6 x 03 - Lost Souls

Scene: Dark rooftops of LA. There is a figure leaping lithely from one to the other, without any apparent effort. There is noise of a mob, faint but growing and the figure turns its head to look towards that direction. It’s ILLYRIA.

It reaches the edge of a rooftop and peers down into the alleyway. We see an aerial view of ANGEL and SPIKE talking. ILLYRIA watches them for a second, an expression of confusion on its face. Tears intermingle with the rain on its face and it swats them away, looking annoyed and confused.

SPIKE (O/S): Not so far. You feel the heat?

ANGEL (O/S): It’s coming

SPIKE (O/S): Finally got ourselves a decent brawl.

ILLYRIA looks towards the entrance of the noise and then turns away, looking across to the far open rooftops. It takes another look down at the alleyway, where we can see GUNN running in. A flicker of emotion crosses its face at the sight of GUNN’s injury, but then it turns away and walks from the edge. It pauses for a second, then returns to look down.

We see a top-down view of the conversation in the alley.

SPIKE: Supposed to wear that red stuff on the inside Charlie-boy.

GUNN (looking at wound with trembling hand): Any word on Wes?

ILLYRIA jumps over the lip of the roof and drops neatly beside them and the camera follows it down.

ILLYRIA: Wesley’s dead.

Close on ILLYRIA, solely watching its grief rather than seeing anyone else’s reaction.

ILLYRIA: I’m feeling grief for him. I can’t seem to control it. (turns to ANGEL) I wish to do more violence.

SPIKE (looking to entrance of alley where demonic noises are emanating): Well, wishes just happen to be horses tonight love.

ANGEL: Among other things.

ILLYRIA stares at the hordes with fury writ clear across its face and we get a view of it flexing its fists as GUNN speaks.

GUNN: Okay, you take the thirty-thousand on the left…

ILLYRIA is shaken out of its fury and turns to look in consternation at GUNN.

ILLYRIA: You are fading. You will last ten minutes at best.

GUNN (standing up and gripping his axe): Then let’s make them memorable.

The horde approaches and the camera stays with ILLYRIA, watching it prepare for battle.

SPIKE: And in terms of a plan?

ANGEL: We fight.

SPIKE: Bit more specific?

The shot moves to watch SPIKE and ANGEL’s conversation from ILLYRIA

ANGEL: Well, personally, I kinda wanna slay the dragon.

Watching the horde approach Angel Inc from ILLYRIA’s perspective, watching ANGEL ready his sword.

ANGEL: Let’s go to work

ILLYRIA smiles a cold and thin lipped smile as she watches the demons approach. The first demon’s sword is caught by ANGEL and he spins it toward ILLYRIA, who spins and kicks it. Then the battle is joined and we watch ILLYRIA fight, throwing demons into the air, batting them away with ease. It’s partially shepherding GUNN, tearing demons away from him.

The dragon dives and SPIKE, GUNN and ANGEL duck. ILLYRIA snatches up a sword and leaps for it, burying the blade into the dragon’s underbelly. It screeches as it’s wounded. ILLYRIA drops to its feet again. The flood of demons parts for a second and we see the fanged demon biting GUNN. There is a shot of ANGEL shouting Gunn’s name, but the shout’s drowned out by ILLYRIA’s shriek of fury. It grasps the demon by the back of the neck, crushing it with its hand. ILLYRIA hurls it away and looks at GUNN. He’s dead already.

ILLYRIA shrieks again, clenching its fist and it spins to decapitate a demon. It’s furious and fighting from that fury now. It throws a demon into the pack, clearing a gap in the throng just in time to see SPIKE crumble to dust. ILLYRIA continues fighting, kicking and punching for its life, grabbing weapons from fallen demons to bury them in live ones, punching through throats and tearing some apart.

Then it sees a particular demon in the crowd and lunges for it, diving off its feet to go for its throat. It’s a MOHRA demon (the end of days demon from I Will Remember). ILLYRIA has sacrificed its footing and demons are piling on top of it, but it doesn’t appear bothered. The MOHRA lashes out, driving its sword into ILLYRIA’s chest, but ILLYRIA stabs its hand into the MOHRA’s neck, causing a spray of greeny-silver blood to coat ILLYRIA’s mouth. ILLYRIA licks its lips, holding the MOHRA tightly by the throat with one hand (covering the wound and preventing more blood from leaking), it holds up the other hand against the ground in an open palmed warding gesture. The ground ripples and ILLYRIA and the MOHRA drop straight through to a sewer tunnel below.

