Dracula Theory, page 11
Van Helsing paced about his study. After a long stretch of silence, he turned and said with as much confidence as any man, “Then we’ll have to make do. Fortunately, I have worked enough with such a device, that I believe I can recreate one in my lab. It might be crude, but it’ll suffice. This little setback should only cost our productivity a day or so. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must be off to my workshop.”
My plan was unravelling before my very eyes. Left to my own devices, I opted to visit Mr. Renfield in the laboratory. It wasn’t that I felt the need to keep the man apprised of my every step. Quite the contrary. I had no plans to inform him of my chicanery. Should he know of my plan, he might fall prey to the Baron's iron fist. I saw no reason for such an outcome.
Down the steps I descended, thoughts of how I could prevent this wretched scenario bouncing about in my head.
The instant Renfield spotted me, he turned to reveal tears streaming down his cheeks. “Dracula’s slumber is one of purest peace. I feel as though I have witnessed the ascension of God from within his very dreams. In all the time I have been bearing witness, the man hasn’t budged a centimeter. On numerous occasions, I’ve had to focus a particularly enormous amount of my attention, just to see the rise and fall of his breath. I’ve attempted to mimic the Count’s breathing pattern, but I nearly suffocated in the doing.” Renfield pointed toward Dracula. “Watch for yourself.”
Given I had nothing of importance to do at the moment, I decided to humor Mr. Renfield and observe Dracula’s breathing. Renfield continued as I watched.
“There’s something hypnotic about this laboratory. I can’t be certain what it is, but I have found myself hearing things that cannot possibly be present in this room.”
“What things?’
“Voices,” Mr. Renfield replied. “A legion of voices.”
I fell silent, doing my best to hear what Mr. Renfield had heard.
Nothing.
“Are you certain you weren’t—”
Renfield cut me off. “I know what I heard, Jonathan. Voices.”
“What were they saying?”
Mr. Renfield stepped to the cage and wrapped his hands around the bars. “I couldn’t understand all of them, as they spoke in a tongue foreign to my ears. But there were others, so many others. Men. Women. Children. Out of the many voices I could discern, one phrase was repeated over and over.” Renfield leaned his head against the metal and breathed. He eventually whispered, “‘We’re coming for you.’”
“Coming for whom?” I prodded.
“I have no idea.” Renfield turned to me. “Do you think they mean me? What have I done to anyone? I’m a simple man, I’ve wronged very few people. I hardly matter in this world. I’m nothing more than a toad, a slimy, fly-eating toad. What good—”
I grabbed the man by the shoulders and turned him to face me. “Stop this nonsense. You are below ground and have been alone all this time. How could you have possibly heard voices?”
Renfield raised his arm and pointed toward the center of the cage. “I’ve not been alone for a single second.”
We both turned to face Dracula, who was now standing in the trunk, staring our way. My blood ran cold, and my mouth dried from fear.
“Mr. Harker,” Dracula’s voice was calm, smooth. “Would you be so kind as to release me from this prison?”
The voice echoed in my mind, as though a host of choir boys sang the refrain in a multi-tonal chant. The words pressed against my will, bending me toward the cage gate.
“Jonathan,” Renfield’s voice stopped me, “what are you doing?”
“I’m … I’m not certain.”
“My bidding,” Dracula answered the question. “You can see I have been wrongfully held against my will, as though I were nothing more than a wild beast. If I were such a creature, would I be conversing with you now?”
Again, the voice echoed in my head. This time I shook it off and stepped back from the cage. “Be silent.”
“Or what?” Dracula’s voice carried with it an elegant threat.
“Or we leave you alone to rot,” I replied with a misplaced confidence.
Dracula laughed. “You clearly have no idea what you are dealing with, my friends. Leave me be. I have dwelled for decades alone with nothing but dirt and worms to keep me company. I have survived far worse conditions than any you might possibly deliver. So to that, gentlemen, I say throw what thou wilt at me, and I will persist.”
“I say, Jonathan, maybe it is time we retire from this man’s presence.”
“It won’t matter how much distance you place between yourselves and me. I am inside of you, part of you. As well I have infested your precious Mina.”
At the mention of my darling, I rushed the cage, grabbing wildly for fabric or flesh. Every fiber of my being wanted to rip the Count asunder, tear away his arms and eyes, and let him live out his days blind and unable to touch or grasp at anything. It was at that moment I felt a change overtake me; my opinion of Dracula shifted such that I could end his existence, regardless of consequence. Instead, I regained control of my temper and backed away.
“Come, Mr. Renfield, we have much to do.”
I turned and raced up the stairs, hearing the slap of Renfield’s feet close behind. The second we were beyond the stairs, I slammed the door shut and scrambled for the means to lock Dracula away. Unfortunately, there was no locking mechanism on this side. After a moment of heavy breathing, I realized there was no need to lock the door before me, as the Count would have to first break out of the silver cage holding him captive. I’d placed all my faith in Abraham Van Helsing’s craft and had no reason to stop believing in his work.
“What do we do now, Mr. Harker?” Renfield gasped, out of breath.
