Introduction

"Negatives" is a retelling of the vampire legend, set in New York City in 1999. The vampires (or "negatives" as the prefer to be called) are not, however, the typical blood sucking creatures of the night, rather they "feed" on their victims by "consuming" them in an electrochemical reaction, which is initiated by the mixing of the body fluids (saliva, blood, etc.) of the negative and the victim. Like traditional vampire movies, the feeding is as much sensual (even erotic) as it is nourishing, but since the consumption and/or sex acts (and there are several of them) essentially end at the first kiss (or contact) in a flash of light, the erotic component is almost entirely in the build up and/or left to the imagination.

The negatives, in another break from vampire tradition, do not sleep in coffins in remote castles. Essentially, they "walk among us" and while some occupy positions of respect and power in society (with the concomitant conspiracy theory overtones) others lead a simple "kill and eat" lifestyle and are looked down on by their "mainstream" peers.

The negatives have a physiological makeup which is essentially the opposite of humans (think matter/anti-matter of classic science fiction) and they inhabit what is referred to as the "other side," which is their natural state. When they are on the other side, they are invisible to humans (though they can touch and be touched). The other side is visually different, the lights and color are essentially "negative" and not as distinct as in the real world. They travel between sides by applying an electrical shock to themselves (at least 110/220 Volts AC). However, staying on the opposite side (the human side in the case of the negatives) is physically very demanding and they have to consume humans or other positive life forms in order to replenish their energy. And the longer they stay on the opposite side, the more they have to consume. And despite the fact they have to inhabit the other side nude, they consider themselves to be invulnerable to humans.

"Negatives" is the story of a young man who witnesses a negative consuming a person in a dark hallway at the edge of a party. He is so close to the consumption reaction that he gets the power to go over to the other side, where he eventually finds out that he can travel invisibly and can now consume the negatives themselves.

He tells his friends and the police about the negatives, but neither believes him at least until the negatives start to consume them. He stats stalking the negatives, first searching for proof he can use to demonstrate their existence, but eventually hunting them down both to protect mankind (or at least the 20 year old residents of Manhattan) and for food. He succeeds in killing most of the negatives he come into contact with, but there are certainly enough left over for a sequel (or TV series).

"Negatives" is essentially a morality tale. The good guys win, but hopefully a great deal of the audience likes the sexy bad guys as much as the morally ambiguous, somewhat troubled, good guys.

Scene 1

John Bryant is a computer programmer working for an Internet start up company during the Internet boom. He his having problems with his girlfriend, Amanda Haverhill, who is tiring of his lack of commitment and his superficial friends and they argue on the way to a party. She also suspects (incorrectly) that he is cheating on her with Lucy Weinstein, the woman who is giving the party.

Scene 2

Most of the party goers are the self-absorbed, pretentious Internet types that Amanda dislikes. These include a horny and dumb investment banker named Caleb Mills and a pompous web site operator named Jacob O'Toole, but there are two new people: Julian O'Connell, a psychiatrist who has recently moved into the building, and a woman he brought, Gretchen Van Houten. Julian is much like the rest of the partygoers, smug and self-important, but Gretchen is different. Although she is an attorney by day, she is feral and predatory in an almost animal way. She exudes sex without even trying, and everyone at the party, both male and female, is watching her. And while she is not necessarily beautiful, she is undeniably attractive.

Jacob is trying to pick up Gretchen using the same lines (according to Lucy, anyway) that he uses with all the Internet women. When he briefly leaves her side, John talks to her in an obvious attempt to get back at Amanda, but Gretchen blows him off.

Scene 3

A little later, at the same party, John comes across Jacob and Gretchen necking in a dark hallway. When Jacob and Gretchen kiss, Jacob is vaporized in a flash of energy so intense that it blows John out of the hall, dazing him. When he gets up, he follows Gretchen.

Scene 4

Gretchen goes into the bathroom, but when John follows him in she has vanished. The camera shows some discarded clothes that John does not notice.

Scene 5

Still somewhat dazed and confused, John leaves the party without telling anyone what he saw, but he is visibly shaken.

Scene 6 - 7

The next morning, Lucy calls John to see if he is alright. He suddenly remembers what happened and asks her to call Jacob. He also realizes that he can feel the electric current generated by the objects in his apartment more than he could in the past and the electric current feels good, even intoxicating.

Scene 8

Amanda tells John that Lucy is concerned about him. He tells her what happened and Amanda does not believe him.

Scene 9

Lucy and Amanda discuss John’s obsession with Gretchen and Jacob. Amanda tells Lucy that John believes that Gretchen killed Jacob. Lucy is stunned.

Scene 10

John and Caleb check out Gretchen on line using standard Internet mechanisms as well as John’s advanced "hacking" skills. They are able to find out that she appears to be very well connected and very important, but it also seems that a reporter who was investigating her disappeared mysteriously. Caleb also advances his idea for an Internet business, which is a basically a search engine for stalking women.

Scene 11

John is still concerned with Jacob's apparent vaporization, but is unable to convince his friends. He shows Amanda a "Missing" poster for Jacob, but she doesn’t think that is proof that his is missing.

Scene 12

John finally reports it to the police and two skeptical and unpleasant detectives, Sheehan and Miller, are assigned to it. They believe that John isn’t telling them everything.

