian: If you were going to you would have already.
Nastassia: Is it going to hurt?
Damian: I don't remember, I was asleep. When I woke up I was already crossed over. You could be done already, I don't
know.
(Nastassia sits up. Damian stands and looks at her. He slides his thumb along her lower lip to reveal long, pearly white
fangs. She looks at him with worry.)
Damian: I...I think you're done. Nastassia...may I kiss you?
(Nastassia opens her mouth to answer but instead leans in and kisses Damian. They kiss passionately for a few moments.)
Nastassia: Damian, I feel so cold inside. Like something is missing form my body.
Damian: You need to drink, and to rest. We should go to the underground.
Nastassia: There's an underground?!
Damian: Yes, and you need to feed now, we have to go.
Nastassia: But I feel so tired...
(Damian picks up Nastassia and carries her down to her car, using verbal directions given by Nastassia. He drives to
a parking lot, then leads Nastassia to a walkway within view of the Lincoln memorial. The sun is beginning to glow behind
a building. Damian traces invisible lines on the cement, and a panel slides away. They duck inside the Underground, just
as the sun peeks over the rooftops.)
Scene 6: The Underground I
(Damian leads Nastassia to a room with unconscious victims waiting to be drunk. He lies one down on a table and pulls
a chair up. Damian sits down and draws Nastassia into his lap.)
Damian: Okay, this is really easy, you just have to bite, and everything else just...goes.
Nastassia: They're still alive, I can't.
Damian: You can't drink a dead person because they coagulate. He's unconscious, he can't feel a thing. You have to get
used to it.
(Nastassia leans in slowly and bites into the neck of the body on the table. She drinks, every now and then with a soft
groan. Damian watches her with growing arousal, massaging her thighs as she drinks.)
Nastassia: I'm done, I can't do anymore.
(Damian finishes the victim. Suddenly, three men burst into the room, one of them being Errol, a friend of Damian.)
Errol: What in the fuck are you doing here, and who the hell is she?!
Damian: I was going to go get her registered right after she fed, I swear, but it was an emergency-
Errol: Oh I'm sure it was.
(Damian smirks and shakes his head. Nastassia huddles on him, frightened and confused.)
Errol: There's nothing to be afraid of, sweetie, we just enjoy giving Damian a hard time. Just answer a few questions
and everything will be okay. Now where are you from?
Nastassia: Here. DC I mean.
Errol: When were you born?
Nastassia: March-
Damian: Not like that born. Earlier today. 3 AM ish.
Errol: Oh, and how old are you?
Nastassia: Twenty-three.
Errol: And who bit you? If you know?
Nastassia: Well it wasn't exactly-
Damian: I did.
(Damian looks ashamed and upset. Errol glances at him.)
Errol: What's your name, darling?
Nastassia: Nastassia Chase.
Errol: Is anyone going to come looking for you?
Nastassia: I don't think so, I have no surviving family and no friends really.
Errol: Do you two plan on rooming together?
Damian: Yes. Yes we do.
Errol: Well good because we only have one housing unit open right now.
(Errol hands Damian a slip of paper with their house number on it. He puts it in his pocket.)
Damian: So how's the wife?
Errol: Oh damn, pregnant. She's just bent on having a full-blood, I swear. Damn woman's lost three already.
Damian: When's she due?
Errol: Tomorrow. Tomorrow, then probably again in three weeks.
Damian: Fuckin' crazy.
(Nastassia looks confused. Damian explains.)
Damian: Well, you see, gestation only lasts nine days as opposed to nine months. And it's pretty hellish; the one wing
of the hospital you don't want to ever be in is the maternity ward. And infant mortality is around ninety percent. Coupled
with the fact that if the baby does by some miracle live, the mother doesn't. Pregnancy is not a pleasant thing overall.
(Nastassia nods. Errol gets up to leave)
Errol: Well, you two should go and get situated, I should go get screamed at by my wife, so I believe it is time to depart.
(Everyone gets up and leaves. Damian takes Nastassia's hand and walks her to their house. He pauses at the door.)
