Love Never Dies
Summary:
Events take a different turn during the encounter outside the castle when Mina and Professor Van Helsing face the vampire sisters…
Themes: Horror. Drama. Friendship. Romance. 'M'
The likeness of the vampire hunters, including Mina, is based on the illustrations in the gamebook 'Dracula: Curse Of The Vampire'. The solemn promise that Mina complies Jonathan to make to her, is also based on the version in the gamebook.
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Chapter One
Mina Harker's Journal
1 November:
Arrived at Veresti at noon. The Professor tells me that this morning at dawn he could hardly hypnotise me at all, and that all I could say was, 'dark and quiet' …
This afternoon, Professor Van Helsing and I have sequestered a carriage and horses. Along with our purchased food and drink, and fur coats, we set out to complete the remainder of our journey. At least seventy miles lay between us and the Count's castle, and speed was still of the essence, if we are to stop Dracula from reaching the safety of his castle before we can deliver him to God.
The two of us, along with our horses, travelled west, the land around us becoming wilder as we ascended towards the daunting peaks of the Carpathian Mountains. Their jagged peaks make me think of broken teeth – and I shudder as my mind is intrusively overwhelmed by the terrible memory when the Count seized and bit into me, before forcing me to taste his foul, dark blood. Blood that originally came from living human beings – men and women, and maybe even children…
The weather has turned colder. The grey skies are promising snow.
*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*
3 November:
We have now arrived at the Burgo Pass, just after sunrise. Soon after I rise, I study the roads, and – having previously studied Jonathan's records of his journey to the castle back in May - I direct the Professor to a little-used by road. After many hours of passing precipices and roaring waterfalls, we climb to the summit of a hill. The sunset casts long, brooding shadows across the mountains, just as we finally sight the ramparts of the white-walled, red-turreted castle.
The sight is enough to make me draw in my breath, and I quiver. Not only am I staring at what was Jonathan's prison for a time – there is the knowledge that, regardless of the outcome, we will soon be facing the Count once again. The cruel jailor who imprisoned my then-fiancé and drove him half-mad. The man who earlier caused Mr Renfield to descend into madness. The being who evidently killed poor Mr Swales and then later attacked Lucy. Repeatedly. The monster who robbed my childhood friend of her sweetness and her life, turning her into a bloodthirsty creature such as himself.
The demon who performed the 'baptism of blood' upon myself, in an attempt to convert me into another of his undead minions. Like Lucy had briefly been…
Without thinking about it, my raised hand touches the burn mark on my temple. The ever-present reminder that my soul has been tainted by the vile being that we hope to soon remove from the earth. If we fail and fall in battle, I dread to think what Dracula will do when he next plans to leave this country.
My heart pounds at the thought of facing our adversary. But I breathe deeply to calm myself as best as possible. I have to be strong – as do the men who have pledged to save my soul from the Count.
The castle is silent, as the professor and I pull up our horses close to the gates of the fortress. There is no sign that anyone is within the castle – and there are no tracks in the snow to reveal that anyone has already settled here.
We are the first to arrive.
Making camp as it snows lightly, the professor feeds the horses whilst I manage to light a fire. Then we prepare our own meal, though I have little appetite, given my current state of mind. To divert myself from worrying over our uncertain fates, I think back to the lovely, wild countryside I have seen so far on our journey – and I wish I could appreciate it under more favourable circumstances.
Professor Van Helsing has drawn a large circle around me and the fire, in the settling snow. Then he crumbles a holy wafer into a powder that is sprinkled over the ring. He is reluctant to sleep, but he is clearly tired. As I write this, by the light of the fire as the daylight vanishes, I tell him firmly to rest – promising that I will shake him awake in an hour or so.
Later:
Night falls quickly. The snow clouds hide the moon. In the gloom, the windows of the castle now strike me as unblinking, dark eyes that seem to be gazing at us, even though there has been no sign of movement from the clifftop fortress.
There is no wind. Time passes, and eventually I begin to feel tired. All I can hear is the occasional snorting of our horses, which thankfully has prevented me from drifting into sleep myself.
The horses are now tearing at their tethers. They whinny, startling me into alertness…
I make a torch of one of the dead branches I have prepared for the fire. Peering around me into the surrounding trees, a short distance away, I see patches of the thickening mist seemed to solidify and take the form of three women wearing long, white gowns…
Soon, they are of flesh and bone, and they smile at me. Yet, they somehow appear ethereal as I hear them call to me. Their faces are pale, their voluptuous lips are red. Their eyes are bright in the firelight. Predatory. One is fair-haired – a paler colour than my own blonde locks. A second lady has dark tresses that are slightly curled. Whilst the third is a red-head of a hue similar to my much-missed Lucy.
