Angel at Dawn (44 page)
Authors: Emma Holly
Tags: #Ghost stories, #Vampires, #Horror, #Paranormal, #Fiction, #Romance, #Paranormal romance stories, #Motion picture producers and directors, #Occult fiction, #Ghosts, #Occult & Supernatural, #Love stories
We return to JOE the next morning, following an establishing shot of the PRYORS’ HILLTOP MANSION. This tree-shrouded Gothic house looks both threatening and run-down. Its windows are boarded up and its grounds overgrown.
Inside, the GANG is sleeping in the large LIVING ROOM PARLOR on an assortment of decrepit Victorian furniture. Multiple layers of moth-eaten blankets protect them from the sun. The gang members remind us of dead bodies—which in truth they are. Two of the bodies share a single couch, though the blankets that wrap them are separate. Their feet stick out at the bottom, revealing that they’re wearing each other’s shoes. PHILIP has one blue and one black sneaker, while MATTHEW has one black and one blue. GEORGE PRYOR sprawls on what looks like a medieval throne, a half-consumed glass of liquor balanced on his chest. Unlike the others, he is uncovered. He sneers as his son, JOE, stuffs his schoolbooks into a backpack. When that fails to get a rise, George derides Joe for wanting to waste his time with humans. Joe keeps preparing. George rises, confronts him physically. Joe fends him off, then grabs his motorcycle jacket and slips away. Left without a target for his anger, George yanks the blanket off CHARLIE. A second later Charlie begins to smoke. He wakes, drags the blanket back, and saves himself. None of the others stir, but George laughs hysterically. However powerful his nature, we see he’s no better than a bully.
Next we see Mary Reed’s surroundings, a new SUBURBAN SUBDIVISION outside of Haileyville. All the houses are the same, all the trees, all the mowed patterns on the grass.
Inside, the REEDS’ KITCHEN looks straight out of a magazine, every surface perfect and colorful. Mary’s parents, GREGORY and DELIA, seem perfect, too, from Delia’s cheery apron to Gregory’s avuncular shopkeeper trousers and cardigan. As MARY picks at her breakfast, Delia scolds her not to be shy at her new school, like she was at her last. Delia brags about how popular she was when she was Mary’s age, a claim her husband substantiates. Their tone is as artificial as characters in a play—no new-style Method acting for them. Mary is near tears by the time she escapes the house, though her parents seem not to notice. Delia exclaims that worrying about “that girl” gives her a headache. Gregory pats her hand and advises her to lie down.
We join up again with MARY, now outside HAILEYVILLE HIGH SCHOOL. The school is part of the town, with a similar old-fashioned appearance. STUDENTS in cliques loiter on the grounds. We see JOCKS, GREASERS, STUDENT COUNCIL TYPES. They are a gauntlet Mary the new girl will have to pass. The Greasers particularly eye her. Looking frightened, Mary clutches her books tighter to her breasts. She is a buxom little lamb thrown among the wolves. She has just enough courage to climb the steps, where the Greasers begin to make apelike noises and paw at her. The other students watch with varying reactions but aren’t going to help her. Mary’s fear rises. She might be in real trouble.
From inside the HIGH SCHOOL, JOE spots MARY’s dilemma. There’s a brief trick of light, a glow around Mary’s head almost like a halo. Joe blinks, then shoves through the doors to rescue her.
The GREASERS back off without a single punch being thrown. They’re afraid of JOE because of his father’s gang. Plus, they sense the predator inside him. Where their toughness is somewhat put on, his is the real McCoy. Joe’s intervention leaves MARY grateful and starry-eyed. Her father has none of this natural authority. Joe plays it cool, leaving Mary behind as soon as he knows she’s safe. Still, there’s something in his manner, in the way he glances back at her one last time, that lets us know he’s intrigued by the new girl.
We see a montage of MARY and JOE in SCHOOL, both outsiders in different ways. In the classes they share, Joe sneaks looks at the self-conscious Mary. Whenever Mary looks back, he has turned away.
Inside HAILEYVILLE HIGH SCHOOL LUNCHROOM, a prissy FEMALE STUDENT COUNCIL TYPE warns MARY to avoid Joe. He’s bad news, she says: a member of the dreaded Fangs. He’s the only Fang who hasn’t dropped out of school, but he’s just as wild as the rest. In fact, he might be more dangerous, because he still pretends to be nice sometimes. Good girls get hurt when they hang out with boys like him. Across the lunchroom, JOE eavesdrops with his super-sharp vampire hearing. His reaction shifts between injured pride and scorn for the “squares.” He doesn’t realize the student council girl’s warning comes too late for Mary. She’s already half-smitten.
