Chapter Text
Mina looked down at Jonathan’s corpse and, not for the first time, shook it.
She’d been sitting on the ground, beside the body that had once been (and hopefully would again be) her husband, all night, and it was getting on toward morning.
She’d known, of course, that Jonathan’s coming back wouldn’t be instantaneous. She didn’t know how long she’d been dead before waking up in the awful dark, hunger tearing through her, Dracula’s voice loud in her head. But Lucy had been buried before... oh.
Maybe the burial was the key.
Mina grabbed a handful of dirt and was preparing to sprinkle it over Jonathan’s corpse—she didn’t have time to dig a full grave before the sun came up—before thinking better of it.
She’d been told, during her time with the others, about the importance of “home earth.” Without either being in the place they’d been turned or having a supply of dirt from that place, vampires were unable to rest—unable to sleep, unable to recharge their abilities, unable to heal from any injuries.
It would be difficult, even with vampire senses, to find this exact spot again, and Mina didn’t know how exact it needed to be.
Besides, it would be best if her and Jonathan’s “home” locations were in the same place, to facilitate them operating, and resting, as a unit.
Mina grabbed Jonathan’s corpse, slung it over her shoulder, and took off at a run, as fast as she could go.
She had a lot of ground to cover before sunrise.
...
As she got near the castle, Mina adjusted Jonathan’s corpse on her shoulders and frowned.
He’d been easier to carry as a living being, capable of holding on and making himself easier to carry. Now, limbs were flopping all over the place, and it was quite awkward—
Mina broke off her train of thought, unsettled at her own thinking.
That’s your husband. That’s Jonathan.
She could feel herself getting weaker as the sun’s rays started to creep over the horizon. Soon, she’d be no more powerful than a human, and certainly unable to carry Jonathan’s—to carry Jonathan any further.
She’d left the door unlocked when she’d left, and she was glad of that now.
As she slipped into the castle, she felt Jonathan seeming to grow heavier and heavier, until she could barely stagger under the weight of him.
She managed to get to a room with a coffin before she collapsed to the ground.
She noticed Jonathan’s head land hard on the floor, and winced, hoping it wouldn’t pain him when he woke.
He would awake.
It would be fine. He’d heal once he got blood, anyway.
One day of being left out, inside and away from wolves, wouldn’t hurt him. Right now, Mina needed to sleep.
She could pick this up tomorrow night, when she’d be able to find him food.
Leaving Jonathan where he lay on the floor, Mina crawled into the coffin, closed it, and drifted off.