Original subtitles

♪ ♪

(grumbling softly)

♪ ♪

(lights buzzing)

(grunts)

(groans)

(grunts)

Oh, jackpot.

(quick whoosh)

(gasps)

-(quick whoosh) -(gasps)

(snarling)

Get the hell away from my cans!

-(snarling) -Them cans is mine.

(growls)

Now, I done told you, them cans is mine!

(vicious snarling)

(grunts)

-(screaming) -(snarling, hissing)

♪ ♪

(hip-hop song playing): ♪ Oh, oh ♪

(bell clangs)

♪ Whoa, whoa, oh ♪

-♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ -♪ Malik Ninety Five ♪

♪ Oh, oh ♪

♪ Oh ♪

(song fading)

SHAWNA: Summer. This one started out

just like the last one and the one before that.

Taking the bus to the Quarter,

sneaking up onto some bougie hotel rooftop

and watching my best friend Pedro get a tan.

Um, when did you get all that?

Get all what?

(gasps)

Okay, what you need to do is flaunt them shits.

They’re way cuter than those little mosquito bites

you was working with last summer.

You’re not even supposed to like boobs.

I never said I liked them, mami.

(laughs)

Why don’t you get some of this sun?

I’m not trying to get no darker.

(sighs)

♪ ♪

SHAWNA: We didn’t know it yet, but this summer...

(chuckles): this summer was about to be

very, very different.

"Different" ain’t even the word.

I guess what I’m trying to say is this summer,

the summer my whole world got, like, messed-up beyond belief,

the summer I got breasts,

that was the same summer I fought vampires.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

(dogs barking in distance)

PEDRO: Ooh, I’m so excited about tonight.

What you got going till then?

SHAWNA: Got to go see my mom. Trying to roll?

To Ombreux? Mm, no, thanks.

It’s not that bad.

But it really is, though.

You excited about tonight?

Beaucoup cute boys.

Trades, you feel me?

Platinum Percy’s spinning. You love to dance.

Not in front of other people.

That why you didn’t try out for the dance team?

No, I didn’t try out for the dance team

’cause 90% of the girls they pick are Creole.

There’s a certain look.

Okay, that just means ten percent ain’t Creole,

-so that’s all you. -(laughs)

Since when did you become a life coach all of a sudden?

Don’t you have your own stuff to figure out?

Like?

Like a full scholarship to a great boarding school

with a nationally ranked track team.

(sighs)

Yeah, but it’s in Texas, though.

So?

So, if I leave New Orleans,

is it really even New Orleans anymore?

Like, can this bitch survive without me?

(chuckles): Oh, my God.

And who’s gonna be here to educate your ign’ant ass

about our city’s magnificent history and culture?

Who’s gonna remind you that we did not host

the country’s first Mardi Gras

but we did put on the first opera?

And who’s gonna explain to you

why po’boys got to be on stale bread?

Okay, I get it, Professor. You staying.

Plus, my family, you know.

So, this party tonight?

I don’t have anything to wear.

Hell nah. No, you are not backing out on me.

We show up together, we leave together, and we dance

with as many cute boys as we can in between.

What time we meeting?

Depends on when my dad gets off of work.

What time, Shawna?

Like... 7:00-ish, maybe.

All right, bitch. 7:00.

Don’t be late.

See you.

("Say Wassup II" by Mhadi G & Lukrative playing)

-♪ Turn me up ♪ -♪ Turn me high... ♪

Yo. What’s going on, partner?

♪ How they swarming around my site to show me love... ♪

Save the Ombreux!

Save the Ombreux! That’s right!

OLD MAN: You’re never too young to start fighting

for what you deserve.

If not now, then when?

If not us, then who?

ACTIVIST: Save the Ombreux!

SHAWNA: If you would’ve asked me back then,

I would’ve told you these people are crazy.

Like, don’t they have anything better to do?

I mean, the Ombreux was hardly worth saving.

(activists shouting indistinctly outside)

Besides the fact that it was falling apart,

this shit had basically become a one-stop shop

for sellers and users.

If you weren’t slangin’ or coppin’,

you didn’t have any business there.

I was probably the only normal person

who ever came out this way.

Or maybe not.

-(knocking) -Mm, that’s Chris Thompson.

Junior, popular, cool, fun,

and the absolute last person I expected to see

walking into the Ombreux.

-(toilet flushing nearby) -(child bawling in distance)

(siren wailing in distance)

(door closes)

(man yelling indistinctly in distance)

-(rummaging) -(panting frenetically)

Come on. Come on.

H-Hey, Mommy.

I, uh... I brought you some stuff.

Any money?

I’m not supposed to be bringing you...

I just need to buy some Tampax.

What, I need permission from your father to do that, too?

(scoffs)

I know I put a dollar in here somewhere.

(rummaging)

Um...

I’ll just leave these here, I guess.

Shawna, wait.

♪ ♪

(sniffles)

I’m sorry I hollered at you.

It’s just...

things your father put in your head about me, they...

I’m better.

I-I’ve been better for months now.

Well, then...

...maybe you could just come home, then.

Oh, uh-uh.

Ain’t that easy, baby girl.

You been watching my plants while I’ve been away?

Jamal has.

(both laugh)

And they ain’t died yet?

(laughing): Mm-mm.

He do know that zebra plant need light all day?

It’s tropical.

(both laugh)

-I miss you. -(sniffles)

We all do.

(Denise sighs)

I miss y’all, too.

Hey, uh...

I still got it. (chuckles)

(chuckles)

(sniffles) Yeah.

I look at these pictures every night

and pray to Jesus I can come home.

My friends say, "Girl, sell that thing.

You know how much money you could get?"

But I ain’t never gonna sell this.

Um...

(sighs)

You got any money for Mama?

Even just a dollar?

(panting frenetically)

(quiet chatter)

(clattering)

(loud thump)

♪ ♪

-(snarls) -(gasping)

("Undefeated" by Yancy playing)

♪ Gold medal, gold medal, gold bottles, gold letters ♪

♪ All of my lettermen, Late Night with Letterman ♪

♪ I never been a loser ’cause the winning was better, man ♪

♪ You could roam a million... ♪

(music continues over stereo)

STEVEN: And dinner is served.

