DARKNESS FALLS "LOVE NEVER DIES" BY MATTHEW BURDORFF SECOND DRAFT OPENING CREDITS FADE IN EXT. LENOIR CAFETERIA - DAY JOEL MCCORMICK sits at a table staring off into space. HALEY LEWIS sneaks up behind him very slowly. She grabs him and he jumps. She plants a kiss on his cheek. HALEY Sorry, I'm late baby. JOEL I've been waiting her for fifteen minutes. HALEY Joel, honey, I'm sorry but the film screening for class went long. What was I supposed to do? Joel stares at her. HALEY Oh shut up! (laughs) and I thought that you were really mad. Joel forces a laugh. HALEY Come on, let's go get some lunch. CUT TO: INT. TOP OF LENOIR - DAY Joel and Haley are sliding along the salad bar. HALEY I don't know why you are always worrying so much. JOEL I can't help it. I just worry okay? HALEY But you don't have anything to worry about. JOEL Somehow you telling me that doesn't make me feel any better. Haley stops and looks at him. HALEY Listen, I know that we've had our troubles in the past and that I haven't always been the ideal girlfriend. But you haven't always been the ideal boyfriend either. JOEL Like when? HALEY Like now! Pestering me about nothing and making me feel bad. JOEL I'm sorry. HALEY Besides you're overlooking one major fact. JOEL What's that? HALEY That I truly want us to be together forever. I'm here with YOU now. I left behind the possibility of someone else so I could be with you. Frankly, if I were you I would be flattered. JOEL (sarcastically) Flattered. Yeah... CUT TO: Joel and Haley sitting a table. HALEY I just need for you to trust me. JOEL Alright. HALEY I mean don't you want us to be together JOEL Of course I do, why do you think I worry? HALEY Well how can we have a healthy relationship that lasts forever if you can't even trust me? JOEL I know, I know (looks at table) HALEY I mean I trust you... JOEL Yeah, yeah. I forgot something to drink. You want anything? HALEY No, but thank you, sweetie. JOEL Yeah. CUT TO: Joel stands over by the soda machine. He is filling up a cup when he glances over to his table. CUT TO: JOEL'S P.O.V. We see a handsome dark complected MAN sitting with Haley. She is laughing and twisting her hair. They are obviously flirting. Joel slams down his drink in frustration and anger and moves over to them. HALEY Oh... Joel. Where's your drink? JOEL I'm not thirsty. Hi, I'm Joel. Haley's boyfriend. MAN How do you do? JOEL (bitter) Very well, thank you. HALEY Oh, uh, Joel, this is Regen. Regen this is, uh... REGEN Joel. HALEY Joel. JOEL That's right. REGEN (shaking his hand) It's a pleasure, I'm sure. JOEL I'm sure that the pleasure is all mine. (beat) REGEN Well, Haley, it was charming chatting with you, but I must be going. I'm sure that I will see you later. (to Joel) And it was nice to meet you... Joel. Regen exits the scene. Joel and Haley are silent as they watch him go. JOEL What was that all about? Uh... Joel. HALEY Me? You were the one that was ready to challenge him to a duel. JOEL You're going to see him later! HALEY In class! Jesus... Listen, I'm getting really sick of all this unwarranted suspicion. I don't like feeling like an ant under a microscope. I mean, just because I want to sleep with him. CUT TO: C.U. Joel's face. VOICE (O.S.) Jesus! She told you that she wants to sleep with him. The camera pulls out to reveal: INT. DORM ROOM - DUSK Joel is sitting on a dorm room bed. Obviously from items in the room it is a girl's dorm room. In the room with him is KATHARYN BYRNE. JOEL Well, she didn't say that. But she meant it. KATHARYN You think that she really wants to sleep with him? JOEL God, I don't know. I just know something isn't right. There's something more going on there. KATHARYN You're crazy. And she's crazy about you. I think you are overreacting. JOEL I don't know. Maybe. I feel like I need to do something about this guy. KATHARYN What can you do? I mean, she hasn't done anything and frankly the more you accuse her the more likely you are going to drive her away from you. And besides, she's an adult. There's nothing you can do even if she's sleeping with this guy right now. Joel groans. KATHARYN Sorry. I'm just trying to say it's not worth driving yourself crazy worrying about it. JOEL (sarcastic) Thanks, Katharyn. You've been a huge help. KATHARYN Well, I try. Joel leaves the room. CUT TO: EXT. DORM BUILDING - DUSK Joel exits the dorm building. He is looking down at the ground lost in thought. He glances up and stops dead in his tracks. CUT TO: JOEL'S POV Regen and Haley are conversing on the opposite side of the quad. She is again laughing and twisting her hair. Regen puts his arm around her waist and they walk away from Joel. JOEL (furious) Dammit. BEGIN MONTAGE Set to music, we see the following scenes. 1. Regen and Haley are exiting some restaurant on Franklin Street. Joel is nearby spying on them. 2. Joel stands outside Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream watching Regen and Haley who are sitting in the window. 