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Letter from Lucy Westenra to Mina Murray, dated 1897:
My Dear Mina,
I finally received your letter, after far too long since hearing from you, and my love I am terribly worried about you. I waited for a few days before writing this reply, hoping for another letter from you, but nothing.
My love, I am so afraid that you are not safe. Though I must admit, things are not much safer here than where you are my dear. There has been a string of mysterious murders around London, I’m worried for our dear friend Erik, who has gone into one of the university’s that seem to have been heavily targeted. He is of course using a different name for this, I just worry that he won’t be careful enough, despite his training. This particular university is seemingly being targeted by the killer or, if Erik is correct, killers.
Erik has told me some concerning information, that he suspects the killers are not human, that they are vampires. The same as in those stories Erik’s father used to tell us when we were children. Apparently, these creatures kill in a remarkably similar way that these murders have been committed. We have tried to contact Abraham, with no reply, leaving Erik concerned for his father’s well being.
But, my love, my main concern is this Dracula, who we suspect has something to do with these murders. Erik believes your client is one of these creatures, which if true, you are in more danger than you feared.
I am yet to hear word of you returning to London, so I decided to write and hope you’re at the In Between inn, on your way home to me.
Come home to me my love, please. I miss you and I am frightened, frightened that you may never return to me. Please come home soon.
You forever have my heart, my adoration and my love.
Yours always,
Lucy Westenra.
Lucy’s Point of View.
I sent the letter off to the In Between Inn, hoping against hope that I would receive a reply, though still fearing the worst for my poor Mina. I couldn’t linger on the thought for long though, as Erik came through the door, dressed in his university uniform. He stopped in the doorway, a sad smile on his face as my eyes begin to water. He raises his arms in offer of a hug, which I gratefully accept. Erik, Mina and I had known each other for an exceptionally long time, his comfort was that of a brother’s to me. “I’m worried Erik.”
“I know Lucy, I know.” Erik pulled away slightly looking into my eyes, the words unspoken because nothing he could say that would quell my fears. I smile at him, my brother in spirit, my eyes telling of the sadness barely contained. Erik tells me the plan, he’s going to go out with some of the gents from university, heading upstairs to change while I wait for him in the entrance hall, having already been dressed for the occasion. Once Erik is dressed, we head towards the door to start our hunt, our hunt for Dracula.
Our plan was the same as every night so far. He goes wherever the gents from the University are congregating that night, I stay close by, hidden in shadows, watching to see if the killer is following them. So far, I’ve been less than fruitful, the killer being almost supernatural at stalking their unsuspecting prey. Erik had been trying to identify a pattern in the victims being killed, though all he’d been able to identify is that only men were being taken, and most where being taken from this university in London. He managed to enrol himself under the pseudonym ‘Charles Harker’, his Norwegian accent undetectable, though to be fair he had been living in London upwards of fifteen years.
As I’m watching the pub that the group of men are in, I begin to let my eyes wander, looking around at the people. It’s almost peaceful, watching them whilst being largely unseen, tucked away into the entrance of an alleyway dressed in all black trousers, boots, shirt and trench coat, blending in almost entirely to the stone walls under cover of night. The cool evening air distracting me momentarily from the dread of not knowing what my Mina might be suffering, watching people go from pub to pub, from days of work to rest at home. All of these people have no idea the danger they could be in, simply by being outside.
The government hadn’t yet released an official statement about the murders, though they definitely knew what was happening to their citizens, probably confused by the strange way the murders were happening. Only the papers had been publicly talking about the murders around London, making it useless as no one here believed the papers, almost ensuring that no one took the murders seriously. Sometimes I envied Mina’s endless optimism, confidence in us and our friends. I was terribly afraid that we couldn’t do this, that we wouldn’t be able to help anyone, not even ourselves. Mina though, Mina had faith in us and our friends, had faith in goodness prevailing.
Oh, my love, how I miss her. All I wish for is her safety, though wherever she might be, has strong potential to be safer than we are here, I still wish she was here with me. My eyes tear up as I think of her, my lovely Mina, probably lost and alone, maybe even hoping I’m coming to save her. I wish that’s what I were doing, but I can’t risk leaving, especially not if Erik would be left here alone, Abraham would never forgive me for leaving his son alone in danger.
Suddenly, I feel a hand grabbing my shoulder, letting out a strangled sort of gasp as I turn, I see Erik, realising I had been distracted. Because of Erik’s concerned look, I realise tears were rolling down my face.
