1.06 - B.C. 

Written by: Ron Koslow & Trevor Munson
Directed by: Paul Holahan
Transcribed by: Essejaja

CUT TO PHOTOSHOOT
[Beth is there with a camera man, covering the story]

BETH: We're here with photographer, Nigel Heart, shooting a sneak peak of the exciting new collection of hot young designer Ghislaine Tavares. Outfits only a broomstick could wear...

STEVE: [Zooming his camera to the shoot] And we're just going for a little peek...

PHOTOGRAPHER: [to model] Hold, hold. Watch your platter hands. I'm loving that! Come on! Show me sexy, babe. Let's go!

BETH: Steve? Hello, I am over here [Beth waves in front of the camera drawing the attention back to her]

STEVE: Can I say something? I think you've got the wrong attitude about this assignment.

BETH: I'm a crime reporter. We should covering a trail, or riot, not this fluff.

STEVE: Beats corpses in an alley, right? I mean at least all I ever wanna hear is alive.

BETH: Barely.

CUT TO MICK'S APPARTMENT
[Josef is banging on Mick's freezer waking him up.]

JOSEF: Get up! [Josef still banging] Up!

MICK: Okay, okay!

[Josef opens Mick's freezer]

MICK: Oh God! Tell me it's not Twilight?

JOSEF: No! I am looking for somebody.

MICK: What? You think they're in here?

JOSEF: I need your help.

MICK: You need my help?

JOSEF: Don't make me say it again.

[Josef turns to grab a towel and throws it at Mick. Josef opens an old pocket watch and gives it to Mick]

JOSEF: Dolores Maxford Whitaker, Lola to her friends.

MICK: Nice! Is she a vampire?

JOSEF: Of course she is a vampire! She is the vampire. Oldest one I've ever met. Now, we've had this on again off again thing for a hundred years or so. She came back in town a couple of weeks ago, so it's on again. Until she disappears.

MICK: [Mick laughs] That's what you get for dating older women.

JOSEF: Hmm, It's better than dating a human.

MICK: Beth and I are not... What's this about?

JOSEF: I told you she's vanished. Ok, and I haven't found her at one of our usual haunts and believe me, I've been looking.

MICK: She got a phone number?

JOSEF: She usually calls me.

MICK: So you guys are really close huh?

JOSEF: In our own special way. She's always been sort of unpredictable, exciting. You know, traits you'll come to value when you hit the 400-year mark.

MICK: Yeah, yeah. So she's been calling you?

JOSEF: Yeah.

MICK: Cell phone. [Josef hands his cell phone] So let me get this straight. She stood you up. So instead of moving on you became so worried that you immediately came over here and woke me up. How much does she owe you?

JOSEF: You see what you can find out. Thanks. [Josef starts walking away]

MICK: Hey! [Mick looks at the lid of his freezer and Josef turns and closes the lid]

CUT TO THE PHOTOSHOOT
[Beth is talking to the camera]

BETH: The theme for Ghislaine's collection is celestial bodies and this outfit is the vocal point, the linchpin that holds it all together.

BETH: Is that better?

STEVE: Uh, there is just a tinge of condescension, just a tinge.

PHOTOGRAPHER: [to model] Come on, come on. Keep it up. That's not so high fashion, sweetheart.

[The model starts acting weird and falls to the ground shaking. People start running and saying to call 911, but it's too late]

BETH: Did you get that?

STEVE: Yeah, yeah. I've got it all. I wouldn't call that fluff.

[The model is pronounced dead on the scene. Beth follows the death model's friend]

BETH: Excuse me?

MODEL: You're with that video crew. Go away.

BETH: You were her friend, obviously.

MODEL: Don't pretend you're all concerned. You didn't even know her name.

BETH: Renee, Renee Beresford, moved here from Shreveport last year... I didn't know her, but I do know her name. I've done my homework.

MODEL: I really should go call her mom.

BETH: So you were friends. Do you have any idea what just happened?

