Blade Page #16

---

FROST:

Hello, Blade. By the time you watch

this, Whistler will no doubt be

winging his way to Heaven, thanks to

your capable hands. If it makes any

difference to you, he put up quite a

fight.

Frost touches a deep gash which runs across his cheek.

FROST:

Now, I'm sure you're wondering about

Ms. Jansen's well-being. She's alive

and kicking -- "ambulatory", as they

like to say in the trade. Whether or

not she remains so is entirely up to

you.

(beat)

I'll make this as easy as possible for

you, Blade. You can find us at the

Edgewood Towers. We'll be waiting with

baited breath.

The tape cuts to static. Blade throws the camcorder against the wall.

It shatters into a dozen pieces.

Blade turns now, his eyes falling on the medical equipment Karen

brought from the hospital. He moves to the refrigerator, removing a

canister labeled "SODIUM CITRATE". Then he draws his sword. We can

practically see the wheels turning within his mind --

MOMENTS LATER,

Blade stands before the open flames of one of the furnaces, heating

his sword in the fire. He withdraws it -- it's molten red.

Blade turns, dousing the molten hot sword into the sodium citrate

canister. The refrigerated liquid reacts with the heat, causing the

sword to STEAM and HISS.

When Blade withdraws the smoking sword, we SEE that the gleaming

steel has changed colors, taking on a bluish tinge, just like the

sodium citrate it was immersed in. Blade smiles to himself,

satisfied.

CUT TO:

INT. FROST'S PENTHOUSE, INNER CHAMBER - DAY

Sparse decor in a Neo-Japanese vein. Minimalist lighting. The walls

are glass. Recirculating pumps send a constant stream of water

cascading down them.

Karen is escorted into the room by Mercury. She gestures to a chair

at the end of a long table. Karen sits.

FROST:

leans forward out of the shadows, resting his elbows on the table,

hands steepled together.

FROST:

Well, here we are, Doctor.

A cigarette appears in Frost's hand. In the blink of an eye, the

cigarette is lit, burning. The movements are so quick we barely have

time to register them.

KAREN:

Why haven't you killed me yet?

MERCURY:

Deacon likes to play with his food

before he eats it.

Frost laughs. Karen tries to keep calm. The longer she keeps them

talking, the longer she remains alive.

KAREN:

How many of you are there?

FROST:

A few thousand scattered about the

globe. In the past, we've had to

restrict our numbers for fear of

discovery. That won't be necessary

after tonight.

KAREN:

What happens then?

FROST:

The Blood Tide. Our long-prophesied

holy war against the humans. There's a

force, you see -- a spirit that exists

in our blood. I've discovered a way to

invoke it.

KAREN:

LaMagra --

FROST:

That's right. The answers were there

all along, of course, scribbled down

in the forgotten languages of my kind.

Waiting for someone with the patience

to decipher them.

My elders were foolish enough to

dismiss them as wives tales. But I

knew better.

(beat)

Imagine my surprise when Blade turned

out to be the key which would set that

force free.

Frost sits forward now, impassioned.

FROST:

LaMagra isn't a physical being. He's a

spirit, requiring a flesh and blood

host in order to manifest himself.

KAREN:

You.

FROST:

Who better to usher in the Blood Tide?

Karen shakes her head, protesting --

KAREN:

There's no need for any of this. Your

condition can be treated. Whistler and

I were working on a cure when --

FROST:

What makes you think we want to be

cured? Blood is only part of the

equation. The hunt, the killing,

that's what the Thirst is really

about.

KAREN:

But you use blood banks --

FROST:

Only as a last resort. Preserved blood

is inferior. There's no flavor left to

it, no life.

(rising from his seat)

Fortunately, I've found a way around

that particular obstacle.

Frost moves to the end of the room. He pushes a button. With a HUM

the wall slides open, revealing something Karen wishes she'd never

seen -- living blood banks.

THREE SEDATED HUMANS

have been hooked up to IV feeds which replenish various nutrients as

their blood is drained from them. Shunts have been implanted in their

forearms which serve as taps.

FROST:

Under these conditions I can keep a

donor alive for years, producing

anywhere from fifty to a hundred pints

of blood.

(admiring his charges)

Of course, this is just a pilot

program, really. Once the Tide comes,

we'll need to expand production. So

many more mouths to feed --

Karen turns away, overwhelmed by revulsion.

KAREN:

You're a monster.

FROST:

Why? Because we live at another

species' expense? Your people farm

cattle and veal, don't they? Fattening

them up with steroids? It's called

evolution, Doctor. Survival of the

fittest.

Frost stares at Karen with an intense, uncompromising gaze.

FROST:

I have a wake-up call for the human

race. You're no longer at the top of

the food chain.

EXT. SKYSCRAPER ROOFTOP - DAY

BLADE'S POV

A telephoto view of Frost's penthouse. The windows are polarized,

blocking out the sun's harsh rays.

Blade lowers a pair of binoculars. He's standing on the roof of a

building across the street. He hefts an air-launcher rifle up into

firing position --

BANG! An iron spike trailing a steel cable rockets through the air

between the two buildings, sinking into the concrete facade of

Frost's penthouse. Blade secures his end of the rope. He slips a

pulley over the rope, grabs hold of two handles, and leaps off the

roof ledge!

WHOOSH! Blade slides towards Frost's penthouse, a good twenty stories

above street level. A second before he reaches the windows, Blade

lets go. Momentum sends him CRASHING through in a shower of glass.

INT. FROST'S PENTHOUSE - DAY

An ALARM is ringing. Sunlight streams in through the broken window.

TWO VAMPIRE GUARDS who have been caught in the sudden swath of light

are burning up before our eyes. Blade climbs to his feet --

A THIRD VAMPIRE:

leaps at him. Blade spins, flipping the vampire over his shoulder,

sending him straight through one of the other windows --

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 - DAY

Blade unsheathes his sword and heads out into the hall --

INT. FROST'S PENTHOUSE, HALLWAY - DAY

To Blade's right is the inner chamber with the "waterfall" walls. As

ANOTHER VAMPIRE approaches, Blade readies his sword --

VAMPIRE:

You think I'm afraid of that toothpick

of yours?

BLADE:

You should be. I've made some

improvements.

And with that, Blade thrusts his blackened sword forward, right

through the vampire's chest.

The creature SHRIEKS and atomizes -FWOOSH!- flying apart in a fine-

beaded spray of blood mist.

Up ahead are a set of steel doors with a time-lock mechanism. Blade

draws a Casull, BLASTS away at the lock, then shoulders the doors

open --

Rate this script:3.7 / 3 votes