The noise of the battle above is still audible, but muted, and ILLYRIA looks up for a second. Then it looks down at the MOHRA, which is still alive. She pulls the sword from her chest and drops it onto the floor. It removes its hand from the neck wound and looks down at the MOHRA with a cold smile. Then it buries its teeth in the MOHRA’s neck and starts drinking.

ILLYRIA’s eyes flash bright blue and light gathers around its open mouth as it drinks at the wound of the MOHRA. Then it throws the MOHRA away and gasps, throwing its arms wide to either side as light shines in and around it. It’s smiling very wickedly.

The light dies and ILLYRIA looks around at its surroundings. The MOHRA lies crumpled on the floor and ILLYRIA looks down at it contemptuously. Then it turns to the wall, holds out its hand and disappears through a portal, leaving the sewer empty and dark.

Credits

Scene: Total blackness. It’s somewhere underground, somewhere very tight and cramped and if you look very, very carefully you might just pick out the shape of a person. The impression is of a very tight person-shaped hole in the ground. We can hear frightened breathing, as of a terrified girl and frantic scrabbling, panicking motions. Hold on this for about 15-20 seconds, the noises getting more and more frantic.

Scene: Angel’s cell. ANGEL is lying on the floor coughing blood after ILLYRIA’s blow. ILLYRIA is kneeling by his side, looking extremely pissed off.

ILLYRIA: Where is he?

ANGEL coughs blood again and struggles for breath.

ILLYRIA: Do not toy with me, vampire. I have removed spines, ripping through nerves and tissue to come here, toying with each vertebrae to leave my victims limp, mewling puppets without strings. I have gutted men and demons alike to find what I want and I will not stop at filleting you if you baulk me.

ANGEL gets enough breath and energy to get words out.

ANGEL: Illyria… what…?

ILLYRIA: Where is he! You have hidden him from me vampire and I will not tolerate it.

ANGEL: Who...?

ILLYRIA: You will end your days in agony half-breed, unless you give me what I want. You do not hide these things from a god!

It picks him up and lifts him into the air.

ILLYRIA: You have taken him from me and I will not have it. Give him to me!

ANGEL: Wesley?

ILLYRIA lets out a keening howl and tosses ANGEL against the opposite wall. ANGEL winces and watches ILLYRIA, who is still grieving.

ANGEL (more certain): You want Wesley.

ILLYRIA turns to glower at ANGEL.

ANGEL: But he’s dead.

ILLYRIA (snapping): Death is impermanent. It does not concern me.

It looks with a cocked head at ANGEL.

ILLYRIA: I do not understand how it is done, but you have removed him from my reach. You will return him to me or you will suffer.

ANGEL stands up.

ANGEL: He’s dead.

ILLYRIA cocks its head quizzically.

ANGEL: Humans… they work differently to the Ancients. When they die, they don’t come back. If they could, then Fred would still be here.

ILLYRIA is still silent, looking at him, so ANGEL feels safe to take a step forward, holding out his hand in a placatory manner.

ANGEL: Illyria, I understand that you’re hurting…

There is a beat and then ILLYRIA rushes him, pinning him against the wall with its forearm across his throat, lifting him off the floor.

ILLYRIA (screaming): You understand nothing!

It drops him and hangs her head, shaking it from side to side like it’s trying to shake something out. Then it tosses its head to the ceiling and cries out, a keening wail. It looks at the wall and there are tears on its cheeks.

ILLYRIA: Your emotions weigh less than your words when compared to my pain. It burns. More than any torment I could ever devise for my enemies. I cannot rip it from me. These drops keep falling, blurring my vision and I can do nothing to make them stop. <turns to ANGEL> How? How does this happen? How can one man lay the God-King of the Primordial so low?

ANGEL is still struggling to get up from being hit.

ILLYRIA: Wesley killed my Quaa-Hazan, my guide to this world. Yet I did not mourn him. He was human, a mere inconvenience. But Wesley… he was…

It wails again.

ILLYRIA: Is this what he felt? When he saw this shell, this… Winifred Burkle die?

It turns and lifts ANGEL by the lapels of what’s left of his shirt to bring him to its face.

ILLYRIA: Is this what you felt vampire? This unending, unendurable agony that tears apart the very molecules of your being? Did you keen as I have done? Or do you not feel this grief?

There is a beat as it looks at him.

ILLYRIA: You felt it, I can see it all.

ILLYRIA tosses him away, like he’s a prop in her soliloquy, and starts pacing. Within a few paces, it twitches its head, shaking it and clawing at its temples for a second, before continuing to pace.