3. He sneaks after them through Polk Place. They are laughing and carrying on. 4. Regen and Haley stand outside some dorm building. They are kissing. Joel is devastated. 5. Regen walks around to open his car door for Haley. She stops him and starts kissing him. Joel climbs in the rear door on the opposite side and onto the floorboards. 6. Regen and Haley get into the car and they start driving. INT. REGEN'S CAR - NIGHT Joel is straining to listen to the conversation from the floorboards of the car. There is very little. HALEY What kind of music do you like to listen to? She leans forward and turns on the radio, Regen leans forward and turns the radio off. REGEN I don't really listen to music. HALEY Oh. They continue to ride on in silence. Joel has a questioning look on his face. HALEY Where is it that you live? REGEN I have an apartment in (name of apartment complex). More silence. HALEY You know, I'm not really sure I want to- REGEN Look at me. (She looks.) I won't do anything to you that you don't want me to. HALEY (repeats somewhat slowly) Won't do what I don't want you to. JOEL is in full torment in the back seat. CUT TO: EXT. APARTMENT COMPLEX - NIGHT Regen's car pulls into a spot. Regen gets out and opens the door for Haley. Joel stays on the floorboards listening for the slam of the apartment door. He finally hears it. He peeps his head over the car seat, opens the door and crawls out. Closing the car door silently he sneaks from the car to the apartment complex. Joel crawls over to the window. Looking through he sees Regen handing Haley a glass of wine, but he has nothing himself. Joel sits under the window to wait and drowses off. CUT TO: EXT. APARTMENT COMPLEX - NIGHT Joel awakes with a start. He starts to panic and looks at his watch. He looks through the window once again. He jams the heel of his hand in his mouth. CUT TO: JOEL'S POV The room is candlelit. Haley and Regen are sitting with their backs to the camera. Both have their shirts off. Regen is kissing Haley's neck and caressing her. BACK TO: Joel outside. He thumps his fist down on the windowsill. He crouches down thinking. CUT TO: INT. REGEN'S APARTMENT - NIGHT The camera is looking out the window. We see Joel stand up and run off into the night. The camera pulls back slowly to reveal candles, the Haley's face gasping in ecstasy, then Regen. Regen's eyes are completely black and he is baring his teeth including his fangs. He is sucking from Haley's neck. There is blood all over his chest and hers, soaking her bra. FADE TO BLACK SOUND EFFECT knocking on door. Door opens and we see that we are in: INT. KATHARYN'S ROOM - NIGHT Joel is standing outside the door. Haley has her back to us. She is in some sort of sleepwear. KATHARYN Joel! Are you alright? JOEL She's cheating on me. KATHARYN What? JOEL She's been lying to me all along! KATHARYN Wait, slow down. What are you talking about? JOEL Tonight. I followed them. They went to his apartment and GOD! KATHARYN You followed them? Jesus. Wait. What exactly did you see? JOEL Enough. Both of them half-naked... Him all over her... KATHARYN Oh okay. JOEL No, it's not okay! KATHARYN It's probably nothing. JOEL (incredulous) What do you mean it's probably nothing? They're probably over there right now banging their brains out! Katharyn starts pushing him towards the door. KATHARYN Listen you're overreacting and I need to get some sleep. Everything will look better in the morning. CUT TO: INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT Katharyn closes door. JOEL (bangs on door) OVERREACTING? What the hell is wrong with you? A RESIDENT leans out a door on the hallway. RESIDENT Shhhh. JOEL Oh shut up. CUT TO: Fast motion effect of sun rising. BEGIN MONTAGE 1. Joel walking through campus sad and depressed. Not noticing all the people around him. 2. Camera zooming in on Joel in class as he doesn't pay attention. 3. Joel sitting outside Lenoir, looking off into the distance. 4. Joel sitting alone in Lenoir, about to eat, looks at food disgusted, puts it down. 5. Getting angry in his dorm room (?) 6. Joel walking through campus at dusk. CUT TO: A dorm door. A knocking is heard. The door opens. There stands Haley. HALEY (yawning) Oh hi baby. What time is it? Joel walks past her into the room. JOEL It's past five already. HALEY Oh Jesus. I missed our lunch. I just came home from my first class and passed out. I didn't get much sleep last night. JOEL Yeah. I bet. HALEY What's wrong? JOEL Where did you go last night? HALEY Nowhere really. JOEL You weren't here. HALEY Well I went out to eat with a friend. JOEL Would this friend be, Regen? HALEY Jesus Christ. Joel I am sick and tired of dealing with this all the time. JOEL I know where you went last night? Haley turns away. HALEY What are you talking about? JOEL I saw you. HALEY (in a lower voice) Saw what? JOEL