FROST'S GOON We've got an intruder!! EXT. SKYSCRAPER ROOFTOP - DAY JEHONAS' POV: A telephoto view of Frost's penthouse. The windows are polarized, blocking out the sun's harsh rays. Jehonas lowers a pair of binoculars. He's standing on the roof of a building across the street. He turns to his motorcycle and kicks it into gear, sending pebbles and dust into the air -- INT. FROST'S PENTHOUSE - LOBBY - DAY An ALARM is ringing. SWARMS of VAMPIRE GUARDS and FAMILIARS flood into the main lobby with raised automatic rifles and assorted shotguns. The area is surrounding by glass walls, like the penthouse, with water cascading down on them. In the center is a large translucent WATER FOUNTAIN that goes up past the ceiling to the floors above. They spread out, HEARING the roaring noise of a nearby motorcycle. INT. FROST'S PENTHOUSE - DAY More goons prepping themselves. Rifles CLICK. Quinn is clearly nervous, shifting from one foot to the next while Frost is busy putting on a headset microphone. QUINN I don't think you understand, Deke. This guy is fucking totally badass. It - It's like you got twenty guys all around him, surrounding him, and he's got this shitty throw -- FROST -- yeah, yeah, got the shitty throw -- got the sword -- QUINN -- yeah, he's got this sword and he does this -- FROST -- and does that -- QUINN -- and he throws it up in the air -- FROST -- and he throws it up in the air, he turns around, catches it, does this, does that -- QUINN -- and he also has like this -- FROST Shut the fuck up! Look, make it happen, okay? It's one guy on foot. INT. FROST'S PENTHOUSE - LOBBY - DAY The GUARDS carefully scan around the room. The NOISE rising to an unbearable crescendo until, CRASH!! Jehonas' bike smashes through a glass wall from behind the fountain. Shards of glass rain down upon the guards. VAMPIRE GOON #2 Get him! Jehonas pulls out his MAC and fires in a sweeping pattern. An arc of fiery silver death, as he catches every one of them from behind the fountain, and behind the glass walls. CLICK!! Jehonas holsters his MAC, pulls out the shotgun from his bike, PUMPS to load and FIRES. No mercy in his face as he fires repeated blasts, advancing, and firing. A guard tries tackling him from behind. Jehonas spin kicks his face, flipping him to the floor. More shotgun blasts. Guards and familiars left and right crumble to the floor. CHANK!! Shotgun's finished. The remaining guards try to fire back. Jehonas whips out both of his pistols and leaps to one side of the fountain, avoiding the fire. CLOSER ON GUARDS Jehonas appears out of nowhere from inside the fountain and fires away with his handguns. Catching everyone of them with surprise. INT. FROST'S PENTHOUSE - DAY Frost is heading towards the elevator, very agitated and annoyed. Hears the muffled sounds of gunfire and screams over his headset. FROST Why am I hearing gunfire, huh? Did I tell anyone to shoot? I need him alive! INT. FROST'S PENTHOUSE - LOBBY - DAY CLOSE ON A WOUNDED GUARD He's in terrible pain, crying for help. HIS POV: Jehonas emerges from the waterfall with two smoking handguns, SEES the wounded guard, and raises his .44 Eagle to his head. WOUNDED FROST'S GOON No! No! Please! I just work for him! A FLASH FROM THE PAST as Jehonas remembers Karen's dead body, and Whistler's dead body. BANG!! Jehonas fires, drops both his handguns and moves off. INT. FROST'S PENTHOUSE - DAY Frost hears the gunfire die from his headset. FROST Jesus Christ. Lock this place down. VAMPIRE GOON #3 Yes, sir! INT. FROST'S PENTHOUSE - CONTROL ROOM - DAY The guard rushes into the control room with multiple panels and LEVERS surrounding the cement block walls. He runs to each one, throwing the switches up. EXT. FROST'S PENTHOUSE - DAY Steel curtains descend down on each window, sealing them off from any entry or exit. INT. FROST'S PENTHOUSE - HALLWAY - DAY Jehonas now is without his long coat, having long abandoned it from the lobby gunfight. To Jehonas' right is the inner chamber with the "waterfall" walls. He notices the windows are being cut off from escape. A VAMPIRE leaps at him. Jehonas spins, flipping the vampire over his shoulder, sending him straight through one of the other windows just as the curtain descends -- EXT. FROST'S PENTHOUSE - DAY The vampire tumbles earthward, SCREAMING as the sun's rays ignite his body, falling like a human comet. INT. FROST'S PENTHOUSE - HALLWAY - DAY Jehonas turns a corner and sees TWO FRATERNAL TWIN VAMPIRES. Brother and sister, each armed with long ELECTRIC cattle prods. THE TWINS snarl as Jehonas readies his combat stance. The SCREAM! One of them uses the wall as a catapult to leap by Jehonas. Jehonas blocks his attacking hand and punches up, catching the throat, and throws him behind. The SISTER screeches in fury and tries jabbing the prod into his chest. Jehonas steps, grabs her arm, and in the motion roundhouse kicks her in the back of her head. She lands against the wall hard. The BROTHER gets up and charges, sending multiple slashes and stabs. Jehonas blocks and parries and in one quick movement, pulls out one of the sodium citrate STAKES and jabs it into his eye. He SCREAMS and falls back. The sister sees her brother go down, and attacks with more determination. Jehonas knocks aside her cattle prod and pulls out another stake, jabs it into her heart and throws her up against the wall. Jehonas moves away and heads down the hall. The REACTION, catastrophic. Their bodies ripple and morph, bleeding red, taking on characteristics of liquid. They continue SCREAMING as their bodies begin to expand! Flesh and skin bubbling from over expanding pus until, BOOM!! Their bodies explode in a fountain of flesh and blood, one after the other, behind Jehonas. Jehonas checks left, and heads right into another hallway. Up ahead are a set of steel doors. Jehonas listens for noise, then pushes the doors open. INT. FROST'S SLEEPING CHAMBER - DAY We are in a windowless, vault-like room with a single high-tech STAINLESS STEEL SARCOPHAGUS dominating the middle of the far wall. Think of a hyperbaric coffin, a bed-like structure with a steel covering on top. Jehonas notices Frost's laptop on the table. He grabs the lid and looks, a replay of the ritual. Twelve symbols of the twelve houses surround Frost's symbol. Another figure stands on top, red lines descend from that figure down to the twelve and a wall of red expands from the middle. Jehonas narrows his eyes. Suddenly, a PNEUMATIC HISS from behind him, the lid of the bed rises. Jehonas spins and looks. As the lid rises higher, it reveals more of the occupant within, Jehonas moves his hands to his MAC, ready to draw and fire - only it's not Deacon Frost who rests within, it's -- THE FEMALE VAMPIRE ELDER, dressed in a very transparent nightie. She opens her eyes, and sits up, notices Jehonas staring at her. ON JEHONAS He stares, removing his sunglasses, uncertain, confused. A FLASH from the first scene of Jehonas' mother dying. Then the female vampire elder again, and another flashback. The scene becomes more clearer now. It's Alyssa. His mother!!! Although some two hundred years have passed since the events of our prologue, Alyssa looks exactly the same - vibrant, beautiful, full of life. Her eyes moist, wanting. ALYSSA Jehonas? Jehonas gasps, uncomprehending. He circles around her bed. JEHONAS But you died -- Alyssa rises from the sarcophagus, tears staining her cheeks. ALYSSA I know. I came back. Jehonas falters, his mind reeling. What he's seeing is incomprehensible - his mother is dead. Yet, here she is in the flesh, reaching out to him. JEHONAS That's impossible. After all these years, I would've known -- ALYSSA It's not impossible, Jehonas. I've slept for many years, but the House your father once served brought me back to life, long after you left your country. And they welcomed me. Mother and son both stare at each other, unsure how to react until, A TRIO OF BLACK-CLAD VAMPIRES led by Mercury step from the shadows where they'd been waiting all along. They're armed with tasers which they fire en masse -- Jehonas is hit by the taser darts from all sides. He writhes as electricity courses through him, then collapses in a heap. He labors to lift his head, looking up at Alyssa -- As if on cue, Frost appears at Alyssa's side, wrapping a proprietary arm about her waist, kissing the nape of her neck. She leans into him -- an act of practiced intimacy. Jehonas roars at the sight, grabs a nearby VAMPIRE, tossing him aside. Another tries stabbing him with the taser, Jehonas blocks, grabs the weapon away and impales it on the vampire's head. ANOTHER VAMPIRE lunges, Jehonas kicks him hard into his stomach area, and another kick to his face. He spins -- JEHONAS Mother?! Soon, a swarm of them surround Jehonas and start