Damian: I love you very much, you do know that. And I do intend on marrying you very soon.
Nastassia: Okay.
(Damian smiles at Nastassia and opens the door. The house is simple, like an apartment. There is a bedroom, a kitchen,
a dining room, a bathroom, and a living room. Nastassia looks around, silently. Damian shuts the door and stands, watching
her.)
Damian: What's the matter?
Nastassia: Nothing, it's just a lot to take in. I'm fine really.
(Nastassia smiles at Damian. He steps towards her and takes her into his arms.)
Damian: I've loved you ever since I saw you. I've wanted you every day, every night. I used to watch you sleep, just
to make sure you made it through your dreams all right. And every time I slept I dreamt about having you. You have no idea
how I've longed to touch you.
(Damian slides his hands underneath Nastassia's shirt and lifts it over her head. He sits down on a chair, pulling her
in front of him. Damian undoes the button and zipper of Nastassia's pants and edges them down until they fall to the floor.
He presses his forehead to her chest then looks up. Nastassia smiles back at Damian coyly. He undoes her bra and stands
back up. Damian pulls his shirt off and undoes his pants, allowing his pants and boxers to fall to the floor as they back
into the bedroom. Nastassia slides onto the bed. Damian crawls above her and removes her panties. They kiss deeply. Nastassia
wraps her legs around Damian's body. The obvious occurs. For two days, all they do is drink and have sex. On the third
day, they fall into a deep sleep.)
Scene 7: The Underground II
(Damian wakes up first on the fourth day. He sits up and glances next to him, then realizes that the past five four days
wasn't a dream. He lies back down and kisses Nastassia on the forehead. She wakes up and snuggles next to him.)
Damian: All of this is real, right?
Nastassia: Mmm?
Damian: Nothing, I'm just afraid I'm going to wake up and be back in a FBI lab, alone and horny.
Nastassia: Intriguing.
(Nastassia smirks. Damian smiles at her.)
Damian: Don't pretend you didn't know.
Nastassia: Oh I did, I just pretended not to notice. Realistically, it's impossible not to notice though. It's like,
huge.
(Damian smiles, proud. Nastassia laughs and rolls out of bed. She walks to the bathroom, throwing a glance back at Damian.
He follows her into the shower. And not for the purpose of bathing. After they get out of the shower they dress in some clothes
left outside the house door by Errol.)
Damian: This is the only time in my life I'm ever going to say this, but we need to go shopping. These clothes are a
bit um...off.
Nastassia: What, I think the ruffled pirate shirt and trousers are sexy.
Damian: Well yes, if we were in the revolutionary period they'd be perfect. But overall you're going to find that corseted
gown uncomfortable.
Nastassia: I like it, it reminds me of going to Colonial Williamsburg as a child.
Damian: How ironic, it reminds me of being shot at in colonial Williamsburg
Nastassia: Show me what it's like to be a vampire.
(Nastassia looks at him with bright eyes and a big smile. He stares back at her, in her fancy colonial gown.)
Damian: You're goddamn beautiful, you know that? Let's go, I want to show you off. And I'd like to get some normal clothes.
(They exit the house and take a subway to an underground shopping center. Nastassia buys an assortment of sexy underthings,
an outfit of tight black vinyl and several flowing, gown-like dresses, all of which are black except one, which is a creamy
silver. Damian buys plain boxers, jeans, khakis, black cargo pants, and plain black or white t-shirts. At Nastassia's insistence,
he also gets an off white button down shirt and black dress slacks. They stop and drink before returning to their house.
Nastassia changes into her vinyl outfit and steps into the living room where Damian is reading the paper.)
Nastassia: I want to go out and see the things that people only dream about up in DC.
Damian: What the hell are you talking about?
Nastassia: Like, you know, the crazy lust-driven raves, the wild parties, you know, stuff like that. I want to see all
that.
Damian: You want a bunch of stereotypical bullshit is what you want.
Nastassia: What is your problem?
Damian: Can you not be content with what you feel inside yourself and accept that you are not some human outsider anymore?
