f1x02 Script created with Final Draft by Final Draft, Inc.
[bottom] TEASER
FADE IN:
1 INT. THE LAB – FAITH'S OFFICE. EVENING. 1
FAITH sits behind her desk, white lab coat on as she flicks
idly through a magazine, looking bored as heck. She stifles a
yawn, stretches, and checks her watch.
2 INT. THE LAB – EXAM ROOM. 2
Still stretching, Faith wanders up to a row of bunsen burners
and bubbling beakers filled with different coloured, smoking
fluids, lined up across one of the tables.
She picks up a clipboard, checks some numbers off and then
glances at the thermometer in each beaker.
FAITH
Whaddya know. Absolutely no change.
(puts clipboard back)
Again.
Looking increasingly fed up, she turns to head back into her
office to wait for the next round of checks, when she hears a
faint SMASH of breaking glass.
She freezes, turning slowly round, her senses suddenly alert.
She heads towards the source of the noise.
3 INT. THE LAB – CORRIDOR. 3
Faith opens one of the exam room doors into a long, darkened
corridor, her eyes scanning the gloom. She is about to close
it again when a FIGURE darts past us in the foreground, and
Faith whips back round.
With one last glance into the exam room, she quietly closes
the door and starts to pad down the corridor. She's about ten
feet along when she hears a RUMBLE, as though someone knocked
over a pile of boxes.
Quickening her pace, she heads towards the nearest door,
labeled 'Stocks & Supplies.' She tries the handle and finds
it's unlocked.
She starts to nudge the door open, then pauses and pats her
belt. It only takes her a second to realise she's left her
trusty stake behind, and with a silent curse she nudges the
door a little wider.
4 INT. THE LAB – SUPPLY ROOM. 4
The room is piled high with boxes, and doesn't look like it's
been disturbed for a long time.
Faith takes a few steps forward when she hears a SHUFFLING
sound coming from the far side of the room.
FAITH
Alright, hombre, come on out. This
may be the first interesting thing
that's happened all night, but I'm
damned if I'm getting jumped while
I'm still on duty…
Nothing. Faith sighs and reaches out for the light switch,
flicking it on.
As the room illuminates, we can see the huddled form of
somebody hunched over in the corner of the room. Faith
starts, then catches her breath and chuckles.
FAITH (cont'd)
Nice try, Blair Witch. Almost had
me.
She steps forward, starting to make out a soft moaning noise
coming from the figure.
As we draw closer, we see it's a young woman with blonde
hair, her arms wrapped tightly round her chest and her back
to us. Faith narrows her eyes as she recognises the figure.
FAITH (cont'd)
Noa?
She kneels and lays a hand on the figure's shoulder. As she
does, the figure slowly turns – and it is indeed NOA, her
face deathly pale and her eyes glazed.
FAITH (cont'd)
Noa? What the hell are you doing in
here? Aren't you meant to be out
with that guy?
Noa doesn't answer, she just looks down towards her chest
again and starts to rock slowly back and forth.
FAITH (cont'd)
Okay, you're startin' to freak me
out, so let's-
Faith pauses as she notices blood on Noa's hands and
forearms. A lot of blood. She reaches out and slowly pulls
Noa's arms away.
Noa is wearing a now blood-soaked white shirt, but it's torn
across the chest, and where her heart should be is just a
bloody wound and a black hole.
Faith's eyes bulge and she looks to Noa, frantic.
FAITH (cont'd)
Noa? What happened? Who did this?
Noa starts to whisper something, but as Faith struggle to
hear her, Noa suddenly faints dead away – literally.
Faith grabs her body and stares dumbfounded at it, her brain
racing to try and process what she's seen.
FAITH (cont'd)
Noa… Noa! Noa!
5 INT. THE LAB – FAITH'S OFFICE. NIGHT. 5
Faith suddenly jolts herself awake with a shout.
FAITH
Noa!!
NOA (O.S.)
What?
