"[¶]" "[SIGHS SOFTLY]" "[WIND WHISTLING]" "[GASPS]" "Oh, Christian." "You must not despair, Sophie." "It's all I have left." "I am bound by duty to marry Gaston." "We cannot change that... my love." "SOPHIE:" "See how the flame dances in the glass?" "Each a part of the other." "An exquisite fire." "It could be us." "[MOANING QUIETLY]" "[GROWLS]" "I must...go now." "Christian..." "WOMAN: "He fled into the silent street," ""guided only by the hunger that overwhelmed his shame." ""She must never know the truth," ""that even now he searched for his first kill of the night" ""and the meal of blood to satisfy his terrible desire to feed."" "Whew." "That was so wicked." "So you're gonna be in town for a couple of days promoting your novel?" "Yes, and on Friday, there's a book-signing as well as the reading." "[SOFTLY] Where, Emily?" "Tell them where." "WOMAN:" "Emily, I just want your autograph!" "Could you autograph my book?" "Okay, the latest installment of The Vampire Sagas is called The Denied, hot off the presses, another best-selling gotta-read by author Emily Weiss." "Very cool." "Okay, coming up, some tunes by Tom Petty and U2 with vampires in them." "[ROWDY ROCK MUSIC PLAYING]" "MAN:" "Okay, you're clear." "MAN 2:" "She wasn't really that bad." "She's just a little..." "reserved." "Reserved?" "I've seen more emotion in a library." "I'd better get her to the dressing room." "The mob's gathering." "Okay." "MAN:" "Excuse me!" "[CLEARS THROAT]" "I mean, she..." "Was that okay?" "You know?" "She's a great writer, but she's so...bland, huh?" "[PEOPLE CLAMORING]" "MAN:" "Hey, Emily!" "Did you get my letters?" "WOMAN:" "I'll catch up with you!" "WOMAN 2:" "Emily!" "Emily!" "Sorry, folks, we're running a little late." "You heard the man, move back, come on!" "Can you...?" "Can you...?" "Can you read this?" "[GRUNTS]" "Can I get you something?" "No, Andrew, I'm fine." "I just hate interviews, that's all." "Well, uh, the limo should be here in a few minutes." "We'll try to get you back to the hotel as soon as we can." "Thanks." "[¶]" "[SWITCH CLICKS]" "Oh!" "Oh!" "[SCREAMING]" "[¶]" "NARRATOR:" "He was brought across in 1228." "Preyed on humans for their blood." "Now, he wants to be mortal again..." "To repay society for his sins..." "To emerge from his world of darkness..." "From his endless forever night." "[GROWLS]" "SCHANKE:" "She writes vampire books?" "This is a P.R. stunt, and you want us to babysit?" "Try attempted murder." "Her publisher's rep made the request for protection." "The brass agreed." "Dead high-profile authors don't do much for the department's reputation." "But, captain, we're Homicide." "You know, post-facto kind of guys." "She works nights, sleeps days, perfect for you two." "Go talk to her while I appropriate the funds for a safe house." "[DOOR CLOSES]" "A safe house?" "Homicide cops for this?" "What the hell's she thinking?" "I'm Detective Schanke, Miss Weiss... and this is my partner, Detective Knight." "I told the officer I didn't see who attacked me." "I'm sorry." "I'm Gloria Chapman." "I represent Harmon Books." "[ECHOING] and this is my assistant," "Andrew Murowski." "You understand how concerned we are about this, but Emily refuses to cancel any of her appearances." "Really, I've had my share of run-ins with overzealous fans." "I'm sure that's all this was." "Why do you say that?" "What else could it be?" "I'd like our medical examiner to see that wound." "Is that really necessary?" "At this point, yes." "Want to come with me, please?" "LAMBERT:" "Well, they're definitely teeth marks." "If it was a vampire, it got scared off before it could do any real damage." "What?" "Emily Weiss." "She kept staring at me in the police station." "You know, Nick, women sometimes do take a second look at you." "Or maybe she knows." "What, about you?" "How could she?" "I've read her books." "She's got this... sixth sense about us." "It's extraordinary." "Well, if you like that sort of thing." "Maybe I do." "Bye." "Hey, Grace." ""And there was Christian," ""the boy she remembered," ""now a young man in the street below," ""a music in his smile, like the sound of crystal