Dracula - Bram Stoker

Jonathan Harker's diary chapter 1 Count Dracula my story begins about seven years ago in 1875 my name is Jonathan Harker and I live and work in London my job is to buy and sell houses for other people one day a letter arrived for me from a very rich man who lived in Transylvania he wanted to buy a house in England and he needed my help the man was Count Dracula and I agreed to help him I found a house for him and he asked me to take all the papers for it to Transylvania I was not very pleased about this I was planning to get married in the autumn and I did not want to leave my beautiful Mina but you must go Jonathan she said the count is rich and perhaps he will give you more work later so I agreed to go I did not know then of the terrible danger which waited for me in Transylvania and so on the 4th of May I arrived at a little town called B streets Transylvania was a strange and beautiful country there were mountains trees and rivers everywhere and somewhere high in the mountains was the counts home Castle Dracula I had six hours to wait before the coach came to take me there so I went into a little hotel inside the hotel it was warm and friendly the people there were all laughing talking where are you going they asked me too Castle Dracula I replied suddenly the room was silent and everyone turned to look at me I could not understand why they all looked afraid don't go there someone said but I have to I answered it's business they began to talk again but they were no longer laughing slowly the hotel keepers wife took the gold cross from her neck and put it into my hand take this she said there is danger at Castle Dracula perhaps this will help you when the coach arrived and I got into it a crowd of people came to watch and I heard the word vampire the coach traveled up into the mountains higher and higher it went faster and faster the Sun was bright but above the trees there was snow on the mountaintops then suddenly the Sun went down behind the mountains and everywhere was dark in the forest around us the wolves were howling it was a terrible sound suddenly the coach stopped a small carriage came down the narrow road on the right four black horses were pulling it and the driver was dressed in black with a black hat pulled down over his face where's the Englishman he called I've come from Castle Dracula he looked strange standing there in the moonlight and suddenly I was afraid but it was too late I could not go back now soon we were on our way to Castle Dracula the mountains were all around us and the moon was behind black clouds I could see nothing but I could still hear the wolves the horses went faster and faster and the driver laughed wildly suddenly the carriage stopped I opened the door and got out at once the carriage drove away and I was alone in front of the dark silent castle I stood there looking up at it and slowly the big wooden door opened a tall man stood in front of me his hair was white and he was dressed in black from head to foot come in mr. Harker he said I Count Dracula he held out his hand and I took it it was as cold as ice I went into the castle and the count carefully locked the door behind me he put the key into his pocket and turned to go upstairs I followed him and we came to a room where a wood fire burned brightly in front of it there was a little table with food and drink on it the count asked me to sit down and eat but he did not eat with me later we sat and talked by the fire his English was very good and while we talked I had time to look at him carefully his face was very white his ears were like the ears of a cat and his teeth were strong like the teeth of an animal there was hair on his hands and his fingers were very long when he touched me I was afraid it was nearly morning when I went to bed and outside the wolves were still howling the next morning I found my breakfast on the little table in front of the fire now that it was light I could see that Castle Dracula was old and dirty I saw no servants all that day the count did not come to breakfast but there was a letter from him on the table go anywhere in the castle it said but some of the rooms are locked do not try to go into these rooms when the count came back in the evening he wanted to know all about his new house in England well I began it's a very big house old and dark with a high wall all round it there are trees everywhere that's why the house is dark it has a little church too and I showed him some pictures of it he was pleased about the church ah he said so I shall be near the dead we talked for a long time and once I fell asleep I woke up suddenly and found the counts face near me the smell which came from him was terrible it was the smell of death you're tired the count said go to bed now and when he smiled his face was the face of a wolf our business was now finished the count had all the papers for his new house and there was nothing to keep me in Transylvania or in Castle Dracula but the count did not want me to leave I was alone with him in the castle but I never saw him in the daytime I only saw him at night when he came and sat with me we always talked until the morning and he asked me many questions about England I have plans to go there myself soon he said tell me about sending things to England by ship so we talked about ships and the sea and I thought about Mina and her friend Lucy Lucy and her mother were staying by the sea and Mina was planning to visit them there sometime stupidly I