"Come, sister. Come to us!"
I draw in my breath sharply. These must be the Count's… Well, whatever their relationship to him, they are the trio of vampire women who wanted to bite Jonathan! If he had not escaped, I suspect that they would have killed him.
And yet, they call me sister…
They must know, somehow, of my taint. Are they able to reach into my mind -or do they have their own mental links to the Count? A means by which he told them to fetch me?
'Both, sister Mina. Through your bond with Him, you are now linked to us also,' a voice inside my head speaks, making me gasp and nearly drop my flaming torch. 'Cross your circle and come to us. We will not harm you. We look forward to hearing of the modern world from you – and we will teach you what you need to learn in your new life…'
The fair-haired woman smiles, demonstrating that it is her who has spoken in my mind. For a moment, I wonder how her thoughts come across as English in my head. It must be another of their strange abilities.
I shake my head, and yell at them. "You… You all tried to kill Jonathan!"
The raven-haired one frowns and shakes her head. I start to hear words in my mind once more – hers, perhaps. But I am not listening now, as I spin round, and shake the professor vigorously with my free hand.
"Professor Van Helsing!" I breath into his ear.
His eyes flicker open and he stirs. Soon, my learned friend is upon his feet. He takes the torch from me.
"The Count's women!" he croaks. "Stay within the sacred circle, Madam Mina!"
The three ladies hiss at him, revealing their elongated eye teeth. Side by side, they walk towards the circle, their shoes barely making any noise upon the fallen snow. But they then halt a few feet from the perimeter of the circle and snarl their frustration as they evidently feel the crumbled wafers repelling them. Pausing, the three share a long look between them, and then nod, speaking no words. They then seem to almost glide over to the horses.
"No!" the professor yells. He steps outside of the circle for a moment, his blazing torch held aloft. He pauses.
Out of the darkness, the screaming of the horses startles me, making me take a deep breath to steady my nerves.
"Professor – they are going to kill the horses! We have to save them…"
"Madam Mina – you must stay within the cir-"
But it was too late. The thought of the poor creatures dying and leaving us stuck outside the castle, when we still needed them, made me grab another burning branch from the fire. I raced out of the circle. As I did so, I felt a flash of pain ripple through my body, making me stumble and pant for breath at the horrid sensation.
The professor ran over to me, to take my hand and pull me back inside the circle of protection. But immediately one of the vampires – the dark haired one - suddenly emerged as if from the mist itself once more, and stood between him and I. She nimbly dodged Van Helsing's swung torch. Then, without warning, a red-furred wolf solidified out of the mist and charged into my companion, knocking him aside and causing him to tumble down the snow-ladened slope besides him. His torch sizzled where it landed on the ground.
"Professor!" I screamed, swinging my own torch to keep the dark-haired one at bay as she turned to face me, leaving her sister-turned-wolf to focus on Van Helsing. She took a step back from the flames aimed at her, her eyes wide with fear. Nevertheless, she poised herself with a crouched stance, waiting for the moment to pounce upon me…
But it was a trick! The third vampire abruptly seized me from behind, forcing me to drop my torch as I yelled and tried to free myself. My captor was strong - possibly stronger than a mortal man as she sought to hold me with her unyielding arms. As the dark-haired one grinned and turned to join her lupine-shaped sister in the struggle against the professor, the pale blonde holding me hissed as I succeeded in grazing her skin with my heels.
"No! Do not fight us, sister Mina! It will be better for you, this way…," she spoke aloud. Her voice was accented, but she spoke excellent English.
"I do not wish…to become the Count's creature!" I rasped, still squirming.
"Your heart is pounding too much! Do not make me hurt you…," the woman moaned as she pulled me backwards – away from the professor who was now brandishing a crucifix at the woman and wolf set against him. He was, however, still unable to force his way past their unyielding wall set between him and me. I was, I knew, slowly being dragged towards the castle – where I would die. Or lose my immortal soul...
No - it would be both!
Still, I screamed and did all I could to shake off my attacker. If it had been a mortal man, I might have succeeded with my desperate, determined resistance. Instead, in her frustration, the vampire bit into an exposed part of my neck.
I froze in horror at the sudden pain, feeling a warm trickle of blood ooze from my latest wound as a drop escaped the tongue of my captor. Suddenly lightheaded, I gave up the fight.
"No…," I heard the woman moan. She licked the bite mark clean. "I am so sorry, my sister!" After a pause, she lifted my limp form into her arms, turned, and ran towards the entrance of the castle, carrying me away from the fight.
