Episode 10 - Valentine
ACT ONE
INT. GENERAL'S MANSION/SOLOMON'S ROOM - NIGHT
ANGLE : SOLOMON
shot from over the shoulder of a girl in the
foreground. We only see the back of her head but, from
the back, we sense that she could be Tara.
SOLOMON
Say it.
The camera moves around 180 degrees, so we end up with
a shot of the girl over Solomon's shoulder. The
terrified girl bears a ballpark resemblance to Tara.
SOLOMON
(sternly)
Say it!
GIRL
(hardly able to get the
words out)
I.. I choose you.
Solomon smiles. He comes up very close to the girl,
putting his face close to hers. The girl is breathing
hard, almost crying. At first, it seems like Solomon
is coming in for a kiss, but at the last moment, he
vamps out and heads for her neck.
He looks like he's about to bite, but then stops,
listening to her quiet sobbing. He unvamps, backs away
and takes a look at the girl. He then calmly breaks
her neck. The girl falls to the floor.
SASHA (O.S.)
Tsk tsk.
Solomon turns around to see Sasha at the door. She is
carrying a white flower in her hand.
SASHA
What did I tell you about wasting
perfectly good meals.
Sasha walks over to the body, taking a good look at
it. She then looks up to Solomon
SASHA
Not a bad resemblance..
(then, taking a second
look at the lifeless body)
but then, I guess, not close enough.
Solomon sits at his desk.
SOLOMON
What is it you want?
Sasha slinks over and sits on top of his desk. She
holds out a large white flower.
SASHA
(re the flower)
Know what this is?
(admiring the flower,
twirling it in her hand)
Ipomea Alba.. a moonflower.
She smells the flower and smiles.
SASHA
Truly a beautiful thing. Like all
things of beauty, it only blooms at
night. The moon is its sun, the
night, its domain. It is unique,
already perfect in its simplicity.
Do you understand?
SOLOMON
I need her.
Sasha gets off the table and paces around the room.
SASHA
What exactly makes her different
from all the rest? From all the
other kind and goodly girls you have
turned? In the end, they've all
dissapointed you, and you've simply
disposed of them.. well, almost all
of them.
SOLOMON
There's something about her. She has
a pure heart, an untainted
innocence. This time, it will be
different.
SASHA
Purity and innocence does not
survive the transformation. I should
know. I was, after all, your very
first project.
SOLOMON
You were never pure.
Sasha smiles slyly. A thought suddenly occurs to her.
She looks down at the dead body.
SASHA
What did you have her say? 'I choose
you?'
Solomon looks uncomfortable. Sasha wanders over and
stands right over him.
SASHA
You need her to say 'yes' don't you?
Before you can turn her?
Solomon looks away. Sasha laughs. She reaches out with
her hand, gently caressing Solomon's cheek.
SASHA
Oh, my poor romantic fool. She will
never choose you. Do you know why?
Suddenly, she scratches hard, drawing blood. Solomon
grimaces and looks up angrily.
SASHA
(soothingly)
Sshh.
Sasha reaches out with a finger and gently dabs away
at the blood. She then lowers her finger onto the
desk, drawing something on it out of the camera's
view. After she has finished, she smiles at Solomon,
licks off the remaining blood on her finger
seductively and leaves. Solomon looks down at his
desk.
ANGLE : ON THE DESK
A symbol of a cross, drawn with blood.
EXT. A PARK - DAY (DAY TWO)
MATCH CUT:
A silver cross around someone's neck. We see a hand
touching it gently.
WIDEN :
to reveal the cross around Tara's neck. We see Willow,
Xander, Anya, Tara and Buffy sitting down in a circle
in the middle of a park. The park is busy. It is a
bright, sunny day.
ANYA
It's so hot. This can't be good for
my complexion.
(pointing to her arm)
Look! I'm drying up.
BUFFY
Okay, who here votes for a mild case
of sunburn rather than the threat of
sudden blood loss.
Hands go up everywhere.
BUFFY
I know it's not exactly vamp-
friendly weather but, I just think
we gotta be more careful. Not take
any chances? I mean, the General.
