Dracula Theory, page 16
“Shall we?”
I turned to see Davith staring my way. Without hesitation, I placed one foot in front of the other, until I’d walked myself into Our Lady of Mercy.
“Jonathan,” Davith whispered, “should we confront Mina, and find ourselves faced with the need to kill her, it might be best if you allow me to handle the task. Given your relationship, you might hesitate. The slightest pause could mean your demise. If that moment presents itself, you concentrate on Lucy and allow me to battle Mina.”
I couldn’t argue with the priest’s logic. Considering how deeply in love I was, I’d probably lose my life trying to convince Mina her existence had considerably worsened under Dracula’s power. I answered by way of a single pointed finger.
In every direction, dead trees and fresh graves greeted us. The wind whipped through the cemetery, kicking up piles of leaves into a spiraling, autumnal dance. Above us, the all too familiar sound of wings flapped. Instinct pulled me to the ground, where I strategically covered my head so that I could still glance skyward. Davith took the hint and dropped to his knees.
“I don’t see anything.”
“Give it a moment,” I assured the priest.
In the mounting silence, I was able to spot the flitting shape in the space above us. The flying creature circled and swooped, a familiar pattern to the species. The winged beast was feeding, not on the blood of humans, but flying insects.
Upon closer inspection, I realized my error. It was too early for bats. “It’s not her.”
Davith grabbed my shoulder. “How can you be sure?”
“Because it’s a bird. Besides, I believe Mina too bourgeois to eat bugs.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Trust me on this one. It’s not her.”
A few elongated minutes past before the bird vanished from sight, most likely in search of more fertile feeding ground. Back on our feet, I was able to get an even better look at our surroundings. Unlike Saint Matthew’s, Our Lady of Mercy was a forgotten landscape of death. Headstones were shattered or missing altogether. Weeds were the prominent foliage, barely able to sustain life themselves. The waning sunlight cast a sorrowful picture across the grounds. With every passing second, I saw another sign that this was certainly where Mina had tucked herself away.
“Jonathan,” Davith whispered, “over there.”
I followed the man’s pointed finger to see a solo mausoleum standing on a mound. The structure was the only one of its kind in the area, leading me to think one of two things: Luck was, for once, on my side or that this coincidence was nothing more than a trap, set for me and no other. After a quick inhalation of courage, I sighed and began the slow march up to the building. The sun was setting. Our window of safe opportunity was closing.
“Are you certain of this, Davith?”
“Not one bit.”
A bat swooped down from above. This time the flight pattern direct, clearly indicating what I’d feared the most.
Before my very eyes, Mina coalesced, followed immediately by Lucy.
“Darling. You came for me.” Mina’s voice was overly seductive, as if there was some hidden message woven into the tone and timber. Seeing Mina brought a pang of longing to my heart. The sight of the woman I loved never failed to steal my breath, and this instance was no exception—even though the vampiric undertone could threaten my life and soul. Evil be damned, she was my Achille’s heel.
“So kind of you to bring dinner,” Lucy added with a throaty laugh. “I like the taste of priest.”
Mina addressed Lucy. “My dear, don’t be rude. You must first play with your food.”
Before either of us could react, Lucy had Davith locked in a hold and Mina busied herself containing me. The woman used next to no energy holding me still. I was a veritable doll in her hands. Mina pressed my head to the side and drew her mouth near to my neck. I smelled the sour tang of blood on her cold breath. Panic flooded my system. I was able to move my arms but had nothing on me to serve as a viable weapon. It was then that I saw Davith inching a hand into his pocket. He pulled out a small, silver cross that he then forced onto the flesh of Lucy’s wrist. The vampire screamed in agony and released the priest. Davith then withdrew a wooden stake from his kit, raised his arms above his head, shouted, “In the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ,” and rammed the stake into Lucy’s chest. The vampire screeched a soul-shattering sound before crumbling to dust before my very eyes.
Mina howled in agony. The sound was unlike anything I’d ever heard—as though every broken heart in all of history unleashed its suffering in one inhuman wail. In her moment of misery, Mina released me. I slipped away from the vampire, reached into Davith’s bag of tricks, and retrieved a bottle of holy water. I uncorked the bottle and prepared to launch a volley of flesh-burning liquid Mina’s way.
My once-darling fiancée, snarled and hissed, “This isn’t over, Harker. The night will soon belong to us.”
And with that, Mina transformed back into a bat and took wing.
Davith and I stood in the center of Our Lady of Mercy, in complete silence, waiting for the vampire Mina to return for revenge. I dared look away from the menacing sky to see a blue-tinted beam of moonlight shining down on the pile of ash that was once Lucy.
“What did she mean by that?” Davith’s voice was devoid of strength and conviction.
I didn’t know the meaning, but I fully understood the threat. England was in danger. I tugged Davith into moving and said, “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
“What are you planning, Jonathan?”
“We cannot wait for Van Helsing’s machine to destroy Dracula, so we’re taking on the task ourselves.”
“You mean—”
“One way or another, we’re going to kill Count Dracula.”
