"My story can never be told." "I write it over and over wherever we find shelter." "I write of what I cannot speak." "The truth." "I write all I know of it." "And then I throw the pages to the wind." "Maybe the birds can read it." "This yours?" "I often find them here, these scraps." "Must float down from someone's window." ""She had meant to smother the baby as soon as it was born."" ""But something made her look at it."" ""She heard the thundering heartbeat."" ""She smelt the baby's bloodied head."" ""And love confounded her."" "It's just a scrap, like you say." "But there's a story there." "You can feel it." "Shall we walk a little?" "My story starts with Clara." "One day, it will end with her." "Clara." "Full of secrets." "My saviour." "My burden." "My muse." "Hey!" " Fucking hell." "Wendy." " Call you back." "Fuck you!" "You bastard!" "Did you see that?" "He fucking attacked me." " What has she done?" " Bitten his fucking nose." " He deserved it." " Come on." "Oi!" "Ernie!" "Get him out of here, will you?" "Would you care for tea?" "Then please, come in." "I have been working here for 14 nights." "I want my pay!" "You're not on the books." "What pay?" "Excuse me." "Have you seen this girl?" "No." "Sorry, mate." "Sorry." "No." " Oi, what are you doing?" "No!" " Sorry, but they owe me." " Stop thieving money out of the till!" " They owe me." "Hello, Clara." "We get a lot of bitches in here, but she took the fucking prize." "Shame." "She was morbidly sexy." "Move!" "Clara!" "Shit!" "Fuck!" "The tedium I have experienced in this pursuit." "My time you have wasted." "You would sell nations with your whoredoms." "Come on." "You know who I'm looking for." "Where is she?" "Huh?" "Where is she?" "I was him, once." "And that girl..." "Love confounded me for her." "And love turned my whole life through." "Your wife?" "She was married to my brother, John." "Most happily" "She never knew the way I felt." "Nor did he." "There comes a time in life when secrets should be told." "You've got secrets, haven't you?" "There was a story told when I was a boy about the neamh-mhairbh." "The revenants." "Neither dead nor alive." "The priests used to tell it to frighten us." "My name is Eleanor Webb." "Eleanor Webb I am ready." " Are you sure?" " Hmm." "I've spent quite enough time here." "Believe me." "I feel a great peace." "As if order is about to be restored." "She is an aberration." "I don't know what that means, sir." "Where do you think you're going?" "I was going to clean the wound, sir." "You've been cut." "It's conspicuous." "All the time you've had and you've learnt nothing." "Truly, you are base." "Close your eyes." " Clara?" " Get out." " How could you bring someone here?" " He was stronger than I thought." " This is our home!" " Eleanor, we have to leave." " I'm not moving on again!" " I had to do it!" " One day you'll understand." " When I'm old enough?" "You have no idea, no fucking idea, what I do for you." " You did that for me?" " Pack." " I liked it here!" " I said pack!" " Who was he?" " No one." "?" "Mother was bathing her baby one night" "?" "Youngest of ten and a poor little mite" "?" "Mother was fat and the baby was thin" "?" "It was naught but a skellington wrapped up in skin" "?" "Mother turned round for the soap from the rack" " Thank you!" " Alright." "See you, girls." "We'll have a look in the greenhouse." "We've been here before." "Oh, don't be silly." "Come on." "But don't you remember?" "It's gonna be good for us here, I can feel it." " You said that about the last place." " Huh!" "What, that dump we just left?" "I've forgotten it already." "What's the matter?" "You can't throw the past away as if it didn't happen." "My concern is now, OK?" "Silly sod." "Why don't you go and play on the amusements, yeah?" "I'm gonna make us some money." "Go on." "Clara is never alone." "She finds money and company every day." "It comes easily to her." "Like lying." " Who's that?" "You know her?" " No." " You seen her?" " No." "But I like solitude." "I walk..." "and the past walks with me." "It lives." "Hi." "It's 50 for a blow, 100 for full whack." "Did they hire you?" "You're busking?" "You can pass a hat around." "I don't mind." "That was great." "Can you speak?" "I haven't got a hat." "How do you remember all those notes?" "I remember everything." "It's a burden." "So..." "You know anything else?" "Try and liven them up." "It's the valley of the stiffs in here." "I have to go." "I finish at ten!" "Come in." "50." "Lovely." "So, are