told the count about them there was no mirror in my bedroom but I had one with me a present from Mina one morning I was standing in front of it and I was shaving suddenly a hand touched me and a voice said good morning the count was standing next to me he was standing next to me but I could not see him in the mirror my hand shook and I cut myself blood began to run down my face and I saw that Count Dracula was watching it hungrily suddenly he put out his hand he had a wild look in his eyes and I was afraid but his hand touched the gold cross at my neck and his face changed he took the mirror from me went to the window and a minute later the mirror was lying in a thousand pieces far below he did not speak but left the room quickly and I stood there and asked myself why I could not sis man in the mirror I went over to the window and looked out I was high above the ground many of the doors in the castle were locked suddenly I understood I was a prisoner chapter 2 I am in danger one evening the count said you must write to your London office until mr. Hawkin that you'll be here for another month when I heard this I went cold another month but what could I do I worked for mr. Hawkin and the counts business was important to him so if the count needed me then I had to stay I wrote my letter but I knew that the count planned to read it I could not tell mr. Hawkin that I was a prisoner in Castle Dracula that evening the count did not stay and talk with me but before he left the room he turned to me and said my young friend sleep only in this room or your bedroom you must never fall asleep in any other room in the castle you will be in danger if you do when he left I went to my room but I could not rest and began to walk around the castle many of the doors were locked but I found one which was open I pushed back the door and saw that there was a window in the room it was a beautiful night and the mountains looked wonderful in the soft yellow light of the moon suddenly something moved below me it was the count slowly he came out of the window first those hands like the hands of an animal and then his head he began to move down the wall headfirst with his black cloak around him he looked like a horrible black bird and my blood ran cold what was Count Dracula I shivered and sat down for a minute the room was warm friendly I think that many years ago it was a room for the ladies of the castle and I decided not to go back to my cold dark room but to sleep in this room so I lay down and closed my eyes suddenly I felt that I was not alone in the moonlight from the window I saw three beautiful young women they were watching me and talking quietly he is young and strong one of them said yes there are kisses for all of us another answered I was excited and afraid I knew that I wanted those soft red mouths to touch me one of the women came nearer her strong white teeth touched my neck I closed my eyes and waited kiss me kiss me I thought suddenly there was a cry of anger it was the count he pulled the woman away from me and her bright blue eyes turned red with a wild anger I looked at the count and his eyes were burning with all the fires of hell get off him he cried he's not for you stay away from him a second later the women were no longer there they did not leave by the door but they were no longer there I remember no more of that night when I woke I was in bed in my room my gold cross lay on the table next to me bright in the Morning Sun I knew then that those women were vampires and that they wanted my blood two nights later the count came to me right to Mina he said tell her that your work in Transylvania is finished and that you are coming home how pleased I was when I heard this but then the count said say that you are ads-b streets and put June the 29th on the letter I shivered when he said this I knew then that the count planned to kill me on that day what could I do there was nothing I could only wait and try to escape but the count took away all my other clothes and my travel papers and he locked the door of my room a week or two later I heard noises in the castle the sound of men working perhaps one of them will take a letter out of the castle for me I thought but it was too late it was already June the 29th and that evening from my window I saw the counts leave the castle with my letter to Mina in his hand he was going to post it I knew that I must do something before it was too late vampires can only come out at night so I knew that there was no danger during the day the next morning I decided to visit the counts room to see what I could find to do this I had to get into it by the window this was possible because his room was just below my bedroom and there were little holes in the wall between the stones I could put my feet in these and I could use the heavy curtains from my window to hold on to it was dangerous but I had to try slowly I moved down the wall once or twice I almost fell but at last I found myself in the counts bedroom the room was empty the count was not there I looked for the castle keys but I could not find them over in one corner of the room there was some gold and on the other side of the room there was a big wooden door it was open and I saw that there were some stairs going down I went down them and I came to another door this was open too and I found myself in a room with a stone floor slowly I looked around me there were about 50 wooden boxes in the room they were coffins and they were full of Earth in one of