He's like the real deal.
XANDER
Big bad villain huh?
BUFFY
The villainest.
WILLOW
(to Buffy)
So, what's with this thing you saw
in the forest? Vamps were out with
bottles of blue?
BUFFY
I don't know. I'm meeting with Giles
and.. um.. Chris later today, you
know, see if we can put our heads
together and work something out.
Either that or, you know, get really
sore heads.
XANDER
Could be why the General's stepped
up to the plate, you know, swinging
away at the Buffy fastball.
BUFFY
Yeah, he's definitely up to some big
evil nasty and I've got a feeling he
doesn't want us to find out about
it. Plus, of course, there's the
thing where I sent him a vamp
assassin to take him out. That's a
sure way of getting yourself off
someone's Christmas mailing list.
XANDER
Well, personally, I'm more anxious
about not meeting the twins.
WILLOW
Miss Toil and Trouble?
XANDER
Yeah, just one of those was bad
enough.
(descending into Xander
world)
I mean, sure, we've all had dreams
about meeting twins. And it's all
fun and tingly until..
(noticing the looks)
Right. Too shary.
WILLOW
Okay, don't even start me on evil
vampire twins. I mean.. hey!
Disturbing personal memories.
TARA
You have a twin?
WILLOW
Oh yeah. There's this whole other me
skulking around in some weird
alternate reality. She's just like
me only.. soulless, evil.. and in..
um.. black leather. We so have
nothing in common.
ANYA
(quick look at Tara, under
her breath to herself)
I wouldn't say nothing.
TARA
(teasing smile)
Leather Willow?
Willow smiles, a little embarassed.
BUFFY
O..kay. Turning back from the sealed
section, I was gonna say, Flix plus
one equals trouble of the big vampy
variety. If you guys see either of
them coming..
ANYA
(impatient)
Raise your hands and flail away in
terror. Got it. Now, forsaking the
tricky segue, let's talk about
Valentine's Day.
XANDER
What about it An?
ANYA
Well, what are we doing to celebrate
it?
WILLOW
Well, I think the three Cs are
traditional.
ANYA
The three Cs?
TARA
(counting off with her
fingers)
Yeah, candies, cards and um..
kisses.
While the two couples speak, we see Buffy become very
quiet. Smiling politely but retreating into herself.
WILLOW
Why is it called St Valentine's Day
anyway? I'm guessing there's a saint
involved somewhere down the line?
TARA
Actually, it has its origins in a
pagan ritual in the third century,
The Feast of Lupercalia. The Romans
would honour the wolf-god Lupercus
so that he may protect the shepherds
and their flocks from wolves.
Xander, Anya and Buffy share a look.
TARA
(noticing their looks,
embarrassed)
I'm sure I'm not the only person who
knew that off the top of her head.
ANYA
(making a face)
Lupercus? Well, that certainly takes
the gloss off the romance.
TARA
Well, there's also a belief that
February fourteen is the day the
birds begin to pair off, you know,
choose their mates? I guess that's
kinda romantic.
ANYA
If you're a bird.
Tara smiles, then turns to Willow.
TARA
(quoting from a poem)
'Each little bird this tide,
Doth choose her beloved peer,
Which constantly abide,
In wedlock all the year.'
Willow smiles and she and Tara clasp hands for a beat.
XANDER
(jokey)
Doth? Okay, that was written by a
dead guy right?
Xander turns to Anya who looks at him expectantly,
waiting. Xander fumbles for a poem.
XANDER
Um.. There once was a girl called
Anya..
BUFFY
(to Xander)
Stop right there! I swear it's for
your own good.
ANYA
(to Xander, unimpressed)
That better be some Valentine's Day
present, and believe me, all gifts
will be appraised.
XANDER
An, you know you'll always be my
darling Lupercus.
Anya smiles and kisses Xander. Buffy looks very lonely
but continues to smile politely.
ANYA
So are we doing a thing?
XANDER
A thing?
ANYA
For Valentine's tommorow.
XANDER
Oh, I'm sure if it's a thing you
want, a thing could be done. A
Scooby thing even. Will, Tara, you
guys interested?