you on holiday, then?" " No." " Oh, you live round here?" "You fancied a bit of company." "She..." "Who?" "Mum." "She died." "Oh, I'm so sorry." "It was her funeral." "I couldn't." "I ran away from it." "I've not been out." "I've not been out since." "But your grief, that shows how much you loved her." "And love is a very good thing." "I bet she'd be proud of you." "A lovely son like you." "No, I never made her proud." "I just..." "I don't even answer the phone." "You know?" "I messed up the business." "I can't pay her debts." "I found 50 quid in one of her old books and what do I spend it on?" "Aw..." "Human contact." " Are you OK?" " Yeah." " Yeah?" " I'm sorry." "I..." "I'm Camilla." "Noel." "So, what sort of a business did your mum have, then, Noel?" "It's a guesthouse." "I trashed it." "Was it a big place?" "Yeah, it's fairly big." "Well..." "Do you..." "Shall we go back to your place, then?" " Yeah?" " Yeah." " Be nice." " Yeah." " Y-You could come back to mine." " Yeah." " Glad you waited for me." " I didn't." "How did you learn to play like that?" "I practised." "For how long?" "200 years." "That's how it feels, anyway, doesn't it?" "Passed around a teacup." "Raised some cash for you." "It's not much." "Thank you." "That piece of paper..." "That's my phone number." "I don't have a phone." "So..." "Ni..." "Nice..." "Nice to meet you." "Goodbye." "Ella!" "Ella!" "Look what I found!" "We're damsels in distress." "Wow." "Do you know what Noel is, Ella?" "He's a knight in shining armour, come to deliver us from evil, aren't you?" "It's my little baby sister." " Hi." " Hello." "There we go." "Been looking for you everywhere." " I can't find my keys." " Aw." "I..." "I'll just open up." "Coming in?" "Look, I'm trusting you, Camilla." " Don't." " I won't." "Look, I'm not saying it's tidy..." "It was a hotel once." "Then a boarding house." "My mum had the top two floors." "Used to do BBs, you know?" "Families and that." "But then it was more, you know, the welfare lot." "It's a bit run down now, but she wouldn't let it go." "Loved the views, you see." "Fantastic view of the pier from up here." "Wow." "This is the, er, dining area." "Well... it's nice." "Yeah, it's lovely." "It's a bit of a state, like I said, but I wasn't expecting company." "Tell my sister where her room is first." "Yeah." "Ella?" "I'll show you to your room." "I went round the house and smashed things up." "I didn't want to look at myself." "Camilla said that, erm you lost your mum, too." "She's your legal guardian?" "That's brave of her." "I understand what she's had to do." "Do you?" "Well, she needs money." "But what I'm saying is I don't care." " You can stay." " Thank you." "Only those prepared to die will find eternal life." "Go on." "Go on." "This is the end." " Of what?" " Of time." "Oi." "Deary me." "Who was he?" "It's in the past, Ella." "Let it go." " Who was he?" " He was a fucking monster." "I should get a medal for what I did to him." "Will we move on today?" "Are you tired, my love?" "Well, I reckon that we should hang on here for a few days, don't you?" "Yeah, we can lay low, get some rest, get some money." "I could start up one of my old businesses, like in the old days." " You don't have to do that." " Oh, come on, Ella." "This place is perfect." "We'd rake it in." " Why don't we find another way?" " It's alright, angel." "I'll make sure you're not involved." "Sorry, Noel." "Aw." "I was worried I dreamt you." "I thought I'd wake up and you'd be gone." "Why would I leave?" "You've got everything I need." "Eleanor Webb." "Look at you." "Fair as a lily." "I know your mother." "My mother is dead." "Is that what they've told you?" "They've fed you on lies." "Your mother..." "Your mother stole something from me." "Now I'll steal something from her." "My disease has no cure." "And when I've finished with you, you will be a child no longer." "Look at me!" "Eleanor?" "Are you OK?" "Camilla's told me about how you were in a care home." "She said that..." "She said that bad things happened to you there." "I want you to know that nothing bad will happen while you're living here." "I promise." "OK?" "Her name is not Camilla." " And she's not my sister." " My name's Claire." "It's Clara." "She was born Clara." "But I prefer Claire." "Claire." " Don't." " You lie about me all the time." "If you tell him, I will kill him." "Don't you sometimes crave to tell the truth?" "There is a code that we survive by, Eleanor." "Keep it." "So, in a week, say, how much would