Episode 7 - Yes, Virginia..
ACT ONE EXT. OUTSIDE BUFFY'S HOUSE - DAY (DAY TWO) We see Anya and Xander walking up to the door, talking as they go. Anya is dressed festively in red and dons a Santa hat. ANYA (excited) I just love this time of the year. Everyone's all merry, and everything's all festive and cheery. XANDER And you're altogether too juiced up on the Christmas cocktail. What say we dial back on the exuberance? ANYA Oh you dial it back. Why shouldn't I be happy? Christmas is a happy time right? XANDER Usually, but not everyone's so jaunty round this time of the year. ANYA Well, so long as they don't bring me down, they won't bother me. XANDER Right. The two reach the door. Xander knocks. The door opens to reveal Buffy at the doorway. XANDER Hey Buffy. ANYA (enthusiastic and smiling) Seasons Greetings! BUFFY (flatly) Hey you guys, come on in. Anya ignores the less than enthusiastic greeting and continues smiling as she and Xander enter.. INT. BUFFY'S HOUSE/LOUNGE ROOM - DAY where the entire gang (minus Dawn) and Christopher are gathered, sitting around a table. There's a laptop in front of Willow on the table. Anya takes a horrified look around. ANYA Where's the decorations, the stockings, the burning log, the carols? BUFFY What? XANDER (to Buffy) I think you're killing Christmas Anya. BUFFY Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be Ebenezer Buffy. ANYA (to Buffy) The tree! My God! Please tell me you have a Christmas tree! BUFFY Ooh. There's a tree. Buffy points to a tiny, slightly disfigured, green plastic thing in the corner with a tiny star on top. It has seen better days. WILLOW That's a tree? I thought it was a room freshener. XANDER No offence Buffy but that's like the very definition of a token effort. BUFFY I just thought we'd cut back on the decorations and stuff this year, you know, have a holly free Christmas. ANYA (to herself) More like jolly free. CHRISTOPHER Perhaps we could get back to the issues at hand? The mood in the room immediately turns more serious with Chris' interjection. Anya and Xander sits themselves down. XANDER So, what did we miss? WILLOW We were just talking about Ethan Rayne. XANDER Oh yeah. You guys ever notice he's like a bad twenty-four hour flu? I mean, it all seems very dangerous at the time but it always turns out to be just a mild annoyance which is gone by the end of the day. BUFFY Well this is one flu I don't plan on catching again. We sent his English ass back to England. GILES (smiling, happy thoughts) Yes, thanks to Tara, he'll be spending Christmas with some of his old friends back in the Council, who I'm sure will make him feel very welcome. WILLOW (to Tara) See baby, if everyone took two of you a day, nobody would get sick. Tara smiles, a little embarrassed. BUFFY Aw, that's sweet. A little too much subtext, but sweet. CHRISTOPHER (impatient, jumping in again) So what do we know? The mood of the room changes again. A few stares at Christopher before Buffy chimes in. BUFFY Well, Ethan mentioned someone called 'the General'. I'll take a wild guess here and say he's the guy running things. GILES Yes, a General who wants to raise an army. TARA An army? BUFFY Yup. Organised mayhem, right here in Sunnydale central. XANDER And they say this town has nothing to offer tourists. Wait. An army of demons? Didn't we do this already? BUFFY Yeah, sounds like Adam left his master plans lying about the place. WILLOW So, are we thinking that the local vamps are signing up? BUFFY I haven't seen any recruiting posters around but it would kinda explain the lack of vamp activity lately. XANDER Yeah, whatever happened to Skeet and his gang? GILES Well, we can't rule anything out at this stage. They could be recruiting from Sunnydale, or others could be coming here. We just don't know. BUFFY What do we know? Giles, did Ethan tell you anything more about where Fort Fang could be? GILES No, he's sticking to his story. He knows the general area but he claims they always blindfolded him before he got close. BUFFY Will? WILLOW (looking at her laptop) I managed to hack in and get a hold of the town plans but.. XANDER No luck? WILLOW Well, I wouldn't go out and buy a lottery ticket.. or for that matter, plan any long plane trips. (tapping the keys on her laptop) According to Ethan, the vamps were taking him towards the north-east sector of the town but there's nothing there that's big enough to match what Ethan was describing. BUFFY (to Giles) You think Ethan was lying? GILES Doubtful. He can be surprisingly truthful when threatened with pain. XANDER Besides, we can't really trust town records. I'd betcha that the Master.. I mean, Dracula's big old castle wasn't in the town database. CHRISTOPHER Well, we obviously have to take a look. I suggest we break up into groups of two and cover every square inch of that area until we find it. The group looks at Chris and then turn to Giles. GILES (after a beat) We'll break into groups of two and cover every square inch of that area.. until we find it. XANDER (to Giles) Good plan. Christopher gets up and walks away. The meeting breaks up. Buffy gets up and heads upstairs while the rest of the gang linger a little longer. ANYA (to Xander and Giles) We don't have to do