Hey, Jamal, go ahead and turn off that music if you could.

(music stops)

JAMAL: Dad, what is that?

That is a casserole.

Are you sure?

Sit. Eat.

-JAMAL: All right. -(Steven clears throat)

(Jamal groans softly)

Dad, do you think maybe Mom could come home soon?

I mean, maybe she’s better.

Or maybe she could be better if she was here.

Your mom’s got some stuff she needs to figure out on her own.

-If she cared, maybe she’d try a little harder. -Hey.

She cares, all right?

It’s just, she’s been through a lot since the storm.

The storm? That’s her excuse?

Dad, that was like 15 years ago.

Yeah, well, she’s still hurting.

Lot of folks are. Show some respect.

I saw Chris today, J.

-STEVEN: Who’s Chris? -Just a boy.

-A boy? -SHAWNA: No...

JAMAL: A boy who ain’t feeling her.

How you know?

’Cause Chris got mad light-skinned

Creole girls with wavy hair.

-And? -Look how dark you is.

You look like Wesley Snipes with braids.

Jamal. You gonna give the girl a complex.

JAMAL: My bad. Sorry.

STEVEN: Yeah, you’ll be sorry all right.

You understand?

You’re gonna be sorry.

And you too young to be worrying about boys.

Eat.

Both of you.

-"Creole girls." Ridiculous. -(Jamal chuckling)

(chuckles): Wesley Snipes.

♪ Don’t give me that, no, don’t give me that, no ♪

-♪ Wiggle low, wiggle low ♪ -♪ I got it ♪

-♪ Wiggle low ♪ -♪ Who they want? ♪

♪ Got-got ’em out of control ♪

♪ And they gon’ drop some more... ♪

Oh, shit. (laughs)

Excuse me.

♪ Two hands on the ground when you wiggle low ♪

♪ Wiggle low, wiggle low, wiggle low ♪

♪ Wig-Wiggle low, wiggle low... ♪

-What are you doing? -I’m trying to help you out.

You look crazy, girl-- like, legit homeless.

You know, next time, you getting ready at my house

so I can approve beforehand, ’cause just...

-Ew, no, no. -Okay, okay, I get it.

(Shawna sighs)

SHAWNA: It was him again.

Chris.

Those eyes, those lips.

Ooh, those muscles!

Even his hair was perfect.

Oh, my God. I admit it, yeah.

I was thirsty.

(girls laughing)

You got exactly 30 seconds to go over there and holla at him,

or I’m not gonna talk to you for the rest of the summer.

What are you even talking about?

Bitch, don’t even try me, ’cause you know I ain’t playing.

Pedro.

29, 28,

27, 26...

-Hey, what about... -25, 24,

23, 22...

-(clears throat) -CHRIS: I’m telling y’all.

-Hey, Chris. -We do this every weekend.

Saints game, I promise y’all. And then New Year’s.

Like, y’all don’t, y’all don’t really understand...

Hey, Chris!

Hey.

Uh, hey. Do I know you?

Uh, yeah.

Yeah, we met before.

I’m-I’m Shawna, Jamal’s little sister.

-Oh. Right. -(Shawna chuckles awkwardly)

Hey. (chuckles)

You’re on the dance team, right?

-Mm-hmm. -(Shawna chuckles)

Like, that’s really cool.

SHAWNA: Um... (clears throat)

I think I saw you today over at the-the Ombreux.

No.

Ombreux? Nah.

-(scoffs) Nah. -Yeah, it was definitely you.

Um, maybe, like, around 4:00, maybe...

I said nah, that-that wasn’t me, man.

Okay.

Yeah, I just wanted to, um...

I just wanted to come over here

and just tell you that I liked your shape.

(laughing)

I liked your shirt. I liked your shirt.

Um...

yeah, I just... I just wanted to come over here

and tell you that, so I’ll, uh... I’ll see you around.

All right, Samantha.

Be easy.

♪ Wiggle low, wiggle low... ♪

PEDRO: Oh, you won’t have to take me there.

SHAWNA: (sighs) I was so stupid.

I should’ve just stayed home.

Two big lessons from that night:

think before you shoot your shot,

and never walk home alone.

Pedro.

Sorry to dip on you like that.

I just wasn’t feeling that party.

I probably shouldn’t have even come.

It was stupid of me to even think that I could just...

Just...

You know what? Just-just hit me back.

-Yo, help a brother out! -(gasps)

I don’t... I don’t have anything.

(coins jingling)

SHAWNA: Why they always asking me for money?

Dang.

♪ ♪

-(whoosh, thud) -(man yelling)

(gasps) What the...

Hey!

Hey, leave him alone!

(snarling)

(growls)

(gasps)

(roars)

(screaming)

(whimpering, gasping)

SHAWNA: His skin was freezing.

Felt like-- I don’t know-- leather or something.

Cold leather.

-(horn honks) -(engine revving)

(panting softly)

-(panting rapidly) -(water running)

Am I crazy? Did that really just happen?

Was I bitten by a... vampire?

Vampires are for real?

I can’t even believe I’m asking that.

Sunlight, I knew, was bad.

I didn’t want to turn into a bat or nothing

while I was asleep.

So I decided it was best to stay awake.

-(door opens) -(gasps)

You’re up early.

Uh, couldn’t sleep.

Nightmares?

(chuckles): Something like that.

Hey, what happened to your neck?

Uh, curling iron.

Who did this?

I did, I guess.

You’re too old to be tearing up the house like this, Shawn.

Wait, wait.

(gasps)

(shuddering)

Get some sleep, Shawn,

after you take down the rest of this.

(sighs)

What?

Took me a minute to figure out what to do, what to say.

I get how I would’ve sounded.

Still, I knew what I saw, and I knew what happened to me.

(sportscast playing on TV)

Hola, Shawna.

(Pedro and woman speaking Spanish)

Back from the dead. A miracle.

