Chapter 4

INT. CULLEN'S HOUSE – DAY

TIGHT ON A TELEVISION SCREEN turned to CNN – A FEMALE REPORTER with a mic does a stand-up in front of Pike Place.

REPORTER
… Police are baffled by the escalating murders and disappearances.

INCLUDE Carine and Jessamine who watch with concern. Eleanor is draped over the couch. Beau and Edythe enter as -

REPORTER
Theories range from a vicious new gang to a wildly active serial killer…

ELEANOR
(grinning, to Beau)
Look who survived the dog park.

Beau smiles and nods at Eleanor.

EDYTHE
(re: the newscast)
Seattle?

CARINE
It's getting worse. We're going to have to do something.

EDYTHE
Archie still hasn't had any visions about who's doing this.

ELEANOR
So we track them down and kick their bloodthirsty ass. We should go now. I'm bored anyway.

ROYAL (O.S.)
(from upstairs)
Eleanor.

ELEANOR
Geez, he's such as a pessimist.

Edythe abruptly looks at Jessamine, ready her mind a beat -

EDYTHE
I didn't think of that. But… yes, it makes sense.

BEAU
What does?

CARINE
Tell us, Jessamine.

As Jessamine speaks, Beau is surprised when she continues beyond the one or two sentences she usually utters. Her sight Southern lilt becomes more obvious.

JESSAMINE
It takes more than one of our kind to cause the kind of damage they're reporting. Quite a few more. They're undisciplined, conspicuous -

EDYTHE
It's newborns.

BEAU
Like… new vampires?

EDYTHE
The first few months after the change -

JESSAMINE

- That's when we're at our most uncontrollable, vicious, insane with thirst -

ELEANOR
(another grin to Beau)
Something to look forward to.

Beau blanches.

JESSAMINE
No one has trained these newborns, but this isn't random…

CARINE
(realizing)
… Someone's creating an army.

Jessamine nods. Eleanor rises, enthusiastic.

ELEANOR
Well now we're definitely going to Seattle.

BEAU
Wait, an army? Of vampires?

CARINE

There haven't been any newborn armies in over a century that I know of.

JESSAMINE
There is now. And they've been created to fight someone.

EDYTHE
We're the only clan even close to Seattle.

CARINE
Regardless, if we don't put a stop to it, the Volturi will. I'm surprised they've let it go on this long.

EDYTHE
(idea occurring)
Maybe they're purposely ignoring it. Or even… behind it.
(off their looks)
When we were in Italy… I read Sulpicia's mind…

EDYTHE'S VISION

TRACKING TOWARDS EDYTHE'S FACE – as we enter her memory, her environs drop out, blackness surrounding her, suspending her – as she turns, we go OVER her shoulder to SEE -

EDYTHE (V.O.)
She tried to conceal it. But it was there… she'd like Archie and me to join her.

A FLASH OF EDYTHE AND ARCHIE, each standing beside the "thrones" occupied by Marcus and Athenodora.

EDYTHE (V.O.)
She's also curious about what abilities Beau might possess once he's turned. All our gifts would add to her power.

ANOTHER FLASH; THIS TIME BEAU, standing beside Sulpicia; red-eyed and wearing the robes of the Volturi guard.

EDYTHE (V.O.)
But she knows we'd never go over to her while our family is alive…

RESUME EDYTHE – PRESENT

JESSAMINE
An army could solve that for her.

CARINE
I don't believe Sulpicia would go that far since we're not a threat to her power.

EDYTHE
But she might try and salvage from this situation. Especially if we're forced to fight.

Beau takes all this in, then -

BEAU
I'm sorry. I feel like this all my fault. If was changed then -

JESSAMINE
You'd be liability as a newborn. Unable to control your instincts and an easy target.

Edythe grabs Beau's hand, and Carine puts an empathetic hand of his shoulder.

CARINE
There's also your parents to consider. How would they have reacted if you suddenly disappeared.

EDYTHE
You've got nothing to feel guilty of Beau.

