(Night. Exterior of nice house in Southern California. Helicopter view of forest fires in the distance. An older man, GARRETT LORE, stands drinking a glass of red wine. He spills a drop on his white shirt.)

LORE: Damn. (enters the house) There’s ash in the wine from the fires in Malibu Canyon. You can almost see from here.

(Naked WOMAN stands silhouetted in the darkened doorway. She strikes a match and lights a candle, then blows out the match.)

LORE: (feeling guilty) I want you to know I … I don’t do this. I mean, I’m not one of those guys that sends his family on vacation just so he can … but when I met you at the corporate party, I …

WOMAN: Shh. (finger on his lips) It’ll be worth it. I’ll do things with you no one’s ever done.

(She turns on the hot tub.)

(Later, the two of them are passionately kissing in the tub. A man stands hidden behind them with a syringe.)

LORE: (as she bites too hard and breaks the skin) Ouch!

(The woman lifts her blood covered mouth from the man’s neck. The man attacks LORE. Another man comes out of the shadows and also attacks. LORE cries out. The glass of wine is knocked over and shatters.)

(X-Files office. MULDER enters, carrying a folder, and begins pulling dusty plastic off the desk and cabinets. He changes the Playboy-like calendar from May to November. He opens a file cabinet. He opens the folder and removes a new X-File marked "Dana Scully 7 3317." He puts the file in the cabinet then reaches in folder and removes SCULLY’s glasses and badge. He takes the gold cross necklace from inside the badge, puts the badge and glasses in a baggie and puts it beside the file and closes the drawer. He fingers the cross gently. Phone rings. Mulder turns, eager.)

(Shot of plane dropping red powder fire retardant over Southern California. Exterior of LORE’s house in California. Crime Scene. DETECTIVE NETTLES is in charge.)

DETECTIVE MUNSON: Let’s start in the bedroom and work our way downstairs.

DETECTIVE NETTLES: Don’t let the media in on the writings in blood on the wall.

DETECTIVE MUNSON: Okay.

(MULDER arrives alone and ducks under the tape.)

DETECTIVE NETTLES: Excuse me, sir? If I can ask your indulgence? This is a restricted crime scene.

MULDER: (showing badge) Agent Mulder. I’m with the Bureau.

DETECTIVE NETTLES: Nobody called the Bureau.

MULDER: They should have.

DETECTIVE NETTLES: Look, LAPD’s seen, I don’t know, what? Maybe a couple of weird crime scenes down the years. I think we can handle things.

MULDER: (walking toward house) There’s no time for agency rivalries. I don’t care about credit for the arrest or what goes on whose record. In the past year these killers have murdered six people in two states. They only kill at night. By the end of the week, two more people will be dead and they will be gone.

DETECTIVE NETTLES: Just how do you know all this?

MULDER: There’s a file on the previous murders. I’ve studied it. I’ve studied them. I’ve been waiting three months for them to reappear.

DETECTIVE NETTLES: And just how can you be sure that these are the same killers?

MULDER: The wire reported a body was found drained of blood, bite marks on the exterior jugular and median cubital veins. Every mirror in the house was smashed.

DETECTIVE NETTLES: Yeah, well, it’s what the wire didn’t report that distinguishes this scene.

MULDER: There’s writings on the wall written in the victim’s blood.

(They look at bloody words written on the wall.)

MULDER: "He who eats of my flesh and drinks of my blood shall have eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day." They have the same feeble grasp of the Bible as all those big-haired preachers do. The victim – was he a father?

DETECTIVE NETTLES: Yeah. Three boys. The family’s been notified.

MULDER: In Memphis, they murdered James Ellis, 58, father of Ellis and Sons Clothiers. The second victim was a Korean woman -- Linda Sun. The third victim was a Jesuit Theologian. Excuse me. (MULDER has taken off his jacket and put on latex gloves and is kneeling down beside the overflow trap of the hot tub) In Portland, three months ago the first victim was a priest. The second victim was the only son of a family of six children. The last victim was the owner of a new age book shop --- The Holy Spirit. (feels around in trap) I believe that’s how they perceive themselves, as a kind of Unholy Trinity. (pulls a used needle out of the trap) They use these to extract blood and store it for a quick fix later. Their need is insatiable, but murdering for blood risks exposure and capture. If my profile of the previous cases holds true, they’ve been living in the city and working near blood products for the past month.

