Original subtitles

SIGHS: I...

..can't bear a bad book, can you?

It's a commitment.

It's a contract between an author and a reader,

and I have to be engaged at once.

After all, one only has so much time.

Ah, it's something you have in abundance, surely?

Well, more than most, perhaps.

But really, it's the quality of the time spent, isn't it?

Why are we talking about stories?

Because I want to tell you one.

Please.

As you can see, there's a game in progress.

A knight is menacing a queen. Mm-hm.

Who's knight? Who's queen? Who's black? Who's white?

You choose.

Ah, the losing side.

We shall see.

So after you left the convent, what then?

I had already booked passage to England on board the Demeter.

It must have been an interesting voyage.

Ah, you have no idea.

Well, then, tell me.

CHESS PIECE RATTLES ON BOARD

It's a long and complex story.

At sea, one meets an interesting range of characters,

and I would advise you not to get too attached to any of them.

FLY BUZZES

FLIES BUZZ

Uh...

Nyet. Nyet!

HE YELLS

HE PANTS, HULL CREAKS

BREATHING CALMS

Uh...

HE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

HE WHIMPERS

Ah... HE YELLS

HE PANTS HEAVILY

SEAGULLS SQUAWK

Are you sure this is the right one?

It's the grave you pointed out.

The one the children...

..complained about?

The one with the weeping.

Well, open it.

CLATTERING

DR SHARMA EXHALES

This unfortunate was buried alive - observe the scratches.

And it is as I feared.

Do you see?

ASSISTANT: See what?

This coffin is 70 years old

and yet some of the scratches are quite fresh.

LOW SNARLING

GROWLING

WOMAN GASPS

WOMAN SOBS

WATER SPLASHES

DOOR BANGS AND LOCKS

SEAGULLS CRY

STAKE ENTERS BODY, HE GASPS FOR BREATH

PRIEST SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

WATER LAPS

INDISTINCT CHATTER

SAILORS GROAN

FLIES BUZZ

SAILORS SPEAK IN OWN LANGUAGE

Ah! OLGAREN LAUGHS

OLGAREN LAUGHS

Lord and Lady Ruthven.

Ah! Great pleasure.

Welcome aboard the Demeter, my lord, my lady.

Thank you.

Thank you. We just got married, isn't it wonderful?

Aw, wonderful!

My congratulations to you both.

Make it a long voyage, hey, Captain?

LORD RUTHVEN LAUGHS

Oh, it will be.

FLIES BUZZ

You can stop your dreaming, s-son. She's not for the likes of you.

Here, drink.

Move on.

Um... Piotr.

Piotr, yes?

Y-Yes. Piotr, that's me.

Here, drink.

Uh!

Move.

SEAGULLS SQUAWK

Oh, look at this one.

Are you as green as your face?

You're probably thinking all this looks very strange...

..and frightening.

Yes, sir.

I agree.

FLIES BUZZ

BUZZING INTENSIFIES

OLGAREN: How many passengers? CAPTAIN SOKOLOV: Seven.

OLGAREN: Cargo?

Saltpetre, children's dolls, sulphur, soil, charcoal.

Soil?

Or mould. Boxes and boxes of it.

OLGAREN: Why would anyone send boxes of mould?

Who knows? Who cares?

I'm sure it'll taste better than your food.

Me, too. OLGAREN LAUGHS

Bad luck having women on board.

You mark my words, no good will come of it.

All aboard? All but one, s-sir.

Uh... A count. Count Dracula.

SISTER AGATHA: I'm sorry, what?

Is there a problem?

You were travelling openly with the passengers?

It's four weeks to England.

What did you think I was going to do, lie around in a box?

WIND GUSTS

No, don't disturb.

It's...sick passenger.

Sick?

They came on board last night, apparently. All have disease.

Only the Captain is allowed to s-s-s...

..see them.

Go, off about your business.

Y-Yes, sir.

SOFT MOANING

MOANING CONTINUES

Do you make a habit of listening at doors?

Oh, s-s-sorry, sir.

No, no-no-no-no. I'm not making judgments.

HE INHALES

Your accent - traces of Bavarian, is it?

Yes, s-s-sir.

Bavaria...

It's been a while.

Forgive me... HE INHALES DEEPLY

..it's the sea air.

Makes one, um... HE SNIFFS

..ravenous.

FLIES BUZZ

HE COUGHS

HE SPITS

Maybe...paprika?

New at sea, are you?

You won't last. Your kind never do.

What's...? What's my kind? I don't know. Where you from?

Bistritz.

Ah, Romanian! Like the second mate.

What's wrong with the second mate?

Romanian.

I always wanted to go to sea. Boring.

I...thought I'd never get out of that stupid little town.

Still boring.

But nothing ever happened... until now.

And here I am.

Yes, here you are, boring me, and from Romania.

Sorry.

Here. Drink this, it will stop your mouth.

Ah!

The way you tell your story, you know what this sounds like?

Sir?

A story.

Ugh! Mm!

You like it?

HE COUGHS Needs paprika!

"It needs paprika!"

Ring the bell, boy. Dinner time.

BELL RINGS

WATER LAPS

You! What is this muck?

Sir?

Take it back. Will not do.

I'm sure we can find a better vintage

for your Master... Not for him - for me.

I want only the finest.

