Workshop Wednesday

And here we are, the grand finale of Dracula. What will happen, and where everyone will end up, will all come together here. So let's just get into it.

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 13

FADE IN.

INT: TRAIN TO WALlACHIA, MINA'S CABIN, AFTERNOON.

SFX: Train Whistle.

We fade into MINA and JONATHAN in a train car, riding across the European countryside (in a shot not dissimilar to the one that opened the story).The shades are drawn down to the bottom third, but even still, MINA has on her shades and has her parasol nearby in case she needs it. JONATHAN just looks uncomfortable.

JONATHAN:

We need a plan.

MINA:

I have a plan. I plan to rip out his heart and drain the blood from it while I watch the last vestiges of life drain from his eyes.

JONATHAN:

The Master is more powerful than you, MINA.

MINA:

He's been on the run, JONATHAN, traveling hurriedly.

JONATHAN:

So have we.

MINA looks around the cabin and this time we see, in the corner, a couple of bodies slumped, draining of life.

MINA:

We've been traveling in style. No feeding on rats in the bottom of a ship's hold.

She gives JONATHAN a look.

MINA:

No offense to you and your eating habits.

JONATHAN:

Not all of us have grown comfortable with the idea of feeding off humans.

MINA:

Well, you can keep your moral sensibilities. One of us has to be strong enough to take out DRACULA.

SFX: Door sliding open.

The door to their cabin slides open and the TICKET TAKER comes in.

TICKET TAKER:

Tickets pl-

Then he looks over at the corpses and opens his mouth to scream. Suddenly, though, MINA Is right there, giving him a piercing look. His mouth shuts, his eyes go blank, and then he turns and moves on to the next cabin.

JONATHAN:

You do seem to be growing more powerful.

MINA:

DRACULA was right about one thing.

She sits down, adjusting primly once again.

MINA:

We have to embrace who we truly are.

JONATHAN gives her a look, then looks away.

EXT: SHIP TO WALLACHIA, MAIN DECK, EVENING.

We see ABRAHAM and QUINCEY on the deck, watching the waters as they drift by.

QUINCEY:

Are you sure LUCY Is up to this?

ABRAHAM:

She's the best shot we have. It would take us too long to track the beast across the countryside, guessing where he's going, where is castle resides. We don't have the time to research, to prepare. We need the element of surprise.

QUINCEY looks uncomfortable for a moment.

QUINCEY:

Are you sure we're up for this?

ABRAHAM takes a beat.

ABRAHAM:

You have your guns?

QUINCEY:

Yes, sir.

ABRAHAM:

Then that's the best answer I've got.

EXT: WALLACHIAN COUNTRYSIDE, NIGHT.

We pan across the rolling hills and dotted landscape of Eastern Europe, slowly flowing down to the docks of a quaint little hamlet. As soon as the ship is docked, ABRAHAM, ARTHUR, QUINCEY come off, followed by LUCY, who looks just a little dazed.

LUCY:

The sun... it hurts...

ABRAHAM comes over to her, checking her skin temperature.

ABRAHAM:

You feel sickly.

LUCY looks him in the eyes.

LUCY:

I'll be fine. We need to move.

ABRAHAM:

You sense him?

LUCY:

He's near. Must have arrived not long ago.

QUINCEY:

Can you tell where he is?

LUCY closes her eyes and concentrates.

LUCY:

He's...

Then she points and opens her eyes, pointing at a wagon, loaded with a large crate but no one in the driver's seat, quickly pulling away.

LUCY:

There!

The men all turn and look. As soon as they realize what she's pointing to, they scramble to get organized.

ABRAHAM:

QUINCEY, get our gear! ARTHUR, find us horses! We need to move!

EXT: WALLACHIAN COUNTRYSIDE, FOREST PATHS, NIGHT.

The wagon comes tearing down the road, the horses flying as if afraid of what's behind them (which they might just be). Soon after the team of heroes – ABRAHAM, QUINCEY, ARTHUR, LUCY – come galloping along the same road, giving chase. We're then treated to a fast paced chase sequence as the heroes pursue the wagon. While the heroes try to get to the wagon and grab the reins, wolves give chase and have to be fought off, and bats fly out of the shy, annoying the heroes. At a certain point, so bothered by these annoyances, the heroes lose pace the wagon pulls away, headed for the Castle that can clearly be seen on the bluffs.

EXT: CASTLE DRACULA, COURTYARD, NIGHT.