We pan across and pick up Noa, noticeably well-dressed
beneath her lab coat and looking sulky as she munches through
a packet of potato chips. Faith rubs her eyes and leans far
back in her chair.
FAITH
(groans)
Don't tell me…
NOA
You've been asleep about ten
minutes. I was trying to tell you
what a jerk that guy Ronald turned
out to be – I mean, who wouldn't be
a jerk with a name like 'Ronald'
anyway – and you were listening and
nodding in that half-bored, half
complacent way you do, and when you
dozed off, I just…
(looks guiltily at bag of
chips)
Well, I kinda finished your dinner.
Are you okay? You look pretty pale.
FAITH
Just dreamin,' was all.
Faith notices what Noa's wearing – the same white shirt she
just saw in her dream. Noa realises she's staring.
NOA
You like the shirt? Just got it
today!
Special offer too, continuing my
reign as Queen of the Bargains.
Noa's smile fades as she takes in Faith's dark look.
NOA (cont'd)
Uh-oh… that's not a good look, is
it?
FAITH
(shakes head)
'Fraid not, twinkie. I think we;ve
got trouble.
Noa bites her lip, and we:
BLACK OUT:
END OF TEASER
ACT ONE
FADE IN:
6 INT. NYPD CENTRAL PRECINCT – FRONT DESK. EVENING. 6
We're walking towards the front desk and taking in the usual
assortment of late night stragglers as QUINN walks into
frame, mid twenties, thin and unassuming. The desk sergeant
looks up as the newcomer approaches.
SERGEANT
Something I can help you with, son?
QUINN
Yeah, Detective Jon Quinn, I just
transferred out here, I'm supposed
to ask for a Detective Lehto?
SERGEANT
Alright, just a second.
He picks up a phone as Quinn looks round the lobby.
SERGEANT (cont'd)
Carmell? Got a newbie down in the
lobby, a Detective, uh…
(to Quinn)
What was it again?
QUINN
Quinn, Jon Quinn.
SERGEANT
Detective Jon Quinn. Says he's here
to see Lehto, new transfer.
(beat; laughs)
Yeah, I know, that's what I
thought!
He puts the phone down and points towards the lift.
SERGEANT (cont'd)
Fourth floor, end of the second
corridor. Lehto's the young, pretty
boy-looking one.
Quinn nods, walks past the desk and into the elevator.
7 INT. PRECINCT – FOURTH FLOOR. 7
We're looking out across an open plan office, with about half
the desks occupied by plain clothed detectives.
We focus on one, DETECTIVE LEHTO, who is indeed a young,
pretty boy-looking type of guy. He's on the phone.
LEHTO
No, ma'am, I'm not… of course not.
I'm sure you did see a monster
going through your trash. Mm-hmm,
right outside your back porch. Yes,
I can imagine how scared you were.
Quinn walks into frame and nods towards Lehto, who indicates
he should take a seat. He starts scribbling something on a
notepad as Quinn sits.
LEHTO (cont'd)
Okay, here's what I'm gonna do.
I'll send an officer over to drive
round the neighbourhood, keep an
eye out for anything. If there are
any monsters still out there, we'll
pick 'em up. That sound like a
plan?
Lehto holds up the notepad – he's written 'Third Crazy
Tonight!' across it. Quinn grins.
LEHTO (cont'd)
Great. Okay, you too, ma'am.
He hangs up and sags in his chair.
LEHTO (cont'd)
Man! I am getting all the stone
cold crazy ass elderly housewives
tonight, I'm telling ya!
QUINN
(shakes his hand)
Jon Quinn. New transfer.
LEHTO
Ah, cool. I'm Michael Lehto, people
usually call me 'Late' 'cause it's
what I am most of the time.
QUINN
Just 'Jon,' Not the nicknames type.
Lehto lights up and offers one to Quinn, who declines.
LEHTO
So what brings you to El Grande
Manzana, Detective?
QUINN
The Sunnydale Case.
Lehto nods, and we get the impression this case is some
pretty serious business.