Beau feels a bit better, knowing he can't argue with their logic. Eleanor looks confused…

ELEANOR
But… we are still going to kick some newborn ass, right.

INT. ABANDONED CANNERY, SEATTLE HARBOUR FRONT – NIGHT

SMASH! A NEWBORN VAMPIRE careens into the wall, CRACKING bricks. He falls to the ground at the feet of Riley, who spins on A SECOND NEWBORN -

RILEY
Next one who starts a fight gets their arms ripped off!
(to Newborn #2)
Now get your own damn meal.

- as Riley steps over A HUMAN MALE lying on the ground barley alive. Newborn #2 watches hungrily as Newborn #1 dives on the man, taking what's left of his life.

INCLUDE another DOZEN NEWBORNS of both genders, all ethnicities and backgrounds, who feed, lounge, fight. What they have in common is ferocity, strength and thirst.

Riley goes to a comely boy, BRENDAN, 15, who lies in a corner, just awakening. As she squats to check on him, he suddenly jumps up, backs against the wall, disoriented and profoundly thirsty. His hand flies to his neck where he was bitten.

BRENDAN
What - what did you do to me!?

Behind Riley, the TWO NEWBORN VAMPIRES start pushing each other again, the fight reigniting, irritating Riley.

BRENDAN
I'm so - so…

RILEY
Yeah, I know. We'll find you someone to drink. The thirst will calm down after a while. I've got a year under my belt and I'm okay -

Just then Newborn #1 RIPS Newborn #2's head completely off. Brendan SCREAMS. Riley shakes her head, exasperated.

RILEY
Just try not to get yourself killed… I'm gonna need numbers.

She leaves Brendan in confusion as she walks away. Off her FACE -

INT. BEAU'S HOUSE – KITCHEN – NIGHT

ON RILEY'S FACE – xeroxed onto a FLIER that reads "Have you seen me?" INCLUDE Charlie who sits at the table staring at it. Beau enters, dropping his backpack, coat.

BEAU
Hi Dad. You already eat dinner?

CHARLIE
Huh? Um… no… not yet.

He looks over his shoulder and sees the flier.

CHARLIE
Riley Biers. She disappeared about a years ago. Her parents are papering Seattle with these.
(sighs)
Fifth time they've tried.

BEAU
… Do you think they should give up?

CHARLIE
Well I wouldn't, if it was you. Not ever.

Beau swallows his guilt – he was about to put him through that… and may still. Then Charlie unexpectedly wraps an arm around Beau, pulling him close. After a beat, he releases him, rising to cover his emotionality.

CHARLIE
So, one large, extra cheese?

BEAU (V.O.)
I have to figure out what to tell people…

INT. BEAU'S ROOM – NIGHT

Beau's cocooned in his bed in the dark. Edythe lies next to him, his mother's QUILT between them.

BEAU
… How to explain why I won't be home for Christmases. Why I won't visit. Why they'll never see me again.

EDYTHE
After a few decades, everyone you know will be dead. Problem solved.

He flinches at her brutal honesty. Then faces her.

BEAU
Why are you so against me becoming like you?

EDYTHE
I've told you.

BEAU
There's more to it. Can you be honest with me?

EDYTHE
(beat, quietly)
The choice you're making. I know the consequences of it – the loss, the isolation. I've lived it. To let you suffer that…
(shakes her head)
And I know you believe I have a soul, but I don't. And to risk yours, just so I'll never have to lose you… it's the most selfish thing I'll ever do.

BEAU
Then I'm just as selfish.

He pulls her close, her head resting on his chest.

BEAU
I thought maybe you were afraid I'll be too different -
(off her look)
I won't be… warm anymore. Won't smell the same…

She lifts her head to his -

EDYTHE
You'll always be my Beau.

- and kisses him. He kisses her back. It grows more passionate. He locks his arms around her. Edythe pulls away, both of them reining in their desire.

EDYTHE
Just less fragile.