Then you're on the wrong ship.

DR SHARMA CHUCKLES

I am Dr Sharma.

Good for you.

Forgive me, are you in this gentleman's employ?

He is my man.

Hm.

He pays my wages.

Not the same thing.

Then you have settled a dispute. DR SHARMA LAUGHS

Oh, uh, deaf and dumb.

Poor child.

She has eyes, though.

Oh, yes. HE CHUCKLES

Adisa...

Please don't cause a scene.

This marriage is a necessary evil. You know that.

Just don't call me your man.

It hurts.

COUNT DRACULA: I think it's probably safe to have the fish.

I beg your pardon?

We're surrounded by water. One must hope the fish is fresh.

I'm afraid I'm very careful with what I eat.

Me, too.

SISTER AGATHA: I'm sorry, I don't understand.

COUNT DRACULA: What's unclear to you?

You went to the dining room - you don't eat food.

I enjoy company, and I like people.

Then why do you kill them?

Why d'you pick flowers?

May I join you?

But we haven't been introduced.

And yet you do seem a little familiar.

Oh, my dear lady, I promise to be as familiar as you like.

SHE CHUCKLES

I am the Grand Duchess Valeria of Auschbourg.

And I'm Count Dracula...

..of Valaria.

COUNT DRACULA LAUGHS You're very wicked!

It has been said.

May I ask why you're travelling to England?

I have been invited.

Uh-huh.

I am connected by birth to the ruling house of Bavaria,

but alas, I am not in favour.

A gentleman in England wishes to write the story of my life.

I see.

And Mr Balaur pays.

I know it's vulgar, but I have seen my way of life

and my fortune wither like a frost-ravaged vine.

SHE SPEAKS IN GERMAN

SIGHS: Forgive me.

My-My German is very rusty.

HE INHALES

Would you excuse me for a moment?

Ah, good evening, s-s...s-sir.

Keep looking at the moon.

I've no wish to disturb you.

It spoils the flavour.

S-S-S-Sir?

Please! S-S-Sir!

DOOR CLOSES

IN GERMAN:

Oh, you're too kind.

I... I, uh...s-s-seem to have remembered more than I thought.

It's good to refresh oneself.

You killed a crew member just so you could show off in German?

Might have been a little wasteful.

His charming Bavarian accent was the only interesting thing about him.

You left no-one at the wheel.

Do you have no self-control?

But you were telling me of your estate of the old days.

Such parties! SHE CHUCKLES

For my 18th birthday, I was given a great treat.

You'll never guess what it was. Go on, guess.

I don't know. LAUGHS: Guess!

Um... A jewelled tiara.

Mother led me down the great staircase.

Oh, I could feel my heart thumping in my breast!

Guess again. INHALES: A pony.

No, no!

I was led into the ballroom, Mama took my hands, and I reached out...

My present was wrapped in tissue paper.

Pink tissue paper, wrapped very tightly.

And so I tore at it in my excitement...

SHE GASPS ..and then...

..when I could no longer stand the suspense,

I pulled off my blindfold...

..and I saw what it was.

A pineapple.

A pineapple in the depths of that freezing winter.

It must have seemed like magic,

transported from the Emperor's own hothouse like a precious jewel.

YOUNG VALERIA LAUGHS I knew it.

It's impossible, but I knew it.

It's you.

Of course it's me.

Ah, Valeria, how we danced.

Yes.

That was the night my mother disappeared.

Yes.

Who are you?

Shall we dance again?

GENTLE CLASSICAL MUSIC

WAVES LASH

WIND HOWLS, HULL CREAKS

HE GROANS

WIND HOWLS, HULL CREAKS

SHE GASPS

SHE CRIES OUT

SLURPING

HE INHALES DEEPLY

BREATHY RASPING

HE GROWLS

And you've searched everywhere?

We have. Portmann's gone.

Why can't we get clear of this fog? It's like it's following us.

Sorry, sir...

..but we didn't search everywhere.

What do you mean? Well...

..w-we didn't look in cabin number nine, sir. Your orders.

Of course. You did right not to disturb our invalid.

No-one's likely to be hiding in there, are they?

ABRAMOFF: Sir!

One of the passengers, the Grand Duchess.

What about her?

We can't find her either.

The fog is interesting.

In what way?

Useful in blocking out the sunlight, I would have thought.

You know what they say.

Always take the weather with you.

Looking for the Duchess? HE GASPS

Have you ever heard of Nelson, Piotr?

Nelson, sir?

Britisher, saw off Napoleon.

Well, ah...

One eye, one arm...no?

HE SIGHS

The young...how soon they forget.

Admiral Nelson was killed at the Battle of Trafalgar.

Died of his wounds, they say.

And they wanted to get him back to England with all speed - national hero.

The British are very keen on that sort of thing.

But Spain is quite a way, and it was hot, so what d'you think they did?

They put the old admiral into a barrel of rum to preserve him.

No? True.

Trouble is, they didn't tell the crew.

So when they got home to England,

they found out that those thirsty sailors had been helping themselves

to a drop or two all the way back to Portsmouth.

BOTH LAUGH

I'm sure it had quite a kick, that rum, hm?

HE LAUGHS

Now, let's find out.

Ah! Uh!

Aah! No, no!

Argh! No!

