Origins: Scripted

by QueenofSpices

Everybody has an origin story. But some are different than others, and these are those. (Life and Death characters' backstories in script formatting. Explained more in A/N.)

2. Jessamine Whitlock

EDIT: I cannot believe I didn't notice that I forgot to edit everything out! If this happens again, please notify me immediately!

A/N: Seriously, if you're reading this, I did something right. Anyway, this is the story that I had the most fun writing. Now, I probably do have to explain something pretty big that I changed. Jessamine is not a Confederate, I made her Union. She's still from Texas, but you'll see what I did to explain that away. Also, I had to pretty much make it up when it came to Jess's family life, and that was pretty fun, too.

ALSO! Last thing, I swear. I decided to make Jessamine biracial. I always imagined that Jessamine/Jasper was half-Mexican (don't know why), and so I decided to change that for this.

Without further ado, Jessamine Whitlock's story!

EXT. WHITLOCK CABIN, HOUSTON, TX, 1860 – NIGHT

The cabin is small and rugged. Fields of crops lay for miles beyond it, and no other life can be seen.

INT. WHITLOCK CABIN

The house is a small and rugged cabin. Three double beds are pushed up against one of the walls, and a small kitchen and dining room are at the other side. JESSAMINE WHITLOCK [also known as JESSAMINE HALE] sits in a rocking chair doing needlepoint. She is especially bad at it, and the thread is loose on the fabric. Jessamine is a pretty, lanky teenage girl with long blonde hair, tan skin, and brown eyes. She has dark bags under her eyes, is partially Mexican, and often looks nervous. JESSAMINE'S MOTHER stands at the kitchen, making dinner. Jessamine's Mother is a middle-aged German woman with long blonde hair. Both Jessamine and Jessamine's mother wear long but tattered dresses of the style. Text on screen reads:

Jessamine Whitlock

Houston, TX

1863

ALEXANDER WHITLOCK, JOEL WHITLOCK, CALEB WHITLOCK, HARRISON WHITLOCK, and JESSAMINE'S FATHER enter. Alexander, Joel, Caleb, and Harrison are all Jessamine's older brothers - all in their twenties - and are all partially Mexican with either blond or brown hair. Jessamine's Father is a middle-aged Mexican man with dark hair and eyes.

JESSAMINE'S MOTHER
Just in time.

Jessamine's Mother places seven plates around the dining table. She, Jessamine, Jessamine's Father, Alexander, Joel, Caleb, and Harrison all sit in chairs and begin eating. The brothers banter with each other and poke at one another. Jessamine sits silently eating, glancing at her brothers every once in a while.

JOEL
Hey, Jessie!

Jessamine looks up.

JOEL (CONT'D)
Part raccoon today?

JESSAMINE
Excuse me?

CALEB
Joel meant to ask if you've been getting enough sleep.

JOEL
Caleb's right. You look exhausted, Jessie.

JESSAMINE
(heavily sarcastic)
I'm all right, sir, thank you for your concern.

HARRISON
She got you there.

CALEB
How did she get us, Harrison? Hmm? How?

ALEXANDER
Well, she's gonna get us all one day. I swear, Jessie's gonna be the one to blow all our heads off.

JESSAMINE'S MOTHER
Alexander!

ALEXANDER
Sorry, ma'am.

INT. WHITLOCK CABIN, LATER THAT NIGHT

Jessamine's Mother, Jessamine's Father, Alexander, Joel, Caleb, and Harrison all lay in the beds, fast asleep. Jessamine stands in front of them, fully dressed for travel. She sheds a single tear, then leaves the house.

EXT. PLAINS – NIGHT

Jessamine rides a horse through the dry desert.

EXT. UNION CAMP – DAY

Tents full of blue-uniformed Union SOLDIERS sits in the dry and cracked desert. Jessamine rides her horse up to the camp. TWO SOLDIERS cross their bayonets to disallow Jessamine from entering. GENERAL GRANT walks up to them and touches Soldier 1's shoulder. Grant is a middle-aged, dark-haired man with a beard. He wears a blue General's uniform.

GRANT
Let her in.

The soldiers uncross their bayonets.

JESSAMINE
It's all right. I understand.

Jessamine dismounts. Grant snaps his fingers at Soldier 2, who takes the horse's reins. Jessamine follows Grant through the camp.

SOLDIER 1
Who was she?

SOLDIER 2
She's a spy.

SOLDIER 1
For us or the greybacks?

SOLDIER 2
Us. I hear she's really good at it.

SOLDIER 1
What does she do?

Soldier 2 glances back at Jessamine as she walks away from them.