DRACULA's wagon pulls up into the ruins of the castle courtyard, rolling to a stop. Then the crate loaded on the back explodes out, sending wooden shrapnel everywhere. As the dust settles, DRACULA stands up. He brushes a bit of dirt off his cloak, then descends from the wagon. He surveys the ruins – the crumbled edifice, the fallen exterior walls, the far descent of the side of the mountain that leads into the ravine below, then sighs. He moves over to the bridge that spans the ravine, acting as the only path into the castle grounds, and sets about trying to raise the defenses.

MINA:

Honestly, I expected you here hours ago.

DRACULA whips around and see MINA.

DRACULA:

I didn't sense you were here.

MINA:

That must be confounding for you. I'm not connected to you like I once was.

DRACULA:

And you've come here to claim my lands and power.

MINA looks around, running her fingers along some of the ruins then looking at the dirt.

MINA:

Power, yes. And to have you out of the way once and for all.

DRACULA:

You could still take your place at my side as my Bride.

MINA:

I think I'd rather claim the throne.

DRACULA bares his fangs, and MINA follows suit.

DRACULA:

So be it.

DRACULA and MINA fly at each other, getting into another one of their brawls. The punch and claw at each other, throwing each other around the courtyard, bashing into the walls and knocking rubble down into the ravine below. As they fight, they start to expend more and more power, using animal-like limbs to slash and claw, quick dashing at high speed, summoning dark mists around them to deflect blows. The fight becomes more and more epic, as witnessed by the other heroes as the ride up in their horses to see the two vampires battling each other like crazy.

QUINCEY dismounts and starts gathering his weapons. ARTHUR gets off his horse then helps LUCY down. ABRAHAM, meanwhile, spies JONATHAN lurking around the edges and goes over to him, a cross in his hand to ward off the vampire.

ABRAHAM:

You're one of these beasts, too, aren't you?

JONATHAN:

Yes.

ABRAHAM:

A thing of evil. You cannot reside in this world.

JONATHAN:

You think I don't know? This life is torture for me. MINA... loves it, but I wish it were over.

ABRAHAM looks quickly over at MINA and DRACULA, who have stopped fighting . Both look spent, but while DRACULA is still standing, MINA is on the ground, bleeding.

JONATHAN:

Go kill the Master. He's the real danger here.

DRACULA looks over at the heroes and laughs.

DRACULA:

You think if she cannot defeat me you have a chance? Pathetic. I am on my grounds, in my home. You are no match for me here, in this castle. No one can defeat me.

ABRAHAM:

God can.

He raises the crucifix at DRACULA to ward off the demon. DRACULA, though, simply smiles.

DRACULA:

Religion doesn't come naturally to you does it. I can tell.

DRACULA reaches out and grabs the cross.

DRACULA:

Did you expect that I would burst into flames at the sight of this? You have to believe, professor, and I doubt you've believed in years.

He pulls the cross out of the professor's hand and throws it away. Then he grabs ABRAHAM and tosses him, like a ragdoll, across the courtyard. ABRAHAM hits the castle, smashing way too hard against the stone, before falling limply to the ground.

DRACULA:

You all have proven quite entertaining, but I grow tired of-

SFX: Repeated gun shots.

We watch DRACULA get blasted again and again as QUINCEY unloads into him with his rifle. DRACULA, though, doesn't seem as affected by the freshly made vampire earlier in the film. While he gets injured, falling to his knees, he doesn't just die. QUINCEY, though, walks up to him, firing all the shots in his rifle, then dropping this and switching to his revolvers. He finally steps up the DRACULA, his gun trained on DRACULA's head.

QUINCEY:

Your reign is over.

DRACULA looks up and smiles. As QUINCEY pulls on the trigger, DRACULA moves up in a flurry, bending QUINCEY's arm back with a snap.

SFX: Brittle bone breaking.

QUINCEY screams, and then his mouth fills with blood, leaving him gurgling, as DRACULA shoves his hand up into QUINCEY's chest and rips out the man's heart.

MINA:

NOOOOOOOOO!

QUINCEY falls to the ground, and DRACULA stands them, arm cover in gore, slowly sucking the blood from QUINCEY's heart.

MINA:

That should be you!

DRACULA:

Anyone else?

ARTHUR, standing next to LUCY, steels himself and pulls the vials of holy water out of his pockets. But then we see a hand lay itself on his shoulder. He turns and LUCY is there, looking at him. She smiles, and we notice fangs.

ARTHUR:

LUCY! No...

She rears back, ready to strike, fangs bared, but then she's thrown out of the way as JONATHAN burst in, hitting her with his shoulder. She goes flying off, but JONATHAN turns to ARTHUR.

