The Vail: London Fog (Episode Fourteen: The London Underground)

Things are coming to a head with the Vail. Andy has returned. The Ripper isn't happy. And Blood is coming for them both.

The Vail: London Fog
by Joey Pettine

Episode Fourteen: The London Underground

(A dark motel room littered with stolen hospital supplies. DETECTIVE WILLIAMS, a sickly shade of the man he used to be, lies in bed, a makeshift IV in his arm. His breath is labored, his gaze distant, but he's conscious. Directly outside, gunshots are fired. DETECTIVE HARDY rushes in, barricading the door behind him. He's grizzled, tired. His gun is drawn though his hands shake. He carries a large, messy paper bag. He holsters his gun and goes to Williams' side, replacing the IV bag.)

HARDY
Still hell out there. Hard to find food and... things have taken over the hospital now. Sir... John... Why did you ever come here?

(Williams screams. Hardy fumbles out a needle and injects him. Williams calms. Hardy kneels beside him.)

HARDY
Stay with me, John. I found you. I'll get you home. No matter what.

(The door breaks inward, wood splintering everywhere. Hardy turns, weapon drawn, and fires upon BLOOD, who is dressed in bloody, ragged clothing. The bullets do nothing. Hardy stands as Blood reaches him, protecting Williams. Blood backhands him unconscious to the ground. He hovers over Williams.)

BLOOD
In the darkness, voices whisper your name. I have come to strike a deal.

(Williams weakly lifts his arm, gun in hand, and fires a shot before dropping it. Then he flips Blood the bird.)

BLOOD
You cannot kill me, I am already dead. I am the father of death. Yet through my veins flows a life. I can save you but you must do something for me. I need to find someone. You have hunted the same man across continents. I can give you the power to finish him and take back your life. Will you do as I ask?

(Williams nods weakly. The lights fade then slowly buzz to life on an old subway station office. DR. RANDOLF fiddles with some gadgets. Two VAMPIRE GUARDS stand by the door, armed and serious. Two vampires try to enter. ED, a pale man with black hair and a young body. LUPA, who wears clothes but whose arms and head are covered in yellow fur. Silver horns protrude from his forehead, silver tusks from his mouth. His eyes were gouged out. He wears a bandanna over them. He walks backward. When he talks, he makes a series of clicking and popping sounds. They are stopped by the guards.)
ED
Seriously? We've worked here months now. You've no idea who I am? You see me every damn day. This is why I wore the glitter, Lupa. Recognition.

(Lupa clicks noises in response.)

DR. RANDOLF
Let them in.

(The guards move. They enter.)

ED
Figures.

DR. RANDOLF
Any word on the gorgon?

ED
Sorry. Still no word from our serial killers.

DR. RANDOLF
Don't be a hypocrite.

ED
There are differences between those of us who kill to feed and those who kill for fun.

(Lupa clicks and pops.)

ED
Right. And those of us who risk our lives from those who don't.

DR. RANDOLF
I do my part. Do yours. What's the word above?

(Lupa clicks some more.)

ED
Don't I know it, Lupa. Fine. The word is Hell. London is Hell. It's barely safe for a vampire up there, Blood kills any neck sucker he comes across. Demons, zombies, humans, if they aren't with him, they're against him, and that means they're dead.

DR. RANDOLF
He's recruiting?



ED
One evil immortal can't run an entire city by himself. Though I wouldn't really say he's running it. More like feeding it to his private rogues gallery piece by piece.

DR. RANDOLF
Humans?

ED
Well they were screwed to begin with.

DR. RANDOLF
Are there any people left in London?

ED
People? They're fast food on legs. There's still a few here and there, not many, you've most of them down here. We bring in others whenever we find them.

DR. RANDOLF
Unharmed.

ED
Of course.

DR. RANDOLF
I see any scathed human necks, it won't be safe for a vampire down here either.

ED
You're like on instant replay. “Don't kill the humans. Don't kill the humans.” We get it.

(A gruff scream from the doorway. The guards block the entrance. RIPPER, in his black London Fog trench coat and bowler hat, punts one in the balls then karate chops the other in the neck, disabling them both.)

RIPPER
Get the fuck outta my way!

(He enters. INSPECTOR CORDEAUX enters behind him, holding a bloody sack.)

RIPPER
Get him out! Get him out! Get him out! Get him the FUCK out!

ED
Should we leave?

DR. RANDOLF
Did you get the head?
(Cordeaux holds up the bloody sack. Impatient, Ripper grabs Randolf by his lapels, his eyes full of desperate anger.)

RIPPER
We got the fucking head! Now get him out of mine!

DR. RANDOLF
What are you talking about?!