SOLDIER 2
I don't know. But I think I'd like to find out.

Soldier 1 and Soldier 2 laugh. Jessamine and Grant exit the camp and walk back toward the front of the camp.

JESSAMINE
Two weeks? That much time?

GRANT
Two weeks.

Jessamine nods, takes the reins from Soldier 2, and mounts the horse. Grant salutes to her, and she salutes back.

INT. BALLROOM

The room is large with a chandelier hanging down in the center. A separate hallway cuts off to one side and a curved staircase sits near the back. PARTY-GOERS crowd the room, in expensive-looking suits and dresses of the time. A few stand in Confederate uniforms.

Jessamine walks in, her dress red and a red fan closed and hanging on her wrist. She holds a small slip of paper with the word "Moses" on it. Jessamine walks through the crowd, looking for someone. She stops a SERVER, an African American slave, putting a hand on his arm. He holds a tray in one hand with flutes of champagne on it. Jessamine raises her eyebrows at him slightly, then takes a flute of champagne. She puts the slip of paper around the stem discreetly, then passes closely by the Server, handing him the flute.

The Server takes the flute and puts it back on the tray. He walks through the crowd, glancing around. He walks up to JACK RANSOM, who's in a suit, then presents the tray to him. Jack is a young white man. The Server widens his eyes slightly at Jack. Jack acknowledges the gesture, and takes the flute with the paper on the stem. The Server walks away. Jack takes a sip of the champagne, then finds SERVER 2, another slave, who holds a tray of scattered empty flutes. Jack puts the flute with the piece of paper on the tray. Jack nods. Server 2 nods back. Server 2 walks away with the tray.

During all this, Jessamine watches the paper get passed around and walks around, chatting to the different men in uniform.

Server 2 walks to the separate hallway, where SERVER 3 waits. Server 3 grabs the flute with the paper, then walks away.

Jessamine sighs with relief. She glances across the room at a CONFEDERATE SOLDIER seductively. Jessamine flicks open her fan, fanning it in front of the bottom of her face. She glides up the stairs, closing the fan and picking her skirts up to do so. The Confederate Soldier follows her up the stairs, glancing back around the room.

INT. HALLWAY

The hall is dark with doors lining it. A dark carpet lays on the floor. Jessamine walks down the hall. The Confederate Soldier follows her. Jessamine turns into a room. The Confederate follows.

INT. BEDROOM

The room is dark, but a bed with two nightstands next to it sits in the shadows. A heavy book sits on one of the nightstands. Jessamine waits behind a door. The Confederate walks in, searching.

CONFEDERATE
Beautiful miss? Where are you?

Jessamine steps in front of him.

JESSAMINE
(heavily fake southern accent)
Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were there.

Confederate closes the door and steps forward so that he's pressed up against Jessamine.

CONFEDERATE
Well, now we're alone.

JESSAMINE
Yes. Yes, we are.

Jessamine reaches behind her and grabs the book. She slams Confederate on the head with it so he's knocked out cold. Jessamine laughs softly.

JESSAMINE (CONT'D)
(to herself)
That was fun.

EXT. PLAINS – NIGHT

The plains go on for miles. MIGUEL, LEVI, and NESTER stand in front of Jessamine, who rides her horse through the plains. Miguel and Nester both have brown hair, while Levi has blond. They all have red eyes. Jessamine pulls the horse to a stop when she sees them. She dismounts.

LEVI
She's speechless.

NESTER
Mmm. Lovely.

MIGUEL
Concentrate, Nester. She looks right - young, strong, fiery... And there's something more...do you sense it? She's...compelling.

NESTER
Oh, yes.

MIGUEL
Patience. I want to keep this one.

LEVI
You'd better do it, Miguel. If she's important to you. I kill them twice as often as I keep them.

MIGUEL
Yes, I'll do it. I really do like this one. Take Nester away, will you? I don't want to have to protect my back while I'm trying to focus.

NESTER
(to Levi)
Let's hunt.

Nester and Levi turn and run away.

MIGUEL
What's your name?

JESSAMINE
Jessamine Whitlock, sir.

MIGUEL
I truly hope you survive, Jessamine. I have a good feeling about you.

Miguel steps toward Jessamine, then lifts her chin with his finger.

JESSAMINE
Get your hands off of me.

Miguel laughs, then leans toward her neck.

INT. LIVING ROOM, 1948

A couch sits in the room. Jessamine, her eyes now black, is the only one seen. She sits on the couch, a wall to her back. Text on the screen reads:

1948

JESSAMINE
A few days later, I was introduced to my new life. Their names were Miguel, Nester, and Levi. It was Miguel's idea. He wanted a superior army, so he sought out specific humans who had potential. Then he gave us much more attention, more training than anyone else had bothered with. He taught us to fight, and he taught us to be invisible to humans. When we did well, we were rewarded...