MODEL: Not really, we went out last night to two clubs. Then around eleven she wants to go to this other place, but I really needed to go home.

BETH: Where did she go?

MODEL: Club Valace. It just opened. She never came back home. Just showed up today wearing what she had on last night. She said none of this mattered anymore and that she was gonna quit. I really should go find out if someone called her mom.

[The police arrive and Josh walks up to Beth]

JOSH: Beth? What are you doing here?

BETH: Covering a story that just got way more interesting.

LT. CARL: Do you have any video of what happened here?

BETH: Yeah?

LT. CARL: I'm gonna need that tape.

BETH: I'm gonna need it back.

LT. CARL: I'm sorry, I am gonna have to ask you to leave the crime scene.

BETH: A girl just convulsed and died. Since when did this become a crime scene?

LT. CARL: I am not going to discuss an ongoing investigation with you.

BETH: Ongoing? Since when?

[Lt. Carl walks off]

BETH: What's going on?

JOSH: I'm gonna have to ask you not to follow the story.

BETH: You're not going to give me anything?

JOSH: This is our third O.D. in two weeks from a drug we can't even identify. How about I owe you dinner.

BETH: You owe me dinner anyway

[Steve and Carl walk up and Steve looks at Beth]

STEVE: Ehm...

BETH: Yeah, give him the tape

STEVE: Alright... Here you go big guy.

Lt Carl: Thank you. [and walks away]

STEVE: Hey Josh.

JOSH: [While walking away and looking at Beth] I'll call you later.

STEVE: What was that all about?

BETH: Do you know of Club Valace?

STEVE: [shakes his head] hmhm.

CUT TO MICK'S OFFICE
[Mick and Josef are talking. Mick is looking at the picture of Lola on his computer screen]

MICK: I love how the way the camera covers the light on her cheekbones. You can dance on those. [sighs] Digital photography, what a boon for the tribe, huh? Remember the old film days, no image? It was like you didn't even exist.

JOSEF: Okay, okay! So did you find her?

MICK: Before I tell you that, I just have to know: is there any chance that you hired me to find beautiful Lola, so you could cut off her very photogenic head?

JOSEF: Why would I wanna do that?

MICK: You tell me.

[Josef smiles and shakes his head]

MICK: Hmm. I tracked the cell that she called you from, I wanted to see who else she was talking to.

JOSEF: And?

MICK: She bought a metric ton of silver from a place called Allied Metals.

JOSEF: A ton of silver?

MICK: Yeah, quite an arsenal. She got a vampire problem that you know about?

JOSEF: I can't think of any vamp that would wanna go up against her. All those centuries she's lived, with that kind of age comes power.

MICK: I'm beginning to see why you're so attracted to her.

JOSEF: You know, when I met her, she was building a pirate army.

MICK: Pirate army?

JOSEF: Back in the day you could do that kinda thing.

MICK: Okay, so what aren't you telling me?

JOSEF: Ah, your vamp sense must be off. I'm telling you all I know.

MICK: No, it's actually my detective sense at work here, Josef. What's going on?

JOSEF: It's embarrassing okay.

MICK: Hmm

JOSEF: She stole money from me.

MICK: [snapping his fingers] I knew it! How much?

JOSEF: A million bucks. Siphoned it from one of my accounts right before she disappeared.

MICK: What? Did you give her your password or something? [Josef smiles] You gave her your password?!

JOSEF: Not on purpose.

MICK: I don't even want to know.

JOSEF: And I can't let this happen. On principal alone I can't let her treat me like this. It'll ruin my reputation.

MICK: So this is just about money, there is no hurt feelings about being stood up?

JOSEF: No of course not.

MICK: No of course not! I got the address of where they shipped the silver. It's a storage facility down town

JOSEF: Well, don't forget, she is powerful. You can't just confront her.

MICK: Thanks to your once-a-decade booty call, a dangerous vampire now possesses a large quantity of a lethal substance. I kinda have to check it out.