shocking him from all sides, sapping his strength. He collapses to his knees, still struggling -- FROST Jesus Christ, I thought you'd be happy. You haven't seen your mother for what? Two hundred years? And you act like this? Jehonas continues to struggle to his feet, only to be zapped back to the floor. FROST Give it up, Jehonas. It's over. She's one of us. ALYSSA Listen to your brother, Jehonas. It's going to be a better world. Jehonas stares at Alyssa uncomprehending. FROST Don't look so surprised, Jehonas. You've spent your whole life looking for all those people that were responsible for your parents' deaths. Well, I'm one of the ancestors. And my creator? Here she is in her glowing form. Jehonas' eyes widen in shock. Frost simply laughs. FROST That's right, Jehonas. We're blood brothers. (smiling) And here we are! One big happy fucking family. Ironic, isn't it? Frost swings his taser into Jehonas' skull. Everything goes black. INT. ARMORED TRUCK - NIGHT FADE IN as Jehonas opens his eyes, still groggy, his face beaded with sweat. Feverish. His hands have been bound tightly behind his back with manacles and chains. Buffy sits nearby, watching him. From the steady rocking motion and the SOUNDS of traffic outside, it's evident that they are in the back of a moving truck. BUFFY Are you all right? JEHONAS (weakly) I've been better. How long have we been driving? BUFFY (shaking her head) I don't know. I woke up just before you did -- As he struggles to sit up, she crosses over to him. Jehonas shuts his eyes for a moment, fighting a wave of pain. BUFFY Is it bad? JEHONAS We get out of this alive, maybe I'll consider taking that miracle cure of Karen's. Buffy doesn't respond. Instead she looks away. How in the world is she supposed to tell him this? BUFFY (quietly) There's one catch -- JEHONAS What are you talking about? Buffy forces herself to meet his gaze. BUFFY Karen told me this when we were working on your serum. If it works on you, you'll lose all of your powers -- your strength and your ability to regenerate. Everything. You'll be completely human. Jehonas stares at Buffy, disbelieving. Who could imagine a more horrifying irony? She's crying now. She can't help it. JEHONAS Beautiful. BUFFY I'm so sorry. Jehonas' head sinks, the last vestiges of hope draining out of him. And then, as if the final stake were being pounded in, the truck lurches to a stop. We hear the ENGINE being killed, then FOOTSTEPS approaching, and then a series of BOLTS BEING SHIFTED as -- -- the back of the truck is thrown open. Alyssa stands there, grinning, flanked by several dozen VAMPIRE ASSOCIATES are there, armed to the teeth. VAMPIRE GOON #4 Get moving! EXT. THE BANK OF EREBUS - NIGHT Jehonas and Buffy are dragged from the back of the truck, which is revealed now to be an armored car. THE BANK OF EREBUS rises up before them. A towering beaux-arts edifice situated in the heart of the city's high-priced financial district - one of the many institutions owned and operated by the vampire enclave. The party starts up the marble steps towards a grand, triple- arched entrance flanked by Corinthian columns. Buffy and Jehonas are dragged along after them. INT. BANK OF EREBUS - ATRIUM - NIGHT Alyssa leads her vampires into a high-ceilinged atrium, moving towards a bank of elevators - one of the doors of which is outfitted with a high-tech hand-key ID system. Alyssa places her palm on the ID screen. The screen GLOWS GREEN, acknowledging her identity. In response, the doors HISS open. INT. SECURITY ELEVATOR - NIGHT Jehonas and Buffy are pulled inside the elevator. The control panel buttons have vampire glyphs, rather than numbers. Alyssa presses the bottom one. The doors close with a WHOOSH and the car descends -- down, down, down. Alyssa glances over at Buffy and Jehonas, smiling amiably. ALYSSA On its surface, this building houses one of the city's oldest financial institutions -- and for over two-hundred years its served our corporate needs. Look beneath the surface, however, and you'll discover another truth entirely -- The elevator CHIMES, having arrived at its destination. The doors HISS open, revealing INT. THE TEMPLE OF NIGHT A vast, barrel-vaulted chamber lined with recessed tombs stretches out before us - an underground cathedral of sorts, wrought from alabaster and marble. Restrained. Elegant. Replete with dark splendor. ALYSSA As