Can you not realize that you are all you need to know what it's like to be a vampire?
Nastassia: Well I'm sorry if I still feel like a normal human.
Damian: Well I'm sorry you keep lying to yourself. You're no human. A human considers you lower than dirt.
Nastassia: That's not true! I never though that of you!
Damian: You did, but you didn't realize it. I saw they way you watched me when I drank.
Nastassia: It's natural to be scared of what you don't understand. But I never once though lowly of you.
Damian: Oh, then why are you willing to share a bed with me now when you weren't back when you were a human?
(Nastassia glares at him, then storms out of the house, slamming the door shut behind her. Damian sits for a minute,
then swears and gets up to follow her.)
Scene 8: The Club
(Nastassia finds her way to a vampire club. She moves around the room, collecting glances from several of the men. One
of them, Dirk, introduces himself.)
Dirk: New here or just new?
Nastassia: Only been around a couple of days.
Dirk: I'm Dirk.
Nastassia: Okay.
Dirk: Ooooh, sharp. I like a witty piece of fresh meat. What's your name, sexy?
Nastassia: Nastassia.
Dirk: Want to come back to my bed this morning, Nastassia?
Damian: No, she doesn't.
(They turn around and face Damian. He grabs Nastassia's wrist and pulls her to him. Dirk is angry.)
Dirk: Hey Malinger, who the fuck do you think you are? I had her first, wait your turn, I'm sure there's enough of her
to share.
(With that, Nastassia spins around and punches Dirk square in the jaw. He spits.)
Dirk: Dumb bitch, I'm going to fuck you up now...
Damian: If you so much as look at her foully I'll fucking decimate you.
(Dirk growls, then turns and leaves. Damian turns to Nastassia, angry. She faces him, cold as steel.)
Damian: Don't walk out on me again.
Nastassia: Don't give me a reason to.
(They kiss. They stumble through the crowds until the get to the corner of the bar. Nastassia sits on the counter and
pulls Damian towards her. Nastassia slides to the edge of the counter and unzips Damian's pants. She rolls up her skirt
and unties her thong.)
Damian: Honey, what are you doing?
Nastassia: Shhh, just go with it. Close your eyes and pretend that nobody else is here.
Damian: We can never come back here if we do this.
Nastassia: I don't care.
(They have sex on the corner of the bar. A crowd begins to form around them, yet they are oblivious until Nastassia's
screams rouse a cheer from the group. They put their clothes back on and face the crowd, who applauds loudly. Damian hangs
his head, embarrassed, but Nastassia smiles and winks.)
Nastassia: Don't lie that was incredible.
Damian: We are never, ever going to live this down.
(Nastassia grabs a glass from the bar and drinks feverishly. She drinks another.)
Damian: Do you feel all right?
Nastassia: Hungry...very very hungry. But Im fine.
(An alarm rings, sending the room into a panic. The entrances back to the underground seal and lock. Nastassia hugs
onto Damian, frightened. He grabs her and stays calm.)
Damian: It's just a raid, the government busts in here all the time looking for "drugs", be calm.
(Warning shots fire into the air. The crowd screams and goes to the ground. SWAT team people comb through the room.
The commanding officer speaks.)
Officer: Everyone down on the floor, this is a raid, cooperate and you will not be harmed.
(Nastassia still clings to Damian, unable to move. The Officer faces them.)
Officer: You have until the count of five to get on the floor. One, two-
Damian: We're moving, we're moving, she's just really scared, we're not trying to cause any trouble. (to Nastassia)
Sweetie if you calm down I promise we'll go get married in less than a week, okay?
(They lie down on the floor and are searched. Damian keeps a close eye as they search Nastassia. One SWAT member keeps
a hand firmly planted on her backside.)
Damian: Don't do that to her, she's scared enough already, don't touch her, come on.
(The SWAT guy kicks Damian in the stomach. He grimaces. Nastassia glances at her watch. It says 4:45 AM. They continue
to search people until 5:15 AM. By that time Nastassia is sheet pale and tired.)
Officer: All right, let them go we've got nothing.
