FRANCESCA

*****

Frank/Francesca: (Under hypnotic regression) The first sip is like...an explosion. We taste...everything. I know his dreams, his fears, his loves. I feel myself against him. Taste my own blood through his. He's younger than me. A crusader, turned away from the light. I can taste...Jerusalem in his veins. Sweet.... His hunger for me. I died a hundred times in his arms. He dies in mine, he dies in mine, he dies in mine!
Dr. Lisa Kadlec: Frank? Frank? It's okay, you're safe now, you're with me. I think that's enough for today.
Frank: What happened? Was I there?
Dr. Kadlec: I think we're making progress, yes.
Frank: What did I say? Who was I?
Dr. Kadlec: Frank, the point of past life regression is to help us understand what's causing your fears. It's not about who you were or even what you remember. It's about you you are now.
Frank: But I am remembering?
Dr. Kadlec: It's still experimental therapy. You'll have to give it time, but we'll get there.
Frank: You have to understand how...disturbing this is for me.
Dr. Kadlec: We'll pick it up next time, right where we left off. It'll be all right.

Nick: Dan Chase, poet, lived in Parkdale. According to the canvas teams, he was last seen walking down Queens street, a few blocks from here.
Natalie: Took a knife, straight to the heart. Death would have been pretty much instantaneous. His throat was slashed, after death, and he was drained of blood. The stains on the body are pretty minor. Looks like the killer took the blood away with her.
Tracy: Could it have been some kind of cult ritual?
Natalie: I don't know, but she certainly left a distinctive calling card. Clear as a fingerprint, if you can find a suspect to compare it to.

France (Côte du Rhône, Avignon) -- 1755

Francesca: Lucien, it's been so long. And who is this fair traveler?
LaCroix: Nicholas Chevalier. Nicholas, allow me to introduce one of your sisters--the Countess du Montainge(?).
Francesca: Francesca. The Nicholas of whom I've heard so much? You did not do him justice.
LaCroix: I hope this doesn't inconvenience you, Francesca, but we found ourselves in urgent need to travel.
Francesca: As though my master could ever inconvenience me. You know you will always be welcome in any home of mine.
LaCroix: There, you see, did I not tell you.
Nick: You did. What he did not tell me how beautiful you are. In truth, I would not have believed him.
Francesca: I was about to dine. I hope you will join me.
LaCroix: Of course. Francesca's estate is known for it's rare vintages.
Francesca: And, I have a special treat for tonight. I hope you like music.

Tracy: Do you ever have the feeling of deja vu?
Natalie: I beg your pardon?
Tracy: I just feel like this is all familiar somehow. I don't know what it is, but I don't like this one.
Natalie: Well, there's no sign of sexual assault. My best guess is that the killer gets off on this. She's substituting killing for sex. I'd say we are looking for a woman with a highly repressed sexuality.

Natalie: You've been awfully quiet about this one.
Nick: Have you checked the stomach contents?
Natalie: The victim ate within two hours before death, probably less. Expensive pâté, stake, caviar and a good Merlot. The condemned man's last meal. Or was he being fattened for the kill? The kiss print--a mixture of blood and lipstick. The victim's blood. She's drinking their blood. Nick, look, I know that there are no fang marks....
Nick: There wouldn't be. Killed with a knife to the heart. Sudden death. It sweetens the blood but stops the circulation. We need the beating heart to feed. To bring the blood to the neck. If the victim's dead, the body has to be drained.
Natalie: So, this is a vampire.
Nick: I've seen it done before.