You know, I’ve been hitting you up, chica.

I know. I know.

Um, can we talk?

In private.

(speaking Spanish)

-(video game sound effects) -Okay, no way.

Get off my iPad. Go read a book or something.

(sighs)

See why I can’t leave this place?

-Everyone would be illiterate. -(door closes)

(sighs)

So, what did you want to talk about?

Okay. If I tell you what I have to tell you,

you can’t call me crazy,

and you have to promise to believe me no matter what.

-You’re freaking me out. -Promise!

Dios mío. I promise.

(sighs): Okay.

That night, after the party,

I was walking home, and, uh...

I got, uh...

-Spit it out! -I-I got attacked.

Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

-Are-are you o... -By a group of homeless vampires.

(laughing)

-Bitch, is you smoking? -You promised.

Okay, uh, maybe I should just walk you out.

No.

(sighs) Look.

-It won’t heal right. -(Pedro groaning)

-What is that? -I told you, I got attacked.

-Are you sure it wasn’t, like, a dog? -Hmm-mm.

Homeless vampires.

Shawna, mami, you probably, like, blacked out

and had some, like, crazy delusion or whatever.

You might got the rabies.

Homeless vampires.

Well, I guess that at least

explains why they bit you, right?

What?

You looked extremely homeless that night.

Hello. I’m joking.

-There’s no... -No, they must’ve realized I wasn’t homeless.

That’s why they let me go and kept biting that other dude.

-What other dude? What? -You know, the dude, the dude...

the dude that’s always begging for change over on Benton.

Oh, you mean Mr. Ooh-Wee?

-He’s just a crackhead. -Okay, well, homeless people,

bums, crackheads, whatever you want to call it,

that’s who they’re after.

Well, if they’re after crackheads...

If they’re going after crackheads, then what?

Um...

OLD MAN: And what goes in its place?

-WOMAN: Mm-hmm. -OLD MAN: Mixed-use development?

WOMAN: That’s right.

OLD MAN: That’s code for "we’re not invited."

This is it. This-this is...

PEDRO: Shawna, there’s no such thing as vampires.

Mom?

What?

Where could she be?

Where’d she go?

Mom?

(creaking)

(Shawna gasps)

(Shawna’s breath trembling)

♪ ♪

(Shawna gasps)

Mom. Mom.

Mom. (gasping breaths)

Mom!

(groans)

See? She’s fine.

-Let’s go. -Listen, Mom.

You got to come back home now.

Okay? We’ll figure it out later with Dad,

but it ain’t safe for you to be living like this anymore.

You-you need anything else?

Where’s your necklace?

You know what?

It doesn’t matter. We’ll come back for that.

Right now we just need to...

PEDRO: Oh, my God.

(shallow breaths)

That doesn’t mean anything.

Y-You’re all right.

Look. Look. I got it, too.

See? See?

I’m all right. We both all right.

Just because you got bit,

that doesn’t mean anything. I... (gasps)

Cold leather.

(growls)

(shrieks)

Shawna! Watch out! Watch out!

(shrieking)

-Oh, my God! -PEDRO: Stop! Stop.

-(screaming) -Move! Move! Move, Shawna!

We got to move! Mami, mami, no!

Mami, no, no! Move!

(both gasp)

SHAWNA (crying): No. Oh, my God.

-Oh, my God. Oh, my God. -Mami.

-Mami, we got... we got to go. -No.

♪ ♪

(sobbing)

(knocking)

SHAWNA: The cops didn’t know whether to call it

a homicide or a suicide or an accident,

but I knew exactly what to call it.

It was murder.

I didn’t know who or what was responsible,

but I was gonna make ’em pay.

No matter what, they were gonna pay.

♪ ♪

-(dog barking in distance) -(birds chirping)

SHAWNA: This is what you wanted to show me?

An empty lot?

This is the house.

Was the house

where me, your mom and Jamal stayed before Katrina.

Finally tore it down a few years back.

And they cram us all down on the floodplains,

knowing all they got to do is wait for the next storm

just to press the reset button.

It’s not like we’re much better off where we are now.

Another big one hits, we’ll be in the same boat.

No pun intended.

Shawn, I brought you here to talk about your mom

and how we should remember her.

Dad, we don’t have to get into...

No, no, we-we do.

Okay? It’s important.

You know, she was grown, so ultimately,

she’s responsible for her mistakes.

Lord knows there were plenty of those.

But history matters.

(sighs) It was so chaotic after Katrina.

(inhales deeply)

The help she needed just wasn’t there,

and it never came.

Look, I’m not saying things were perfect before.

I’m just saying things definitely got worse.

And who knows how bad it would’ve gotten

if it wasn’t for you?

-Me? -That’s right.

She was pregnant when the storm hit.

She called you her miracle baby.

(chuckles softly)

She said you saved her life.

And I think she was right about that.

I had to hide it when she left so she wouldn’t...

She’d want you to have it.

Uh, the police found that one.

Listen, Shawn.

You’ve got to be brave now.

This city, this world-- it takes bravery.

Okay?

(sobs softly)

♪ ♪

SHAWNA: I needed to know the rules of the game I was playing.

Lucky for me, New Orleans is full of people

obsessed with monsters and magic and stuff.

I reached out to this white girl named Granya.

She hosted a vampire book club thing in an abandoned church.

-(church bell tolling) -Weird, but I needed info,

and I’d get it any way I could.

Anne Rice, huh? She’s from New Orleans.

Hometown hero.

Oh, my God, this must be what McAdams Academy looks like.

What you mean?

PEDRO: Let’s just say I’m not super excited

about being surrounded by a bunch of white folks from Texas.

It’s not like they’re gonna roll out the welcome wagon

for an immigrant kid from Mexico,

no matter how fine I am.

-(Shawna chuckles) -GRANYA (sighs): Okay.

-See you guys next time. -Bye.

GRANYA: Hey, you must be Shawna.

I’m Granya.

So, are you guys interested in the world of vampire fiction?

Don’t know much about fiction,

but I do have some questions for you.

(sighs, mutters)

That’s a very loaded question.

