CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Dr Seward's Diary

The four of us arrived at the tomb just before midnight. Again Lucy's body was missing from her box. Arthur's face went terribly white. He said nothing.

"Dr Seward and I came here two days ago and found her body missing. The following day we returned and she was, once again, inside this box. Ask the doctor if you don't believe me."

"It's true," I said.

We then left the tomb and sat together hidden within the trees, waiting for the white figure to come. Again, hours went by, but then Van Helsing suddenly whispered, "Here she comes!" We all saw it. A woman in white, carrying a child in her arms, came running through the cemetery, toward the tomb.

"Let's go!" said Van Helsing. We followed him out of the trees and to the door of the tomb. Soon we stood, blocking the woman's entrance. At that moment, the moonlight fell directly upon her face. It was, indeed, Lucy. Only now her sweet, gentle beauty was replaced by something else. Something without feeling, or kindness. From her mouth dripped fresh blood.

Seeing Arthur among us, Lucy dropped the child hard onto the ground and began to slowly approach us.

"My dear husband," she said in a sweet voice, "Let me hold you again. We don't have to be separated any more. Come and be with me."

Arthur began to move toward her, as if he were walking in his sleep. Van Helsing immediately ran between them and held up his cross toward Lucy. She turned and ran toward the tomb. Without opening the door, she somehow grew very thin, as thin as paper, and slid between the door and the wall, disappearing from sight.

"Arthur! Will you allow me to do what needs to be done?" asked Van Helsing.

Poor Arthur fell to his knees and, with his face in his hands, cried, "Do what you must!"

"I cannot do it now. We must return tomorrow afternoon. First, however, take this child somewhere where the police can easily find it. Arthur, I know this has been the worst night of your life, however, you must try to stay calm and trust that what we are doing is right. I'll see you all tomorrow."

29 September (Nighttime)—The four of us had to wait until the end of a funeral to enter Lucy's tomb today. Once inside, Van Helsing began to prepare for work. He brought out a long wooden stake and a long sharp knife from his bag.

"The thing inside of this box is not Lucy. This thing is Un-dead. The Un-dead are evil and their only purpose in this world is to spread their evil. Once an Un-dead kills a human, that human will also become Un-dead. Lucy's spirit is not at rest. She is being forced to do things that she would not naturally do. Therefore, we must save her spirit and allow her to rest peacefully. It is my belief that the man who loved her most should be the one to kill her."

Everyone turned toward Arthur. He gathered as much courage as he could and then stepped forward to accept the wooden stake from Van Helsing.

"Now. When I begin to read these prayers, you must immediately strike this stake into the thing's heart. It will not die easily. It will scream and beg for you to let it live, but you must not pay any attention. You must continue to strike the stake deeper into its heart. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Arthur answered.

The professor took out his prayer book and began to read. Quincey and I, together, repeated his words. I saw Arthur place the sharp end of the stake over Lucy's heart and then, without any hesitation, strike the dull end with the hammer. The thing in the box let out a terrible scream and its body shook wildly. Blood began to shoot from the heart in all directions and those sharp teeth seemed to be biting into the thing's own mouth.

Soon, however, it was all over. We stopped our prayers and then looked inside the box. We were all very happy to see that all of the evil features had left Lucy. She now looked as she had while dying in her bed. She was at peace. Arthur began to cry. What he had done had taken a lot of his strength. I was very proud of him.

"Good job, men," said Van Helsing. "Now, John, if you will help me to remove the head ... "

When we finished our work, we left the tomb and began our walk back into town.

"I hope, now that you have seen this evil, that you all will help me to find and destroy the man who began all of this. I have information that should lead us to him. I could very much use your help."

One by one, we each agreed to do everything in our power to help the professor.

"Wonderful! Then we shall meet in two days. First, I must go to Holland. From there, I will call upon two other friends, who will prove to be of great help to us. Until then, rest and be at peace with yourselves."

(end of section)