A/N: Short chapter, I know, but necessary. Now a few review responses, before I forget:
A Reader: I'm glad you liked it!
Greenycrimson: Actually after I posted this here I went and changed all references to "Jon" to Jonathan, and it won't happen again.
Soawen: I love the novel, so this will all be novel-based. And I'm glad you like that scene too! It's my favorite.
Vampyre: A Jonathan/Mina fan! Well, I'm not sure how much I'll have of that in here, but we'll have to see.
Unclean
Two
Seward, Quincy, Van Helsing, Arthur and Jonathan were left alone in the empty room. The light had returned, and Quincy had re-lighted his lantern, so Jonathan could see the blood on the bed and sheets. He whispered, horrified, "Oh God, Mina, what happened here?"
Van Helsing looked sadly at him, but could not seem to bring himself to answer. He only said, whispering as Jonathan had. "We have lost her. It is no use anymore." The others all were somewhat confused, for they, unlike Van Helsing, did not completely understand what had happened to Mina. Seward said cautiously, to Van Helsing, "Yes Professor, I do not understand either, please tell us what has happened to Mrs. Harker."
Van Helsing sighed. "While we were all blissfully unaware of it, poor Madame Mina was suffering the same fate as the late Madame Lucy. But this time he was more careful to ensure that Madame Mina would be his, and his alone. He has forced her to drink his blood as he has drunk hers. And now he has taken her away from us so that there is no chance of saving her."
Tears were running down Jonathan's face as he heard these words and he pressed the bloodstained sheets to his cheek, hoping that he was touching her blood. Then he gave a great cry, renting the air with its sorrow. "NO!" He screamed, and the sympathy of all the others was with him, for they had seen Lucy, their best beloved, suffer the same fate as Mina was facing now. But they could say nothing in the face of his innumerable grief; they could say nothing to his endless sorrow. They were mute in the face of that pain so great as to make one lose oneself in it.
Then Jonathan spoke on, unable to stop the flow of pain and sorrow. "I will go, and take Mina back from the clutches of that monster! And he will suffer for the pain he has caused her!" Van Helsing looked at him sadly, as one might look at a child who has just said that they are going to find their dead parent and bring them back. "But you do not even know where the Count might have gone, and by the time you will have gotten there, poor Madame Mina will be dead, or worse. We must go, but not so soon, we have to wait and plan."
But Jonathan still wept, and he still cried out, "No, no, I cannot let it happen, I will not!" Van Helsing spoke gently, "You have no choice." But the others looked at him aghast, and Arthur said, in that poor stuttering way of his, "But Professor, if Mr. Harker here…if he, well, if he wants to try to rescue Madame Mina then…um….well, it's a valiant act, and I…I don't think it should be discouraged in…um…such a way. I mean, well, surely he could do some good."
Seward nodded. "Yes, you should let Jonathan go. Perhaps Mina will have kept strength and held on. She is a strong woman, and Jonathan should help her..." Quincy finally spoke. "Yes, we can't afford to lost hope, even in these desolate times. Jon here is good man, and should go to his wife."
Van Helsing looked around him; everyone had agreed with Jon and turned against him in that. "I suppose that if you wish to go now, then you may. But we must be careful, and plan, for the monster has traps waiting at every turn."
Then Quincy spoke. "But why shouldn't we all go with him? He'll certainly need help on this journey, and you, Professor, know more about the vampire then any other alive."
Van Helsing sighed. "I suppose that I can go, if indeed I must. But you all then must come, if we are to bring Madame Mina back." Quincy tossed his gun in the air happily. "Finally, an adventure! I've been waiting for something to happen for a time now, and I feel better now that I have something to do. Come, we must get ready."