DETECTIVE NETTLES: (impressed) Look, Agent Mulder, look I’m really sorry I was such a hard ass back there. In this town, it’s really tough to trust anyone. Truth is, I’d be happy to have you work on our investigation. (begins to introduce another detective) Now this is Detective Gwen ----

MULDER: I’m working alone. (turns and begins walking away)

DETECTIVE NETTLES: (surprised) An FBI Agent without a partner? Look, Mulder, our department’s under a crisis alert right now because of the fires in the canyon. The fact is, I don’t think I can free up any resources for you.

MULDER: I only need one thing.

(Police office. MULDER is crossing off numbers of blood banks in the phone book as he calls them.)

VOICE: (on phone) Hollywood Blood Bank.

MULDER: (on phone) Yeah, hi. This is Marty Mulder from your payroll service. I have a question regarding the W -4 form of a recent employee.

VOICE: (on phone) You mean Frank?

MULDER: (on phone) When was he hired?

VOICE: (on phone) Couple of weeks ago. He's the night watchman.

(Blood bank. Night. MULDER quietly searches the building. Pulls his gun and surprises MAXWELL, an employee, making him drop the vials of blood he is carrying.)

MULDER: Federal Agent!

MAXWELL: Easy, man, easy! Sorry, man. I didn’t know you were there. Damn freak night watchman always breaking the light bulbs.

(MAXWELL opens door for MULDER.)

MAXWELL: I’ll wait upstairs.

(MULDER goes downstairs. Hears heavy breathing and suckling sounds. He uses a metal spoon to check reflection around the corner. Sees nothing. MULDER turns the corner and confronts JOHN, THE SON whose mouth is covered with the blood he has been drinking.)

MULDER: Federal Agent! Freeze!

(JOHN, THE SON throw the jar of blood at MULDER. MULDER ducks then tackles and handcuffs JOHN, THE SON.)

(Police interrogation room. JOHN, THE SON, is screaming and writhing on the floor as DETECTIVE NETTLES and DETECTIVE MUNSON watch impassively.)

JOHN, THE SON: Turn off the lights! Turn them off! You’re killing me! Turn them off! Turn them off! Please!

DETECTIVE NETTLES: Tell us your real name.

JOHN, THE SON: I can’t take it! Turn off the lights!

(MULDER enters with a lamp with a red gel over it.)

JOHN, THE SON: You’re killing me! Turn them off! Please! Turn off the lights! Please! Turn them off! Turn them off!

(MULDER flicks off the overhead light. JOHN, THE SON stops screaming and looks at MULDER.)

MULDER: That better?

JOHN, THE SON: (sucks blood from his own hand for a moment in the red light) I’ll only talk to him.

DETECTIVE NETTLES: (as they exit) Lucky you.

JOHN, THE SON: You know what we are.

MULDER: What are you?

JOHN, THE SON: (as if reciting scripture) He is the Father, I am the Son, and she is the Unholy Spirit.

MULDER: And the three of you killed Garret Lore.

JOHN, THE SON: No.

MULDER: Your fingerprints were found at the crime scene.

JOHN, THE SON: No. When a snake eats a fly, it’s not murder. It just is.

MULDER: Frogs eat flies. Are you dead?

JOHN, THE SON: I never will be.

MULDER: Do you believe that?

JOHN, THE SON: Don’t you want to live forever?

MULDER: (considers) Well, not if drawstring pants come back into style.

JOHN, THE SON: Look, what nobody realizes is that there is no afterlife. I know this. Listen, listen, I know this because when we prolong our lives by taking theirs all I see is such … horror in their eyes and that’s because at that moment they’re face-to-face with death and then suddenly they realize there’s nothing else. There’s no heaven. There’s no soul. There’s just rot and there’s just decay. And I will never, ever, ever, ever have to face that.

MULDER: It’s a stiff price, though. Look at yourself – drinking blood, living in darkness, unable to see your reflection in a mirror. Or is that just a myth?