LaCroix: Well chosen, my Dear. The man has a master's touch.
Francesca: He was the toast of the season in Paris.
Nick: It's easy to see why. It's rare to see one play with such passion these days. (He stands and goes to Faubert.) You have a brilliant future ahead of you, Sir.
Faubert: Thank you, Monsieur. Countess.
Francesca: That will be all for tonight, Faubert. Inform the others. (Faubert leaves.)
LaCroix: As I said, Nicholas, the Countess is known for the quality of her entertainment. It's worth the ride to Avignon.
Nick: Especially when one has to leave Paris in such a hurry. However did you convince them to come down here?
Francesca: Musicians, even great ones, are woefully unrewarded. I offered the hospitality of my home and my estate. He was pathetically grateful to accept.
Nick: Must all of your guests sing for their supper, Countess?
Francesca: All my guests must earn my approval, Monsieur. You, will not have to sing.

Natalie: Then you know who we're looking for?
Nick: There was someone, once. But she's dead.
(Tracy come in.)
Tracy: Just got a call in from the 88th. Looks like I've got another one. Parking garage in the Beaches.

Fuller: So, Vetter, you got another one?
Tracy: Go swallow a sock, Fuller.
Fuller: Hey, you make nice. I'm just putting two and two together. You're out of your jurisdiction, I'm figuring you got called in special.
Tracy: Maybe we're just doing a favor for the 88th.
Fuller: Oh yeah, cuz Reese and Captain Jacobson get along so well. So, Tracy, word is you got a dead guy with a kiss print on his forehead. What, I got sources. I was born yesterday? So Reese is pushing you to play it close to the vests, don't scare the public, don't want to tip off the psycho chick. But I know you, Tracy, you got imagination. You know you can use the media on this one. I'll break it wide open, right? No?
Tracy: No.
(Nick and Tracy continue, leaving Fuller behind.)
Nick: Friend of yours?
Tracy: Reporter, putting two and two together and getting five. I dated him once.
Nick: Oh yeah, anything serious?
Tracy: No. I mean I dated him once.
Nick: Oh.

Frank/Francesca: It's quiet in the halls. I can hear every heartbeat.
Dr. Lisa Kadlec: Who's here?
Frank/Francesca: Francesca.
Dr. Kadlec: What year is it, Francesca?
Frank/Francesca: I'm not sure. 17...1755.
Dr. Kadlec: And where are you?
Frank/Francesca: In my home on the Côte du Rhône. I'm...moving to the bed. He's here. Fast asleep.
Dr. Kadlec: Who's there?
Frank/Francesca: The face. The man from my dreams.
Dr. Kadlec: Do you know who he is?
Frank/Francesca: I can still taste him on my lips, feel him in my veins. I can see him. No!
Dr. Kadlec: Frank, it's okay.
Frank/Francesca: I know who he is. I know who he is. I know who he is!
Dr. Kadlec: Who his he?
Frank/Francesca: My lover, and my killer. Nicholas Chevalier.

Frank/Francesca: (Tape) We are drawn together, from the first time I see him. Even in the shadow of our Master, he's the one I see. I have to have him.

Francesca: Good morning.
Nick: Francesca. (They kiss) Francesca....
Francesca: We said all we needed to last night. (He kisses her wrist) Shh, Later.... Later. Drink. Delicious, isn't it? I believe he's at the height of his talent.
Nick: My God, Faubert.
Francesca: Yes, drink more.

Natalie: So you could tell who it was from just one sip?
Nick: Who it was, what he thought, who he loved, how he died. You have to understand that every drop of blood has your whole life in it. It's not just our food. It's the way we feel life. Imagine if you could know someone's soul just by sharing their blood. Everything you know, everything you are transformed into touch and taste. Imagine the temptation to take just one sip, one sip and then another, and another. To take them inside you and know every secret. To let them know yours. To be them. That's why it's such a tough habit to break.

