Vampire Charming (30 page)

Slade
spun to face the kid, instinctually shielding Jane, but there wasn’t enough
time for him to defend himself.  Roland lifted his arm, preparing attack Slade,
and Jane didn’t hesitate.  Her hand shot up behind Slade’s back to protect him
from the weapon.  It sank into her arm rather than Slade’s neck.  But, instead
of the searing agony of a severed limb, she felt the small prick of…

…a
needle?

Hold
on, did Roland inject her with something?  Jane looked down at the tiny hole in
her skin.  “He gave me a shot.”  She said vaguely, already feeling the
mysterious liquid moving through her system.

Slade
grabbed her arm to examine the damage.  The jagged edge to his breathing told
Jane that this film was about to become a tragedy.  He let out an inhuman
bellow, lunging at the Roland.

“Shit!” 
Roland tried to scamper away.  “Dude, I didn’t know you had a chick with you! 
It wasn’t supposed to go this way.”  He blurted out, as if this was all some
wacky sitcom misunderstanding.  “For realz, I didn’t mean to stick
her
,
I was aiming for
you
.”  He tried to evade Slade, while studiously
not
looking at Jane’s naked body.  “Seriously, my bad.  Let’s just have a do-over
and…”

Slade
grabbed Roland by the front of his stupid tunic, lifting him right off the
ground. “
What the fuck did you give her?!”

“Calm
down, man!”  Roland’s eyes were huge with fear.  “It was an accident!  I didn’t
even see her!  It’s
your
fault!  You’re so big, you blocked her with your
stupid back when…”

Slade
gave Roland a furious shake, as Jane grabbed for her clothes.  “
What did you
give her?
”  He repeated at a roar.  “
Is it poison?
”

“No! 
It’s just some Vampire blood!  I swear.  The Wizened Enchantress said that it won’t
harm a human!”

The
color drained from Slade’s face, so Jane was betting the Wizened Enchantress
was full of shit.  He dropped Roland like he forgot the boy even existed and
dashed back to her side.  “Jane, what have you
done?
”

Roland
sprawled to the gravel with a grunt.  “Hey, that hurt, man!”

Jane
ignored him.  She swallowed hard, staring up at Slade.  “You were lying about
Vampire blood being medicinal, weren’t you?”

“I
would
never
lie to you.  Except about the small things like when I can
fly.”  His words were coming out way too fast.  “I swear, I did not think you
would ever be exposed to
another
Vampire’s blood, in addition to my own. 
That will trigger a transition.  I didn’t foresee it, but I
should
have. 
I am so sorry, my One.”

“Transition? 
Like to a
Vampire? 
I don’t want to be a
fucking Vampire!
” 
Worse, Slade thought Vampires were God’s gift to supernatural world and he’d never
suggested this transition thing before.  If he didn’t want her to become a
Vampire, there was a reason.

…Like
maybe humans didn’t come through the process so well.

Pain
was already eating through Jane’s body.  “Am I going to die?”

“No!”

The
way he shouted it meant “yes.”

Fucking
typical.  The sidekick
always
died in fantasy movies.  This never
would’ve happened if she was the heroine.  Jane
knew
living happily ever
after with Slade was a longshot.  So much for the King of the Vampires always
being right.

She
felt herself getting dizzy and reached out to steady herself on Slade’s arm.

“Jane!” 
He grabbed her closer, holding her against him.  “Don’t do this.  Please, don’t
leave me.”  His voice cracked, tears welling in his celestial eyes.  “I will
fix this.  Somehow I will fix this. 
Please,
Jane.  Just hang on.”

Jane
looked up at him and realized… She wasn’t a pragmatist, after all.

Not
anymore.  Maybe Slade was wrong about their Hollywood ending, but he
was
right about everything else.  She should have risked more.  She should have
gone out for the parts she really wanted, instead of just settling for the
extras.  She should have believed in fairytales.  Jane had lived her whole life
so afraid of failure that there was no way she could succeed.

Until
Slade.