She pulls the quilt around him. As they nestle in, CAMERA PULLS BACK… until we're OUTSIDE LOOKING IN THE WINDOW…

EXT. BEAU'S HOUSE (CONTINUOUS) – NIGHT

- still PULLING BACK – INCLUDE the edge of the treeline where we FIND Eleanor and Archie standing several paces apart. Stone still, keeping watch, listening.

They hear a sound, both SPINNING at once – to FIND BEHIND THEM – TWO WOLVES. Here to take over sentry duty. Slowly, Eleanor and Archie back away, the wolves eying their every move. A truce, but a tense one…

EXT. LA PUSH – BEACH – DAY

Beau and Julie walks along the sand, beside several large pieces of driftwood. Julie seems distracted, like she wants to say something but can't. Beau's too busy worrying to notice.

BEAU
They keep saying "Everything's fine," but it's complete bull. Archie is even going ahead with his graduation party – which I'm inviting you to, by the way.
(off Julie's scoff)
Yeah, I figured. They whole situation is a mess, and I can't even help. If I was one of them I could -

JULIE
(that's it – stops)
I want to say something.

BEAU
Right. Sorry. We agreed not to talk about that.

JULIE
No, it's - I wanted to do this differently. Smoother. But I'm out of time and you need to hear the truth, understand all your options. You probably already know what I'm going to say but…

BEAU
(he does)
Julie, don't…

JULIE
I'm in love with you, Beau. And I want you to choose me instead of her.

Beau stares at her, momentarily speechless. Finally -

BEAU
Jules, I… thought you understood. I don't feel that way about you.

JULIE
I don't buy that.

BEAU
What don't you buy? It's how I feel.

JULIE
Do want me to go away? Never see me again?

BEAU
Of course not.

JULIE
See? You feel something else for me, you just don't want to admit it.
(deciding)
And I'm not giving up. I'm going to fight for you. Until your heart stops beating.

BEAU
Then you won't have to fight for long -

JULIE
- you're rushing into it because you're afraid you'll change your mind!

This strikes a nerve – which makes him angry. He starts to back away.

BEAU
This is what I want.

Julie grabs him by the arms, emotionally charged -

JULIE
You wouldn't have to change for me. Or say goodbye to anyone. I can give you more than her. She probably can't even kiss you without hurting you.
(moving his hand over her heart)
Feel that? Flesh and blood and warmth -

BEAU
- Julie -

Suddenly, spontaneously, she kisses him. Beau pushes against her, but Julie is too sturdy.

Finally, Beau goes limp, drops his arms, opens his eyes waiting for her to stop. She does; lets go. Beau takes advantage and pushes away from Julie, taking several steps back, glaring at her with anger. She doesn't move…

BEAU
What the hell! You had no right to do that. No right to -

Suddenly, Beau loses his balance, slipping on a piece of driftwood. He falls back. There's a horrible CRUNCH on impact with another piece. He grabs his hand in pain. Julie moves towards Beau, tries to help him up -

BEAU
(angrily)
Stay back. I don't need your help.

He groans in pain as he rises to his feet and walks off.

EXT. BEAU'S HOUSE – DAY

Beau, pissed, climbs from Julie's car holding his injured hand, as Edythe's Volvo SCREECHES to a stop. She gets out, moves directly for Julie. Beau gets in her path -

BEAU
I'm alright, Edythe.

- She moves around Beau, getting directly in Julie's face.

EDYTHE
If you ever do that against his will again -

JULIE
He's not sure what he wants -

EDYTHE
He can speak for himself.
(a bit ruefully)
I guarantee that.

JULIE
Fine. One day, he'll speak for himself, and ask me to.

BEAU
Enough, Julie, just leave -

But Julie faces-off with Edythe. Behind them Charlie exits sees the hostility between them. Heads for them -

CHARLIE
(getting between them)
Ladies, let's take this down a notch.

The two girls could crush him, but they back off.

CHARLIE
Someone wanna tell me what's going on?

JULIE
I kind of… kissed Beau.

CHARLIE
Oh.

