Title: Of Dangerous Men
Category: LXG
Character focus: Mina Harker
Genre: drama
Summary: Mina reflects on the number of dangerous men in her life. She always felt drawn to them, despite the fact that they are dangerous.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, the film is copyright 20th Century Fox, all characters are copyright to their own creators. Mina Harker is a creation of the brilliant Bram Stoker.
Mina sat at her dressing table, brushing her silky auburn locks. It was late in the evening on board the Nautilus, but the port hole in her quarters showed the underwater depths, which made it hard to tell if the sky was night or day. She looked at her vanity mirror, which was covered by a spare shawl. Mina always dreaded looking at her reflection, the small pocket mirror she used that fateful night showed only a part of her reflection, but it was her entire reflection that she could not look upon since she became cursed.
Her curse, being a member of the nocturnal living dead and replenishing herself on human blood, gave her advantages and disadvantages. Mina was stronger, faster, and more endurable than her fellow league members. Yet, since she could not age, she would have to watch her friends grow old and pass away while she remained the same forever.
The vampire thought about the man responsible for changing her. The Dark Prince had come to her in the night while she slept next to her husband. Mina shuddered at the memory of that night, Dracula was certainly terrifying, but she found herself drawn to his dark charm. Dracula might have threatened to hurt Jonathan to get Mina to yield, but Mina felt herself submitting to Dracula's will by listening to the sound of his voice, feeling his strong grip, and smelling his cold breath tinted with blood. As they exchanged blood, Mina had felt excitement build up inside of her.
She never told her husband or the others about the excitement she felt from Dracula, just that Dracula had forced her with his strength and his threats. Mina could never tell Jonathan the whole truth, it would have hurt him terribly. After tracking down Dracula over Europe, Mina had decided to remain with Jonathan and put the Dark Prince behind her.
Mina placed down her brush and ran her fingers through her hair, considering how her one night with Dracula had caused a rift between her and her husband. The time following Dracula's demise had been hard for her and Jonathan. At nights, Mina would have nightmares and she could not turn to her husband for comfort. Eventually Jonathan became distant and he died, never knowing that Mina willingly fell under Dracula's spell.
Years after the demise of Dracula and the passing of Jonathan, Mina had met another attractive yet dangerous man. The meeting between Mina and Dorian had been at a social gathering. Dorian Gray was certainly attractive with his light ivory skin and his dark hair, he certainly had a charming way with words. He had often gave her compliments on both her beauty and her intellect. Their relationship began with nights out to the theatre and art galleries, then Mina's relationship with Dorian became more serious.
Mina thought that she might settle with Dorian and move on with her life, but Dorian showed no interest in settling down with her. When Dorian explained that he could no longer continue the relationship for personal reasons, Mina was disappointed at first, but she then realized that Dorian was more in love with himself than her.
It was when the League formed that Mina had met with Dorian again. When Dorian came to Mina in her cabin, he claimed that he wanted to face his demons, the portrait that was missing from his hall. As Dorian began offering a nightcap, Mina tried to avoid the temptation from him, but Dorian was always difficult to decline. After she had accidentally cut her hand, Mina suddenly found herself caving in to Dorian again.
After the mission in Venice, Mina found out that Dorian Gray was more dangerous than he appeared. Not only was Gray incapable of being killed because of his portrait, he had collected samples from the League members, including herself, to aid in M's master plan to infect the world with evil.
Mina rested her elbows on her dressing table and set her delicate chin on her palms. She was not too fond of the memory of Dorian Gray's treachery. Dorian had lied to her and attempted to kill her with the rest of the League. In M's fortress, Mina decided to end Dorian's existence, no matter how painful it was for her since she had an intimate relationship with him. She fought Dorian, she forced him to look at the painting, and she watched as Dorian rapidly aged and died.
Maybe she had loved Dorian once, but those feelings eventually faded after Dorian Gray had perished. Gray had been an exciting lover, but he was corrupt and dangerous as a swordsman and immortal. He sealed his fate the day he made that bargain with M.
There was an eerie sound that echoed through the ship, Mina looked up at the porthole but could not see anything, then she remembered hearing from Nemo that the calls of large whales often got picked up in the Nautilus. As Mina listened to the strange song of the large animals that were swimming near the ship, she thought about another dangerous man she recently became acquainted with.