Scene 13

John lingers outside an office building. Gretchen emerges, dressed conservatively, but still sexily emerges. John follows her, hanging back several yards. Gretchen glances in store windows as if to see if she is being followed. Gretchen stops occasionally and looks back also. John, who is obviously not an experienced shadow, clumsily tries to avoid detection by looking in windows, turning corners, and staying close to the walls. Gretchen does not give any indication that she has seen him. Gretchen enters an office building. John waits outside. Almost immediately we see Gretchen exiting another door without John noticing, but again she gives no indication that she has seen him or even knows who he is. John waits.

Scene 14

John lingers outside an apartment building. Gretchen emerges, dressed in a short black dress. John follows her clumsily as if he is unused to following people, but has only seen it done in the movies. He stays close to the sides of the buildings and on the other side of parked cars. Gretchen does not show that she notices him, but does look around as if she suspects she might be followed. John looks at his watch so that the viewer can see that it is very late. Gretchen enters a bar. John waits outside.

Scene 15

Gretchen leaves a bar, followed by a man she has picked up. John tails them and loses them when they turn a corner, but the camera shows that the man may have been vaporized.

Scene 16

John's physical attraction to electricity and electrical fields is increasing. He rubs up against appliances and sucks on batteries at first, but soon starts to carry a car battery in a back pack to constantly shock himself. One day at home, he sticks his finger into a light socket and is shocked over to the "other side," a shadowy parallel universe which is invisible to people in our universe.

Scene 17

John accidentally buzzes Amanda into his apartment while he is invisible.

Scene 18

John hides from Amanda (which is easy as he is invisible), angering her immensely.

Scene 19 - 24

Once he realizes that he can make himself invisible, he starts to travel around the city in this parallel dimension. Gretchen is also traveling the city invisible. John travels tentatively, unsure of and somewhat concerned that he is naked and defenseless. Gretchen prowls like a wild animal, proud and fearless, unconcerned with nakedness and vulnerability.

Scene 25

Gretchen vaporizes a man in the subway.

Scene 26 - 28

John travels the city in the negative mode. He is getting surer of himself, standing straighter and acting bolder. However, he is obviously not as confident as Gretchen. John is observing. Gretchen is hunting.

Scene 29

John calls in sick to work. He is starting to eat a lot to maintain his strength as crossing over to the negative mode is apparently very strenuous. His apartment is filled with food garbage.

Scene 30 - 36

John jumps into a car and takes a small trip through New Jersey. He is far more confident now. Taking risks and starting to revel in his new powers.

Scene 37

Detectives Sheehan and Miller ambush John and confirm that O’Toole’s jacket turned up at Lucy’s, but that Gretchen denied killing him. They also tell him that Gretchen said that she remembered John and O’Toole didn’t particularly like each other. They tell John that they consider him to be a suspect, too.

Scene 38

Crossing over is very strenuous and he starts to eat amazing amounts of food but is still getting haggard. Lucy and Amanda are talking about his eating habits and how bad he looks. The camera switches to negative mode to show that John is sitting in the room listening to them.

Scene 39 - 42

John starts stashing bags of clothes, cash and copper wire all over town so he can cross over more conveniently.

Scene 43

John is in midtown stashing clothes and runs into Caleb, who insists on having a beer.

Scene 44 - 45

They go to Rudy’s where Caleb advances his Internet business idea that he came up with at John’s earlier.

Scene 46

John conceals a bag in Rudy’s bathroom.

Scene 47

Caleb expands on the Internet idea and picks up a woman, Myrna, at the same time.

Scene 48

John (in negative mode) waits furtively outside Gretchen's apartment building. Even though he is invisible, he sticks close to the wall and in the shadows. Gretchen finally appears and John slinks after her. She turns down Second Avenue. John follows her, keeping a safe distance, and sticking to the shadows. Gretchen enters a bar. John waits outside.

Scene 49

Gretchen picks up a man, Chris Schmidt, in the bar. She interviews him as much as seduces him, but insists that he leave before her and she’ll meet him on a corner. He leaves.

Scene 50

Gretchen leaves the bar. John follows her.

Scene 51

Chris calls Gretchen "Lucy" which surprises John.

Gretchen and Chris stroll along the Avenue. John slinks along behind them. John is frantically thinking of how he could help Chris, but he's afraid of Gretchen, invisible and naked. They walk past a playground and John suddenly remembers that he's stashed clothes there. John runs inside and reaches under a bench and tears a plastic bag out from under it. He sprints out of the playground, still invisible, but carrying the visible bag and runs after Chris and Gretchen. John sees a light under a construction bridge unscrews it. He sticks his hand in the socket and shocks himself back to the positive side. He stands there naked and tears the bag open and pulls out a slinky black mini dress. A pair of women's' shoes fall to the ground. He stands there, stunned, as Chris and Gretchen round the corner. Gretchen looks back as he reaches back into the socket and shocks himself back to the negative. John drops the dress and runs to the corner, but when he gets there, they are gone.

Scene 52

Gretchen emerges from a building and heads down the street. John crouches on the corner (in negative mode) watching her. When Gretchen passes John, she tenses as if sensing him looks over in his direction, but does not stop. She turns the corner, walks past the construction site, past the discarded dress, shoes and bag, steps off the curb, raises her hand and hails a cab.

