Chapter Seven. Finding the Boxes
Dr Seward's Diary (continued) – 4th October
Arthur, Quincey, the professor and I all went to the graveyard together. The professor unlocked the door of the tomb. He had a large bag with him. We went over to Lucy's coffin and the professor opened it. Inside, Lucy still had blood around her mouth. She looked hard and horrible. Arthur looked at her. His face was hard, too. He now hated her. This thing wasn't Lucy. This thing was a vampire.
‘Now, Arthur. You loved her more than any of us,' said the professor. ‘You have the right to save her. Do you want to help her?'
‘Yes, tell me what I must do,' said Arthur, bravely.
‘Use this hammer; use it to hammer this stake through her heart. We must all pray.'
Arthur took the stake and hammered it into the vampire's heart. The monster screamed. It was a horrible scream. A river of blood came out of its mouth. The body shook and shook. Then more blood came out of its heart. Blood was everywhere. But Arthur didn't stop. He hammered and hammered. We prayed and prayed. After a while, the vampire stopped shaking. There was silence. We all looked at the vampire in the coffin. It was Lucy. She looked beautiful. She wasn't a monster anymore. Arthur kissed her. ‘Now you're free!' he said.
Arthur and Quincey went outside. The professor and I cut off the top of the stake. We left the rest of it in Lucy's heart. Then, we cut off her head. We filled her mouth with garlic. The professor closed the coffin and we went outside too. The professor locked the door of the tomb. ‘Now, my friends,' he said, ‘we've finished the first part of our work. The next part is to find Count Dracula. We must destroy him. I must go back to Holland. I need some more information. Now, let's go back to my hotel. We must make a plan. I want you to meet Mina and Jonathan Harker. They're coming to Carfax to stay with you, Seward. We must all work together.'
The professor gave me a copy of Jonathan's diary. The professor says it'll help me understand everything.
5th October
Earlier today, I went to meet Mina Harker at the station. I recognised her immediately from Lucy's description of her. She shook my hand warmly. The professor is right: she's a very good, intelligent lady. Her husband, Jonathan, is coming later. He's gone to Whitby to find out more about the fifty boxes of earth.
Later, I showed Mina my phonograph. She thinks it's a wonderful machine. She thinks it's even better than using shorthand. In some ways, I agree with her. But there's a problem. If I want to listen to my diary, sometimes it's difficult to find the right part, or the right day. Mina's going to help me. She's brought her typewriter with her. She's going to type my diary for me. I think that's a good idea. It'll be difficult for her to read, but I want her to know all about Lucy. I've read Jonathan's diary. Mina wants me to read her diary, too. We all think the time has come to share. We need to destroy Count Dracula.
There must be no secrets between us.
I hope that Jonathan will find out a lot in Whitby. We need to know about the boxes. Where did they go? If we find out about them, we can find the count. We can destroy him.
Jonathan Harker's diary – 7th October
I met Mr Billington at the station in Whitby and he immediately took me to his offices. He's a friend of my employer, Mr Hawkins. He was very happy to help me. He gave me a lot of information about the boxes: the fifty boxes which the count sent here to England. The letter with them said ‘50 boxes of earth, for scientific research'. Mr Billington sent the boxes to London, on the instructions of the count. He sent them to Kings Cross Station.
When I got back to London, I went to speak to the officers at the station. Fifty boxes of earth arrived and two men took all fifty of them to a chapel. Where's the chapel? Near Dr Seward's hospital, in Carfax!
I'm now sure that all the boxes of earth arrived in Carfax. But are they all still there? I don't know. We must find out as soon as possible.
Dr Seward's diary – 7th October
Jonathan returned from Whitby today. He's a very nice man. The professor's also arriving today. And Arthur and Quincey are arriving later today, too. Mina has finished typing up my diary. Jonathan and Mina are putting together all the information from all our diaries and letters. They want to put everything in order of time and date. It's going to be very interesting. Jonathan has also brought some of the letters from Mr Hawkins, his employer. They're about the count's house. And some of them are from the count's lawyer, Mr Billington. There's information in them about the count's instructions and his movements. There's also information about the boxes. The dates are very interesting. They seem to have a link with Renfield. There's a link with Renfield's violence and the dates: the dates of the count's movements. I'm sure there's a connection between Renfield and the count. The letters are going to help us.
This afternoon, I went to visit Renfield in his room. He's very quiet. In fact, he doesn't seem mad at all. He saw Mina in the gardens this afternoon. He asked me about her. ‘Who's that woman? She isn't the woman you wanted to marry. That woman's dead. I know she is.'