When they first met, Mina was well aware that he was dangerous, considering that he was captured to be brought aboard. That night on the Nautilus, Edward Hyde shook the entire ship, causing Mina's equipment to fall out of place. She had gone down to where Hyde was being held and she had seen for herself that Hyde was certainly a brute. His aggressive behaviour was something to be feared and his temper not to be underestimated. Men who were too close were struck by large hairy fists and Mina found herself avoiding a chain that Hyde whipped at Tom Sawyer.
Edward Hyde was hideous in appearance, his upper body was massive with powerful muscles, his face was more ape-like than human, and Hyde had that murderous look in his grey eyes. However, Hyde's other half, Dr. Henry Jekyll, was a complete opposite. Jekyll seemed normal in appearance, thin, pale, dark reddish hair, and nervous grey-blue eyes. Whenever Mina saw Jekyll at meetings or walking in the hall, the doctor was always dressed formally, he was often meek when he spoke.
Mina and Jekyll had worked together on occasions, but the doctor spoke very little, so there was not much Mina could learn about him. Whenever Hyde was mentioned, Jekyll seemed rather uncomfortable about the subject. Was he terrified of his darker half?
Jekyll was a good man, he helped when most of the crew members were injured in the explosion, but he still had that nervousness around other people. Hyde was a brute, but he had proven himself trustworthy of the League during the time of the explosion and at M's fortress. Mina realized that one half just was not complete without the other.
Getting up from her dressing table, Mina thought about how she had been drawn to dangerous men like Dracula and Dorian. Would it be the same with the dual personalities of Jekyll and Hyde? Mina had considered Henry Jekyll a colleague and friend and Edward Hyde a comrade in arms, but she did not want to start another relationship so soon. Did either of the two personalities feel the same about her? Or would they have deeper feelings?
She began pacing her cabin, her silky hair and bathrobe swirling about her slender form. The thought of being drawn to another dangerous man made her anxious. Mina remembered when Allan Quatermain and Tom Sawyer went hunting for Hyde that she could offer assistance since she had experience from tracking Dracula, but Quatermain insisted that the hunt was too dangerous for a woman, even one such as her. What could have happened if she offered assistance on the hunt? Would Edward Hyde have attacked her just like he had done to his previous victims? Would she have been able to handle the beast without any aid from Quatermain or Sawyer?
Mina stopped at the porthole, hands firmly on her hips as she stared out into the dark depths, looking for the source of the ghastly whale song. She was unable to see anything, either the ocean was too dark even for her night vision or the animals were far away and their song was traveling through the water.
The ocean was full of mystery, just like the strange people and things Mina encountered. Jekyll and Hyde were certainly a mysterious combination. She knew very little of Jekyll's background before he became a fugitive and only knew what she saw of Hyde's capabilities. It was that mystery that Mina found herself feeling anxious over. She was aware that Hyde had killed people and that Jekyll had disappeared from London when Hyde committed several murders, but the files on them revealed hardly anything else.
She could always ask Henry Jekyll about his life. Would he be willing to answer her? Would he ask her the same things? Mina could approach Jekyll in a more social time and place as civilized human beings, yet Edward Hyde would have to be approached differently.
Hyde was more outspoken than Jekyll, but Hyde was unpredictable like any wild animal. Mina had researched in Nemo's library that predatory animals would fight each other over territory for hunting, it could have been the same between her and Hyde if they had met outside of the League. Her own need for blood would rival Hyde's need to kill recklessly, one hunting space could never satisfy the both of them. It was the need to stop M from infecting the world with evil that would cause two predators to work together rather than fight each other.
Still, Mina was not one for prying into another's space and history. She already found Jekyll kind yet rather shy and she had respect for Hyde as a team member and fellow predator. Perhaps in time, Mina could know more about Jekyll and Hyde, but she had to remember that they were both dangerous. She learned from past experience not to get too close to dangerous men or she could get hurt. Maybe she could get along well with Jekyll and Hyde without getting too close, just maintaining a more professional relationship. Would they want the same thing? Was Jekyll right now pacing in his own cabin having similar thoughts?
The whole thought of the dangerous men in her life was beginning to tire her, the next day she might speak with Jekyll and discuss the future of their lives in the League. Turning away from the porthole, Mina switched off her bedside lamp and lay awake on her bunk for the rest of the night.
End Note: It took me some time to write this out, but I wanted to write this, and yes, I referred to Dracula/Mina, Dorian/Mina, and impending Hyde/Mina because Hyde did show affection for Mina in the graphic novel. Mainly because I found the sight of all those stupid Mary-Sues on the LXG category annoying and Mina does strike me as the type of woman who likes the dangerous type of men. Considering Mina's relationship with Dracula in Dracula: The Un-dead and Bloodline, it makes sense.