chimes."" "[SIGHS]" "The Denied, chapter one, page four." "You're reading it too?" "Can't help it." "[SIGHS WISTFULLY]" "[WILD ROCK MUSIC BLARING]" "¶ The night is full Of empty fire ¶" "Oh, Nicholas, such delightful timing." "Sorry, it's business." "Excuse us." "¶ There's no way To mark the time ¶" "¶ There's no reason ¶" "I'm looking for Lacroix." "Some business." "I think a member of our community might have tried to kill Emily Weiss tonight." "Really?" "How delicious." "I know a few of us who'd like to do that, myself included." "No, no, no, no, no." "Emily Weiss' work is not like the stuff of B movies or dime-store novels." "Those we can laugh at, because the world doesn't take them seriously, and so we are safe." "But her work... is just a bit too accurate for comfort." "So you think Lacroix...?" "It's a possibility." "Mm." "Be careful, Nicholas, if it is him." "He won't tolerate your interference." "Just tell him I'm looking for him." "[CRICKETS CHIRPING]" "[WHISPERING] Whew." "You gotta be a real nut to get off on this." "Check this out." ""As Christian drank greedily from Lasalle's wrists..."" "Please." "What's the big deal about vampires?" "Why is everybody so crazy about them?" "CHAPMAN:" "People like to read about taboos, detective." "It's a kind of intellectual voyeurism." "You mean like Hard Copy?" "Not exactly." "Immortality?" "That's a hook too." "What do you think, Miss Weiss?" "Oh... a vampire lives in a constant state of desire and disgust." "His nature often revolts him, but he doesn't have the will to deny his indulgences." "There's the killing, but there's also... the pleasure, the sensuality, the lust, the sheer ecstasy of it all." "But then again, it's only fairy tales, and I just make them up." "So you're not a believer?" "Of course not." "But I do keep their hours." "I've always loved the night." "Its silence." "Its sweet scent." "The freedom." "Yeah, right." "Come on." "We'll take her stuff upstairs." "Plumbing's a little funky, but what can you do?" "Your books aren't fairy tales." "They have power and passion." "Ah." "But you don't see any of that passion in me." "Well, not seeing it doesn't necessarily mean it's not there." "No." "People are interested in my books, not in me." "And I prefer it that way." "I'm not one for confessionals." "I'm sorry." "I'm disturbing your work." "[¶]" "Sophie?" "[PEOPLE MURMURING]" "[DOOR OPENS]" "Oh!" "Oh, Christian." "Please take me away from here." "He disgusts me." "We can't control what must be." "Our grief sustains us now." "Return to your party." "Tomorrow you will marry Gaston." "It is your duty." "No, please!" "You must go now." "No." "Sophie, you must go." "[DOOR CLOSES]" "Lasalle." "What is it you want?" "Simply to offer my advice." "You know what you must do to keep her for yourself." "Why are you waiting?" "I'm not a murderer." "[CHUCKLES]" "The panther kills to survive." "Is it a murderer?" "No, Christian, you're not a murderer, but you are a killer." "If you deny yourself your true nature, you will always be weak." "I have tried to teach you this." "Why resist me?" "On a whim, you made me a vampire." "I will not take Sophie's life for you." "I'm afraid there's no alternative." "If you do not kill her..." "I will." "You must learn." "I won't allow that." "Don't you understand?" "We are no longer human." "We have no constraints, no rules... no guilt." "We are completely free." "Accept it." "She's yours." "[THUNDER RUMBLING]" "KNIGHT:" "Well, not seeing it doesn't necessarily mean it's not there." "[GASPS]" "God..." "Oh, you scared me." "Yeah, yeah." "Well, I couldn't sleep and there wasn't anything else around, so, you know, I figured..." "It's actually kind of interesting, you know?" "Everything okay?" "Oh, fine." "I'm glad my book helped you pass the time." "[BOTH CHUCKLING]" "[THUNDER RUMBLING]" "I was wondering, will Detective Knight be joining us this evening?" "Yeah, he'll be here soon." "Why?" "Oh, nothing." "I'm afraid I was a bit curt with him this morning, that's all." "Good for you." "[SCREAMING]" "[HORN BLARING]" "McCabe!" "McCabe!" "[HORN STOPS BLARING]" "Someone call for