Act 1
Starring:
Felicia Day as Vi, Norika Fujiwara as Mia and Lindsay Felton as Skye Talisker
Guest Starring:
Neve Campbell as Camille Osbourne, Michelle Rodriguez as Kadin, and Hugh Jackman as Kadin’s Father
Special Guest Starring:
Seth Green as Oz
Fade In:
Int.
Watchers Council – Library – Night
“All right, I’ll tell him,” Rowena said into the phone. with a slight look of worry. “I’m glad everyone’s okay. All right. Love you too. Bye.”
She moved the phone away from her ear with a smile. She stared down at it for a moment, then shook her head.
She turned to see Giles staring back at her expectantly. Her cheeks turned slightly pink at being caught uttering endearments, and she cleared her throat nervously.
“Oh, that was Willow. She said everyone’s alive, and they’re on their way back,” she said as she took a seat at the table, “but there’s a new psycho slayer in town.”
“Psycho slayer?” Giles asked, confused.
Rowena nodded. “Her words, not mine. It seems that they weren’t able to catch a name between all the threats and punches.”
Giles pulled the glasses from his face and pinched his nose. “Bloody perfect.”
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council Van – Moments Later
Kennedy sat against the back doors, her head bouncing slightly as she leaned it against the cool steel.
“Something on your mind, Slick?” Faith asked, from her spot opposite her.
When Kennedy continued to stare off into space, the older slayer waved a hand in front of her face. “Yo, Ken? You in there?” she teased with a smile.
“Wha…? Huh?” Kennedy said, somewhat dazed.
Faith just chucked and folded her hands back in her lap. “I was worried I lost you there,” she said.
Kennedy just shook her head and let out a deep sigh. “No. I was just…thinkin’.”
“Uh huh,” Faith shot back with a grin.
Kennedy turned to face her with a raised brow. “Something you wanna say?”
“Oh no,” Faith said, shaking her own head. “Nothing at all.”
Kennedy didn’t respond. She just laid her head back against the door with another sigh and stared straight ahead.
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council Van – Same Time
Oz held his trembling wife close to him as she fought to stay conscious.
“Just rest,” he said, placing a kiss on her forehead.
The woman shook her head weakly. “I…I can’t. She’ll…find me. She’ll…kill me,” she barely managed to whisper, before passing out once again.
Oz just shook his head and held her tighter against his chest. “No, baby. Nobody’s gonna kill anyone. I won’t let her.”
“We won’t let her,” Mia added from her spot next to the couple.
Oz smiled at Mia kindly and she smiled back.
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Library – Moments Later
Rowena was standing by the library window, looking out, when the van pulled up in front of the Council.
“They’re here,” she said, turning to face Giles.
Giles looked up from the books strewn out across the table. He cleared his throat and nodded. “Well, all right then. I think it’s time we discover the circumstances of the situation so that we can be better equipped to…to handle…it.”
When he finally finished his nervous babble, they all quietly slipped from the room.
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Lobby – Moments Later
The doors to the Council swung open. Oz and Mia stumbled through the entrance carrying an unconscious Camille. The others met them as soon as they walked in.
“Is everyone alright?” Giles asked when he saw Camille’s condition. “Is she…?”
“No,” Oz shook his head. “Just unconscious.”
Giles nodded. “Well, all right. Get her up to the infirmary then. She’ll need her rest. How are you? Any threat of a change?”
“I’m good,” Oz replied.
“Camille?” Giles asked.
“After the tranq, she’ll be good ’til morning, but put a guard out. Safe than sorry and all that.”
Oz looked over to Mia. She nodded before lifting Camille into her arms and starting up the stairs, with Oz right behind her.
Rowena walked over to Willow as quickly as her healing body would allow. “You okay?” she asked.
Willow gave a shrug, but nodded, which made a curious expression form on Rowena’s face. Before the blonde could say anything, Giles spoke up.
“Who wants to tell me what happened?” he asked.
Everyone either hung their heads or looked around uncomfortably. Faith finally decided to take the lead.
“Why don’t you girls go debrief with Sarge? I’ll handle this,” she said to the other slayers.
The girls nodded and quickly left.
“I don’t think we need to stay for this either,” Skye said from her position by Dawn.
When Dawn started to protest, Skye gave Dawn her best resolve face, and Dawn quickly relented with a quiet, “Yes ma’am.”