CUT TO OUTSIDE CLUB VALACE
[Beth is walking to the bouncer in front of Club Valace and smiles her sexy smile]

BETH: Hey! [The bouncer let's her in] Thank you!

[Inside club Valace, a guy walks up to Beth]

GUY: You're gonna hate that. The drinks suck here.

BETH: Oh, I am not here for the drinks.

GUY: That's what I'm talking about.

BETH: I'm note here for that either.

GUY: Right!

[Beth turns around and looks at a guy in front of the stairs]

GUY: Ah yes, upstairs V.I.P. room. You can forget about that unless you've been pre-approved.

BETH: What do you mean?

GUY: Well it's qualified buyers only.

BETH: How do you get to be one?

GUY: No offence, but if I knew would I be out here talking to you? [Beth walks off] No, no, no! I didn't mean... wait. I just-

[Beth walks over to the stairs and the man checks her stamp]

MAN: Sorry!

BETH: What? I got a stamp

MAN: A stamp doesn't get you into the VIP room.

BETH: What will?

MAN: Being a VIP. There is a list.

BETH: How do I get on it?

MAN: You'll talk to the owner.

BETH: Who is where?

MAN: In the VIP room

[The man looks up and Beth follows his glance and sees the owner of Valace. She shakes her head]

MAN: Sorry.

BETH: I am a friend of Renee's and she said it wouldn't be a problem me getting upstairs.

MAN: Well, it is not a problem if you know how, but you don't, so...

[Beth sighs and looks up to the owner and walks off]

CUT TO A LOT DOWN TOWN
[Mick is investigating]

MICK'S VOICE OVER: If you're human, a metric ton of silver is maybe a good inflation hatch, or a lot of jewellery. If you're a vampire, it has a different meaning. Lola had bought enough silver to paralyze every vamp in L.A. Made me wonder what she was planning.

[Mick walks into a room and looks around. The room has a bad smell and the sun is shining in. He opens a barrel and finds a burnt vampire. Dizzy, he looks at his hand]

MICK: Silver! [he wipes his hands clean]

CUT TO THE MORGUE
[Terrence is working on a body as Mick walks in]

MICK: Terrence? Where is Guillermo?

TERRENCE: A straight flush won me a weeks worth of his night shifts.

MICK: Oh.

[Mick throws a bag on the table]

TERRENCE: Please tell me that's just lunch in there.

MICK: Not this time.

TERRENCE: Ohw.. This is L.A. County Morgue not Help You Autopsy. You can't just bring in your own bodies.

MICK: I need to know what killed him.

TERRENCE: I'm thinking fire!

MICK: Not just...

TERRENCE: Silver?

MICK: Yeah, a lot of it.

TERRENCE: The silver should show up in the blood [Terence sticks a needle in the dead vamp] Blood should show up in blood...

MICK: What do you mean?

TERRENCE: This vamps been drained.

MICK: Someone soaked him in silver and drained his blood?

TERRENCE: Then set him on fire. It's kind of excessive.

MICK: The silver would paralyze the vamp.

TERRENCE: So would a simple stake.

MICK: Yeah, but with a stake there'd be blood loss, right? With silver you can paralyze the vamp with no leakage. Whoever did this wanted the vampire's blood.

TERRENCE: But why? I gotta list 3 pages long of vamps who want human blood. I never heard of anyone wanting vampire blood. You think some freak is out there feeding on his own kind?

MICK: Actually, Her own kind. I'll let you know what I find out.

CUT TO BETH WALKING INTO ANOTHER ROOM AT THE MORGUE
[Beth follows a worker into the room where Renee's body is kept]

WORKER: I could so lose my job over this.

BETH: You're happy to risk it though. What am I buying this time anyway?

WORKER: iPhone.

BETH: Ok, I just wanna see her hand.

WORKER: What is she? Some friend of yours?

BETH: No she's a model.

WORKER: That explains it.

BETH: What?

WORKER: She is really hot.

BETH: Ugh. Do you mind?