Scene 53

John watches the cab speed away and heads back down the block for the playground. He checks under a bench and finds another plastic bag. He opens it and inspects the contents, his rubber sandals, tee shirt and khakis. He shocks himself back to the positive side and dresses.

Scene 54

John is at Lucy’s explaining about the black dress he found stashed under the bench. She’s having trouble believing him.

Scene 55

John stands outside Chris Schmidt’s apartment building with detectives Sheehan and Miller. He’s told them what happened and they’re skeptical. The camera turns to the negative mode to show Gretchen standing there, naked and furious, listening to John telling the police about her.

Scene 56

In Central Park, Gretchen (in negative mode) creeps through the brush. She sees two men walking along a path holding hands. She follows them for a little while looking around. The men turn down a secluded path. Gretchen goes to the base of a light pole, opens it and shocks herself over to the positive. She sneaks up on the men. Suddenly they stop. Gretchen freezes. The men speak briefly, then kiss and split up. Gretchen follows one of them, almost crawling on her hands and knees until she is only a few feet away. The man senses her, turns and sees her. He asks her what happened to her and Gretchen springs on top of him like a wild animal, pinning him to the ground and biting his neck, vaporizing him. She lies motionless for an instant savoring the kill, then sits up and starts to dress in his now empty clothes.

Scene 57

Amanda and Lucy discuss John. They’re concerned that he’s stashing clothes all over the city, not that he found out that someone else is.

Scene 58

Sheehan and Miller discuss John. They’re angry about the time they’re spending on the case despite the fact that John is correct about all the missing persons so far.

Scene 59

John (in the negative mode) wanders the streets naked, but invisible, aimlessly looking at the city from the other side.

He walks, oblivious, past Justine Renfield (also in the negative mode), a young, attractive woman who is standing naked watching the crowd. She sees John and starts to follow him down the street, stalking him as if he were prey.

Scene 59a

John continues walking, oblivious to Justine, feeling safe in his invisibility. Justine gets nearer, but holds back. John stops to look around. Justine conceals herself. When John starts to move she moves closer.

Scene 59b

John stops at a light and waits. Justine reaches for him, in a manner that appears threatening. John suddenly feels a tap on his shoulder. Startled, he turns and looks right into her eyes, terrified, because he realizes that she can see him. He stands there in shock, not moving. She, on the other hand, is more relaxed if a little shy.

Scene 60

They talk to each other. Justine leads John down a dark street, deserted except for a woman walking twenty feet in front of them. The woman reaches into her bag and takes out a key ring. Justine tenses. She offers John the kill, but he declines. Justine grabs John's hand and runs silently up behind the woman, pulling John behind her. The woman walks up the steps and enters a building. Justine slips in behind her, still dragging John. The woman looks back as if she senses their presence.

Scene 61

They stand motionless right next to the woman in the small vestibule. The woman opens the door. Justine and John follow her through. The woman looks back again, puzzled. Justine lets go of John's hand and slips past the woman in the narrow hallway. Again, the woman senses her presence and looks around. Justine races up the stairs noiselessly. The woman starts up and John follows her, holding back several feet. Justine reaches the next floor and moves down the landing to a light fixture. She unscrews the bulb and the landing darkens. The woman sees this and stops. She waits and listens for several seconds, looks around and starts up the stairs again. Justine reaches her hand into the socket and shocks herself to the positive side. There is a slight sizzle as she does it. The woman stops again, listens, and starts up again. John follows. The woman reaches the landing, and warily looks down the hall. Justine is standing there, naked, in the semidarkness. She slowly puts her arms around the woman's neck and they kiss. The woman is vaporized. The woman's clothes, bag and jewelry, including her node ring and multiple earrings fall to the floor. Justine revels, nearly orgasmic, for a few seconds, then bends over, picks through the clothes and puts some of them on.

Justine collects the clothes that she didn't put on and leads John still naked and invisible John out of the building and onto the street.

Scene 62

Justine casually dumps the extra clothes in a trashcan out front.

Scene 63

Justine leads John through the East Village. The scene flips between positive and negative mode so that the viewers can see both of their perspectives on the walk.

A panhandler holds his hand out to Justine and asks her for money. Justine stops suddenly, looks around and smiles sweetly at the panhandler. She walks over to the panhandler, looks both ways, throws her arms around him and kisses him. The panhandler is shocked, then pleased. Then pain takes over. There is a huge flash and the panhandler is vaporized. Justine leans over and picks up the pile of clothes, shakes the white dust off them, sniffs them, grimaces and slips them into the bag she took from pierced woman.

Scene 64

Justine leads John through Tompkins Square Park. A dogs runs by and barks at John. Justine quickly looks around and bends over. The dog runs up to her. She pets it. The dog starts to lick her. She puts out her tongue. John starts to speak, but before he can get a word out, the dog is vaporized in a flash of light. Justine tosses the dog collar into a bush and stands up.

Scene 65

Justine leads John to her apartment building and brings him inside and up the stairs. The camera shows that name on the door is "Renfield."