Charlie can't help but be a little pleased. But the next bits of information change his attitude.

JULIE
Against his will. So he pushed me away, tripped, and broke his hand. It was an accident.

Charlie's expression turns to a scowl that even Julie shrinks from.

INT. CULLEN HOUSE – KITCHEN – EVENING

Edythe looks on with concern as Carine finishes setting Beau's hand in a splint. Royal, at the counter in the b.g., peruses several newspapers, looking for updates.

CHARLIE
It's just a small fracture. You're all set, Beau.

Eleanor and Jessamine breeze in, see Beau's splint.

ELEANOR
Trying to walk and chew gum at the same time again, Beau?

BEAU
I tripped… getting away after a werewolf kissed me.

ELEANOR
(laughs)
Wow. I'll willing to bet you'll be just as uncoordinated once you're a newborn.

BEAU
We'll see. When the time comes.

Royal SLAPS down the newspaper and abruptly walks out, throwing a fierce scowl Beau's way. Beau is thrown.

ELEANOR
Don't worry about him.

EDYTHE
Did you find any leads?

JESSAMINE
No sign of the intruder. But Victor continues to make appearances.

CARINE
He's toying with us. Keeping us distracted.

ELEANOR
From Seattle?

CARINE
Or the intruder. Or something else.

EDYTHE
Archie can keep tracking his decisions but we have to track him on the ground.

Tired of being ignored, Beau heads out to the deck -

JESSAMINE
We've already covered the entire southern peninsula down to Quinault.

EDYTHE
We'll search the north-western trail…

EXT. CULLEN HOUSE – DECK – EVENING

The sun sets over the river as Royal looks out. Beau exits. Royal knows who's behind him without looking.

ROYAL
Go blather to someone else about the joys of becoming a newborn.

BEAU
I know how bad it'll be.

ROYAL
(contemptuous)
You haven't got a damn clue.

Now Beau's had it. He straightens, annoyed.

BEAU
Royal, I'm trying here. But I just don't know what I did to make you hate me so much -

ROYAL
(faces him, surprised)
Hate? I don't hate you. I don't particularly like you but… Beau, I envy you.

BEAU
What? That ridiculous.

ROYAL
No, it's not. You have a choice. I didn't. None of us did. But you do. And you're choosing wrong. I don't care how miserable your human life is -

BEAU
My life is not miserable. Granted it's not perfect, but no one's is.

ROYAL
Mine was.

BEAU
Maybe you're just forgetting the bad -

ROYAL
I remember it well. And it was perfect. Until the end…

He turns towards the river again. Beau slowly moves to Royal's side, but maintain a careful distance.

ROYAL
I had… almost had… everything, even though it was the Great Depression. I was eighteen, handsome - the envy of every man in Rochester.

PUSH IN ON ROYAL as -

ROYAL
There were only a few things I wanted that I didn't already have…

SMASH TO:

CLOSE ON A BABY'S FACE

Curly black hair, dimples, cherubic. She's being held by -

EXT. ROCHESTER, NEW YORK – PARK – DAY (1933)

- HUMAN ROYAL, clear skin, stunning, but narcissistic, vain. We SEE him yearning as he hands the girl back to her mother, CLARA, 18, who's standing beside her husband, VANCE, 18, the baby's father.

ROYAL (V.O.)
I wanted what you'd call the American Dream. A home of my own, a beautiful wife to kiss me when I came home from work, even a child. A son I could teach to be a man, or a daughter I could dote on. I thought I would have it all…

EXT. ROCHESTER NEW YORK – STREETS (PARK) – DAY (1933)

Royal walks arm-in-arm with the beautiful, well-dressed ROWENA KING. Passersby eye him with admiration. ROWENA enjoys the attention he brings her. But it's clear from her expression she isn't fond of Royal.

ROYAL (V.O.)
Rowena King was the most eligible woman in town. I barely knew her – only that she was beautiful and came from entitlement. But I was blind. Consumed with vanity and narcissism for what she could give me.