WORKER: Knock yourself out, just make it quick.

[Beth holds a UV light over the girl's hand]

WORKER: What's the V?

BETH: Nothing, it's what I have. That's not what got her in.

WORKER: Got her in where?

BETH: The VIP room at a club. There is a bouncer checking peoples hands and letting them in. [Beth looks closers at the hand] What's that incision?

WORKER: There was something under her skin, we removed it.

BETH: What?

WORKER: A microchip.

BETH: A microchip? What like James Bond?

WORKER: Ehm, no. Ehm, like find my lost cat. People get them put in their pets. Any vet can do it.

BETH: Do you read those with a scanner?

WORKER: Yeah, shelters do. But I've never seen one in a human before.

BETH: Wow! So, Club Valace uses a microchip and a scanner. How twenty-first century.

WORKER: This VIP room, do they serve silver there?

BETH: Silver? What do you mean?

WORKER: Yeah, the weird thing about your pal here is that she had silver in her blood.

BETH: What? How much?

WORKER: Well more than you'd get if you'd used it as a herbal supplement. This silver was pure. My guess, that's what did her in. [the phone starts ringing] You really gotta go. [He goes to answer the phone] Hey, what you got for me?

[Beth steals the chip and walks out and almost bumps into Mick]

BETH: Hey!

MICK: Hey!

BETH: So this isn't awkward or anything, running into each other in the middle of the night in a morgue.

MICK: Again.

BETH: Look, I don't wanna invade your privacy, whatever you do here.

MICK: Oh, no I'm working on a case. It's-

BETH: Oh, me too, a story.

MICK: Oh, how's it going?

BETH: Great.

MICK: Good. That's, that's good.

[They start walking together]

BETH: Listen, I'm trying to get into this club. You don't know a good vet, do you?

MICK: Me? No, ehm, vampires can't really be trusted with pets, it's a...

BETH: Of course.

MICK: Exactly what kinda club is it that your going to that need you to go to a vet?

BETH: I ehm, I need this microchip inserted into my hand.

MICK: Well of course you do.

BETH: They scan them.

MICK: Can't you just hold it?

BETH: No they check pretty carefully.

MICK: Okay.

BETH: They found it in this model who collapsed. The morgue guy thinks it's from the traces of silver found in her blood.

MICK: Silver?

BETH: Any more than trace amount and you got yourself an overdose.

MICK: Any idea how it got in there?

BETH: No idea, but she was fine before she went to club Valace.

MICK: Uh, I don't have a vet, but, um, I have something else. Come on.

CUT TO MICK'S APPARTEMENT
[He is preparing a syringe to insert the chip into Beth's hand]

MICK: Don't worry. It's sterile.

BETH: Honestly, I was more worried about the size. Why do you even have that anyway? [Mick looks at her questionably] Oh, right. Stupid question.

MICK: Okay. This may hurt a little bit.

BETH: Okay, but I'll be fine, right? Won't I?

MICK: Let's hope.

BETH: By the way, the, uh, the whole kiss thing?

MICK: Yeah, the kiss. I was thinking that maybe that was like an accident.

BETH: Oh, okay. Tell me when.

MICK: All done. Hold your finger there. So I want to go with you, to club Valace.

BETH: Oh, I'll be okay.

MICK: I'm actually looking for someone. The silver makes me think that maybe she's there.

BETH: She?

MICK: Yeah.

BETH: I'll see you there in two hours.

CUT TO OUTSIDE CLUB VALACE
[Mick looks at Beth who is walking up to him dressed very nicely]

BETH: You can't go with this double standard. I had to spend two hours getting myself up to club admission ability and you're just wearing the same thing you always wear.

MICK: Yes, well, perpetual coolness is the vampire's curse. [Beth laughs]

BETH: [Looking at Mick's ring] By the way, how do you get away with silver? I thought it was poison for vampires.

MICK: It's gold. And where's this V.I.P. Room?

BETH: Upstairs, in the back.