Scene 66

She lets him into the apartment and leads him into the kitchen. She flicks on the light and looks over at the sink and squeals, "Roaches!" John starts toward the sink, but before he gets there Justine starts catching them with her hands and popping them in her mouth like candy. They make audible little explosions as they're vaporized there. Done, Justine looks around for John though he is still invisible.

She looks over in his direction, unscrews a light bulb and shocks herself back to the negative mode. They sit on the couch, John naked and Justine dressed.

John is scared because he has watched Justine kill a man (and apparently eat him) and has also seen her eat a dog and some roaches. However, he is intrigued because she obviously knows more about his situation than he does and thinks that he may be able to learn something from her. In addition, she's beautiful and uninhibited and despite her prodigious and bizarre appetite, John's attracted to her.

She starts to take off her clothes seductively. John is terrified, but irresistibly attracted to her. She and John embrace and she starts to grope him passionately. She moves to kiss him. Sheer terror crosses his face. But, he can't resist. Their lips meet and the camera shows them both going through the pleasure part of the cycle. John has an apprehensive look on his face, Justine has an expectant look. When Justine starts to experience the pain, she is shocked as she realizes is being consumed. For an instant she looks vulnerable and then in a flash, Justine is vaporized.

John sits there stunned. He examines the white powder that is all that is left of her. He slowly reaches into the light socket and shocks himself back over to the positive side. Then he sits naked on the couch for a minute before crossing the room and taking the panhandler's clothes out of the plastic bag.

Scene 67

Gretchen (in the negative mode) stalks a man. She follows him down the street, the scene shifting from negative to positive mode so the view can see her closing in on her prey

Scene 68

John (on the other side) carefully searches for more "negatives" on the street. He is careful not to be caught by surprise as he was by Justine, though. He hugs the sides of the buildings, not quite military style, but obviously. He is more like Gretchen now, confident and assured.

Scene 69

Lucy and Amanda are drinking wine and discussing John. They worry that John will no longer kiss them. They assume that along with his weight loss, this is an indication that he has AIDS.

Scene 70

John (in the negative mode) wanders through the park hunting for "negatives." He slinks along in the bushes and beneath the trees so that they do not spot him first. He sees what looks like a naked man, and thinking he may be a negative, follows him into the brush. John is excited. He is hunting. He wants to kill and consume a negative. The man meets another man and they kiss, passionately. John is a little embarrassed, standing naked watching them. He is also a little disappointed.

John turns away and slinks back out of the brush. He sees another man, apparently cruising and starts to make a wide circle around him. Another man approaches, the two talk but they are too far away for John to hear. The two men start to walk toward John. He freezes. They stop beside a tree about ten feet from John and start to kiss. John creeps slowly away from them, keeping an eye on them, to see if they detect him. Suddenly, the first man is vaporized. John watches the second man revel in the kill for a few seconds and the start walking away slowly.

John follows the second man, keeping far back and in the bushes even after the man has reached a path.

Scene 70a

The man exits the park. John peers over the wall. The man walks up the stairs to a townhouse and lets himself in.

Scene 71

The streets are deserted except for the man who Gretchen was stalking. She shocks herself over to the positive mode with a wire from a traffic light base and steps out in front of the man. She smiles seductively. He smiles and looks her up and down. She vaporizes him.

Scene 72

John and Amanda stand in the kitchen. John keeps reaching into the refrigerator and eating everything he can find. He is trying to explain the vampire phenomena but it is met with skepticism. Amanda tries to get John to see a psychiatrist. She suggests Julian O’Connell. John refuses angrily.

Scene 73

Gretchen leaves her building carrying a briefcase. She's dressed far more conservatively than she was at the party, wearing a stylish black business suit, but she's still dressed in an extremely provocative manner. John, in negative mode, starts to follow her. She walks past and nearly has to step over a panhandler lying on the sidewalk. He looks up at her and the look of sheer joy on his face confirms that she's not wearing underwear. She enters the subway at 77th Street, John cannot follow because the rush hour crowd is too thick.

Scene 74

Gretchen leaves her office building. She's wearing the same suit and carrying the same briefcase. John, again in negative mode, follows her as she walks toward Broadway.

Scene 75

They walk past Trinity Church. John (still in the negative mode) trying to stay close to her even though the streets are deserted.

Scene 76

Gretchen seems to know she is being followed and turns into the cemetery. John suspects that she can see or at least sense him, despite the fact that he knows he's invisible, and hides behind the tombstones as he tries to get closer to her.

Scene 77

Gretchen enters a building. John follows discreetly.

Scene 78

Gretchen presses a button for the elevator. John watches from down the hall.

Scene 79

Gretchen kicks off her shoes and slips her dress off. She takes a short piece of copper wire out of her shoe and uses it to shock herself over to the negative side. The elevator stops. The doors open and a man gets on. He presses a button and they descend to the lobby.

Scene 80

John waits outside the building. The revolving door swings empty. The scene switches to the negative mode to show that Gretchen is now following John.

Scene 81

John walks down a deserted street. Gretchen follows him closely.

Scene 82

John takes the subway. Gretchen follows him closely.

Scene 83

John walks up Ninth Ave. Gretchen follows him closely. John slips into Rudy's, still in the negative mode.

