THE Pale empress
In Development
Evelyn Morana is ‘The Pale Empress’. An ancient Vampire who has fled the new world after a disastrous brush with an angry mob. Emerging in southern France in the 1850’s, Evelyn settles on a plan to steal the estate of a wealthy landowner. Somewhere she can rebuild her empire, one soul at a time.
With her familiar Corbin, Evelyn kidnaps orphans and strays to create a blood-bond with them. While within her power, these orphans are used as part of her stable of high-class prostitutes. Gathering blackmail material, exerting power over each of the men who own land and wealth. Evelyn introduces herself to the lord of the largest manor, Pierre – and agrees with him to service the wealthy men of the area – collecting dirty little secrets from all of them.
Standing in the way of this plan is Ilsa Van Helsing. With her family’s long history of killing vampires, Ilsa suspects that Evelyn is more than she appears to be. Already embedded as a housemaid for Pierre, Ilsa and her friend Montgomery discover Evelyn’s plan and try to stop her.
Complicating matters is the orphan spy, Manon. Manon has been sent to Pierre’s mansion to observe him and the others, but through a series of incidents she and Ilsa indulge in a romantic relationship.
While Evelyn continues stealing land and wealth by blackmailing the landowners (or killing them), her power increases. When one of her girls tries to escape, she pursues them to an orphanage and kills everyone there to keep her secret safe. She bathes in their blood and reaches the height of her powers.
Knowing the danger is ever-increasing, Ilsa researches the ancient texts her family have kept safe for hundreds of years. She learns more about the Van Helsing by visiting a Spanish Monastery holding the secrets to vampire rituals. The monks are custodians of knowledge important to Ilsa’s success.
Ilsa realises she may be outmatched by the powerful ancient vampire Evelyn, especially when Manon demonstrates just how powerful Vampires can become. Ilsa’s confidence falters and she allows Manon to convince her that running away will be the best option.
Ilsa and Manon decide they can escape together, leaving their troubles behind but Evelyn finds out and asks Corbin to pursue them across the country. Corbin finds Manon during the day and exposes her to daylight – she is vaporised in an instant.
Ilsa reluctantly returns to Pierre’s estate to put an end to Evelyn’s plans. She tries to recruit men from the village, but each man has their own reasons for not helping. Once Evelyn finds out she kills them all anyway, in a horrid bloodbath.
With her only friend left – the drunken bachelor Montgomery, Ilsa discovers Evelyn’s important resting place and makes plans to destroy her. The sacred remains that Evelyn needs to maintain her powers lie deep within a cave system nearby. With a rabble of farmers and some other brave townsfolk, Isla leads the charge. They infiltrate the cave and put an end to
Evelyn’s reign of terror.