backup, now!" "[POLICE RADIO CHATTER]" "[GROANS]" "Want me to take care of that for you?" "How's McCabe?" "He's all right." "Still think this is all a P.R. stunt?" "They got a lot of nerve if it is." "Assaulting a cop?" "Biting a cop?" "Nobody saw nothing, as usual." "Whoever this guy is, he moves real quick, or whatever he is." "How the hell did this lunatic know where Emily was?" "I thought a safe house is supposed to be secret." "KNIGHT:" "We do the best we can." "Unfortunately, sometimes this happens." "Oh, well, that's all right, then." "No problem." ""It happens."" "This is crazy." "Who would want to kill a writer?" "Ask Salman Rushdie." "Excuse me." "How are you doing?" "This is so awful." "I feel terrible about the officer." "It all happened because of me." "KNIGHT:" "He's doing fine." "[SIREN WAILING]" "What is it?" "Oh, n-nothing," "I was just thinking of something." "N-never mind, long time ago." "Come on." "[¶]" "So where does Emily go now?" "I have an idea." "My apartment." "It's got limited access." "It's easier to protect." "Any objections?" "Emily?" "Mm." "Take her to the precinct." "I'll swing by when I've got it all set up." ""Come to my place and I'll show you some garlic and holy water," huh?" "My dear, you cannot be serious." "Janette, you know only our kind can protect her from our kind." "I'll only be gone a few hours." "But...it's like asking the fox to guard the henhouse." "I mean, you know how I feel about her." "She must be killed." "Please, Janette." "I know I'm asking a lot of you." "But I also know I can trust you." "Mon cher, you've been spending too much time in the sun." "Hi, Emily." "Uh..." "This is Janette." "She'll be staying with you while I'm out." "You can count on her." "Oh." "Hello." "Don't do anything I wouldn't do." "Remember, I trust you." "Nice to meet you." "Please, Sophie." "Do not punish yourself." "When I was young," "I believed with all my heart that no matter how difficult life became, one day I would find love." "Is it such a foolish thing to ask for?" "It is foolish not to wish for love." "But now I shall never know love, because I cannot have you." "I'm imprisoned here for a crime that I did not commit, and there is no possibility of escape." "Do you understand?" "More than you know." "I've lied to you, Sophie." "I'm the cause of your misery." "No." "Oh, no, Christian, you know you are not to blame." "I shall show you..." "why you must forget me." "Oh, but I can't forget you." "I won't forget you!" "[SCREAMS]" "[WHIMPERS]" "You are not in love with a man, Sophie." "You have been deceived by a creature who should exist only in hell." "Oh, no!" "Forgive me." "I shall always be near you." "I shall always watch over you." "[GASPS]" "No, Christian!" "Please, Sophie." "Christian, no, please!" "Please." "Sophie!" "[SOBBING]" "Christian!" "Christian, please don't go!" "Christian!" "Slow night?" "[YELPS]" "All right, all right." "What can I say?" "I'm a fan." "This stuff really..." "gets to you." "Obviously." "Nick, was it ever really like this?" "Being a vampire?" "Well, we're not that big on melodrama." "Too bad." "Mind you, she hits more than she misses." "So...how well do you know Nick?" "We go back a ways." "If you prefer not to discuss it" "No, no, no, no, no, no." "I wouldn't want to spoil your fun." "But how about I ask you a question." "Hmm?" "Let's see." "Oh, I don't know." "Are you falling in love with Nicholas?" "In love?" "Mm-hmm." "I, uh..." "Oh, if you prefer not to discuss this" "Well, he seems like a good man." "He does seem like that, doesn't he?" "[¶]" "I'm thirsty." "Would you like a drink?" "[CHUCKLES]" "I'm debating that." "Pardon?" "Well, Emily's wounds were very similar to McCabe's." "A vampire?" "I can give you an educated maybe." "Why?" "You got somebody in mind?" "Neither attack was very efficient, clumsy at best." "Not very typical of our kind." "Well, maybe it was done that way on purpose to throw you off the track." "What?" "Schanke told me that Emily was staying at your place." "That seemed to make sense." "Oh, oh, it does." "I-I mean, I think it does." "I was just wondering if you were... feeling something