Oh! COUNT DRACULA LAUGHS

No corpses in here.

CHUCKLES: Thank you, Count Dracula.

I'm still new to this.

I don't... I don't think I'm much use to anyone.

Piotr.

I met a Piotr once.

Briefly.

SISTER AGATHA: Is there much point in menacing a cabin boy?

I'm a fool for youth and beauty.

A proper enquiry will, of course, be conducted once we reach England.

I remain at your disposal at all times.

Good afternoon.

Thank you.

DOOR OPENS

Two people gone in one night.

Was the sea particularly rough? DOOR CLOSES

I don't know. I am a heavy sleeper.

INHALES: And where's your wife, my lord? Is she not joining us?

Dorabella is a little...

..how shall I put it?

She's quite exhausted, poor thing.

Dorabella.

What an enchanting name - Dorabella, mm?

It-It lingers on the tongue.

Why would you spend your time up here when Dorabella lies below?

One can have too much of a good thing.

Ah, on the contrary!

I've always found that too much is exactly enough.

COUNT DRACULA LAUGHS

HE LAUGHS

SHIP CREAKS

HE COUGHS

Needs paprika.

LAUGHS: Paprika!

Yeah, you are good company, Piotr.

Run along now, clean something.

Yes. Yes, sir.

My friends call me Victor.

All right...Victor.

I said my friends call me that.

Sorry.

It's... It's just... It's too easy!

Get away now. OLGAREN LAUGHS

HE CHUCKLES

FLY BUZZES

OLGAREN: Oh!

HE EXHALES

Oh, I did not know you were there!

Not sure about that boy.

Well, he's a good lad, really.

You think?

Well, Romanian.

Maybe he brought the bad luck. A Jonah.

Or maybe the second mate. Why?

Romanian.

Yeah, but there's women.

It's usually women who bring the bad luck.

Well, that's half the ship we've managed to accuse - anybody else?

Rest of the passengers!

Yes, passengers.

BOTH SPIT AND LAUGH

Seven of them.

Seven passengers...on the Demeter.

Six now.

SISTER AGATHA: So, what was your next move?

COUNT DRACULA: Well, I told you, I treasure youth,

and the night was warm and full of possibilities.

THUNDER RUMBLES

THUNDER BOOMS

SHE INHALES SOFTLY

GENTLE BREATHING

SCREAMING, HE CLEARS THROAT

MAN SCREAMS

GROWLING

GLASSES RATTLE

HE SIGHS, GROWLING

HE GROANS

There are monsters in this world, Yamini.

Creatures that will leave a shadow on your soul

if once you let them in.

I will never let them take you.

I swear it.

WIND HOWLS

Good evening.

You... You shouldn't be here, ma'am. Captain's orders.

It's so warm down there.

Where are we?

Just off the coast of Greece.

May I take a turn around the deck?

Please.

Just watch out.

I'll be careful.

Don't dream. Don't dream.

Warm night, isn't it? GASPS: My God!

Ah, no. SHE GASPS

I can make no such claims.

I'm sorry, we haven't met. I'm Count Dracula.

Lady Ruthven.

SHE CHUCKLES

You know...really I shouldn't be alone with you like this.

My husband tells me two people have disappeared.

And here we are, two people.

I've not been well, I'm afraid.

The sea, it...makes me feel wretched.

But I'm better tonight. No.

Tonight you're superb.

Your husband is a very, very lucky man.

CHUCKLES: Certainly he is.

But I'm lucky, too - he's so handsome.

And there'll be children, we'll have lots of children.

Must sound terribly ordinary to a man like you, talk of children.

To a man like me it sounds like a miracle.

Dear me, something about you positively demands...

..intimacy.

Should newly-married ladies really be conversing on...

..intimate matters with handsome strangers?

I see no harm in it...

..unless it happens to be a dangerous handsome stranger.

Are you dangerous?

Yes, I am terribly dangerous. SHE LAUGHS

Like one of those exotic noblemen one reads about in the novels,

filled with all the mystery and wickedness of the East?

Yes.

GASPS: We're going to America.

Oh, indeed.

A new world. Mm!

A new life.

SIGHS: That's a pity.

Why?

That I'm a vampire.

Sorry, what...? What did you say?

Take a look in the mirror.

What mirror?

One can always find a mirror if one tries.

There.

DORABELLA GASPS

TREMBLING BREATHS

That's... How'd you do that?

Mirrors are deeper and more dangerous magic

than most people understand.

Mirrors can give us space to imagine,

or, worse... show us the truth.

What do you see in the mirror?

Much.

I thought you deserved at least a glimpse of what might have been.

What might have been?

Why do you say that?

I told you, lovely Dorabella...

..I'm a vampire.

HE GROWLS

Pig.

Sorry?

Well, four weeks to England and you'd already polished off three people

in two nights, like a fox in a hen coop.

Like a connoisseur in a wine cellar.

One chooses ones vintages with care.

The reds and the whites, I enjoy both - the Duchess and the deckhand.

But you're careful with your diet.

Well, I have to be, otherwise I would have reached England with the social skills

of a Russian sailor.

And yet you were gorging yourself - fox, hen coop.

Pig, truffles.

At this rate there'd be no-one left to sail the ship.

I knew I could get by with a skeleton crew.

I've worked with those before.

WAVES LASH

She said she was too warm.