your mum make?" "Er, high season?" "About a thousand." "We could make that in a night." " You could clear all your debts, Noely." " Yeah, but..." "I want to save you from that life." "Well, it wouldn't have to be me." "We could get some girls in." "But..." "But this is my mother's house." "?" "He is so fair" "?" "NONE can compare" "?" "Oh, but his blood runs ruby" "?" "Come, rosy day" "?" "Come quick I pray" "?" "Let dreams of love" "?" "Be over" "Once upon a time, there was nothing here." "There was no hotel, no promenade." "Just a beach." "Nets hanging out to dry." "Great warships in the bay." "And children picking cockles for their bread." "My mother was one of those children." "Barefoot, in the sand." "Can you hear me?" "Hmm." "My mother lives on human blood and has done for two centuries." "But once, she was a girl like you." "She's never spoken of her family." "They're in the store of things she must forget." "So her tale begins with two officers waiting to be called to war." "Are they sweet?" "May I try One?" "One was Midshipman Darvell." "Mmm." "Here." "A pearl for a pearl." "And the other, his superior, was Captain Ruthven." "May I offer you a ride?" "She's only a child, Ruthven." "She knows how to ride, I dare say." "Don't go with him." "The pearl stays pure forever, while the oyster's flesh rots around it." "I have a gift for you." "Captain Ruthven!" "Here's a treasure I found on the beach." "Welcome, my dear." "There's nothing to be afraid of." "Come on." "Let me show you to the Captain's favourite room." "You'll find only friends here." "You gave me nothing, sir." "You took." "I've given you your profession." "Welcome to your adult life." "How many stories start that way?" "Whore." "Thousands upon thousands." "I shall return to see what you have learnt." "Come, now." "Why do you cry?" "I have a gentleman here who will soon have you smiling again." "No children in this household." "You know the rule." "Once upon a time, I was born." "It is still a fact that the day you are born is the day you are most likely to be murdered." "More human souls are killed by mothers' hands than by the hands of strangers." "My mother tried to murder me but love confounded her." "Her note said, "This is my daughter, Eleanor Webb."" ""I wish her to live a clean life. "" ""I shall pay for her upkeep with gold which I will leave every month that she lives. "" ""I wish to spare her a life like my own, which has been despoiled from the start."" ""Please tell her I'm dead."" "So I led that clean life." "I sang the orphans' song." "I learnt that virtue and modesty would be my path to bliss." "North Haven Private Orphanage was my abode." "I wish I could have called it home." "I'm sorry!" "Fuck!" "Oh, that's gross." " I've got to get home." " Let me get help." "I've got your bicycle." "Don't worry." "You need stitches." "Were you there to enrol?" "What?" "Have you joined the college?" " I don't know." " Leave the bike there." "Oh, I hate blood." "Could you get the doorbell, please?" "Come on." "Oh, my God!" "What happened?" " He fell." " Oh, my God!" "Oh!" "Mark!" "Mark!" "He's bleeding!" "It's OK." "I got him." "Get the keys." "Are you his girlfriend?" "Where are the keys?" "Has he told you?" "Oh!" " Got the keys?" " Yes!" "Keep it up, Frank." "Go, go, go!" "You can do so much better." "?" "Dry your eyes" "?" "And let's be sweethearts again" "Oi." "Would you like to kiss me?" "What the fuck?" "Why?" "In celebration... of my wickedness." "?" "Come on, come on, sweetheart" "?" "And let's try it over again" "?" "Whoa, don't cry" "?" "Don't cry, baby" "?" "Don't cry" "?" "Don't cry" "?" "Dry your eyes" "?" "And let's be sweethearts again" "?" "And, oh, cos you know" "?" "You know I didn't mean" "?" "To have my heart" "?" "Treat you so mean" "?" "Come on, come on, sweetheart" "?" "Let's try it over again" "?" "Oh, don't cry" "?" "Don't cry, don't cry, baby..." "The world will be more beautiful without you." "?" "Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry" "?" "Dry your eyes" "?" "And let's be sweethearts again" "It's alright." "Gotcha." "It's OK." "It's OK." "I wanna die." "No, you don't." "Not today." "If you still wanna die tomorrow, I'll finish you off myself." "Hello." "Oh, hi." "Is it still visiting?" "Thanks for bringing him home." "He hasn't told me anything about you." "That's boys for you, isn't it?" "Have you been going out for long?" " We just met." " Oh." "Well, I'm glad." " What's your name?" " Eleanor." "Gabi." "He takes