them lay the count I could not say if he was dead or asleep his eyes were open and looked cold and stony but his face did not look like the face of a dead man his lips were still very red but he did not move slowly I went nearer I thought perhaps that he had the castle keys on him but when I looked at those cold stony eyes my blood ran cold afraid I turned and ran back to the window I did not stop to think until I was back in my room that night the count to me again tomorrow you will return to England he said and I knew that tomorrow was the day of my death I lay down on my bed but I did not sleep very well during the night I heard women's voices outside my door and then the count saying wait your time has not yet come tomorrow night you can have him then the women laughed a low sweet sound and I shook with fear morning came at last and I was still alive I must escape I thought but first I had to get the keys once again I went down the wall and into the counts room I ran down the stairs to the room with the coffins the count was there in his coffin but he looked younger and his hair was no longer white there was blood on his mouth which ran down across his neck my hands were shaking but I had to touch him to look for the keys I felt all over his body but they weren't there suddenly I wanted to kill Count Dracula I took a Quinn's hammer and began to bring it down hard onto that horrible smiling face but just then the head turned and the counts burning eyes looked at me his bloody mouth smiled more horribly than ever I dropped the hammer and stood there shaking what could I do now just then I heard the sound of voices the workmen were coming back I hurried back up the stairs to the counts room below I heard the noise of a key the workmen were opening a door so there was another door to the outside down there I listened carefully and heard the sound of hammers they were getting the coffins ready for a journey perhaps to England I remembered the counts words about his plans to visit my country I turned to run back downstairs to find this open door but I was too late a cold wind ran through the castle and with a crash the door at the top of the stairs closed and locked itself I could not get back down the stairs soon I saw from the window the heavy carts full of coffins and the workmen drove away I was alone in the castle with those terrible vampire women while I was writing these words in my diary I decided what to do I must try to escape I shall try to get down the wall outside the window is high above the ground but I have to try I shall take some of the gold with me if I escape perhaps it will be helpful later if I die it will be better than the death that waits for me here goodbye Mina will I ever see you again Mena's story chapter 3 lucy in danger while jonathan was away I was very unhappy he did not write to me often and when he did his letters were strange and very short I knew that something was wrong but what was Jonathan in danger I thought about him all the time why didn't he come back to England and to me I felt better when at last I did get a letter from him Jonathan said that he was coming home and was at Bistritz but again it was a short strange letter perhaps he's ill I thought my friend Lucy also wrote to me I know that she will be happy for me she wrote Arthur has asked me to marry him isn't it wonderful I love him very much he's away just now and you know that mother and I are staying at Whitby by the sea please come and stay with us and I can tell you all about it Arthur Holmwood loved Lucy very much I was really pleased to hear her news and I decided to go immediately and it would help me not to think about Jonathan all the time Lucy met me at the station and it was wonderful to see her again she was full of life and talked happily of her plans Oh Mina she said to me I am really happy I love Arthur very much but sometimes it was hard for me because when lucy talked of arthur i thought of jonathan again the weather was good and lucy and i walked a lot sometimes by the sea but we often went up to the old church on the hill at night lucy and i slept in one room but sometimes she walked in her sleep she began to sleep badly and her mother and i decided to lock the bedroom door at night then one day the weather changed the sky was black and heavy and that night there was a terrible storm lucy was very excited by it and she sat by the window all night and watched the sea the next morning there was a ship on the beach it's a Russian ship from Varna on the Black Sea Lucy's servant told us there are coffins on it and they're full of earth and a big black dog jumped off the ship and ran up the hill and is everyone on the ship alive Lucy asked that's the strange thing about it the servant replied there was no one on the ship either dead or alive everybody in the town was very excited by this strange ship but there were no answers to the mystery and nobody saw the big black dog again that night I woke up and found that the bedroom door was open and Lucy was not there I looked for her everywhere in the house but I could not find her I'm afraid for her I don't know why I said to her mother I knew that Lucy sometimes liked to go and sit quietly in the yard so I hurried out into the night to look for her and I found her she was sitting in the churchyard white in the moonlight and I thought I saw something dark behind her something dark and horrible slowly its head moved nearer to Lucy afraid I called out Lucy Lucy a white face