this right away right? I mean this is the time for mistletoe, and reindeers and fa la las and yuletide carols. Surely there's an 'X'-mas 'X'-emption. XANDER An, you have to understand.. GILES No, Anya's right. WILLOW She is? GILES We need a break. All of us. These past two years.. (a beat, then melancholy) Days like these make up for all the bad days.. at least, they're meant to. Giles gets up and leaves. Willow, Tara and Xander looking a little glum. Anya perks up. ANYA Well, you heard the man. I say we dash over to the North Pole and pick up some goodies from Santa's workshop for Buffy and Dawn, help brighten up the place. TARA The North Pole? XANDER The mall. WILLOW Santa's workshop? XANDER Sears. ANYA (exuberant) Yes, I have to bring some Christmas cheer and spirit to Buffy. We'll get some decorations, and ornaments, and Xander can pick up a tree and we can start putting up the glitter this afternoon and..oh Dawn can get the kids to put on the finishing touches. This is going to be so much fun! We're going to instill the spirit of Christmas back into a lost soul. WILLOW Where are we, Bedford Falls? TARA I think it's a good idea. I mean, it's Buffy and Dawnie's first Christmas without their mom. It can be a little strange. ANYA Good, it's settled! So, saddle up buckaroos. We'll meet you guys at the sleigh. XANDER The car. WILLOW Got it. Anya and Xander leaves. Willow looks less than cheery. TARA What's the matter? WILLOW Nothing really, it's just, I don't feel real Christmasy this year. You know, what with the army of the dead at our doorstep. TARA I think Mr Giles is right. Sometimes, you just have to leave everything behind, only if it's for a little while, otherwise.. WILLOW I know, you're right. I'm still not wild about going to the Christmas Eve party at the Bronze tonight though. TARA No? WILLOW Yeah. I know it'll be good for Buffy and all but, you know, we seem to be going to a lot of parties recently and let me tell you, too many demony gate-crashers. TARA Well, you know, technically, we kinda crashed their Halloween and.. (off Willow's look) totally not the point. You were saying? WILLOW I was blabbering. Don't mind me, I'm just being irrational gal. Still, I think I'd rather spend tonight cuddled up with a book, and you. TARA (playfully) Hey, we're all cuddled up and all you want to do is read a book? WILLOW (smiling) Well, okay. Lose the book. It's not like people should spend Christmas Eve reading anyway. INT. GENERAL'S MANSION/SOLOMON'S ROOM - DAY CLOSE ON : A BOOK - 'A CHRISTMAS CAROL' WIDEN : to reveal Solomon sitting in his chair, reading through the book. Dark and gloomy room. The door opens. Sasha enters as Solomon hastily puts his book away. Sasha notices. She comes over and picks up the book. SASHA (reading the title) 'A Christmas Carol'? SOLOMON They're just words. SASHA If they're just words, why read it? Solomon snatches the book away from Sasha and puts it in a box, hidden away in a corner. We see the box filled with various random items. Sasha, not letting it go, saunters over to the box, and starts rummaging through it. SASHA All these little trophies.. ANGLE ON : SASHA'S HAND as she reaches in and picks up various items. A ring, an engraved watch 'To Simon, with all my love, Deidra', a wallet-sized picture of an unknown family. SASHA If the General ever found out you've started collecting again.. Sasha puts the items away and walks over to Solomon. SASHA Do you still have the dreams? Do they still whisper their little lies? Solomon is quiet for a beat, then.. SOLOMON I don't understand any of it. Why, after so long? SASHA Give it time. It takes longer for some. (then earnestly) But you have to realise, that that part of you is dead. You can never go back to that life. Even if you tried, every fibre of your body, of your mind would scream out against it. Sasha puts her face next to Solomon's. SASHA (quietly) It's a dead star my sweet. You may still be able to see the light but the star has long burnt out. Let it go. Solomon sits impassively. SASHA Come. The General calls. Sasha walks towards the door. SOLOMON (not looking at Sasha) Did you ever?.. Do you still dream? SASHA No. There's nothing sadder than a butterfly who still dreams of being a caterpillar. Sasha exits. Solomon continues to sit, deep in thought. INT. GENERAL'S MANSION - DAY In another part of the mansion, in a large room, we see Tarwin and Flix. Tarwin is sitting and cleaning his pole-axe (you heard me). Flix is walking around, a bad case of cabin fever, playing with her knife. Some vamps are walking to and fro, in and out of the room. FLIX You know what I hate about being a vamp? The waiting. Always waiting. Waiting for night, waiting to feed, waiting to play. Waiting.. Flix looks over at Tarwin who is ignoring her. Flix comes over to Tarwin, standing in his personal space. FLIX Waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting.. Tarwin continues to try to ignore her but is starting to look agitated. FLIX (getting louder) waiting, waiting, WAITING, WAITING (then screaming) WAITING! TARWIN Shut up girl! Flix giggles happily. FLIX (teasingly) Oh Tarwin. Where's the fun? You remember fun don't you? Come on. Leave your axe alone for a second so