MICK: Good.

BETH: You're gonna do that vampire jumping thing, aren't you?

MICK: I don't have a chip.

BETH: Just being human is so lame.

MICK: I know, but you wear it well.

BETH: I'll see you inside.

[Mick looks around and walks off to the side of the building]

[Cut to inside Club Valace. Beth walks up to the Bouncer]

BETH: I got my invite. [Bouncer scans her hand] Thank you.

BOUNCER: [to a co-worker] Don't let anybody else in.

[Cut VIP room. There are people dancing and making out. A waitress is walking around]

WAITRESS: Black Crystal?

BOUNCER: That girl that just came up? The scanner said Renee Beresford.

LOLA: Your model friend.

BOUNCER: You want me to pull her out?

LOLA: I'll handle it.

[Outside we see Mick looking at a picture of Lola]

WAITRESS: [To Beth] Black Crystal?

BETH: Thank you.

[Girl scans Beth's hand and hands her the Black Crystal]

BETH: Thank you. [She puts the Black Crystal in her bag]

LOLA: We prefer you consume it on the premises.

BETH: Uh, I was just waiting for a friend. We were gonna share.

CALVIN: Why are you wasting your time? She's not even supposed to be here.

LOLA: Calvin, go get me a drink. You're not Renee Beresford. How did you get her chip?

BETH: Oh, Renee gave it to me. I just wanted to try whatever it was she was doing.

LOLA: Then try it. It's all for you.

BETH: I'm gonna wait for my friend.

[Mick walks up to them]

MICK: Sorry I'm late.

LOLA: I knew I should've closed the window.

MICK: You must be Lola.

LOLA: And you are?

MICK: We have a mutual friend. He's been worried about you.

LOLA: If it's the friend I'm thinking of, he's not worried. Trust me. This little thing here helping you track me down?

MICK: She's got nothing to do with this.

LOLA: Oh, I think she does. Your friend and I have something in common. But you can see that, can't you? And you two, don't tell me. Just friends?

MICK: Leave her alone.

LOLA: He lets you know what we are and then leaves you on the edge of our world looking in. Don't you wanna do more then just look?

MICK: What is that?

LOLA: It's what she came here for.

BETH: It's, uh, Black Crystal.

MICK: Well, you found it. You should go.

LOLA: He cares about you, but he hasn't turned you.

MICK: Nobody's turning anyone.

BETH: I don't want that.

LOLA: You say that now. You're young, but in a year or two, when he stops coming around and you look in the mirror, I know you've looked at him and wondered, what does it feel like to move through the night so powerful, nothing can touch you? I can give you that...

MICK: I said leave her alone.

LOLA: Without turning you. Taste it. Just once and you'll see.

[The police raid the premises. Carl and Josh enter the VIP room.]

POLICE: This is the police. We need everybody to move against the far wall.

BOUNCER: Cops! Get rid of everything!

LOLA: Remember, darling, half the world is night.

LT. CARL: Bag that. [Looking at Beth and Mick] You've got to be kidding me.

JOSH: Seal off those exits!

BETH: Josh...

JOSH: Don't. [looking at Mick] Pat everyone down, starting with him.

LT. CARL: My pleasure. Come on private eye! You know the drill, come on.

BETH: Hey! [She looks at Josh, but he walks away]

CUT TO BETH'S APPARTEMENT
[Beth and Josh walk in]

BETH: Thanks for taking me home.

JOSH: Look, I asked you not to follow that story.

BETH: Fine, be angry if you want to.

JOSH: I don't want to, but what do you expect when I walk into a club we're raiding and see you there with Mick St. John?

BETH: Oh, that's what this is about.

JOSH: How do you think that looks?

BETH: I think it looks like I'm a good reporter who got to a drug source before the D.A.'s Office and I wasn't there with Mick. Not really.

JOSH: Look, I'm-I'm gonna go. I'll call you later, okay?

BETH: Okay.