“I’m afraid if we inform the Baron of this new development, he’ll believe us both mad and remove us from the project. We must remain as close to this as possible.”
“I don’t understand. Why?”
“Because of Mina.” My voice raised well beyond a conversational tone.
“Fine. I’ll refrain from informing the Baron I’ve been hearing voices in the laboratory, and that we discovered someone may be coming for us.”
“We cannot know that for certain. Most likely that was nothing more than your mind replaying past events, or your imagination running wild.”
“I know what I heard, Jonathan. What those voices said was perfectly clear—they are coming. For what, we do not know. But I believe it safe to assume the owners of said voices are either coming for us, or for Count Dracula. Either way, it means some rather unwelcome visitors are about to descend upon this town and our lives.”
“You are talking nonsense, Mr. Renfield.”
“Am I, Jonathan? Am I really? Because I’m fairly certain I was the one who heard the voices, and they couldn’t have been clearer in their threat.”
“How long have you been without sleep, Mr. Renfield?”
“I cannot be certain. The basement had no windows through which to gaze at the changing of the planetary guard. As for the last time my head hit a pillow? No idea. Three days? Four?”
“Very well then, this could easily be delirium caused by sleep deprivation.”
“I’ll thank you for not diagnosing me, Mr. Harker. Should I need your assistance with matters of a legal nature, then you are welcome to come to my aid. In the meantime, I believe a flight of angels have come to sing me to a long overdue rest.” Renfield turned and took four quick steps, before spinning on his heels and readdressing me. “I’ll have you know, the admission of my need for rest is in no way the equivalent of agreeing with your prognosis. I am simply—” Renfield paused to snatch a fly from the air and pop it into his mouth, “going to bed.”
And with that, I took my cue to remove myself from Van Helsing’s manse. I’d been separated from Mina long enough.
ELEVEN
Questions And Answers
Upon arriving at the Baron’s home, I rushed inside to hear a banshee’s wail pouring down from above. Though the sound was primal and filled with suffering and hatred, I recognized the sweet undertone as Mina’s. Something was amiss in a most dreadful way.
I took the stairs two at a time, nearly slipping with each leap as my treadless shoes failed to grip the marble steps. By the time I reached the floor housing the makeshift medical ward, the nightmarish noise had reached a fevered pitch. I crashed through the doors and was immediately stopped by three nurses.
“Let me pass.”
The eldest nurse, a woman of significant size and strength, blocked me from moving forward. “I’m terribly sorry, Mr. Harker, but Doctor Seward has insisted we not allow anyone near Mina while she’s in this condition.”
“What condition?”
The nurse shook her head. “I cannot say more. Trust me, you do not want to see Mina like this.”
“Like what?” I jerked from the nurse’s grasp. “Please refrain from handling me. You cannot prevent my passage. I will be by my fiancée's side during her time of need.”
“Jonathan.” The voice was clearly Mina’s. Wrapped within her loving tone was something I couldn’t place, a darkness or shadow that had never before been present. “Let him through. I must see my beloved.”
The nurse refused to give quarter. “I’m terribly sorry—”
Before the woman could finish, I tossed all caution aside and forced my way past her. What I saw had me instantly regretting my decision. Mina was strapped to the bed, each arm and leg tied to a corner. Every inch of exposed flesh was tinted blue and her eyes glowed crimson.
“Jonathan,” Doctor Seward called out. “Please, you shouldn’t be here.”
“What in the devil’s name is going on? Why is she bound?”
The doctor confronted me, stepping in close enough to whisper. “Mina has become a danger to herself and others. It was either this or sending her off to the sanitarium. I knew the Baron wouldn’t appreciate his only daughter locked away in a room with padded walls, sporting a straitjacket. But I can assure you, Mina has thoroughly lost her mind.”
“How? What happened to lead you to such a conclusion?”
“She swears she’s been hearing voices.”
“Let me guess, the voices are insisting they are coming? Whoever the they are, I have yet to ascertain.”
Doctor Seward’s face drained of its color. “How did you know?”
Instead of further arguing with the doctor, I turned and made my exit. This entire operation had to be shut down before something tragic befell Mina. I flew back down the stairs and made my way to the door of the Baron’s study. After a rather insistent knock, a voice replied from within.
“Come.”
I pushed open the door and stepped into the office. Without wasting a second, I blurted out, “It has to stop.”
The Baron ceremoniously placed his newspaper on the desk and slid his glasses to the point of his nose. “What are you babbling about, Harker?”
“Your experimentation. Your enterprise.”
The Baron laughed. “My good man, you’re going to have to be more specific than that. I have numerous enterprises running simultaneously. How else do you think I have remained living like a king?”
“The enterprise that involves the slow murder of a man for nothing more than financial gain at the expense of your daughter’s health and, quite possibly, her sanity.”
The Baron’s face drained of all its goodwill and humor. “Young man, I’d have hoped the one lesson you would have learned over the years is that you do not—” the Baron slammed his hand to the desk to emphasize the word,” get in the way of me and profit. I care not one whit about the dangers this project proposes.”
“Your daughter—”
Again, the Baron stopped me short. “Is under the best medical supervision money can buy. Doctor Seward has assured me no harm will befall Mina.”