There’s really no consensus

how someone gets turned from human to vampire.

Okay, but can you just walk me through some of the basics?

Well, there’s the school of thought

that you have to be drained of all human blood

and have it totally replaced with vampire blood.

Ooh, or...

...there’s a line of thinking

that you have to be bitten and the venom

has to overtake your system and that’s all.

Sorry to interrupt y’all,

but why do you meet in a place like this?

Like, why not go to someplace less weird,

like a library?

The girls like the vibe-- it’s gothic--

and they give us the room for free.

Oh, but you’re not, like, a witch or whatever?

Presbyterian.

Is there anything you can tell me that’s, like, for sure--

narrow it down, why one person would turn into a vampire

but another wouldn’t, even if they both got bit?

They have to die.

That’s what all the stories have in common.

So, to become a vampire, you have to die?

If the character doesn’t die,

I don’t see how they can become a vampire.

They’d just be a person who survived.

Okay.

And how can a vampire die again?

Besides, like, sunlight.

Well, I mean, sunlight is highly debatable.

Trust me, mami, no, it ain’t.

Uh, besides sunlight, there’s fire and decapitation,

wooden stake through the heart.

Okay, and what if you wanted to catch a vampire

but, like, just keep it alive?

Why would anyone want to do that?

Yeah, Shawna, why would anyone want to do that?

♪ ♪

You weren’t serious in there.

Mami, we almost died last time...

My mom did die, ’Dro.

What do you need me to do?

We need everything on this list.

Everything.

PEDRO: Garlic, stakes and a Bible.

Shawna.

Except don’t worry about the silver chains.

I can take care of that.

♪ ♪

-(gasps) Oh. -CHRIS: Oh.

Um, hey.

My mom wanted me to bring these to y’all.

Red beans and rice.

She’s sorry she missed the repass.

Thanks.

Uh, come in.

(door closes)

You know, she said she used to kick it with your mom

in the Calliope,

play spades and shit, before they tore it down.

I ain’t know that.

Yeah, me, neither.

I guess that sort of makes us peoples.

-Guess so. -(both chuckle)

-Jamal around? -Mm-mm.

Do, uh, they know what went down yet?

Nah, not yet.

Do they think it was, like...

Did somebody kill her?

She wouldn’t have done it to herself.

Look, if you or Jamal ever catch wind

of any nigga that might’ve had something to do with it,

I got y’all’s back.

Mm-hmm.

Chris.

You for real about having my back?

Yeah.

OLD MAN: If they tear down the Ombreux,

what will we do?

Where will we go?

They’re taking everything from us:

our low-income houses, our jobs...

What you think of that dude?

I think he crazy.

Maybe.

He ain’t wrong, though.

-He ain’t? -Me and you, we lucky.

We don’t got to stay in the projects.

But a lot of people, this all they got.

The Ombreux?

I mean, I guess.

Why you think so many people left

after the storm and never came back home?

Ombreux’s the last of the bricks.

I mean, where people ’posed to live?

Well, like you said,

lucky for us, we got another place to stay.

For now.

SHAWNA: Did you get it?

-Uh... -Chris, this is ’Dro.

’Dro, this is Chris.

Uh, can I talk to you real quick, mami?

-Yeah. -Yeah.

Okay, what is he doing here?

We’re not exactly the strongest, fastest people in New Orleans.

I hold, like, three city-wide track records.

You know what I mean.

-Does he know about... -Not yet.

Shawna, I really don’t think right now is the right time

for you to be making a love connection.

I’m not making a love connection. I-I...

So, uh, the guy that did it, where’s he at?

Okay, I don’t know if he did it or not,

but he might know who did.

Same shit. Let’s go.

SHAWNA (sighs): Right.

(wind howling softly)

(grunts)

(floorboards creaking)

♪ ♪

(sighs)

(heavy creaking)

PEDRO: Maybe we should just go.

Are you sure dude even stays here?

How did you even find out ’bout him?

Just a hunch, I guess.

A hunch?

-(clattering) -(Shawna gasps)

CHRIS: Shit.

Probably just a...

...rat, right?

(sighs) Maybe we should just go.

Geez, ’Dro, you always got to be...

-(snarling) -(Shawna screaming)

(grunting)

-(Shawna squeals, grunts) -(shrieking, gasping)

(gasps)

(grunts)

(sizzling)

(screaming)

CHRIS: So you killed your own mom?

Yeah.

Well, no, I mean...

It-it’s really whoever’s responsible for making her...

A vampire.

Fuck.

Okay, you shouldn’t have brung him.

You don’t drop shit like that on people.

He’ll be fine. I mean, it’s just...

It’s just a lot to j-just, like, process.

And what about our other amigo?

Time to get some answers.

(Marvin coughs)

MARVIN: I don’t know that damn woman!

Old Marvin never turned nobody.

-If not you, then who? -Uh...

now, if I tell you, they’re gonna kill old Marvin.

Again.

CHRIS: What makes you think we won’t kill you, nigga?

For someone who hates himself, you sure looked happy as hell

when you was about to chomp down on a nigga’s neck.

Oh, man, I... I couldn’t help it, bruh.

I ain’t ate in days.

Who’s turning people into vampires?

Oh...

(Marvin whimpering, muttering)

Y’all had garlic in there?

Y’all-y’all playing foul, bruh.

Don’t-don’t... don’t come no closer.

-(coughing) -What’s it feel like?

You been tear-gassed by the police?

No, but I’m guessing by your nosebleed I don’t want to.

Tell us what we want to know.

-(screaming) -(sizzling)

-Straight like that. -Okay.

Okay, okay, I’ll tell you.

(Marvin coughs, gasps)

Just get that shit away from me, man.

(Marvin whimpering)

It’s this nigga named Lefrak.

He building an army.

-An army for what? -I...

I don’t know, but any homeless

or any addict down on his luck, that’s who he’s enlisting.

How do we get to him?

You can’t. He don’t fuck with humans.

He got to eat, right? Human blood?

Where does he stay? Where does he stay?!

-(groans) -(sizzling)

An old mansion down in the French Quarter.