LEHTO
That's a big one, bud. Kind of case
that makes or breaks a man.
QUINN
I've been tracking it round the
country for a long time, everything
I've got points to the killer being
in New York, right now.
LEHTO
That's a big case, Jon, you have my
sympathies and respect in equal
measure!
(stands)
C'mon, I'll show you your new
office.
Lehto takes one step away from his desk and spreads his arms
to indicate the rest of the floor, with a grin.
LEHTO (cont'd)
And this would be it! One big happy
cop family. That's your desk, next
to mine. Guess they figured you'd
learn best from sticking close to
me. I'm never here on time, so
you'll have answered so many of my
calls by the end of the week, you'd
be able to do my job for me!
Quinn manages a grin, but doesn't look too thrilled.
8 INT. THE LAB – EXAM ROOM. EVENING. 8
Faith sits by one of the room's tables, Noa is perched on top
of another, flicking through Faith's magazine, while a just
woken-up looking PRYOR paces up and down.
PRYOR
And you're sure it was Noa you saw?
FAITH
Absolutely. Same vacant expression.
Faith looks to Noa with a grin, but she's miles away,
concentrating on her magazine. Faith rolls her eyes.
PRYOR
These dreams, do you have them
often?
FAITH
Part of the Slayer package deal.
PRYOR
Have any of them ever come true?
FAITH
Most of 'em, yeah.
PRYOR
This is bad news. Very bad indeed.
FAITH
Hey, you know, sorry to drag you
out of bed on your night off and
everything, but I figured-
PRYOR
No, no, you did the right thing. I
get the feeling this kind of thing
is going to happen a lot from now
on.
NOA
(shocked)
Oh, my God!
PRYOR
What? What is it?
NOA
(off magazine)
She's pregnant again! That girl
needs to learn how to say 'no'…
PRYOR
(flustered)
Noa, please! Try to concentrate,
this is important!
Noa sighs and puts the magazine down, and Faith smirks.
PRYOR (cont'd)
Now, we need you to try and think
of anything suspicious or out of
the ordinary you may have seen in
the past few days.
We pull back and pan down to pick up the large, very ugly and
very dead demon corpse laid out on one of the operating
tables, an axe still embedded in its chest.
Faith and Noa look over to it, and when Pryor twigs what
they're looking at, he sighs.
PRYOR (cont'd)
Except that, I mean.
NOA
Pryor, I don't know! For all I
know, some random guy, or monster,
or vampire, or whatever could have
been spying on me all week, looking
for a chance to rip my heart out!
(beat; pales)
And boy, did I ever not want that
thought in my head…
FAITH
Look, let's start small, work our
way out. Why would somebody or
something want Noa's heart?
PRYOR
Hmm… I'll check my records, see if
I've encountered any creatures that
require human hearts for
sustenance.
FAITH
Great. I'll go hit a few demon
bars, see if there are any new
heart-eating bad guys in town.
Pryor nods, and Faith stands and heads for the exit as Pryor
walks towards his office. Noa blinks and raises a hand to get
their attention.
NOA
What about me?
FAITH
You stay right there.
PRYOR
And try and think if anybody you
know has enough of a grudge against
you to want you dead.
Noa pouts as the other two leave.
NOA
Well shucks, I always thought I was
kinda likeable…
She shrugs and goes back to the magazine.
9 INT. PRECINCT – FOURTH FLOOR. EVENING. 9
Quinn is unpacking a few personal items from his bag – a few
photos, a silver cross and a small teddy bear in a cop's
uniform. Lehto leans over and grabs the photos.
LEHTO
Wife and kid?
QUINN
(nods)
Jennifer and Gina.
LEHTO
Nice. Stereotypical, but nice.
QUINN
Stereotypical how, exactly?
LEHTO
Heh, just an office joke, Jonny
boy. If you look round the desks in
here, 'most everyone has a family
portrait of their wife and
daughter!
QUINN
What about you?
LEHTO
Women hate me. It's a gift.
