Curtains open to a dark stage. A Spotlight falls on JACK, Stage Left. He jumps down from the open door of a Brougham (sounds like Broom- a large, extravagant carriage). He looks around the still-dark stage, lantern in hand, nodding his approval as he strolls toward the audience. He pauses to speak a few words to the carriage driver, though we don't hear the exchange, then he tips his hat towards the audience, addressing them directly.

JACK

I met him in the last moments of August, while London burned.

The skyline of 1888 London lights up backstage, bathed in flickering yellow light. Smoke rises from the stage.

JACK

It's the South Quay Warehouses to be specific. They've been burning most of the day, but now they've eaten a few city blocks, they seem to be losing their appetite.

(He peers at the audience.)

You're not from around here. I can tell. I was a new-comer to London, myself, in the Summer of 1888. Let me help you get your bearings. Over there is the famous River Thames.

Sound of churning water and steam engines. An alarm bell rings a few times and a cloud of steam erupts from stage right.

And that demonic racket is a fire barge. London has two of them. They douse the fires with the fetid water of London's jugular. The pumps are powered by evil, clanking, hissing steam-engines. And up there? That's the skeleton of Tower Bridge. She may not look like much now, but she's a marvel! Rather, she will be 6 years hence.

A Scaffold lights up behind Jack as he strolls to Stage Right, peering through the darkness in search of something.

You aren't here for the bridge, though, are you? You want to know about him.

Let's see... It was right about here.

(He points to a spot Stage Right.)

Lights up on a red brick wall; mud spattered, with water trickling through a few cracks. There are a couple of wooden crates, some coiled rope, and other unidentifiable shapes hidden beneath dirty canvases.

BLOODY MAN kneels beside the wall, over the body of DEAD PROSTITUTE. Startled, Bloody Man spins to face Jack, looking him up and down, then he visibly relaxes.

BLOODY MAN

(Speaking in a calm, almost hypnotic manner.)

You have nothing to fear from me, Sir. Find your way elsewhere and think no more on what you've seen here.

JACK

(Opens his mouth to respond, but first turns his head to address the audience.)

I was terrified! I should have fled. But...

(Jack takes a tentative step closer to Bloody Man)

And you, sir, have naught to fear from me. I am a physician, and might be of some service to you or... your companion?

(Bloody Man stands and faces Jack, his demeanor now wary.)

BLOODY MAN

You... You see me. You see me for what I am. What manner of demon are you?

JACK

I am just a man, Sir. Though, perhaps our similarities are greater than our differences.

BLOODY MAN

Similarities? For your sake, I pray we have none. My curse is mine alone, and heaven or hell willing, it shall pass with this wretched night.

JACK

Curse, sir? May I again offer my aid? As I have mentioned, I am...

BLOODY MAN

Yes, I know. A physician. A man. A mortal. How, then, Doctor, are you able to see me truly? For I bear the mark of the devil himself. Any man who looks upon me will see only another man, but you are not fooled by my guise. I must know why."

JACK

Truly, I know not. (To audience) I kind of knew. It was a difficult time for a newly risen surgeon. We needed practice. We needed bodies. (He points a thumb over his shoulder towards Dead Prostitute) And legal cadavers weren't exactly washing up on these bonny, bonny banks. But sometimes, illegal ones did!

Bloody Man moves around Jack faster than any mortal should be able to move. This is accomplished with a strobe and the actors moving in slow motion.

(Now between Bloody Man and Dead Prostitute, Jack looks back and forth from one to the other, his attention simultaneously drawn by both.)

JACK

(To Bloody Man) But an idea occurs to me, even now. Perhaps, as you and I are so well acquainted with Death, we are equally accustomed to seeing the world as it truly is, without the glamors of false hope and blind faith.

Bloody Man steps face to face with Jack, menacing.

BLOODY MAN

Make no assumption that you know me, Physician. For if you did, you would not tolerate my existence. And knowing me, if you would not seek my destruction, then I would certainly desire yours.

Bloody Man grabs Jack by the throat and lifts him off his feet.

