Blade Page #17

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INT. FROST'S SLEEPING CHAMBER - DAY

We are in a windowless, vault-like room dominated by a series of

high-tech STAINLESS STEEL SARCOPHAGI. Think of a hyperbaric coffin,

each unit possessing a small face-plate window through which the

sleeping subject can be viewed.

Blade unsheathes his sword. He grabs the lid of the first

sarcophagus, HEAVING upward. With a PNEUMATIC HISS, the lid rises,

belching out a cloud of condensation mist.

As the mist clears, revealing the occupant within, Blade raises his

sword, ready to plunge it downward -- only it's not Deacon Frost who

rests beneath him, it's --

VANESSA,

Blade's mother!!! Although some thirty years have passed since the

events of our prologue, Vanessa looks exactly the same -- vibrant,

beautiful, full of life. Her eyes open.

VANESSA:

Jason.

Blade gasps, uncomprehending.

BLADE:

Mother -- ?!

Vanessa rises from the sarcophagus, tears staining her cheeks.

VANESSA:

I've missed you so much, Jason.

(drawing closer)

You have no idea what I've been

through, how much I've wanted to see

you --

Blade 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 and --

-- flashing a mouthful of viper-like fangs! She SNARLS and strikes,

brutally raking her claws across Blade's face, knocking the sword

from his grasp --

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 --

Blade 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 Vanessa --

BLADE:

But you -- died --

VANESSA:

(a hellish smile)

Deacon brought me back.

BLADE:

Fight him --

As if on cue, Frost appears at Vanessa's side, wrapping a proprietary

arm about her waist, kissing the nape of her neck. She leans into him

-- an act of practiced intimacy.

FROST:

She can't. She's one of my thralls

now. She has about as much free will

as a puppet on a string.

(looking at Vanessa)

You love me, don't you, Vanessa?

VANESSA:

Yes.

Frost kisses Vanessa hungrily. Then he kneels and reaches into

Blade's jacket, retrieving a vial of Blade's serum.

FROST:

What do we have here? Your precious

serum? I don't think you'll be needing

this anymore.

Frost crushes the vial in his fist. Blade struggles to reach Frost,

stretching a palsied hand upwards --

BLADE:

Please --

VANESSA:

Listen to your father, Jason. It's

going to be a better world.

Blade stares at Vanessa uncomprehending.

FROST:

Don't look so surprised, Blade. You've

spent your life looking for the

vampire who fathered you. Well you can

rest easy now, you've found him.

(gripping Blade's chin)

Daddy's here.

Blade's eyes widen in shock. Frost simply laughs.

FROST:

It's true, Blade. You've got my blood

running through your veins.

(smiling)

Thirty years ago. A moonlit street, a

woman on her way home alone. You were

conceived the night I tore my fangs

into your mother's flesh.

Frost swings his fist into Blade's skull. Everything goes black.

CUT TO:

INT. ARMORED TRUCK - NIGHT

FADE IN as Blade opens his eyes, still groggy, his face beaded with

sweat. Feverish. His hands have been bound tightly behind his back

with manacles and chains.

KAREN:

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.

KAREN:

Are you all right?

BLADE:

(weakly)

I've been better --

BLADE:

How long have we been driving?

KAREN:

(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. Blade shuts his

eyes for a moment, fighting a wave of pain.

KAREN:

Is it bad?

BLADE:

(nodding)

We get out of this alive, maybe I'll

take that miracle cure of yours.

Karen doesn't respond. Instead she looks away. How in the world is

she supposed to tell him this?

KAREN:

(quietly)

It won't work on you.

BLADE:

What are you talking about?

Karen forces herself to meet his gaze.

KAREN:

Your condition's congenital, the

genetic mutations occurred in utero.

All the other victims contracted

vampirism after birth.

Blade stares at Karen, disbelieving. Who could imagine a more

horrifying irony? She's crying now. She can't help it.

KAREN:

I can't cure you, Blade. I can cure

myself, but I can't cure you.

(beat)

I'm so sorry.

Blade's 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. Frost stands there,

grinning, flanked by Mercury, Quinn, Vanessa, and a half-dozen other

VAMPIRE ASSOCIATES.

FROST:

Welcome home, children.

EXT. THE BANK OF EREBUS - NIGHT

Blade and Karen 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.

Frost starts up the marble steps towards a grand, triple-arched

entrance flanked by Corinthian columns. Karen and Blade are dragged

along after him.

INT. BANK OF EREBUS - ATRIUM - NIGHT

Frost leads his 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.

Frost places his palm on the ID screen. The screen GLOWS GREEN,

acknowledging his identity. In response, the doors HISS open.

INT. SECURITY ELEVATOR - NIGHT

Blade and Karen are pulled inside the elevator. The control panel

buttons have vampire glyphs, rather than numbers. Frost presses the

bottom one. The doors close with a WHOOSH and the car descends --

down, down, down.

Frost glances over at Karen, smiling amiably.

FROST:

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.

FROST:

As above, so below.

Torches burn in wall sconces, casting everything in a warm, amber

glow. Frost takes in the beauty of the place.

FROST:

Welcome to our hall of ancients,

Doctor. We call it the Temple of

Night.

Blade and Karen are led to the middle of the room, where a stone

altar rises up from a dais. Blade is roughly thrown to the ground. He

kneels there, eyes cast downward. Broken. His system being assaulted

by the devastating effects of the Thirst.

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