CHAPTER SIX

Mina Murray's Journal

24 July (Town of Whitby)—I am sitting here writing in a lovely little garden area of the local church. Lucy arrived by train today. She seems happier and more beautiful than ever before. I am so happy for her and her fiancé, Arthur.

The two of us got a room at the Crescent Hotel. The sea here is very nice, but I hear that it is home to many ghosts, although I do not know why. Lucy should be back at the hotel now after doing some shopping with her mother. Maybe I ought to go and meet them.

1 August—I am a little upset today. No letter came from Jonathan. I miss him terribly and look forward to the day that he returns. Don't feel much like writing just now.

Dr Seward's Diary

5 June—My patient, Mr Renfield, is proving to be more interesting than I had originally imagined. I still cannot understand the poor man. He has begun to collect spiders as pets. He leaves his own food half-uneaten in order to attract flies for spider food.

8 July—He has stopped collecting spiders and is now gathering birds. He has many already. However, today he asked me if I could get him a cat. I told him it wasn't possible, for I didn't want to see his birds destroyed just like his spiders were. He did not like my answer.

20 July—No birds in Renfield's room today. He told me that he let them go. However, later that morning, one of the guards informed me that Renfield was vomiting feathers. He believed that the patient ate all of his pets. I wondered what would happen if I gave him a cat.

Anyway, I envy his feeling of purpose. Everyday, he wakes up in his little room and begins his collection of living things all over again. Now that I have lost hope for having Lucy's love, work has become my only purpose.

Mina Murray's Journal

3 August—Still no letters from Jonathan. His boss received one saying that he was on his way home. However, that was a week ago. I'm quite worried. Lucy has started to walk in her sleep. She's been doing it for the past week. I have lost a lot of sleep lately worrying about her and Jonathan.

6 August—I can't stand not knowing where Jonathan is. Still he hasn't written. It's very strange. He's always very responsible. Surely, he knows I'm terribly worried. I fear something has happened to him.

I went down to the sea today. It looked colorless and sad. A sailor who was standing nearby got my attention by pointing to an old ship out on the water.

"Look at that, Miss," he said, "It looks Russian. It doesn't seem like anyone's controlling it. Every time the wind blows, the boat changes direction. That storm that's approaching will certainly give whoever's on that boat a lot of trouble."

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