Vachon: Stabbed and then drained, huh? You could have a connoisseur on your hands. There are vampires who get off on the death rush. These days, with everybody being real careful about not making a lot of extra bodies it's an expensive taste, but it's like anything else. You can always find people who will cater to any request--for a price.
Tracy: You mean like a blood broker?
Vachon: You said the blood was being collected, right? From a poet? You can always find a market for a special vintage. Poet, musician...even an actor brings a premium, if you have the right customer. I've heard of people working in that line, but I don't know any.
Tracy: Well, that could explain why there's no connection between the victims. There's no common denominator. If the killer is a vampire, could she be collecting them? Different memories, different lives?
Vachon: I'll buy that. The thing that doesn't fit is the bodies--both found in very public places. For a blood collector, part of staying in business would be cleaning up after yourself.
Tracy: I don't think this is a professional, Vachon. There's something about the murder sites...it's just a feeling.... No, these are personal.
Vachon: Trace, if it is a vampire....
Tracy: What am I going to do when I find her? I don't know.

Frank/Francesca: (Tape) I've lived here, almost four-hundred years. It is my home. The bed is walnut, with ivory linen sheets and a square cornered canopy with sheer curtains and a green velvet that matches the drapes. I keep the curtains drawn in the daytime. But at night I can see the moon from the window over the bureau. I keep the men downstairs, but the others, the ones like me, I bring here. Someone's here now. (Flashes on the past/dialogue -- Francesca-'Lucien.' 'And who is this fair traveler?' and then LaCroix-'Nicholas Chevalier.') Nicholas, say hello to one of your sisters--the Countess du Montainge, Francesca.
Frank: Francesca du Montainge.

Reese: All right, Dr. Kadlec, tell them exactly what you told me.
Nick: Doctor.
Dr. Kadlec: Well, normally I wouldn't be breaking doctor-patient privilege, but, I guess that goes out the window on a case where the patient could be dangerous. It's about the article in the paper about the murders, the kiss?
Nick: Go on.
Dr. Kadlec: I have a patient who has been describing certain thoughts, certain fantasies...at least I thought they were fantasies.
Nick: Fantasies that resemble these killings?
Dr. Kadlec: We had a very intense session yesterday. And then, early tonight, he broke into my office and he stole the tapes of our sessions.
Nick: Wait a minute, he?
Reese: Well, you haven't heard the best part yet.
Dr. Kadlec: Frank has been undergoing past-life regression as part of his therapy and the dominant personality in these sessions has been female.
Reese: Apparently, he thinks he's the reincarnation of some eighteenth century countess--a vampire.

Frank/Francesca: (Tape) The timing is very important. The knife slides home in a single stroke, and freezes time, pouring everything they're feeling into their blood. They're caught between lust and fear. When I taste their blood, I taste that. The lust for me, the fear of me. There is nothing sweeter.
Dr. Kadlec: That's the only tape I still have. It was in the machine, he must have missed it.
Reese: Sounds like it could be our guy, all right.
Nick: Tell us about him.
Dr. Kadlec: Frank LoPietro. He came to me about three months ago. He'd been overtaken by these dreams where he saw himself as a woman making love to a man. He was feeling the urge to be this woman. He was always heterosexual, this was something that was new to him, something he wanted to control.
Reese: Which one of you decided he'd been a woman in a former life?
Dr. Kadlec: Traditional psychotherapy had failed him, Captain. Hypnotic regression has been a useful tool for me and my patients. To me, it doesn't matter whether their memories of past lives are real or fantasy. It's a way of unlocking their deepest hopes and fears, seeing in a clearer light. Frank's stories are all from a female perspective. The perspective of Francesca du Montainge. A vampire who lived and died and killed two hundred and fifty years ago.

Nick: Francesca, how could you do this? Why?!
Francesca: I thought you appreciated artists as I do. Appreciated art.
Nick: I don't appreciate it by killing it.
Francesca: What other way is there for us? Can't you feel it coursing through our veins? His talent, his essence. Nick: His genius, his passion--wasted.
Francesca: Not wasted. Savored. Immortalized with us. Let us have the instrument brought. You can play as he played.
(She brings the goblet to him, and he pushes it away and out of her hand.)
Nick: It will last maybe two hours, no more, and then it will be gone.
Francesca: And then I shall have another brought from Paris, or would you prefer a painter...or a dancer?
(She laughs and Nick pushes/throws her onto the bed and leaves the room.)