BLOODY MAN

I can know the thoughts of any man with a glance. With a look into his eyes, I can read a man's soul. Your thoughts, Doctor, are mute, and your eyes are hollow.

Bloody Man drops Jack. Jack stumbles backward and ends up sitting on Dead Prostitute.

BLOODY MAN

But your face... yes, your face tells me enough. You seek to profit at my expense. No! Do not deny it. This may come to pass, but not before you have served me first.

Lights go out. A Spot falls on Jack, still sitting on the woman's body.

JACK

(To Audience) I didn't like the sound of that. I had come to this place for my own... admittedly ghastly reasons, not to become the lackey of some Nosferatu. And I assure you he was such a being! Vampire! The proof was not in his words, but in his icy touch, his power and speed. The sheer force of his will! His story, too, was too strange to be discounted. As it happens, he had only been a vampire for a couple of hours. Remember that fire?

(Jack gestures Stage Left. The Burning Skyline lights up again.)

He started that. While I sat here, upon this gristly seat, he told me the most fantastic of tales. Though your seats are hopefully more comfortable than mine, I'll not keep you in them as long as he kept me.

(Jack stands and paces as he continues to talk. A pale light falls on Bloody Man who continues to silently address Jack as if Jack is still sitting in front of him.)

JACK

(Continues addressing the audience) Once he began recounting his story, the words flowed from him like a river through a broken dam. The distillation of them is thus: Vampires are strong in the powers of darkness.

So strong, in fact, that a mortal's gaze upon one would see naught but a man. Only other creatures of darkness can perceive their true nature. The curse is contagious to the extent that no mortal will retain the memory of even a treasured loved one once that loved one becomes a vampire. A vampire is utterly forgotten by man, not even recognized in portraits. He is completely undone.

(Jack's stroll takes him back toward the Dead Prostitute.)

Like me, this man could see the creatures of the night for what they were, and set out upon a quest to destroy them. That conflagration is the result. But there are two vampire lairs in London, this night, and only one is burning. The other lair's destruction, it seemed, would fall to me.

(Jack takes his seat on the woman's corpse.)

BLOODY MAN

You will give me your word to finish my task, you will not leave this spot with a beating heart. Bring fire to the second vampire lair and return to me when the deed is done.

JACK

(To audience) I wasn't opposed to aiding him in his quest. After all, who wants to live in a city where such monsters are free to roam the streets? But I must admit...

(To Bloody Man) I must admit, a palpable trepidation is upon me over my role in this adventure. You stood against these villains and survived longer than should have been possible. Surely there is some secret to which you owe your survival.

BLOODY MAN

You are not wrong. I will tell you the secret and how I came upon it, though you will wish to forget it in the same instant.

(Lights gradually dim as Bloody Man speaks until only he and Jack illuminated.)

BLOODY MAN

Two and twenty years past, my sister's husband arrived home for dinner. We were greatly vexed by his attendance, since until that moment his existence had been eradicated from our memories. 

Lights up on a cozy dining room Stage Left. Wilhelmina and Young Bloody Man are seated, speaking silently to each other and enjoying their meal. Housemaid stands nearby, ignored. Thomas appears behind Housemaid. He passes his hand in front of her face, and she falls asleep where she stands.

Young Bloody Man and Wilhelmina don't react to his presence. Strobe lights as Thomas attacks Housemaid. He bites her throat, then flings her across the room. She collides with Young Bloody Man, knocking his chair over backwards and landing atop him. Thomas moves to Wilhelmina as the dining room goes dark.

BLOODY MAN

I knew nothing of Thomas' arrival until the Housemaid fell atop me. Her throat was rent and her flowing blood trickled between my lips. That was the potion-the elixir of life that gave me the power to see Thomas and recognize him as a vampire. He escaped, but I hunted him for days, and then months, and then years. I found other vampires and destroyed them, but every time, I was forced to take an innocent life and imbibe their warm blood. Thus has my existence been in the interim decades. Now, as a man or a vampire, I am glad to see the end of it.

JACK

Dear God. So much death. So much blood. How many have fallen to your hand in that time? How can that be a worthy exchange: the life of an innocent for the destruction of a vampire?