anti-coagulants." "That's why he bled so much." "I expect you were wondering." "He's been fighting leukaemia for years." "It's in remission now so we're hoping it's all over." "He's so full of life." "Please don't tell him I was here." "Angel." "Peace be with you." "May light shine upon you." "You came for me." "Forgive me for what I must do." " Oh, hi." " Hi." "You speak?" "Speak English?" "You schoolgirl thing?" "She better pay like she say or I'll say, "No, fuck off."" "Maybe we do lesbian thing." "I don't mind." "That's my little baby sister." "She doesn't drink, she doesn't join in." "You leave her be." "Do you understand?" "Now, your gentlemen are waiting for you." "Now, you be professional, OK, otherwise you're back sucking cocks on the street." "Out!" " I'll try and keep you out of this, OK?" " In case you shock me?" " We need the money." " I'm not complaining." "Well, wipe that prissy look off your face." "How can I be prissy when I've seen it all a thousand times before?" "Well, what else are we supposed to do?" "I know I won't get your thanks, gratitude or respect." "You could do so much better." "I put money on the table!" "That's what mothers do." "Mothers care about the lives their children live." "What kind of life is this?" "Humans need to tell stories." "It's a fundamental and uniting thing." "It's through stories that we come to understand ourselves and we come to understand the world." "So, close your eyes." "It's our own experience that is the starting point for all our creativity." "Think about your early childhood." "And when I say your name give me a memory." "A detail, a sensation, a feeling." "The first thing that comes into your mind, OK?" "Eleanor?" "Mother." "What about her?" "She would come to the skylight at night." "I was afraid." "Why?" "They told me since infancy that she was dead." "And then?" "The face at the window had more substance than a ghost." " OK, thanks." " And yet..." " Frank." " .." "I knew it could not live." "Yeah, erm..." "My friend, David Atkinson." "I'm the only person who can see him." "Erm..." "I was probably too much alone, whatever, and David Atkinson used to appear in my room and we'd play." "And I guess I grew out of him." "He came till I was about seven or eight." " Yeah." " Thank you." " OK..." " The really funny thing is that years later, I found out that the family before us in the house were called Atkinson." "They lost a baby." "Like, a cot death." "And the baby's name... was David." "Uh-huh." "Good story." "So, everyone up." "Now, I want you to think about who you are." "And, next time, I would like an essay... ..entitled.." "...I Am." "And there's only one rule." "It has to be true." "You don't belong here." "This is my mum's home town." "We came when I got ill." "Your healthcare over here is free and I was something of a, erm a drain..." "on our limited resources." "My dad commutes." "I don't think he likes it much, but what are you gonna do?" "My mum said you came to see me when I was in hospital." "She, erm..." "She thinks that that you're my girl." "Would that be so bad?" " Because I..." " It would be fatal." "Look..." " I know I'm ill and all, but..." " No." "For me." "If you lived with a secret and the secret meant that you must always lie or be alone and you'd always lived that way and yet you longed for change what would you do?" "I'd tell the secret." "Tell me." "My mother did three things for me." "One, she spared my life the day that I was born." "Two, she paid for my upkeep on her knees and on her back." "And three, she gave me the story I can never tell." "By the time I was six, she was dying." "Girls like Clara didn't last." "Her lungs were rotting." "But she clung steadfastly to her brutal life." "Where have you been?" "The Captain's been waiting." "Captain Ruthven had returned from the wars." "Make sure you punish her, sir." "Of all the harlots he had ever made," "Clara was his favourite." "You'll like this one." "She fights." "Then, one winter dawn a stranger came." "Are you unwell?" "No, sir." "I remember you." "I'm much changed, sir." "And what of me?" "Have I changed?" "I have." "More than you could imagine." "Open the curtains." "Curse you, whore!" "Give me the dark!" "Does the light offend you?" " Darvell!" " My friend." "I was with you." "I saw you dead." "And I thank you for your service." "What do you want?" "I have not come to take from you." "I come to give." "I'll return at nightfall." "Like you, I prefer the dark." " No!" " You bitch!" "He