(Everyone in the club exits outside into the cold early morning. The SWAT teams throw cans hissing a mysterious gas into
the exiting crowd. The other vampires begin to collapse in the street. Damian grabs Nastassia's hand to run, but they make
it little before she blacks out.)
Scene 9: The Reats
(Nastassia wakes up in a bed she does not recognize and looks around nervously for Damian. She screams out for him.
A young black haired vampire girl named Holly Reat walks into the room.)
Holly: Mama, mama, the girl woke up!
(Nastassia sits, confused.)
Holly: What's your name?
Nastassia: Nastassia Chase...can you tell me who you are? And how I got here? I do not remember.
Holly: Oh sure, you were in the sleazy place and the bad men came, and they tried to kill everyone, but Damian and my
daddy saved you. And my name's Holly, and I'm a full blood, and I'm eight years old.
(Nastassia smiles.)
Nastassia: Can you tell me where Damian is, Holly?
Holly: (sadly) He's sick.
Nastassia: What's wrong with him, I have to see him...
Holly: He can't drink and he talks in his sleep, but never rests.
(Nastassia gets up from the bed and walks out of the room, followed by Holly. She ducks in door to door looking for Damian.
He is lying on the couch in the living room. Nastassia dashes to his side, crying. Damian lies with his eyes open, twitches
and moans, sometimes for Nastassia, with no perception of the outside world.)
Nastassia: Damian, it's me, you have to snap out of it, you have to come back to me!
(Mr. and Mrs. Reat enter the room. They try to pull Nastassia away, but she struggles and finally lets out a blood-curdling
scream. Damian sits up, wide-awake. They move and embrace each other.)
Nastassia: I was so scared, I didn't know where you were or where I was or what happened...
Damian: I thought you were dead.
(The room falls silent for a minute.)
Mr. Reat: The SWAT team released a gas of some sort of supercoagulant. A couple of humans died as well, their bodies
didn't disparate with the sun, so it was reported as an unusual reaction to tear gas used to "quell a rowdy rave crowd."
Nastassia: What an absolute crock.
Mrs. Reat: It wasn't the first, it won't be the last. If you two were smart you'd avoid all those silly sex feasts anyway,
save yourself the worry.
Damian: Oh no, no, we're not like that! Nastassia was just born; she just wanted to see the other side as a one-time
experience. We don't have multiple partners or anything like that, we're quite monogamous.
Mrs. Reat: I see. Well then it's nothing you have to worry about.
Nastassia: Does anyone know what time or what day it is?
Mr. Reat: Three hours until sunset on Thursday.
Damian: Aw, happy 5th day birthday, honey.
(Nastassia smiles. Four hours later Nastassia and Damian depart and go back to the underground.)
Scene 10: The Newspaper Article
(Nastassia and Damian are greeted by people amazed they lived through the raid. On the way back to their house Nastassia
picks up a newspaper. They go inside and sit down on the bed, exhausted. Nastassia leans on Damian's shoulder and sighs.)
Damian: What troubles you?
Nastassia: I'm just...I don't know, it's been a crazy six days.
(Nastassia flips through the paper.)
Nastassia: Damian...they're looking for me. They say you've kidnapped me. I have to do something so they think I'm out
on my own and that I haven't been abducted.
Damian: We'll figure out something. Let's go get married.
Nastassia: Now?!
Damian: Well, after we shower off and change. I suppose we should eat too.
(Nastassia goes into the kitchen and microwaves blood from out of the refrigerator. She brings a mug to Damian and cuddles
up next to him. They drink in silence. Damian goes and takes his shower while Nastassia lays out their clothes. He comes
out in a towel. Nastassia smiles at him and takes her shower. When she gets out Damian is dressed and quite handsome.)
Nastassia: You're supposed to leave so you don't see me in my dress, it's tradition. Go find Errol and Riona and whoever
we need to get married.
Damian: How will you know where to go?
Nastassia: Send Riona to get me.
Damian: Okay, I'll see you in...
Nastassia: An hour.
Damian: Okay.