I smile at him as I wiped my eyes, “Sorry Erik, I got distracted by my thoughts.”
Erik smiles at me, close mouthed but still a smile. “If it’s too much for you tonight, Lu, it’s okay, I can do this alone.”
I smile back, shaking my head no, “I’ll be alright, and I absolutely refuse to leave you alone in this Erik, I never will, okay?”
Erik just smiles in return, turning to walk towards the road, “Well, if you’re sure, we need to go and wait for these guys to leave. I’m fairly certain that one of them is the next victim, he’s staying further out than the others and on his own, so we’ll keep an eye out for him.” Erik crosses the road, going toward the Inn across form the pub, one that has a front facing sitting room, allowing us to watch and have cover at the same time. Once we have paid the Landlady to let us sit in her room, we settled into two armchairs, facing towards the street we were just on, looking directly at the pub Erik had just been in.
We settled in, conversing in hushed tones as we waited, hoping to catch the culprit before they were able to hurt anyone else. The Inn Landlady came in at one point to add logs to the fireplace behind us, trying to spark conversation with us, polite and friendly enough, though I let Erik handle the conversation, my mind plagued by the many troubles I have been faced with as of late.
It's nothing new to me, facing my troubles, having had many moments of pain that I have had to endure, but I did endure and here I am. Despite what people from my past would hope, I survived them. But this, this just feels different, like a turning point, or a crossroads. It feels as though a choice will have to be made, and Mina, Erik and I will be in the center of it, along with this murderer. I do wish Mina were here, she would know what to say, what to do. As much as Erik is helpful, he also is missing a dear loved one who has seemingly vanished from the face of the Earth.
“I’m sure they’ll turn up soon Lu, and if not, we’ll just have to go find them.” Erik spoke, making me realise we were once again alone, the fire roaring more than before, and outside having grown even darker. I had clearly dozed off, though Erik chose not to bring it up. I looked at him and saw a similar sadness in his gaze, giving him a close-lipped smile as my response, reaching my hand out and clasping his tightly. We both then looked out at the pub, only watching for a few moments more before a singular gentleman began to stumble his way outside into the night.
Erik gave my hand a squeeze before standing, “That’s him, time to go.”
I got up to follow, both of us walked out into the night, long coats wrapped up tight and keeping a good distance back from the potential victim, we followed the young gentleman into the dark alleyways of London.
Mina’s Point of View.
I had no idea where I was, no idea how long I had been here, stuck in these dead woods that seem to have eyes all over them. The only tell of time was my injuries, the less they hurt the more time that has passed. I thought I had successfully escaped Dracula’s clutches, but I had really trapped myself more, as impossible as it seems, these woods have a mind of their own. The path I took in to get to Dracula’s home was changing daily, winding and weaving around me night and day, trapping me in this never-ending loop of despair.
I cannot count how many times I have tried to find my way out; maps I have tried to draw on the ground taunting me as I lose and then rediscover them whenever I think I have made any progress. My mind begins to think of giving up, but I refuse, I know I came in this way so I must be able to leave this way too. I will not abandon Lucy; I will find my way out and I will get back to London soon, I will return to my loves arms and never leave again. But I have no way of knowing how long it’s been, no way of knowing if Dracula had already made it to London, no way of knowing if everyone I know and love is dead, or worse.
No, I cannot think like that, I need to just hope that Abraham and Erik are with Lucy and our friends, making sure they survive. I can look after myself, I can get myself out of this, I will be okay, I can escape this purgatory. Lucy was right, I should have stayed in London, I shouldn’t have taken this forsaken job. God why do I have to be so damn optimistic about these things! I need to learn to be more cautious, need to learn that not everyone has the best intentions. I thought I was smart, I thought I knew all of that, but no, I trust everybody I meet apparently.
Before I could wallow anymore in my own pity, the trees began shrieking. I screamed in response, bending over and covering my ears in desperation. The sound felt as though it had claws, scratching and carving into my eardrums, my own screams mixing with their shrieks, the two becoming undefinable from the other, something wet and warm falling from my ears and onto my hands. My brain feeling as though it were about to explode, until the sound stopped, my ears continuing to scream despite the deafening silence, feeling an arm around my shoulders. In too much pain to fight I let whoever, or whatever, was moving me forward, unable to fight back or see who was moving me.