CUT TO MICK'S APPARTMENT
[Mick and Josef are talking]

JOSEF: So?

MICK: Got something for you.

JOSEF: Yeah?

MICK: Black Crystal. [He hands him the vial]

JOSEF: What, so I'm financing a drug operation?

MICK: Not just.

JOSEF: [Sniffs the vial] This is vampire blood.

MICK: Yes, apparently the high is us.

JOSEF: Where's she getting the blood?

MICK: I found one vamp drained. I'll bet there's more.

JOSEF: She's preying on her own kind. I should have known.

MICK: She stole a million bucks from you. How could you know?

JOSEF: She didn't steal it.

MICK: She didn't steal it?

JOSEF: She asked and I gave it to her. [Mick sighs] I can't help myself, but I thought she had, you know, uh, limits. The vampire used to make this survived maybe for hundreds of years. This used to be someone and Lola exterminated him, reduced him down to a vial of party drugs, fed him to humans.

MICK: Yeah, some of those are dying, too.

JOSEF: Look, I know this isn't what you signed up for, but you can't let the cops solve this case. Lola won't hide what she is. The cops find her-

MICK: -they find us.

JOSEF: Yeah.

MICK: Don't worry about that. I'm not gonna let that happen.

CUT TO BETH'S APPARTMENT
[She is analyzing the drug]

BETH: P.C.P. Bitter chemical taste. Heroin's bitter, too.
[hears Lola's voice in her head: "What does it feel like? Just once, and you'll see."]

BETH: Okay. [She takes the vial and opens it and taste the Black Crystal] Ooh. Oh, my god. [She feels the effects of the drug. She looks at herself in the mirror and her reflection says: "Hey!"]

CUT TO THE D.A.'S OFFICE
[Carl and Josh are discussing the drug they found at Club Valace]

LT. CARL: We got no drug.

JOSH: What do you mean we have no drug? We have 5 ounces.

LT. CARL: Toxicology ran it four times. I mean, they can't identify anything illegal in it. It's just filler.

JOSH: Traces of silver.

LT. CARL: Take too much of that and it'll kill you.

JOSH: People are paying a lot for this stuff. We must be missing something.

LT. CARL: Well, we got one guy that might talk. You just gotta ask him.

BOUNCER: Look, I'm a damn doorman is all, okay? I just, I create a cool factor.

JOSH: Let's think how a jury'll see it. First, they'll see three people dead from a drug bought in your club. Three innocents who bought your marketing, the best high ever. They'd hear all about your-your cool factor, where kids line up outside, just so you can tell them they're not good-looking enough to get in. You see how this looks? You're a predator. These kids are your victims.

BOUNCER: I want a deal. Immunity and I'll give you Lola. She makes the drugs. I can tell you where she is.

JOSH: How about this? You wear a wire and say exactly what we tell you to.

CUT TO THE WAREHOUSE
[Lola and Calvin are walking amongst tanks containing vampires who are being drained in silver]

CALVIN: You're not worried about the cops, right? They've got nothing.

LOLA: We're gonna have to distribute somewhere else.

CALVIN: The new location will be even better.

LOLA: And we'll have a fresh supply of vamps to choose from. If we take any more from here, someone's gonna start noticing. And we've already drawn enough attention, thanks to you and your human girlfriend Renee.

CALVIN: Lola... [Lola grabs him by the throat and snaps his neck]

CUT TO MICK'S APPARTMENT
[Beth knocks on the door, dressed in a sexy dress]

MICK: Did you forget something?

BETH: Hey. Can I come in?

MICK: Yeah, of course. Is everything okay?

BETH: Everything's great. I feel fine. I walked all the way here.

MICK: Why?

BETH: I wanted to feel the night.

MICK: Did you take some of that drug?

BETH: It was research for my story. It tasted really weird.

MICK: Yeah, that's because it's vampire blood.

BETH: Do you feel like this all the time?

MICK: I don't know. I doubt it.