Quinn turns to face a whiteboard and display board next to it
on the wall, taking a large, folded sheet of paper from his
bag and spreading it out across the board.
He pins down a map of New York, covered with lines and glossy
photos of murder victims before and after stuck to it. The
map is covered with notes showing phrases and theories, a
work in progress.
LEHTO (cont'd)
That your work on the case so far?
Lehto walks over to the display, studying it.
LEHTO (cont'd)
So go on, hot shot, you're the
newbie. Tell me what you got so
far.
QUINN
Single homicide, committed in a
suburb of California called
Sunnydale.
LEHTO
Yeah, went there once. Nice place.
Kinda creepy at night.
QUINN
And also not there anymore.
LEHTO
Huh?
QUINN
Earthquake or something. The whole
city just fell into the ground.
LEHTO
Man! Tough break.
QUINN
Suspect's description has been
cobbled together from witness
reports, still sketchy, but as best
we can make out the killer is a
female, early twenties by now,
average height, lean build,
athletic, dark hair, and an almost
surgical precision to her kills.
LEHTO
'Kills'? As in plural?
QUINN
(nods)
We've got at least six more murders
leading in a trail from Sunnydale
to New York over the past few
years, same M.O. And most likely
same killer.
Lehto nods as Quinn takes points to some of the victim's
photos to illustrate his points.
QUINN (cont'd)
She started in Sunnydale then made
her way across the country.
Apparently, a suspect gave herself
up over in Los Angeles in 2000, but
somebody hacked into the records
following a jailbreak last year so
I've not been able to confirm if it
was her or not. M.O. involves
massive trauma to victim's chest,
typically the heart, with an edged,
improvised weapon, stabbed at close
range and from the front. No
sneaking around for this girl, she
likes to look into her victim's
eyes when she kills.
LEHTO
(beat)
You're a little creepy, know that?
QUINN
(turns back to display)
Yeah, I get that a lot. So, that's
why I'm out here. I've been
following this case for a long
time, then when her path crossed my
old precinct, I just started
following.
LEHTO
Must be rough on the family.
QUINN
Jenny knows the deal. Cops can stay
on the same beat all their life –
detectives get a little freedom of
movement. We have family out here,
so moving wasn't a big deal. Gina's
just about to move up into grade
school anyway, and Jenny's a
freelance illustrator so she could
transfer easily enough.
LEHTO
What's your interest in all this?
QUINN
(beat; shrugs)
Just wanted to solve the case. No
big deal.
Quinn studies the map as a crack of thunder signals the start
of a downpour of rain outside.
10 EXT. OUTSIDE FOURTH FLOOR. NIGHT. 10
We're looking in on Quinn and Lehto through the window,
pulling back and away as rain starts to fall, descending to
street level and picking up Faith, marching down the street,
her hair slick with the rain. She passes through the neon-lit
doorway of a club.
11 INT. 'WICKED GAMES' CLUB. NIGHT. 11
Faith shakes herself dry as she scopes out the club's
interior. It's another demon bar, the clientele inside
craning to examine her, a few shuffling nervously away. She
approaches the bar and stares down GREGOR, the bulky, sour
faced bartender.
FAITH
Nice night for a walk, huh, Gregor?
GREGOR
Mierda… What do you want in here,
Slayer?
You're killin' my business in more
ways than one! Half my regulars got
too scared to come in here, half
the rest are dead because of you!
Faith grins as she hops up on a bar stool.
FAITH
Ah, come on, you know you're
pleased to see me really! You
oughtta be thankin' me anyway, last
week I smashed up the Kennedy's
place down on 45th, I'd have
thought that sent more business
your way!
Gregor mutters but doesn't answer back.
FAITH (cont'd)
Here's the deal. What I want is-
DEMON (O.S.)
Hey, Slayer!
Faith groans and turns round. Facing her is a pack of three
angry-looking DEMONS, the lead one a muscular, grey-skinned
guy called BARGO. Faith steps down off her stool.