Scene 84

John slips through the crowd and goes into the men's room. He feels under the sink for the clothes he has stashed and waits for a man to leave. Once alone, he shocks himself back over to the positive mode, dresses and leaves the men's room.

John takes a seat at the crowded bar. Gretchen hovers nearby, in the negative mode, watching John and avoiding the crush of drunks expertly.

Scene 85

John walks home. Gretchen follows him closely.

Scene 86

John opens the downstairs door. Gretchen slips inside after him.

Scene 87

John opens his apartment door. Gretchen slips inside after him.

Scene 88

John throws his keys of the table and goes into the bedroom. Gretchen, in the negative mode, picks them up and sticks them in an outlet, and shocks self over to the positive side. Then she sits, naked, on the couch and waits for John. John emerges from the bedroom, and sees Gretchen. Although she is not wearing any clothes, she does not appear vulnerable at all. John is decidedly threatened.

John is stunned. Although John thinks that Gretchen has the power to move between modes, he is still amazed that she has been able to get into his apartment. At this point, all Gretchen knows is that John can cross over and that he has told the police about her. She does not know that he has vaporized Justine on the other side. She assumes that John is just like her, not that he is still human and may have the power to vaporize her. John, however, does not know this and assumes that Gretchen is there to harm him. Gretchen wants to know how John was brought over, but he won’t tell her. She also wants to know why John told the police about her. Gretchen commands John to sit with her. John crosses the room reluctantly and sits next to Gretchen. Gretchen apologizes for getting off to a bad start. John is terrified.

Gretchen leans in toward John and purses her lips. John leaps up. Gretchen makes fun of him for not wanting to kiss her.

Scene 89

Amanda sits on chair facing Julian. He has a notebook and pen, but is not taking notes. He is checking out Amanda in a decidedly nonprofessional way. She tells him that a friend of hers has a problem. Amanda looks up to see if he believed the "friend" part of her story and catches him checking her out. She assumes that he is checking her out for sexual, not nutritional, reasons and makes sure her legs are crossed and her shirt buttoned. It does not affect Julian's interest.

Amanda tells Julian what John’s been telling her and he is visibly stunned. Amanda attributes this to how wild the story is, not that it indeed may ring true to him. He offers a typical psychological explanation and offers to talk to John informally.

Scene 90

Julian makes a phone call to Gretchen.

Scene 91

Gretchen is dressing. She puts on a wig. She applies lipstick. On her way out the door she grabs a handbag.

Scene 92

John lingers (in negative mode) outside of Gretchen's apartment. Gretchen emerges and heads toward the corner. She seems wary, almost certain that she is being watched. John senses that and hangs back a little. Gretchen turns onto the avenue and goes into a bar.

Scene 93

Gretchen sits alone. Fred Detweiler, a man in his forties wearing a blue suit and red tie, watches her from the end of the bar. He has a visible wedding ring. Gretchen is aware of his interest and plays to him from down the bar. Finally, he comes over.

Gretchen picks him up easily and arranges for him to take her to a hotel.

Scene 94

John (in negative mode) follows Gretchen and Fred to a hotel. When they enter John (still in negative mode) runs over to a pay phone and takes the phone off the hook. Suddenly, he realizes that he, being naked and invisible, doesn't have any money.

John slams the phone back down. He runs down the block and pushes open the door to a bar.

Scene 95

The door opens, but because John is in the negative mode, it appears that no one came in. John carefully maneuvers his way through the people until he comes to some change on the bar. He looks carefully around and then snatches some quarters and carrying them very low, leaves the bar.

Scene 96

John goes back to the phone booth and makes a call to Detective Sheehan. He starts to tell him about Gretchen.

Scene 97

Sheehan slams down the phone.

Scene 98

John waits for Gretchen in a doorway outside the hotel. Gretchen (in the negative mode) slips out a side door and hides in another doorway down the block. John eventually gives up and starts walking away. Gretchen trails him at a discreet distance.

Scene 98a

John retrieves some clothes from under a bench, shocks himself back to the positive and walks home. Gretchen, still in the negative mode, follows him.

Scene 99

John enters his apartment building. Gretchen slips in after him.

Scene 100

John enters his apartment. Gretchen slips in after him.

Scene 101

John turns on a lamp and flops down on the couch, exhausted. Gretchen, in the negative mode, unscrews the bulb and the room darkens. John sits up, scared, and looks at the now dark lamp. Gretchen sticks her finger in the bulb and shocks herself over to the positive side. She stands there towering over John, naked but threatening.

Gretchen now knows, from Julian, that John is not one of them, but actually is a threat. She knows that he is responsible for killing Justine and she is somewhat wary of the extent of his powers. She is somewhat sure that he is more powerful, though. She does hold out the possibility of bringing John the rest of the way over. John is also posturing a little, tough he seems sure that Gretchen is more powerful, and more ruthless, than he is.

She kisses her finger and touches John lightly on the forehead. He braces himself visibly for the contact, but he is not vaporized and his face relaxes after she removes her finger. Gretchen reaches into the lamp and shocks herself back to the negative mode, leaving John on the couch. The door opens and closes, but she is not visible on the positive side.

John stands up, shocks himself over to the other side to make sure that Gretchen has really left, and locks the door.