(MULDER palms a mirror and sees JOHN, THE SON’s reflection in it.)

JOHN, THE SON: (positive) I can’t be seen in a mirror. Look… anything worth anything has a price and when I’m standing next to your deathbed looking as young as I look right now and I see that fear in your eyes at the moment of death … then, then tell me the price is too stiff.

MULDER: It’s more likely I’ll be looking in your eyes at the moment before they lead you into the gas chamber. That’s a moment you won’t have to face if you tell me where the others are.

JOHN, THE SON: Why would I? They’re the only ones that can kill me.

MULDER: Well, if you are what you say you are, I know what can kill you.

(Later, dawn, MULDER, holding a roll of aluminum foil, and JOHN, THE SON are in a jail cell with a long window. The sunlight almost fills the room. JOHN, THE SON is cringed against the last remaining dark wall.)

MULDER: It’d be easy to cover those windows. Just tell me where the other two are. In another couple of hours, there’ll be no escaping the sun…. Son.

(JOHN, THE SON spits at MULDER. MULDER knocks on the door and a guard lets him out.)

MULDER: If he wants to talk, cover the windows and call me. (hands him the foil)

DETECTIVE MUNSON: What if he turns into a bat and flies out through the bars?

MULDER: That man is clearly delusional but I get the sense that not even he believes his claims. For now, we’ve got to play along with his beliefs. I’m hoping the sunlight will give him an excuse to talk.

DETECTIVE MUNSON: Why don’t you go back to your hotel and get some sleep.

MULDER: I didn’t check into a hotel room. I don’t sleep anymore. (smiles bitterly and leaves)

(Two hours later in the cell. The sun reaches JOHN, THE SON’s feet. He begins screaming as smoke rises from his feet, and tries to press as far against the wall as he can.)

GUARD: (outside the cell) Number four, right away!

(More screaming.)

GUARD: (outside the cell) Number four, right away!

(Screams continue. Guards watch as JOHN, THE SON’s burnt body falls to the floor.)

(Later, in the cell, the coroner, DR. BROWNING, and MULDER look at JOHN, THE SON’s burned body.)

DR. BROWNING: An edema ball at the nostrils. Rupture of the skull due to internal steam pressure … these are indications of long term exposure to extreme temperatures, not a sunburn for 15 seconds.

MULDER: The guards found no flammable materials? I had believed that this man’s illness was psychological.

DR. BROWNING: There is a condition known as Gunther’s Disease – congenital erythropoietic porphyria creating cutaneous photosensitivity.

MULDER: I’m familiar with porphyria. It’s an affliction which causes lesions and blisters when skin is exposed to sunlight, not fourth degree burns. Sufferers may have a hema deficiency which can be supplemented by a small ingestion of blood, not the kind of bloodthirst this man had. It’s probably ignorance of porphyria as a disease that led to the creation of vampire myths in Asia in the Middle Ages. I had dismissed the possibility of the actual existence of such a creature as myth.

DR. BROWNING: (staring at MULDER throughout his speech) You are really upsetting me. On several levels.

MULDER: When will you get the blood tests back?

DR. BROWNING: Next week.

MULDER: (pointing to JOHN, THE SON’s hand) What’s this purple stain here?

DR. BROWNING: Could be an ink stamp like they give at a party or a club.

MULDER: Can you read it?

DR. BROWNING: It is possible that the heat burned the ink permanently into the lower levels of the skin. (gets a lamp from GUARD’S DESK AND HOLDS IT OVER THE HAND:) An old coroner’s trick.

MULDER: I can make a quarter appear from behind your ear.

(DR. BROWNING smiles then peels skin away revealing "Club Tepes" on the hand.)

(Club Tepes. Smoky, loud dance club. Vampire movies on the TV screens. MULDER, very out of place in his suit, enters. He passes by KRISTEN, beautiful, extremely thin, very spooky looking. She is sitting alone using at a compact with no mirror. He walks around her, curious.)

KRISTEN: Are you about to ask what a normal person like me is doing in a place like this?

MULDER: (sitting) How do you define normal?

KRISTEN: (to waitress) Risha .. Red wine. (to MULDER’s ear) I don’t. How do you?