Dusk falls, an ominous time for a town harassed by vampires. OUTSIDE THE HIGH SCHOOL, the STUDENTS’ spirits are more subdued than in the morning. They hurry away to home and safety. Unfamiliar with the danger, a dawdling MARY crosses the grounds alone. She appears tired from her first day at her new school, her shoulders slumped, her eyes older than her years. A beautiful SCARLET MAPLE catches her attention. She stares up into its spreading branches, touched—at least for the moment—by childlike wonder. A smile ghosts across her face, not an expression she often wears. Though she’s isolated and vulnerable, we sense she’d rather be here than home. She shrieks as JOE drops down from the branches, seemingly out of nowhere. A young man’s belligerence radiates from him. “You’re afraid of me now,” he sneers. “Just like that girl warned you to be.” “Do you think I believe everything I hear?” Mary retorts. “People say things about me, too.” “What would they say about you? They barely know a mouse like you is alive.” The truth of this stings Mary, who turns jerkily and walks away. Joe watches her for a second, guilt on his face, before trotting after her.
They progress down Haileyville’s deceptively bucolic STREETS. “I’ll walk you home,” JOE says. “Make sure you get there all right.” MARY lets him, though her trust is uncertain. Joe breaks the awkward silence by mentioning the tree she was staring at. He agrees it was pretty. Mary says she wishes she owned a good camera. If she had pictures, she’d never forget when nice things happened. Joe dances backward ahead of her, showing off his fine male form. “You could take pictures of me,” he says. “I’m a nice thing.” Mary laughs and teases that she wouldn’t waste film on him, even if she had it. “I’ll get you a camera,” Joe boasts. Mary gives him a look. “I wouldn’t steal it,” he says. “I’d buy it with my own money.” We see his awareness that his money comes to him through his father’s life of crime, from which there seems to be no escape. “Maybe I’ll be a fireman,” he says. “Or a pilot. I bet I’d be good at that.” Joe thinks this is a pipe dream, and Mary might also, but, “I bet you’d be good at anything,” she says gently. They exchange their most open looks up till now. This is the moment they start to fall in love.
It is fully dark now. Streetlights form circles on the tidy suburban street in front of MARY’S HOUSE. JOE stops with MARY at the end of the walk. He knows a boy like him isn’t welcome to come closer. MARY’S MOTHER, wearing a housecoat, emerges from the house to eye the juvenile delinquent standing next to her daughter. Mary hurries up the walk as she is berated. We don’t need to hear what her mother says. Their gestures make it apparent to us—and to Joe—what the exchange entails. Mary resists a little as her shrewish mother tugs her inside. Mary’s sympathies are fully with Joe now. To her, he’s the sort of boy grown-ups always misunderstand. Joe leaves, his hands shoved in his pockets, looking resentful. The camera pulls back to reveal JOE’S FATHER spying on him from the dark yard across the street. His expression is calculating and narrow.
A short while later, GEORGE PRYOR has gathered the FANGS around the MANSION’S DINING ROOM table. In the background, almost concealed by shadows, an UNCONSCIOUS GIRL can be seen. She’s poorly dressed, maybe a runaway. She sags in ropes that bind her to hooks screwed into peeling wallpaper. The gang ignores her as George speaks. He announces the arrival of a new shopkeeper in Haileyville, one who needs to be set straight about how things work. Worry flickers across JOE’s face. Mary is new in town. Could this have something to do with her? The gang—especially BONEHEAD, GROWLER, and MACE—express enthusiasm for dropping in on the newcomer. First, though, George suggests that they have a snack, unless any of them objects to that? From his tone and the tightening of Joe’s jaw, we realize this is an ongoing point of contention. Joe’s allies—PHILIP, MATTHEW, and CHARLIE—glance at him for guidance. “We’re leaving too many victims,” Joe says. “News of what we’re doing could reach beyond Haileyville. Even you can’t thrall the whole state.” George scoffs at the idea that anyone can stop him. The vampires are a superior race, and surely even Joe is tired of being a Goody Two-shoes. “We don’t
have
to kill,” Joe says, the true heart of his argument. “Killing is what we’re born for,” George shoots back. A natural sensualist, Charlie joins in on feeding from the young woman. Philip and Matthew are shamed into it when Bonehead and Growler suggest they can’t get their fangs to come down for a pretty girl. In the end, only Joe holds back from feeding. We see that watching excites him, but he fights his hunger.
have
to kill,” Joe says, the true heart of his argument. “Killing is what we’re born for,” George shoots back. A natural sensualist, Charlie joins in on feeding from the young woman. Philip and Matthew are shamed into it when Bonehead and Growler suggest they can’t get their fangs to come down for a pretty girl. In the end, only Joe holds back from feeding. We see that watching excites him, but he fights his hunger.
Inside the REED HOUSE, MARY is pulling on a white sweater in preparation for leaving. “Don’t give your father trouble,” DELIA orders from off camera. The music tells us going out isn’t a good idea.
Outside the MANSION, the GANG prepares to mount up. Drawn slightly apart from the others, JOE and CHARLIE speak quietly. “Why do you always butt heads with him?” Charlie asks. “Because he wants us to be monsters,” Joe replies. “We are monsters,” Charlie says. “Only if we choose to be,” Joe avers. Charlie’s eyes widen. Joe is making him consider an idea he hasn’t entertained before. “That girl had parents,” Joe reminds him. “Just like you used to.” “I’d be dead if it weren’t for your father,” Charlie counters. “I was dying when he turned me.” “Yeah,” Joe says, “but you hadn’t killed anyone.” From too far away to hear their low conversation, GEORGE PRYOR glowers suspiciously at them.