I told her to be careful.

CAPTAIN SOKOLOV: And you saw nothing?

No, sir, nothing from where I was standing.

This is preposterous. Where is she? Mm? What has happened to my wife?!

OLGAREN: What about Lisbon? ABRAMOFF: Lisbon's two days away.

We go on to England, and double the watch.

No-one is to walk the decks alone, understood?

BOTH: Aye, sir.

We are forced to assume that there is a murderer on board.

We can, I fear, place no trust anywhere.

Now, young lady, you seem particularly upset.

LOUD CREAKING

Did you see something which alarmed you?

GROWLING

She can't hear you, she only understands sign language.

That is a language I must acquire... sometime.

This is more than murder.

There is evil at work on this ship.

Look out there, look at it!

What sort of fog follows a ship?

I agree, there is evil at work, but surely it's a very human evil.

Three people are dead.

Three people are missing.

And where did they go? Did they sprout wings and fly away?

LAUGHS: What a ridiculous idea!

Dark forces.

Those dark forces took my Dorabella.

I find it hard to credit that any supernatural entity would leave

such a quantity of blood behind,

unless of course it has drunk its fill.

So, gentlemen...

..there is a killer on board.

In plain sight...

..or hiding.

We'll search everywhere.

No-one can stay hidden long on a ship this size.

Perhaps we should start with cabin number nine?

There is nothing of consequence in there.

Mm, nevertheless, I'm sure it'd set all our minds at rest

if we just took a little look.

Since we're all obliged to suspect everyone -

including you, Captain Sokolov -

I see no need to exclude the passenger in number nine.

Very well, cabin nine will be searched...

..by me.

Then I suppose we'll have to trust you.

SISTER AGATHA: I don't understand.

You wanted them to search number nine?

I assumed number nine was your cabin.

COUNT DRACULA: Did you?

HE COUGHS

FLIES BUZZ Stench.

A sick room's not a place for weak stomachs.

Stay where you are.

FAINT BREATHING

What can you hear?

GASPING BREATH

Breathing.

The Captain's?

BREATHING CONTINUES

No.

FLIES BUZZ

CAPTAIN SOKOLOV LOCKS DOOR

Well, sir?

All as before.

Passenger remains very sick,

and there's no-one else in the cabin, I searched it thoroughly.

Does that satisfy you?

The Captain's word is good enough for me.

SHIP CREAKS

And me.

For now.

RATTLING

WAVES LASH, WIND HOWLS

FLIES BUZZ

COUNT DRACULA: Well, it seems to be just common or garden soil.

It's not fuller's earth or anything like that.

Ah, of course.

You're a scientist.

At University of Calcutta.

Or I was.

Are you perhaps a scientist yourself?

Er, I have an appetite for it.

Science doesn't know everything.

Hm.

What do you reckon about all this? FLIES BUZZ

You must have seen some strange things in your time.

Ah, now we come to it.

Ask the savage, he'll know. He sees around corners.

Well, it's true, isn't it?

All that black magic your people get up to?

My people?

ADISA SCOFFS

Trust, once lost, cannot easily be restored, I know that.

But we've all searched this ship from prow to stern -

there's no sign of our missing friends.

We're all agreed?

Which means only one thing.

I'm afraid so.

It's one of us.

It is clear what we must do.

We must go on to England

and we'll hand this matter over to the authorities.

If we stick together and we're all careful, if no-one is a...

BANG! ALL: Oh!

ABRAMOFF: Argh! CAPTAIN SOKOLOV: Must have fallen from the moonrakers. Jesus!

MAN: Over here!

CAPTAIN SOKOLOV: Dr Sharma! I'm... I'm no surgeon.

ABRAMOFF GROANS IN PAIN Fetch Valentin. Get him below.

Quickly, he...he's bleeding.

CAPTAIN SOKOLOV: Step away, man, if you can't stand the sight of blood.

SISTER AGATHA: And you can't stand it, can you?

You can't control yourself in the presence of blood.

It's not just sustenance, it's an addiction.

You're smiling.

After 400 years, it's nice to be understood.

Oh, no, I haven't understood you yet, not completely.

Seven very different passengers on the Demeter.

How convenient, given your dietary requirements.

ABRAMOFF SCREAMS

VALENTIN: On here! CLATTERING

MEN GROAN

VALENTIN: How could you fall?! You of all people!

It's the fog, it's like breathing poison! Fix it, just fix it.

I'll try and reset it, but it doesn't change anything.

The devil is on this ship, the devil!

ABRAMOFF: Do it!

VALENTIN: Bite. Hold him! MUFFLED YELLS

MUFFLED SCREAMS

Aah!

BLOOD TRICKLES

HE GROWLS

WIND HOWLS

GROWLING

LORD RUTHVEN: Good evening, Count Dracula.

Are you all right?

I suppose we're all a little jumpy.

GLASS CLINKS

Not hungry?

Olgaren?

Might I ask, do you normally have this many passengers?

No.

It is very strange.

This is the most we've ever had, and the most wealthy.

And, Lord Ruthven, as, I assume, the wealthiest,

why did you choose this ship?

It was a recommendation from my business partner.

I have a silent partner.

Who recommends the Demeter?

I didn't think to question it. Why not?

