The Thirst

**The Thirst** is the third episode of Season 1, the third episode of the One Bad Night story arc, and the third episode of the show overall.

## Synopsis

*After being convinced by Isiah, Jill goes looking for Lee. Harriet finds The Widowmaker's hideout.*

## Plot

### Part One

#### Flash-Back

The walls of a small shop are covered in blood. A younger Jill slowly rips open the throat of an employee, tearing at the flesh to reach more blood and slurping it up. She cries as she does so, but doesn't stop until she hears a noise coming from the open door. She leaps up onto one of the shelves, snarling as she sees Isiah standing in the doorway. He looks up at her for a few moments, before telling her that "you don't have to do that, you know." She lunges forwards with incredible speed, but Isiah catches her by the throat, unblinking. He then says that "I'm not fooling you. I can help you. Give you blood without having to kill anybody." She then calls him a liar as she tries to get free. He tells her "the police are coming. You can come with me and go somewhere safe, or be killed by them." Just then, sirens can be heard and Jill's tears begin to flow again. She tells him she doesn't "want to hurt anyone, but the thirst...it hurts. It hurts so much." Isiah nods and slowly puts her down.

#### Present-Day

At Heirloom, Jill shakes her head as Isiah sits down. He tells her that he can't find Lee anywhere, to which she tells him that "it's his own fault." He gives her a look before saying that "he needs our help." She tries to argue with him that he "doesn't deserve our help" but he insists that it doesn't matter. Jill appears frustrated, but he tells her that she "know[s] I'm right." She shakes her head and asks him what they should do, then. He suggests that she looks for him while he goes and finds "Heracles," saying that "wherever he is, if we can't find him, it means he's in trouble and needs a doctor."

After the intro, Harriet watches on at the vampires as they mill around. She takes out her phone and quietly begins taking photos from behind a wall, eventually catching one of The Widowmaker, who has returned to his game of cards. Suddenly, she starts getting a call. It makes a small noise, but nobody hears it as she picks up. On the other side, Boris starts saying that he "couldn't identify the body, but the autopsy confirms that he was-" but she cuts him off, simply whispering "code three" and telling him she'll send coordinates. She hangs up and starts tapping on her phone, sliding down the wall as she leans against it.

The Widowmaker visits Lee in a small cell with little light. Lee sits up and crawls back, quickly hitting a wall. The Widowmaker apologises for locking him up, saying that "I remember when I was first turned. All I wanted to do was kill. I'm sorry for taking that pleasure away from you." Lee begs with him to let him go and promises not to tell anyone, but he just shakes his head and tells him that "you won't be getting out of here, unfortunately. You see, right now, your blood is still being converted to a vampire's. Your flesh is still being slowly turned. It can't have been a matter of hours since you were turned, am I right? Long story short, my friend, you taste the best. Now, myself, I'm not too bothered. Sure, you taste a little better, but I prefer to kill my meat a little differently. It's why they call me Widowmaker. My boys, though...they love it." Then, he stops and smells the air, frowning. He then appears right in Lee's face, picking him up by the throat. Lee lets out a yelp and struggles, but The Widowmaker doesn't budge, just leans in close and smells his skin. Then he looks at Lee, whispering "what the hell are you?" before letting him go and leaving the cell.

### Part Two

Jill tracks down Lee's scent to the street where he was taken. The sky is beginning to grow lighter making Jill wince, but she ignores it and lifts the manhole cover. She sniffs the air and, realising where he is, whispers "shit". Suddenly, she puts on a surgical mask and whirls around where she comes face-to-face with Boris, who points a gun at her. He tells her to put her hands up, but she disobeys. Instead, she runs at him, pushing him down and knocking the gun from his hand. Boris then pulls a silver stake from his jacket pocket. She runs at him again but this time Boris is ready, the two fight for a moment with him actually holding his own for a while until he gets dangerously close to stabbing her. She pushes him against the wall, where he calls her a "fucking vamp" and manages to hold her back for a moment. Eventually, however, she overpowers him, knocking the stake from his hand and making him bang his head against the wall. Blood sprouts from the back of his head and Jill stares at it for a moment, turning her head at the smell. He takes this opportunity to punch her in the face, knocking off her mask. She faces away from him so that she doesn't see, but he then says "Jess?". She turns around slowly, looking at him. They don't speak and eventually police sirens can be heard. When Boris turns to look, Jill is gone when he looks back.