we can play. Tarwin ignores her. FLIX Please? No response from Tarwin. Flix walks over to Tarwin again, giggling. FLIX (getting louder) Please? Please? Please? PLEASE? PLEASE? PL.. With impressive speed, an angry Tarwin snaps out his arm and grabs Flix by her throat. TARWIN (slowly, menacingly) Shut up. Flix looks down at Tarwin's hand and then back up to Tarwin. FLIX (smiling, coyly) Wanna make me? Tarwin glares and snarls. INT. GENERAL'S MANSION/THRONE ROOM - DAY CLOSE : THE GENERAL'S FACE not looking terribly pleased. He is sitting on his throne. THE GENERAL (threateningly) Tell me again why you think my plan is flawed. REVERSE ANGLE : Medium shot (chest up) of Sasha and Solomon. Sasha is standing close to the General in the foreground while Solomon is standing further back in the background. SASHA (fearful but managing to keep composed) That's not what I'm saying. I'm simply suggesting we pay a little more attention to the slayer and her friends. THE GENERAL And I've already decided that we should concentrate on preparing for the ritual. He will arrive soon enough. We see the General then bite down on an arm in front of him, feeding. Solomon and Sasha look down at the General, waiting for him to finish, then.. SASHA It wouldn't take up much of our time. We have more than enough manpower to.. THE GENERAL (to Sasha) Don't you like the view? SASHA The view? THE GENERAL from where you are standing. Perhaps you'd like to see what the world looks like from this throne, because if I'm not mistaken, (suddenly shouting in a furious rage) ONLY THE PERSON SITTING IN THIS CHAIR DECIDES WHAT WE DO. A beat as Sasha and Solomon reel from the outburst. SOLOMON General, she didn't mean.. SASHA (cutting in) The slayer is the only person that stands between us and our destiny. She has lasted longer than any other slayer we know of. There is a danger here. THE GENERAL The only reason the slayer is still alive is because we haven't returned till now. SASHA But.. ANGLE : GENERAL as he cuts her off with a wave of his hand. We see him biting down on the arm again, much harder this time, feeding voraciously. PAN UP: from the arm to reveal it is Sasha's arm. She grimaces as the General continues to feed. ANGLE : SOLOMON looking on with some concern. ANGLE : SASHA starting to look a little distressed and weak. SASHA (quietly to the General) General.. She tries to pull her arm away but the General holds on tight with his hands and continues to feed, his blood lust taking over. SOLOMON (loudly) General. The General finally stops, looking up at Solomon and than at Sasha. He calms down and releases Sasha. Sasha steps back next to Solomon. THE GENERAL (to Solomon) Tell me Solomon, what do you believe we should do? SOLOMON I believe what you believe General. THE GENERAL (smiling) Very well. (to Sasha) If you want to play with the slayer, you go right ahead. I'll leave it to you to deal with her, so long as it doesn't interfere with our preparations. Our time is near. From off-screen, we suddenly hear some noises. The General, Solomon and Sasha head out to investigate. INT. GENERAL'S MANSION - DAY The three enter the room. They see a smiling Flix, a tiny little thing, lifting a helpless Tarwin off the floor by his neck. THE GENERAL (scoldingly) Flix! FLIX (to the General) We're just playing. He said he wanted to play. Tarwin lashes out with his arms and legs, trying to get free. FLIX (to Tarwin) Now, now. Don't be naughty. You know what I do to my dolls when they're naughty? I pull off their arms, and then their legs.. and then their heads. (a beat, smiling at Tarwin) Wanna see if I can pull yours off? We see Flix's hand tighten around Tarwin's neck. Tarwin starting to choke. The General watches with a smile for a beat, then.. THE GENERAL Enough! Put him down. Flix does so reluctantly. Tarwin crumples in a heap to the floor, breathing hard. FLIX (to the General, all sad) I'm sorry. THE GENERAL (smiling, arms wide open) No need to be sorry, Come here. Flix happily runs to the General, hugging him. THE GENERAL I know you're just a little wound up. Have patience, soon I will unleash you onto this sorry place and they will all see just what you can do. In the meantime, I have a present for you. FLIX (really happy) A present? The General points to something off-screen. Flix looks over, sees her present and beams with delight. She squeals and runs off-screen towards her present. The General follows. We're left with Sasha, Solomon and a still recovering Tarwin. SASHA (to Tarwin) I told you size didn't matter. Tarwin growls angrily at Sasha, picks up his pole-axe and goes somewhere else to lick his wounds. SOLOMON You shouldn't challenge the General like that. SASHA I have to. Power can blind so easily. I have to be his eyes. SOLOMON You shouldn't.. SASHA I can look after myself. SOLOMON So, you're going to attack the slayer tonight? SASHA No sweetness. Tonight, we'll introduce ourselves to her friends, her family. We'll nibble around the edges and watch as her perfect little gingerbread world crumbles down around her. SOLOMON (interest piqued) I want to come. SASHA (a beat, regarding Solomon, then smiling) I know you do dear. I know you do. BLACKOUT END OF ACT ONE CONTINUE TO ACT TWO