ADISA: Thanks to this partner's sponsorship,

Lord Ruthven had the funds and the position to woo Dorabella.

Lord Ruthven didn't question anything.

What does it matter? A ship is a ship.

I'm sure Mr Balaur has his reasons.

What did you say? Balaur?

Yes, my silent partner.

And my sponsor.

THUNDER BOOMS

Well...

..that is quite a coincidence.

Count Dracula, do you have any connec...?

SISTER AGATHA: Ah, the beast revealed,

ravenous for blood and stinking of grave dirt.

The sophisticated gentleman nothing more than a veneer.

The sophistication of a gentleman, Agatha, is always a veneer.

Even a gentleman like Mr Balaur?

Mr who?

Dracula, a corruption of the Latin "dracul", meaning dragon -

in Romanian, "balaur".

The purpose of an alias seems to have eluded you.

I thought it was clever.

Ah, you'll have to be cleverer than that.

To feed off the civilised, you'll have to learn to live with them first.

Ha!

The boat was a dress rehearsal for life in England.

You stocked your larder to teach yourself to dine with restraint.

Precisely.

And, Mr Balaur, your restraint was failing you.

You see? Not the losing side.

SHIP CREAKS

What are you looking at?

This ship is cursed, it is doomed!

VALENTIN SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

Find everyone who thinks the same, bring them here.

There is only one way out. Yes, Valentin.

HE BREATHES GENTLY

SHE MOANS SOFTLY

Ma'am?!

Ah, hush.

But I thought... Hush now.

You're dead.

Ah, everyone's dead in the end.

HE PANTS

I'm dreaming. This isn't real.

Reality is overrated.

GROWLING

HE GROWLS

No!

No, please!

Shh!

Food should never answer back.

No, no! No...

Aah!

HE GROWLS

BELL RINGS

What normal man could... have done this?

We need to search the ship again, I want the entire crew in pairs.

I don't think that's going to be possible, sir.

SHOUTS: It's possible if I give the order!

One of the lifeboats is missing, and I think...

..most of the crew.

But where could they go?

Anywhere but here.

Sir.

Yuri, it's time.

What are you talking about?

Who is in cabin number nine?

When did I lose so many pieces?

I was winning.

No, you've been losing from the start.

You don't drink.

Wine.

Er, the pawn is well placed.

If I can get it to the other side, it becomes another queen.

Forget about the chess and concentrate on the game.

Who was in cabin number nine?

How...? How did I get here?

Don't you remember?

We... We were at the convent.

You let Mina go.

I said run. Go! Now! Aah!

Yes, but I didn't let you go, did I?

Where am I? What is this place?

Ah, surely you know where you are.

People you feed off, you make them dream.

The kiss of the vampire is an opiate.

HE GROWLS

Are you drinking my blood?

Agatha.

You're exquisite.

So much insight.

Wit. Learning.

Wickedness, even.

One does not hurry such a vintage.

WHISPERS: I've been making you last.

HER BREATH TREMBLES

It's me.

I'm in cabin number nine.

RAGGED BREATHING

KEYS JANGLE, HE GROWLS

CAPTAIN SOKOLOV: I told you, there's nobody in here.

Gentlemen, I'm afraid I took matters into my own hands.

Please, come in.

Let me save you some time. Do any of you recognise these?

Portmann's kerchief.

I know it anywhere.

Look!

The Grand Duchess's.

I saw it the night she disappeared.

CAPTAIN SOKOLOV: Those weren't here before.

ADISA: Trophies.

Trophies, exactly.

As if all this was nothing but a sick game.

I submit this is all the evidence we need.

And here she is, drenched in the blood of her victims...

..the murderer.

Anything to say before we hang you?

For God's sake, you saw her, she could barely lift her head!

What are you doing?! Captain, with respect, stay out of it.

You kept the murderer safe on this ship!

But look at her! How could she have the strength to kill those men?

Looks can be deceiving, Dr Sharma.

It can't be her. Could she have taken Abramoff? Portmann?

Look at her!

It doesn't matter how she looks, she did it!

You don't know that.

Gentlemen, please, let us not allow this situation to turn ugly.

It's a lynching! How much uglier can it get?

SOKOLOV: Why do you all listen to every word this man says?

Why do you protect her?

I got a commission...

..with certain stipulations.

A commission?

From a man named...

..Balaur, perhaps?

Yes, he-he said his new wife was very sick, she needed to travel

to England for treatment, and he paid handsomely for the Demeter to take her.

To take you! I am not Mr Balaur's bride!

OLGAREN: Enough talking, just hang her!

No, wait, please, listen! Olgaren! We are not savages!

And we are not sheep.

You can't hang me.

Give me one reason why not.

Because, because...

..I'm a vampire.

OLGAREN LAUGHS

Oh, funny, do you think? Well, listen to your captain.

I am a frail and helpless woman.

How did I manage to slaughter four people

and toss their twitching corpses overboard?

Because I am a vampire.

You know what a vampire is, don't you?

A foul, stinking, slouching monstrosity.

They can disguise themselves fairly well as ordinary people,

but are roused to a bestial frenzy

by the mere sight and smell of human blood.

Enough! DR SHARMA: No, wait!

No! I have experience in these matters.

There's one way to be sure you are a vampire.

No, listen to me. I know what I'm talking about.

We can hang you and see if you die.