I groaned, and she whispered to me soothingly in her own language, as if I was a baby.
I was carried through the opened doorway of the castle and past the two towers on either side. Then into the courtyard with the well in one corner. The castle was unlit all around, as far as I could tell from my position.
As my captor hurried on and took me into the dark entrance hall, with its aromas of wood, stone, dust, and age, I finally lost consciousness….
*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*
Later:
When I wake up again, it was to find myself tucked into a comfortable-enough bed, with several candles burning on the mantelpiece and on a dressing table, giving me enough light to see by.
I groaned, feeling somewhat weak. After my vision had settled, I felt my neck. On one side were the pair of half-healed bite marks that the Count had left upon me. On the other side were two fresh wounds made by the lady who had stolen me away from the professor. They had healed somewhat, but were still sensitive to my touch.
Next, I pulled back the sheets to check upon my attire. My outer garments had been removed, and I could tell that my feet were bare.
"You are awake, Mina. That is good," the now-familiar voice spoke up.
Startled, I turned to see the blonde-haired vampire woman. She smiled softly, but I could see the distress in her pale sapphire eyes.
"I am sorry that I hurt you. I did not mean to bite... But your resisting me caused your heart to race… And so, I lost my self-control for a moment," she explained. She looked down at the carpet briefly, as if ashamed. "It can be difficult for creatures such as us – even when you have lived as long as I."
I had shifted as far in the bed as I could, whilst she remained in her seat in between the bed and what had to be the door leading to…the rest of the castle.
"Creatures such as us…," I repeated. Trembling, I raised a hand to check my teeth. I relaxed when I found that I had did not have fangs. They were however, still slightly longer than normal – as they had been, not long after the Count…assaulted and bit me.
My new companion gave a laugh that sounded like the clinking of sweet musical glasses. "You are not yet fully of the blood, Mina. If you are hungry for mortal food, I can bring you some crackers and cheese, biscuits, and water. Our master contacted us with his mind in recent nights – and so my sisters and I have arranged with some of the Szgany gypsies to bring in some supplies for our…guests."
"That would be good. Thank you." I nodded. I paused, before continuing. "Your English is very good, by the way! What…? What is your name?"
My captor smiled again. She stood up, still wearing the long dress she had on during the fight. "Thank you. The Count instructed us to learn your language when Mr Renfield was staying here. And so, my sisters and I learned from both our master and the books Mr Harker left behind." She gave a brief curtsey. "I am Nikolett – eldest of His three chosen companions. I will return with food and drink for you."
"Chosen companions… Are you the Count's…lovers?"
Nikolett's smile flattened into a line. "All of us were… Both before and shortly after he turned each of us into his kin. Now, we are his companions and servants."
"You are no longer his lovers… Are you his servants – or his slaves?" I put to her. "The Count does not strike me as a gentleman, and I wish to know what he intends to do to me!"
Nikolett again looked away for a moment as she considered her answer.
"He is our master – and he will be yours, too. We provide for each other, in order to survive. You will come to enjoy your new life, Mina. You will be free from the expectations of your mortal society…"
"…but I will not be free from the Count! I do not wish to be his…creature. Or his lover! Please… Let me go, Nikolett," I whispered to her.
She shook her head. "We have to obey His orders. We are to hold you here, ready for His return. Once your friends are captured, or killed, or driven away, the Count will complete His claim upon you – and you will be our new sister. Ivanna, Elizabeta, and I will care for you, Mina. We will be your dearest friends – as Lucy was to you."
I gasped. "You know of Lucy!?"
"Even from here, far away, we sensed the connection made by our master, when He completed His claim over her. Had she lived, we would have wished for the Count to have brought her with Him, back here. She should have become our sister too."
I took a moment to take this all in. I did not doubt Nikolett's sincerity. But I could tell that she was still uneasy.
"But…?" I prompted her.
She eyed the bite wound she had accidently made upon my neck. "The master will not be pleased with me that I have bitten you… And I cannot deny that He will be harsh with you, at first. As He was harsh to me, and later to my sisters, when each of us were fresh in our new lives as vampires. He loves to test our thresholds of pain, of humility, so that we learn to surrender anything that will hold us back in our servitude to Him. He is a good teacher – because you never forget His lessons. Even after many decades…" Nikolett trailed off, and then swung her lovely blue eyes back to me. "Perhaps there is a way…that things can be made…better."
"How?" I asked her.
But Nikolett was already slipping out of the room. I heard her lock the door from the outside.