Harriet sneaks around the base, eventually coming across Lee in his cell, who recognises her as a member of the AVD. He begs her to let him out, but she is apprehensive, having figure out he is a vampire. He tells her that he has only just been turned, and that he didn't ask for this. She then asks him if he knows anything about the vampire that was beheaded during the night, to which he confirms that he does. After a moment of thought, she begins to try to open the door, but is interrupted as they hear people coming. She runs off while Lee begs her not to go. Then, Nils and another vampire come to his cell. They drag him out into the main room, which has now been converted into a grand stage with a large crowd gathered in front. Lee and two other humans are dragged onto the stage, where they are lined up in front of them.

Jill walks into the crowd, blending in seamlessly and watching as Lee looks on at the crowd. His face grows still, accepting his fate as The Widowmaker walks onto stage. The crowd's cries grow louder and he pats his hand to signal for quiet. He tells the crowd that "we are here today, a united people. Today, the Blood-born are a force to be reckoned with. But most of all, we are thirsty!" The crowd roars their approval. "Not only do I have a delightful feast of humans here"—he waves his hand at the two men weeping next to Lee—"but today, we have a newbie!" The crowd, once more, goes wild. Next to Lee, the first man has his throat slashed by one of the gang members. Blood sprays everywhere as Jill looks on, her hood up and mask on to hide her face. The Widowmaker picks the man's body up and throws him into the crowd, who viciously tear at his flesh to get to the blood underneath.

Harriet then watches on from one of the entrances, watching the same being done to the second man. Soon it comes time for Lee, who has grown silent. He sees Jill, who has crept close to the front of the stage. She says nothing, but raises her eyebrows. For a moment, Lee does nothing and looks at the crowd, hungry for his blood. Then, The Widowmaker puts his hand on his shoulder and he spins around violently, lashing out at him and slicing off his right ear. He yells in pain as Lee crawls back and Jill leaps up onto the stage, kicking The Widowmaker in the groin and picking Lee up. They begin to run off, the crowd screaming in anger and multiple vampires running after them, just as the police start storming in. They appear from each entrance, guns raised and ready to fire. Boris and Harriet are among them.

### Part Three

Members of the AVD lead the assault, yelling at the vampires to surrender. As the Blood-born start to fight back, they begin firing at them in a hail of silver bullets. Regular police officers follow suit, armed with their own Anti-Vampire Weaponry. As Lee and Jill keep trying to get out amidst the chaos and death, they are knocked down by The Widowmaker, who starts strangling Lee in a fit of rage. The blood from his wound drips down onto Lee's face as he struggles to breathe and fight back. Eventually, Jill slashes at his side and The Widowmaker rolls off him. She picks Lee back up and they make their way out, sneaking past the police and leaving through the tunnels.

After the battle, Harriet leans against a blood-covered wall, exhausted, as Boris approaches, giving her a bottle of water. She tells him about Lee, saying that "he's recently turned. Probably got saved or something by our guy with no head." Boris wonders at Harriet's ability to "keep thinking about work after all that" She then laughs and tells him that if she doesn't she'll fall asleep then and there. He laughs back, telling her that he's "happy I got assigned to you." He then offers to take her home and she agrees.

Jill and Lee climb out of one of the manholes, The sun finally breaks over the horizon and Lee looks on, sat on the tarmac. He asks why he's not "turning to dust" to which Jill, sat next to him, says that vampires are only mildly hurt by sunlight, not killed. After a moment of silence, she tells him that "it's not easy, you know? This life. I mean, it's not always like what just happened, but if you stay, it's gonna be closer to that than the life you had before. If you want to go to a TVC, I'm not going to judge." He then sits forward, telling her that in the last few moments when he thought he was going to die, all he could think about was what his sister would do without him and that because of that, he will stay "at least until she starts noticing that I'm not aging." She then tells him that it takes around seven years for aging to stop, so "you at least have until then." Lee laughs, then passes out. Jill examines him, finding a large gash where The Widowmaker got him.

## Trivia

* This is the first episode where Polly Gray does not appear.
* First mention of Heracles.
* This is the first episode in which a human kills a vampire.
	+ This being multiple members of the Anti-Vampire Department and the Metropolitan Police