BETH: I feel everything. When I was walking, the breeze felt like individual molecules brushing against my skin. I felt people in their houses. I could feel their lives. [Beth walks up to Mick and puts her hands around him from behind] Can you do that? Do you feel me? Or is it more of a-a scent?

MICK: You have no idea what you're doing. [Mick turns around and Beth puts her arms around him]

BETH: I feel close to everything. To you. There's no space between us.

[Beth leans in to kiss Mick, but he pulls back]

MICK: Hey, there's space. There's space.

BETH: You saved me twice. There are no barriers between us.

MICK: You just think there aren't. This is the drug. It's not you.

MICK: No, no, no. Shh, this is me. I just didn't know it and I like it. [Beth whispers] and I wanna be close to you. Come on, Mick. Join me. [Beth walks up the stairs looking at Mick, Mick follows her]

[Cut to Mick's shower. Mick is holding Beth from behind]

MICK: It's the drug

BETH: Turn me. Turn me. Do it!

MICK: No, Beth.

BETH: Do it.

MICK: It's just the drug.

CUT TO MICK'S APARTMENT
[It's morning and Beth wakes up on Mick's couch, wearing one of his shirts]

BETH: What time is it?

MICK: It's early.

BETH: [looking at what she is wearing] Is this yours?

MICK: Yeah. Your clothes were wet, but they're dry now. So, do you remember much?

BETH: No. Yes. The drug made me feel invincible, like I was more than human. I felt like the hottest thing on the planet, like no one could resist me.

MICK: Wow. It sounds like this drug really gives you all the highs of being a vampire without the lows.

BETH: What could be the downside of feeling like that and living forever?

MICK: The scrounging, the hiding, missing all of the things that you once loved, like sunbathing, food. I used to love that prime rib at Musso's. Now I can't even remember what it tastes like. And they say it gets easier the longer you live, but I hope that's not true.

BETH: Really? I'd think you'd hope for the opposite.

MICK: To forget what it's like to be human? No way. Never.

BETH: [looking at the dress] I was wearing that?

MICK: Yeah.

BETH: That is not like me at all.

MICK: Actually, you said it was the real you.

BETH: [laughs]. I better get going. I have some apologies to make.

CUT TO JOSH'S OFFICE
[Beth walks in]

JOSH: Rough night?

BETH: You could say that.

JOSH: I'm, uh...I'm glad you're here.

BETH: Look, I'm sorry if I was insensitive about your case. I know it's important to you.

JOSH: I don't know what I was thinking trying to order you off a story.

BETH: The fact that I was in the club, it was just work. I'm sorry if I embarrassed you.

JOSH: I shouldn't have made such a big deal out of it. It's just this case is driving me crazy. I really messed it up. The drug evidence vanished.

BETH: It's gone?

JOSH: We seized the drug, but there's-there's nothing illegal about it. Toxicology couldn't even get a read on it. The guy we got from the club is giving us the manufacturer. It's some woman named Lola.

[There's a knock on the door, Josh opens it]

LT. CARL: Hey. He's wired.

JOSH: Is he okay?

LT. CARL: Yeah, he's a little scared, but, uh, he'll do it. Uh, warehouse is at 5th and Alameda. [Lt. Carl sees Beth] Hey. Uh, I got the officers ready.

JOSH: Okay.

LT. CARL: All right.

BETH: Hey, look, I better go. Okay. Good luck. [Beth kisses Josh and walks out of the office. Once outside, she calls Mick immediately.]

BETH: Mick, it's Beth. Listen, the police are about to raid Lola's warehouse at 5th and Alameda. If there's anything there you don't want them to find, you should get there first. [The bouncer walks by Beth and looks at her] Okay.

CUT TO THE WAREHOUSE
[Mick walks around and goes inside. Inside the lab, Mick finds people producing the drug. He gets shot at, but fights on and grabs a guy by the throat]

MICK: Where's Lola?

GUY: I don't know. Oh!

MICK: Where's Lola?

GUY: She's in back.

MICK: Get out.