and burning red eyes looked up at me and then nothing Lucy was alone asleep in the moonlight I woke her and she gave a little cry she put her hands to her neck and I saw that there were two little drops of blood there after that night Lucy was worse she left her bed every night and her lovely face was white I was afraid for her and locked the door at night and I still did not hear from Jonathan I was unhappy and did not sleep well myself so one night I went for a walk alone Lucy will be all right I thought the door is locked she can't get out and no one can get in but when I came back I found Lucy by the open window Lucy I cried but she did not reply she was asleep and near her just outside the open window there was something black like a big bird a day or two later I had a letter Jonathan was ill and in hospital in Budapest of course I must go to him immediately I said to Lucy I did not want to leave her but Jonathan was everything to me he needs me I said and when at last I arrived in Budapest and held Jonathan in my arms I felt happy Jonathan was very ill but he was getting better every day he did not want to talk about his time in Castle Dracula but he gave me his diary to read and so I learnt about Count Dracula and Jonathan's terrible adventure in the castle but he escaped and when he fell ill in the mountains some workmen found him and took him to the hospital poor Jonathan his face was white and thin and he was still very afraid but now we were together again and everything was alright Jonathan and I were married on September the 1st and then we began our journey home we arrived back in England on September the 18th and it was wonderful to be home again everyone looked happy on that warm autumn evening when we drove through the streets of London Jonathan smiled and said softly Oh Mina I love you I love you too Jonathan I replied I was truly happy and then suddenly Jonathan's face went white and he cried out he was looking at a carriage outside a shop in it there was a pretty girl with dark hair she was waiting for someone and near the carriage watching the pretty girl there was a man a tall thin man with long white teeth and a very red mouth it's the count Jonathan cried here in London John then put his head in his hands and said nothing for the rest of the journey I was very afraid for him was it really true that this horrible Count Dracula was here in London when we arrived home there was a letter from Arthur Holmwood Lucy was dead my dearest Lucy dead it could not be true later we read the letter again soon after you left Arthur wrote Lucy began to get worse I did not know what to do I knew only that I must do something quickly so I asked our old friend Jack Seward to come and see her he's a doctor I thought perhaps he can do something to help Lucy he came at once but in the end nobody could help poor Lucy and she died yesterday Jack Seward's story chapter 4 Lucy's death when I heard from Arthur the terrible news of Lucy's strange illness I went to her immediately I could see that she was very ill she lay in bed all day and did not move she was as white as a ghost and she was very thin when night came she was afraid to sleep and in the morning on her neck there were two strange little wounds I did not know what was wrong with Lucy she was losing blood but how was it through these two little wounds in her neck I decided to send for my old teacher professor van Helsing from Holland perhaps he could help he came immediately and when he saw how ill Lucy was he said we must give her blood at once she can have my blood cried Arthur all of it to the last drop van Helsing was right with Arthur's blood in her Lucy began to get better immediately but before he left van Helsing did one more thing he brought some flowers with a very strong smell and he put a circle of them round Lucy's neck my dear he said these are garlic flowers do not take them from your neck tonight and do not open your window van Helsing had to return to Holland for a few days and before he left he told us you must watch Lucie every night and be sure that she wears the garlic flowers Lucy's mother was ill herself her heart was not strong and Arthur had to go back home because his father was dying so for a week I watched over Lucie myself at night and sometimes when I sat by her bed I heard strange noises at the window perhaps it was a tree or the wind I thought I was working at my hospital during the day and after a week I was very tired so one night I did not go to lose his house I needed to sleep and I knew that Lucy's mother and the servants were there also van Helsing sent new garlic flowers every day for Lucy to wear at night the next morning at the hospital I had a note from Van Helsing watch Lucy carefully tonight he wrote I shall be with you tomorrow but that was now today the note was too late I did not wait for breakfast but hurried to the house immediately I knocked on the door but there was no answer just then van Helsing arrived what happened he cried did you not get my note quick perhaps we are already too late we knocked again but there was still no answer we went to the back of the house and Van Helsing broke the kitchen window and we went in it was dark in the kitchen but we could see the bodies of the four servants on the floor they were not dead but asleep someone put something in their drinks said van Helsing come we must find Lucy if we are not too late we ran up to loose his room and stopped outside it with white faces and shaking