FIFTEEN
We Are Legion
We raced through the streets of London, threading through crowds that had gathered to enjoy a burgeoning nightlife that included street performers, orchestras, theater, vendors, and so much more. My soul longed to stop and partake in the unfettered joy. Unfortunately, my mind knew, all too well, what was at stake.
As we drew near to Van Helsing’s manse, a sound stopped me in my tracks. I stood, in rapt silence, waiting to hear it once again.
“Jonathan, what—”
I silenced the priest, holding my breath and concentrating on preventing my heart from leaping out of its bony cage.
The sound returned.
“A wolf?” Davith asked.
I was about to explain the rising lump of fear in my throat, when the howl was answered by another.
And another.
And another.
The sound of night was overtaken by a lycan chorus.
“What is happening?”
I turned to Davith. “We are legion.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Romania. The citizens of that town were all vampires. I was warned they would protect their own.”
The priest grabbed me by the shoulders. “What are you saying?”
“London is about to be overrun by vampires. They’ve all come to save their king. Dracula.”
The wolf song was cut through by a woman’s violent scream. Then followed another piercing shriek. And another. And another. The town was alive with the horror of death, and I was directly responsible for it all.
A young man dashed out of the darkness, into the ghostly shadow of a lamplight, to reveal his terror-stricken face. Blood streaked down his cheeks and dripped to the ground at his feet. “Monstrous horror.” His proclamation was aimed at me, as though he knew I was directly responsible for what had befallen London. As the gent was about to sprint off, a wolf leaped from a copse of trees, clamped powerful jaws onto the throat of its prey, and dragged it back into the darkness.
I stood, my feet bolted to the ground, grappling with the thought of running and hiding away from the nightmare unfolding before us. Before I could act on that impulse, Davith grabbed my arm.
“What do we do? Kill the master?”
Shaken from my horror-induced reverie, I pulled open the door. “That’s the plan. Get your stakes, water, and garlic ready.”
Together, Davith and I entered the Van Helsing residence. We weren’t ten paces from the door when Abraham stopped us with his bellowing voice.
“What in the name of Queen Victoria are you doing here at this time of night?”
There was no use lying at this point. “Dracula’s children have come to break him free.”
“Children?” Van Helsing huffed. “Are you out of your mind? The man is too old to have—”
“I wasn’t speaking literally, you drunken lout. What I mean to say is Count Dracula’s minions are wreaking havoc on the streets of London. They’ll stop at nothing to free their master and return him to Romania. And by nothing, I mean they’ll kill anyone in their way.”
Van Helsing rushed to the front door and began the process of locking an inordinate number of bolts and latches. The mechanisms of security formed a cross on the heavy door. Abraham gave the wood a rousing pound and turned to me. “The core of this entryway is pure silver. No vampire could possibly breech this door.”
“Never say never, my son.”
Abraham shook his head. “Sorry, priest, I’m not your type of people. Atheist, through and through.”
“God still loves you.”
“Gentlemen,” I interrupted the conversation. “Before this turns into a most regrettable back and forth, we have to do something about the situation.”
“Which is?”
I looked to Van Helsing. “Kill Count Dracula.”
“Have you lost your bloody mind? You kill that thing, and the Baron will take your life as pay back.”
I’d had enough. “To hell with the Baron. His despicable lust for profit would lead to a loss of life on a scale unlike anything we have ever witnessed. If we don’t kill Dracula now, the vampires overrunning the streets will reach this home, free the Count, and continue mauling Londoners in a show of strength. None of us stand a chance against that hell-born, undead mob. So, unless you have a better idea, we’ll be making our way to your laboratory to end this nightmare once and for all.”
Van Helsing stood in our way. “And how can you be so certain that killing Dracula will stop them?”
Davith pointed to Abraham. “You’re the expert. You tell us.”
Abraham darted away and out of sight. After a moment, during which Davith and I exchanged curious glances, the man returned with a leather-bound book in his hand. “There is a passage in a text, often thought of as containing insufficiently corroborated data, which alludes to the idea of killing the master. It reads, ‘Upon removing the head of the viper, the remaining serpent will wither and die.’” Van Helsing snapped the book closed. “For the longest time, I was certain that passage referred to killing the vampire's source of food in an effort to bring about the demise of the beast—the source of food being the head. I was clearly wrong. The effect is reverse. If you kill the first generation, the latter generations will fall as well.”
Davith looked to me. “That does not bode well for Mina.”
“No, my friend, it does not.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “What choice am I given? I cannot willingly allow her to live, risking the lives of everyone in London.”
“Come.” Van Helsing marched away from us, toward the stairwell leading to the laboratory. Neither Davith or I budged. Abraham turned and, with a terrified look bulging his eyes from their sockets, said, “We cannot waste a second of time. If you are to kill Dracula, it must be done before the vampires descend upon my house.”
“So, now you want to do what’s right?” I questioned the man’s moral compass.