I was surprised. How did Renfield know about Lucy?
Later
After dinner, we all met in my study. It was good to see the professor again. The professor put his golden cross on the table. We all held hands. We made a promise together. We promised to find the count. We promised to destroy him.
The professor's plan is very good. First, we must go to the great house and search the chapel. We must find the boxes and we must sterilise them. The professor wants Mina to stay here. She'll be safe here. We're going to the big house later tonight.
While we were talking, Quincey jumped out of his chair. He pointed at the window. There was a huge bat there. It was trying to get inside.
Jonathan Harker's diary – 8th October 4 a.m.
We've just returned from Carfax. I can't sleep, so I'm writing this. The professor gave each of us a cross and some garlic. He took out some skeleton keys from his pocket. I tried some of them. One of them worked perfectly. I unlocked the door and we went inside the house. There was a horrible smell: a smell of death and dying. We went from room to room. There were boxes and papers and letters everywhere. In one room, hundreds of rats appeared. It was horrible. We only found 29 boxes. 21 boxes are missing! We must find the other boxes!
While I'm writing, I'm looking at my lovely Mina. She's asleep and she's so beautiful. Perhaps she's a little pale. I hope she isn't ill. I'll ask her in the morning.
Mina Harker's diary – 8th October
I woke up very late this morning. In the night, I had a strange dream. I don't want to tell Jonathan. I don't want him to worry. In my dream, I heard a lot of dogs howling. There was a large bat. Then it wasn't a bat, it was Renfield. Then it wasn't Renfield. There was a person with very red eyes. There was a white fog. Then I saw a very white face, very close to mine. Then everything became black and dark. I didn't like it. Today, I feel very tired. I'm worried about this dream. It's like one of the dreams in Jonathan's diary. I think I'll ask Dr Seward for some medicine tonight. Perhaps he's got some medicine to help me sleep.
Jonathan Harker's diary – 8th October, evening
This afternoon, I spoke to some of the workmen in the village. I asked them about the boxes. Two of the men delivered the boxes to London. They delivered 6 to an address in south London and 6 to an address in the north. They say I need to speak to a man called Sam Bloxam. He probably knows about the other boxes. I'm going to London tomorrow. I think Count Dracula is making homes for himself all over London. We must stop him.
9th October
What an exciting day! I've found all the boxes! Mr Bloxam was very helpful. He delivered the boxes to different addresses. At each address, there was a tall, thin man there. The man helped Mr Bloxam with the boxes. The man was very pale and very, very strong; he had strange red eyes. Mr Bloxam saw the count! Count Dracula is definitely in London!
I'm still worried about Mina. She looks very pale and tired.
Dr Seward's diary – 9th October
Renfield's changing from one moment to the next. One minute he's happy and calm. Then the next, he's violent, angry or depressed. Some of the nurses say they can hear him in his room at night. Sometimes he's talking very loudly. They think he's talking to himself, or that he's praying.
Earlier today, he was very calm, but depressed. He talked about life. He talked about the life of the flies, the spiders, the birds and all the animals he's eaten. He's afraid of their ghosts. I'm now certain that he has a link with the count. When I left, he seemed confused. Later, I heard him singing in his room. He seemed very happy.
10th October
How can I start? This has been an incredible day. Late last night, I went to see Renfield. He was lying on the floor. There was blood all over him: he was badly hurt. I cleaned the blood and put Renfield into bed. He was thirsty, so I gave him some water. He talked about the count. I asked a nurse to find the professor, Quincey and Arthur. Renfield told us his story; we all listened very carefully.
The count has often been inside the hospital. He's visited Renfield and has given him flies, spiders and sometimes rats. The count can get into buildings through very small gaps. Then, the incredible news. The count has recently visited Mina!
But where was the count now? There was no time to lose. We ran to Mina's room. Jonathan was on the bed and his eyes were closed. He couldn't move. Count Dracula was there! There was a cut on the count's chest. The count had his hands around Mina's neck. He was holding her very tightly. She was drinking the count's blood. The count was making her do it. It was horrible! He looked up. His eyes were red and his face was incredibly pale. He threw Mina onto the floor and came towards us. The professor stood in front of him with the cross and the garlic. We were ready to kill him. Then the moon went behind a cloud. The room went dark and the count escaped out of the window.
We gave Jonathan some water and he woke up. He saw the blood and he saw Mina. He held her. She was very, very frightened. She cried and cried, ‘I'm unclean. I'm unclean,' she repeated over and over again.
I went back to look after Renfield. But there was nothing more I could do for him. Later that night, the poor man died.