answered her questions with blows." "As usual, she endured them." "And she waited for the storm to pass." "What kind of time do you call this?" "Linear time." "As the relentless day crept on, the Captain told his tale of events beyond his understanding." "There was a rebellion in Ireland." "We were sent to crush it." "Both of us were... wounded by the beggarly horde." "My wounds were superficial, but Darvell developed fever." "It decimated him." "I tried to persuade him to come home." "That was good of you." "I knew the journey would quicken his decline." "Darvell was rich." "Naive." "He had no heir." "I had begun to wish him dead." "But before the grave took him, two men entered his life." "Scholars, I presumed, of dead languages and aged manuscripts." "As if ancient knowledge might keep his death at bay." "You have been looking in the wrong place, my son." "Here it is." "Thank you." "Thank you." "He told me we must find a shrine." "An ancient myth said it had healing powers." "It was on an empty island off a barren coast." "I thought it the desperate quest of a dying man." "It was a sinister black thumbnail sticking out of the ocean." "More rock than island." "The oarsmen wouldn't set foot on the place." "Said it was cursed." "The way was steep." "But Darvell kept on climbing, regardless." "I thought, or maybe I hoped, his heart would give way." "Is this what you've dragged us here to find?" "A hermit's hut?" "I hated that place." "There were so many birds in the sky." "Almost darkened the sun." "They seemed to know something we didn't." "He sent me to fetch water." "That was just a ruse." "I found a corpse." "His breath had gone." "His soul had fled." "Then I ran." "I've never spoken of it since." " I took his rings." " Ahoy!" "And when I returned, I took his property." "Everything I own is his." "What will he do?" "Mr Kent, this woman is not your sister-in-law." "She's dead." "This is a shell, and what it contains is pure evil." "Oi!" "Shh!" "When we destroy it, we destroy only the evil." " I'll go." " No, no, no, no." "I'll get it." "Hmm." "Aren't you a little young?" "Eleanor, is she in?" "Why, what's it to you?" "I read her story." "Can you tell her, please?" "But she's not in." "Go on." "Off you go." "Ella." "Look, I understand what Claire's had to do, cos there's money to be made." "If you don't like what Clara's doing, tell her." "You don't like it either, do you, eh?" "Why is she like that?" "Why is she so...?" "What happened to her, Ella?" " She got bitten by a vampire." " Did I?" "There was a boy for you at the door." "I sent him on his way." "He says he's read your story." "What story, Ella?" "The one we always tell, about the care home and how my sister rescued me." "It's homework." "You frighten me sometimes." "Don't." "I won't." "Fucking brilliant story." "Thank you." "But the assignment asked for truth." "I didn't write it as an assignment." "I wrote it for you." "I don't want to lie any more." " Something has to change." " But this?" "It's crazy." "I thought if I told all the walls would come tumbling down." "Yes." "I think..." "I get that you're using the story to say that bad things happen." "But... why don't you just say the truth?" "I am Eleanor Webb." "I've given you my secret." "I've told you how I live." "Hello." "Would you put the record on?" "It's called Nacht und Traume." "Peace be with you." "May light shine upon you." "I think you should read this." "I set this every year." "It's just a simple autobiography, and then I get this amazing piece." "It's as if Edgar Allan Poe and Mary Shelley had got together and had a very strange little child." ""A true account of my making and my life in death from the year of my birth, 1804."" " You're kidding?" " Except if that was a piece of fiction, you'd say it was a dark, passionate, violent, sick, brilliant bit of writing." "But she's saying, "This is who I am."" "Which makes me think there's something going on with her." "She's a very closed-off kid." "Well, she wants to communicate, obviously." "Look at the effort she's made." "Her handwriting." "The turn of phrase." "I mean..." "Who writes like this these days?" ""As darkness fell, the soucriant returned."" "And Captain Ruthven prepared for the worst." "I took these for safekeeping." "Forgive me, my friend." "Forgiveness is a Christian value, Ruthven." "My gods are older." "More ruthless." "You died." "How else does one find life eternal?" "I sent you to fetch water." "Then I met the nameless saint." "This