Scene 102

John and Detectives Sheehan and Miller are standing outside the hotel where Gretchen took Detweiler. Gretchen has cleverly killed Detweiler conventionally by slitting his throat instead of by vaporizing/consuming him which erodes John’s already tenuous credibility with the two policemen. More than that, she wore makeup and a wig (which John could not discern while in the negative mode) and the desk clerk could not identify her. The detectives go so far as to imply that that John, in drag, could have been the actual killer.

Scene 103

Caleb and Gretchen are walking down the street. Caleb has bought her some jewelry that has positively under whelmed her. They run into John, who is stunned that Caleb and Gretchen are together.

John tells Caleb about Gretchen, but be does not believe him. They argue and Caleb leaves with Gretchen.

Scene 104

John tries to follow them and find a place to cross over, but he loses them.

Scene 105

Caleb and Gretchen are laughing over John’s behavior. Gretchen teasingly asks him if he thought she might be vampire. Caleb admits that it is possible. Gretchen asks if that possibility excites him. When he does, she kisses and vaporizes him.

Scene 106

John (in the negative mode) pushes the door open and slips inside. He creeps around stealthily, but finally decides the apartment is empty. He shocks himself back over and swipes some of Caleb's clothes to get dressed. He tries on some shoes that are too tight so he throws them near the front door.

He searches the apartment. Gretchen's sunglasses are clearly visible, but John misses them and can find no sign of Caleb's demise until he finds the necklace. He reaches for the phone.

Scene 106a

John, Miller and Sheehan stand in Caleb’s living room. Sheehan swings the necklace around his finger. The detectives are still skeptical about the possibility that Gretchen is vaporizing people, but at least they found women’s clothes at the alleged crime scene. They also notice that John is wearing clothes that don’t fit him and ask if he, too, is traveling around the city invisible and naked.

Scene 107

John is walking home when Julian pretends to run into him accidentally. Julian tells him that Amanda and Lucy are worried about him and convinces John to get a beer with him.

Scene 108

Miller and Sheehan are staking out Gretchen’s apartment building. When they see her come home, Miller gets out to speak to her.

Scene 109

Miller accosts her in the vestibule of her building. Gretchen ridicules the possibility that she is a vampire. She flirts with Miller, asking if she can prove her innocence by kissing him. He laughingly declines. She sticks her finger in her mouth seductively and wets it. She pulls it out and slowly moves it toward Miller, who watches it, transfixed. She strokes his cheek and slips her wet finger into his mouth. His face softens. He starts to show the intense pleasure that the other victims showed. Gretchen pulls him closer, kisses him. His face turns to an expression of extreme pain and he is vaporized. She looks down at the pile of clothes on the floor, scoops them up and sticks them under her arm. She opens the door and heads out to the street.

Scene 110

Sheehan sees Gretchen leave her building without Miller. He gets out of the car to stop her. He sees that she is carrying Miller’s clothes under her arm and realizes John was right. Before he can do anything else, Gretchen leaps on him and bites his neck, vaporizing him. She gathers up all the clothes and drops them in the trashcan on the corner.

Scene 111

John and Julian sit at the bar. John is drinking beer out of the bottle. Julian is drinking wine. John is questioning Julian about his relationship with Gretchen.

Scene 112

John and Julian are walking home from the bar. John has explained the vampire situation to Julian, who tells him that he believes it and will help. John is relieved that anybody believes him. Suddenly, Julian leans toward John, who thinks he is trying t kiss him. Outraged, John pushes him away. Julian lunges for John and they start to fight. Julian is trying to grab John and bite him. John is somewhat drunk and wearing tight shoes causing him to fight awkwardly and miss most of the punches he throws. Suddenly Amanda appears and sees them fighting. She breaks up the fracas, and sends John on his way. She goes with Julian.

Scene 113

John is at home after his fight with Julian. He looks in the bathroom mirror drinking a beer out of the can and eating cold hot dogs out of the plastic wrap and cold green beans out of a can. He is reflecting on the fight (which he still believes to be started by a pass from Julian) and he bends over and gives his reflection a loud smooch. Suddenly, he realizes that Julian was trying to vaporize him. He slams the beer can down and runs out to the living room. He grabs the phone and tries to call Amanda. He waits impatiently. He leaves Amanda a desperate message. He slams the phone down, and tries to call Lucy, but ends up leaving her a message as well. He puts the phone down and picks up the phone book and looks through it, verifies something and tosses it aside. He heads for the door.

Scene 114

John buzzes Lucy’s apartment. She lets him in.

Scene 115

John asks Lucy to go and get Julian out of his apartment. He tells her to concoct a story to get him to come downstairs, but she warns her not to kiss him.

Scene 115a

John goes up the stairs, strips and shocks himself over to the negative mode. The he climbs back down the stairs.

Scene 115b

John (in the negative mode) finds Julian’s apartment and crouches, naked and invisible, beside the door. Lucy comes up and rings the doorbell. Julian answers. She tells him that she has a mouse in her apartment. He tries to beg off, but she gets him to help her. As the door shuts, John is able to flip the latch. John watches Julian and Lucy climb the stairs, and then he opens the door and slips inside.