WILLOW
I can definitely go for some non-
vampy activity. You know, less
fangy, more gangy?
TARA
(to Xander)
Uh huh. Totally
XANDER
So Buff. You in?
BUFFY
No, that's okay. I'd be like the
fifth passenger in a bicycle built
for four. Not terribly aerodynamic..
or I suspect, comfortable.
XANDER
No you won't. It doesn't even have
to be a Valentine thing. It'll just
be a get-together of bestest
buddies. We can, you know, swig some
beer, share old war stories..
BUFFY
No, you four enjoy the night. Go
forth and partake in the joy that is
coupledom. Just do me a favour and
have it somewhere safe, you know,
invitation only?
WILLOW
You sure?
BUFFY
Absolutely.
(to Tara)
Tara. You still need to get to the
dress shop today?
TARA
Yeah, I've to pick up my dress.
WILLOW
We've decided to get some brand
spankin' new witchy wardrobe for
Valentine's. It's gonna be great.
BUFFY
(to Xander and Anya)
Well, you guys better get her to the
shop before it gets too dark.
Xander, Anya and Willow silently look up at the sky.
The sun is beating down on them. Anya puts on a pair
of sunglasses.
BUFFY
(getting it)
Just humour me okay? And don't leave
each other's sights.
XANDER
But Mommy, it's a dress shop!
The group gets up, preparing to leave.
WILLOW
(to Tara)
So, I'll catch you when you get
back?
TARA
Yes.
WILLOW
And we'll do that thing, you know,
after?
TARA
Yes.
WILLOW
You know you can say no to me, don't
you?
TARA
(smiling)
No, I can't.
Willow smiles. Tara, Xander and Anya leave. Willow and
Buffy begin heading off together in another direction.
WILLOW
You sure about tommorow?
BUFFY
Yeah. Not all birds need to pair off
come Valentine's Day. Oh! I can be
like the great lone albatross,
gracefully circling the oceans, you
know, dignified in its solitude.
WILLOW
Well, I'm more afraid you'll end up
like the Dodo. Why don't you ask
Chris?
BUFFY
Nah. That totally bombed. Turns out
he's only interested in my body.. at
least, the kicky, stakey parts of my
body.
WILLOW
Well then he's blind. Oh! I could
turn him into a frog, ..or ..or a
rat! Definitely a rat! He could be
company for Amy.
BUFFY
Easy there Esmeralda. I've been
there, and let me tell you, being a
rat? Not all it's cracked up to be.
I still have these strange cheesy
cravings. Anyway, it's his loss
right?
WILLOW
Totally.
BUFFY
Yeah, I'm fine. I mean, Valentine's
day? Just another day in Buffyland.
I'm totally okay with it.
INT. MAGIC BOX/TRAINING ROOM - DAY
CLOSE ON : A SYMBOL OF A HEART ON THE PRACTICE DUMMY
as we hear a grunt and see a stake being rammed into
it.
WIDEN :
to reveal Buffy training with fervour, punching,
kicking and stabbing the practice dummy. A little
tirade as she goes.
BUFFY
There's no wall Buffy.. We're
nothing alike Buffy.
More punching and kicking. She stops for a second,
talking to the dummy.
BUFFY
(adopting exagerrated
genial British tone)
If you've somehow misconceived of
our relationship, than I am truly
sorry.
Buffy lays into the practice dummy again.
BUFFY
(again with the mock
British tone)
You're a weapon of the Council. I
just keep it sharp and polished.
(now Buffy)
Well, I can tell you where you can
stick your sharp and polished weap..
Buffy hears the training room door behind her open.
She immediately stops and turns around. Giles and
Christopher enter through the door.
GILES
Anything the matter? We heard
voices.
BUFFY
Oh..
(thinks)
TV.
All eyes turn to the TV. It is off.
BUFFY
.. was on.
A few strange looks but Christopher and Giles let it
go. They enter the training room. Buffy continues to
train.
CHRISTOPHER
(observing Buffy)
You're training again. Good. You
can't let that last defeat affect
you. You were unfocused, uncomposed.
You let the General get to you.