I kept my eyes closed, almost terrified to open them for fear of what I might find, making myself feel like a child. Eventually we stop moving, I feel myself being sat down, my hands still covering my ears, eyes closed shut. Whover it is who is in front me placed their hands over mine, they felt warm, familiar. I opened one eye slowly peeking at whoever it was, seeing the face of Abraham, I opened my eyes fully and threw my arms around him, immediately sobbing with relief at seeing my friend, Abraham smiled and hugged be back.
“Oh, my dear, I know, I know, you’re okay, I’ve got you.” Abraham was trying to soothe me, but it just made me cry more, hearing such a familiar voice, a voice I so heavily associated with home. Abraham continued to hold me, comforting me as he once did when I was a child. He smelled as he always did, of gun smoke and cigars, warm against my cold form. He pulled the coat he had placed around me tighter, hoping to get some warmth in me, hands rubbing up and down my arms as I continued to sob into his chest.
“Oh God am I relived to see you, I’ve been so alone Abraham, I was so scared I would go mad before I ever got out.” I was still crying, but the sobbing had died down. Abraham used a cloth to clean up my ears, the warmth I’d felt had been blood. He finished cleaning what he could, then moved on to making a small fire to heat some food up for us.
“When I heard from Erik that you had gone to see Dracula, I left to come find you. I know who she is, and you should never have come here Mina.” Abraham spoke with authority, as he usually did, though in this matter he had the right to be authoritative.
“I know, but I couldn’t pass the opportunity to make some money like they offered, and my company barley sends me out anywhere. I can’t rely only on Lucy’s family wealth, that’s not fair to her.” I sighed after speaking, already knowing what he was going to say next.
“You know Lucy doesn’t mind,” We both spoke simultaneously, Abraham giving me a pointed look, looking back at what he was doing at the fire before continuing, “Well, she does say so Mina, but I don’t blame you for wanting to be able to make your own money. But this,” he gestures around us while looking at me once more, “this was a bad choice, especially without talking to me first.” He was right, I knew he was, but I wasn’t ready to admit that yet, deciding instead to ask if the food was ready yet.
It was, and after we had eaten, he caught me up on current happenings, letting me know that he had also lost contact with his son and Lucy before being able to find me. Apparently, I was not the only one who found this place to be very confusing to navigate.
“So, how are we getting back home?” Abraham looks at me for a beat, looking unsure on how to answer, taking a deep breath in before huffing it out and answering.
“Well, that’s trickier. While Dracula is not necessarily in this country anymore, she has eyes everywhere, which is why we’re camping and not at the Inn.” Abraham looks down, shaking his head to himself, clearly not sure how we’re going to go unnoticed, especially with me attached to him.
“Whatever you say Abe, I will do, I’m not going to be who delays us any longer.” Abe gives me a look, clearly not trusting my word. Rolling my eyes, “I swear it Abe, I will do exactly what you tell me, no back talk.”
“We both know that’s a lie, you will always talk back young lady, no matter how dire situation.” I roll my eyes, about to respond when he gives me a look, making me close my mouth before gesturing for him to continue while I look at the interesting dirt at my feet, “As I was saying, we cannot be noticed, so we’ll have to go off the beaten track, keep a low profile and be very quiet when we have to go near people for supplies. We cannot risk Dracula knowing I have found you, and I know this will upset you, but we cannot send any sort of letters to Lucy and Erik.”
At that, my head shoots up, looking at him with shock before I argue, “We have to let them know we’re safe Abe! They’ll be worried something silly; we have to inform them that we’re safe, or at least that we’ve found each other!” I can feel myself getting angry, wanting nothing more than to stomp away and find somewhere to write Lucy a letter, standing up to do just that, when Abe grabs my arm.
“No, we can’t, if you want them to stay safe, we can’t risk reaching out Mina.” My eyes water, looking at Abe and seeing the upset in his own eyes, I understand that he also wants to contact Erik as much as I want to contact Lucy. Sighing, I sit myself back down, letting Abe pull me into a side hug as the tears fall down my face, Abe tucking my head into his chest while he shushes me, trying to calm me again.
“I’m sorry Abe.” Shame washes through me as my emotions overwhelm me, Abe shushing me and trying to comfort me.
“You have nothing to be sorry for Mina, I understand.”
Abe patted my back as he stood up, walking toward his bags while I whipped my eyes, standing up to follow him. He gives me a look, before handing me a bag with a sad smile on his face, stomping out the fire before taking my hand and walking us on the edge of the forest, trusting that Abe knows the way to go.