There was just one other door in the bedroom. Beyond it was a bathroom and toilet. To my relief, I still had a reflection, though the burn mark from the wafer was still evident.
After I had seen to my needs and washed, I moved my sluggish body back into the bed. Though not before examining the windows. The frames were bolted, and looking through the glass, I glanced down the cliff edge and up into the snow clouds that still filled the sky.
I was a captive prisoner. I had to hope that Jonathan and the rest of my friends would succeed in killing the Count. If they did not, I was doomed to the same fate as Lucy had been. As the three sisters had been…
But if my allies did destroy Count Dracula before he could…claim me, what would become of Nikolett and her sisters? Surely, they had to die also, to free this land from their endless thirst for mortal blood…?
Within minutes, Nikolett returned, rousing me from my troubled thoughts – but this time, the two other vampire women were with her. They both smiled at me, though I was startled to see that the flame-haired maiden now bore burn marks on her exposed forearms. She handed me a glass of water with the less-burnt hand – whilst the dark-haired one bade me to sit up in bed, so I could eat from the tray of food.
The redhead gave me a pained smile as I stared at her arms. "Do not worry, sister Mina. The burns will be gone in a couple of nights." She dipped her head. "I am Elizabeta. We are pleased to meet you."
"And I am Ivanna," declared the dark-haired lady. She curtseyed to me. "Welcome to your new home. We hope you will come to be happy here."
"Your arms…! And what of the professor? Did you…kill him?" I asked, my heart in my throat.
"He still lives." Elizabeta looked annoyed, even as I sighed with relief. "We merely injured each other."
"And we barely had time to harm the horses, either. I only tasted a little from them," Nikolett spoke up. "We prefer human blood. But animals are more plentiful, so we drink from them when we must. Now, please eat up, Mina! We need to talk once we are finished."
I did so, though I felt uneasy with all three of them watching me. When I pointed this out, Ivanna gave me a sheepish look.
"Apologies. It is rare for us to have guests. And watching you reminds us a little of what it means to be mortal. We will talk outside amongst ourselves, to leave you in peace for now."
And so, the three of them departed the room for a few minutes. There was no clock in the room – and I had to rely on my watch. When they came back, Ivanna took out the emptied glass and tray.
They sat down. Elizabeta and Ivana on the two available chairs in the room; Nikolett on the edge of the bed. I tried to compose myself for what was to come.
"We cannot let you go, Mina. Our master ordered us to capture you and care for you, ready for Him to complete your transformation into one of us," Ivanna began. Her eyes flicked to Nikolett. "But our eldest has a suggestion to make. It is…daring. And dangerous."
"But He left us here, when he departed to your country to carry out his plans. We were to remain as stewards of the castle – we had no say in the matter!" Elizabeta spoke up, her eyes flashing with anger. "It would have been good to venture beyond the borders of this old land. To walk in your cities at night. Hear new music. Wear new clothes. Feel the scents of new places. Taste the blood of people in new lands…"
"You are all prisoners here, like me. You are just on a longer leash that you are bound to…," I whispered in realisation. "How long have you each lived here? If 'lived' is the word…"
"Nikolett was turned in the sixteenth century – and Elizabeta and I in the seventeenth century. Since becoming vampires, we have spent most of our lives here at our master's castle and the surrounding lands," Ivanna informed me.
My mind reeled at this information.
"We may be able to prevent you from being as much of a prisoner as you rightly fear, dear Mina." Nikolett spoke up, raising her bowed head in order to meet my eyes. Our master will punish me when He realises that I bit you. Therefore, I may as well see if it is possible for us to establish our own bond with you – and perhaps…dilute…His hold over you. Then you – and your male companions – might achieve what we cannot do ourselves."
My heart leapt into my mouth. "You mean…dest-"
I was silenced by Nikolett lunging towards me and placing her finger upon my lips. "Do not say it!" she warned me. "Do not think it! Least He becomes aware of your thoughts when He arrives here."
My throat turned dry. "You talk of establishing your own…bond with me. You mean for all of you to…take my blood…and give me yours, do you not? Professor Van Helsing called it the baptism of blood."
Nikolett nodded, smiling now. "We will be gentle with you, Mina."
"Through us, you will be free of your…Victorian social conventions. And, through you, we might discover our own freedoms also," Ivanna added.
I nervously tugged on a lock of my blonde hair. "I will not be able to tutor my pupils again…," I lamented. "And what of Jonathan? And of my other friends?"
