rises in all its fiery glory.

Dragonetti's head catch fire, skullflesh sizzling away -- 
burning down the body in successively building intensity until he 
EXPLODES in a conflagration of BLINDING WHITE LIGHT.

 CUT TO:

INT. HOUSE OF EREBUS - MEETING ROOM - DAY

The elders of the House are there, sitting with growing agitation 
and worry. Suddenly, the door SLAMS open and in comes Frost and 
his company, making their way to the table.

 PALLINTINE
 What have you done with Dragonetti?

Frost slides the chair back that once belonged to Dragonetti for 
the Female Elder Vampire to sit in it. She revels in her new 
status, smiling at those before her. 

 PALLINTINE
 What is the meaning of this? What's going 
 on here?

 FEMALE ELDER VAMPIRE
 Get a clue, Pallintine. It's the start of 
 a new beginning.

Frost tosses two small items on the table towards Pallintine. He 
catches them and looks with the rest of the House, horrified. 
They're fangs. Dragonetti's fangs.

 FROST
 Let's get down to business, shall we? I 
 need twelve volunteers.

INT. WHISTLER'S WORHSHOP - KAREN'S LAB - DAY

Karen stands at a lab table with Buffy, preparing a number of 
blood sample vials. They are surrounded by host of medical 
equipment - from centrifuges to genetic sequencers and beyond. 
Whistler is unloading boxes and equipment from the trailer of a 
large truck nearby.

 KAREN
 Could you grab that?

Karen points to a metallic container. Buffy quickly gets to her 
feet and walks over to pick it up. Jehonas emerges from his room, 
looks to Buffy. As if by silent agreement, last night's words and 
teachings go unacknowledged. He goes up to Whistler and hands him 
one of the two fragments.

 WHISTLER
 What is this?

 JEHONAS
 A fragment from the Book of Erebus.

Whistler takes a whiff at the fragment and makes a face.

 WHISTLER
 Smells like some vampire wiped his ass 
 with it.

Karen motions Buffy to retrieve another item. She scoots by 
Jehonas and Whistler and grabs a plastic box. Jehonas watches 
her, then turns back to Whistler.

 JEHONAS
 I think it's what Frost has been working 
 on.

Whistler is going through the fragment with his fingers. Reading 
the faint symbols.

 WHISTLER
 It says something about a Blood God. 
 Spirits of the Twelve.

 JEHONAS
 I'd figured that much.

 WHISTLER
 I don't know. I can't make out the rest of
 it.

 JEHONAS
 Neither could I. Here --

Jehonas pulls out the golden disc from his long coat and hands it 
to Whistler.

 JEHONAS
 This will help.

 WHISTLER
 Isn't this up your alley?

 JEHONAS
 I'll consider a trip.

Jehonas turns to head for the driveway.

 WHISTLER
 Going somewhere?

 JEHONAS
 China Town. I need more serum.
 (looks at the new equipment)
 What's all of this?

 KAREN
 Early in the morning, we made a trip to 
 the hospital where Buffy's father works at
 forensics. We used his access card, and 
 borrowed some more equipment.

Jehonas nods, very impressed.

 JEHONAS
 I guess you were right about her, 
 Whistler. She is handy after all.

 BUFFY
 Uh, thanks.

 WHISTLER
 She's been making real progress, Jehonas. 
 Stay, the serum can wait.
 (to Karen)
 Show him.

Karen looks to Jehonas, who shrugs. She opens a refrigerator, 
removing a syringe filled with blue fluid.

 KAREN
 This is sodium citrate. It's an 
 anti-coagulant. Normally, we use it to 
 treat blood-clots sometimes. Vampire blood
 is thinner than humans, though. However, 
 watch what happens when I introduce some 
 into a sample --

Karen injects the contents of the syringe onto the slide of cells.

 KAREN
 Take a step back. The reaction is 
 energetic.

Jehonas looks at Karen and then takes a peek into the microscope.

JEHONAS' POV: Vampire blood cells swirling about. Then a wave of 
blue swirls around the blood cells, then begins violently 
bubbling.

Jehonas lifts his head away from the microscope just in time -- 
the blood on the slide atomizes, exploding outward in a fine mist 
which bursts apart the glass lens of the scope.

Whistler laughs, thrilled with the results.

