The sun rose and shone its light upon the town of Whitby. Ada, who had fallen asleep during her shift, woke up slowly. She yawned, before getting up and heading back inside.
She went upstairs where Mina and Helsing were with Lucy. "How's she doing?" Ada asked. "Terrible. She's grown deathly pale once again.
"Is anyone coming to help today?" Mina asked. "I tried calling Holmwood, but he wasn't available. So, I called Morris." Helsing said before they heard a man enter the house. "I came as soon as I heard the news!" Quincey Morris announced as he came upstairs.
"Seward gave me Morris's phone number a few days back, just in case anything bad happened." Helsing explained. "Oh dear." Quincey said at the sight of Lucy. "She looks horrible!" Morris exclaimed.
"And she'll die if we don't perform another blood transfusion on her. Who's up for it this time?" Helsing asked. "I'll do it." Morris said, before taking his jacket off, rolling his sleeve up, and sitting down in the bedside chair.
"What's with that accent of his?" Ada whispered to Mina. "Quincey's from Texas." Mina answered. "You mean like… in America?" Ada asked. "Yep." Mina said.
Helsing performed the blood transfusion, but Lucy was still paler than she should be. "No, this shouldn't be happening!" Helsing said.
"Alright, I'll go find Holmwood in town." Helsing said. "Why?" Mina asked. "I see it best that Holmwood sees his fiance before she perishes." Helsing said before leaving the room.
"Wait, no, no, no! You can't be serious!" Mina exclaimed. "Mina, I'll go after him. You two just stay with Lucy for now." Ada said. "Okay." Mina complied, holding back tears. Then, Ada kissed Mina and left.
Mina was a bit shocked that Ada would do that right in front of Quincey. "Absolutely fascinating." Quincey said. "You better not tell anyone about that." Mina threatened. "I promise I won't. I'm a man of my word." Quincey promised.
Meanwhile:
Ada followed Helsing out of the house. "Helsing, wait." Ada pleaded before Helsing handed a newspaper to Ada. Ada read the newspaper, and it detailed that the grave sight for the diseased asylum guards was completely excavated, every grave dug up, and the bodies gone.
"If you're here to ask me to be more optimistic, know that we will not survive in this city for long. The experts I contacted a while back should be arriving tomorrow." Helsing said. "Can they save Lucy?" Ada asked.
Helsing paused and turned around to look at Ada. "No, they're strigoi hunters." Helsing said before leaving. Ada turned on her heel and went back inside. She went upstairs and entered Lucy's room.
"Helsing lied to us. The experts he contacted are not coming to save Lucy, they're coming to kill Dracula." Ada said. "Excuse me, what?!" Mina asked. "Who's Dracula?" Quincey asked.
"Quincey, Dracula is a powerful strigoi from the Romanian commune that I grew up in. He's the reason for Lucy's illness. I'm guessing that Helsing could keep Lucy alive until the hunters arrived to kill Dracula, freeing Lucy from the curse. He didn't tell us the truth because he wasn't trying to appear like a nut-job to Lucy's mother." Ada explained.
"Well… maybe Lucy can survive long enough." Mina said. "She's already growing closer to turning, and the hunters haven't even arrived. Who knows how long hunting Dracula will take?" Ada asked.
Then, Lucy woke up. "What happened?" she asked. "Ada and Mina gave a look to one another, silently saying that it's time to tell Lucy the truth. "You're gonna die." Ada said. "What?!" Lucy asked hysterically. "Did you have to word it like that?!" Quincy asked.
"Look… Lucy, the man that bit you was a strigoi." Mina said. "We call them vampires where I'm from." Quincey said. "That has a nice ring to it. Point is that… you're going to die soon, and turn into a vampire." Mina said.
"And the only way to stop that is to defile your corpse." Ada said. Lucy didn't cry, and scream, she just had a defeated expression on her face. "Mina, when I die, I want you to carry out the procedure." Lucy requested.
"Oh… y-yeah, I can do that." Mina said, clearly not wanting to actually do it. "I'm gonna go out." Ada said before leaving the room.