ILLYRIA: How do you function? How did Wesley function with this hole through the core of his being? The very fibres of this world should quake before my presence, yet I am disabled by this infection. <turns to look at ANGEL> You feel this grief now? For the dark human and the white-haired half-breed? You watched them fail and die as I did. Yet you still stand here, unmoved. <beat> You are a mote, an amoeba against my glory, yet you stand strong against that which weakens me. <glowers at him> Do you not wish to avenge them? To tear and destroy and ensure that the names on every set of bleeding, broken lips are those of the ones you have lost? To make this planet mourn with you?

It bends to look at ANGEL and cocks its head curiously.

ILLYRIA: Would you not tear the world asunder to assuage this ill?

It stares at him for a second, either not knowing, or not caring that her ministrations have left him without breath to speak.

ILLYRIA: No, you would not. <gets up and starts pacing again> Wesley tried to teach me your morals, your values. He broke your commandments, on many occasions. He killed the Quaa-Hazan, taking away life for his vengeance. Yet he insisted that your values should be held in high regard. <looks at ANGEL> You believe in the value of the soul and the possibility of redemption. <scornful> You believe that life is precious, worthy above all else.

ILLYRIA pauses for a second. Then it abruptly grabs ANGEL by the back of the neck with one hand and uses the other to open a portal, which it drags him through.

Scene: Streets of LA at dusk. The streets are nearly empty and anyone who is on them is very obviously wishing that they weren’t and hurrying to get inside.

We see a three or four year old boy sitting in a baby buggy, looking around curiously. There’s no adult around that obviously belongs to him. He’s holding a teddy bear by one leg and has his thumb in his mouth. He’s the very picture of sleepy cuteness.

BOY: Mummy?

He clambers out of the buggy and looks around, unworried, but curious.

BOY (a little louder, but not panicked): Mummy!

There is a scuffle at a sidestreet and we get a shot of a VAMPIRE dragging his victim into an alleyway, his hand over her mouth and his teeth in her neck. All the passerbys move a little faster and try very hard not to notice the woman’s plight.

The WOMAN’s eyes are screaming, even if her voice cannot and she struggles against the VAMPIRE. His arm holding her slips and he burns his hand on a cross around her neck. He yells, letting go of her and she makes a break for the end of the alleyway. He catches her easily, yanking the cross from her neck and tossing it to the floor.

VAMPIRE (to WOMAN): Lotta people got in touch with their inner Christian recently, ain’t they?

WOMAN: Please. Let me go.

Shot of the little BOY. He’s wandered into the middle of the road, still half-asleep and just wandering around looking for his mummy. A solitary car comes down the middle of the road at some speed and he looks into its headlights. It swerves to go around him, but doesn’t seem particularly interested in stopping to find out why there’s a young kid in the middle of the road. The BOY watches it go past with interest.

BOY: Mummy? Where are you? I’m hungry!

In the alleyway, the WOMAN can’t help but look towards the sound of her son’s voice. The VAMPIRE smiles and looks down at her.

VAMPIRE: Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him. I’ll bet he’ll be a delicious little dessert.

The VAMPIRE bites the woman again and she cries against his hand. Then there is a voice O/S.

O/S VOICE: If you keep eating dessert, it’ll go straight to your hips.

The VAMPIRE breaks from the bite and turns to look, annoyed at being interrupted. Standing behind them in the alleyway is a young Slayer, about 16/17 years old. She’s blonde, but her hair hangs in straggly clumps either side of her face, as if it hasn’t been washed in weeks. She’s skinny as anything and her face is grimy, but she’s got a confident smile on her face. This is ALEX.

VAMPIRE: Who are you?

ALEX (brash): I’m Alex, the Vampire Slayer. Who the hell are you?

VAMPIRE: Slayer, huh?

He throws the WOMAN to the ground and turns to face ALEX.

VAMPIRE: Always wondered what a Slayer tastes like.

He pounces and ALEX dodges, kicking him viciously in the balls as he goes past. He goes down, clutching himself. ALEX pulls out a stake from her sleeve and stakes him in the back.

ALEX: Guess you’ll have to try again next lifetime, cause you’re not…

The VAMPIRE dusts and ALEX pouts.

ALEX: I wasn’t finished yet! <to herself> Gotta learn to talk faster.

She turns to the woman, who’s cowering in the alleyway.

ALEX (brusque): You okay?

WOMAN: Bu…bu… He was going to kill me.

ALEX (dismissive): Well, you’re fine now.

WOMAN: My god, he was going to kill me.

ALEX gives her a contemptuous look and starts to walk away. The WOMAN scrambles to her feet and runs next to her.