You can't hang a vampire!

No, wait, he's right! You can't hang me - I won't die.

And when this farce is over,

you will be the first that I feed on.

And then I will take the rest of you, one by one,

and I will make you last.

Ah.

You think I can't?

Think of the four people I've devoured already.

Are you in a hurry to join them?

Well, come on, then.

Which of you has the courage to kick away the barrel?

Me.

Shall we end this?

Cat got your tongue?

HEARTBEAT POUNDS

Biting my lip. HE GROWLS

Look at him. Look at him!

HE GROWLS

I confess, I lied to you.

I'm not a vampire, he is!

Count Dracula?

HE PANTS

It's him!

He is the vampire!

Forgive me if I'm repulsed by the blood of a murderess

when it's spat in my face.

Do what you want with her. I'll be in my cabin.

Get out of my way, child.

Don't you touch her!

Don't you dare touch her!

HE SNARLS

Clever girl, sign language.

COUNT DRACULA GRUNTS

It is a pity, I... I was so enjoying this voyage.

And the people.

And I made a good detective, don't you think?

I have a particular gift for... eliminating suspects.

HE KICKS BARREL, SHE CHOKES

SISTER AGATHA COUGHS

Sit up. Deep breaths.

Dracula, where did he go? Relax now, breathe deeply.

Where is he? Where's Dracula?

Where did he go? Was no-one watching?

We were helping you.

Well, in future, get your priorities right!

There's a vampire on board this ship!

I am Sister Agatha Van Helsing of the St Mary's Convent, Budapest.

Captain Sokolov? Yes.

You are relieved of command.

SHIP CREAKS

Here it is - Dracula's cabin. Doesn't look like it's been used.

Although the curtains have been drawn.

Oh, are you all right?

No, no, I'm dying, but don't get distracted.

Dracula needs to sleep in a coffin or box containing his own native soil.

No idea why, it doesn't make a lot of sense.

Did you say soil?

Soil, yes.

Somewhere hidden away in this ship there must be a box of Transylvanian soil.

Have you seen any such thing?

We have 50 boxes of soil in the hold.

DR SHARMA EXHALES

What did you mean, you have experience in these matters?

My, uh... My researches have sometimes taken me down a dark path.

The continuation of life beyond the grave, the undead, the nosferatu.

There are such things.

Dracula put us all on this ship together for a purpose.

Clearly, he chose you for your knowledge.

I wonder what he sees in me.

I have no idea.

But whatever his intentions towards me, he's not taking my daughter.

Did you...? Did you see how he looked at her? What is that?

HIS BREATH TREMBLES

This? My last resort.

There is death, and there is undeath.

ALL GROAN

ALL: Ah!

BOX SPLASHES

Is that the last of them? There's one more.

You heard her, one more.

No, wait.

Better still...we leave him one box, only one resting place.

Right now he's hiding in the shadows, but daylight weakens him.

He will need to rest eventually. If there's only one box...

We can trap him.

Perhaps we can reduce his options, at least.

Now we must increase ours.

Captain, I assume somewhere on this ship you have a bible.

I...find myself temporarily embarrassed.

In my cabin.

Please fetch it.

He's a very persuasive man, the Count.

One might almost say... HE INHALES

..seductive.

Shouldn't you be on the deck, helping? Er...

LAUGHS: ..I'm really not sure where I should be at the moment.

Perhaps it's time I decided where I stand.

CASE CLATTERS

If Count Dracula is Mr Balaur,

then he is my silent partner.

Perhaps that's what the Count sees in me...a partner.

And if my intuition is correct,

he is about to join us.

ITEM CLATTERS TO FLOOR Thank you.

Not at all.

We have a business arrangement. We are partners.

I should like that to continue.

For how long?

Well, it's my understanding

that a vampire is blessed with eternal life.

Mine, too, but it does take rather a long time to be sure.

BOTH LAUGH

You are placing yourself in league with this creature?

It's business.

Ah! Oh!

QUIVERING: We are not stupid, you know.

I'm a man of science. Oh!

Dr Sharma, you are one of the great minds of your age,

but you're a prophet without honour in your own country.

I, however, recognise your brilliance,

and look forward to consuming it.

Never. Never!

HE COCKS GUN Drop it. Now.

Do you hear me?

HE PANTS

I would see my daughter die before letting her become like you.

I wonder if you mean that.

Drop the cross or I'll shoot her right in front of you.

You couldn't.

Surrender yourself to us, or I swear I will pull this trigger.

What's it to be, man of reason?

Dead or undead?

GROWLING

HIS BREATH TREMBLES

No! DR SHARMA YELLS

WHISPERS: No! No, no, no, no, no!

YAMINI GROANS Ah!

DR SHARMA YELLS, BOTTLE RATTLES

HEAVY BREATHING

This thing...

This Dracula is only a monster.

You are supposed to be a man.

I shall be more than a man.

HE YELLS

GUNSHOT

HE PANTS

Now look what you've done.

I did it for you.

Why?

I...thought you'd chosen me.

I chose you...

..for Dorabella.

And now you've inherited her money, I'll inherit it from you...

..partner.

No.

Thank you for everything.

No, please.

Try and stay calm.

You're doing very well.

GROWLING

Aah!

LORD RUTHVEN SQUEALS

LORD RUTHVEN CRIES

Dr Sharma?