(Damian leaves. Nastassia dresses in her cream colored dress and does her hair and makeup. She looks beautiful. Riona
knocks at the door.)
Riona: Damian has sent me to fetch you to be wed.
Nastassia: I'm ready.
(Riona pauses.)
Riona: Are you...with child Nastassia?
Nastassia: I don't know.
(Nastassia looks away.)
Riona: We'll stop at the clinic on the way.
(Nastassia nods. They walk. They stop at a hallway. Riona leads Nastassia in and informs the person at the desk that
Nastassia needs a pregnancy test. They swab her mouth and tell her she may leave and the results will be brought to her house.
Riona and Nastassia leave and walk down the corridors of the underground. They stop at a set of large brass doors.)
Riona: Are you ready?
Nastassia: I'm ready.
(Riona opens the door. A large, light filled room full of hanging glass ornaments and mirrors meets Nastassia's eyes.
She smiles brightly. Down the walkway of the room a small group of Damian's friends are gathered. In the center of the room
stands Damian and the marriage official. She walks to Damian and the official begins to speak in Latin. Nastassia mouths
to Damian that she doesn't know Latin. He mouths back for her to say "I do" when he squeezes her hand. They go
through the ceremony.)
Official: Now you may kiss your bride.
(Damian and Nastassia smile at each other and kiss. The guests clap softly. They exit the room and go back to their
house to consummate their marriage.)
Scene 11: The Plan
(Damian and Nastassia lie in bed. Nastassia discusses her plan for getting the FBI off her case.)
Nastassia: If we arrange for my "body" to be found then I can just leave the morgue after they write my death
certificate and everything will be done and over with.
Damian: Well when do you want to go?
Nastassia: Right at sunset, so there's still people to find me but I won't be burnt to a crisp.
Damian: That's only like, thirty minutes from now.
Nastassia: The sooner we get this over with the better.
Damian: When would you be back?
Nastassia: By dark tomorrow evening.
Damian: Well you have to look dead.
(Nastassia gets a knife from the kitchen and places the handle in Damian's palm.)
Damian: You don't really think I could stab you, do you?
Nastassia: No, just...slice into my neck.
Damian: I can't. It would feel too wrong.
(Nastassia grabs the knife and gouges it into the side of her neck. She screams and then cries. Damian grabs her and
holds her.)
Damian: It's okay Nastassia, it's okay, you'll phase it out in a minute or two.
Nastassia: I have to look all bloody. So it looks like I hit the artery.
Damian: Okay.
(Damian carries Nastassia to a room with a large pool of hot blood. He cups some and pours it over Nastassia's face,
neck, arm, and torso on her right side. She cried silently, leaving tearstains on her cheek. She is ghostly pale. Damian
carries her back to the house and calls Errol. Errol comes over.)
Errol: I think it's a bad idea, but I'll help if you're sure.
Damian: She's sure...why is it a bad idea?
Errol: Well it just seems shady. The whole article in the paper seems shady. I just don't have a good feeling.
Nastassia: Don't worry, I can do this.
(They take Nastassia out to a car and drive.)
Errol: When I stop, throw, and I do mean throw, her out the door, okay?
Damian: Yeah.
(They stop. Damian hurls Nastassia out and they speed off. She hits the ground hard.)
Scene 12: In the Morgue AND Scene 13: Waiting
(A crowd gathers around Nastassia's body. She is placed on a stretcher and taken in the FBI building. She is identified
and sent up to the morgue. Nastassia is placed in a drawer. She listens to the conversation outside.)
Voice 1: So the creep killed her.
Voice 2: I guess so. We should probably do a rape test now.
Voice 1: Actually, they paged me and said not to touch it. General Swanson is coming up.
Voice 2: Why, she's not a Werewolf or a Zombie.
(They laugh. Swanson enters the room.)
Swanson: Where is she?
Voice 1: There.
(They open the drawer.)
Swanson: Could you get me some blood bags?
Voice 2: But she's dead.
(Swanson shoves his cigar into the bottom of Nastassia's foot. Despite all her efforts, she grinds her teeth and curls
her toes. Swanson laughs.)