 JEHONAS
 Impressive. Figure out a way to sew me up 
 after everytime I use it and we're good.

 KAREN
 I didn't say sodium citrate was a cure.

 BUFFY
 Thought maybe we could use it to explode 
 some vampire heads.

Whistler claps his hand on Karen's shoulder in approval, then 
limps away, quickly busying himself with another project. Jehonas 
moves to leave, but Karen stops him.

 KAREN
 Before you go, I need another sample of 
 your blood.

Jehonas grudgingly agrees. Karen hooks her arm around his and 
moves him to a stool nearby. Buffy following with a packet of 
syringes and vials. He sits and rolls up his sleeve. As Karen 
takes her sample, Jehonas looks to Whistler. The old man brings a 
handkerchief to his lips, coughing into it.

 BUFFY
 Is he sick?

 KAREN
 Cancer.

Karen watches as Jehonas' blood flows into the vacutainer. She 
fills the first, then inserts another. Whistler coughs again in 
the b.g. Buffy catches a change of expression on Jehonas.

 BUFFY
 You have a lot of love for him, don't you?

 JEHONAS
 We've got a good arrangement, that's all. 
 Whistler makes the weapons, I use them, 
 the vampires die -- end of story.

Karen finishes. Jehonas rolls up his sleeve.

 BUFFY
 (pointedly)
 You know, my mother used to say that a 
 cold heart is a dead heart.

 JEHONAS
 Your mother sounds like a Hallmark 
 greeting card.

Jehonas slips his MAC into a hip holster, then shrugs into his 
leather long coat, donning his sunglasses.

 JEHONAS
 Good luck, ladies. 

He heads towards the elevator as we --

 CUT TO:

INT. WORKSHOP - BATHROOM - DAY

Buffy enters a dingy bathroom, turning on the overhead bulb. She 
studies her reflection in the mirror above the sink, then 
grimaces as she peels the dressing from her wound - the wound is 
clearly infected, gangrenous.

 WHISTLER (O.S.)
 You don't look so good.

Buffy spins, startled. Whistler stands behind her.

 BUFFY
 I'm just tired, that's all. We've been up 
 all day --

He grips her jaw, turning her head so he can better view the 
wound.

 WHISTLER
 It's started. You've got another day or 
 two at most. Looks like we didn't catch it
 in time.

Buffy nods, shaken. Whistler turns and leaves.

 WHISTLER
 For what it's worth, I'm sorry.

 BUFFY
 You make it sound like I'm already dead.

Buffy just stares as Whistler disappears into his workshop.

EXT. WHISTLER'S WORKSHOP - LATER

CLOSE ON BUFFY as she moves outside the warehouse, watching 
the city view in daylight, an unmistakable look of dread creeping 
over her.

 CUT TO:

INT. HERBALIST SHOP - DAY

Jehonas pulls out the parchment, shows it to Kam.

 JEHONAS
 I found this in their archives. I need to 
 find someone who can read the Erebus' 
 language.

Kam studies the parchment.

 KAM
 I've heard about a woman named Miracia. 
 Some say she's a mayombero, a Santeria 
 witch. Supposedly she lives in that tent 
 community down by the city dump. I'm told 
 she only sees people at night.

Jehonas nods his thanks and heads back through the doors.

EXT. CHINATOWN STREET - DAY

It's cloudy today in New York City. Jehonas is walking down a 
busy and crowded street, then hears his name WHISPERED in the 
wind.

 VOICE (O.S.)
 Jehonas --

Jehonas spins, scanning his surroundings -- did he really hear 
his name, or was it just the wind?

 VOICE (O.S.)
 Jehonas.

Again, the taunting voice calls him. Jehonas' gaze finally 
settles on --

A MAN sitting on a bench in the deep shade, his face obscured by 
the Chinese newspaper he's reading. There's a LITTLE GIRL sitting 
stiffly beside the man -- a look of pure terror written on her 
face.

The man lowers his newspaper. It's Deacon Frost. He's wearing 
sunglasses, but otherwise, he's seemingly unprotected by the sun.

Jehonas watches him in silence, as does Frost in return. We CUT 
BACK AND FORTH between Jehonas and Frost, cars streaming by them 
in the street -- meeting face to face for the first time in broad 
daylight. Suddenly a LARGE BUS zooms by and --

 CUT TO:

we're in the park. Frost is with the little girl. Jehonas is 
standing some distance in front of them.