“You cannot—”
“Mr. Harker, you are wearing on my patience. Now either you are on board with this endeavor, or you are no longer welcome in my home or near my daughter. That is my final proclamation.”
“May I ask one thing?”
The Baron nodded.
“What if Doctor Seward is wrong, and Mina’s life is in danger?”
“Then he’ll be fired, and I’ll find a more capable physician who can fix the goddamn problem.” The Baron’s face burned bright red. I’d pushed the man too far and feared the next words out of his mouth would be my own condemnation and disavowal. “Now, unless you have something positive to add to the conversation, I would ask you to leave at once.”
I’d lost. No matter how certain I was that something sinister had befallen Mina, the Baron wouldn’t hear me. The only chance I’d have to save my love was to go it on my own, to work from within the shadows to break whatever spell had Mina in its clutches. I was fairly certain my quest would start and end with Dracula. Only one man could answer my questions.
*****
“Jonathan,” Van Helsing paced in his office, “you must not interfere with this project.”
“So I have been told, in no uncertain terms. What you don’t understand, Abraham, is that Mina’s life is in danger.”
Van Helsing came to a stop and looked to me, his eyes widening with confusion. “What do you mean by this?”
“She’s having some horrific reaction to the blood she was given.”
“That’s not possible.”
I approached Abraham until we were nose to nose. “How can you know that?”
“Because I’ve read—”
“Books? Bah. You clearly had your nose buried in fiction. A truth is unfolding within the walls of the Murray residence … one that tells a very different tale.” I backed away. “And it’s not just Mina. Renfield has been behaving oddly as well.”
Van Helsing pointed a finger my way. “There’s all the proof I need.”
“Of what?”
“That whatever it is that has Mina in its grasp cannot possibly have been caused by Dracula’s blood.”
“How can you draw such an ignorant conclusion?” I snapped.
“Because Mr. Renfield did not receive an ounce of the Count’s blood.”
“That may be, but he spent hours in your laboratory with Dracula. You know as well as I the man is of a feeble mind. It wouldn’t take much convincing for Dracula to sway Renfield into doing his bidding. And, to make matters worse, the Count has finally come out of his torpor.”
My last statement stunned Van Helsing.
“Why was I not informed of this?”
My temper got the best of me. “It’s your theory! You weren’t informed, because it’s not my duty to keep you apprised of what’s happening in your own goddamn laboratory. I have tried, over and over, to stop this maddening experiment, yet at every corner I am silenced. Why should I bother telling you the caged man in your basement has awakened?”
“Did Mr. Renfield speak with Dracula?”
“The exchange was brief, and I did most of the talking.”
“You must tell me everything that was said.”
All of a sudden, my body was overcome by an acute exhaustion. I gave into the state and took a seat in a brocade wingback chair. A cloud of dust rose around me. “It wasn’t what we said that should concern you. It was what both Mr. Renfield and Mina heard.”
“Which was?”
I slowly turned my head until our eyes met. “‘We’re coming.’”
Van Helsing dropped into a chair. “Oh dear.” Abraham grabbed a book from his desk and started flipping through the pages. “Here.”
“What?”
Van Helsing read from the book. “Among the many qualities to be found in the vampiric blood, many of which are remarkably medicinal, there is also an inexplicable bond between those who have received the gift.”
“I don’t understand.”
Van Helsing reread the passage under his breath and looked back to me. “I’d always assumed that passage was referring to a biological or chemical bond. What if,” Abraham stood and paced “what if the bond to which it refers goes beyond biology?”
“How could anything to do with human blood go beyond biology?” I asked, knowing the discussion was reaching well beyond my expertise.
“Have you ever heard how twin siblings have a bond that transcends the physical? That they can complete one another’s sentences and even, in rare occasions, read each other’s minds.”
I’d heard such tales but always brushed them off as nonsense. “What are you saying?”
Van Helsing snapped the book closed. “I'm saying that when we introduced Dracula's blood into Mina's system, we might have inadvertently created a bond between her and that man.”
This new theory did nothing to explain how Renfield could have heard the same thing as Mina. Upon my expressing that concern to Abraham, the man went silent, his hands entwined behind his head as he, once again, paced the room. After a few laps from wall to wall, he stopped and addressed me. “I must talk with Mr. Renfield.”
“No. The time for discussing such things is over. What we must do is confront the Baron and convince him to stop this dangerous experiment before irreparable damage is done to my fiancée.”
Van Helsing grasped my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “You clearly know nothing of Mr. Murray. You cannot stop him from going forward with his work. The man values profit over everything.”
“Even his own daughter?”
Abraham nodded. “Aye. As despicable as that may sound, the Baron would turn family over to the devil if he thought a pound could be made in the doing. I’ve known this about him for years and was always able to set aside my distaste because of the paycheck the Baron wrote to me. The man made me wealthy beyond my dreams … which afforded me the luxury to venture off to exotic lands in search of new findings. Mr. Murray funded my hobbies. In return, I ignored most of his cruelty. So yes, the Baron would, without pausing to consider, turn his family over for profit.”