He’s always got that red Escalade parked out front.

(panting): Truth be told,

I hope you get Lefrak’s bitch ass.

’Cause if he dies,

they say we all turn back to normal.

You think that’s true?

Too bad you won’t be alive to find out.

-Huh? -We let you go, next thing you know,

we up on some vampire hit list.

Oh, no, no.

How you kill one of these bitches?

Wait. Hold up.

No one said nothing about no murder.

I think we use a wooden stake.

-PEDRO: What? -What?

Shawna, what are you doing?

Chris is right, ’Dro.

We can’t have him snitching before we get to Lefrak.

Get to Lefrak? Mami...

-(clattering) -(Marvin gasps)

(Marvin whimpers)

I ain’t gonna drop a dime on you, baby.

(shudders) Old Marvin never turned on nobody.

(whimpers)

SHAWNA: I have to get to Lefrak, ’Dro.

And if this works, I’m-a put a stake

-right through his heart, too. -Come on, bruh.

(stammering): Y’all can’t do me like this.

-Through the heart, right? -(Marvin whimpering)

Guys, let’s just think this through.

Yeah! Let’s think this thing through.

-I untie you right now... -Shawna.

...tell you you can have every drop

of his sweet Mexican blood, what you do?

(growls quietly)

(amplified heartbeat)

(snarls, roars)

(Shawna gasps)

I told you.

(Marvin sobbing softly)

SHAWNA: Wait.

This is my beef.

I should do it.

You sure?

No, not really.

But I gotta.

Get him, then, killer.

PEDRO: Shawna.

Come on. Do you really want to do this?

-(vicious snarling) -(Shawna screaming)

-(stake thumps) -(groans)

(panting)

(shrieking)

(both groaning)

(shrieking continues)

(shrieking fades)

Hmm.

(gasping)

Huh.

Hmm.

(explosive pop)

(groans)

Yo, can I holla at you for a second?

Look, I don’t do surprises,

especially not surprises about monsters and shit.

Look, I’m sorry.

Look, obviously, it won’t ever happen again.

Give me your phone.

Whatever y’all do to this Lefrak cat...

SHAWNA: Dang. He fine even when he mad.

...I want in.

Uh, yeah.

Yeah, o-okay.

I’ll call you.

SHAWNA: Lefrak’s mansion in the Quarter-- check.

Lefrak’s red Escalade parked out front-- check.

Me getting inside and putting a stake through his heart--

to be determined.

Why are you staring at me, punk?

(engine starts)

What?

You know, I researched this house some.

Anything that can help us get to Lefrak?

No, but some pretty cool history stuff.

-About? -What have I told you is

the alpha and omega of this here New Orleans history?

Slavery?

The man who built this house,

one of the most notorious slave owners in Louisiana.

Little bitch owned 400 slaves at his peak.

-Ugh. -Savage.

He must have really loved it.

Held on to the bitter end.

Built an underground tunnel system to hide

his slaves from Union soldiers.

Yeah, history. Cool.

Okay, can we focus on the now?

All right, well, it’s getting late.

-The sun is gonna go down. -Uh-uh. We’re never gonna

see nothing if we leave every day before dark.

They’re vampires. Duh.

Mami, you know what could happen.

Stop acting like such a girl, ’Dro.

Okay, fine. If you want to stay, that’s fine,

but don’t expect me to put my fine Mexican ass on the line

’cause you want to act all stupid.

-I’m leaving, for real. -Okay.

And don’t even try to stop me.

Bye.

(scoffs)

♪ ♪

I can’t believe we’re doing this.

That’s the third pair to come out of there tonight.

Vampires like hos.

So what?

SHAWNA: I had a plan, but I needed another girl.

I knew just the person crazy enough to do it with me.

In fact, she went straight SAT prep mode on my ass.

GRANYA: So, this one says it’s possible

for some vampires to use

psychic mind control attacks on their victims.

So...

So, doesn’t that explain why the ladies of the night...

-Ladies of the night? -The prostitutes.

Oh, the hos. Right.

Lefrak probably used some kind of mind control

to make them forget about the feeding.

Makes sense.

Okay, but if he uses that on me, I’m a goner, right?

Not exactly.

I read up on psychological attacks,

and I came across this military study

from, like, World War II.

Okay. And?

If Lefrak tries to hypnotize you or whatever,

just, you know, remember something from your past

to keep you in the real world and out of dreamland.

So I just need to think of a memory?

-That’s it? -That’s it.

Hey, do you think I’ll meet a cute one?

I cannot believe I’m doing this.

I can’t believe I’m on this side of town,

in this store, doing this.

I take it this ain’t your typical afternoon activity.

Uh, no.

My parents keep my itinerary pretty full.

With what?

With diving, chess, debate team,

Model UN, drama.

(gasps) Oh, and Mandarin and French.

And like a thousand other things I’m probably forgetting.

(buttons clicking, cash register printing)

SHAWNA: We’re gonna need some makeup.

So, while me and Granya worked on our entrance plan...

We got pizza, extra garlic powder.

SHAWNA: ...Chris and Pedro worked on our exit plan.

And I worked on the plan of attack-- alone.

Even with help, it was pretty nuts

to think I could pull this off.

I’m not Buffy.

I’m just-- I don’t know-- Shawna.

But I wasn’t about to give up now.

Night before, couldn’t sleep.

Day of, couldn’t eat.

STEVEN: All right, headed out.

(door opens, closes)

-Where are you going? -(gasps) Oh.

What are you doing?

What does it look like?

It look like you giving up.

Dead is dead, Shawna.

Don’t stay out too late.

♪ ♪

Okay, are we good with the getaway plan?

-Yeah. -Let’s do it, then.

Wait. I actually need someone to help me

tape the stake to my leg.

Um, okay. Can you hold it? (clears throat)

(sighs)

Thanks.

Why doesn’t mine look like that?

Fashion 101, mami: big risk, bigger reward.

I couldn’t figure out where to hide it

’cause there’s not much room for a stake, but...

I was thinking maybe my leg...