Skye pulled her girlfriend closer and led her out of the room.
When no one else moved, Faith turned to Jeff and Andrew, putting her hands on her hips and giving them a hint of a glare. The two met her look with trepidation. “Right. We’re just gonna…” Jeff motioned towards the stairs, and both boys darted from the room.
“Well, now that it’s just us grown-ups,” Faith said with a slight smile. “To the War Room?”
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Library – Moments Later
The seven senior Council Members sat around the large round table in the library. The tension in the room was thick, and no one dared to speak first.
“Is anybody gonna speak up, or are we all just gonna sit here till we grow roots?” Kennedy finally said.
Giles cleared his throat and sat back in his chair. “Kennedy’s right. We need to know what we’re facing in order to know how to stop it.”
“Not it,” Kennedy added. “Her.”
“Right. My apologies. Her,” Giles corrected. “Does anyone want to begin?”
Faith sighed and dropped her foot from her chair to lean into the table. She folded her hands in front of her and had a distant look in her eyes as she spoke.
“It was like she came out of nowhere,” she began. “One minute we were all just walking along, and the next, boom…there she was.”
“What do you mean?” Rowena asked.
“It’s like she just fell from the sky,” answered Willow. “I mean, I didn’t even hear anything until her boots hit the cement. It was almost like she was…”
“Hunting us,” finished Kennedy.
Then the room fell silent.
“But I’m not sure that’s the worst part,” Faith admitted.
“Meaning?” Rowena prompted.
Faith chewed her lip nervously for a moment. “She left as quick as she came. We, um…we couldn’t stop her.”
Once more the room was speechless.
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Infirmary – Same Time
Camille slowly opened her eyes and turned her head to the side. “Ow,” she said, squinting her eyes at the pain caused by even that slight movement.
“Camille,” Oz said as he pulled himself out of his light slumber. He instantly sat up in his chair and took his wife’s hand. “How are you feeling?”
Camille lifted a hand to her head and grimaced. “Like I got hit with a tranq gun.”
Oz smiled at her attempt to lighten the mood. He placed a gentle hand on her forehead and gazed down at her lovingly.
The brunette sighed and gazed back up at him with fear in her eyes. “Did I hurt anybody?”
Oz shook his head. “No. No chance. The girls shot you before you could.”
Camille instantly relaxed at his words.
“Thank God,” she whispered, closing her eyes.
“Camille?” Oz asked worriedly.
His wife opened her eyes again and squeezed his hand. “I’m still here, and I’m almost sure I’m mostly undamaged.”
He smiled again. “Always the funny one,” he said softly as he stroked her cheek.
The married couple remained in silence for a few long moments before Camille cleared her throat painfully.
“Oz,” she began reluctantly. “I know I was going in and out of it there at the end, but…” She looked away, but continued. “Was it just the drugs, or was there a woman that just showed up outta nowhere? You know, all dressed in black, dark burning eyes…extremely unpleasant?”
Oz nodded slowly. “Yes.”
“I heard her voice. I’d know that voice anywhere,” Camille swallowed nervously. After a brief pause, she continued. “I knew she’d find me…sooner or later.”
“Who Camille?” Oz asked with worry.
Camille closed her eyes, trying to fight back the tears that were threatening to spill. After a painful moment, she opened them to focus in on the worried face of her husband.
“Kadin,” was all she said.
Oz began to look even more fearful.
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Library – Later
Willow slammed the book closed, causing everyone to jump.
“This is useless,” she sighed. “She’s not in here. She’s not in any of these,” she said, motioning to the other books scattered around the table.
“Relax, Red,” Faith said from the other side of the table, “I know it’s frustrating, but there’s gotta be something in here somewhere about a slayer that’s got it out specifically for the McFurries. We just gotta find it.”
“You won’t,” came Oz’s voice from the door.
Everyone turned to face him. “Why not?” asked a confused Rowena. “This is the most extensive library of the supernatural in all –”
“There aren’t any books on this,” he interrupted calmly. “Trust me.”
Giles rose from his chair to face the other man. “And why is that?”
Oz placed his hands in the pockets of his coat and walked over to the table the group was using. He looked down at all the books spread over it. He lifted one of the books and gave it a quick glance before instantly dropping it back to the table.
“Well, for one thing,” he said, “you’re looking in the wrong place.”