Buffy, you can't let your emotions
get the better of you.
Buffy stops training. She glares at Chrsitopher.
BUFFY
(snippy)
Something to live by.. right?
She leaves Christopher and heads to Giles. Christopher
looks on, left behind.
Buffy stands uncomfortably next to Giles, who is
collecting some weapons.
GILES
(noticing Buffy's
demeanour)
You alright?
BUFFY
Yeah. Just some.. stuff going on.
It's no big.
Buffy's body language indicates she is still very wary
of Christopher's presence behind her.
BUFFY
So what happens now? With the
General that is. I mean, what's up
with this thing in the forest?
GILES
It certainly sounds like he's
preparing for something, which is
consistent with what Ethan has told
us. Unfortunately, that only
confirms the question. We still
don't have a clue as to what the
answer may be.
BUFFY
Man, it would have been handy if our
friendly vamp assassin hadn't
failed. That guy was all talk.
Buffy stiffens up as she senses Christopher walking by
behind her. She waits for him to pass before
continuing.
BUFFY
Speaking of which, I wonder what
happened to Harmony?
GILES
You think she may still be around?
BUFFY
If she is, she could prove useful.
At the very least, she'd know where
the General is.
Giles gives Buffy a look.
BUFFY
(noticing the look)
Believe me, I'm not happy with this
either. She's like the vamp of last
resort. But desperate times calls
for desperate measures.
INT. WILLOW AND TARA'S ROOM - DAY
ANGLE : WILLOW
as she locks the door. She wanders over to the bureau,
kneels down, and pulls the bottom drawer out.
ANGLE ON : MISS KITTY
watching all this curiously from on top of a chair.
Willow reaches inside into the cavity and pulls out
some magic books, the same ones purchased from Quench.
She takes them with her onto the bed, where she sits
cross-legged. She begins to browse through one of the
books. She notices Miss Kitty staring at her.
WILLOW
I'm not actually using it. I'm just,
you know, practising.. in case we
ever need it in an emergency.
ANGLE ON : MISS KITTY
staring at Willow
WILLOW
There's no harm in that.. is there?
Miss Kitty doesn't answer. She, the cat that is,
begins to clean herself.
Willow stares at Miss Kitty for a beat, obviously
thinking about something. She turns back to the book,
flips through a few pages and finds what she is
looking for.
Willow takes a deep breath, then closes her eyes. She
begins chanting something in Latin.
CLOSE ON : WILLOW'S EYES
closed.. still chanting. Then, they open to reveal
black eyes.
ANGLE ON : MISS KITTY
suddenly startled as we hear a low hum. We see a blue
incandescent glow reflected in Miss Kitty's eyes as
she watches Willow.
EXT. OUTSIDE A DRESS SHOP - DAY
From someone's POV, we are watching through the front
windows of a dress shop. We do not hear the
conversations taking place within the shop but rather
the sounds of the street outside, people chattering,
cars driving by, etc..
ANGLE : XANDER AND ANYA
We see Anya smiling and talking to someone off-screen
while an embarrassed Xander tries to find something
manly to do. He absent-mindedly browses through a rack
of clothes, taking out a dress to look at it. We see a
guy walk by in the foreground, outside the shop. The
guy stops and looks at Xander. Xander notices the guy,
then the dress he is holding up. Cue panicy non-verbal
signals from Xander to the guy, generally trying to
say 'It's not what you think'. Guy shakes his head and
walks off-screen. Anya takes a still-stunned Xander's
arm and draws his attention to something off-screen to
the left of screen.
We follow the POV as we PAN over to the left to see
Tara, now dressed in a beautiful long, white flowing
dress. She smiles as she and Xander and Anya have a
conversation.
REVERSE ANGLE : SOLOMON
watching proceedings from across the street. We see he
has covered himself with a blanket.
ANGLE : A LITTLE BOY
standing with his mom next to Solomon, waiting to
cross the street. The boy has hold of his mother's
hand. He looks over at Solomon's hand which is partly
exposed to the sunlight. It is starting to sizzle.
The boy gives a curious look and looks up at Solomon.
