LOUIS
No. Don't leave me here. Give it to me.
Lestat lifts his own right wrist to his teeth. Fangs slash his own flesh, blood falls.
LESTAT
You're sure?
LOUIS
Sure...
Louis rises to accept the first drops with his open mouth. Lestat gathers
him up, as Louis clamps his hand on Lestat's
arm and drinks from the wrist.
The VAMPIRE THEME swells.
Lestat watches him drink his wrist with wry amusement. Louis finishes, staggers away from him as if drunk.
LOUIS' POV -
Vampire vision. The world is transformed, the swamp, the moon, the clouds,
the cry of the night birds all come to him
with unnatural clarity. He looks down with pity at the corpses of his
wife and child who appear beautiful in death now
rather than repulsive. He closes the lid of the coffin and replaces
it in the ground, astonished at the ease of it.
He turns and stares at Lestat whom he sees now with vampire's vision.
Lestat's eyes are brighter, his buttons are
glimmering in the light. Everything is clearer, brighter, containing
more facets of light and colour.
LESTAT
Stop staring at my buttons. Didn't I tell you it was going to be fun?
Lestat leads him into the swamp. Everything astonished Louis, as if
he's never seen it before. Louis is suddenly racked
by shudders of pain.
LESTAT
You're body's dying. Pay no attention. It will take twenty minutes at most.
LOUIS
Dying?
Louis dry-retches.
LESTAT
It happens to us all.
Lestat wipes Louis' brow.
LESTAT
Come, you're going to feed now.
LOUIS
I want a woman.
Lestat laughs and his laughter echoes like bells in Louis' ears.
LESTAT
That doesn't matter anymore, Louis. You'll see. Come...
LOUIS' VAMPIRE POV - SWAMP
Small high ground. Camp of runaway slaves. Several share a bottle of
rum around the fire. A male slave rises. A
gorgeous hunk of flesh in the moonlight and goes into the swamp to
relieve his bladder.
LESTAT
They're all beautiful now. Men, women, the old, the young...simply because they are alive. -
The slave walks towards them in the darkness. A crucifix gleams round his neck.
LESTAT
Take him.
LOUIS
The crucifix -
LESTAT
Forget the crucifix. Take him.
Louis hesitates.
LESTAT
Resist no more Louis. Feed...
The slave looks up and sees them. Two gleaming white beings standing before him with devil's eyes. The he runs.
Louis can resist him no more. He swoops on him with a vampire's rapid
movement, brings him to the ground and sinks
his teeth in his neck.
Close on Louis feeding on the slave, the magnificent body shuddering
in its death-throes. Lestat stands above,
laughing.
The slave dies. Louis rises from him, drunkenly, engorged with blood.
LOUIS
What have I done?
LESTAT
You have fed. You were made for this...
Louis looks down at the body of the slave. Lestat's laughter echoes around him.
LOUIS
Dear God, what have I done?
LESTAT
You've killed Louis. And enjoyed it.
Lestat laughs harder. Louis runs from him, screaming in anguish.
EXT. GRAVEYARD. NIGHT.
Louis reaches his wife's grave. He falls to his knees, throws back his head and bares his new fangs to the moon.
LOUIS
Dear God, what have I become????
INT. ROOM. SAN FRANCISCO. NIGHT.
Malloy stares at Louis, terrified and enthralled.
MALLOY
You said the slave had a crucifix...
LOUIS
Oh, that rumour about crosses?
MALLOY
You can't look at them...
LOUIS
Nonsense, my friend. I can look on anything I like. And I am particularly fond of looking on crucifixes.
MALLOY
The story about stakes through the heart?
LOUIS
The same. As you would say today... Bull shit.
MALLOY
What about coffins?
LOUIS
Coffins... coffins unfortunately are a necessity...
EXT. MANSION. NIGHT.
Louis walks up the steps to the mansion. He looks now like a fully-fledged
vampire. Yvette, the slave girl stares at him
from the open doorway. Cascades of harpsichord music come from the
interior.
LOUIS (VO)
Killing is no ordinary act. It is the experience of another's life for
certain. That night I had lost my own life and taken another's. I
was drowning in a sea of human guilt and regret, with all the heightened
senses of a vampire...
Louis enters the mansion, following the harpsichord music, as if in a dream. Yvette draws back as he approaches.