hands we opened the door softly and went into the room how can I describe what we saw the bodies of two women Lucy and her mother lay on the bed the faces of both women were white and on the mother's face there was a look of terrible fear in her hand she held the flowers from Lucy's neck and on the floor there was glass from the broken window van Helsing looked down at the two women the poor mother is dead he said but for Lucy it is not too late go and wake the servants I ran downstairs to wake them put her in a hot bath van Helsing said after a time Lucy began to show some life and they took her and put her in a warm bed from time to time she slept but she did not fight to stay alive she could not eat anything and she was very weak we sent for Arthur and when he came he was very unhappy his father was now dead and he could see that Lucy was very very ill one of us sat with Lucy all the time and that night our and van Helsing slept in the sitting room while I watched over Lucy when Van Helsing came back up to me at 6 o'clock Arthur was still asleep downstairs van Helsing went over to Lucy and looked at her the wounds on her neck have gone he said she will soon be dead bring Arthur when Arthur and I came back Lucy opened her lovely eyes Oh Arthur she said softly kiss me my love he moved his head nearer to her but van Helsing pulled him back No he cried for a minute Lucy's face was hard and angry she opened her mouth and her teeth looked very long and sharp then her eyes closed and she slept soon she woke again took Van Helsing's hand and said softly my true friend and then quietly Lucy died she's gone said van Helsing and Arthur put his head in his hands and cried later I went back into Lucy's room and Van Helsing and I looked down together at her beautiful face poor girl I said it is the end no he replied this is only the beginning some days later there were strange stories in the newspapers stories about young children who went out at night and did not go home until the next morning and when they did go home they talked about a beautiful lady all these children had drops of blood and two little Wu on their necks van Helsing read these stories and he brought the paper round to me what do you think of that he asked I don't know I said these two little wounds sound like poor Lucy's wounds but how can that be then van Helsing explained at first I could not believe it and we talked for a long time at last I said are you saying that poor Lucy was killed by a vampire and that now the vampire is taking blood from these children - no van Helsing replied you haven't understood the vampire which is taking blood from these children is Lucy herself I was very angry that's not true I cried then come with me he said and I will show you so that night he took me to loose his tomb he had the key and we went inside I was very afraid in the dark with the dead flowers lying on Lucy's coffin the tomb was a terrible place slowly van Helsing began to open the coffin then he turned to me and said look I came nearer and looked the coffin was empty for me it was a terrible surprise but van Helsing only shook his head now we must wait outside he said we waited all night I was cold and afraid and angry with myself and with van Helsing then suddenly something white moved in the trees near the tomb we went near and we found a little child on the ground by the tomb van Helsing held it out to me and I looked at its neck there are no wounds on the child's neck I said no van Helsing replied we are just in time the next day van Helsing and I went back into the tomb again and opened the lid of the coffin this time Lucy's body lay there she died more than a week ago but she did not look dead her mouth was red and her face was more beautiful than ever then van Helsing pulled back her mouth and showed me her long sharp teeth now do you believe me he said Lucy is now one of the undead and with these teeth she will soon kill one of these poor little children we must stop her before she does he stopped for a minute and thought but we must send for Arthur he too must see and believe this Arthur was very unhappy and also angry he could not believe that Lucy was now one of the undead but in the end he agreed to come with us to the tomb it was just before midnight when we got to the churchyard the night was dark but now and then a little moonlight came through the clouds van Helsing opened the door of the tomb and we all went in now Jack he said to me you were with me yesterday afternoon was Miss Lucy's body in that coffin then it was I replied slowly van Helsing opened the coffin Arthur's face was white when he moved nearer we all looked down the coffin was empty for a minute no one spoke then van Helsing said now we must go outside and wait it was good to be outside again away from the dark smelly tomb we stood and waited in silence then through the trees we saw something white it was moving nearer to us its face was white its mouth was red and drops of blood fell from it suddenly its source and stopped it gave us a look of terrible anger and Arthur gave a little cry it's Lucy she smiled Oh Arthur come to me leave those others and come to me my love she said sweetly Arthur took his hands from his face and opened his arms to her she was moving nearer to him when Van Helsing ran between them and held out his little gold cross Lucy stopped and stood back from it then with a look of terrible anger on her face she went to the tomb and through the door the door was closed but she