I’ll do it. Okay.

♪ ♪

(Chris sighs)

Too tight?

Perfect.

-Hey, I have a question. -(grunts softly)

I know why Pedro’s helping me.

He’s my best friend.

And Granya, well, she’s, like,

obsessed with vampires, so it’s a no-brainer, but...

you I don’t really get.

I mean, I’m-I’m happy that you’re doing it.

Just, um...

why?

Let’s just go kill some vampires.

Okay.

♪ ♪

SHAWNA: This was it.

I didn’t have time to figure out why I had a stalker.

Revenge was just a few steps away.

♪ ♪

-(knocks) -GRANYA: Wait.

I don’t want to do this.

-This is a horrible idea. -No, it’s too late.

-MAN: Yeah? -(gasps)

I get it. You looking for Lefrak.

You got your days mixed up. Come back Thursday.

Uh, we were told to come tonight.

(takes deep breath)

(chuckles) You know what?

I thought y’all had money, and we were really ready

to get down tonight, so just forget it.

We don’t have time for no games.

-(Granya exhales) -MAN: Hold up.

Y’all are too young...

and too delicious to let walk away.

Y’all go chill inside.

I’ll see if Lefrak’s ready.

Mmm.

-(Shawna gasps) -(snarls)

(sighs)

OLD MAN: I was once on the bottom, too.

But now we all have new life.

We’ve been reborn.

(others exclaiming)

This time on top.

Those days of us being pushed aside,

forgotten and abused-- well, those days are gone

so long as you’re willing to fight.

-Fight back! -(others exclaiming)

We must...

Just make sure that you take them all with you.

Be hungry.

-Are you with me? -OTHERS: Yeah!

(chuckles)

All right. Who wants to go first?

Come on, then.

Lefrak is ready for you.

♪ ♪

-I usually don’t like my girls as dark as you. -(gasps)

Sorry.

What you lack in beauty

you more than make up for in youth.

And I like ’em young.

No silver.

♪ ♪

(Shawna gasps)

SHAWNA: Cold leather.

Yo. They’re in.

-Got the garlic powder? -Yeah.

All right, let’s get this pumped through the windows.

Ready?

♪ ♪

Don’t be scared.

-I ain’t. -Mm.

(Lefrak growls quietly)

(gasps) I...

I need to use the bathroom.

♪ ♪

(taking quick, sharp breaths)

LEFRAK: Hurry up in there.

(sighs)

♪ ♪

Don’t we need a rubber?

Not for what I’m about to do.

(Lefrak takes deep breath)

Look deep into my eyes.

(quiet growl)

SHAWNA: Mind control.

Relax.

SHAWNA: I needed a memory.

I needed a memory quick.

(birds chirping)

(echoing): You won’t remember me.

You won’t remember.

Do you know where you are?

I can’t remember.

(growling)

(panting)

(snarls)

(Shawna whimpering)

(gasping, coughing)

(others coughing)

(coughs)

What is going on here?

(others continue coughing)

(coughing)

(clears throat, pants)

(coughing, grunting)

(coughing continues)

OLD MAN: Get Lefrak!

(both grunt)

(gasps weakly)

(thudding)

-(roaring) -(screams)

Come on.

She did it. Come on.

(groaning, coughing)

(Lefrak shrieking)

(gasping)

Who are you?

I’m Denise’s daughter.

Who is Den...

-She good? -You okay?

-(vampires snarling, groaning) -Oh, no.

Get back!

Go. Go. I got it.

(shrieking)

-CHRIS: You all right? -SHAWNA: Yeah, I guess.

CHRIS: Let’s bounce.

Come on. Let’s go. Let’s go.

(groaning)

Four children are leaving the house.

Bring them to me.

Dead, alive-- I don’t care!

It doesn’t matter!

(groaning, panting)

(roars)

(sportscast playing on TV)

Yo, Chris. What you doing here?

I’m with Shawna.

You guys sure you don’t want to take a shower?

We have plenty of clean towels.

Shawna, did you know that Pedro got into

McAdams Academy in Texas and he’s not gonna go?

-Mm-hmm. -That’s, like, one of the top schools in the country.

I would’ve killed to go there.

Look, I belong in New Orleans and nowhere else, okay?

It ain’t that deep. He just scared of white people.

Fair enough. White people are sort of terrifying. I get it.

I’m not scared.

Let’s just stay focused on vampire stuff.

CHRIS: Well, I guess we know, if you kill the leader,

shit stays the same.

Except maybe we didn’t kill the leader.

Let me see those pictures.

There he is.

That’s the street preacher from the Ombreux.

Yeah. He’s operating out of the same house

he was a slave in.

That’s sort of poetic.

Okay, so this little bitch is

a crazy street preacher and an ex-slave vampire.

That doesn’t mean he’s the leader, though.

No, but the way he was talking in there.

His whole-- I don’t know-- vibe.

-I think he was in charge. -CHRIS: Could be.

Okay, b-but we took our only shot, mami.

Not like we can go back there now.

(knocking at door)

(Shawna panting)

Damn, Shawna, what’s your problem?

-(panting): Okay. -(knocking)

Okay, wh-what... what should we do?

-(knocking) -Calm down.

If it’s them, they can’t come in unless we invite them.

-"Them"? -We should go.

-Go where? -(knocking)

Go away!

-It’s okay. They can’t come in. -(knocking)

Should we jump out the window?

Out the window? What the fuck is wrong with y’all?

-Y’all smoking or something? -Are you guys even listening?

There are rules.

-They can’t come in. -We got stakes.

-Stakes? What... -(knocking)

I said go away!

(slow pounding at door)

(pounding stops)

-(snarling) -Go! -Oh, shit!

-CHRIS: Jamal! -Oh, shit!

(snarling, growling)

Jamal!

(door bangs open)

GRANYA: This can’t happen!

(both roaring)

(gasping, whimpering)

Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!