An overhead shot of HAILEYVILLE’S MAIN STREET reveals someone’s car driving hastily away with a squeal of tires. Only one shop’s windows shine into the dark. A nocturnal bird abruptly falls silent.
MARY’S FATHER appears to be alone in REED’S DRUGSTORE, his aisles and soda counter utterly empty. He hasn’t gotten the memo that Haileyville rolls up its sidewalks at sunset. His head comes up at the sound of a distant rumble. Fear fills his eyes, but he dismisses it. MARY, his free labor, walks out from the back, drying her hands on a dishtowel. “What’s that noise?” she asks. “Nothing,” says her father, as if she’s foolish for noticing. “This town is dead.”
We cut to the GANG roaring closer, glimpsing worry or anticipation on the different vampires’ faces. GEORGE PRYOR is exultant. He’s looking forward to his son’s reaction to what’s coming.
MARY’S FATHER gasps as the sound of motorcycles rises. “Stay in the back,” he orders his daughter. MARY obeys mere seconds before the GANG drives their Harleys straight into the STORE. “You hoodlums can’t be in here,” Mary’s father blusters. “I’m calling the police.” GROWLER sneers at him. “Try it and see what happens, old man.” CHARLIE spots an attractive watch in a case. He mimes to JOE that they could steal it. Joe tells him not to with a tiny shake of his head. JOE’S FATHER doesn’t like this. His son isn’t the boss here. He grabs Gregory Reed by the neck, drawing everyone’s attention to himself. His vampire strength allows him to dangle the other man off the ground. “You want us to leave?” he says. “Pay our fee.” Joe spies Mary peeking in horror around the storeroom door. He jerks his gaze away at once, faint pink sweat shining on his face. If the gang discovers her presence, she’ll be in grave danger. Mary’s father reaches for the phone. BONEHEAD yanks it away. “Mary!” George cries, effectively betraying her. “Call for help from the back!”
We see all hell break loose from MARY’S point of view in the STOREROOM. The vampires turn fangy, though it’s JOE’S altered face she focuses on. The truth of what he is stuns her, though we can’t tell what she’s feeling beyond that.
Knowing JOE’S FATHER will want to catch and hurt Mary, JOE preemptively rushes him. Their epic battle rages through the DRUGSTORE. Still refusing to confront the reality of his situation, GREGORY REED insists THE GANG will have to pay for the damage . . . even as he cowers behind the counter. The gang’s two factions square off, each gleefully attacking the other in defense of their leaders. CHARLIE takes a moment to grab the watch he likes from a broken case. Because his father’s cohorts are occupied, when Joe gains a temporary advantage, he’s able to grab MARY and flee with her.
Sirens wail in the distance as JOE and MARY reach the ALLEY.
A series of shots shows the small HAILEYVILLE POLICE FORCE finally rousing itself. As officers rush into their patrol cars, we see they’re armed.
JOE and MARY are on the run. The WOODS outside of Haileyville provide their escape route. Mary stumbles, not for the first time, to judge by the bloody scratches all over her. Without slowing, Joe picks her up and carries her in his arms. His fangs are down, his face tormented. The longing glances he gives Mary’s wounds suggest more than stress from the fight is behind this. He licks his lips uncomfortably, reminding us he didn’t share in the other’s snack.
JOE and MARY climb into a BOXCAR that has been abandoned on an old siding. “You’re a vampire, aren’t you?” Mary says breathlessly, making the confession a bit easier on him. “I am,” he says, “but I’m trying to be a good man.” He explains the facts of vampire life to her—the difference between born and made ones, the fact that they don’t have to kill when they feed. “But everyone is so terrified of you,” Mary says. Joe’s face twists bitterly. He explains that this is his father’s doing. George Pryor likes to catch one victim for the whole gang, in which case, the person’s blood can be drained. “There was a girl tonight,” he begins, but can’t go further. He’s too afraid Mary will hate him. “Did you hurt her?” Mary asks, just as afraid to hear the answer. “I stood by,” Joe cries. “Oh, God, I stood by!” Mary touches him, and Joe stares into her eyes. “I need you to believe I can change,” he says fervently. “If you have faith in me, maybe I’ll find the strength.” “It’s in you,” Mary assures him. “I’m sure you’d find it even without me.” Both well up, though only Mary’s tears spill over. Joe clutches her to him and kisses her. Gratitude turns to arousal, which—at least on Joe’s part—becomes a more dangerous hunger. “I trust you,” Mary says as he nuzzles her neck with his fangs. She seems to be implying that he can bite her. Joe pulls back and looks at her, finding only acceptance in her expression. Joe’s heart is truly lost. We see he’ll do anything for her now.
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