is what happens." "When?" "When you pray for it." "I rose and saw with different eyes." "Everything I looked on was a source of wonder." "But my vision had a price." "My soul was lost." "The price of my existence is this sacrifice." "It flows from..." "It flows from blood." "His blood is yours." "Drink, my son." "Mine is a cruel existence." "But you do have the qualities one needs." "You are ever a survivor." "I would give my soul to be as you are now." "So be it." "Eternal life will only come to those prepared to die." " Hello?" " You want up?" "Thanks." "Have some fun now." "Hello?" " Mr Minton." " Hello, Noel." "How are you?" "What, have I got a detention or something?" "No." "I'm actually trying to get some information on one of our current students." "Eleanor Webb?" " She gave this as her address." " Eleanor?" "ls everything OK?" "We're trying to set up a meeting with the parties interested in her welfare." "Sure." "Are her parents here?" "Erm..." "You need to speak to Claire." "She's Eleanor's big sister." "Claire's her legal guardian." " Is Claire here?" " No, she's, erm... busy." "It's not what..." "It's not what you think." "It's Claire's business, right?" "She saves girls from the streets." "The thing is, Noel, Eleanor's written a story and in her story, she says that she lives with vampires." "So can you please pass this letter on?" "And, erm, tell Claire that if I don't hear from her today, then I'll be in touch with social services and the police." "Shit." "So Darvell gave the map and passage to your mother." "No, to Captain Ruthven." "My mother saw her chance and took it." "Bitch!" "Bitch!" "Bitch!" "She stole the map and rode into the night." "Towards her unknown future." "And she made her way to where, to this ruin?" "And this soucriant thing took her." "I didn't give you my story." "I've been betrayed into this." "You can leave any time you like." "So, when did Clara come back for you?" "When I was 16." "And what did she do in the meantime?" " She's never talked about it." " Really?" "She says she can't recall, but I expect she's lying." "Lying is a way of life to her." "But I was raised in an orphanage where I was taught to tell the truth." "Are there others like you?" "I've never met one." "And Clara never speaks of any." "I think we're the only two who still endure." "How often do you feed?" "I'd rather not talk about it, thank you." "That's the distasteful part of being an immortal, isn't it?" "If you don't believe a word I say, why this pretence?" "Eleanor, how can you be two centuries old?" "By..." "By what miracle of science?" "You see that's the tricky thing." "Because it's only over time that I can prove it." "30, maybe 40 years from now, when you're pruning roses from your wheelchair I'll stroll by your garden gate and say, "Hello, Morag."" "And nothing will have changed." "I am 16 forever." "And you'll realise this." "And it will hurt your heart and I'll say, "May peace be with you."" "And I'll help you with the pain." "Why don't you do it now?" "I'm not strong." "You could overpower me." "You're not ready." "How do you do it?" "Where are your fangs?" "Why don't you die in the daylight?" "How could you give my story to those people?" " I wrote it for you." " How do you kill?" "I never..." "People have to consent." "They have to want." " Want death?" " It has to be an act..." " Who the fuck wants death?" " Sometimes it releases people." " So you're moral?" " No." "I'm ruthless." "Bullshit." "All this, "I'm 206, I remember everything, and it's a burden."" "It's pathetic." "My mum's giving me a birthday party." "Not really a party because I'm only inviting you." "Will you come?" "Yes." "Good." " Hi." " Happy birthday." "For you." "Do I have to invite you in?" "You'd better come in." " Hello again, Eleanor." " Hello." "Seriously, you can try if you like." "I was hoping to arrange a more official meeting, ideally with the school counselor and with Eleanor herself." "Well, what's the problem?" "Cos usually she sails through school." "Well, erm, Eleanor wrote her life story." "And she's quite insistent that it's true." "I don't expect you to be flattered by this, but in it she describes you as a soucriant, which I believe is a sort of vampire." "Well, she has got a great imagination." "I hope she gets top marks." " Who else has read it?" " You have sole care of her, don't you?" "That boy Frank." "I bet he's read it." "Quite a responsibility for somebody so young." "I'm doing just fine, thank you." "So, I shoot