Waltz music plays in the background. A spot light falls on a nicely dressed woman with a parasol. Thomas appears behind her, takes her hand, and they dance offstage into the darkness. This repeats several times across the stage as Bloody Man speaks.

BLOODY MAN

It was worth the cost. It was worth a hundred times the cost to end the existence of a single creature of the night. But only if the ultimate outcome is the elimination of every last one of them. So what if I had to kill? For each life sacrificed to my cause, the enemy could have claimed dozens. Hundreds! No one can tell, for their actions are hidden by their dark power. Now it has come to you. You must be the one to end the curse.

JACK

(To audience) He makes a good point. Have you ever been so affected by someone's words, by their passion, that you felt a sense of duty to take up their cause? (He shrugs) Nah, me either. I decided I would help him, but my reasons and his were not the same.

(To Bloody Man) And what of you, Sir? You have done so much to see the end of these creatures. Now you would have me finish the work on your behalf, yet you are one of them. I cannot reconcile it. Dare I leave you behind?

(Bloody Man pulls a small bag from his coat and offers it to Jack.)

BLOODY MAN

You wish to destroy me before you depart? That is how I know you will do what must be done. And you are correct. I should not be spared, and have made arrangements for my own end. If you succeed, I will be the last vampire in London. You will return here and destroy me. Every passing moment, I lose more of my identity to this curse. By sunrise, the transformation will be complete, and so must your task be.

(Jack takes the bag and removes a thin silver chain.)

JACK

You mistake me, Sir. I do not desire treasure from you.

BLOODY MAN

And I do not offer treasure! My kind is powerless against even the thinnest length of silver. Bind me with this chain before you depart. If you do not return, the morning sun will find me here and finish the job. If you do return, you will have the satisfaction of witnessing my fate in person.

JACK

And should I encounter one of your kind outside its lair, what means of conveyance will deliver it back to the flaming pit? Having witnessed your power, I do not believe I could stand against it without aid.

BLOODY MAN

Nature is the bane of the supernatural. Fire and sunlight will usher a vampire to its end.

Silver, you already know about. Pierce a vampire's heart with fresh-cut wood, and he will be no more. We cannot abide flowing water. Even falling rain can weaken us. Now, tarry no more. I wish to see the end of this night.

(Jack ties Bloody Man up with the chain and the lights fade.)

A Spotlight falls on Jack, Center Stage. The burning skyline is brighter.

JACK

And so it was I found my true calling as I set out that night to cleanse London of this evil stain. I owe it all to Polly and her Bonny Bonnet.

A woman staggers into the light near Jack. Her clothes are dirty and disheveled, except for her hat. She and Jack dance a couple of turns, he dramatically pulls a knife from his coat and cuts her throat. He lowers his face to her wound to drink, and then sends her spinning away into darkness.

Poor Polly. She should have bought a room for the night. Instead, she spent her coin on gin and a bonnet. I didn't feel sorry for her. In truth, I respected her. I spent more time with her than I should have, but she deserved the attention to detail that would mark my later subjects as well. I did feel a moment of revulsion at drinking her still-living blood, but at the first taste, that warm drought changed me. I tasted... power. And I wanted more!

(Jack walks center stage and a wall with a door descends behind him. A placard on the door says Warehouse.)

JACK

This looks like the place. Will you excuse me a moment? Oh, and if anyone suspicious comes along, do me a favor and whistle like a night-bird.

(Jack goes through the door, out of sight. It creaks shut behind him. The wall rotates and we see Jack retrieving some bottles from a crate. A second wall lights up, showing the exterior of a brick warehouse with windows at street level.

He lights a rag wick on one of the bottles and tosses it through the low window. He runs to the next window and does the same, and again at a third. He runs back to the gate door as fire rises in the building behind him.)

JACK

We don't want to stick around here. That place is full of coal. It'll burn like the sun in a few minutes. You run along. I'll meet you back at the River.

(Jack runs out of the spot light and the stage goes dark.)