Later that day:
Ada walked along the docks, looking at the remaining wreck of the Demeter, the damned ship that brought that monster to the town. She went up to the ship, and climbed up onto the deck. She looked down into the hull of the ship.
She looked around, and saw that there was no cargo left in the hull. She went back up to the docks, and approached the coast guard. "What happened to all the cargo?" she asked. "Sorry, madam, but that's confidential." the coaster guard said, clearly not taking Ada seriously.
Then, Ada shoved the coast guard into an alleyway, and she pulled a gun on him. "Tell me what happened, and I won't shoot you." Ada threatened. "Okay, okay. 50 boxes of soil were taken to 50 individual homes on the outskirts of London." the coast guard said.
"Thanks for the tip." Ada said before running away. Ada made her way back to Lucy's house. She went inside, and went upstairs. In Lucy's room, she saw Mina, Helsing, and Quincey standing over Holmwood, who was crying at Lucy's bedside over her condition.
Lucy was deathly pale, her bite marks had disappeared, her lips were a deep crimson red, and her canines had grown into long fangs. She had fallen asleep once again. "She won't live long." Helsing said. "Can I say goodbye?" Holmwood asked. "Yes, Arthur." Helsing said.
Then, Ada grabbed the bolt-action rifle from beside the door, and she pulled the bolt back, chambering a round. She proceeded to lean against the door frame, holding the rifle between her legs. "Just in case." Ada said.
Then, Helsing nudged Lucy awake. Lucy slowly sat up. "Arthur. I'm so glad to see you." Lucy said before leaning forward to kiss Holmwood, but Helsing pulled Holmwood back. "How dare you!" Lucy shouted as she tried getting out of bed to confront Helsing, but Ada rushed forward and hit Lucy in the face with butt of the rifle.
"I-I'm sorry." Lucy apologized. "Make sure Arthur doesn't get hurt." Lucy requested. "We will." Mina reassured, before hugging Lucy for a second, and pulling away. Then, Holmwood kissed Lucy on the forehead, but not the lips.
"Arthur, I…" Lucy was cut off as she began to struggle with breathing. Then, she collapsed onto her bed. Quincey, Holmwood, and Mina all began crying at the loss of their friend, and Holmwood's lover.
Then, Helsing heard a knock at the door downstairs. He went downstairs with Ada, and opened the door. They were greeted by three people, armed with metal stakes, crossbows, garlic, and stylish outfits galore.
The first hunter was a Russian man, dressed in a long, dark, double-breasted coat made of black wool, with subtle silver detailing on the cuffs and collar. The coat was high-collared, and had many pockets for holding silver stakes, vials of holy water, and a silver crucifix. He wore simple black trousers with a belt, and dark leather boots. He carried a felling axe with him. He had long black hair, and a full beard with dark-green eyes. He was decently muscular, but not very large, only standing at 5 foot 8. "Lev Volkov at your service, m'lady." he said, before kissing Ada's hand.
The second hunter was an African man, who wore a tailored brown trench coat, modified with brass buckles, gear embellishments, and a high, stiff collar with metallic accents. He wore dark brown rugged trousers that were tucked into knee-high leather boots. He was five foot ten, muscular, had hazel colored eyes, and a short beard, with short hair atop his head. He carried a crossbow with him that was custom built to take stakes as ammo. "Ade Adisa at your service." he said, shaking Ada's hand. "Nice to meet you too." Ada said.
The third hunter was a woman, dressed in a high-neck, ankle-length black gown made from velvet and lace. The gown had bell-shaped sleeves with intricate lace work. She had two blade sheethes slung around her back in an X shape, allowing her easy access to foot and half long blades. She had mid-back length, black, silky hair that covered her left-eye. Her waist was slim, her bust was rather large, and her hips were wide and shapely. She had crimson red eyes. She was of Bulgarian origin. "Siana Aleksiev at your service, madam." she said, bowing slightly. "Very nice to meet you!" Ada said, shaking Siana's hand excitedly. Then, Ada stopped, reminding herself that she was with Ada.