for Emily?" "I don't want her to get hurt." "Nick, if you have feelings, you should act on them." "It's too dangerous." "I've got to meet Schanke." "[SIGHS]" "So these vampires of yours, how would you research them?" "Research?" "Mm-hmm." "For creatures that don't exist?" "Oh?" "Well, vampires are wonderful myth." "Taboos drawn from the deepest pools of our unconscious." "Ah." "[HEART BEATING]" "So that's what they are." "Right." "Mythical Jungian archetypes just kind of swimming around in pools." "Well, something like that." "Maybe I should just... dive right in." "[HEART BEATING]" "KNIGHT:" "Janette." "I know I'm asking a lot of you, but..." "I also know I can trust you." "Don't do anything I wouldn't do." "Remember, I trust you." "[BEATING STOPS]" "Are you all right?" "You look a little pale." "I'm fine." "Are you sure you won't have that drink?" "Yes." "I'm sure." "[WHOOSHING]" "Good girl, Janette." "You are not the one who will take her." "[¶]" "You gotta admit that, you know, there's some really hot stuff in Emily's book." "I mean, the whole bloodsucking thing, it's all so sexual." "Well, of course." "And they can hypnotize their victims!" "Did you know that?" "Imagine just looking at a woman, and she's under your spell." "Well, that would be cheating." "What, are you saying you wouldn't?" "What are we going to find here that Forensics didn't?" "Whatever they missed." "Hey, Schank." "Find something?" "Oh, probably not." "Uh, see what Forensics can come up with on this, will you?" "You kidding?" "This fell off some kid's doll or something." "Yeah, I know, but we should check it out." "I'll keep looking." "Uh, I'll catch up with you." "[WHOOSHING]" "[ENGINE STARTS]" "Let us talk of duty, Nicholas, of loyalties betrayed." "Is it you, Lacroix?" "Making these feeble attempts?" "Of course not." "I'm leaving it up to you." "I'm assigned to protect her." "Miss Weiss is too close to us." "She has too much of us on the page." "She doesn't even believe." "So she says." "Perhaps she's blinded you." "Perhaps that is why you have failed in your duty." "My duty?" "You know what that is." "I'm watching you." "[WHOOSHING]" "Hi." "Any problems?" "Oh...nothing too unexpected." "Oh." "So nice to have met you, Miss Weiss." "I knew I could trust you." "Don't you ever do that to me again." "He was here." "Lacroix?" "Mm-hmm." "He wants you to do it." "To take her." "I know." "He made you, but..." "Can he trust you?" "She's fascinating." "And very beautiful." "Yes, she is." "How did you happen to meet her?" "Actually, it was through a mutual acquaintance." "She's just a friend." "I see you've been reading it." "And?" "Why do you write about vampires the way you do?" "I'm not sure I've ever asked myself that." "I suppose I admire them in a way." "I see them as ultimately more human than we are." "They live with such terrible secrets, such overpowering drives." "Their battle is far more palpable than ours." "More human?" "Yes." "You're a very intriguing man, Nick." "I can say things to you" "I can hardly say to myself." "About what I write." "What I feel." "So tell me what you were feeling tonight when the ambulance drove away." "You were distracted." "Frankie Curtin." "He lived across the street from me until we were 18." "We used to read Shelley and Poe to each other." "He was terribly in love with me." "I tried to let him down easy, but... finally I had to tell him the truth." "I just wasn't in love with him." "Later, that night..." "I didn't hear the shot, just the sirens... as the ambulance pulled up in front of his house." "Suicide." "It's very hard to let someone in... when you've caused so much pain." "To risk the emotion." "So you write." "So I write." "Bury the longing." "For...?" "Desire." "Touch." "Passion." "Love?" "We're both afraid of it." "I don't want to be afraid of it anymore." "I can't do this." "Don't turn me away." "I'm not." "I'm not." "I'm turning myself away." "We have time." "I should get some rest for the big night." "I'll see you later." "WOMAN:" "I just love The Vampire Sagas." "Thank you, Emily." "[PEOPLE CHATTING]" "Hi." "You are...?" "Allison." "Hi." "She's good." "I