(Ripper lets go, his stern face replaced by soft eyes, his gruff voice by a higher one, he is ANDY VAIL. As the two men inhabit one body, it is this change in voice and expression that distinguishes them.)

ANDY
Hi, Doc. I'm back.

DR. RANDOLF
Andy!?!

(Ripper grabs his head.)

RIPPER
IMPOSSIBLE! Andy Vail is dead! I KILLED HIM!

ANDY
I came back.

RIPPER
NOOOOOO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NOO!

DR. RANDOLF
What did you expect? You can't kill a part of yourself.

(Ripper bellows and grabs Randolf by the throat, lifting him off the ground.)

RIPPER
I AM NOT ANDY VAIL!! I AM MY OWN FUCKING MAN!!

(He violently throws Randolf away.)

ANDY
LET GO!!

(Calmer, Andy helps Randolf up.)


ANDY
I'm sorry. I think you hit a nerve.

ED
What the fuck was that?

ANDY
It's okay. He's easier to hold when he's pissed.

DR. RANDOLF
Is it really you, Andy?

ANDY
It's really me. And I really was dead.

(Lupa clicks and pops.)

ED
I don't know, Lupa, he doesn't look dead to me. And I'm dead.

ANDY
Where are we?

DR. RANDOLF
The London Underground.

ED
Fuck, we are the London Underground.

DR. RANDOLF
You've been gone a while. London's bad.

ED
London's shit has hit the fan, Mr. Schizophrenic.

(Andy twitches.)

ANDY
I wouldn't say that around me.. him... He doesn't like that word.

ED
Excuse me, Dr. Jekyll, I didn't mean to insult your fuck-uppedness.

DR. RANDOLF
That's enough. Things aren't good. Blood was bad enough by himself but he's grown in power and more monstrosities take his side every day.
ED
Literally. He's like a monster magnet.

(Lupa clicks.)

ED
Except vampires. He fucking hates us.

DR. RANDOLF
We fled into the underground rail system about a month ago. Blood controls the topside. We don't know what, but he's doing something. And he wants us dead. We try to learn what we can, use the vampires for recon.

ED
More like slaves.

ANDY
How do you keep anything out? You can't barricade an entire subway.

RIPPER
A spell, you fucking moron.

DR. RANDOLF
An enchantment powered by vampire blood.

(Ed and Lupa hold up their hands displaying band aids on each finger.)

DR. RANDOLF
They can't use magic to find us.

(A grenade rolls through the doorway, stopping between the two guards. They look, wide eyed, then it explodes, knocking them to the ground. DETECTIVE WILLIAMS enters, his body rejuvenated, more powerful than ever. His eyes an unholy hatred, his skin an undead pale. Blood stains his collar, as if from a neck wound, though he has no visible marks. Cordeaux attacks with his rapier. Williams whips out a double barreled shotgun, emptying both into Cordeaux's chest. Cordeaux flies backward onto the ground. Ed and Lupa stand aside. Williams eyes Andy and roars a monstrous, titanic roar.)

ED
That's no vampire.

ANDY
Detective Williams?

WILLIAMS
Time to fucking die.
(Williams shoots. Andy ducks and a gadget blows up behind him.)

ANDY
You don't want to do this. You're a good man.

WILLIAMS
No more will die because of you. Nancy Vail is the last.

ANDY
Nancy's dead?

(Williams shoots. Andy rolls and unsheathes his machete.)

RIPPER
Fuck this shit!

(Ripper swings. Williams dodges it and trips Ripper. Ripper stumbles then turns to attack again. Williams lets off a shot and Ripper's hand disappears, the machete tumbles to the ground. Ripper/Andy look at the stump where a hand used to be.)

ANDY
My hand!

RIPPER
My fucking hand.

(Andy/Ripper drops to his knees, watching the blood spurt from the stump. Williams smiles, bearing fangs, and growls a laugh. Randolf rushes him. Williams knocks him out with the gun butt. He drops the gun and picks up the machete. He slowly approaches Andy/Ripper who looks at him, not seeming to know what's happening. Williams shoves the machete through Andy's/Ripper's gut and out their back. They grunt, a trickle of blood leaving their mouth.)

WILLIAMS
Fuck you.

(He twists it. Andy/Ripper collapse. Williams picks up Randolf and carries him off. Ed and Lupa watch him go. They wait a second. Lupa clicks something.)

ED
Yeah. I'd say we got off pretty easy.

(Fade to black.)