Swanson: Dead, right?
-----
(Damian sits alone and nervous in the house. There is a knock at the door. Damian answers it.)
Damian: Hello?
Carrier: Are you Mr. Malinger?
Damian: Yeah?
Carrier: Here's your wife's lab results.
(The carrier hands Damian the envelope and leaves. Damian opens it, confused. He reads: ...from the test results we
have gathered that the child was conceived five days previous to this date. We recommend..." He tosses down the letter
and runs.)
-----
Swanson: Dr. Chase, I'm going to give you two options. You can start talking, or we can torture you to make you talk.
Or we can wait for your Mr. Malinger. Or is he your husband now?
(Nastassia remains motionless and silent. Swanson flicks on a handheld UV light. She screams and he turns it off. She
cries. He laughs.)
Swanson: Answer me, Nastassia.
Nastassia: Yes, yes.
Swanson: Dr. Nastassia Malinger. Hrm. You are a Vampire, aren't you?
Nastassia: Yes.
Swanson: Is hubby going to come rescue you?
Nastassia: No. He knows I can handle myself.
-----
(Damian runs into Errol's house.)
Damian: Errol!
Errol: What?
Damian: I have to go to her, she's having a baby, she's six days in.
Errol: I cannot let you do that.
Damian: What?
Errol: It was all a trap. They expect you to go.
Damian: I can take torture.
Errol: I'm sure, but could you keep your silence while they torture her?
(Damian says nothing.)
Damian: I'm going.
(Errol drives a sword through Damian's shoulder. Damian kicks Errol down and pulls the sword out, tossing it to the ground
and running. Errol follows after him.)
Errol: Stop him, he will betray us!
(Damian runs into the night.)
-----
(Derek slaps Nastassia. She looks up at him defiantly and scowls.)
Nastassia: I told you I don't know.
Swanson: You're a liar, where else would you and your husband hide out?
Nastassia: We've hidden in abandoned warehouses and fed on ravers at night. The idea of an underground is fucking absurd.
Don't you think someone would have run into it digging or something if it existed?
Swanson: Not if you put it say, nine feet under a cemetary.
Nastassia: You're a moron, you know that?
(Derek punches Nastassia)
-----
(Damian runs into the FBI building and is immediately subdued by armed personnel waiting for him. One radios the news
to Derek.)
Damian: Shit.
-----
(Damian is tied to a board and brought into the room Nastassia is being questioned in. She looks up, angered.)
Nastassia: I told you not to come.
Damian: Nastassia...
Nastassia: Damian I don't care, no matter what now you cannot say a word.
Swanson: Oh now now Nastassia, if he's too quiet you're going to end up wanting him to start singing.
Nastassia: Some things are worth dying for.
Swanson: Nobody ever said I was going to kill you, my darling vampire.
(Derek walks over to Damian.)
Swanson: So...did you fuck her before or after you drank her?
Nastassia: Oh for Christ's sake...
(Derek flashes Nastassia with the sun light. She grinds her teeth.)
Damian: No!
Swanson: No what?
Damian: I didn't! Not until after!
Swanson: Oh good, I don't approve of interspecies sex. Fucking some subhuman is almost as bad as fucking a monkey. Did
you have fun shattering her rib cage when you threw her out of the car?
Damian: I didn't mean to...
(Nastassia glares at Derek.)
Nastassia: Enough with the mind games, let's get this party started.
Swanson: Oh no, this is going to be fun. Tell me Damian, how was she?
Damian: How was she what?
Swanson: In the sack, what else?
Damian: Great.
Swanson: Great?
Damian: Absolutely fucking amazing.
Swanson: Did you make her scream?
Damian: Yeah.
Nastassia: If you're looking for some sort of jolly I can give you a good moan right here right now, you fucking pig.
(Derek lifts a knife from a table and drives it into Nastassia's foot, pinning her to the floor. She swears and tries
hard to hold the tears welling up in her eyes. Damian tries to rush forward, but is stopped and threatened by Derek.)