SLURPING

SNARLING

HE GROWLS

PIOTR WHIMPERS

HE ROARS Ah!

PAPER TEARS

ADISA: I still don't see the point.

The holy word of our Lord.

It worked in the convent with sacramental bread,

so I suppose we must have faith.

Is this all we have left?

Superstition, fairy tale?

You saw the effect the cross had on him.

It's no less of a superstition because a madman believes it, too.

We have a killer on board, a human man...however delusional.

Convent?

I mentioned I was a nun.

Oh, perfect, she's a nun!

We need a general, we need strategy, not nuns.

You don't seem like a nun.

It has been said.

PIOTR PANTS AND CRIES

What's wrong, boy? What's happened?

WAVES LASH

Tears for your master?

I thought you despised him.

He wasn't my master.

Captain Sokolov, please stop frowning.

How did you know I was frowning?

It's audible.

This circle that's supposed to protect us...

I believe it will.

You said it worked at the convent. Yes.

And yet you're here.

So what happened?

Dracula gained entry by disguising himself in the skin of...

..of another.

Sister Agatha?

Piotr?

Wake up, boy.

WIND HOWLS

If you please, tell me again what happened below decks.

I think you came across Dracula feeding off the Englishman, correct?

Yes.

And Dracula saw you?

Yes.

And then he let you go?

Yes.

May one ask why?

I don't know.

No, Piotr, I don't know either.

SCOFFS: Go on, Piotr, you just have to explain.

I told you, he was...drinking Lord Ruthven's blood.

He was...busy.

Busy?

Yes.

I don't...

I don't think he cared about me.

Just let me go.

Olgaren, what's going on?

Victor?

Just...

Just try to explain, boy. I have explained.

That's all there is.

Piotr, we just need to be sure that you haven't been...contaminated.

Occupied.

I saw Dracula climb from the belly of a wolf once.

We need to be sure.

How do we do that?

Piotr, you entered the circle before it was complete, yes?

I think so.

I didn't really notice.

Now the circle is closed,

a vampire would be unable to cross the line of it in any circumstances.

Piotr, step outside the circle.

But...

..you-you-you said it wasn't...safe.

No, no, you-you cannot do this to the boy.

Only for a moment.

Piotr, step outside the circle.

That's an order.

Go on, just cross the line for a moment. In and out.

Do it.

Now.

DECK CREAKS

Well done, boy! Get back inside!

No, both feet.

WIND GUSTS

HE SHRIEKS, ALL YELL

That was hilarious.

OLGAREN: God protect us. God protect us!

This, again?

Tedious book.

ADISA: What do you want?

Ah, what I always want - something to eat, a bit of company.

Your boxes have been destroyed.

You have no refuge, no place of solace.

I notice that one of my boxes is still in the hold.

Oh, you're welcome to sleep in it any time you like.

We won't wake you.

I see.

You left it there as a lure.

I'm going to miss you.

I'll spare you the heartache.

Too kind.

Well...

..I wonder which of you it's going to be.

Which of us what?

One of you's going to break. The night is young.

You expect us to give ourselves up to you?

Yes.

But why?

LAUGHS: Well, what's the alternative?

It's only a matter of time.

Come on! Don't you at least want a good death?

Take your chances, die fighting,

die in battle like every living thing is supposed to?

Surely it's better than this dreary stalemate.

It's not a stalemate, Count Dracula.

We have an advantage over you, or at least...I do.

Alone on this boat, it seems...

..I am not a lunatic.

HE SNIFFS

Ah!

Now, now you interest me.

Pages from an old book nailed to the deck, and you can't walk past them?

Your conflict, your...disbelief, your scepticism is a strong flavour.

Intoxicating.

Don't let him confuse you, Adisa.

I am not confused.

This man killed Tom, Lord Ruthven.

He took the love of my life and I will not play his games!

Where is he?

What have you done with...?

Fish meat, like the rest of them.

One learns to keep a tidy slaughterhouse.

Now, Adisa, tell me...

..what do you see before you?

A man.

Aww! Only that?

Less than that.

A murderer.

If you're so confident and if you're so angry,

step outside the circle.

Even if you don't believe what is self-evident,

you know he is dangerous!

Step outside the circle and dance with me.

Don't throw your life away to prove a point!

That won't do any good!

They call it a life preserver.

Well, I have faith in it, I have faith in steel and powder!

Fine! Try and shoot him, but from inside the circle!

We must stay strong and united and inside the circle!

Yes, stay inside the circle.

Do as you're told. Do as they tell you, as you always do,

cos that's what you're good at, cos you're a servant, mm?

However stupid your masters, or however beautiful,

you're destined to remain in the shadows.

A guilty secret.

CAPTAIN SOKOLOV: Don't. Stop! PIOTR: No!

I knew you could do it.

Your own man at the end.

Come back. Come back inside!

This is an execution.

This is for Tom.

Ow.

HE GROWLS Aah!

HE SNARLS

PIOTR: Aah!

Oof! HE GROWLS

CAPTAIN SOKOLOV GROANS

Aah!

HE GRUNTS

HE GROANS

OLGAREN: Oof! Aah!

Keep him down.

Keep him on the deck, Olgaren! Die! Die! Die!