“Fine. You have uncovered my tragic flaw—that I’m a raging coward. Only I’m not. What I am, however, is a pragmatist and a realist. If we have a legion of vampires about to converge on my home, the most logical path is the one that most efficiently prevents that horde from reaching its target. Personally, I’m not ready to die for an ideal of any sort, profit or not. You want to save Mina. That’s fine, but do it at the risk of your life and only your life. I will assist you in whatever way I can, but with information. I will not raise a hand to deal a killing blow, assuming that action might lead the devil’s minions to my jugular. Now, if you’re serious about this, it’s time you kill us a Count.”
Van Helsing took off toward the door. Without hesitation, Davith and I followed suit. Down the now-familiar steps we went, into the chilled air of the laboratory. As we drew near the bottom, the sound of weeping greeted us, lighting a fire to our pace.
When finally we reached the laboratory, the unthinkable was revealed. The door to the cage was standing open and Renfield sat in the center, sobbing like a lost child.
I entered the cage and confronted Renfield. “My God, man. What have you done?”
“I … I … I was only trying to help him. He … he … begged me.” Bubbles of snot escaped Renfield’s nose and popped, one at a time.
“Who begged you for what?” I prodded.
“The Count. He was starving, so he begged me for food. After I entered the cage, he fed.” Renfield tilted his head, ever-so-slightly, to reveal tiny puncture wounds on his neck. “I made the one mistake you warned me of. His eyes. So filled with depth and despair. Within those inky orbs were stories so fantastical, I wanted nothing more than to dive deep into the waters of his soul. After he dined, I could hear him in my brain. His voice was so soft, so kind. I couldn’t help but do as he asked.”
“Which was?” Davith had lost all patience.
Renfield rocked back and forth, still weeping.
I reached out and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Renfield, my friend, you can tell me anything. You know that, right?”
Renfield nodded anxiously. “I do. I do, I do, I do.”
“So tell me, what did Count Dracula ask of you?”
“He asked me to release him.”
“And you did?”
Renfield look up to me, his eyeballs flooded with tears, and nodded. “I did, Mr. Harker. I had no choice. His voice had grown so loud in my head. The only way to expel him from my brain was to let him go. Only it didn’t work. No matter what I do for Dracula, he refuses to release me from his grasp.”
Before I could reply, Renfield leaned forward and smacked his head against the cement floor of the lab. I attempted to stop the man, which only served to agitate him more.
“Bad Renfield.” Again, the man bashed his head.
Before Renfield could crash his skull to the floor once again, Davith stepped in and wrapped his arms around him. “It’s okay, my son. Davith is here to take the pain and guilt away.”
“It hurts, Davith. Why, after I went out of my way to help him, did the Count leave me alone to serve out my days with vile pigs like yourself? It’s not fair.” Renfield doubled down on his weeping. “I am subhuman waste, and don’t deserve to live. Please, priest, release me so that I may end my life. It’s not worth living if Dracula won’t accept me.”
Renfield struggled against Davith’s grip.
“A little help?” the priest begged.
“I’ve got just what you need.” Van Helsing entered the cage and stabbed a hypodermic into Renfield’s left arm.
“What did you just do to this man?” I demanded.
“Relax, Jonathan, it was only a sedative.”
As if on cue, Renfield dropped into my arms, fast asleep. I carefully laid my cohort in crime down on the floor outside the cage and covered him with my jacket.
“What in the name of desperation do we do now?” Davith was near to breaking down.
No one had a chance to answer. From above, a cacophony of howling, screeching, and growling pierced the eerie quiet of Van Helsing’s manse. The vampiric horde had arrived; of that there was no doubt. But why? Dracula was released into the wild, so they had no reason to descend upon us now.
“What do we do?” Davith mumbled.
“Contrary to my previous concerns, and given our dire situation, I must say … we fight,” Van Helsing replied, his bravado barely honest enough to counter his cowardice.
“Against a mob of vampires?” Davith questioned the man.
Van Helsing urged us to follow him back up the stairs. Both Davith and I were hesitant, considering the sound of violence pouring down from above. Yet, even with the hellish symphony, we climbed back into the house proper.
I stopped, just outside the stairwell. “May I ask what your plan is? Wouldn’t it be safer down in the lab, inside that gilded cage?”
Van Helsing turned to a painting of a rather dour-looking family that covered half the height of a wall and pulled down the portrait. Behind the art was a safe, which Abraham immediately began working at the locking mechanism. Once the heavy door was unsealed, he dug his hands in and retrieved weapon after a weapon. “This entire house is safe. Unless those blasted creatures are invited in, they cannot enter. Besides, we have an arsenal geared specifically for this very task. Crossbows with blessed, silver-tipped arrows and fletching made of dove feathers. Stakes steeped in garlic. Pneumatic pistols that spray holy water.” One by one, Van Helsing handed weapons to Davith and me.
“So we’re to fend off a horde of vampires with these toys?” Davith spoke through clenched teeth.
Van Helsing grinned. “You’re joking, right? I am known as the great vampire hunter, so I have a few more tricks up my sleeve.”
I stopped Abraham from puffing himself up too much. “Just a moment ago you were showing a fairly bright yellow streak down your back. Now you’re all ready to jump in and play soldier?”