Dr. Kadlec: He sublimated his hunger for sexual attention into this vampire fantasy. Complete with the mysterious lover, the dark and dangerous Nicholas Chevalier. Francesca du Montainge is a manifestation of his desire, projected onto another facet of his personality that he could feel separate from. She was a way of controlling his own impulses. The vampire fantasy is uh..is an archetype that's deeply embedded in our collective unconscious. It steams from the sublimation of sexual desire. The deeper the frustration, the greater the desire. And it creating Francesca, Frank created a persona who had a freedom that he's never had, a sexual freedom.
Reese: But, how does that get into killing?
Dr. Kadlec: Well, in the vampire myth, killing is sexual.
Nick: Sexual freedom, becomes the freedom to kill.
Tracy: If he believed he was a vampire, then he'd believe he had the permission to kill, as part of his nature. Or um, anyway, that's of they myth.
Nick: Yes, but then myth can be very powerful.
Dr. Kadlec: Exactly. But, to be honest, I think I'm getting in way over my head. I've been treating Frank for gender confusion, for issues of sexuality and identity, not for violent tendencies...not for anything like this.
Nick: Cap, I think we should have a look at his place.
Reese: Okay, I think I can scare up a search warrant. Dr. Kadlec, we need you to sit down with a sketch artist, this shouldn't take long.
Dr. Kadlec: That's fine.
Reese: Okay, good. Vetter, get her set up with Marcott. Uh, Knight? I've been on the force for a long time. I've seen nutcases who thought they were everything between Louis the Fourteenth to Elvis' alien love-child. Let's keep this one in the real world, okay?
Nick: Yeah, I'll do my best.

Nick: Police. Open up. Mr. LoPietro, open up!
(Nick enters and stops cold.)
Tracy: Nick? No one's home.

LaCroix: Francesca du Montainge is dead.
Nick: I think she's back.
LaCroix: Reincarnation? Is that what you are suggesting? Well I have seen stranger things in my time. Men who walk through fire, children born speaking long dead languages. And Harry Houdini had rather a nifty trick with handcuffs and a tank full of water.
Nick: This isn't a trick LaCroix. I don't know how it happened, but somehow this man knows Francesca. Has her soul.
LaCroix: Or her soul has him. Yes. Which means that she is truly immortal. Defying the corporeal laws that are supposed to bind even those of our kind. So, whose laws will you use against this killer, Nicholas, and who will you arrest. Him? Or her Soul? If this is Francesca reincarnate, I doubt that she remembers you fondly.

Nightcrawler: Here is an interesting dilemma for you, Gentle Listeners. Where does responsibility lie for what we do in our lives? Is payment in full rendered for our sins at the hour of our death? There is talk that this life is but one of many in a cycle of lives without end. Should this be so? Should immortality be our common bond? What is its purpose? What does it mean?
(Frank/Francesca, who's listening, flashes on LaCroix from Avignon, saying 'I hope that our arrival doesn't inconvenience you, my Dear.')
Nighcrawler: Do we return to the mortal coil, unfettered by our sins? Or burdened by them? Perhaps, we are not forgiven as easily as some would believe. Perhaps to be immortal in this way is an eternal judgement. A true life sentence from which we, as sinners, can never be absolved.

Tracy: Here's a sketch for the LoPietro APB. Now that we know who we're looking for, we'll find him. Um, Doctor, you mentioned dreams, that Frank was dreaming about his past life? Is that usual?
Dr. Kadlec: Well, troubling dreams are often an indication that something hidden on a subconscious level is trying to reveal itself. Recurring instances of deja vu are also good indicators of that. Maybe your subconscious is trying to tell you something, Detective. It could be something in your childhood or in your further past, or...it could be something that's right in front of you, but you don't see it. Usually, all the clues are there, we just can't put them together because we're not open to self-discovery. You can come by my office, if you'd like.
Tracy: Uh...no, I couldn't.
Dr. Kadlec: Hmm. Not everyone is ready to face their own secrets. To take a glimpse at their inner selves.