above, so below. Torches burn in wall sconces, casting everything in a warm, amber glow. Frost is there already with Mercury, Quinn, Riven, a small army of his VAMPIRE GOONS, and the TWELVE ELDERS of the House of Erebus. Alyssa takes in the beauty of the place. FROST Jehonas, Buffy, glad you could make it. Quinn shows up with a grin and a new set of glasses, Jehonas' sunglasses -- QUINN Hey, man, thanks for the shades. Jehonas and Buffy are led to the middle of the room, where a stone altar rises up from a dais. They roughly shove Jehonas forward. He stands there, eyes cast downward. Broken. His system being assaulted by the devastating effects of the Thirst. FROST Our ancestor's called this place the Temple of Eternal Night. Nice, isn't it? Frost turns to the twelve elders, sneering at them. FROST Apparently, these geniuses forgot it ever existed. Fortunately for us, I'm what you might call a student of history. Frost turns around and looks over the temple, impassioned. FROST Why are we here? This temple was built for one glorious moment. This night, for the Blood God -- Quinn rushes over and lands a hard punch to Jehonas' face, to wake him up. He crumples to the floor. FROST Thanks. Frost turns to Mercury, who's been holding the hunter blade. FROST Let's see this sword of yours. Mercury draws it, hands it to Frost. He sights down the length, testing its weight. FROST Hmm, titanium, right? Acid-etched? I could get used to a weapon like this. Jehonas struggles to look up, hoping to see hiss face when -- CLICK! -- Frost shuts off the defense mechanism of the sword. Jehonas looks away -- FROST What? You look surprised, Jehonas. I told you, I know everything about you. (beat) Hold out your arm, Quinn. QUINN Why, man? I mean they're all better. FROST Hold out your arm. Now. QUINN But Deke, I -- Quinn unwillingly extends his arm out, shaking and frightened. Frost grips the sword in a double-handed stance and EYES the wide open arm. He's ready to swing, then -- FROST Just kiddin' Frost slaps Quinn in the arm and tosses the sword back to Mercury. Quinn's eyes, unbelieving, then starts giggling hysterically -- QUINN He was fucking with me, man! He was just fucking with me! Buffy desperately watches Jehonas struggling to stand. BUFFY Jehonas? FROST You're wasting your breath, girl. He can't hear you now. It's the Thirst, you see? It already has him in its grip. Quinn produces a small package from his shirt and hands it to Frost. It's the sodium citrate stakes! FROST What do we have here? Your precious serum? Buffy sees what he's holding. Her eyes in complete fear, knowing what would happen to Jehonas if Frost even scratches him with it. TIGHT ON FROST crouching down so he's eye to eye with Jehonas. FROST How long has it been since you've shot up? Twelve, thirteen hours? I bet you're just dying for a drink, aren't ya? Frost waves one of the stakes playfully around Jehonas' eyes. FROST What does it feel like? Is your blood on fire? Jehonas shivers, grits his teeth, it's like he's going through heroin withdrawal. JEHONAS Try some. You might like it. Frost smiles, his eyes burning with an infernal glow. FROST Thanks. But I prefer the real thing. In any event, I don't think you'll be needing these any more -- With a toss, the stakes are thrown over the edge and somewhere below. Frost turns back to Jehonas. FROST It's a shame, you know. When I think of what you've become -- what you should've become. I mean with everything that's happened, everything you've done, it's the human side of you that made you weak. You should've listen to your blood. Jehonas struggles to his feet and glares weakly at Frost -- JEHONAS Say what you want now but I promise you, you'll be dead by dawn. A flicker of doubt crosses Frost's face. QUINN Ooh, scary. FROST Get him out of here. Frost turns to the others, motioning. FROST And get these fucks downstairs! MERCURY Come on! Let's go! Mercury and Riven lead their large vampire contingent with the twelve elders away from the group. The other vampires retreat with Alyssa, dragging Jehonas along with them. Buffy is left alone with Frost and Quinn. FROST I'd let you watch the proceedings, little Slayer, but I'm afraid that privilege is reserved for members of my own race. Don't worry, though. I've made alternate arrangements for you. QUINN Oh no, baby. We've got something really special planned for you.