ANGLE : SOLOMON
not noticing the boy, not noticing his burning hand.
His entire world is across the street, in a dress
shop.
ANGLE : A LITTLE BOY
as he begins to reach out to touch Solomon's hand,
getting closer and closer. Suddenly, we hear the
familiar 'WALK' signal and the mother drags the boy
away from Solomon.
ANGLE : SOLOMON
still staring at Tara in the dress shop.
ANGLE : TARA
practically glowing in her new dress. She laughs and
jokes with the shop attendant.
ANGLE : SOLOMON
taking it all in. Suddenly, he decides he's seen
enough and briskly exits off-screen to the left of
screen.
INT. HARMONY'S CAVE - DAY
MATCH CUT:
(of sorts) as Harmony briskly enters the frame from
the right of screen. She is carrying some clothing and
stuffing it into an already full suitcase.
We PAN to follow as she heads back right to pick up a
large glass punch bowl. We PAN to follow as she heads
back left to her suitcase and sticks the bowl into it,
trying to mash it down to make it fit. We PAN to
follow as she heads back right to pick something else
up. This time, however, we see Buffy, Christopher and
Giles standing together, seemingly coming out of
nowhere. Harmony lets out a little shriek when she
sees them. She recovers.
HARMONY
Look, I know like you guys don't
need an invitation or anything to
come in but, you know.. manners!
BUFFY
(to Giles)
Well, whadd'ya know. She's still
alive.. um, in an undead kinda way.
HARMONY
(ranting)
No thanks to that Eurotrash loser. I
mean, he didn't life one finger to
help me when I was about to get
dusted.
Giles takes a step forward.
GILES
(in sinister Giles mode,
taking off his glasses)
Speaking of which, it would behove
you to tell us all you know about
the General, otherwise..
HARMONY
Be.. what? What the heck's a hove?
Whatever. As I was saying..
As Harmony continues, Giles lets out a half sigh, puts
his glasses back on and steps back.
HARMONY
I'm sick of getting lied to, like,
all the time. I'm not sorry that the
General dusted him, well that is one
of his big beefy bodyguards dusted
him, but you know, I'm not sorry.
BUFFY
Wait, you met the General? You were
at his HQ?
HARMONY
Of course. Let me tell you, too
intense. Way culty in there. I got
out of Dodge the first chance I had.
Like anyday now, they'll be handing
out Nike shoes and serving some
'special' orange juice.
BUFFY
So you're just bailing?
HARMONY
(continuing to pack)
So out of here.
BUFFY
You can't leave. Not until you tell
us what you know about the General.
HARMONY
Or what? Hard to tell you anything
about the General if I'm a pile of
dust. I'm not afraid of you.. you
Miss slay-it-all. I'm not staying a
minute longer in this stupid town.
Here's the deal, you let me go and
maybe I'll send you a postcard
telling you all I know about the
General.
Buffy and Giles exchange a look.
BUFFY
(looks behind her to the
exit)
Gettin' dark.
HARMONY
(confused)
What?
Giles nods to Christopher. He produces a piece of
plastic material from behind his back, which he starts
to unfold.
HARMONY
(noticing)
What's that?
INT. BUFFY'S HOUSE/FOYER - DAY
As Buffy enters through the front door. She sees
Willow, Tara, Xander, Anya and Dawn in the lounge
room.
BUFFY
Hey, everybody here?
XANDER
(standing up)
Yeah, here's everybody.
DAWN
Where's Giles and Chris?
We hear a bit of a commotion outside. Buffy turns to
look.
GILES (O.S.)
For God's sake woman, stop kicking.
BUFFY
They're coming.
We see Giles and Christopher carrying a large
wriggling, squirming bag. We hear muffled grunts
coming from within the bag.
Giles passes through the door, carrying one end of the
bag. An invisible barrier blocks the entry of the bag,
causing Giles to lose his grip and his end of the bag
to fall on the floor. We hear a muffled groan from
within the bag.
BUFFY
Oh right. Come on in Harm.
A muffled grumble from the bag in reply.
Giles picks up his end and Giles and Christopher carry
the bag into..