think The Denied is your best book, Emily." "Hey." "[ENGLISH ACCENT] Well, may I get you your slippers, sir?" "Hey, you know that sparkly thing?" "Glass, Nick, glass." "The lab boys are having a real snicker fest at my expense." "Thank you." "I'm sorry, Schank." "Well, it was worth checking out." "Next time you find a marble in the street, play with it, if you get my drift." "Writer's cramp?" "I don't regret the passing of the quill-and-parchment era." "Listen, I got a question for you." "You know..." "Damn." "It's in here somewhere." "You know that part where Lasalle brings Christian over?" "It's fine, and it works, but couldn't it be a little bit more...real?" "And you know from real, Schank?" "Come on, Knight, use your imagination." "Glad you're enjoying the book, detective." "Well, it's a nice break from the funny pages, huh, Schank?" "[¶]" "[SNARLING]" "[GASPS SOFTLY]" "Come!" "You see what I've done for you?" "My God!" "What are you?" "Think of me as your..." "guardian angel." "I have just granted you your darkest wish." "Lasalle!" "Get out!" "No!" "Go." "Hurry." "Poor, poor Christian." "I have had to take matters into my own hands." "The husband is dead!" "And you are now free to take her." "Unopposed, without... guilt and all that." "That is your greatest concern, isn't it?" "Get out of here, Lasalle." "Heh." "Very well." "But I warn you." "I will expect you to do your duty." "Or..." "I will destroy you." "And her." "[LAUGHING MALEVOLENTLY]" "[EXHALES]" "Psychology." "For all their lofty declarations to the contrary, humans have no idea of what they are." "Unlike us, Nicholas." "We know exactly what we are and what we must do." "Sorry, you're gonna have to wait your turn like everyone" "No, I-I don't want to" "That will be trouble." "Look, get out of my way!" "Excuse me." "[PEOPLE SHOUTING]" "Get off me!" "Are you okay?" "I think we've got our man." "[CHUCKLING]" "All I wanted was an answer to one of my letters!" "As of last Friday, I'd sent her 2928." "You'd think I could get one reply, just one!" "I have bad news." "Came in five minutes ago from that bookstore." "Damn." ""I am still near her." ""I shall always watch over her." "You cannot stop me."" "No one saw who sent it." "You've got the wrong man, gentlemen." "EMILY: "Standing at the window," ""Christian could feel the cooling breeze" ""that blew off the river." ""The room was utterly quiet." ""Sophie sat on her bed," ""watching the shadow patterns" ""the guttering candles cast on his back." ""It was then that she realized she could no longer deny" ""the impulses that churned inside her," ""impulses beyond the physical, emotional," ""and even the spiritual realms." ""It was something she had never experienced before." ""It was beyond life," ""and Christian could give it to her." "She arose from the bed and approached him."" "[¶]" "There is only one barrier left in our way." "I want you to take me across it." "I want to join you." "How could I consign you to this hell?" "Is it hell?" "Christian, you mustn't deny what you are." "That is to live in hell." "I know that now." "How can I accept what I am?" "I'm neither living nor dead." "As I am without you." "Please take me." "I want to be with you forever." "Please." "I beg you." "No." "No." "Please." "[GASPS]" "[PANTING]" "Christian..." "[GROWLING]" "[GASPING]" "[APPLAUSE]" "I need to take a cold shower." "You know, something has definitely happened to that woman." "[¶]" "We're, uh..." "We're going to have to fight a mob to reach her dressing room." "Okay." "Keep close to her." "Oh, darling, you were splendid." "I've never seen you read with such feeling." "I...haven't had a reason to until now." "[WHISPERING] You are my vampire." "Looks like our fearless killer vampire took the night off." "Go with them, Schank." "I've got someone up here I'm looking for." "Emily, it's Detective Schanke." "Everything all right in there?" "Yes, we're fine." "We'll be out in a minute." "Well, I'll be out here, so if you need me, just, uh, scream in terror." "Okay, thank you very much." "He's a character, that detective." "Maybe you'll write about him next." "Next?" "You're