The Vail: London Fog (Episode Seven: Bloody London)

This is a whole episode devoted to setting up crazy shit happening.

The Vail: London Fog
by Joey Pettine

Episode Seven: Bloody London

(Darkness. Spotlight on THE CURATOR kneeling before an Egyptian sarcophagus. In his hand he holds a large and ancient manuscript full of strange and archaic symbols. He speaks forgotten words of resurrection and power to the Egyptian idol. BLOOD enters, crudely clothed. He has managed to roughly fasten pants around his waist and he wears a shirt torn down the middle, revealing his blood stained chest.)

BLOOD
You dare to oppose me.

(The Curator stops and turns to Blood with fearful eyes.)

CURATOR
I know what you've come for. You will find nothing but death here.

BLOOD
Can you deliver on such a promise when so many have failed before you?

CURATOR
Sakhmet can.

(He returns to reading aloud. Blood calmly walks over to him, grabs his chin, and the curator unleashes muffled screams as the ancient vampire reaches into his mouth and rips out his tongue. The curator wails as blood gushes from his gaping maw. Blood stares curiously at the limp mouth meat and then tosses it to the floor.)

BLOOD
Actions speak louder than words. Sakhmet knew that. Ram Amun Sakhmet haunted Pharaoh's people for generations, stealing away their women and children in the night. His experiments on the living paved the way for preservation of the dead. Many believed he was a curse set upon them by the vengeful Hebrew lord. Many believed him to be Anubis himself. He was merely a human. Pharoah tortured him years before his execution. Even now he does not forget the pain and one day he will awaken, this stone coffin unable to contain his rage any longer. For now he sleeps and it is very impolite of you to try and wake him.

(The curator, trembling, offers the book to Blood. Blood takes it then, suddenly, grabs the curator by the neck and lifts him face to face.)

BLOOD
The book is not all that I came for. You know that.

(Blackout as the curator screams in agony. Lights up on a tiny bar, secondhand smoke wafts in the atmosphere. ANDY VAIL is drinking a beer. A skinny man, INSPECTOR CORDEAUX, sits next to him and lights a pipe. When he talks it is with a quiet French accent.)

CORDEAUX
Bonjour. You are Detective Vail?

ANDY
Are you Cordeaux?

CORDEAUX
Oui. Chief Detective Inspector Augustus Cordeaux. You requested to see me.

ANDY
You're French.

CORDEAUX
Oui, I am from France.

ANDY
You're a French English detective from Scotland Yard?

CORDEAUX
No, I am an English detective from France at Scotland Yard. Now why did you request to meet me and who are you really? You claim to be an American detective yet your identification was a glaring forgery.

ANDY
And you still met with me. Alone. We both have questions that need answering. Or maybe you just fancy yourself a bit immortal. Deny it if you want, I'm not a detective, but you are. Neither of us are exactly human, vampire.

CORDEAUX
I have feasted on the lives of children more intimidating than you, Monsieur Vail. I was a monster long before I was a vampire and you do not impress me.

ANDY
I get it, you're immortal and dangerous, I've done my research. We can help each other.

CORDEAUX
You talk like the other American policeman. You scratch my back I scratch yours.

ANDY
I'd never turn my back on you. What other American?

CORDEAUX
Detective Williams. I believe he is looking for you.

ANDY
He followed me again! That asshole!

CORDEAUX
He is good, no? You may want to be careful.

ANDY
Do you want my help or not?

(Cordeaux smells him.)

CORDEAUX
You reek of death. What do you want to know?

ANDY
I got into town a week ago. That same night all the rivers in London turned blood red.

CORDEAUX
That is incorrect. They were not blood red, they were blood. For twenty four hours, all of the water in London turned into what should have been a vampire's wet dream.

ANDY
That seems like a Hell of a coincidence.

CORDEAUX
I have learned, over the years, that coincidences are few and far between. Things, no matter how unrelated they seem, always tend to be connected. May I ask, why did you come to London?

(No answer.)

CORDEAUX
You have felt it as well. You truly aren't human.

ANDY
What did you mean should have been?

CORDEAUX
There is an ancient horror that my people fear.

ANDY
The French?

CORDEAUX
Blood drinkers.

ANDY
The French?

CORDEAUX
It is a legend all vampires know. I first heard it when I fought with Joan of Arc. In the ancient times, when the Lord was young, one brother grew jealous of another and slew him in anger. God placed his hand upon the murderer and he was filled with an insatiable thirst and he knelt before his brother and--

ANDY
And Cain drank his brother's blood, right? Thus becoming the first vampire. I get it.

CORDEAUX
And he became that which he devoured.

ANDY
You are what you eat?

CORDEAUX
And Blood washed over the Earth, turning the seas red, and humanity wept. The Lord heard their cries and took pity upon them and Blood slept, neither damned nor saved.

ANDY
He slept? Then what, he woke up.

CORDEAUX
You tell me. Last week a crew began excavating a tomb in Westminster Abbey. The crew was found slaughtered, the Thames ran red with blood, and something has been killing all the vampires in London.

ANDY
You think it's Cain.

CORDEAUX
If you were the first murderer, a true monster, and you awoke to find your vampiric brethren had become a group of whining, glittering, overly dramatic children, would you not feel ashamed? Yes, I believe Blood has returned and no one is safe.

ANDY
How do we stop him?



CORDEAUX
Stop him? We do not even know what he is doing? But he is making waves, vibrations. You feel it. Every crazy person in London does? We have more murders this past week than in the past two months. And the return of Jack the Ripper. London is turning into a madhouse. And I thought Vichy France was bad.

ANDY
Jack the Ripper?

CORDEAUX
Oui. A man has been seen stalking through the fog in a raincoat and bowler hat. One couple saw him slit a man's throat then disappear into the night.

ANDY
Jack the Ripper?

CORDEAUX
Oui.

(The smoke becomes thicker until it becomes a fog. The fog washes over the stage, obscuring everything, engulfing Cordeaux and Andy until they disappear into it entirely. Now there is only the fog and the cool of the night. A WOMAN enters in skimpy, suggestive clothing. She looks to see if anyone is around then pulls out a wallet and begins to thumb through it. A dark figure enters, the RIPPER. He wears a black London Fog trench coat and bowler hat. She does not see him as he takes the razor, slinks behind her, and slits her throat with one fluid motion. She clutches her throat and sinks to the ground to die. He watches the life leave her body then casually strolls off stage. DETECTIVE WILLIAMS enters and follows him. The fog grows thicker into a blackout.)