Because
of him, she wasn’t dying with any regrets.  None.  Maybe she’d been afraid for
most of her thirty years, but she’d pulled it out in the end.  She’d taken a
huge, crazy, illogical chance on this Vampire.  …And it had paid off better
than she could’ve dreamed.  Knowing Slade helped Jane feel brave and strong and
whole.  He challenged her to be the best person she could be and pushed her to
have faith in herself.

With
Slade, she was a star.

“It’s
alright.”  Jane touched the side of his face.  “I’ll be a Vampire or I’ll die
trying.”  Not exactly a great set of choices, but
un
dead sure beat
real
dead.  “Either way, I wouldn’t have changed
any
of it, Slade.  Not one
second.”  She gave him her best shot a smile.  “Not even this one.”

He
shook his head, his eyes wild.  “
I
wish to change it!  How could you
risk yourself like this, Jane?  Do you think I would want that? 
Ever?
  Why
didn’t you just let him inject
me?
”

What
a bunch of stupid questions for a smart guy to ask.  “Because, I am completely
and totally in love with you, too, dumbass.”  She muttered and then the world
went dark.

INT. OBSIDIAN FORTRESS- NIGHT

PRINCESS ALLANDRINA stares into the
mirror of her vanity.  She is amazingly beautiful, with a lush body and a face
exactly like ANGELINIA JOLIE’S.  In fact, (ideally) she’s being played by ANGELINA
JOLIE.  Hopefully, ANGELINA JOLIE is reading this script and is super-happy to
be offered a part in this movie.  (Hi, ANGELINA!)  Anyhow, everyone in the
kingdom has always been in awe off ALLANDRINA’S overall amazingness.

Until lately.

Lately, it seems that she doesn’t exist,
at all.  Lately, all anybody cares about is JANE SQUIRE.  ALLANDRINA hears the
name being whispered all over the castle.  JANE SQUIRE.  JANE SQUIRE.  JANE
SQUIRE.  It’s like a broken troubadour.  …And it pisses ALLANDRINA off.  When
will ALLANDRINA have some attention?  What does she have to do, invent neon and
point a big, blinking arrow at her head to remind everyone that she’s here? 
Clearly, something will have to be done, if this tale is ever going to get back
on track.

Redrafted Film Script- “From Here to Infinia”

“
No.
” 
Jane collapsed and Slade’s world bottomed out.  “
Jane!
”  He laid her
limp body on the gravel, frantically assessing her still form.

Shit! 
What could he do?  There had to be something.  He had to
do
something!

“Uh-oh.” 
Roland gazed down at her, looking dim and troubled.  “Is she dead?  ‘Cause she
looks dead.”

“If
she dies, so will you.”  Slade didn’t even bother to glance at Roland as he
delivered that threat.  All his attention was on Jane.  This couldn’t happen. 
He wouldn’t allow it.

Roland
glanced at him.  “She’s --like-- your girlfriend?”

“She’s
my fucking
soul
.”

“Oh. 
Shit.  Sorry, man.  I thought you were into Allandrina.”

“Stop
talking or I will kill you, right now.”  Slade’s mind raced, trying to come up
with a way to save Jane.  Goddamn it, a villain would be able to think of
something.  Damien or Fang would no doubt devise some brilliant scheme to cheat
death and save their woman.  But, Slade didn’t know how to come up with fucking
schemes
.  He’d been raised to be a hero.  If it wasn’t for Jane urging
patience and restraint, he would have stupidly charged at Fang days ago.  It
was just who Slade was.  He only knew how to get a sword, stand up, and face
his enemies.

But,
how did he fight against
this?

He
couldn’t.  Jane had the blood of two Vampires in her.  There was no way to stop
her from transitioning.  Which meant there was only one chance in a thousand
that she would survive this.

No.

No.

“Dude,
do you know you got a bunch of arrow holes in your back?”  Roland asked as if
he was just noticing.  “They’re --like-- closing up, though.  It’s kinda weird.”

Jane’s
blood was healing him.  His blood was inside of her too, healing the cuts and
bruises that she’d endured.  But it wasn’t enough to bring her back from the
edge of death.