Lights up Stage Right on Bloody Man at the Tower Bridge site. He is sitting in the mud with his back to the wall, still bound by the silver chain. A light rain is falling.

BLOODY MAN

You have succeeded. You reek of blood and oil and excitement.

A cloud of steam bursts from the fire barge with an evil-sounding screech. Jack emerges from the steam and walks into the light. He ignores the rain, seeming to enjoy it despite chilly air.

JACK

I have done as you bade. You have opened a door for me, Sir. I now walk in a world that I thought existed only in the Penny Dreadfuls. I will never see it the same again. My eyes are opened.

BLOODY MAN

I am sorry for that. But together we have nearly brought an end to that world. When the sun rises, you will walk again in the light.

(Bloody Man struggles to move, but he is hindered by his chains and the falling rain.)

Let us hasten the dawn, Sir. I am both weary of this existence, and frightened that I begin to cherish it. The manner of my destruction is in your hands, but if I may suggest, I do not wish to burn. You will find wooded stakes in a haversack just there.

(Bloody man points to bag near Jack's feet.) 

JACK

(Hesitantly) Yes. We did have an agreement. Though the weight of it was largely my burden to bear.

(Jack is pensive. He paces slowly as he speaks.)

Would you extend a kindness to me before we... end our dealings here?

BLOODY MAN

I am in your debt. Humanity is in your debt. I will bear the strain of existence a little longer. What would you have of me?

(Jack nods, as though reaching a decision.)

JACK

Just a few words. If you are willing, I would like know the rest of your story. Twenty two years hunting the spawn of Hell, sacrificing innocents and imbibing their essence... I would have your tale, if you would give it. What happened after the attack at your sister's home?

(Bloody man hesitates, but nods reluctantly.)

BLOODY MAN

After I was awakened to the presence of our unwanted guest, I immediately...

(Bloody Man continues speaking, but we don't hear him.)

(Jack's pacing brings him to face the audience.)

JACK

(To audience)

It will be dawn soon. Sorry if I kept you waiting after we left the warehouse. I took a moment to send a message to my driver. The estate I'm leasing is just out of the city, and I prefer my own carriage. Especially after all this...

(He gestures towards Bloody Man and Dead Prostitute, and the still-burning skyline.)

Additionally, I admit I am biding my time. Ihave no strong desire to destroy this man... Man? Vampire? It is a smalldistinction to me. It isn't really his story that interests me. I will make myown tale.

But he does have something I desire, and he will not willingly impart it to me. The more I think upon it, more I realize I cannot let him pass without it.

(Jack looks at a pocket watch and glances anxiously toward the street.)

So I let him talk and I listened with interest, and asked questions as his story unfolded.

Center stage lights up on an open coffin. Young Bloody Man stands with a wooden stake held high, and plunges it into the heart of an unseen vampire. Lights down on Center Stage.

JACK

I guided him toward the more difficult parts of the story, too.

Lights up Stage left, where Young Bloody Man holds the limp body of a young woman in his arm. His face is covered in her blood. He carries her a few paces and drops her into an open sewer.

JACK

I think it was good for him to share his story. Confession being good for the soul, and all of that. We talked until the sun's early light painted the eastern horizon. I admitted to him that I had taken my time before returning here. I told him of my meeting with Polly on Buck Lane, and explained how tasting her blood changed me. He was not best pleased by this turn of events, but what could he do, bound in silver and weakened by the rain?

(Jack takes his place in the scene with Bloody Man.)

BLOODY MAN

I will not! No degree of coercion will bend me. You ask me to undo everything I have dedicated my life to accomplishing. You ask me to render meaningless the sacrifice of my own victims. I will not!

JACK

I do. I do, and you will. Hark! Our carriage arrives. Shall we continue our discourse in a more comfortable venue.

(Jack lifts Bloody Man and carries him to the Carriage, Stage Left. Bloody Man is too feeble to resist. Jack climbs into the carriage and closes the door, but quickly jumps down again. He runs back to the river wall for Dead Prostitute and puts her in the carriage, as well.

CURTAINS DOWN

Well-dressed Ladies and Gentlemen waltz front-stage as the next scene is set.