INT. MANSION. NIGHT.
Louis wanders into the parlour, where Lestat is playing the harpsichord
rapidly and exuberantly. Louis goes to a
full-length mirror and sees his own reflection there - quite the perfect
vampire.
LESTAT
Yes, that's you, my handsome friend. And you'll look that way till the stars fall from heaven.
LOUIS
It can't be...
LESTAT
Give it time. You're like a man who loses a limb and still imagines
he feels pain. It will pass. And we must sleep now. I can feel
the sun approaching.
EXT. POINTE DU LAC.
Dawn spreading over the plantation.
INT. BASEMENT. POINTE DU LAC.
A brick walled storage room. Two coffins stand on the floor. Lestat
enters with a lantern, Louis behind. Lestat is
apprehensive and protective of Louis. He pulls back one lid ot reveal
a satin interior.
LESTAT
You must get into it. It's the only safe place for you when the light comes.
LOUIS
And if I don't?
LESTAT
The sun will destroy the blood I've given you. Every tissue, every vein. The fire in this lantern could do that too.
Louis approaches the coffin, hands trembling as he peers into it.
LESTAT
Don't be afraid. In moments you'll be sleeping as soundly as you ever
slept. And when you awake I'll be waiting for you, and so
will all the world.
Louis crawls into the coffin, fearful yet fascinated.
LOUIS
You told me something earlier. You said you didn't have a choice. Was that true?
Lestat smiles bitterly and nods.
LESTAT
Someday I'll tell you. We have a lot of time to talk to each other. You might say... we have all the time we shall ever need.
He closes the lid.
Total darkness. Sounds of Louis' panicked breathing. Of his prayer again.
LOUIS
Dear God, what have I done?
INT. DINING ROOM. NIGHT.
Louis and Lestat sitting at a sumptuous table, piled with uneaten food. Lestat is going through sheafs of documents.
LOUIS (VO)
I awoke the next evening to a different world. And I realized there
are as profound differences between vampires as between
human beings...
Lestat, totting up figures on a piece of paper.
LESTAT
Your wealth, dear Louis, is inestimable. Your income from cotton alone will keep us in comfort for a century.
Louis just stares at him.
LOUIS (VO)
I sat there staring at him with contempt. He had the soul of a shopkeeper,
he was the sow's ear out of which nothing fine could
be made. I felt sadly cheated in having him as a teacher...
Lestat looks up at him and grins.
LESTAT
You'll get used to killing. Just forget about that mortal coil. You'll become accustomed to things all too quickly.
LOUIS
Do you think so?
Yvette enters, stands behind him, staring at Lestat with loathing.
YVETTE
You are not hungry, sir...
LESTAT
Au contraire, my dear. He could eat a horse...
Lestat laughs loudly. Louis turns and looks at Yvette. Her beautiful
forehead in the candlelight, the veins pulsing on
her neck and her hands.
LOUIS (VO)
I looked at anything mortal and saw all life as precious, condemning
all fruitless guilt and passion that would let it slip through
the fingers like sand...
Yvette returns his stare, troubled.
LOUIS (VO)
It was only as a vampire that I could see Yvette's beauty. Her fear of me increased my desire.
Yvette reaches for his uneaten plate. Louis stops her hand. Holds it
for a beat too long, looking at the veins in her
wrist.
LOUIS
I will finish it, Yvette. Now leave us.
She turns and runs from the table. Lestat leans towards him.
LESTAT
Can't you pretend, you fool? Don't give the game away. We're lucky to have such a home.
His hand snakes out under the table. It comes up holding a large grey rat.
LESTAT
Pretend to drink, at least.
He bares his fangs and slices the rat's throat. He pours the blood into a crystal glass.
LESTAT
Such fine crystal shouldn't go to waste...
He hands the glass to Louis. Louis drinks the blood and stares at it
in surprise, then at the dead rat on the fine lace
tablecloth.
LESTAT
I know. It gets cold so fast.
LOUIS
We can live like this? Off the blood of animals?
Lestat shrugs.
LESTAT
I wouldn't call it living. I'd call it surviving. A useful trick if you're caught for a month on a ship at sea.
Lestat strokes the belly of the dead rat, studying it sadly.