MULDER: I don’t. All I know is, uh .. normal is not what I feel.

KRISTEN: You’ve lost someone. Not a lover, a friend. (wine arrives) I’ll get these. (hands over money, MULDER sees syringes in her purse)

(They raise glasses.)

MULDER: He who drinks my blood…

KRISTEN: …shall have eternal life. (they drink) You’re not interested in this place … in what we do.

MULDER: How do you know?

KRISTEN: You’re afraid of me. I take the life of others … inside me, into my blood.

MULDER: I need to know.

(KRISTEN takes his hand, very sexual, and leads him to a dark corner of the bar where they sit. She pulls one of several syringes out of her purse.)

KRISTEN: All day long I deal with equity notes, bonds, nothing that’s real. This gives my life… life. (she pricks her finger and offers the bloody tip to MULDER) My name’s Kristen. It’s a normal name.

MULDER: (pulling her hand away from his mouth) AIDS. Aren’t you afraid?

KRISTEN: I wish I could die.

(KRISTEN gets up and walks to a man, DAVID YUNG on the dance floor. She kisses him, then offers him the drop of blood on her finger that MULDER refused. YUNG takes her finger into his mouth and sucks on it. MULDER watches confused, almost jealously. KRISTEN leads YUNG out of the club. MULDER follows discreetly. A man, THE FATHER watches them leave.)

(Later, MULDER drives up to a house. Over the door is an eagle with a sun.)

MULDER: (to himself) Father. The Sun.

(He looks in the window and sees KRISTEN kissing YUNG. A trickle of blood runs down YUNG’s throat. A car turns the corner nearby illuminating MULDER. KRISTEN sees him. MULDER tries to open the door, then backs away and runs around the house to another door where YUNG opens the door and knocks MULDER back down the stairs. MULDER lies on the pavement.)

YUNG: I don’t know who you are, Freak, but we’re two consenting adults. Now, get the hell out of here.

(YUNG goes back inside.)

YUNG: Kristen? Kristen? (doesn’t see her) Kristen? Come out. It’s my turn.

(Eats a strawberry out of the refrigerator. Sees the shape of a woman in the door.)

YUNG: Don’t worry. I took care of that guy. I told you I’d protect you.

(YUNG is knocked to the floor by a man. YUNG begins screaming as the woman and another man converge on him.)

(Later, same house, now a crime scene. YUNG’s body still on floor.)

DETECTIVE MUNSON: The murderers cut off the power supply at some point and the phone. Fits their MO.

DETECTIVE NETTLES: Agent Mulder, this is our forensic dentist you requested – Dr. Jacobs.

DR. JACOBS: (shakes hands) How do you do.

MULDER: (quietly) I don’t want to bias your report, but I need a preliminary examination for anything … unnatural.

DR. JACOBS: Uh huh. (to an officer) Shine the light down here. (begins looking at the body)

(MULDER searching the house finds KRISTIN’s compact under the stove and a can of raspberry sauce dripping in the refrigerator. With fingerprints.)

DETECTIVE MUNSON: Agent Mulder. All this time I’ve been putting raspberry sauce on ice cream.

MULDER: Check these prints immediately. One will be the victim’s. The other should be the woman we’re looking for.

(MULDER goes back to DR. JACOBS.)

DR. JACOBS: Well, the bites are not done by an animal. These are human. And, realize this is a cursory exam, but I’d say they were made by three different people.

(Police station. MULDER is looking at the file on KRISTEN.

KRISTEN KILAR
1233 MALIBU CANYON
MALIBU, CA 91607
SEX:F HAIR :BL EYES:
HT: 5’8" WT: 100 DOB:
RESTR: None

There are two previous addresses.

164 Valley View Dr. Portland, Oregon 97223

4057 Sweetgum Lane Memphis, Tennessee 88161

MULDER looks at the files of the murders that were committed in each of those cities.)

MULDER: The Unholy Spirit.

(KRISTEN’s house. MULDER and team of police arrive.)

DETECTIVE MUNSON: We’ve got the front. You guys go around back. You, check the garage. Okay. Do it. Open her up.

(They pick the lock and enter the house.)

DETECTIVE NETTLES: Miss Kilar? Los Angeles Police Department. We have a warrant to search the premises.