(growls)

(whimpering, panting)

(screams)

(Shawna grunting)

(growls)

(growling)

(snarling viciously)

(gasping)

-(grunts) -(Granya gasps)

(shrieking)

-(grunts) -(gasps)

(growls)

(shrieking)

(shrieking)

-(shrieking stops) -(panting)

CHRIS: Yo, Granya, I thought you said they couldn’t come in.

GRANYA: Sorry.

(Shawna whimpers, pants)

Say, bruh, one of y’all better tell me

what the fuck is going on.

SHAWNA: Turns out my cabbie stalker

goes by the name of Tunde.

At 800 years old, he was

one of the oldest vampires in the world.

Tunde told us there are several covens

and he’d been at war with the street preacher named Babineaux

for over a century.

(crowd clamoring)

Tunde told us that Babineaux was once a slave in the city.

-(Babineaux yelling) -(woman sobbing)

That he’s seen the worst in humanity.

-(whip cracking) -(groaning)

One night, he was attacked by a vampire...

-(snarling) -(screaming)

(growls)

...and turned.

Babineaux took power into his own hands

and killed his master.

(gruff panting)

And from the ashes rose a new power.

(seagulls calling)

After Katrina, he became worse.

And as the gap between the haves and have-nots

-continues to grow... -(woman whimpering)

he believes it’s time for action.

(growling)

He’s been building an army right under humans’ noses,

seeking the down-and-out and turning them into soldiers,

as he thinks they will not be missed.

Babineaux is a vampire supremacist,

one of the last coven leaders to think this way.

He looks at humans the way a lion does a gazelle.

(laughing)

Just prey.

Um, if you a vampire, how come you ain’t eat us?

(Nigerian accent): With modern-day technology,

it is archaic to eat humans.

So, why were you watching me?

I was there to observe Babineaux.

You were just a curious variable.

And the sun?

TUNDE: The sun is a nuisance to new vampires.

It hasn’t affected me in about 500 or 600 years.

Survival in the daylight is possible with time...

(chuckles) and melanin.

Only vampires with an ample supply

can endure the light.

It’s like a superpower.

(chuckles) Then you’d make a good vampire, then, Wesley.

Why do you call her that?

’Cause she mad black like Wesley Snipes.

(Tunde sighs)

(chuckles softly)

When I was a boy,

long before I was like this,

in my village,

there was what you might call a princess--

the chief’s daughter.

Her skin was as dark as the nighttime ocean.

All of the other girls were envious

and spent hours in the sun

trying to look just like her.

She was the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.

You are not unlike her.

Your brother or anyone in your presence

should consider themselves very lucky.

I agree with Tunde.

You’re beautiful.

PEDRO: Yeah. Me, too.

It’s your sister, dude.

(vampire hissing)

(Nigerian accent): I missed the fight!

TUNDE: Yakubu...

while I’m away, watch over these children.

Watch us? Where you going?

I’m going to put an end to Babineaux’s antics.

Okay, if you’re getting Babineaux, I want to go.

Shawna, what you did with Lefrak was very brave.

But it was also incredibly foolish.

You have disturbed an uneasy peace.

Stay with Yakubu.

He’s strong and trustworthy.

He will keep you safe until the morning.

You can’t cut me out of this.

You are no longer part of this.

Mm-mm.

I brought you two forks so you could share.

CHRIS: What is that?

I don’t know. Dad made it.

Yeah, I think maybe I’ll take that shower after all.

(Shawna scoffs)

I think I’m good.

(sighs)

My brother.

Huh?

Earlier, you asked me why I wanted to help you.

My brother.

He’s on that stuff, just like your moms was.

Oh.

Wait, so I did see you over at the Ombreux.

It’s embarrassing.

Is your brother, um...

I mean, did he get turned into a...

A vampire? Nah.

He came home last week.

Not sure it really matters, though.

What you mean?

I don’t know who to be mad at:

Kelvin...

dealers, crooked-ass cops, my folks.

But you,

you got somebody to take it out on.

I guess I...

sort of wanted in on that.

Guess it makes me sort of selfish...

No, it don’t.

I understand.

I thought you might.

I meant what I said earlier.

You’re beautiful.

(chuckles)

I am, aren’t I?

(chuckling)

Yo, and humble, too.

¡Ay, Dios!

(Shawna laughs)

-(Chris snickering) -Oh...

(laughing)

He’ll be all right.

(vampires shrieking)

(vampire explodes)

(shrieking)

-(vampire explodes) -(shrieking stops)

(Nigerian accent): Babineaux is not here.

(vampire shrieking in other room)

-(vampire explodes) -(shrieking stops)

It’s been too long.

-Yeah. -We’ve been waiting.

That was Tunde.

Did they get Babineaux?

The coward is hiding somewhere.

So, what are we supposed to do?

Wait until they find him.

It’s shaping up to be a long night.

CHRIS: So, where did Babineaux go?

He couldn’t have gone far, right?

The tunnels-- under the mansion.

If they were built to hide slaves,

Babineaux would know about them.

-We should tell Tunde. -CHRIS: We should go.

What? Chris.

I have extra stakes under my bed.

Shawna.

Listen, ’Dro, if you don’t want to go, it’s cool.

You’ve done enough already.

Shawna, you know I’ve supported you

in every crazy thing you wanted to do since your mom passed.

Trust me when I say this is the worst idea of them all.

Give me a stake.

(gunfire, yelling on TV)

I’m going to that boarding school in Texas.

I mean, if we make it out of this shit alive,

-then yeah, I’m going. -(laughs)

I just... I figured,

if you can fight vampires over the summer,

then I can deal with a bunch of white folks for a couple years.

And I-I deserve it.

Family will be fine.

You’ll be fine.

But if I don’t go, I won’t be.

Don’t worry, I’ll come back and visit

-your trifling ass for Carnival. -Oh, shut up.

(dramatic music playing over TV)

What y’all doing?

We’re gonna go get Babineaux.

For Mom.

Hey, Yakubu?

What is it?

-(screams) -JAMAL: Go!

Go, go, go!

(screaming)

We got to hurry.

(sighing)

-I don’t think I’m going. -What?

Why not?

Vampires aren’t so much fun in real life.