INT. BUFFY'S HOUSE/LOUNGE ROOM - DAY
where they plop the bag into the centre of the room,
surrounded by the Scoobs. Buffy goes to Dawn.
BUFFY
Do me a favour and stay behind me
okay?
Dawn does so. Christopher and Giles unzips the bag, to
reveal Harmony, bound and gagged with tape.
Giles sits her down on a chair in the centre of the
room and ties her to the chair with a rope. Harmony
tries to say something but her voice is muffled by the
tape.
Buffy nods to Christopher. Christopher comes over and
rips the tape off Harmony's mouth.
HARMONY
(to Christopher)
Ow.. again!
(re the tape)
Do those things come in any flavours
at all?
Harmony takes a good look around the room.
HARMONY
Well, well. Everybody's here.
(to Buffy, trying to be
sinister)
So kind of you to invite me into
your house.. again.
XANDER
Harm, you just can't pull off that
evil villainess act.
HARMONY
Xander, I hear Dracula needs a new
pair of slippers. Go fetch.
An aggrieved Xander starts to step towards Harmony.
Buffy stops him in his tracks.
BUFFY
(to Harmony)
This is a once-only invitation.
Will's gonna de-invite you after you
leave, that is, if you leave.
HARMONY
If?
GILES
Well, it all rather depends on what
you have to tell us.
HARMONY
Tell you? Oh, you mean about the
General.
BUFFY
Where is he?
Harmony takes a look at the serious and anxious faces
around her. A realisation.
HARMONY
Oh.. Oh. You guys totally need me.
This General guy's completely got
you freaked out!
Harmony smiles, trying to act all superior, at least
as superior as she can tied and bound to a chair.
HARMONY
Well, well. The great and mighty
slayer and all her little Scooby
friends, finally comes crawling to
little old me. How quickly the power
shifts.
Collective roll of eyes.
HARMONY
(still persisting with the
powerful villain act)
Now, who does a vampire have to bite
around here to get a smoke?
INT. A DRESS SHOP - NIGHT
ANGLE : SALESGIRL
as she stands behind a counter, packing a long, white
dress into a box.
SALESGIRL
It really is a beautiful dress.
Someone else bought another one just
like this this afternoon.
ANGLE : SOLOMON
standing on the other side of the counter. He nods. He
takes a look at the salesgirl as she is packing the
box. The shop is empty.
SALESGIRL
Cash or charge?
Solomon reaches into his pocket and pulls out a wad of
notes and hands it to the salesgirl.
SALESGIRL
(smiling)
Oh, that's far too much. Let's see..
The salesgirl sifts through the crumpled notes,
counting, then hands some back to Solomon.
SALESGIRL
Not from around here are you?
SOLOMON
Actually, it's a homecoming. It's
just that I've been away for a very
long time.
The salesgirl smiles, then works the cash register. As
she does so, we see Solomon staring hard at the girl.
REVERSE ANGLE : SALESGIRL
from Solomon's POV. We slowly ZOOM IN onto her neck.
As we do so, we hear the thumping of a hearbeat. We
see a vein in her neck pulse in time with the beat of
the imagined heartbeat which gets louder and louder.
ANGLE : SOLOMON
transfixed, fighting to resist. The sound of the
heartbeat deafening in Solomon's mind. Suddenly, he's
broken out of the spell.
SOLOMON
What?
SALESGIRL
I said, will that be all?
SOLOMON
(straining to get out the
unfamiliar words)
Yes.. Thank you.
SALESGIRL
(happily, handing over the
box)
You're very welcome sir. Please come
again.
Solomon lets out a practised smile, takes the box,
then slowly exits.
EXT. OUTSIDE A DRESS SHOP - NIGHT
Solomon walks out of the shop and takes a few steps
down the street, carrying the box, a slight smile of
satisfaction on his face. He suddenly stops. He takes
a look at the box, a look of revulsion crossing his
face. Revulsion builds quickly to anger as he vamps
out. We see him storm back into the dress shop. We
hear a scream from inside the shop.
BLACKOUT
END OF ACT ONE
CONTINUE TO ACT TWO