"Alright, we have a victim upstairs that needs to be dealt with." Helsing said. "Alright, come on!" Lev ordered. They all went upstairs to Lucy's room, where Mina, Quincey, and Holmwood were waiting. Mina had the lever-action rifle aimed at Lucy's dead body.
Siana looked at the body, and then, Lucy awakened, before lunging out of bed at Siana. Siana dodged the attack, and quickly drew one of her blades, slicing Lucy's left arm off. Then, Ade shot Lucy in the chest with a metal stake, and Lev decapitated her with the felling axe, killing Lucy.
Lev proceeded to take out a handful of sliced garlic, and he shoved it inside of the head's mouth, before Siana sewed the head's mouth shut. "Prepare the burial, we can not take any chances with her somehow reviving again." Lev ordered. "Yes sir!" Ade and Siana complied simultaneously, before Ade picked up the body, and Siana picked up the head.
"She should be buried soon enough. Those two are quick workers. Now, do you know where the target may be?" Lev asked. "Sadly, no." Helsing said. "Actually, he's hiding out at the Carfax Abbey, at least, that's what Mina and I believe." Ada said.
"Then we attack once the victim is buried." Lev said. "But it will be nighttime by then." Quincey said. "We are trained professionals. Fighting the Strigoi at night is better than letting it hunt people for another night." Lev said.
"Very well then." Quincey said. "We can help." Ada said. "We don't need your assistance." Lev said. "Lev, the bastard has taken so much from these people. I believe this matter has become more personal. Please, let them join you. They're stronger than you make them out to be, at least, Ada and Mina are." Helsing pleaded. "Fine, but if they die, it's not my fault." Lev said. "Of course it isn't." Helsing agreed.
Later that day:
The group geared up for the hunt. Lucy loaded the bolt-action rifle and Mina loaded up the lever-action rifle. Holmwood grabbed a shotgun, and a machete, while Quincey grabbed two revolvers. Helsing grabbed a single revolver, and put on a long-brimmed hat.
Siana walked up to Quincey. "You really think you can dual-wield? I like your confidence." Siana said before winking at him and walking away, which made Quincey blush. "Alright, let's get moving!" Lev ordered.
The group left the house and made their way to the Whitby swing bridge. They could see the abbey from there. The group continued on their path up to the abbey, until they finally reached it. They stepped inside the partially collapsed building. "I always thought this place was creepy." Holmwood said.
Then, they stopped in their tracks at the sight of Seward's dead body. "No, this can't be." Helsing said. "Um… I think we have bigger problems than one dead dude." Mina said. The group looked around, and they saw the reanimated corpses of the asylum guards crawling out of hiding places, over the walls, through the windows, and out of the basement.
"Oh… so that's where they went." Ada realized, fear in her voice. Then, Dracula flew out of the basement, and Renfield followed, sprinting at an inhuman speed. "Have fun!" Renfield shouted before disappearing over the hill.
The asylum guards began slowly creeping towards the group. "Quincey, you're from America, give us a good swear word." Ada requested. Then, the corpses began rushing towards them. "Motherfucker!" Quincey shouted before shooting one in the head, dropping it.
"Fight!" Lev shouted, rushing towards one of the corpses, and swinging his axe at its head, decapitating it. The group spanned out, attacking the corpses with deadly precision. Ada and Mina stood back to back, covering each as they shot at the corpses.
Quincy and Holmwood dodged corpses, taking shots when they had the chance, and most of the time, they hit their mark. A corpse lunged at Quincy, but it got shot in the head by Holmwood. "Where did you get so good with guns?" Quincy asked. "Hunting trips with my father, we used shotguns." Holmwood answered. "I learned in Texas." Quincey said before shooting a corpse that was attacking him from behind right in the head.
Ade and Helsing through the corpses. Helsing covered Ade with his pistol while Ad reloaded his crossbow. "Been a long time since we've last seen each other, old friend." Ade said. "I wish it could be under better circumstances." Helsing said before pistol whipping a corpse to its knees, and shooting it in the head.
