What is the first name of the person that is shown a newspaper clipping?
The film opens in Loving County, Texas, where a teenage boy named Cody Puckett awakens one ominous night to find his parents staked and burned by a heretic vampire hunter group called the S.C.A.V., which stands for the Southern Coalition Against Vampirism. After shooting him with a crossbow, the vampire hunters allow Cody to escape, hoping he will lead them back to his extended family.
In Long Beach, California, journalist Harry Martin receives the details of the Texas killings, before heading out to hear the verdict of a court-case he has been covering. Assistant D.A. Amy Lorne is cornered in an elevator by the members of the Shrikes, a biker gang named after the "unpleasant little birds who impale their prey on thorn bushes," one of whom the A.D.A. is currently prosecuting.
Harry appears to break up the incident. The gang leader, "Butcherbird" (Salvatore Xuereb), warns Harry that "Uncle Eli" isn't happy with the articles he's been writing. Harry explains to a confused Amy that he and Butcherbird are "distant cousins". In court, an obviously fixed jury announces that it cannot reach a verdict. Disgusted, Amy storms out, and Harry goes after her. He asks her to attend a "family party" with him before leaving her to join Eli Chelarin, the powerful businessman who fixed Butcherbird's trial.
At Eli's office, Harry warns Eli that "it's starting again", and shows him the newspaper clipping of the Texas killings. Later that week, Cody reaches town and tries to find Eli. Instead he encounters the Shrikes. At Eli's birthday party, Amy is surprised to learn that Harry is connected to so much wealth and power. He reveals that his real name is Harlevon Martinescu, as part of his Carpathian heritage.
Eli