LESTAT
There's nothing in the world now that doesn't hold some...
LOUIS
Fascination...
LESTAT
Yes. And I'm bored with this prattle --
He throws the rat away.
LOUIS
But we can live without taking human life. It's possible.
LESTAT
Anything is possible. But just try it for a week. Come into New Orleans and let me show you some real sport!
He rises. Louis follows.
EXT. NEW ORLEANS. NIGHT.
A big, lavish drinking place with a raised stage.
Italian actors in buffoonish costumes act crude commedia dell'arte on the stage.
Plantation owners in soiled brocade, lace, crooked wigs watch the show as tavern wenches move about.
LOUIS (VO)
This was New Orleans, a magical and magnificent place to live. In which
a vampire, richly dressed might attract no more notice
in the evening than hundreds of other exotic creatures.
Louis and Lestat by a table, in the shadow of a tree. Teresa, a tavern
wench, sits on Lestat's lap, pouring drinks for the
two of them. She lifts a fresh glass to Lestat's lips as he flirts
with her.
TERESA
Come on, mon cher. The best in the colony. Once you touch this you'll never go to any other tavern again.
LESTAT
You think so, cherie? But what if I'd rather taste your lips?
TERESA
My lips are even sweeter still...
She kisses him. He lets his tongue play with hers, then runs it down
her neck. She swoons with pleasure. Then he sinks
his teeth gently in her neck, looking playfully behind at Louis, who
if apalled and fascinated.
ANTICS ON THE STAGE
Laughter rocks the tavern.
Lestat slips the pale and dead Teresa into a chair beside him and folds
her hands on the table. No one notices. He lays
gold coins on the table and touches Louis' knee.
LESTAT
Let's get out of here!
Lestat rushes out, thrilled with himself.
EXT. TAVERN. NIGHT.
A crowded street. Louis and Lestat emerge from the tavern. Louis looks up at the moon.
LOUIS
Have you ever been caught?
LESTAT
Of course not. It's so easy you almost feel sorry for them.
They walk down the crowded night street, full of ladies in their finery, freed slaves, whores, sailors etc.
LOUIS (VO)
Lestat killed two, sometimes three a night. A fresh young girl, that was his favourite for the first of the evening.
INT. FRENCH QUARTER MANSION -- BALLROOM
Small orchestra plays for colonial couples in fine wig and garb prancing
to a French minuet. Young women sit in
chairs along the walls with their chaperones. Young men stand opposite.
LOUIS (VO)
But the triumphant kill of Lestat was a young man. They represented
the greatest loss to Lestat because they stood on the
threshold of the maximum possibility of life.
A youth of preternatural beauty, sillhouetted against French windows.
He is talking to an elegan widow, seated,
holding two manicured poodles. Lestat stares at the youth with longing.
LESTAT
The trick is not to think about it. See that one? The widow St. Clair?
she had that gorgeous young fop murder her husband.
She's perfect for you. Go ahead.
LOUIS
But how do you know?
LESTAT
Read her thoughts.
LOUIS
I can't.
LESTAT
The dark gift is different for each of us. But one thing is true of everyone. We grow stronger as we go along.
He leads Louis closer to them.
LESTAT
Take my word for it. She blamed a slave for his murder. And do you know what they did to him?
He smiles at the young man, who smiles in return.
; LESTAT
The evildoers are easier. And they taste better...
EXT. LAWNS. NIGHT.
Lestat walks the youth towards a copse of trees. He looks back at Louis,
who holds both poodles on a delicate leash,
walking with the widow. The minuet spills from the french windows.
WIDOW ST. CLAIR
Now, young man, you really amaze me! I'm old enough to be your grandmother.
She leans towards him concquettishly. Louis, crazed with hunger, sees
her as beautiful in the moonlight. He allows her
lips reach his. He takes her in his arms, gently, romantically, and
sinks in his teeth. She swoons.
WIDOW ST. CLAIR
Yes, that's the melody, I remember it. Oh yes...
Louis draws his lips away. She is weak in his arms, but still alive.
He can't do it. The poodles growl. He shotts out an
arm and grabs one, then the other.
EXT. TREES. NIGHT.
Lestat, bending over the body of the dead youth. A scream pierces the night.
WIDOW ST CLAIR
Murder!!! Murderer!!