NO!

“You
cannot do this.  Jane!”  Slade gave her a shake, trying to rouse her.  “You
cannot leave me.  You must fight!”  The woman was the most obstinate creature
ever born.  She would never just surrender.  She’d been knocked out before and
she came around.  She could do it, again.  Jane Squire could do anything.  “Jane,
you must
fight!
”

“You
should use CPR.”  Roland recommended, hovering like a vulture.

Slade
was desperate enough to try anything.  Even something suggested by someone he
planned to rip apart with his bare hands.  “What the fuck is CPR?”

“I’m
not sure.  I don’t think it exists in Infinia.  But, it would really be useful,
right now.”

Slade
truly was going to murder the boy.  He might’ve done it at that very moment,
except something so much more important distracted him.

Jane
stopped breathing… and so did Slade.

“
JANE!
” 
The roar came straight from the soul that she gave him.  He couldn’t go on
without her.  He didn’t even want to.  Without Jane, the whole world might as
well wither into dust
. 
He loved her.  Not just because she was his
Eternal-One, but because she was
Jane
.  Cynical and softhearted. 
Fearless and wary.  A mass of contradictions and curls that
came
together to form something
perfect. 
 She couldn’t die.  She
couldn’t. 
Jane was
everything.

Slade
went into a complete meltdown, the Dark Instincts screaming inside of him. 
Tears were running down his face and he didn’t notice.

Roland
looked weepy, too.  “Man, this whole thing was a
huge
mistake.  I don’t
even
want
to be king.  I’m not sure what I was thinking, ya know?  I’m
supposed to be a rock-god, not a politician.”  He swiped at his nose and
sorrowfully gazed at Jane.  “She was totally kinda hot, too.  I wouldn’t kill a
hot chick.  That goes against everything I believe in.”

“
Shut
up!
”

“Do
not worry, Slade.  All will be well.”

Slade
was so frantic, he barely heard the familiar voice.  Nothing registered outside
of Jane.  She was so still, like she had already left.  Like she was already
gone.

Oh
gods please don’t let her be gone…

It
wasn’t until the newcomer tried to pry Jane away from him that he really noticed
her.  His head snapped up with a snarl, coming face-to-face with an elderly
woman.  To most people she was known as
Dawnyah-Zanabriah, the
legendary shape-shifter and prophet.

To
Slade she was just Grandma Dawn.

His
grandmother
was a gray haired woman, who always acted like she
was the smartest person in the realm.  Hell, she probably
was
.  She was
also stronger than she looked.  His grandmother tried to drag Jane closer to
her, even as her magicks automatically created new clothes for them to wear. 
His grandmother was sort of a prude, so their half-nakedness was sure to freak
her out.

Slade
couldn’t care less.  He jerked Jane back from her determined grip, the fabric
of Jane’s new flowy dress flowing around him.  Grandma Dawn
loved
flowy
dresses.  “What are you doing here?”  He bellowed.

If
Dawn answered, he didn’t hear it.  Slade couldn’t think.  Couldn’t function.  He
just instinctively clutched Jane tighter as his grandmother tugged on her arm. 
He wasn’t letting her go.

“I
can help your Eternal-One.” 
Dawn met his eyes levelly.  “You
know I can, Slade.  Just let me see her.”

“
Are
you out of your mind?
  You abandoned me when I needed you most and now you
think I’ll give you my…?”

Dawn
cut him off.  “I looked into my crystal ball and saw your true path. 
That
is why I ensured that you would be deposed.  
Everything
I have ever done
has been to aid you, Slade.  To help you find your true destiny.  And you
have,
if you’ll just let me help her.”

Slade
stared at his grandmother, breathing hard.  Her words closely mirrored the
thoughts he’d been having.  Maybe she hadn’t betrayed him, after all.  Maybe she’d
foreseen that Jane was his only chance at finding happiness.  It made sense.  Without
Jane, his life would be empty.  That was why she
had
to start breathing
again.  She was the only thing in his whole life that mattered…