Everyone looked at him, dumbfounded. Oz slowly and silently walked back into the fiction section and scanned the shelves.
Kennedy leaned over and whispered to Faith. “Did that spell fry his brain or something?” Faith nudged her with her shoulder, but still smiled. They watched curiously as Oz carefully flipped through the pages of a book.
A few moments later, his search was complete, and Oz walked back over to the table with a thick black book in his hand. He sighed and threw the book into the middle of the table.
“Dracula?” Rowena asked, puzzled, when she saw the book’s title.
Oz just nodded. When he sat down, he looked over at Giles. “Remember when Willow was almost burned at the stake and I said fairy tales are real?” he asked.
Giles paused for a moment, then nodded.
“So is fiction, from time to time,” Oz replied.
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Kennedy’s Apartment – Same Time
Mia sat on the bed she shared with Kennedy, looking out the window. The earlier rain had now become snow.
Her eyes were misty and her breathing was slow and shallow. She sat there staring out at the lake for a few more moments before getting up and quietly leaving the room.
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Library – Moments later
Willow reached out for the book in front of her. She opened it and glanced at the title page, but saw nothing significant. “What does ‘A classic tale of horror and grotesque romance’ by Bram Stoker have to do with anything?”
Oz just leaned over and flipped through the thick pages as everyone looked on anxiously. When he stopped, he pointed down, and Willow’s eyes scanned down the page to a picture of an old man with a cross in one hand and a stake in the other.
“Dr. Abraham Van Helsing?” she asked.
“Isn’t he that made-up monster hunter that chased down Dracula and was like hell-bent on ridding the world of all things evil?” Faith asked.
Oz nodded. “You’re half right.”
“Okay, enough with the damn riddles,” shot Kennedy. “Would you just tell us what the hell you’re talking about already?”
Oz stared down at the picture for a few long moments before speaking.
“He was a monster hunter, he did chase Dracula all over Europe, and he was hell-bent on killing all things evil, but the kicker…he wasn’t made up.”
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Infirmary – Same Time
Camille’s eyes opened at the sound of the quiet knock on her door. “Come in,” she said hoarsely, then she smiled when Mia appeared from the other side. She sat up in her bed.
“Mia, it’s good to see you. I’ve been going crazy, holed up in here.”
Mia laughed politely and took a seat next to Camille’s bed. After a measure of tense silence, the werewolf placed a shaky hand on the slayer’s.
“Mia? Is there something you would like to talk about?”
The slayer stared down at their hands for a moment before sighing and bringing her eyes back up to the other woman’s. “Just on guard duty,” she told her. “But we can talk if you like.”
Camille gave her a slow nod. “Anything in particular?”
Mia let out a deep sigh. “What do you think makes someone evil?”
“So much for light conversation,” Camille quipped.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately. Some stuff here at the Council that I’ve done, and…I’m not sure I’m a very good person.”
“Mia,” Camille interrupted. “I don’t think you’re a bad person. Why would you even ask that?”
Mia just shook her head. “It’s just…I really needed someone to talk to, and I’m not exactly on everyone else’s A-List right now. Pretty sad, huh? Gotta go to a complete stranger with my problems.” She smiled nervously.
“No,” Camille said, shaking her head. “It’s not sad. I know what it’s like to feel alone, and I know what it’s like for everyone to…dislike you. Besides, sometimes we can tell strangers our deepest secrets, things we can’t share with our closest friends.” Mia looked at her, confused, and Camille sank back into her pillow. “Would you like to hear my story first?” Camille asked.
“Sure,” Mia nodded.
Camille smiled slightly. “Okay, but remember, you asked for it.”
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Library – Moments Later
Faith looked at Oz skeptically and laughed. “Oh, come on.”
Oz just stared back at her, a stern look on his face.
“Are you trying to tell me that this crazy little man,” she said, motioning to the picture, “really existed all those hundreds of years ago and has somehow come back to make your wife the newest target of his ‘end all evil’ crusade?”
“No,” he replied.
“I didn’t think so,” the slayer said in a satisfied tone. “I mean, that was just…stupid.”
“Not him,” Oz continued. dropping his eyes back to the picture. “His descendant.”
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Infirmary – Moments Later
“His what?” Mia asked, surprised.