(No response.)

(MULDER goes into the kitchen, latex gloves on. DETECTIVE MUNSON joins him and shows him what he has found.)

DETECTIVE MUNSON: I found these. Veterinary needles. Size matches the puncture wounds of the previous victims. This is from a snake bit kit. It’s placed over the wound to extract poison. Only this one …

MULDER: Has blood in it.

(DETECTIVE MUNSON is called away to another part of the house.)

(MULDER opens the oven and finds a loaf of bread. He breaks it open and finds that it is filled with blood. He quickly shuts the oven again when DETECTIVE NETTLES enters the kitchen.)

DETECTIVE NETTLES: Well, she wasn’t at work, and she’s not here.

MULDER: (with conviction) She’s gone, and she’s not coming back.

(That night. KRISTEN comes in the house. She takes down her hair, then notices MULDER sitting in the foyer. His tie is gone, shirt partially unbuttoned. He looks exhausted.)

MULDER: Special Agent Fox Mulder. (shows badge) Federal Bureau of Investigation. They’re after you.

KRISTEN: How do you know?

MULDER: The bread. Legends in Eastern European countries. It’s said that one can protect oneself eating bread filled with blood. You were protecting yourself.

KRISTEN: (walking toward him) And now you’re protecting me?

MULDER: I think it’s best if I took you into protective custody. They’ll kill once more. They’ll try to kill you.

KRISTEN: (circling him) Why are you here alone? Because you think you’re not afraid? Because you need to know. You need to know they are who you believe they are.

MULDER: What I believe you to be.

(KRISTEN crosses to the window and listens to the helicopters overhead.)

KRISTEN: One change in the wind and the fires will move this way. Have you ever tasted blood? (MULDER hesitates) No. You haven’t. Blood tastes … dangerous. It’s sweet and thick.

MULDER: (moving toward her) You were in Memphis and Portland when the other murders occurred. How are you connected?

KRISTEN: When I was a little girl, my father my father beat me. "Abused" is too frail a word. He showed his love for me by beating me. I was dead. One night, he hit me so hard he knocked out two teeth, then locked me in my room. The blood poured from my mouth onto the floor and down my throat. It was the only way I knew I was alive. I met John in Chicago. You know him as "The Son." He also beat me. (laughs softly) I guess that's the way it works sometimes. He hit me once and cut open my lip. I was angry. As revenge, I jumped on him and I bit through his lip. He tasted my blood. And I tasted his. After that, we were into blood sports. But... I never... I lost him. One night he came home with two others and it turned... unnatural. I left him and I moved to Memphis.

MULDER: But they followed you. They want you.

KRISTEN: I’m tired of running. And you’re here to protect me.

(She reaches into his shirt and fingers SCULLY’s cross which MULDER is wearing.)

KRISTEN: (amused) You trying to ward me off?

MULDER: That’s from someone I lost.

KRISTEN: Well, I hope you find her.

MULDER: The one you lost, John, he’s … dead. But they’ve picked up another. They’re three again. Kristen, you’ll be safer if you come back to the police station with me.

KRISTEN: Without him, they won’t come for me. I won’t go.

MULDER: Then I won’t go.

KRISTEN: (smiles) You need to get cleaned up.

(MULDER, sighs, and looks sheepishly embarrassed.)

(Later, MULDER, shirtless, is in the bathroom shaving by feel, since there is no mirror. KRISTEN knocks.)

MULDER: Yeah?

(KRISTEN enters in a robe and looks at him.)

MULDER: No mirrors.

KRISTEN: I don’t like the way I look.

MULDER: That makes this hard.

KRISTEN: (sitting on the sink in front of him) I’ll do it.

(MULDER steps between her legs and lets her take the razor and begin shaving his face. On the second swipe, MULDER grunts as she nicks his jaw on the left side. She stops shaving him and reaches out and wipes the blood onto her finger. She brings the drop to her lips, but MULDER grasps her wrist and pulls her hand away from her face.)

MULDER: It’s not who you are. It doesn’t make you happy.