Swanson: If you move again she'll take a stab in somewhere more vital.
Damian: What do you want from her?
Swanson: You know, it's a funny thing you ask that.
(Derek grabs a long, sharpened wood rod.)
Swanson: Now I want you to listen to this next question very carefully. The implications are this: if you lie, she dies.
If you say no and it is truth, she lives and suffers a minor pain. If you say yes and it is truth, then she lives unharmed.
But I will know in short time if you lie. And you will watch her last suffering moments. Do you understand?
Damian: Yes.
(Damian looks at Nastassia. She mouths a teary "I love you" and bites her lip.)
Swanson: Is your wife carrying an unborn full-blooded vampire?
Nastassia: He wouldn't know even if I was because I would keep it a surprise!
(Derek angrily hits Nastassia repeatedly.)
Swanson: If you say another word I'll have you mouth stitched shut. Damian, has the whore got a bun in the oven?
(Damian starts to tear up. He stammers.)
Damian: She...I...
Swanson: You have until five. One, two, three-
Damian: She's pregnant, my god, she's pregnant! I'm sorry Nastassia, I'm sorry, that's the only reason I came...
(Damian cries, knowing he has sealed the fate of his child and wife. Derek walks over to Nastassia. She looks up at
him, scared yet still defiant.)
Swanson: It's funny, how you pretend to be so strong when you are so delicate and weak.
Nastassia: I've always been a good liar. And you can't have my baby.
Swanson: Oh? I can have whatever I want.
Nastassia: Funny, you never had me.
(Derek bats Nastassia over the head with the rod. He turns to the other officials in the room.)
Swanson: Take them to a holding cell with some blood bags, blankets, towels, and a plastic knife. That's all you get
to birth your inhuman bloodsucker.
(They are carried to a small padded room, usually used for holding criminally insane patients.)
Scene 14:Dire Escape
(Damian and Nastassia lie in the padded room, silent. Nastassia's belly is larger and she is very pale and weak. Damian
too is pale, but drinks little of the small stores of blood they are given.)
Nastassia: We're going to die in here, aren't we? We're going to die, all three of us.
Damian: Don't say that.
Nastassia: Because it's true?
Damian: Better to die with heads high than to die letting you enemy know they've broken your soul.
Nastassia: Vampires don't have souls.
Damian: You have better a soul than anyone else in this entire damn building, never believe otherwise.
Nastassia: If we don't all die they'll take our baby.
Damian: The baby isn't going to live sweetie, it won't have to worry about anything.
Nastassia: But then they'll kill us.
Damian: It's very likely.
Nastassia: Then why don't we try and live? If no matter what we will die in the next 72 hours anyway?
Damian: Getting out of this room is going to be the biggest problem.
Nastassia: I can do it.
Damian: How?
Nastassia: If I pretend to go into labor everybody is gonna rush in and see what's going on.
Damian: Go for it.
(Nastassia suddenly clutches her belly and acts scared. She falls to the ground and screams. Damian rushes to her side
and holds her hand. Nastassia continues to scream and cry out in false agony. The door opens with a couple guards and a
few medical personnel. Nastassia and Damian cease the façade and overtake the suprised guards and back out of the room.
They run through the building, shouts and gunshots following behind. They exit outside and hijack a car at gunpoint. They
drive, but are quickly chased down by helicopter. Shots fire down at them. One hits Nastassia in the leg. She screams.)
Damian: Where is the tunnel from here?
Nastassia: Ow, I don't know.
Damian: Don't focus on the pain and concentrate.
Nastassia: Left on Maple and straight from there.
(Nastassia whimpers and lies back in the seat. Damian drives with the copter following above. They get to the tunnel
and stop.)
Nastassia: What are you doing?
Damian: Just get out of the damn car!
(Damian draws the gun and points at a car going the opposite direction. The driver stops and gets out, hands raised.)
Damian: Get in that car, and keep driving that way. We're taking yours, you'll get it back later. Move, now!
(The man hurries into the bullet-riddled car and speeds off. Nastassia and Damian get into the confiscated car and take
off in the other direction. Damian parks in a parking deck a few minutes later.)
