Queen of the Damned Page #3

VAMPIRE #1

Goddamn fool's going to bring backthe Inquisition.

VAMPIRE #2

I say we kill him, before thisgets out of hand. Bleed him dry.

VAMPIRE #1

Gotta find him first. Elusive

bloke. Never know where he's

going to turn up.

VAMPIRE #2

Well we know one place he's

definitely going to be...

Next to him sits a female VAMPIRE, Evian bottle in hand.

VAMPIRE #1

When I was in Manchester, the coven

there was saying exactly the samething. That we should nail him at

the concert...

FEMALE VAMPIRE #1

I don't know, if he's as old as

they say, he's gotta be prettystrong... If you came within amile of him, he'd eat you alive.

She brings her Evian bottle to her lips. Drinks heartily.

The liquid inside glistens deep red.

VAMPIRE #1

Yes. Well let's see how he

handles a thousand of us at once.

Crack -- the pool player sinks the last ball on the pooltable. The TV suddenly EXPLODES.

(CONTINUED)

12.

23

CONTINUED:
23

BACK TO LESTAT ON HUGE VIDEO SCREEN

He smiles at the journalists.

LESTAT:

See you all in Death Valley.

CLICK. The screen goes black.

24

CLOSE ON LESTAT 24

in the flesh. REVEAL he is...

25

INT. LESTAT'S CHATEAU (LONDON) 25

All alone in his magnificent chateau. He sits in front

of a video camera and monitor set up for the two-way remotefeed. Lestat puts the remote down.

Laughs out loud with the pure pleasure of it all. He stands,

crosses to huge doors. Opens them. Goes out to...

25A

EXT. LESTAT'S CHATEAU GROUNDS - CONTINUOUS ACTION 25A

Lestat walks across his lavish grounds, gazes up into thenight.

Staring up at the dark heavens, Lestat inhales like anemperor taking in his kingdom, stretches his arms out, stilldrinking in the adulation.

Slowly, his grin fades...

A melancholy look comes over Lestat.

LESTAT:

(quietly, to world)

Come out, come out, whoever you

are.

As he lowers his arms, the CAMERA PULLS UP and OUT FROM

Lestat, whirling into the dark night...

CUT TO:

13.

26 CLOSE ON SET OF HEADPHONES 26

as it plays LESTAT'S SONG.

PULL OUT ON...

A beautiful young woman, JESSE, 22, lays in black satinsheets. Her long red hair snakes over her slender neck asshe sleeps to Lestat's voice, still as death. Flickeringcandles all over the room reveal her lithe, strong body,

pale as the moon. She is surrounded by her work, ancientlanguage books, her laptop computer. Another book is

clenched in her hand. The Unconscious Vampire. We MOVE

IN ON her fluttering eyes.

CUT TO:

27 DREAM SEQUENCE - EYES 27

opening. Blank. Still. Unsettling. PULL BACK to

reveal these eyes belong to a 19th-century porcelaindoll. We TRACK ACROSS rows and rows of dolls from

different eras, all exquisitely detailed. TRACK PAST the

billowing floor-to-ceiling curtains to reveal a six-yearold

girl lying awake in a large bed, Jesse, green eyes andlong red curls. LAUGHTER wafts in with the breeze.

28 INT. CORRIDOR 28

Jesse's bare feet pad down the endless corridor. The

little girl is dwarfed by the stone pedestals, all litwith candles. LAUGHTER ECHOES through the halls.

29 INT. GREAT HALL 29

Jesse moves past rough-hewn columns, watching somethingwith great curiosity. Behind her, we glimpse a giantmural of names cut into the stone walls. A family tree,

extending up onto the ceiling and down to the floor.

30 JESSE'S POV 30

A grand party is in progress. There are about thirtyvampires, all thin, pale and beautiful. An eclectic

group, elegantly-dressed in Indian silks, Arabic veils,

mixed with a few gaudy Versace outfits. Guests lean into

each other's necks, showing blood-red tongues and fangs.

31 BACK TO SCENE 31

A young VAMPIRE scoops Jesse up and puts her on his knee.

(CONTINUED)

14.

31 CONTINUED:
31

VAMPIRE:

Ah, Jesse. You want to come and

play with us, don't you?

She stares at him, nervous, intrigued.

WOMAN (O.S.)

(urgent)

Jesse!

VAMPIRE:

Soon, soon, little one. I'll make

sure you're with us forever.

WOMAN (O.S.)

(more urgent)

Jesse!

32 INT. JESSE'S BEDROOM (PRESENT) 32

JESSE:

No!

Jesse sits up with a start. She stands, heart pounding,

trying to shake the dream off. We see on a bulletin board

behind her, a flyer for Lestat's concert. She takes off

the headphones. Walking over to the mantel above herfireplace, she picks up a solitary, framed photo -- holdsit tight...

33 CLOSEUP - PHOTO 33

Young Jesse (the girl from the dream) stares straight at

camera. She is held in the arms of a red-haired woman,

her back to camera.

34 BACK TO SCENE 34

Jesse puts the photo down, catches her reflection in amirror, lit by flickering candlelight. Her face is

distressed, troubled by the dream. She goes to thewindow, stares out into the black night. The dark waters

of the Thames snake through the London cityscape. Jesse

blows out the candles. Darkness.

CUT TO:

15.

35 EXT. TUBE STATION (LONDON) - THAT NIGHT 35

Fluorescence pierces the black night. Jesse comes out

of the tube station in a tight, short skirt, boots. She

looks down the street. In one direction, a busy,

brightly-lit street. Jesse gazes at a group of touristscoming out of a pub, laughing. Then she turns, looks the

other direction. A dark street. She hesitates a longmoment, stares at the light, then can't help herself,

plunges toward the darkness, the LAUGHTER ECHOING, thenDYING.

36 EXT. ALLEY - JUST AFTER 36

Jesse passes "rent-boys" stepping from the shadows ascars cruise by. Jesse, unable to look away, gazes as onegets in a car. He stares back at her, disappears intothe car.

37 EXT. BRIDGE - JUST AFTER 37

Jesse passes couples using the shadows for privacy in thedark, filthy streets. She strides past a girl leaningagainst a brick wall, the man grunting, movingrhythmically against her.

38 EXT. LONDON STREET - LATER THAT NIGHT 38

Fog floats in the yellow vapor lights. Jesse pauses atthe intersection of a narrow alley. She hesitates,

nervous, then turns down the dark lane, disappearing intothe blackness...

39 EXT. WAVERLY ARMS - NIGHT 39

Jesse, from the shadows, gazes, wide-eyed, at the Sohoprivate club's entrance, a solitary door with a faded signand a dull blue light mounted above.

Jesse hears strange whispering. She sees now figuresmoving through the fog. One pushes a buzzer. Jesse stares,

barely breathing, her heart pounding.

The figures have white, luminescent faces, strange, bright,

glowing eyes. Their fingernails are glass-like. A moment

later, a slot in the door opens. The glowing eyes of anothercreature stares out at them, scrutinizing them. The door

closes quickly.

Jesse stands there, deliberating. She takes a step closerto the door. Stops. Takes another nervous step. She hears

something, whirls around.

(CONTINUED)

16.

39 CONTINUED:

39

Another group of the strange figures walk steadily down thestreet towards her. Jesse begins backing away. A HISSING

sound slowly fills the alley...

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