And he very definitely needed to find his mental footing.
This changed everything.
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Abraham had fortified his drink with a bottle of alcohol they had found. It had most likely belonged to the Count, because he couldn't picture a Romani wanting such a fine bottle of liquor. It was expensive and extravagant, a fine wine, and it was currently being used to help Abraham cope with what he had found. Fortify the drink? He snorted to himself. He was drinking the damn wine itself, he needed it. Seated on a kitchen bench, he tried to explain what he had learned.
"The difficulty...would not be in bringing the Count back to London with us." He snorted, staring into space. "The difficulty would be in leaving him behind." He raised his eyes, looking steadily at each of the four. "The monster WISHES to stay with me."
He returned to his contemplation of the space in front of him, trying to decide how to summarize what he had learned. "They say that power corrupts. Dracula is the most powerful vampire I have ever heard of, much less encountered, and that power comes at a price. He is losing his sanity."
Now, he looked up at Mina. "You have seen this; when he destroyed the bandits, you have seen what he is becoming. In order to save what remains of his mind, he wants to have a human Master. I'm not certain what that entails, but it's apparently his sole purpose in traveling to England in the first place. And he found you."
"Mina, he wasn't trying to turn you into a bride, but into a Master. He wanted you to fight him, to prove that your will was stronger than his. And you have done so. But accepting his..servitude, odd as that sounds...you'd have to bring him into your house, and you've made it clear you won't do that. He's given up, finally, on you as his Master."
Abraham's dry laugh startled the others. "But apparently he'll settle for me. Or Quincy, had he survived. The rest of you, he doesn't really care for one way or the other, but you've been safe so far because he is desperate not to alienate either Mina or myself. He's also intimidated. Him, intimidated." Here, Abraham's dry laugh, equally humor and irony, was again audible. "We came closer to killing him permanently than I think any of us realized. However, we also came closer to triggering him to complete insanity and our destruction as well."
"I'm not certain of how this works, he's much too exhausted to explain any further, but essentially, if he goes mad, he'll be incredibly powerful. What we've seen so far is going to be like dealing with a baby compared to what he is able to become, though I don't know how realistic that explanation is. Binding himself to a human will block off that power, but he'll stay sane, and it's a trade he's desperate to make."
Abraham put down the mug, rising to his feet and pacing. "I don't trust him. I don't think he's lying, but I also don't think he's telling the entire truth, either. I have told him that I will...consider...his request. But I intend to find out much much more before I make a commitment, and we may end up staking the bastard again instead.
That is going to mean remaining here for some time to come. There are sufficient stores for a much larger number of people to be here all winter, that's not an issue. But if you'd like to return to England without me, that I understand as well. For now, I'd like to feed him, then return him to his coffin. Unless he's substantially stronger, the warding in that room ought to contain him. Those watching him will be wearing blessed silver chains against their skin, which, if I'm correct in my earlier conclusions, will prevent a repeat of last night's experiences."
Abraham looked at the others again. "I refuse to make a decision based on the information that I have. Will you be willing to continue to keep him contained, knowing what you do about his abilities, while I try to learn more?"
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They had dozens of questions, and their disbelief was clear. Had Abraham been any less of a leader, the vampire's future would have been in doubt. However, he'd identified the attack on Lucy, helped them find and destroy her when their precautions and attempts to save her had failed. He had saved Mina with his knowledge, had taken the entire group of them successfully to Romania, had nearly destroyed the Count. He had shown himself to be wise and capable, highly educated and brilliantly intelligent, and also a masterful leader. He had kept them bold and brave, heartened them with speeches, led by example, and in the end, they were willing to accept his leadership once again.
There were precautions to be taken, but the threat of the Count seemed so much...less, now. The guards would include a person who was in the hallway and out of sight of the door, for instance, and thus could not be so easily manipulated by the monster. When it was awake, at Arthur's insistence, it would be wearing a blindfold, taking away its ability to mesmerize, or so they hoped. Abraham was well aware that the vampire would simply rip off the blindfold if it felt it necessary, but it would be a good test of the creature's obedience, too.
All in all, this coming week looked to be very, very...interesting.