FAITH
Alright, boys, let's keep it-
THWACK! Faith is felled by a powerful backhand from Bargo.
She flips back up and onto her feet in seconds, ready in a
fighting stance. She glares at the demons.
BARGO
You Slayer girls oughtta know
better than to come to a place like
this!
FAITH
I hear that a lot, ya know? Gets
kind hard to remember where I'm
supposed to avoid!
Bargo lunges at her with a snarl, but she dodges back, grabs
him by the back of the shirt and tosses him ass over elbow
towards the bar.
Gregor yells and ducks for cover as Bargo SMASHES into the
bottles lined up behind the bar.
GREGOR
Slayer!! Take this outside!
Faith ducks a swing from the next demon and the two start
trading punches.
We pull back from the fight and into a booth in the corner. A
HOODED MAN is watching the fight, sipping quietly from a
glass of green liquid.
Back with the fight, Faith knocks the last of the demons to
the ground and stands over them, defiant.
She turns to Gregor, peering over the bar's surface, and
shrugs her jacket back on.
FAITH
Hate to love ya and leave ya, Greg
old pal, but maybe I'll try back
another time. I get the feeling
people in here ain't much with the
talking tonight.
She turns and leaves as Gregor hurls a tirade of abuse after
her, smirking to herself.
We walk up to the door with her, and as she pushes it open
and heads outside, the door swings into frame, forcing a:
BLACK OUT:
END OF ACT ONE
ACT TWO
FADE IN:
12 INT. THE LAB - PRYOR'S OFFICE. NIGHT. 12
Noa knocks on Pryor's office door and peeks inside. Pryor is
concentrating on his computer, scrolling through long lists
of files, and he doesn't notice her as she steps inside. She
waits a beat but he's still oblivious.
NOA
Pryor?
Pryor YELPS and spins round, startled. Noa raises an eyebrow
as her boss calms back down and tries to look casual again.
PRYOR
Yes, Noa? What is it?
NOA
I, uh, did some checking for you.
She hands him a sheet of handwritten paper, which Pryor scans
over before looking back at her.
NOA (cont'd)
It's all the people I can think of
who'd have some kind of problem
with me. You know, for the whole
'wanting my heart' thing.
PRYOR
(resigned)
Noa, this is a list of your ex
boyfriends. And that woman at the
coffee shop who shouted at you once
for stealing all their sugar.
(beat; reads)
I'm on this list!
NOA
Well, duh, I know you don't think
I'm the greatest assistant in the
world, else you wouldn't have hired
Faith…
Pryor crumples up the paper and tosses it into his bin.
NOA (cont'd)
Hey!
PRYOR
Noa, this is serious, we're trying
to locate someone who wants to kill
you, not some jilted lover who
wants his CDs back!
Noa pouts and Pryor sighs, rubbing his eyes.
PRYOR (cont'd)
I'm sorry, it's late, I wasn't
sleeping well anyway, and I-
NOA
No, no, it's cool. You're stressed.
I get it. I'm just still not used
to this whole 'evil' business, you
know? A few months ago, the most
evil thing I could think of was
last season's shoes, and now, I'm
already intimately familiar with
the internal anatomy of a grebblax
demon! The concept of my life being
in mortal danger isn't something
I've thought about much, you know?
PRYOR
Noa, we live in New York. We may
not be based in the Bronx, but
we're not exactly a hundred per
cent safe on our streets these
days!
Noa retrieves her list from the bin and unfurls it, pointing
to one name in particular.
NOA
Okay. I get all that. But here's
one person worth checking out, this
guy Richard that I was seeing for a
while last year. I broke up with
him because he was into all sorts
of creepy stuff - you know,
pentagram posters on his wall,
books about magic, things like
that.
PRYOR
Well, I suppose it's as good a lead
as any… we'll see what Faith turns
up then the two of you can go
investigate this when she gets
back.
NOA
Let's hope she's having more luck
than us…
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Script created with Final Draft by Final Draft, Inc.