EXT. LAWNS. NIGHT
The widow on the grass, her poodles dead beside her. Louis is trying to quiet her.
WIDOW ST CLAIR
My little papillions! My butterflies!!! He killed them!!!
Lestat comes from nowhere, claps a hand over her mouth and breaks her neck. He spits in fury at Louis.
LESTAT
You whining coward of a vampire who prowls the night killing rats and poodles. You could have finished us both!
Louis throws himself on Lestat with extraordinary force, pummelling him towards the trees.
LOUIS
What have you done to me? You've condemned me to hell.
LESTAT
I don't know any hell -
Louis hurls him against tree after tree with a strength he never knew he had.
LOUIS
You want to see me kill? Watch me kill you then -
He drags him to the ground an throttles him. Lestat looks up at him, amazed and amused at the same time.
LESTAT
What strength, my friend, what strength. I remember why I chose you now.
Lestat squirms from his grip, seemingly effortlessly.
LESTAT
But you can't kill me, Louis. Nor I you.
He ruffles Louis' hair, with wry affection.
LESTAT
Feed on what you want, mon cherie. Rats, chickens, doves, goats. I'll
leave you to it and watch you come round. Just
remember, life without me would be even more unbearable...
He smiles. A sly, pleasureable secret secret smile.
EXT. POINTE DU LAC. NIGHT.
Their carriage draws up to the mansion as the first fingers of light spread across the sky.
LOUIS (VO)
Being a vampire to him meant revenge. Revenge against life-itself. Every
time he took a life it was revenge. and the slaves with a
wisdom that was denied their masters, began to notice...
INT. SLAVE-HUT. NIGHT.
In a tiny cabin, a slave family. Kids sleeping on the floor, in cribs
and cots. The parents sleep on the bed, young,
beautiful, naked. Beside them is Lestat, who is drinking the husband's
blood, his hand playing across the breast of the
wife as he does so. She murmurs in her sleep.
WIFE
Yes... please...
She grabs his fingers and kisses them, thinking him to be her husband. Lestat gently disengages himself and leaves.
EXT. SLAVE-HUT. NIGHT.
The woman's scream pierces the sky, as Lestat walks into the night.
EXT. CHICKEN-COOP. NIGHT.
Every chicken is dead, bloodies necks hanging down from the cribs. Louis
emerges from the entrance, blood on his
lips. He hears the scream.
EXT. SLAVE QUARTER. NIGHT.
The sound of drumming is heard, african, primal. The woman runs through
the quarters, screaming grief. Others
gather at doorways, restrain and console her.
EXT. DOVE-COTE. DAY.
A beautiful, elaborate eighteenth century dove-cote. Every dove inside
is dead, pierced at the neck. A balck hand
throws in a flaming torch and it bursts into flame.
INT. CABIN. NIGHT.
A doll, made in the image of Lestat, is pierced with needles.
EXT. SWAMP BY FIELDS. DAY.
Bodies of slaves floating in the swamp, with the bodies of goats. Slaves
at the edge throw ropes around the bodies, pull
them towards the shore. The drumming grows louder.
EXT. SLAVE-QUARTERS. NIGHT.
Louis walking through. The slaves hush as he appraoches, gather in doorways
and whipser. He turns and looks at
them, sorrowfully. He looks truly like a ghost. Their eyes turn away
when they meet his. He walks on.
INT. DINING ROOM IN MANSION. NIGHT.
Lestat and Louis sit at the table, the untouched food between them.
LESTAT
Consider yourself lucky. In Paris a vampire has to be clever for many reasons. Here all one needs is a pair of fangs.
LOUIS
Paris? You came from Paris?
LESTAT
As did the one who made me.
LOUIS
Tell me about him. You must have lernt something from him! It had to happen for you as it did for me!
LESTAT
I learnt absolutely nothing. I wasn't give a choice, remember?
LOUIS
But you must know something about the meaning of it all, you must know where we come from, why we...
Lestat spits out in anger.
LESTAT
Why? Why should I know these things? Do you know them?
The drumming grows outside.
LESTAT (gripping his temples)
That noise! It's driving me mad! We've been in the country for weeks, with nothing but that noise!!!
LOUIS
They know about us. They see us dine on empty plates and drink from
empty glasses.