[Mick walks in a room with the tanks containing vampires]

MICK'S VOICE OVER: It finally made sense. The silver, the vampire blood.

MICK: Oh, my God.

MICK'S VOICE OVER: Lola had made her own little factory. Immobilize, extract and eventually dispose.

[A vampire inside one of the tanks is trying to scream for help and Mick wants to open the tank]

LOLA: I wouldn't do that. It'll kill him.

[Lola jumps down to Mick, but instead of catching her, he just catches her coat. Lola is gone]

MICK: They're vampires. You're preying on your own kind.

LOLA: Don't get all sanctimonious on me. [She appears from behind the tanks] Humans kill each other every day. No one even blinks.

MICK: It's evil.

LOLA: "Evil" is a word that gets tossed around a lot, like "great" or "awesome."

MICK: You're actually enjoying this.

LOLA: Everyone should enjoy their work, don't you think?

MICK: You're done here. You're done everywhere.

LOLA: So self-righteous, like Josef. Both of you with your rules and laws. We're above all that. [Mick tries to hit her, but she hits him first. He falls down] But you, still trying to be human, hanging on to your little freshy friend, being all tragic and dark. You can't go through eternity that way. You'll understand when you're older.

[They start fighting and Lola is much faster than Mick. But Mick knows to surprise her and throws her in one of the tanks]

MICK: I don't need to be older. I understand now.

[Cut to outside. Beth is getting out of her car and hiding while the police are in front of the building.]

MICK'S VOICE OVER: There's nothing I could do for the others. With that much silver in their bodies, they're dead already.

LT. CARL: I need you three. Go around that side. Come in the back entrance. You three, take the east door. You two, come with me.

MICK'S VOICE OVER: Believe me, I'm doing them a favor.

[Mick opens an oxygen tank and throws a lighter into the gas which then explodes. Beth is looking for any sign of Mick getting out of the building, when she spots him on the roof. Mick sees Beth and they lock eyes]

CUT TO BETH'S APARMENT
[Beth is watching her report on the computer, while Josh is pouring a glass of wine]

BETH: [on BuzzWire] The explosion happened just after midnight. Police believe this is the site of the drug manufacturing facility that's responsible for the Black Crystal overdoses. They currently have no leads as to the whereabouts of the people involved. This is Beth turner for BuzzWire.

JOSH: So you got your story.

BETH: Yeah.

JOSH: This fire, anybody can see how convenient it is. It's Lola covering her tracks. I would think that somebody obsessed with mysteries, like you, would seize on that.

BETH: And get in the middle of your investigation? No, thanks.

JOSH: Investigation's over. The D.A.'s just happy Black Crystal's disappeared from the scene. So is Lola.

BETH: She won't be back.

JOSH: I don't want to know.

CUT TO MICK'S APARTMENT
[Mick and Josef are having a drink]

MICK: The warehouse is torched. Everything's been taken care of.

JOSEF: What about...

MICK: She's dead.

JOSEF: Well, you know, Lola never told me exactly how old she was, but you know how women are.

MICK: Yeah.

JOSEF: She was at least 500 years old.

MICK: 500?

JOSEF: Yeah.

MICK: Wow. Imagine everything she must have seen.

JOSEF: Yeah.

MICK: All the history. Lola said she thought you and I were alike.

JOSEF: Alike? You and me?

MICK: Yeah. Self-righteous, following human rules and laws, moral principles, that kind of thing. But don't worry. She was wrong. You're a hundred percent vampire.

JOSEF: Well, you know, when you lived as long as Lola, it tricks you into thinking you're above it all, that you really are immortal.

MICK: Yeah. Then it ends. [Mick pours another drink and puts in front of Josef and walks away]

CUT TO BETH'S APPARTEMENT
[Beth sees the Black Crystal on her desk and takes it to a dresser]

JOSH: Beth, dinner's ready.

BETH: Okay, I'll be just a minute.

[She puts it in the dresser and looks at herself in the mirror.]