Workshop Wednesday

As we head into the end game for this story we have two more climactic moments. We pick up with the first of them here, and then next week we'll get the last section of the story. I like the pacing this way, with two big set pieces broken up between the weeks. Helps to build suspense as this story comes to a close.

If you haven't already read the previous parts of this series, I'd recommend hitting that first before diving into this section.

Dracula: Part 12

We zoom in on the map, letting it fill the shot, as we continue in, it transitions to-

EXT: DRACULA'S HIDDEN HOME, DAY.

We see the townhome as viewed from a distance, then quickly zoom in, closer and closer, with traffic passing in front of the house before we come up to the front door and move inside.

INT: DRACULA'S HIDDEN HOME, MAIN FLOOR, DAY.

We continue to move through the house, from the front vestibule into the main rooms and over to the stairs leading down to the cellars.

INT: DRACULA'S HIDDEN HOME, CELLARS, DAY.

Down into the gloom we descend, through the damp stone and moldy brick, before coming to the antechamber where, under the pale illumination of a single torch, lies a single coffin. Eventually the light of the torch begins to sputter, and then the lid of the coffin rattles. It opens of its own accord, creaking until it stands vertically. Only then does DRACULA sit up.

MINA:

Hello, Master. You're quite the late riser today, I see.

DRACULA's head whips around as we pull out to show MINA primly sitting on a bit of stone, looking as composed as ever.

DRACULA:

You!

MINA:

I can see I've caught you off guard. Excellent.

She stands, and as she does the bag sitting next to her opens and she draws out two hand crossbows.

MINA:

I seem to recall, all those weeks ago, I made you a promise.

DRACULA:

And that was?

MINA:

To end you quickly.

And with that she fires both bolts.

EXT: DRACULA'S HIDDEN HOME, FRONT STREET, DUSK.

The carriage with ABRAHAM, QUINCEY, ARTHUR, and LUCY rolls up to the front of the house. The three men get out before helping LUCY descend from the carriage.

LUCY:

This is it.

ABRAHAM:

You're sure.

LUCY nods. ABRAHAM turns to the men. Each of them pulls out a weapon, whether a dagger or a via of holy water or, in the case of QUINCEY, a revolver.

ABRAHAM:

Be prepared, gentlemen. We don't know if DRACULA will be awake in there or not. We need the element of surprise if we're to take him out before he kills us all.

LUCY grabs one of the vials of holy water from ARTHUR and readies herself.

ABRAHAM:

No, LUCY, you stay here.

LUCY:

I'm coming inside.

ABRAHAM:

No. We will handle this. You need to stay far away from that demon.

LUCY:

But father-

ABRAHAM:

No!

Then he heads off to the house, QUINCEY and ARTHUR in tow.

INT: DRACULA'S HIDDEN HOME, MAIN FLOOR, DAY.

The three men enter the house, all of them on edge, worried about where the vampire could be.

ABRAHAM:

QUINCEY, head up stairs and see if the demon lurks up there. ARTHUR, you check this floor. I'll see if there's a cellar. I suspect he may be down there, but we must be sure.

At that moment, DRACULA and MINA come flying up the cellar, locked in a bitter struggle. We see the broken shafts of two crossbow bolts sticking out of DRACULA's shoulder. The scratch and claw at each other, flying around the room, a battle of strength as well as wills.

QUINCEY:

MINA.

MINA throws DRACULA off and he goes sliding across the room. Everyone then stands there, dumbfounded. MINA looks over at them.

MINA:

Shoot him! Now!

QUINCEY nods, then aims his gun. But as he starts to fire, DRACULA dodges out of the way and dives through the back window of the house.

MINA:

Don't be idiots! Follow him!

The men look confused but nod and run off after the demon. MINA then pulls herself together, grabs her shades and parasol off the kitchen table, and then saunters out the front door.

EXT: DRACULA'S HIDDEN HOME, BACK COURTYARD, DUSK.

We see the trail of smoke as DRACULA ran off towards the stables for the house. The men pour out of the house, following the trail, but as they throw open the doors of the stables they see DRACULA's dark carriage pull out, smoke billowing from inside the cabin.

ABRAHAM:

He's injured! We must follow.

The men run around the house, back toward the front of the building.

EXT: DRACULA'S HIDDEN HOME, FRONT STREET, DUSK.

The men arrive back at their carriage and find MINA there, leisurely leaning against the vehicle. They point their weapons at her.

MINA:

You can kill me or we can pursue DRACULA. Your choice.

ABRAHAM looks at the other two, then nods.

ABRAHAM:

His mind has a hold over LUCY. We go after the fiend. For now.

MINA smiles and they all climb into the carriage, although QUNCEY gets into the driver seat, whipping the horses to go.

EXT: STREETS OF LONDON, DUSK.

We're treated to a carriage chase through London as our heroes pursue the carriage of DRACULA (which, since all pretense has been thrown off, is now driving on its own under DRACULA's power). The carriages whip through traffice, bouncing off each other, dodging pedestrians and other vehicles, as they tear through town.