really writing about people you know, aren't you?" "No, I write about vampires, Andrew, and I don't know any vampires." "Real ones, anyway." "[CHUCKLES]" "You're certain of that?" "Don't be silly, Andrew." "There might... be a vampire in our midst, one that wants to be with you for all eternity." "Andrew?" "I'm sorry, Emily." "I don't mean to upset you." "I was moved by your reading tonight." "There was no other way for the lovers to survive." "[¶]" "Do you recognize this?" "A panther-headed cane." "Like Christian's?" "You know who I am, don't you?" "What are you doing, Andrew?" "There's no need to fear me." "You don't fear Christian, do you?" "He's a character in a book." "And you're not Sophie?" "There are certain aspects drawn from me." "Just as you drew Christian from me." "You know I'm him." "This has been fun, Andrew, but why don't we just go back and talk to Detective Knight" "Don't do that, Sophie!" "Don't let him come between us." "You'll force me to destroy him." "No!" "I'm sorry, Sophie, but we must be together... forever." "[MUFFLED GASP]" "Nick!" "I ran a blood test on McCabe's bandages, and I found traces of two distinct types of blood." "Now, normally, that wouldn't happen, because vampires don't have blood." "Unless they've just fed." "Right, but if they have, then that blood is full of their digestive enzymes, and these samples weren't, Nick." "They were pure." "It's a human." "Playing vampire with big-time delusion." "KNIGHT:" "I shall always be near you." "I shall always watch over you." ""I am still near her." ""I shall always watch over her." "You cannot stop me."" "LACROIX:" "A panther kills to survive." "Is it a murderer?" "What?" "What is it?" "It's gone." "What's gone?" "Wh--?" "Nick!" "Is Emily alone in there?" "She's in there with Andrew." "Out of the way!" "What the hell's going on?" "It's Andrew." "Tell me you're joking." "Seal off the grounds." "Let's go!" "You two out back." "Flank them with me!" "Go, go!" "They've taken the fire escape up to the roof." "Stay here." "What are you doing?" "I'm bringing you across with me." "Where to, Andrew?" "You're not a vampire!" "We will die together, Sophie!" "It's what you wanted, isn't it?" "It's the only way we can have eternal life." "I'm not Sophie!" "Don't do it, Andrew!" "You can't stop me, Lasalle!" "He thinks he's Christian!" "Be careful what you wish for, Andrew." "You'll never take her from me!" "Oh!" "[SNARLS]" "Christian." "I made you what you are." "You must obey me." "[HEART BEATING]" "Let her go." "Release her!" "What are you?" "What you pretend to be." "[WHOOSHING]" "[ANDREW SCREAMING]" "[GROWLING]" "No!" "[THUD]" "Your turn, Nicholas." "You really are a vampire." "That is why I cannot love you, Emily." "Yes, you can." "Take her." "It is your duty." "Yes, Nick, it's what I want." "This is not a fiction, Emily." "You have no idea what you are asking me to do." "I don't care." "I want to be with you." "Take her." "Give in to what you are!" "Never." "Nicholas!" "Emily." "[HEART BEATING] You must forget that you've ever seen us like this." "Forget my love." "You must live your passion and never write about vampires again." "[HEART BEATING]" "Lucky boy." "Lucky girl." "[WHOOSHING]" "How did I get here?" "Where's Andrew?" "Oh, my God." "It's not your fault." "Yes, it is." "He jumped because of me, because of the book." "It's all happening again." "Frankie." "No." "The Vampire Sagas are finished." "I will never write about them again." "[SIRENS APPROACHING]" "Come this way, Miss Weiss." "What you felt for Emily was a positive thing." "You must be joking." "I almost destroyed her because of what I felt." "But you didn't." "And what you did by not taking her for yourself is called "sacrifice,"" "a very human gesture." "Another part of love?" ""Love can destroy and yet create." ""Nothing before love will ever be the same after it."" "Sophie to Christian, the last line of The Denied." "So...?" "So you're more than you were before you met her, and what you felt for her has brought you closer to what you want to be." "Yeah." "Ain't love a bitch." "I just wish..." "Night, Nick." "See you tomorrow." "[¶]"