went through it now Arthur my friend and Helsing said do you understand Arthur put his face in his hands and cried I do oh I do the next day Arthur van Helsing and I went back to the tomb van Helsing had a bag with him and when we were in the tomb he again opened Lucy's coffin the body lay there horribly beautiful arthur was white and he was shaking is this really Lucey he asked it is and it is not but wait and you will see the real Lucy again van Helsing replied he took from his bag a long piece of wood and a hammer Arthur and I stood silent and watched then van Helsing said to Arthur you loved Lucy you must bring her back to us you must take this piece of wood in your left hand and the hammer in your right hand then you must drive the wood through Lucy's heart it isn't easy for you but it will soon be done can you do this for her I can Arthur replied strongly his face was very pale but he held the piece of wood over Lucy's heart and brought the hammer down hard the body turned from side to side and a horrible scream came from the open red mouth Arthur did not stop harder and harder he hit the wood with the hammer until at last the body stopped moving and lay quiet the hammer fell from Arthur's hand and he stood there white and shaking van Helsing went over to him and now you may kiss her he said see the vampire is dead and the real Lucy has come back it was true Lucy's face was pale and still but it was now quiet and restful Arthur kissed her softly on the mouth and then van Helsing closed the coffin again this time forever now my friends van Helsing said we have only just begun we must find the vampire that killed Miss Lucy it will be difficult and dangerous will you help me yes we said we will Jonathan Harker's diary chapter 5 Mina in danger some days after Mina got the letter from Arthur with the news of Lucy's death she had another letter this was from Professor van Helsing a friend of Arthur's in it he wrote I know from your letters to Lucy that you were her dearest friend I would very much like to meet you to talk about the time when you were with Lucy at Whitby so the professor came to see us at our house and we learnt the full story of poor Lucy's terrible death then Mina gave van Helsing my diary to read and he learnt about my time at Castle Dracula he was very excited ah he cried now I begin to understand so many things this Count Dracula he was the vampire that killed poor Miss Lucy will you help us to find him of course Mina and I agreed to help when I saw Count Dracula in London I was very afraid but now I felt stronger because I had work to do we began at once Mina went to stay with Jack Seward at his house to tell him and Arthur all about the count and I went to Whitby I wanted to find out about the coffins that were in the ship on the night of the storm the ship that brought Count Dracula to England after many questions I learned that the coffins were now in the counts house in London I hurried back to London and to Jack Seward's house when I told van Helsing this news he called us all together and said now the danger begins I have learnt much about vampires from old books and I know that they can come out only at night during the day they are like dead bodies and must have a place to hide I think that Count Dracula uses his coffins for his daytime hiding places if we can find him in a coffin we can kill him but let's go to his house tonight we'll put holy bread in the coffins and then the count cannot get back into them he'll then have no place to hide during the day and he will be weaker and easier to fight when we find him so that night van Helsing Jack Arthur and I went out together to the counts house Mina of course did not come with us I was afraid to leave her alone but she said that there was more danger for us than for her Jack had some old keys with him and with one of these we got into the house it was old and dirty and the smell of blood was everywhere we walked through the cold empty rooms and at last we found the coffins from his bag van Helsing took some holy bread we must put a piece of this in each coffin he said we worked hard it took a long time to break open each coffin and put holy bread inside we were just opening the last coffin when Van Helsing gave a cry we are too late the count is coming we looked up from our work and saw Count Dracula he came through the dark room like a black cloud his angry face was white and his eyes burned like red fires van Helsing held out his gold cross and the count stopped afraid for our lives we ran from the house quick cried van Helsing we must get back now he has seen us Mina may be in danger my heart nearly stopped when I heard this Oh Mina I cried silently I cannot lose Mina but when we got back to Jack's house everything was quiet I ran upstairs the bedroom door was locked I called out to my friends help me Oh help me together we broke down the door and then my lud ran cold a tall dark man was standing in the moonlight by the window in his arms he held my wife my Mina her white nightdress had blood on it and her face lay against Count Dracula blood dropped from his mouth and he was holding Mina to him while she drank his blood I ran to her and tried to pull him away from her van Helsing ran at the count and held up his gold cross when he saw the cross Count Dracula moved back and dropped Mina's body she gave a terrible cry and fell across the bed a cloud moved across the moon and when the moon came from behind it Count Dracula was not there Oh Mina