Camille smiled. “His descendant. Abraham Van Helsing had a bastard son after the death of his family. Of course, he never knew,” Camille continued. “That’s why there are no records of the bloodline surviving past his death. It’s just assumed that it died right along with him.”
“Wow,” Mia said, listening intently. “And that woman who showed up in the foundry…she’s part of that blood line?”
Camille nodded. “Only she’s not part…she’s the last.”
“What happened to all the others?”
“Disease, death…murder. You know, the basics,” Camille said absently.
“Murder?” Mia asked in confusion.
“Yes, murder,” Camille sighed. “It’s almost like fate has taken away what was never supposed to be. You see…it was destined for the Van Helsing bloodline to die with Abraham…but it didn’t work out that way.”
“Obviously,” Mia added. “But why?”
“Slayers and watchers,” answered the werewolf. “The world already had its protectors.”
“Huh,” Mia said, in deep thought. “I guess you really can have too much of a good thing.”
“Guess so,” nodded Camille.
“So this…Kadin? She’s like an anomaly of nature?”
“Something like that,” Camille smiled.
“So what’s her ‘blood’ with you all about?” Mia asked, after a moment.
Camille sighed.
Cut To:
Ext.
Cleveland Graveyard – Moments Later
The doors of the mausoleum flew open, and the vampire flew out backwards, landing hard on the cold earth.
He let out a throaty growl, and in a flash he was back onto his feet. He started to charge back into the mausoleum, but the sudden glint of silver caught the moonlight as it was propelled out the doors.
The vampire stopped dead in his tracks and looked down at his chest. A shiny, silver-tipped wooden stake protruded from his heart.
“Aw, man,” he said and then turned to instant dust.
A set of steel-toed boots slowly walked down the steps from the mausoleum. This soon led up to powerful legs covered with black leather, then to a black shirt protected by a black vest, all topped off with a long flowing black duster.
Kadin Van Helsing walked over to where the vampire had disintegrated and picked up her silver stake out of the pile. She brushed it off on her pant leg and tucked it back into the holster on her thigh.
The sounds of approaching vampires caused her to turn her head in their direction.
“Well, lookie what we got here, boys,” the lead vampire said with a sneer. “A midnight snack.”
Kadin just stood, staring back at the group of vamps.
“You boys hungry?” she quipped, causing the vampires to growl in response. She slipped her hand into her duster and wrapped it around the stake tucked in the side of her vest. “So am I,” she said with a grin, and then charged towards them.
Fade In:
Int.
Watchers Council – Library – Same time
“De…descendant?” Giles asked from the opposite end of the table. “What on earth do you mean?
Oz just looked at him silently for a beat, then reached down and gave the book a sliding shove down the table. It came to an abrupt stop right in front of the confused watcher.
Giles cast his eyes down at the page and studied the picture of the man.
It was black and white. The man was staring ahead intently, a death grip on the cross and stake in his hands. He wore an ornate amulet around his neck. It was the letters “V” and “H,” intertwined beautifully. Even though the picture wasn’t that clear, the amulet appeared to shine brightly.
“This cannot be,” Giles said, shaking his head. Then he lifted his gaze from the picture to stare back at his old friend. “There is no way that I would have absolutely no knowledge of his existence. The Council’s records go back as far as history itself, and I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
He looked over to Rowena for some kind of answer, but she too was completely lost.
“I have to agree with Giles,” she said. “I’ve been in the Council for many years, and I’ve never heard anything, not even in rumor.”
She motioned for the book, and her fellow watcher shoved it down to her. The blonde stared at the picture for a moment with creased eyebrows, before turning her confused expression up to Oz.
“Who is the source of your information? I mean, are they…reliable?”
Oz smiled slightly. “I’d hope so. After all, I married her.”
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council – Infirmary – Moments Later
Camille lay silently in her bed, waiting for Mia’s reaction.
The Slayer sat completely still, looking back at her new friend in shock.
Cut To:
Int.
Watchers Council Library – Same time
“Married her?” Willow asked with a raised eyebrow. “You mean…Camille told you about this?”
Oz once again just nodded.
“No offense,” Kennedy said from her place at the table, “but what could she know about this?” After a stern glance from Oz, she quickly backpedaled. “I mean, not that she’s not a smart lady. I’m sure she’s right up there with Einstein and all that, but…how could she know about this when even the oldest records don’t?”
