Telegraph from Dr Seward to Professor Abraham Van Helsing

Come to London at once Stop Dear friend seriously ill Stop I´m desperate Stop

Jack Seward

.

"I must go away, Mina."

Lucy´s red night gown shimmered in the gaslight. Her face looked so pale that her skin had blue tint.

"What do you mean?" Mina straitened out her friend´s pillows.

"I made a covenant with him."

She is delirious, Mina thought.

"He will come to you..." Lucy whispered.

"Please, you must sleep. Doctor Van Helsing is coming soon, he will help you."

Lucy closed her eyes. Soon her chest rose and lowered peacefully; Mina checked quickly that everything in the room was like it should be and closed the door.

.

There were a book on Mina´s bedside, near the vase of fresh red roses. Servants had changed the flowers, Mina thought, and someone - Mrs Westenra? - had brought the book.

The Vampyre in folklore and literature, the ornate golden letters on the cover said. Mina smiled and opened it.

The castles and coffins, bats and red roses filled the illustrations. Some were color, some black-and-white. They were marvelous.

The village graveyard was opened and all the nine bodies, died during the illness, were found to be fresh and red-faced, unlike other corpses. Blood they had drunk dribbled from their mouths. Only ways to destroy them were staking, decapitation, and burning the remains.

Mina sat on the chair to read. She did not notice how the clock was approaching midnight, before the scream from Lucy´s room almost made her heart stop.

It was Mrs Westenra´s voice.

Mina put the book to the bed and ran to Lucy´s room.

First she saw Mrs Westenra, who stood by Lucy´s bed, hands over her mouth. Then she saw Lucy was laying on the bed, blood dribbling from two tiny blue marks in her throat. Her open dead eyes stared at the ceiling.

French windows were open and the curtains moved in the night wind.