Jesus, I'm not a fool. Haley doesn't answer. We see that her eyes have turned black and that fangs are now protruding from her mouth. JOEL I know you did it just admit it. Haley is breathing heavily. JOEL After all the promising you did? After all the times you swore you were being faithful? HALEY (in a deep voice) It's not what you think... JOEL What's wrong with your voice? Haley spins and shows Joel what's happened to her. JOEL Oh my god... HALEY (in deep voice) Join us, Joel. You can have everything you want. You can stop this worrying. We can be together forever. Joel stumbles back in horror. He screams and bolts from the room. CUT TO: EXT. DORM - NIGHT Joel stumbles out in horror and bolts away from the building. CUT TO: INT. HALEY'S DORM ROOM - NIGHT Haley, still not normal, smiles evilly. CUT TO: INT. DORM HALLWAY - NIGHT Joel is pounding on the door. JOEL Katharyn! Katharyn! Katharyn answers the door. KATHARYN What's wrong Joel? JOEL She... Her eyes... KATHARYN I think you're overreacting, Joel. You're making something out of nothing. JOEL What? The door swings back. Regen stands in the room with his eyes black and fangs bared. He is smiling. REGEN You need to trust her, Joel. KATHARYN You need to trust her, Joel. REGEN Every good relationship is built on trust. KATHARYN Every good relationship is built on trust. REGEN Come in, Joel. Joel starts to turn and run, but Haley is right behind him. She pushes him into the room. REGEN You don't need to be afraid, Joel. He waves his hand and Katharyn goes and sits on the bed. REGEN You'll soon be like us. You'd like that wouldn't you, Joel. JOEL Why would I want to be like you? HALEY So we can be together, Joel. Joel is silent. REGEN Yes, you see Haley understood the benefits of being one of our brood. I do believe it was the first time that I have had someone so willing to be changed. HALEY I did it for us, Joel. REGEN It has not been the first time that lovers have turned to the brood to gain a form of everlasting life. They think that it's a way for their love to go on forever. I think its pathetic really, to be stuck with the same person for all of eternity, but to each their own. JOEL You... (turning to Haley) You wanted... this? HALEY This way I can prove to you I want to be with you forever. REGEN And of course the brood is always willing to build their army. HALEY It was you that I always wanted, Joel. JOEL You... You didn't sleep with him? REGEN Oh, don't misunderstand me, daywalker, I had sex with your pathetic little obsession. Regen begins laughing. Haley looks to him betrayed. Joel in a fury, jumps at Regen and grabs at his throat. Regen flicks Joel off of him with a twist of his wrist. Joel hits the wall hard. He looks at Regen in fear and then runs out the door. Regen laughs hard and takes a step to follow him. Haley steps in and stops him. HALEY You told him! I told you not to tell him. REGEN Oh you can't be serious... yours are the worries of a nightsleeper. These things should matter no longer to you. HALEY No one betrays me. She starts fuming. Her face contorts. REGEN Haley? HALEY You gave me this ungodly power of the brood. REGEN Haley, what are you doing? He flicks his wrist, Katharyn gets up to move between them, and Haley flicks her to the bed. HALEY You gave me the powers of the undead and now I have nothing else I need from you. She punches her hand into his chest with a fleshy crunching sound. Regen screams. CUT TO: OUTSIDE - NIGHT Joel is running and all of a sudden someone grabs him. It's a police OFFICER. OFFICER Whoa! What's the hurry son? JOEL (out of breath) Help... their eyes... OFFICER What's wrong? JOEL Murderer! OFFICER What? Where? The officer pulls his gun out of his holster. Joel looks behind the officer terrified. He turns and Haley is standing right next to him. She hisses and he jumps back, falling to the ground. Joel grabs his gun from him and aims it at Haley. HALEY What's wrong with you, Joel? Don't you want to be with me? JOEL I... OFFICER Jesus, boy! Shoot her! HALEY Shoot him, Joel. We have to keep our kind secret. JOEL I... I'm not your kind. HALEY But you will be soon. Don't you want to be with me? JOEL You lied to me. Close-up on Haley's eyes. HALEY No, I didn't. She closes her eyes and when she opens them they are normal again. HALEY I just got what I needed from him, sweetie. You don't need to worry about him anymore. OFFICER Shoot her! Haley hisses at him. To the officer she still looks like a monster. She turns back to Joel and looks human. HALEY It was always you, Joel. I don't ever want to be without you. I love you, Joel. Joel's face screws up tight. He turns the gun towards the officer and fires twice. The muzzle flares light up their faces. JOEL I love you too. Camera moves up and away from them as Haley moves in towards Joel, baring her fangs. Once they are off screen we hear a fleshy bite and a scream. Music rises. END