Anno Dracula (56 page)

CHARLES

Penny wants us to turn.

ARTHUR

Clever girl. You should look after her. Well, cheerio, old man. The sun will be down soon, and I’ve a thirst in me that this pig-stuff won’t slake.

CHARLES watches ARTHUR breeze out. He is breathing heavily, sweating. He touches his cut cheek.
*

*     *     *

ALLEY, WHITECHAPEL. EXT. DUSK.

We are near DRAVOT’s bolt-hole. ARTHUR and HENTZAU, dressed down a bit, loiter. The fog is thickening again.

ARTHUR

We’re a lot alike, Rupert. We depend on the patronage of our elders. You serve Dracula and I’m Ruthven’s man. In the old days, ambitious men in our position could console themselves with the thought that their superiors wouldn’t live forever, but...

HENTZAU

That’s a dangerous line of thought, Arthur.

ARTHUR

Ruthven’s sharp, but a dilettante. He gets bored with power. That thing with Tennyson. It was petty, childish. And Dracula...

HENTZAU

Is mad. How could he not be mad? The course he has charted. They say he disguises himself and passes among his subjects, bat-ears
a-tremble for treachery.

ARTHUR

The years must weigh heavily.

HENTZAU

Elders aren’t all like that. This Dieudonné snip, who caused so much grief for the late Count Vardalek.

ARTHUR

The girl with Charles Beauregard?

HENTZAU

She bears watching.

DRAVOT’s door opens. DRAVOT emerges.

ARTHUR

And so, evidently, does this gentleman. The Diogenes Club is in this to the elbows. (DRAVOT looks around, senses them, and retreats inside.) Damn, I should have remembered. Mycroft teaches his men well.

HENTZAU

He has to come out again.

ARTHUR

There’ll be a dozen back ways out. We’ve shown our hand. We might as well follow through...

ARTHUR and HENTZAU climb to DRAVOT’s door. ARTHUR pushes it open.

DRAVOT’S FLAT, WHITECHAPEL. INT. DUSK.

ARTHUR

It’s not even locked.

HENTZAU finds the same paper on the desk.

HENTZAU

Ho, what’s this?

ARTHUR (looking at the scrawl)

We have him, Rupert. And them, the Diogenes Club. It’s a plot. Mycroft’s calculating brain invented the whole thing. There’s no mad vampire killer, rallying the warm to revolt. Just clever men, warm and un-dead, undermining the rule of Dracula. We must catch Dravot and expose this conspiracy. There’ll be credit in it for us all.
*

*     *     *

MILLER’S COURT, WHITECHAPEL. EXT. NIGHT.

CHARLES and GENEVIEVE step into the courtyard. GENEVIEVE senses but does not see DRAVOT, who stands red-eyed in a corner. A window glows with candle-light, and we hear wet sounds. CHARLES and GENEVIEVE fix their attention on the door of MARY’s room. CHARLES pushes it open.

MARY’S ROOM, WHITECHAPEL. INT. NIGHT.

CHARLES and GENEVIEVE are shocked silent. SEWARD kneels on the bed, in the middle of a ruin barely recognisable as MARY. He is still working, apron and shirtsleeves dyed red. His silver scalpel flickers in firelight. Blood and other substances are spread across the bed and the floor, around the walls up to the height of three feet.

SEWARD

Nearly done. I have to be sure Lucy is dead.

SEWARD stands up and futilely wipes his hands on his apron. CHARLES points a revolver.

CHARLES

Dr Seward, put down the knife and step away from her.

SEWARD keeps the scalpel but steps away. CHARLES, eyes on SEWARD, steps near MARY and looks down, holding his horror rigidly in check.

SEWARD

Van Helsing says her soul will not rest until she is truly dead.

GENEVIEVE

Oh, Jack, Jack...

CHARLES cocks his revolver and aims at SEWARD’s heart.

CHARLES

It’ll be a mercy.

As his finger tightens on the trigger, MARY surges up from the bed – her insides open and red – and takes hold of CHARLES from behind, fangs near his throat.

MARY

No, you mustn’t hurt my Jack, my doctor...

GENEVIEVE dashes to help CHARLES, and SEWARD comes for her with the scalpel.

SEWARD

You’re Lucy. You’re Lucy too. I have to keep... helping Lucy...

SEWARD’s scalpel nears GENEVIEVE’s throat. CHARLES fights off the sorely wounded MARY, and hauls SEWARD off GENEVIEVE. SEWARD raises the scalpel to stab, and CHARLES shoots him in the heart.

SEWARD falls on to the bed, into MARY’s bloody embrace. MARY smiles sadly, madly, at him, and expires.