 FROST
 How you doing, chief?

Jehonas reaches for his MAC --

 FROST
 Easy.

Frost's hand rests on the back of the girl's neck. We see his 
claws extend, caressing the flesh beneath her chin.

 FROST
 Wouldn't want our little friend here to 
 wind up on the back of a milk carton, 
 would we?

Jehonas reluctantly lowers his hand. Frost smiles. He takes in a 
deep breath of air, savoring it.

 FROST
 Beautiful day, isn't it?
 (off Jehonas' silence)
 It's nice to finally meet you in person, 
 man. I've had my eyes on you for years. I 
 know everything about you. Your mother, 
 your serum, Whistler --

 JEHONAS
 Sun block. Octyl salicylate based.

On closer examination we see that Frost is wearing a translucent 
lotion on his face. He touches a finger to his cheek, rubs some 
of the lotion between his fingers.

 FROST
 Your talents never ceases to amaze me, 
 Jehonas. You're right. It's not very 
 effective in direct sunlight, but it's a 
 start. The goal, of course, is to be like 
 you, "the Day-walker".

 JEHONAS
 I don't buy it.

 FROST
 Why not? The future of our race runs 
 through your bloodstream. You've got the 
 best of both worlds, Jehonas. All of our 
 strengths and none of our weaknesses.

 JEHONAS
 Maybe I don't see it that way.

 FROST
 Oh, so it's back to pretending we're human
 again? Come on. Spare me the Uncle Tom 
 routine. You can't keep denying what you 
 are, man. You're one of us, Jehonas. You 
 always have been.

 JEHONAS
 I work both ways.

 FROST
 For what? You think the humans will ever 
 thank you, or even accept a half-breed 
 like you? They can't. They're afraid of 
 you. You're an animal, a fucking maniac.
 (pointedly)
 And they should be. The humans fear us 
 because we're superior. They fear us 
 because in their hearts they know their 
 race has become obsolete.

Frost watches the marketers stream past, sneering in contempt.

 FROST
 Look at them, just an endless stream of 
 cattle in a mad race to the 
 slaughterhouse. Pieces of meat.

FROST'S POV: We see the CROWD of people walking along the park. A 
young couple with a newborn in a baby chair. Another couple just 
dating. An elderly couple. Single men. Single women.

 FROST (O.S.)
 What difference does it make how their 
 world ends. Plague. War. Famine. Morality 
 doesn't even enter into it. We're just a 
 function of natural selection. The new 
 race.

 JEHONAS
 You mean your selection.

 FROST
 You can't keep walking the razor's edge, 
 Jehonas. The day will come and soon, when 
 you'll have to choose between our kind and
 their's. If I were you, I'd take care not 
 to wind up on the wrong end of the fang.

 JEHONAS
 Looks like your mascara's running.

A bead of sweat runs down Frost's neck, washing away a minute 
amount of the sun-blocking cream. The patch of exposed skin 
instantly blackens. Frost gazes upwards at the sun and sees he 
doesn't have too much time.

 FROST
 I'm offering you a truce. I want you with 
 us.

 JEHONAS
 You need to get out in the sun more.
 (subtitled, vampire tongue)
 LaMagra is coming. The Spirits of the 
 Twelve will awaken the Sleeper.

 FROST
 You're familiar with the Blood God.

 JEHONAS
 I'm familiar with all things. Listen to 
 me, child. I don't care what voodoo magic 
 you're trying to perform or what kind of 
 God you're trying to summon.
 (beat)
 Frost, you're nothing to me but another 
 dead vampire.

 FROST
 You're an idiot, you know that? I came 
 down here offering you the easy road of 
 retirement and you spit it back in my 
 fucking face.

It takes every ounce of Jehonas' self-control to keep from 
attacking Frost -- and Frost senses this, lifting the little girl 
up as if she were no more than a weightless doll, and pressing 
his sharp thumbnail against the child's jugular.

 FROST
 Careful --

Jehonas eyes him coldly. A game of who flinches first.

 JEHONAS
 Do you really want to test me, Deacon 
 Frost?