"If you work with us, Mina, we hope at least one of them will survive the coming battle with Him," Elizabeta perked up. The tips of her fangs showed as she carefully licked her lips. "I would like to meet your friends. If they lay down their arms, that is…"
"If they lay down altogether for you, you mean, sister," Ivanna chuckled as she rubbed Elizabeta's shoulder with affection.
"You all tried to seduce my fiancé, as he was then… Tried to kill him," I protested.
Ivanna shook her head. "We all wanted to taste his blood; it is true. But when the Count promised him to us… No! We would not have killed him. We wanted to kiss him – both with our lips…and our teeth."
"We would have shared him between us, as a lover. Given him pleasure in return…," Elizabeta gleefully cooed.
"…and then turn him. Then teach him our ways. And have him teach us of the wider world," Nikolett concluded the scenario for me as I quivered. She looked hard at me. "You can yet save him by giving yourself freely to us, Mina. We will not force you. Please let us help you. Otherwise, we will have to leave you alone, for our master to become yours too. I think you know a little of his cruelty, first hand."
I nodded and held my face in my hands. Dare I take on the gamble that was Nikolett's plan? Dare I not? The professor was wounded, but my friends would not give up until they had found me – even if they died in the process. And I had asked Jonathan to kill me, if I am became a vampire…
I thought of everything that I would lose. Had I already eaten my last…normal…meal? And yet, I wondered what I might gain…
"Will it hurt? Dying, I mean," I asked them.
"Yes. But we will make it as gentle as possible. We will comfort you when the moment comes," Nikolett replied.
Eventually, I drew in a deep breath to steady my pounding heart and nodded. "I will do as you ask. For Jonathan and my friends. And for you, my new sisters. I hope that Jonathan can forgive me. And that God will forgive me."
All three of them sighed with relief. Nikolett got me to swing my legs out of the bed, as she sat down next to me. "Thank you, dear Mina. We will take only what we need to, to establish our bonds," she declared.
Then she held me gently – one hand wrapped around my neck. The other hand softly stroking my face. There was none of the Count's aggression in her contact.
Nikolett kept her promise, and bit me gently – in the same place as she had before. Licking my wound clean to stop the flow of my blood, she then sliced into a vein on her exposed forearm with a sharp nail and pressed her bleeding wound to my questing mouth. I gagged at first – and then managed to slowly swallow the dark red blood. It was…unpleasant. But not as bad as I feared.
Then Ivanna took Nikolett's place, and she repeated the process. To be followed by Elizabeta. Ivanna's caress and her tongue were somehow more lingering, more sultry than Nikolett's – whilst Elizabeta's touching and tasting of me was both fiercer yet more playful.
After my bite wounds on that side of my neck were licked for the third time, I felt lightheaded once more. Elizabeta carefully lowered my head back onto the pillow and she covered me up.
"Sleep for now, sister," she whispered to me. "When the time is right for us to act, we will be back to fetch you…"
The last thing that I saw before drifting into slumber was my new…family…heading out of the room.
*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*
I woke up some time later in the night, feeling weak and dreadfully ill. I managed to read my watch, which was on the bedside stand next to me. The time was after four in the morning.
"Oh, God. Please help me…," I croaked, wondering if He would listen to one tainted such as I. I felt my cheek. My skin was cold.
Slowly, I moved the blanket aside and swung my legs onto the floor. My heart was by this time beating erratically, and I feared that my end was not only coming – but that I would not return from the dead, to save Jonathan and the others. Lord! I wanted Jonathan to be with me, there and then. So that I could die in the arms of my husband. Given that was impossible, I wanted at least one of my new companions with me.
The door was locked, of course. So, I banged on it, crying out for help.
Then my body shuddered from a sudden wave of pain. I wailed, and then I was on the carpet, gasping out for breath. I tried to move my feet, to get up and crawl back onto the bed – but my legs twitched and then stopped moving. My arms soon became paralysed also. My mouth was dry, and I was scared I was going to choke on my tongue – so I rested my face upon the floor. My breathing had turned rapid, and my heart was pumping furiously – as though the engine of my body was out of control and failing. Shutting down, part by part.
I was dying. And I was scared witless.
I dimly heard the door being unlocked, before my world turned silent. Nikolett, Ivanna, and Elizabeta all hurried in. Between them, they lifted me from the floor. They stroked my face and hair and talked to me. But I could not hear them – and when they realised this, they looked worried. Elizabeta held my hand, comforting me as my breath became more and more strained, until I could no longer draw in another breath.
With a final gasp, my lungs stopped working. Moments later, my tired heart ceased beating.
The last thing I felt was being held tenderly by my three companions, as my remaining senses all shut down. The world around me turned dark, and I knew no more…