SEWARD

There. She is delivered. God is merciful. See, she is at peace. Sleep well, Lucy my love. It’s over. We’ve beaten him. We’ve defeated the Count. The contagion cannot spread.

SEWARD dies. GENEVIEVE and CHARLES, shaken, stand over
the bed.

GENEVIEVE

You’ve killed him. Poor Jack.

CHARLES

Poor Jack. Poor Mary. Poor Lucy. Poor Everybody.

DRAVOT steps in, a bundle on his shoulder.

DRAVOT

Well done, sir. You’ve put an end to Jack the Ripper.

CHARLES

Dravot.

DRAVOT

All along, sir, there were two murderers, working together. It should have been obvious.

DRAVOT opens his bundle. A dead white face stared up, lips drawn back in a last snarl. ARTHUR.

CHARLES

It’s Godalming.

DRAVOT

Lord Godalming, sir. He was in it with Dr Seward. They fell out last night.

CHARLES

How long have you known this, Dravot? How long has the Diogenes Club known but not seen fit to tell me?

DRAVOT

You caught the Rippers, sir. I’ve just been looking out for you. Your guardian angel.

CHARLES

And Jago? Was that you?

DRAVOT

Another matter, sir.

CHARLES

There’ll be a fearful scandal. Godalming was well-thought-of. He had a reputation as a coming man.

DRAVOT

His name will be entirely blackened.

CHARLES

And he was a vampire. That will cause a stir. The assumption was that the Ripper was warm. There will be repercussions. Careers will be smashed, reputations overturned. The Prime Minister will look foolish.

GENEVIEVE (to DRAVOT)

And what of me? Am I a ‘loose end’? Like Jack, like Godalming?
Like that poor girl? You let him butcher her, didn’t you? You or Jack killed Godalming. Then, knowing what he was, you stood back in the shadows and let him account for her. It was tidier that way. You didn’t even dirty your hands. Can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs, eh? What about us eggs?

MILLER’S COURT, WHITECHAPEL. EXT. NIGHT.

CHARLES and GENEVIEVE emerge, following DRAVOT. Police whistles sound. DRAVOT slips into the fog, leaving CHARLES and GENEVIEVE.

GENEVIEVE

What happened here, what truly happened?

CHARLES

I don’t yet know.

GENEVIEVE

You’ll be the hero.

CHARLES

Why?

GENEVIEVE

You’ve no choice.

LESTRADE and a couple of CONSTABLES, augmented by HENTZAU and some CARPATHIANS arrive.

CHARLES

There’s a dead woman in that court. And a pair of murderers, also dead. Jack the Ripper is finished.

LESTRADE and HENTZAU look into MARY’s room. LESTRADE is appalled by the scene.

LESTRADE

That’s Hell in there.

CHARLES

It’s Hell out here.

KATE and DIARMID arrive, followed by OLIVER. More rubber-neckers crowd in.

GENEVIEVE

It was Jack Seward.

KATE

Dr Seward?

GENEVIEVE

He was mad, and not responsible.

KATE

Then who was responsible?

GENEVIEVE

The thing who drove him mad.

They look up through thinning fog at the moon. A bat-shape soars across its face.
*

*     *     *

CARRIAGE. INT. NIGHT.

GENEVIEVE

Look, there’s Van Helsing’s head. It’s a mistake to leave it there. It’s not an example to would-be revolutionaries, it’s a rallying point. Insurrections need martyrs.

OUTSIDE THE PALACE. EXT. NIGHT.

The main gates have barbed wire wrapped around the uprights. CARPATHIANS haul the huge ironwork frames aside as if they were silk curtains and the carriage slides through. The Palace is illuminated. Black smoke pours into the sky.

CARRIAGE. INT. NIGHT.

The carriage stops outside the palace doors.

CHARLES (gets up)

You can stay in the carriage. Safe. I’ll be all right. This will not take long. (She shakes her head.) Gené, I beg you.

GENEVIEVE

Charles, why are you so worried? We’re heroes, we have nothing to fear from the Prince. I am his elder.

The door is opened by a FOOTMAN.

OUTSIDE THE PALACE. EXT. NIGHT.

GENEVIEVE steps down first. CHARLES follows. She takes his arm and nuzzles against him, but he will not be comforted.

Beyond the Palace fences stand crowds. Sullen sightseers peer through bars. GENEVIEVE looks and sees the CHINESE GIRL and a bundled-up MR YEE among the many faces.

The FOOTMAN, a vampire youth with a gold-painted face, leads them up the broad stairs and strikes the doors with his stick. They open, disclosing the marbled length of a vaulted reception hall.

