CHAPTER TWELVE

Dr Seward's Diary

The funeral caretaker, did an excellent job with Lucy. When I saw her lying in her bed, she looked just as beautiful as when she had been in her healthy days. Van Helsing was there with me. He laid some garlic around and upon her body and also placed a cross on her lips.

"My friend," he said to me, "tomorrow, I'm afraid you and I will have some unfortunate work to do. Bring some surgical knives with you. We will be removing this poor girl's head and heart from her body. We'll do it late at night, after the funeral, so that no one knows."

"Why? She is gone from us. There's no reason to do such a thing!"

"You simply must trust me, friend. You've known me for many years now. Have I ever done anything without a good reason? You and I must work together for a while. There is much to do. I'll tell you more about it soon. Now is not the time."

I promised to help him and then left the bedroom to go to my own room and sleep. On my way, I saw one of the servants enter Lucy's room to say goodbye to her. It moved me very much to see this.

The next morning Van Helsing woke me from a deep sleep and informed me that we would not be performing the surgery we had agreed upon the night before.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Because one of the servants stole the cross I placed upon Lucy's mouth. We have no choice now, but to wait."

I, of course, did not understand. However, it was clear that Van Helsing did not yet feel that the time was right to explain, so I did not ask questions.

Arthur came to say his final goodbye to Lucy. He asked me to approach her bed with him. She looked even more beautiful now than she had yesterday. It was truly unbelievable. Arthur could hardly speak, so surprised he was by her appearance.

"I ... I ... I almost feel as if she is still alive," he whispered.

That night, I slept on the couch in the same room that Arthur slept in. He did not seem to want to be alone with his sad memories. Meanwhile, the professor stayed awake, placing garlic around Lucy's room and watching very closely over her dead body.

Mina Harker's Journal

22 September—Today we went to the funeral of our friend, Mr Hawkins. Very few people attended. It was quite sad. Afterward, Jonathan and I decided to take a walk around Exeter. Everything seemed to remind us of our lost friend.

As we were passing a very popular Italian restaurant, Jonathan suddenly took a very tight hold of my arm and whispered, "Oh no!" He was holding me so tightly that it hurt and his face was as white as a sheet. I saw that he was staring at a tall man in a black suit. The man looked very strange. He was obviously a foreigner. He had very red lips and big, white teeth. The man did not notice us. He was too busy staring at a very beautiful, young woman. It looked as though he planned to approach her, but he never did. Instead, he just followed her as she left the park area.

"It's the Count!" he cried weakly, "My God! It's really him! He looks nearly forty years younger! How's this possible?"

Since that moment, Jonathan has seemed terribly upset and nervous.

(Later) Oh, what a terrible, terrible day! I just received a telegram from someone named Van Helsing informing me that both Lucy and her mother are dead! How sad Arthur must be. There has been so much death around us, recently. Will we ever see happy days again?

Newspaper Article from The "Westminster Gazette", 25 September

Several children have gone missing in the early evening over the past few days, only to be found the following day, wandering the city as if lost. All of the children are from the Hampstead area of town. The children all report that they were with a very beautiful woman. Strangely, the children all share the same neck injury: two small holes, as if an animal bit them. They seem unhurt otherwise. Police are asking around about the possibility of the true existence of this woman the children claim to have seen.

Mina Harker's Journal

24 September—I read Jonathan's journal today. He has been so troubled lately. I feel that he needs my help, but how can I help him if I don't understand his troubles?

What I read was very upsetting. I do not know if he was ill when he wrote it. I think about that day when he saw the man in black in the park. Could it possibly really be the Count? He was planning to move to London. One day, I will ask Jonathan to talk with me very openly about it. For now, I must give him all of my love and be very understanding and patient.

25 September—The man who informed me by telegram of Lucy's death, Professor Van Helsing, came to visit me today. After Lucy's death, he collected all of her letters and read them all, including the ones from me. He wanted me to tell him more about the night that Lucy walked in her sleep to the edge of the sea.

I gave him my diary and allowed him to read the part I had written about that terrible night. He immediately became very excited when he read it. Once he had finished, he could not stop thanking me for the information I had shared with him. I was quite embarrassed by his thanks, for it seemed too much just for letting him read my journal. He promised to help me in any way I may need in the future. When I heard this, I lost control of myself and I began to cry.

"My dear, what is upsetting you so much?" he asked.

I took this opportunity to mention my husband's problems to him. He knew from my letters to Lucy that Jonathan had been ill.

"I hate to take up any of your time with my problems, but I don't know how to help my husband and it upsets me so much! I would very much appreciate it if you would take a look at this paper I have typed. It is all from Jonathan's journal. Here, you will find the source of mine and his troubles."

"I will do anything for a woman as good and kind as yourself. I'll read it tonight and come back to you tomorrow at lunchtime. Hopefully, I will be able to meet your husband then too."

I thanked him with tears and smiles and accompanied him to his carriage outside. I feared that he would think Jonathan and I both crazy, because of what was written. However, I trusted that he would keep an open mind.

He did. In fact, he wrote me that same night that he had read the paper and that he believed every word of it. He wanted even more than ever to meet Jonathan. So, he said that he would come for breakfast the following day, instead of lunch.

Jonathan Harker's Journal

26 September—Met Professor Van Helsing this morning. I cannot express how much better I felt after hearing him talk about my journal. He did not think me crazy at all! In fact, he was very understanding. God, it's wonderful to feel that I am normal again! He asked if there was any more information I could share with him about the Count I gave him all of the paperwork that I had done for our company concerning the Count and offered him any help that I could give in the future.

"I must return to London now. If I need you and your wonderful Mina to come, will you be able to?" he asked.

"We'll come whenever you need us," I promised, "I'll do all that I can if it means bringing punishment to the Count."

I took Van Helsing to the train station and bought him a Westminster newspaper to read. I remember, just seconds after leaving his compartment, hearing him cry through the window, "Oh no! She's already begun!" Then he stuck his head out of the window and waved goodbye to me.

Dr Seward's Diary

26 September—After four days of trying to forget the terrible past, I felt the time had come to get back to my work at the hospital. I have learned that patient Renfield has been very calm lately. He is, once again, busy at collecting insects.

I received a letter from Quincey Morris, who has been staying with Arthur since Lucy's funeral. He wrote that Arthur is doing very well. He's even begun to get some of his old humor back.

This early evening, Van Helsing returned from Exeter and came straight to my office. He threw a newspaper down in front of me and pointed to an article about children who were found wandering lost about the city after being missing for a day.

"You'll notice that they all are reported to have two small, red marks on their necks!" he said to me. "What do you think of this?"

"It seems that the same animal that bit Lucy is also biting these children," I answered.

"Almost. My friend, you don't seem to understand how our dear Lucy really died."

"She died from loss of blood."

"But where did that blood go? Ah! You see? You aren't looking for the truth behind the truth! You will just accept that she lost blood and ignore the fact that it does not make complete sense! Come now! You are a very talented and intelligent doctor. Open your mind to possible reasons that have not been written about in your medical books. Many things happen in this world that we can't explain. I need you to put your scientific mind at rest for a moment and see the truth of what I have to tell you."

"Alright. I'll do my best."

"You think that those holes in the children's necks were made by a bat or some other small animal? Wrong! Totally wrong! I wish that you were right. That would make our problem much simpler. No. The truth is much more terrible."

"Goodness, professor! Please, tell me what you think it is!"

"No animal attacked those children, dear friend. Lucy attacked them!"

(end of section)