Natalie: Reincarnation?
Nick: Is it so hard to believe?
Natalie: Nick, I am in the habit of believing ten unbelievable things before breakfast every day, starting with you. But I must admit that I'm having just a little trouble with this one. We're talking about a guy who is convinced that he knew you in a past life. That he was a vampire, a female vampire, and now he's killing the way she did, but he's not a vampire.
Nick: He remembers me. He remembers Francesca. Nat, you didn't hear the tape, you weren't in that room. How could he know what he knows, if it's not true? He knows my name, he knows what I am.
Natalie: I don't know, maybe someone's messing with your head. LaCroix?
Nick: Why would he do that?
Natalie: Because he's evil? Uh...sorry.
Nick: What if this is real? This is Francesca. What does that say about vampires? About our souls, that they go on forever? That the evil in me will just infect someone else, if and when I die. That evil can't be destroyed?
Natalie: No, I don't believe evil can be destroyed, controlled maybe like we're trying to do with you, but never destroyed.
Nick: Then why are we bothering?
Natalie: Because evil is a part of the human condition, Nick. Curing you won't eradicate the evil in you, but it will help you to control it.

Tracy: You think it could be true?
Dr. Kadlec: Eighteenth century vampires? Nicholas Chevalier. Sounds more like a romance novel to me, but it's real for Frank. There's something in his subconscious that's creating this fantasy. A buried memory trying to be heard.
Tracy: Well, let's just hope we find him before these memories make him kill again.
Dr. Kadlec: Bye. (She leaves, and Fuller goes to follow her.)
Tracy: Gordon. We found a witness with a uh, tip on your kiss of death killer. Captain wants this composite in the paper tomorrow.

Tracy: Of course, the Captain thinks this whole memory is a fantasy. Even they guy's own doctor thinks so. But I don't know...it could be real. Does the name Nicholas Chevalier mean anything to you?
Vachon: Uh, where did you here that?
Tracy: LoPietro said they were lovers in 1755 when he was Francesca. Maybe this Chevalier guy's still around. Maybe he's the connoisseur we're looking for.
Vachon: Ah...I don't think so, Trace.
Tracy: But he is a vampire? Huh? Is he? Do you know him? So there is something to this guy's story. He was a vampire in a past life.
Vachon: Uh, maybe there's another explanation, you know?
Tracy: You know...no, there is something about this case, something so familiar, like...I just couldn't put my finger on it before. It's like...it's like Lisa Kadlec said--it is right there in front of my face, I, I'm just not...I'm just not seeing it.

Dr. Kadlec: So, Mr. Fuller, is there anything in particular that I can help you with?
Fuller: Eighteenth century vampires, wasn't it?
Dr. Kadlec: What is this about?
Fuller: (Holding up the composite) It's about this man.
Dr. Kadlec: I'm sorry, I can't help you, Mr. Fuller. I want you to leave right now.
Fuller: I looked you up, Dr. Kadlec. Aromatherapy, hypnosis, past life regressions, pretty unusual bag of tricks.
Dr. Kadlec: Get out.
Fuller: This guy a patient of yours?
Dr. Kadlec: I am not going to discus this with you, Mr. Fuller.
Fuller: Did he confess to you, doctor? Tell you about the killings?
Dr. Kadlec: Goodbye, Mr. Fuller.
Fuller: Goodbye.
(She shuts the door on him, and then there's a knock a few seconds later)
Dr. Kadlec: I told you, Mr. Fuller-
Frank/Francesca: The police were at my house, Dr. Kadlec. I saw them pull up. You didn't send them, did you?
Dr. Kadlec: Oh my God....