my love I cried I took her in my arms what has happened tell us I was wild with fear Mina shivered don't leave me she cried oh please don't leave me her face was pale and we could see two little wounds on her neck she put her head in her hands and gave a long terrible scream stay with me she cried and I hell in my arms until the first light of day showed in the East Chapter six Dracula must die the next day van Helsing Chuck Seward Arthur and I made our plans Mina was there too she was very pale but she wanted to help us we knew that we had to kill Dracula before Mina died if we don't van Helsing said Mina will die and will be a vampire forever I have been back to the counts house this morning and the last coffin has gone we must find it Count Dracula will be in it during the day if we can find him before dark we can kill him but where is it now I asked wildly of course we did not know the answer but then Mina spoke I feel that I am half a vampire already and sometimes strange thoughts come into my head I think that these thoughts are count Dracula's just now when you were speaking I thought that I could hear the sound of a ship moving through water of course cried van Helsing Dracula has decided to leave England he knows now that we are his enemies and that it is dangerous for him here so he is going back to Transylvania by ship we must find out which ships left for the Black Sea last night at the London shipping office we learnt that one ship sailed for Varna in the Black Sea the night before we also learnt of a passenger who arrived at the last minute a tall thin man in black he had a pale face burning eyes and a very red mouth and he had with him a long box so said van Helsing the ship will take about three weeks to sail to Varna but we will take the train across Europe and get there much faster we leave tomorrow we left London on a cold October day and four days later we were in Varna we made our plans and waited for the ship to arrive every day Mina told us that she could still hear the sound of water but three weeks went by and the ship did not arrive then at last we had news the ship was not coming to Varna and was already at Galatz we took the first train to Collatz but we were too late the box was no longer on the ship someone came and took it this morning one of the sailors told us we hurried back to our hotel to tell my dear Mina the news but we saw that she knew it already and her face was white with fear he has gone she said quietly and he is taking me with him oh my dear friends before I change into a vampire you must kill me then you must do what you did to poor Lucy to give me rest tell me that you will do this for me I held her hands but I could not speak if that day ever comes I don't know how I shall live through it later while Mina slept we tried to make new plans she is right said van Helsing unhappily our poor Mina is in great danger she is already beginning to change the teeth are getting longer and sharper and when the count reads her thoughts her eyes are hard and cold we must find him and kill him before it is too late I can remember little of the next few days I was wild with fear and anger we learnt that the counts coffin was traveling by boat up the river and Jack Seward Arthur and I began to follow in another boat van Helsing took my Mina with him in a carriage and they began to drive across the mountains to Castle Dracula when I said I to her my heart was breaking perhaps I shall never see her again we followed the counts boat for five days but we could not catch it then we learned from some villagers that he was now travelling by Road so we bought horses and rode like the wind through the night by late afternoon on the next day we were getting near to Castle Dracula we must ride faster I cried to the others the Sun was beginning to go down and then suddenly we saw on the road in front of us some men with a cart and on the back of the cart was the coughing I had only one thought in my head to kill the vampire to finish him forever Arthur and Jack were right behind me when I got to the cart I jumped from my horse onto the cart and while Jack and Arthur fought the driver and the other men I pushed the coffin to the ground it fell and broke open Count Dracula lay there and the last light from the Sun fell on his terrible face his eyes burned red and they looked at me in hate in a few seconds when the Sun went down he would be free to move I jumped down to the ground held my knife high over his heart and brought it down as hard as I could he went straight through the vampire's heart Count Dracula gave a horrible scream and then lay quiet in the same second the Sun went down and when we looked into the coffin again it was empty above us on the hill was Castle Dracula and soon we saw van Helsing he hurried down the hill to us and my dear Mina was with him I ran to her and took her in my arms her lovely face was bright and happy again it's alright my laughs she said softly we found the tombs of the three vampire women they cannot hurt us now and Dracula is dead at last we can begin to live again you

Channel: Reader Literature

Views: 1,611,021

Rating: 4.8164124 out of 5

Keywords: learn english with subtitles, english stories, english story, learn english, audiobook, learn english through stories, audiobooks, reader literature, learn english through story, listening english through story, dracula

Id: F_dZ80xxZ_A

Length: 73min 19sec (4399 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 22 2017