PIOTR YELLS

COUNT DRACULA SCREAMS

SISTER AGATHA: Count Dracula!

Go to hell!

HE SCREAMS

WATER SPLASHES

CAPTAIN SOKOLOV PANTS

SEAGULLS SQUAWK

Where's Olgaren?

Cooking. Oh.

Just when you think you're out of danger!

And the Sister?

The usual.

Take the wheel.

How long are you going to keep checking?

Till I'm sure.

It's been a week.

Well, if he survived, it would take time for him to heal those wounds.

But according to you, he could only do so lying in a bed of his own earth.

That is the only one on board.

Have faith.

I struggle with faith.

HE SCOFFS

We're a few hours from Whitby. You want to join us on deck?

We still have one lifeboat left, yes?

Yes, why?

Because this ship must never reach England.

What are you talking about?

Your cargo. I've been going through it. We have here everything we need.

For a doll's tea party! SHE LAUGHS

No - saltpetre, sulphur, charcoal.

For gunpowder.

Well, there's at least enough to blow a decent-size hole in the hull, don't you think?

Ah!

That might be quite a good spot.

That would take her down all right, but why?

No trace of the vampire's foul contagion can be allowed to reach the new world.

Trust me on this. We must sink the Demeter.

When will you accept that you've won?

When I'm dead.

The curse of the vampire lives inside me.

Under no circumstances can I come with you to England.

No. Agatha, no. I refuse...

Tell them of Dracula, if you wish.

Tell them what happened here, on board the Demeter.

But tell no-one where it lies.

Better still, tell them it sank somewhere else, far from here.

We must protect the curious from themselves.

But he is dead!

Consider this a plague ship - all precautions must be taken.

No more words.

Explain what's happening to Olgaren and Piotr, and get off this ship.

You can leave the arrangement of the gunpowder to me.

Now, go now.

I don't have all day, quite literally, as it turns out.

Sister Agatha? No more.

I'm a nun.

You mentioned.

FLY BUZZES

It's not right.

I know, but it must be done.

But Sister Agatha...

God will take care of Sister Agatha...

..if God knows what's good for him.

SEAGULLS CRY

The lifeboat's ready, Captain.

WATER LAPS

Lower away.

CREAKING

LIFEBOAT SPLASHES

SIGHS: I suppose there's time

for one last attempt at conversation.

One hopes that there's room

for negotiation on suicide as a mortal sin.

CREAKING

FOOTSTEPS

SHE GASPS

Hello?

Is there someone there?

CREAKING

FOOTSTEPS APPROACH

SHE EXHALES

Going down with the ship.

I learned a long time ago that's the Captain's job.

One for the road?

SHE SIGHS

One for the road.

On deck, then.

A bit...

A bit of his own earth.

GASPS: He's alive.

YELLS: Sokolov, he's alive!

Sokolov isn't.

I fear I may have bolted him.

Starving.

I believe the plan was for a drink on deck.

I hope I'm a...reasonable substitute.

Oh!

Oh...

CAPTAIN SOKOLOV COUGHS

Keep him...talking.

Ah!

This takes me back.

About three centuries, in fact.

We must do it again.

I think probably not.

LAUGHS: Oh, I quite agree!

HE GROANS AND PANTS

How are you feeling?

Particularly mortal.

How about you?

Indestructible.

How did you do it?

Uh... I swam under the boat and climbed up the other side.

As escapes go, basic, but effective.

I really thought we'd won.

If it's any comfort, Agatha...

..you came closer than anyone.

HE PANTS

Argh!

HE GASPS FOR BREATH

CAPTAIN SOKOLOV GROANS

Oh, look!

The pawn almost made it to the other side of the board,

but I'm afraid there'll be no second queen.

Piotr and Olgaren got away.

Well, you can't eat 'em all.

I missed out on Dr Sharma, too, and that's a pity.

I love science.

Science is the future, Agatha.

And yet you still fear the cross.

Of course I do.

Everyone does, that's the problem.

It's not a symbol of virtue and kindness, it's a mark of horror and oppression.

Your idiot Church has terrorised

the peasant population for centuries,

and I have been imbibing the blood of those same peasants for so long

I have absorbed their fear of the cross.

My God, I can't wait to eat some atheists.

No.

Sorry?

No, I mean, that's all very nice and logical, but that's not the reason.

What makes you so sure?

Because I think, Count Dracula, I'm coming to know you.

I know when you're lying.

Why would I bother lying to you?

You wouldn't. It's not me to whom you're lying.

Why are you making conversation?

People do. You don't.

Well, it's never too late to change.

You're trying to draw me into an argument.

Are you trying to distract me?

What is it you always say?

Oh, yes, "One must never rush a nun."

HE LAUGHS

LOUD EXPLOSION Argh!

Ah!

HE GROWLS

Go ahead. I win.

The last thing your eyes will ever see is the contempt in mine.

PIOTR: They're dead, then.

OLGAREN: Yes.

What now?

We honour them.

How?

By telling their story.

So...

..what did you think of your first time at sea, Piotr?

Marius.

Marius?

That's my real name.

That's what my friends call me.

HE EXHALES

HE LAUGHS

HELICOPTER APPROACHES

POLICE RADIO CHATTER

Welcome to England, Count Dracula.

What kept you?

FLIES BUZZ

SHRIEKING