Chapter Text
A worn storybook lies open. Its leather cover is cracked with age. Gold letters, faded but stubborn, read: ‘THE FIRST’. A ruby is embedded at its center. The pages turn on their own. Childlike drawings fill them - crude figures, red ink, black skies. A voice begins to speak.
???: Long ago - before kingdoms, before records - the First was granted eternal life by the Heavens.
The page shows a lone figure beneath a beam of light.
???: People did not understand eternity. So they named them a monster.
The word bleeds across the page: VAMPIRE. Illustrations flip rapidly - spears, fire, hunters.
???: They outlived every foe. Those who hunted them vanished. Those who feared them offered shelter instead.
We see villagers kneeling.
???: Grateful for their loyalty, the First gathered them close… and shared their gift.
Small red droplets fall onto drawn figures. They rise again.
???: They called this sanctuary… The Gathering.
Images of a quiet settlement under moonlight. Windows shut during the day. Lights only at night.
???: The First spoke little. Walked only after dusk. And kept their past buried deeper than any grave.
A final illustration: the First lying still. A single note beside them.
???: When they died - without warning, without wound - they left only this.
The Latin words write themselves across the page:
“Superos et Inferos fefellit, et progredi debeo, quia Eis repugnavi.”
(I have deceived both Heaven and Hell, and I must move forward, as I have resisted them)
???: No one understood.
The page tears slightly at the edges.
???: But the Heavens… and the Underworld… did.
The sky darkens. The moon turns black. Text bleeds onto the page like ink: THE DARK MOON.
???: The Gathering believed eternity was theirs. They were wrong.
The drawings distort.
??? (slower, prophetic): On the day the First fell… their soul was split.
Two cradles appear.
???: Twins shall be born on the Winter Solstice. One shall know the curse. One shall not.
A red thread connects them.
???: Only blood shall reveal the truth.
The thread tightens like a noose.
???: And if they find one another… hunger will decide which survives.
One twin silhouette devours the other. The page smears red. Pages turn faster. Pairs of twins. False claims. Executions. Graves.
???: Kingdoms fell. The Gathering was hunted. Their history burned… forgotten.
All but one page remains. A lone man running, clutching a scroll.
???: Only the First’s earliest companion escaped. The first human they ever turned. He carried the curse into hiding… and when the printing press was born… he printed the warning for the world.
The book slams shut.
INT. HOSPITAL – NIGHT
Fluorescent lights. A newborn’s cry. Two babies wrapped in blankets. A COUPLE stands over them.
Mother (softly, teary): They’re so…
Father (smiling): Perfect?
She laughs weakly.
MOTHER: Yeah… perfect. (beat) What should we name them? I like Minyoung… for the girl.
FATHER: Minyoung…
He nods.
FATHER (gentle): It suits her.
He looks at the boy. Something unreadable crosses his face.
FATHER (quietly): And for him…
EXT. HOUSE – DUSK – YEARS LATER
Rain. A car idles. The MOTHER pulls MINYOUNG away, crying. The front door slams shut. Outside stands the FATHER with the BOY - only a silhouette.
MINYOUNG: Dad! Wait-!
She tries the door. Locked. She rushes to the window, forcing it open. Cold air. She reaches out. The boy runs to her. He presses something into her hand. A necklace. Small. Silver. Old.
BOY (whispering): We’ll see each other again. I promise.
MINYOUNG fights tears.
MINYOUNG: You’re sure…?
He nods.
BOY: Always.
The car window rolls up between them. Their fingers slip apart. The car pulls away. MINYOUNG stands alone in the fading light. Clutching the necklace. Tight. Too tight. The chain draws a thin line of red across her palm. A single drop of blood falls.