the bastard Ruthven and I nick the map and then what?" "Well, it ends." "She doesn't say." "That's cos I never told her." "Shall we arrange a more formal..." "I saw that Ruthven wasn't dead." "I should have killed him then, but I had mercy on the cunt." "Now, hold that thought, because I'll tell you what he did." "But first, shall I tell you what it was like for me?" " OK." " It was wonderful." "I had eyes that cut through lies, lungs that breathed eternity." "I felt I'd lived my whole wretched life just to prepare me for that moment." "It was easy." "Where's Ruthven?" "He wasn't worthy of your gift." "You stole it?" "Are we thieves now?" "Do we steal time?" "We buy it." "With blood." "We are a brotherhood." "There are no women amongst us." "What is her parentage?" "It is low." " And her life before?" " She made ends meet as many..." "I was a harlot." "But that is in the past." "Some things are eternal." "You were to find a man of good blood who appreciates this brotherhood and what we do." "What is it you do?" "We are the pointed nails of justice." "How will you use this gift?" "To punish those who prey on the weak." "To curb the power of men." "We should not permit her to survive." "We have no choice." "Unless she breaks our code." "You have no part in our order." "Truly, you are base." "Will you not speak for me?" "They banished me." "I learnt that immortality is unendurable alone." "So I came back." "I watched my daughter grow." "She was my only link with everything alive." "Back to sleep." "Back to sleep." "You." "Come on." "It was because of Eleanor I broke their code." "How did you do that?" "A woman's not permitted to create." "I took my darling to the nameless isle and I let the thing save her." "And for that they would annihilate us both." "You see, I had made a fatal error." "I'd been merciful." " I'd let Ruthven live." " Eleanor!" "Eleanor!" "Give my regards to your mother." "And welcome to a slow death." "Eleanor!" "Welcome... whore." "No!" "Die!" "Die!" "Now you know everything." "I'm never merciful." "And knowledge is a fatal thing." "When I was born, there were only seven planets." "Neptune hadn't been discovered, so nobody believed in it." "Heaven and Earth are full of things we don't yet understand." "I had a year of chemotherapy." "With... too much time lying in my bed." "So..." "I made this." "That's you." "Near the sun." "Where it's warm and bright." "And that's me." "Where light barely penetrates." "And it's cold." "And time moves so slowly." "You're not cold." "Everything outside of time is cold." "If you kissed me right now will I live forever?" "I'm sorry." "Wait." "Stop!" "Why do you always run away from me?" " If you stay with me, you'll die." " I'm dying anyway." "It isn't life I offer you." "Do you understand that?" "You'll take life." "By consent, like you do." "It's still monstrous." "You'll leave everything behind." "Except you." "The gift I gave you, open it." "Wait until I knock." "Kevin?" "Do you want to go to..." "There you are." "I've been worried sick." "Look, Claire's not happy." "I've made changes." "Sent the girls home, bought them tickets on the Eurostar." "It's gonna be a clean house now." " Noel, I'm leaving." " What are you talking about?" "What do you think you're doing, telling that fucking school who we are?" "I hate the way you speak." "How dare you put us in such danger?" "You told that fucking teacher our story!" "I listened to his crap about your fantasies of death and all the while he was implying my neglect." " Neglect, Eleanor, of you!" " Stop it, Claire!" "There is a rule that we live by and you broke it." " What if I broke free?" " No." "To tell another is forbidden." "Those with knowledge have to die." " You made that rule to isolate me." " No!" "I've kept you safe." "Stupid fucking cunt, Mother, I hate you!" "No, no, leave her!" "Just leave her!" "Get off me!" "Come back, Ella!" " Get off me!" " Leave her alone." " Eleanor!" "No, you can't leave!" " Claire!" "You're making it worse." "It's not safe, Eleanor!" "You can't leave!" "Claire, just leave her be." " No!" " Let her go!" " You can't leave!" " Clara!" "She has every right to go." "No!" "Know where she lives?" "Yes, I believe it's a hotel on the seafront." " Does she trust you?" " Maybe." " I've never lied to her." " That's good." "What will happen?" "She'll be taken somewhere safe." "We just want to talk to her." "You've told your boyfriend all about us." " Haven't you?" " No!" "You know what happens to those with