 FROST
 If you want to take the hard road, then be
 my guest. But I assure you, when this is 
 all over you'll wish you were never cut 
 off from your mother's --

IN SLO-MO NOW as Jehonas whips out his MAC and fires three 
consecutive shots. We see Frost using inhuman speed as he moves 
aside allowing the three bullets to pass harmlessly by. His eyes 
flicker towards the street -- a CITY BUS is rumbling by. In a 
heartbeat, Frost hurls the little girl forward --

BACK TO SPEED as the girl crashes into a vender and falls

-- out into the path of the oncoming bus!

Jehonas has a split-second to act. It's Frost or the girl -- and 
for a moment we actually think he's going to go for Frost --

-- but then he DIVES forward, scooping the girl into his arms, 
throwing themselves out of the bus' path. The bus misses them by 
a hair. By the time Jehonas looks up again --

-- Frost is gone. Jehonas rises, cursing, scanning the street as 
market-goers gather around him. The LITTLE GIRL looks down at 
Jehonas' coat and smiles impishly, attaches what appears to be 
some small device to it. It's a tracking device. Jehonas looks 
down on the little girl.

 JEHONAS
 Go home.

The child, shaking with fear now, nods and runs off.

 WHIP PAN TO:

SOMEONE sitting astride a motorcycle, watching Jehonas from the 
roof of an elevated parking garage. The rider is clad from head 
to toe in a helmet and black leather -- Mercury.

 CUT TO:

EXT. ABANDONED FACTORY - DAY

Jehonas' Olds cruises into the gated grounds. It zips up the ramp 
way and out into the dirt-covered road.

BACK BY THE TRAIN TRACKS

Mercury's cycle rolls into frame. She's carrying a hand held 
tracking device. She picks up a radio handset and keys it.

 MERCURY
 (into radio)
 This is Mercury. Tell Deacon I've found 
 their hiding place.

EXT. LANDFILL GHETTO - DUSK

Windy. Urban desolation. Jehonas stands on the perimeter of a 
sprawling cardboard and plywood squatter's ghetto which has 
sprung up around the city dump. CHILDREN and DOGS forage for 
salvageable items, while in the distance, dumptrucks grind over 
the dunes of refuse.

moments later,

Jehonas is winding his way through the maze of makeshift homes 
and ashcan fires. A CROWD quickly closes in around him, 
suspicious. A BRUTISH MAN steps forward, challenging him --

 MAN
 Extranjero. ¿Quien es?

 JEHONAS
 I'm here to see Miracia. Kam sent me.

The man turns to his fellow squatters, WHISPERING. After a heated 
debate, a GAUNT WOMAN steps forward, motioning --

 WOMAN
 This way.

 CUT TO:

INT. WHISTLER'S WORKSHOP - NIGHT

Whistler, Karen and Buffy sit at a worktable. Karen is looking at 
a blood smear slide through a microscope.

 KAREN
 All right, let's start back to the 
 beginning -- why do vampires need to drink
 blood?

 WHISTLER
 Their own blood can't sustain hemoglobin.

 KAREN
 Then we can consider vampirism a genetic 
 defect --
 (pauses)
 -- just like Hemolytic anemia?

Whistler nods. Karen thinks to herself, going over old notes. 

 KAREN
 So what about gene therapy?

Whistler looks intrigued. 

 KAREN (CONT'D)
 Basically you'd have to re-write the 
 victim's DNA, alter it so that the DNA 
 will produce proteins capable of 
 generating hemoglobin.

 BUFFY
 How do we do all that?

 KAREN
 With a retrovirus. It's injected into the 
 bone marrow cells, it causes the host's 
 DNA to mutate. They've been using them to 
 treat Sickle-cell anemia.

Whistler and Buffy can hardly believe what they're hearing. Karen 
takes a syringe and measures the fluid.

 WHISTLER
 You're serious? You actually think this 
 could work?

Karen pauses -- we can see in her expression that there's 
something she's been holding back.

 KAREN
 On Buffy, yes. On Jehonas, I'm not so sure.

Karen trails off.

 BUFFY
 Why not?

Karen takes hold of Buffy's arm and injects her in the shoulder 
with the medication. Whistler looks away from the two, he knows 
too.

 KAREN
 The problem is, Jehonas didn't contract 
 the vampire virus from a bite like you 
 did. He was born with it. The irony is, I 
 could probably cure every vampire but him.
 There is a small chance it will work on 
 Jehonas, I won't rule that out.