(chuckles) Yeah, I guess they ain’t.

SAT prep sounds pretty good right about now.

(sighs)

SHAWNA: Thanks.

For everything.

Okay.

GRANYA: Good luck.

Go kick some vampire butt for me.

♪ ♪

-(door opens) -(whispers): Yo. Get down.

(dog howling in distance)

(snarling)

The tunnels.

♪ ♪

(gasps)

(rats squeaking)

(rat squeaking)

(panting)

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

-(animal chittering) -(gasps)

♪ ♪

(slurping, chewing)

(growls)

(snarling)

(laughs, spits)

(growling)

(spits)

(laughing)

(yells)

(whimpering)

(strained grunting)

(growls)

(growls)

-(Pedro yells) -(growls softly)

You missed!

-(vampires hissing, snarling) -No. No, no, no.

-No. Shawna, Shawna! -BABINEAUX: Feast.

Shawna, help me! Help me!

(Pedro groans)

(vampires chewing, snarling)

SHAWNA: No, Pedro!

-(crying): Pedro, no. -(grunts)

Pedro.

(panting)

Chris.

Chris, Chris, Chris, Chris.

-(Shawna gasping) -(whistling a tune)

(continues whistling)

(grunts)

(panting)

I only want to talk.

Only a loss could make you this determined, this angry.

Who did you lose?

(shrieks)

(laughs)

My mother.

You stole her from me.

I gave your mother power!

I gave her a shot at immortality.

-It was a gift. -A gift?

She’s dead.

Well, every great struggle has its martyrs.

What?

They put us down, they-they kick us,

and then they wonder why we haven’t gotten up on our own.

I’ve watched it for centuries.

I saw it when we were in chains.

I saw it when we were in the back of the bus.

I see it now as they push us from our homes.

But why? I mean, why now?

This is the beginning of the end for us in this city.

The Ombreux was the last straw.

-What? -When Katrina didn’t swallow us up,

well, they... then they turned to development.

Soon, there won’t be enough of us left to band together.

Band together?

I mean, you’re-you’re a murderer.

All the protests we’ve had, all the marches we’ve done.

People want to make a difference.

You could’ve just convinced us to just fight with you.

The marches, the protests, the riots.

Slave revolts. I’ve seen it all.

1859, 1968, 1992, 2020.

All bright flames that suddenly got snuffed out.

But when you’re immortal,

you get to watch the whole big picture.

You learn how to stoke the flames,

to keep it burning.

That’s what I’m doing.

You’re sick.

You should just give up now

’cause Tunde’s already destroyed your army.

I’ll just have to build another one, won’t I?

I mean, this is New Orleans.

There’s never gonna be a shortage of the down-and-out.

I have nothing but time.

(chuckles) You... No.

You could join me.

(gasping)

You could... you could actually lead by my side.

Someone with your ability,

with your determination--

you’d be a powerful vampire.

Your skin.

You’d be day-walking by tomorrow.

You...

You could help.

You could actually right the wrongs

that gave your mother the problems she had to deal with.

(chuckles, growls)

I’d rather die.

(both yell)

-(grunting) -(Shawna whimpers)

-(growls) -(gasping)

(whimpers, pants)

(chuckles)

(Babineaux laughing)

(panting)

No. (gasps)

It tastes so much sweeter

when it’s against your will.

(snarls)

Eat this!

-(yells) -(sizzling)

(groaning, coughing)

(gasping, choking)

This is for my mother.

(yells)

(gasping)

(wheezing)

(groaning)

(shrieking)

(gasps)

CHRIS: Shawna.

(gasps)

No, no. Pedro, Pedro.

Pedro, Pedro, Pedro, it’s gonna be okay.

Pedro, it’s gonna be okay. Just c-come on.

Just stay with us. Pedro, Pedro, stay with us.

(sobbing): Pedro, no. No, Pedro, please!

Please stay with us!

Pedro, please stay.

Please stay!

Pedro, no.

No. Please!

(Shawna sobbing)

(church bell tolling)

(brass band playing "Just a Closer Walk with Thee")

♪ ♪

SHAWNA: Remember what I said about my world

getting messed up beyond belief?

Yeah, well, that doesn’t even begin to cover it.

But Pedro always used to say to me...

(chuckles) he’d say,

"Mami, hell no. I’ll call the fashion police on you,

and they gonna give you a life sentence for that outfit."

You know what else he said,

like, when I would get sad or whatever?

Nothing.

He didn’t have some inspirational quote

to cheer me up.

He’d just crack a joke, and next thing I know,

we’d be laughing and smiling and barely remembering

what we were sad about in the first place.

So that’s what I’m gonna do.

I’m gonna smile.

So that was the summer

I got breasts and fought vampires.

♪ ♪

I lost my mother and my best friend.

But I gained some people, too.

Life at home with Jamal had never been better.

You look pretty today, Shawn.

Just like Ma.

Thanks.

Granya and I became friends for life.

She even convinced me to try goat yoga.

Hey. Would you like to sign our petition?

Babineaux was wrong about a lot of things,

-but some things are worth fighting for. -Okay. (chuckles)

-For my family... -Hello.

-...my community... -Would you like to sign our petition?

-...for myself. -Cool. Okay.

-And of course, there was Chris. -Sign right there.

Duh.

CHRIS: A’ight, so I handed out

-a bunch of pamphlets. -Mm-hmm.

-I’m gonna head out. -You leaving?

I got to bring my brother to this addiction meeting thing.

I said I’d be there.

But you still want to kick it tonight, right?

(inhales sharply) How about...

you go pick us up a pizza,

and then we meet back at my place?

What about your pops?

As long as you leave before morning.

Oh, Chris...

extra garlic.

(both laughing)

Jamal? You here?

Or do I have the whole place to myself?

♪ ♪

Including the bedroom? (squeals excitedly)

(knocking at door)

Chris, did you remember the...

(gasps)

PEDRO: Hey, mami.

♪ ♪

♪ New Orleans, New Orleans ♪

♪ New Orleans ♪

♪ New Orleans, New Orleans. ♪

(music ends)