After another deep sigh, Oz walked back over to his chair. He sat down and folded his hands in his lap. “Because…she was fortunate enough to go up against another one of Abraham’s descendants and live to tell about it.”
“A…another one?” Faith asked totally lost. “You mean another one here, alive and kicking?”
“Not anymore,” Oz replied. “That woman we ran into tonight…she’s the last one. Her name is Kadin Van Helsing, and she’s here for Camille.” He looked down at his hands solemnly. “For my wife,” he added in a low whisper.
“Hey,” Willow said, placing a hand over his. “Camille isn’t going anywhere. We can protect her…we will protect her.”
He gave her a soft smile. “Thanks Will.”
The witch returned the smile and nodded.
“Well, of course,” Giles said, clearing his throat. “Of course we will protect her, Oz…but I must say, I am a little at a loss as to what we are protecting her from.”
He slowly brought his eyes up to meet the stares of the seven others, who were watching him intently, waiting. “It’s kind of a long story,” he said.
“We got time,” Faith said, motioning around the room. “So, let’s hear it.”
Oz just sighed and started to retell the story his wife had told him for the first time only minutes before. “It’s like this…” he began.
Fade In:
Ext.
Small Village – Night
Near Liverpool, England – 1999
Huge, bright flames danced from the rooftops of the village as the citizens ran through the streets, screaming for their lives.
Broken and horribly mutilated bodies blanketed the blood-soaked earth. The sound of a distant howl pierced through the screams, and a huge black creature slowly emerged from one of the houses, blood dripping from its jaw.
With a long throaty howl, the creature stepped into the light of the flames, revealing its thick black fur, deep green eyes and massive jaws.
The werewolf walked unsteadily down the steps from the house, and when it placed its paws onto the sand, blood seeped like a river from an open wound on its side. It took a few rocky steps forward and then fell to the earth, dead.
A man, dressed completely in black, emerged from the house right after the werewolf and leaned a crossbow against his hip.
“Beast,” he spat on the dead creature in disgust. He lifted his now shredded overcoat from the floor and cursed silently. “Damn. What a waste.”
Just as he dropped it back to the earth, his ears picked up the sound of footsteps behind him. The long, hard, inhuman footsteps of another werewolf.
He took in a deep breath and then eased the crossbow from his hip, preparing to reload. Then he heard a deep growl from directly behind him.
“Oh sh…” he started, but the words quickly died in his throat when an overwhelming force dove onto his back, sending him flying from the house and face first into the dirt a few feet away.
He instantly turned onto his back and saw that his crossbow was just out of his reach. Just as he was about to scramble for it, the werewolf burst off the steps and jumped onto him, pinning him to the ground with its powerful legs.
The beast stared down into the man’s eyes with pure evil. Blood dripped from its teeth and landed on his face. He glanced again at his crossbow, but it was useless, it was too far away.
He turned his eyes back to the werewolf’s and met them with a steely gaze of his own.
“I do not fear you,” he said, as he slipped a small knife from the pocket on the side of his pants. “Beast!” he yelled, and then plunged the knife deeply into the werewolf’s side.
It let out a blood-curdling howl. Then its rage drove it to bite into the man’s neck with all its strength. The man let out a deep grunt from the force of the bite. After a moment, his deep blue eyes just stared straight ahead, thick red liquid oozing from his mouth.
“No!” shouted a woman’s voice from the end of the village.
The beast turned at the sound, the man’s blood dripping from its incisors.
“Father!” the woman yelled, running towards his motionless body.
Already badly injured, the werewolf was in no shape for another fight. It just growled deeply, then sprinted away from its victim, disappearing back into the woods.
The woman dropped to her knees beside the body and fought to hold back deep sobs.
“Father,” she whispered, placing a hand under his head. His blue eyes flicked over to her face and he struggled in vain to speak.
She could only stare down at him helplessly as she watched the life slowly seep from his body.
Somehow, with the last of his strength, the man managed to lift his hand and grasp the amulet around his neck. His eyes looked into his daughter’s pleadingly, and she placed her hand over his own. She gripped it tightly and nodded.
“I will, Father,” she vowed. “I swear. I’ll kill that beast if it takes my last dying breath. I’ll kill it…for you.”
As the last flicker of life faded from her father’s body, a tear trickled down the woman’s face. She gripped the amulet in her hand tightly, so tightly that it started to bleed.
Black Out
End of Act One