LEUTNANT JANKEL
Wait. Schnaufer? The Phantom of St. Trond?

OBERGEFREITER ACHTERBERG
The Vampire!

HAUPTMANN WALD
Don't be an idiot, Achterberg. There's no such thing as vampires.

The LIGHTS go out. ACHTERBERG yelps in fear. Only HEIDEMARIE'S eyes can be seen, glowing faintly in the otherwise complete darkness.

SMASH CUT - REGULAR STYLE, EXT. NIGHT. A fierce thunderstorm with hard rain and high winds is in progress. A narrow road through the woods. A Liberion Army Jeep with its canvas roof up drives into the scene. It's going pretty fast for the conditions. So fast it nearly hits a person who stumbles into the road at a bend.

DRIVER'S POV - According to the Jeep's speedometer, it's doing 50 MPH. Through the rain-streaked windshield, we get a very brief glimpse of the person in the road, in silhouette, lit up from behind by a lightning flash. Whoever it is isn't very large, stands in a hunched, vaguely feral posture, and has brightly glowing red eyes and a very strangely shaped head. The driver's hands on the wheel go white-knuckled at the sight and begin to react as we cut to

EXT - The Jeep takes violent evasive action, beginning to skid; the figure in the road raises a hand as if to ward it off. There is an explosion. The Jeep plunges off the road, its driver's side rear quarter coming apart, and mows down some small trees before striking a large one and coming to an abrupt halt.

CLOSEUP on the driver's side of the Jeep. The driver, a man in sterile (i.e., no badges or patches) Liberion battle dress, is slumped back in his seat, his face having bounced off (and bent) the upper arc of the steering wheel. Blood runs down his face from a wound across his forehead. Moving in, we can see it's GRYPHON, and he is not having an amazing day. At the very least he's out cold.

SFX: a swish of parting air, followed by squelching footsteps on wet ground and what sounds like hard rain hitting an umbrella.

A foot clad in an old-fashioned red shoe steps into the frame near the side of the Jeep. Its owner is otherwise out of frame.

FADE TO BLACK

VOICEOVER - HEIDEMARIE
(softly)
How certain are you of that?

TITLE CARD

<does Benny Hill style salute>

--
Unable to save the day: File is read-only.

(EDIT: Wait, this was the teaser for Gallian Gothic book 1. Man, the past year and a half have been like a decade long, haven't they? I'll see myself out.)