Scene 116

John flips the latch back before closing the door behind him. It makes an audible click and Amanda hears it. John freezes for an instant and then starts looking around the apartment, looking for evidence of Julian's humanity. He moves into the room where Amanda is sitting on the couch drinking a glass of wine. He creeps gently around the room continuing his search. The key sounds in the lock. Julian returns and explains what the problem was. Julian fills her glass and sits close to her on the couch. He tells her that John is deeply delusional. John creeps stealthily around the room as they talk. He notices Amanda's cell phone in her bag and creeps out to the kitchen, picks up the phone and calls her. The cell phone rings. Amanda sees that it’s coming from Julian’s apartment, so she answers it warily. Peter warns her that Julian is a vampire and tells her to make an excuse and get out. John tells her to put her wine glass down and stand up. She is stunned that he can apparently see her and starts to do as she’s told, but eventually balks, pushes the power button on the phone and tosses back in her bag. John creeps over to Amanda's bag, reaches in and flips her cell phone open. Amanda catches it out of the corner of her eye. John presses the power and punches in a number. Amanda watches the phone light up. Julian's phone rings. Julian, against Amanda’s advice, gets off the couch, walks into the kitchen and answers the phone.

John tells Julian that he knows about him and he threatens him. They argue. Julian slams the phone down angrily, then picks it up and punches in a number. He speaks too low for Amanda to make out the words. John presses the power on Amanda's cell phone and walks around to the back of the couch she is sitting on. He clasps his hand over her mouth and whispers into her ear. Amanda, terrified, nods dumbly. John releases his grip on her and steps back slowly as Julian reenters the room. Julian sits down next to her. Amanda is visibly uncomfortable. Julian slips his arm around her shoulder again. She visibly recoils. Julian notices and turns to her. He asks if John’s accusations have gotten to her. She denies it. He wraps his arms around Amanda and starts to pull her near him. John steps closer, but before he can get there, Amanda pushes Julian away.

Angrily Julian admits he’s a vampire and explains the basics to her.

Amanda struggles to get away. Julian promises her that the end will be quick and pleasurable. Julian starts to pull her shirt off. Amanda struggles.

Julian starts to pull Amanda closer. John moves behind Julian, and tears the line cord from a lamp. When the light goes out, Julian turns but John shocks him over to the other side and they wrestle on the floor. John kisses Julian on the lips and vaporizes him.

John gets up and shocks himself back over. Amanda is quivering on the couch. John comforts Amanda, who is finally convinced he is telling the truth.

Scene 117

John, Lucy and Amanda sit in the living room. Lucy and Amanda sip wine. John guzzles beer and eats a bag of chips voraciously. John and Amanda are now trying to convince Lucy about the existence of the vampires. She is still skeptical. John asks Lucy to stay away from Gretchen.

Scene 118

John (in negative mode) follows Gretchen from her apartment building to her office and generally around town. She appears to be oblivious, but detects and then loses him.

Scene 119

Lucy walks north on Second Avenue. Gretchen follows her, maneuvering herself to a position right next to Lucy at a red light. Lucy notices her and starts, unsure of what to do.

They speak. Gretchen asks Lucy to have coffee with her. Lucy agrees, but says she must make a call first. She ducks into a pay phone and makes a call to John, but has to leave a message. Gretchen watches her closely. The message is an attempt to let him know what’s going on. She hangs up the phone and rejoins Gretchen.

They look around for a coffee shop, but can’t find one. Gretchen suggests they go to Julian’s. Lucy is upset a little by this suggestion (as she’s been told that John killed him) but tries to conceal her dismay.

Lucy and Gretchen walk over to Lucy's building. They ring O'Connell's buzzer, but there is no response. Gretchen slyly produces a key hidden in the vestibule, pretends to take it out of her pocket, shows it to Lucy and opens the downstairs door and they climb the stairs to O'Connell's apartment. Gretchen takes another hidden key off the top of the doorframe opens the door.

Scene 120

Lucy is on the phone leaving a message for Amanda. She hangs up the phone and leaves.

Scene 121

Lucy and Gretchen sit in the living room drinking wine. They clink glasses and drink to Julian.

Gretchen explains that John’s odd behavior could be explained by a lot of things ranging from his ordinary male hang ups to Gretchen actually being a monster who kills people to consume their life force. They both laugh at this possibility, Lucy a little less readily.

They discuss Julian and John and then men in general.

Scene 122

John and Amanda stand on a corner. John is agitated. Amanda looks worried. John has picked up Lucy’s message. Amanda pulls out her cell phone and punches in a number and listens to her messages and finds out that Lucy and Gretchen are at Julian’s.

John and Amanda start running up the street.

Scene 123

Lucy and Gretchen are still talking. Lucy's just a little drunker. Gretchen pretends to be. They are till complaining about men.

They clink glasses and drink again, Lucy draining and refilling hers.

Gretchen wonders aloud what they will do for sex without men. They embrace and start to fondle each other, more and more passionately. Clothes start to come off, lips get wetter. Lucy protests that she I not gay. Gretchen assures her that she is not either. Their wet lips touch. Lucy is vaporized.

Scene 124

John and Amanda approach Julian’s door. John puts his hand on the doorknob, looks at Amanda, takes a deep breath and turns the knob. He opens it slowly and peers through the crack.