Damian: We have to walk from here.
Nastassia: I'm so tired. And my leg hurts.
Damian: Honey, please, just a bit more.
(They walk to a huge nearby church. Damian picks up Nastassia and knocks on the back door to the priest's study. The
priest answers.)
Priest: How may I help you, my son?
Damian: Father, please, my wife is expecting a child very soon and we've no place to stay, may we seek shelter for a couple
of days?
Priest: Why certainly, come in from the cold night, I'll have my assistant draw up a hot bath and find you some clean
clothes in the shelter hall.
Damian: Thank you very much, Father.
(Damian carries Nastassia in.)
Scene 15: Temporary Safety
(Damian bathes Nastassia in a small bathroom. The assistant priest comes in.)
Assistant: Oh I'm quite sorry, here are some towels and clothing.
Damian: Thank you, Father.
(On his way out, the assistant priest notices that Damian and Nastassia have no reflection in the bathroom mirror. He
gasps, but says nothing and departs quickly. Nastassia moans.)
Damian: What?
Nastassia: It hurts...
Damian: What hurts?
Nastassia: Everything, it feels like I'm soon to die...
(Damian lifts Nastassia from the tub and dries her off, sitting down on the floor. He puts his cheek to the side of her
belly and feels the child moving. Damian gulps.)
Damian: No...no...not yet...
(Nastassia leans back into his arms and cries. Damian wraps his arms around her chest and rubs her abdomen.)
Nastassia: Damian...
Damian: Just relax, it'll all be over in a little bit. You'll know when, but for now relax.
(Damian tugs a loose, empire waisted black dress over Nastassia's head.)
Damian: Just relax...
Scene 16: The Devil Inside AND Scene 17: Born to Die
(The assistant priest dashes into the priest's office.)
Assistant: They have the devil inside their souls!
Priest: What in heaven do you speak of?
Assistant: They have teeth of no human and no reflections in an ordinary mirror!
Priest: Calm yourself, they can do no evil in the house of God.
Assistant: They are evil in the house of God!
(The assistant runs from the room.)
-----
(Nastassia writhes uncomfortably in Damian's arms.)
Nastassia: It's coming, Damian...
Damian: Just a bit more honey, hold on, it'll be okay.
(Damian moves from holding Nastassia to waiting to hold their baby.)
Damian: Push one more time Nastassia...
(Nastassia does. Damian quickly wraps the baby boy in a towel. He doesn't cut the cord, knowing that if he does the
baby will die before Nastassia gets to hold him.)
Scene 18: The End
(Damian sits, holding his son. They baby is small but healthy. Nastassia looks on and smiles weakly. Without warning,
the assistant priest bolts into the room and drives a wooden steak deep into Nastassia's chest. Before anyone can react he
dashes from the room. Damian gets up to follow in a blind rage. Nastassia opens her eyes wide.)
Nastassia: No Damian don't leave me!
(Damian turns back and falls to the ground beside Nastassia. The blood in her body is quickly expelling from the wound.
Damian goes to remove the steak.)
Nastassia: No!
Damian: You can live, I know you can, I have to fight for you.
(He sobs. The baby starts crying. They both look at him. Then Damian looks at Nastassia.)
Damian: No...
Nastassia: I will die anyway, let him live. Please.
Damian: But...
Nastassia: Please?
(Nastassia's question is almost a whisper. Damian picks up their son and hands him to Nastassia. She holds him until
he is a full, rosy baby. Damian cuts the cord and takes both of them in his arms. He and Nastassia cry and embrace each
other.)
Nastassia: I love you...
Damian: Nastassia...
(Nastassia's eyelids flutter shut. Damian lets out an agonized scream and sits holding his dead wife. The baby cries
softly. Damian picks up both of them and walks into the chapel. He lies Nastassia on the altar carefully and kisses her
forehead.)
Damian: I will take care of Chase. I promise you. And I will never let him down.
(Damian holds Chase tightly and exits the church. He walks head high into the night.)
|
 |
|