INT. BARN, 1864

Text on screen reads:

1864

Jessamine and Miguel stand in front of TWENTY YOUNG VAMPIRES. Everyone's eyes glow red.

JESSAMINE (V.O.)
We were well trained. The cities changed hands without any human being aware. Success made Miguel greedy. It wasn't long before he began to eye other cities. That first year, he extended his control to cover most of Texas and northern Mexico. Miguel and I always kept a dozen or so newborns ready. They meant little to us - they were pawns, they were disposable. When they outgrew their usefulness, we did dispose of them. My life continued in the same violent pattern and the years passed. I was sick of it all for a very long time before anything changed...

INT. BARN, 1942

Jessamine and PATRICIA stand in the empty barn. Patricia is young woman with long blonde hair. Both she and Jessamine wear blouses and skirts. Text on screen reads:

1942

JESSAMINE (V.O.)
Decades later, I developed a friendship with a newborn who'd remained useful and survived her first three years, against the odds. Her name was Patricia. I liked Patricia; she was...civilized - I suppose that's the right word. She didn't enjoy the fight, though she was good at it. She was assigned to deal with the newborns - babysit them, you could say. It was a full-time job.

JESSAMINE
(out the door)
Charles!

PATRICIA
What? No. Jess, no.

JESSAMINE
Patricia, he's reached his year mark. He's outgrowing his strength; he needs to be replaced.

CHARLES enters, terrified. Charles is a young vampire with red eyes and blond hair.

PATRICIA
Charles, run!

Patricia and Charles run out the door. Jessamine stares after them, but makes no move to follow them.

JESSAMINE (V.O.)
Miguel was pretty annoyed at me for that...

INT. BARN, 1947

Jessamine watches over the training of the NEWBORNS. Text on screen reads:

1947

Patricia appears the doorway.

PATRICIA
(under her breath)
Jess!

Jessamine turns around and notices Patricia. Patricia motions for Jessamine to go to her. Jessamine runs over to her.

JESSAMINE
What are you doing here?

PATRICIA
Jess, you have to come with me. Please.

JESSAMINE
Why? What else is there?

PATRICIA
There's so much more than this life, Jess. Go with Charles and me. If you don't like it, you can come back.

JESSAMINE
All right.

EXT. FOREST, 1948 – DAY

Trees surround them. Patricia, Charles, and Jessamine walk through the forest. Text on screen reads:

1948

JESSAMINE (V.O.)
I traveled with Patricia and Charles for a few years, getting the feel of this new, more peaceful world. But the depression didn't fade. I didn't understand what was wrong with me, until Patricia noticed that it was always worse after I'd hunted. I contemplated that. In so many years of slaughter and carnage, I'd lost nearly all of my humanity. I was a nightmare, a monster of the grisliest kind. Yet each time I found another human victim, I would feel a faint prick of remembrance for that other life. Watching their eyes widen in wonder at my beauty, I could see Miguel and the others in my head, what they had looked like to me the last night that I was Jessamine Whitlock. It was stronger for me - this borrowed memory - than it was for anyone else, because I could feel everything my prey was feeling. And I lived their emotions as I killed them.

JESSAMINE
I should go.

PATRICIA
What do you mean?

JESSAMINE
You don't need me bringing you down.

Jessamine walks away from Patricia and Charles, into the trees.

JESSAMINE (V.O.)
Yet I had to keep killing. What choice did I have?

EXT. DINER, PHILADELPHIA – NIGHT

A small diner sits on an empty street. Rain pours down in buckets. Jessamine walks down the sidewalk, her hood up, and enters the diner. Text on screen reads:

Philadelphia

INT. DINER

Booths and tables sit around the diner. There's a counter with a WAITRESS behind it. MARIUS ARCHIBALD BRANDEN [also known as ARCHIE CULLEN] sits at the counter, an untouched cup of coffee in front of him. Archie is a Japanese, pale, happy-go-lucky, handsome teenage boy with shaved black hair and black eyes.

ARCHIE
Hey! You southern belles really like to keep a guy waiting.

Archie laughs.

ARCHIE (CONT'D)
But that's okay. It was worth the wait.

A/N: That one was super fun to write!
Like, follow, and all that jazz to see the next one, which was also fun to write. Since (if you couldn't tell) I'm doing this in historical order, the next character's story is indeed our angry redhead Edythe!