INT: HEROES' CARRIAGE, DUSK.

ARTHUR, ABRAHAM, and LUCY are all braced around the carriage as it bounces to and fro, throwing the passengers around hard. MINA, though, seems hardly bothered at all.

MINA:

My, isn't this cozy. My whole family, back together again.

ABRAHAM:

As soon... as we're finished... with DRACULA...

MINA:

Yes, yes. We'll cross the bridge when we get to it.

EXT: STREETS OF LONDON, MARKET DISTRICT, NIGHT.

The carriages pull down an alleyway and then, suddenly, we're in the middle of an evening market, and, naturally, chaos ensues as the carriages tear through stalls. Pedestrians dive out of the way lest they get run over. It's madness, but it does tie up the two vehicles. The crash together, the go careening off, each of them rebounding off wagons, stalls, and then buildings before tipping over and sliding down the road. Once both vehicles slide to a stop, there's silence.

DRACULA's carriage is the first to open, with the vampire quickly emerging from the wreckage. MINA soon comes bursting out of the other carriage after. The two vampires face off against each other.

MINA:

This ends tonight!

DRACULA:

You don't have the power to defeat me.

MINA:

I'm not the one desperately trying to flee.

DRACULA:

I just have to outrun you. Without me to chase, they'll turn on you. You think you can control them all?

MINA:

I'll move on to another city. Isn't that what you did? Flee your home, come to London, fatten yourself here like a tick.

By this point the rest of the heroes are slowly climbing out of the carriage, looking bruised and slightly dazed. MINA lightly hops down, none the worse for the wear.

MINA:

Face me. End this. And to the victor goes the city, and the spoils.

DRACULA smiles. He raises his hands, fingers becoming like claws.

DRACULA:

A bit of sport to get the blood pumping. You've certainly been interesting, Bride of mine, but its time to end this little experiment.

He braces himself to attack.

SFX: Repeated gunfire.

We turn and see a row of cops, guns out, firing at DRACULA. The vampire lord takes the bullets over and over, falling to his knees. Then he smiles.

MINA:

No!

He turns to black mist, flowing down the street and towards the cops. Then look down, horrified, but as they turn to run the mist flows over them, a dark and horrible cloud. As it moves off, all the cops are desiccated husks, drained of life. The cloud condenses, revealing DRACULA, cloaked in shadows.

DRACULA:

We'll have our final battle. But not here, not where interlopers can get in the way. You want to rule this world? Come and find me.

Then he raises his hands and the dead and withered cops rise like puppets. The starts shambling towards the heroes. DRACULA turns, goes into the form of a cloud of bats, and flies off.

MINA:

Damn it!

ABRAHAM:

We have to stop those things.

QUINCEY:

Right!

QUINCEY starts firing at the zombified cops. The three heroes move forward, with ARTHUR throwing the holy water, burning the undead ghouls while ABRAHAM slashes at this with his knife, working to behead them. MINA, though, stands back, watching.

LUCY slowly comes out of the carriage, stunned, watching the men take out the last of the ghouls.

LUCY:

Master...

MINA:

He's run off again, the coward.

LUCY:

He's gone...

MINA:

Yes, I just said that!

LUCY:

...home.

MINA looks at her, then smiles.

MINA:

Thank you, cousin.

She turns, and the carriage driven by JONATHAN pulls up. MINA opens the door and starts to climb in. She turns to her cousin and smiles.

MINA:

Once DRACULA is dead, we'll have quite the reunion.

Then she vanishes into the carriage and it pulls away. ABRAHAM, QUINCEY, ARTHUR come back to their stricken carriage, covered in gore.

ABRAHAM:

Where has she gone?

LUCY:

To pursue DRACULA. He's gone home.

ABRAHAM:

Impossible. Carfax is destroyed.

LUCY:

No. His real home. Wallachia. That is where he is headed. I can hear him, plotting, in my head.

ABRAHAM turns to the other two men.

ABRAHAM:

Then that is where we'll have to go. We must check the train station-

LUCY:

The docks. He... prefers the sea.

ABRAHAM nods

ABRAHAM:

The sea it is. Maybe we find his boat in time. Maybe we just book passage and pursue, but this quarry cannot be allowed to escape.

QUINCEY:

Right.

FADE OUT.

End of Part 12:

For those that have read the original Dracula (and not just watched one of the Universal of Hammer films), you'll recognize this section of somewhat paralleling the chase between Dracula and the various heroes in the original novel. There they try to find all the places Dracula could be hiding, before losing him on the streets of London as he prepares for a sea voyage back home. Naturally I've taken liberties, as I have with the rest of the story, but I did like working in some version of this plot beat, at the very least because so few adapations make a nod towards it.

And now there's just one section to go before this version of Dracula comes to a close. Next week is the finale we've all be waiting for.