(They stare at each other for a moment, then KRISTEN pulls his head to hers. He meets her in a kiss that quickly builds in hunger and intensity. Locked in the kiss, MULDER pushes her down and back out of frame. Wow. They are not watching TV tonight. Outside the window, JOHN, THE SON watches them with evil intent. Sound of helicopters overhead.)

(Later, just before dawn, KRISTEN is walking through the dark house. Suddenly, JOHN grabs her and puts his hand over her mouth. She struggles.)

JOHN, THE SON: I've been watching. I had to wait for you to finish. I had to wait to tell you. It's true. I was as surprised as anybody. (releases her) You can live forever. Everybody else just dies but we... We come back. The spirit showed me. And now she'll show you. We live in a different world, Kristen, and nobody on the outside can end my life. You can't kill me but I can kill you. I know, Kristen, what I did to you was... if I were to die I would certainly go to hell for what I did, but I love you and I can atone for eternity. Kill him... and we'll be together. You've got to drink the blood of his spirit.

KRISTEN: But he’s not …

JOHN, THE SON: No, no. He is. A spirit is one who believes. He knows we're possible. You don't have much time before the sun comes up. (holds up knife) Cut him open... and we'll finish.

(KRISTEN takes the knife and goes into the bedroom. MULDER is sleeping, fully clothed. She leans over him. He wakes.)

KRISTEN: You have to go.

MULDER: (sitting up suddenly) Are they here?

KRISTEN: The fire. You have to go.

MULDER: (putting on his shoes) My car’s down the hill.

KRISTEN: Mine’s in the garage. The keys are in it.

MULDER: You have to get your things.

KRISTEN: I’ll be right there.

(MULDER ducks as she stabs with the knife, but she hits the figure beside the bed, THE FATHER. MULDER watches as she stabs him repeatedly. THE FATHER staggers forward and falls on the bed.)

KRISTEN: He’s not dead! John’s alive. I saw him.

MULDER: Come on.

(MULDER leads her out into the hall. JOHN, THE SON attacks MULDER, and they fight. MULDER whacks JOHN, THE SON’s legs, then uses a lamp cord to tie him up. Then MULDER pulls KRISTEN into the garage and puts her in the passenger seat of her car, then gets in the drivers seat and starts the car. The WOMAN from the beginning, the UNHOLY SPIRIT, drops down onto the car and pulls MULDER out the sunroof after she shatters the glass. KRISTEN starts the car and runs into THE UNHOLY SPIRIT forcing her to release MULDER. THE UNHOLY SPIRIT begins speaking Rumanian, and KRISTEN rams the car again, pinning the SPIRIT against the wall. As she slides limply down the wall, we see a trail of blood where she was impaled on a wooden peg in the wall.)

MULDER: (running to KRISTEN) Are you all right?

KRISTEN: I won’t leave without him.

MULDER: I’ll go.

(MULDER runs back into the house and begins to untie JOHN, THE SON. He hears a car motor from the garage and runs back to investigate. He sees the empty garage, and runs down the long driveway, finding KRISTEN’s empty BMW.)

(Inside the house, KRISTEN pours gasoline all around JOHN and the two other unconscious ones in the hall.)

JOHN, THE SON: We’ll rise up! You can’t kill us! You’re not one of us!

KRISTEN: But I will be. (smiles, wipes blood off a wound on her head, then licks the blood off) I’m tasting the blood of a believer.

JOHN, THE SON: (getting nervous) But you haven’t taken a life.

(KRISTEN opens a box of matches and lights one.)

KRISTEN: I’ll take mine.

JOHN, THE SON: Don’t do that! Don’t do that! Don’t! Don’t! Don’t! No! No! No!

(Smiling sadly, KRISTEN drops the match.)

(MULDER, walking back to the house sees the huge explosion as fire quickly consumes the house.)

(Later, FIREMAN approaches MULDER who is sitting on the grass nearby the burned house.)

FIREMAN: Agent Mulder. (kneels down) I’m sorry. We found four bodies – all dead.

MULDER: The remains?

FIREMAN: The fire was extremely hot. It’s just ashes and bones.

(The FIREMAN walks away. MULDER reaches into his collar and pulls out SCULLY’s cross necklace and looks at it. He holds it tightly as he looks off into the distance.)

[THE END]