The Vail: London Fog (Episode Thirteen: Clash)

It has been quite a while since the last Vail. A few months actually. I'll just say that it's been a busy summer. But this season of the Vail is not over and the battle is only just beginning. So even though months have passed, the Vail is back and evil is going to pay. For those who need a recap...
Blood, the father of all vampires and first murderer, has awoken from an eternal slumber to wreak unholy havoc on London. Detective Williams, dying from a brain tumor, has followed Vail from America in hopes of finally bringing him down. Dr. Randolf, an old associate of Andy's brother, has literally fought his way through time and dimensions to warn Andy of a powerful darkness that is coming for him. And Andy Vail recently found out that he has a murderous alter ego called the Ripper. When we last saw Ripper, he had found a way to kill Andy and completely take over his body. But Andy, banished to a strange afterlife known as Summerland, got some much needed help and earned himself a ride across the river Styx and back to the land of the living. Now, Andy Vail is back, the Ripper has some competition, and evil is going to find that two times the Vail is twice as bad.

The Vail: London Fog

by Joey Pettine

Episode Thirteen: Clash

(The University College London Quad, twilight, the main building silent and dark behind it. To the right of the lawn sits a small astronomy shed, a little hut with a sliding roof, perfect for gazing at the stars. Surrounding the shed and littered across the lawn are statues: Women in blouses and tank tops, men with backpacks and books, bespectacled old men, and a number of other uncanny likenesses with only one thing in common, the look of utter horror which draws across their stone faces. THE RIPPER, clad in his black London Fog trench coat and bowler hat, and INSPECTOR CORDEAUX, wielding his Spanish rapier, enter, moving cautiously behind the statues, staying hidden from the astronomy shed. They stop, not far from the shed, hidden behind a statue of three girls cowering in fear. Ripper unsheathes a large machete from his coat.)

RIPPER

You get the door. I'll get the bitch. We move hard, fast, and silent. Shouldn't be a problem for you.

(Ripper grins mischief. Cordeaux glares reproachfully. Ripper suddenly grimaces and slaps his left ear. Cordeaux looks worried.)

RIPPER

Ah. I can't hear outta my left ear.

(He corkscrews his ear with his finger like it's full of water. Cordeaux looks impatient. Ripper gets serious and nods. Cordeaux moves silently to the door and pulls it open. Ripper rushes from his hiding spot when his body suddenly goes limp and he falls on his stomach, dropping the machete before the open door. When he lifts his head, dazed, his eyes are softer, the eyes of ANDY VAIL.)

ANDY

I made it. Crap. I still can't hear outta my left ear.

(He stands, similarly corkscrewing his ear.)

ANDY

Where am I?

(A beautiful voice slithers from within the doorway.)

EURO

You are in the serpent's garden.

(Cordeaux panics, drops his sword, and runs to Andy. He slaps his hand over Andy's eyes, closing his as well, then they both freeze.)

ANDY

I can't move. Why can't I move?

EURO

Because the stare of a gorgon is paralyzing.

(EURO emerges from the doorway. She wears a silken dress that moves like snake skin, she smiles and hisses, baring fangs like a vipers. Her hair is long and golden, stretching down past her feet and trailing behind her, it writhes and shimmers seemingly of its own accord. She steps over the weapons, not giving them a glance, staring intently at her prey. She moves intimately close to them, running her long nails over Cordeaux's fingers.)

EURO

Such supple, tender flesh. I like my men hard.

ANDY

Please, Medusa, no puns.

(She hisses anger inches from his face.)

ANDY

Ugh, snake breath.

EURO

My sister is nothing! Dry, peeling skin. That tangled snake's nest of a hairdo. And the piercings. Ugh! I possess a natural beauty that has literally left legions of men harder than marble. But who do the Muses remember?

ANDY

Okay. Sore subject. Sorry. But I literally just came back from the dead. If we could reschedule this maybe...

EURO

See me, dead man. See my beauty.

(She brushes Cordeaux's hand with her fingertips.)

EURO

Move that arm and look into me.

(Cordeaux's arm tremble, the muscles losing their rigidity. Andy's arm is trembling as well, shaking violently. Cordeaux's arm drops, revealing Andy's eyes. At the same instant, Andy delivers a whollop into Euro's face, knocking her back. He screams in the gruff voice of Ripper, very different from the higher voice of Andy, then claps his hands over his eyes again.)

RIPPER

Cordeaux, keep your eyes shut.

(Cordeaux squeezes his eyes tight. Ripper reaches into his jacket and pulls out a grenade. Euro looks back at him and he freezes, his thumb paused over the grenade's trigger, his arm shaking violently as it tries to lower his thumb.)

RIPPER

Let go of me!

EURO

You are helpless, hero. No man can fight the power of the gorgon.

ANDY

Good thing there's two of us in here.

(His thumb falls, there is a pop and a blinding flash. Euro screams. Cordeaux and Andy/Ripper unfreeze. They dive, roll past Euro, grab their weapons, pop onto their feet, and simultaneously swing to behead her. Blackout.)