JONATHAN:

Run!

He then runs over to LUCY. MINA, too, stands and comes to LUCY. They both realize the young woman is a vampire. MINA looks over at DRACULA.

MINA:

Damn you.

DRACULA:

My blood in her veins. It was simply a matter of time.

MINA runs at him, fangs bared, claws out. She comes in slashing, but DRACULA easily deflects the blows. He grabs her by the neck and lifts her up, her ankles dangling.

DRACULA:

LUCY. Come to me.

The girl stands, like a puppet pulled on strings, and wanders over to DRACULA, in a daze. JONATHAN follows behind, tentative, not knowing what to do. MINA, meanwhile, struggles in DRACULA's grasp, making pleading noises. LUCY stands before him, waiting.

DRACULA:

This girl is like a sister to you, yes MINA?

MINA makes a noise in the affirmative.

DRACULA:

Your one last connection to the mortal world.

MINA again makes an affirmative noise.

DRACULA:

Join me then, willingly, as my Bride, and I will release this poor girl.

MINA struggles and tries to escape, but cannot. Finally she goes limp and makes an affirmative noise.

DRACULA:

What was that?

MINA:

(hoarse) Yes.

DRACULA:

Excellent!

He sets MINA down then turns to LUCY.

DRACULA:

Goodbye, my dear.

And with that he hits her, hard, sending her flying over the wall and down into the ravine.

MINA:

NOOOOOOOO!

DRACULA turns to his Bride.

DRACULA:

I can feel the sun rising soon. We should move to the crypt before the days light is upon us.

We a POV shot we see the ground, and the cross that was tossed away earlier. A hand comes into frame, picking it up.

DRACULA turns, light gleaming on his skin, and he shies away.

DRACULA:

No!

The arm, with the cross, comes into view, and we soon realize it's JONATHAN. As DRACULA backs away, JONATHAN's arm catches fire.

DRACULA:

How?

JONATHAN:

I have faith.

JONATHAN moves the cross ever closer, DRACULA tries to back away, but JONATHAN catches his arm, putting the cross to the vampire's forehead. DRACULA screams, the holy fire burning him. He thrashes and pulls, but JONATHAN won't let go. Then MINA is right there, behind him, grabbing his head, pulling, eventually roughly beheading the vampire.

MINA drops the head as DRACULA's body slumps to the ground. JONATHAN then drops the cross, his arm burned all the way up to the shoulder, ashen and crumbling.

MINA:

We're free. He's finally dead and we're free!

She turns and sees the sunrise begin.

MINA:

We need to get inside.

As she starts to walk away, though, JONATHAN grabs her arm.

MINA:

JONATHAN-

He shakes his head.

JONATHAN:

No. We don't deserve to continue living.

MINA tries to shake him free.

MINA:

Let me go!

She pulls away again, unable. She then gives him a vampiric command.

MINA:

LET ME GO!

He shrugs it off.

JONATHAN:

No. Blood of my blood, and with us the blood must end.

And then the first rays of the sun play across the courtyard, catching both the vampires and engulfing them in flames. MINA screams, tearing at JONATHAN's arm as he stands there, then as the sunlight eats at them then quickly crumble to ash.

The last one standing there, ARTHUR, watches the sun rise, seeing the ash spiral and spread out into the breeze. He then grabs a horse, gets on, and rides off.

FADE OUT.

CREDIT ROLL.

EXT: BORGO RAVINE, BOTTOM OF THE RAVINE, DAY.

We trail across the rocks of the bottom of the ravine, scree and rubble dotting the landscape. But there, in the shadow of some rocks, lays the broken body of LUCY. As the camera slowly pans over, the shadows slowly pull back, such that eventually LUCY's fingers touch sunlight. He fingers burn, her eyes fly open, and the hand pulls back.

CUT TO BLACK.

End of Part 13:

And with that, the story comes to an end. Well, more or less... I will admit I grew attached to Lucy over the course of this story and I wouldn't mind seeing what she gets up to eventually. Just, in a different script of course.

That, naturally, brings us to the fact that this script ended up different from how I originally envisioned it. That's just part of the process of writing of course -- certain portions come about that I only had half-planned, other section just appear out of nowhere and, as a writer you just have to go with it. And, admittedly, the ending is a little different from what I first had noted down and that's all part of writing. You can write towards an ending but you have to be willing to let things evolve or the story just won't work.

Regardless, I'm proud of this one. Now I have to let it sit for a while and then go back and edit it again down the road. All part of the process.