Lev took large swings with his axe, taking out multiple corpses at once. One corpse tried grabbing him from behind, but he just butted it in the face with his axe, before spinning around and decapitating it. "Come on, fleshbags!" he shouted.
Then, Siana dashed by, slicing through corpses with her blades. She flipped over one corpse, stabbed it through the head. Then, she threw one of her blades at a corpse, before taking the blade back, and then, she got up on a pew, flipped off of it sliced at corpse's head in half, and landed upside down, standing on the tip of her blade, before flipping back onto her feet, flipping over another corpse, doing a spin, and slicing it in the side of its neck.
Lev was left absolutely speechless. "Y'know, Lev, I think they're too dumb to accept a challenge." Siana said before slicing another one's stomach open.
Mina and Ada continued shooting, until Ada ran out of ammo. She was gonna use her rifle as a melee weapon, like Mina was now, but then, a corpse snatched it from her, and threw it to the side.
Ada instinctively responded by punching the corpse in the jaw, sending its weak body to the ground. "You're not really about to fist fight these things, are you?" Mina asked. Ada looked and saw her rifle getting kicked around across the floor, making it difficult to get to. "I guess I am." Ada said before cracking her knuckles. She rushed towards a corpse and punched it square in the face.
Then, another one tried to grab her. She grabbed its arm, kneed it in the stomach, and punched it in the face. Mina covered her, wacking the corpses with her rifle. Everyone wielding guns had run out of ammo, and Lev was preoccupied with a large wave of guards. "This many guards were killed?!" Ada asked hysterically as a large wave rushed towards her and Mina.
"I got this! Give me a boost!" Siana requested. Ada and Mina helped boost Siana's jump, and Siana landed in the middle of the wave of corpses. She pressed buttons on the hilts of her blades, and the blades dangled from the hilts by thin, long, but strong cables that were coiled up inside the hilts. Then, she did a full 360, swinging the blades around, and decapitating all the corpses.
Siana proceeded to press another button on each hilt, and the cables coiled back up, reattaching the blades to the hilts. "Woah, where did you get those?" Ada asked. "The blades were forged by a black smith, but I built all the mechanics on the inside." Siana answered.
Then, Lev took out the last of the corpses. "Alright, these bastards are done." Lev said. "Ade did the worst." Siana joked. "Excuse me, but does your weapon take an egregious amount of time to reload?!" Ade asked defensively. "Relax, man, I'm just kidding around." Siana said.
"Now we just have to figure out where Dracula went." Helsing said. "The coast guard told me that there were boxes of soil on the ship that brought Dracula here." Ada said. "The Demeter, yeah we saw that thing on our way to the house. I had actually seen it in a fair share of Bulgarian ports in the past. That ship was old. It's… actually kind of nostalgic." Siana said.
"Alright, Siana, we're not here to reminisce on the past." Ade said. Siana just punched his arm in response. "Ow!" Ade exclaimed. "No need to be an arsehole." Siana shamed. "Okay, whatever." Ade complied.
"Anyways, the coast guard told me that the boxes of soil were shipped to 50 different houses on the outskirts of London." Ada said. "Dracula must be planning to use those houses as hideouts in London, but why?" Mina asked.
The group wondered for a moment, before Ada had a realization. "Wait, he's addressed by the title of Count Dracula in letters. Perhaps he was a noble in life, and he wants to turn London into a Vampire colony, like… to sort of have a community of loyal servants to rule." Ada said.
"So he's a guy who's still broken up over losing his political power, and now he wants to rule at least one community again?" Ade asked. "Or he wants to use the turned population of London to slowly expand his rule across the British isle." Siana suggested. "I mean, once someone turns into a vampire, they need to be in contact with sunlight, and they have to be stabbed in the chest to kill." Lev said. "Yeah, if the light wasn't shining through that girl's window earlier, we'd all be dead." Ade said.
"So a vampire army would be great for conquering the isle." Mina said. Then, Siana spoke up. "Well, boys and girls, it looks like we're going on a trip to London."
A/N: And that's the end of this chapter. I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I just enjoyed releasing two longer chapters in general. Anyways, bye!