RECEPTION HALL, BUCKINGHAM PALACE. INT. NIGHT. It’s like the Wizard of Oz’s antechamber. Thirty-foot diaphanous silk curtains part in the draught as CHARLES and GENEVIEVE step into the hall. SERVANTS appear and relieve the visitors of their cloaks. GENEVIEVE expects her dress to be admired but CHARLES glumly has to hand over his cane to a CARPATHIAN.

CHARLES (suddenly grasping her)

Whatever happens, this you must know. Gené, I love you.

GENEVIEVE

And I you, Charles. I you.

CHARLES

I you what?

GENEVIEVE

Love, Charles. I love you.

He kisses her, and they are drawn along the hallway, towards more tall doors, which open for them.

ANTECHAMBER, BUCKINGHAM PALACE. INT. NIGHT.

CARMILLA, a vampire lady-in-waiting, waits for CHARLES and GENEVIEVE. This hallway is like the last but far more battered. An armadillo wriggles past GENEVIEVE’s feet. The carpets are dirty. CARMILLA guides them to inner doors, which open in noisy lurches. The doorman is JOHN MERRICK, grotesque malformations emphasised by a tailored parti-coloured suit.

CHARLES

Good evening. Merrick, is it not?

GENEVIEVE

Why, it’s...

MERRICK

Don’t be afraid, pretty miss. I know what I’m called. The elephant man.

CHARLES

Mademoiselle Geneviève Dieudonné, may I present Mr John Merrick.

MERRICK (kisses her hand)

A pleasure, miss.

CHARLES

Mr Merrick is a loyal servant of the crown.

GENEVIEVE (quiet)

The Diogenes Club?

MERRICK (manages a twisted smile)

If you will follow me...

They proceed into another hallway.

HALLWAY, BUCKINGHAM PALACE. INT. NIGHT.

CHARLES and GENEVIEVE follow MERRICK to the most elaborate doors yet seen, decorated with gilt bat-motifs.

CHARLES

It amuses the Prince Consort to keep this poor creature on hand.

GENEVIEVE

He’s a monster. Not...

CHARLES

I know who you mean. (MERRICK opens the door.) Gené, if what I do brings harm to you, I am sincerely sorry.

He kisses her again...

BEDROOM, INT. NIGHT. FLASHBACK.

GENEVIEVE, lips bloody, cuddles up to CHARLES, who is awake, brooding.

GENEVIEVE

This can be forever, Charles. Truly forever.

CHARLES

Nothing is forever, my darling...

HALLWAY, BUCKINGHAM PALACE. INT. NIGHT.

... the kiss breaks. Light falls on CHARLES and GENEVIEVE as the doors are fully opened. They are admitted.

THRONE ROOM, BUCKINGHAM PALACE. INT. NIGHT.

Ill-lit by broken chandeliers, the throne-room is an infernal sty of people and animals. Dirtied and abused paintings hang at strange angles. Whimpering, grunting, screaming creatures congregate on divans and carpets. An almost naked CARPATHIAN wrestles a giant ape, their feet scrabbling and slipping on a filthy marble floor. HENTZAU stands by smartly. RUTHVEN is also present, scented handkerchief at his nose as he views the proceedings with distaste. The CARPATHIAN jams the ape’s face against the floor and snaps the animal’s spine.

Gales of cruel laughter are cut off by a wave of a ham-sized hand. Upon the raised hand, an enormous gemstone ring – the Koh-i-Noor, centrepiece of the Crown Jewels – holds the burning reflections of seven fires. GENEVIEVE looks into the jewel, and sees through it the distorted shape of a gross figure.

We pull back to see DRACULA. He sits upon his throne, massive as a commemorative statue, enormously bloated face a rich red under withered grey. Moustaches stiff with recent blood hang to his chest, his thick hair is loose about his shoulders, and his black-stubbled chin is dotted with the gravy of his last feeding. His left hand loosely holds the orb of office, which seems in his grip the size of a tennis ball.

CHARLES (overwhelmed)

I never dreamed...

An ermine-collared black velvet cloak clings to DRACULA’s shoulders like the wings of a giant bat. His body is swollen with blood, rope-thick veins visibly pulsing in his neck and arms. He smiles, showing yellow teeth the size of pointed thumbs.

QUEEN VICTORIA kneels by the throne, a spiked collar around her neck, a chain leading from it to a loose bracelet upon Dracula’s wrist. As a vampire, she has reverted to girlhood, but still has an old woman’s dignity even in these circumstances.

CHARLES (bowing his head)

Majesties.

An enormous fart of laughter explodes from DRACULA’s jaggedly-fanged maw.

DRACULA

I am Dracula. And who might these welcome guests be?

RUTHVEN

These are the heroes of Whitechapel, Majesty. To them we owe the ruination of the desperate murderers known as Jack the Ripper. Dr John Seward of infamous memory, and, ah, Arthur Holmwood, the terrible traitor...