knowledge!" " No, Clara, don't!" " It's like a virus." "It's deadly." "It needs to be stamped out." "Clara, please." "Don't!" " I know where he lives!" " Don't!" "Clara, don't go!" "Clara!" "Clara!" "Hello..." "Frank." "Where's Eleanor?" "She's got a message for you." "Can I come in?" "Well, you're gonna have to come out here then, aren't you?" "I must say, you are definitely Ella's type." "Earnest, clueless, about as sexy as a pair of shoes." "I knew you wouldn't let her go without a fight." "Oh." "Is that what you're suggesting, Frank?" "A fight?" "Go on." "Finish me." "I still have the advantage." "She's going to leave you anyway." "Frank, Clara's coming." "Don't answer the door." "Don't let her in." "I'm trapped." "She caught me." "Just don't let her get you." "It's too late, my love." "I will never forgive." "I will never ever forgive!" " Eleanor!" "What is going on?" " You have to stop Clara." "These men are looking for her." " She's here." " Ella!" "You have to tell us the truth." " Something terrible has happened." " Clara Webb." " Who is this?" " You know who we are." " I will take care of Eleanor now." " Ella!" "Ella!" "These men are from the police." "They've come to help." "We have to get to Frank." "We must get you to a doctor." "Don't run!" "What are you doing?" "We need to get to Frank." "We don't need handcuffs." "She's a child!" "Eleanor, I'm coming with you." "Be calm." "I will be with you, whatever happens." "There's no need to be afraid." "Of course not." "It's a privilege to meet you, Eleanor." "I thought Clara and I were the only ones." "Surely she told you of the brotherhood." "Excuse me?" "What are you saying to...?" "Darvell." "You're just as I imagined." "Help me." "Where are you taking us?" "Because we've just gone right past the police station and the hospital." "Seriously, where are we going?" "Eleanor!" "Eleanor!" "Ella!" "Mother!" "They'll destroy you, Ella!" "They'll destroy you!" "Darvell, let her go!" " Mother!" " Please!" " I'll show you, you piece of whore." " Please stop!" "Yes!" "My God, you've killed her." "Nothing is that easy." "Mother!" " Mother!" " With this act I cleanse the Earth!" " Mother!" " No!" "Be calm." " Be calm." " Who are you people?" "I said, be calm!" "I hate these crying women." "Damn you." "I followed you for many years." "You take only those who are ready." "And that has a certain grace." "You have been condemned from the moment Clara made you." "Our code does not permit women to create." "In her stories, you were wonderful." "You had compassion and respect." "You gave her life." "She stole her life." " Please." "Please stop him." " She killed one of the brethren." " And that's unforgivable." " No, but..." "Amazing, how two little girls with no money and learning slipped through your fingers for an eternity." "No!" "No!" " Hold her down." "Hold her down." " Ella!" "No." "No!" "No." "Ella!" "No!" "Ella!" "Eleanor!" "Darvell!" "Bring it here." "Bring it here!" "Isn't the present everything?" "Ella!" " This is your last night, witch." " Darvell!" "Last night!" "Eleanor!" "This blade is from Byzantium, my souvenir of the Crusades." "May it send you to eternity." "It was on a beach like this that we first met." "But I went with Ruthven, for all my damnation." "But it was you." "You were the pearl." "See how the bitch uses her arts to the last." "The honour is yours." "Do what you like with me, but let her go, please!" " Hold her still." " Please." "I beg you, Darvell!" " Still, I said!" " She's going to die anyway." "She can't survive on her own." "Eleanor!" "My baby!" "You truly are a wonder." "I've been following you for years." "So assiduously." "Because if I wasn't the one to find you, they certainly would have killed you." "What will they do, the others?" "The brotherhood is strong." "Unchanging." "They will come." "With their pointed nails of justice." "Will he travel with us now?" "You're not coming with us." "What?" "I'm cutting you loose." "You can't stay with your mother all your life, can you?" "Come on." "Come here." "Go on." "Look forward, not back." "Always." "Your instinct is to hunt the powerful and protect the weak." "I'd like to try and live that way." "Live your life how you choose." "It's no concern of mine." "If you could have anything, what would it be?" "Your pardon." "In time... maybe." "Your company, then." "We have time." "I'm afraid." "Don't be." "lam Eleanor Webb." "I throw my story to the wind." "And never will I tell it more." "Another one begins."