Royal doesn't notice Rowena's disinterested expression. She looks at other men and women with a smug glare. The people she looks at hurry along; she swiftly softens her expression. Royal blindly sees only the women he believes she is.

ROYAL (V.O.)
I was young… and naïve.

EXT. ROCHESTER NEW YORK – STREETS – NIGHT (1933)

Royal heads down the empty lamp-lit streets. He pulls his coat tight in the chill night air.

ROYAL (V.O.)
On the last night of my life, I left a friend's house late. I wasn't far from home…

He slows as he sees a YOUNG WOMAN walking alone, her face hidden by her hat. Royal begins to follow her. He's concerned for her, walking by herself at such a late hour. She ducks into an alley, Royal slows, but continues to follow.

We hear her laugh, along with a man's laugh. Royal approaches. We see it's Rowena and her gangster boyfriend, JOHN.

ROYAL
Rowena?

They both turn. Seeing Royal.

ROWENA
If it isn't Royal Hale. My beloved fiancé.

JOHN
This is the one your father wanted for you.
(sizing him up)
An empty-headed fool with a pretty face.

They both laugh in amusement. Royal is frozen where he stands.

JOHN
So, what should we do with him?

ROWENA
Daddy never got me good gifts. I always throw them out.

John whistles, and Rowena smiles; not her charming smile, but one with sadistic glee. TWO MEN, Mafia, appear from the shadows approaching Royal. He backs away. He doesn't see a THIRD MAN approach from behind. The Third Man STRIKES him with a STEEL PIPE.

ECU ON ROYAL as he collapses. He tries to get up, but the Two Man start PUNCHING and KICKING him. ANGLE ON Rowena and John (SLOW MOTION) who laugh at Royal's beating.

ROYAL (V.O.)
I didn't see who she really was until that night.

EXT. CULLEN HOUSE – THE DECK – EVENING

Beau reels at the horror of Royal's assault. Empathy fills him as a stoic Royal continues…

ROYAL
They left me in that alley when they were done, thinking I was dead. Believe me, I wish I was. Carine found me – she smelled all the blood. Thought she was helping me.

BEAU
I'm… so sorry that happened to you.

But Royal won't be pitied.

ROYAL
I got my vengeance on them… one at a time.
(ever-so-slight smile)
I decided to save Rowena for last… so she'd know I was coming.

FLASH TO – INT. HOTEL CORRIDOR – NIGHT (1933)

TWO LARGE MAFIA-DRESSED MEN guard the doorway to a room. They look up as a spectre in black appears at the other end of the hall; dragging what appears to be body. As it nears, we realize it's Royal, in his wedding tuxedo -

INT. HOTEL ROOM (CONTINUOUS) – NIGHT (1933)

Rowena is terrified as she HEARS the sound of the two guards' bodies falling heavily to the ground. She backs into a corner – the door SPLINTERS open and Royal enters. He smiles, the same sadistic one Rowena once showed him, and flings a body towards her. We see its John; dead, but no blood. Off Rowena's horror as she screams while Royal closes in on her -

BACK ON ROYAL PRESENT

ROYAL
I was a bit… theatrical back then.

A flash of amusement. But it quickly disappears.

ROYAL
Things got better after I found Eleanor. But we'll always be… this. Frozen, never moving forward. That's what I miss the most… the possibilities. Of sitting on a porch somewhere, grey-haired with Eleanor by my side, surrounded by our children and grandchildren.

Royal is silent a beat. Beau turns to him, empathetic but holding his ground…

BEAU
I understand that's what you wanted, but… there'll never by anything I'll want more than Edythe.

ROYAL
Wrong again. After you've been turned, there's one you'll want more, one thing you'll kill for: blood.

Seeing his point has landed, Royal walks off. Beau walks off. Beau shaken, turns back towards the house -

SEE EDYTHE standing in the window, looking out at him…

JEREMY (O.S.) (PRE-LAP)
At the age of five, we were asked what we wanted to be when we grew up…