Scene 124a

John and Amanda burst in and look around the room. Amanda sadly picks up Lucy's clothes off the couch. They search the empty apartment. John shakes his head.

Suddenly John sees a piece of cloth under the couch and leaps into action. He snatches it and pulls out a black dress. He reaches under the couch and pulls out a pair of black heels.

John warns that Gretchen may still be there.

John and Amanda start to search the apartment. John opens a window and pokes his head out. He starts to take his clothes off and unscrews a light bulb.

He unscrews a light bulb and shocks himself over, though still partially clothed, and searches the apartment. Amanda follows his clothes around as he strips to his boxer shorts while searching. He leads her to the front door, opens it, and strips off his shorts and hands them to her.

John tells Amanda not to let anyone in. He closes the door and Amanda locks it behind him.

Scene 125

On the other side, John looks both ways, then up the stairwell and down it, and then slowly creeps up the stairs.

Scene 126

Amanda stands with her back to the locked front door, surveying the room. She looks at the wine glasses and the clothes strewn on the couch. A closet door across the room starts to open slowly. Then there is the sound of a light bulb being unscrewed. A lamp on the table goes dark. Suddenly, Gretchen materializes, naked, standing a few feet from Amanda with her fingers still in the socket.

They speak for a while about their situation before Gretchen introduces herself to Amanda. Then they discuss John and what his abilities mean both to Gretchen and Amanda. Suddenly, Amanda changes the subject and asks if all of the vampires are as attractive as Gretchen. At first Gretchen denies this, but then she admits that they are and she advances the theory that because eating and sex are the same to them.

Amanda asks is this is the case with John now. Gretchen thinks that it must be and says that Amanda will soon find out for herself. Amanda asks if Gretchen is propositioning her.

Amanda reaches for the wine bottle on the coffee table, looks at the two glasses and selects the one with a lipstick stain and fills it. She takes a drink. She tells Gretchen she assumed the lipstick was Lucy’s.

Gretchen admires her courage. Amanda says she’s afraid but thinks they can work something out. Gretchen says that if they do, John will have to die. Amanda has no problem with that.

They discuss the mechanics of Amanda crossing over. Amanda changes the tone of the conversation. Suddenly, Amanda changes the subject, asking if Gretchen is cold and would she like to get dressed. Gretchen says she’s fine, but asks if it makes Amanda uncomfortable. Amanda admits that it’s a little distracting.

Amanda undoes a few buttons on her blouse. Gretchen now accuses Amanda of coming on to her. Amanda hints that it is a possibility.

Gretchen looks Amanda over and realizes she's wearing a crucifix on a chain around her neck. She reaches over and touches it. She asks if Amanda wore it for protection. Amanda admits that she did. They discuss the vampire parallels.

Amanda kicks off her shoes and pours herself another glass of wine. Amanda walks slowly up to Gretchen and puts her arms around her neck and starts to caress her. Gretchen caresses back. The collapse onto the couch and they start groping and panting. The camera shows how close their wet lips and tongues get. Gretchen starts to come closer and closer to vaporizing Amanda as if teasing her in a deadly way.

A curtain by the open window moves as if blown by a breeze. Cut to the negative mode to show John slowly climbing in the window.

John creeps stealthily across the floor until he is near them. Suddenly, Gretchen realizes he is there. She slaps Amanda, tries to bite her and misses, but throws her off in the process. She leaps to her feet and faces the direction she thinks John is in. She is right. Amanda leaps to her feet and faces Gretchen, too, ready to fight.

John doesn't respond. He stands stock still poised to leap, but waiting.

Amanda circles around behind Gretchen. Gretchen moves to keep both of them in front of her.

Gretchen leaps toward Amanda and John leaps at her. Amanda, seeing her coming is able to dodge her, especially once John has a hold on her.

Gretchen turns out to be somewhat stronger than John and wrestles him to the floor. Amanda tries to help and Gretchen tosses her aside easily. She pounds John, still invisible, into near unconsciousness and pins him to the floor with one hand. She reaches for a table lamp, tears the line cord out and shocks John over to the positive side.

Amanda starts to crawl over toward them.

She leans over John's face and opens her mouth wide. Just as she is about to kiss him, Amanda shocks them both over to the other side with the line cord that Gretchen discarded. Gretchen tries to pull back but John kisses her and she's vaporized.

John lies on his back for a few seconds (in negative mode) recovering, then picks up the line cord and shocks himself back over. Amanda and John embrace.

They discuss how many other negatives there are and what they are going to do about it. John says that he will have to continue trying to kill them.

Amanda moves to kiss John. He backs off. They discuss te possible consequences.

Amanda kisses John. There is no flash. She is not vaporized. After a long kiss Amanda pushes John away and reaches for a lamp. She unscrews the bulb and gingerly puts her fingers into the socket, bracing herself for the result. She pulls her hand out quickly and shakes it.

They laugh and resume kissing.

Scene 127

John and Amanda are lying in bed. Amanda is asleep, but John's eyes open. He looks at Amanda and gets out of bed. Amanda asks him what he’s doing. He tells her he’s hungry and kisses her gently on the forehead. John walks softly to the bathroom, unscrews a bulb and shocks himself over to the other side. Then he slips out of the door.