Tracy: That was left running in her office at around eleven thirty this morning. No one's seen her since.
Nick: Do you know who else was on that tape, Mr. Fuller? You.
Fuller: Sure, I was there. She's a witness, I have a story to cover.
Nick: You saw the composite, but you didn't see Frank LoPietro go into her office?
Fuller: Oh, believe me, that would have been a story. No, honest, Detective. The only other person--there was some woman.
Tracy: Wait a minute. What did she look like?
Fuller: I don't know. Um...tall, dark hair, long dress...I didn't really notice.
Nick: How tall? Taller than you?
Fuller: Yeah, I think so.
Nick: I don't those composites are going to do the units much good.
Reese: You think he was dressed up like this Francesca woman?
Nick: I think he becomes Francesca when he kills. We should have the composites altered.

Frank/Francesca: You should eat.
Dr. Kadlec: Frank...you don't want to do this. You came to me because you wanted my help. Frank, you still need that help.
Frank/Francesca: I came to you because I was confused, Doctor. I didn't know who I was or why I was feeling what I felt. But now I know who I am, what I am.
Dr. Kadlec: Are you Francesca?
Frank/Francesca: I am all that is left of her. Her body died long ago, but I still remember her beauty, her passion, her needs.

Nick: Faubert....
One of the men: The Countess, Milord, she's mad or cursed! I beg you, before she returns.
Francesca: Come away Nicholas, the chef does not spend his time in the slaughterhouse.
Nick: Is that what they are to you, Francesca? Cattle?
Francesca: Each one fed on the finest steak and goose liver.
Nick: They are human, Francesca, as we once were!
Francesca: They are no more to us than cattle are to them!
(Nick opens the cages, releasing her prisoners)
Francesca: What are you doing!
Nick: (Struggling with Francesca) Go, quickly!

Natalie: You know, Nick, if this is Francesca, she could be just a little annoyed with you.
Nick: That's what LaCroix said. He's feeding his victims like Francesca did. That means he has to be keeping them somewhere private, somewhere....
Natalie: What?
Nick: She said it. The chef in the slaughterhouse.

Frank/Francesca: Eat.
Dr. Kadlec: I'm not hungry. Frank, listen to me. Francesca isn't real. She's a part of you. A part that craves love and attention.
Frank/Francesca: She is a part of me, but she's real, and she craves more than just love. She craves blood.
Dr. Kadlec: Frank, please, you don't want to do this.
Frank/Francesca: Frank does not decide. I decide. I wonder, what do you taste like, Doctor?
Dr. Kadlec: Frank, this isn't real. You're not a vampire.
Nick: (Bursting in) Police! Put down the knife, let her go.
Frank/Francesca: Chevalier! You killed me!
Nick: Let her go!
Frank/Francesca: I know who you are, and I know how to kill you.

Frank/Francesca: (Dying) It's not the first you've killed me, Nicholas Chevalier. There will be another time.

Nick: How's Lisa Kadlec doing?
Tracy: Oh, she's fine, I talked to her today, but she doesn't remember anything after Frank broke into her place.
Natalie: Probably just as well.
Tracy: Yeah. You know, something about this case gave me the creeps from the beginning? I'm just glad it's over. (Tracy leaves)
Natalie: So?
Nick: It was Francesca, I'm sure of it.
Natalie: And now?
Nick: Well, he's dead. She's gone, for now.
Natalie: But her soul will come back.

Tracy: So, I...I'm not even sure why I'm here. The case, I guess. It really got to me. I even had a dream that it was me lying there.
Dr. Kadlec: What makes you think that?
Tracy: Maybe I...maybe I was, you know? Maybe I was there. Maybe I was one of the ones that she killed?
Dr. Kadlec: Tracy...maybe you should examine what's going on in your life right now that might make you think that.
Tracy: Well, Doctor, how can you be so sure it's not real? I mean, it's a possibility that these things exist...vampires.
Dr. Kadlec: Okay, Tracy, um...I want you to sit back, shut your eyes, and imagine yourself sinking into the chair. Nice deep breaths. Let your muscles relax. Now we're going to count backwards from ten, and when we reach one, I want you to tell me where you are and who you are.
Together: Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three....
Tracy: Do you hear music?