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At the moment, Van Helsing had one consolation—this still wasn’t as bad as what had happened in Oslo.
It could, however, very easily get worse.
Mina was asleep in the holy circle. For the moment, she was human.
But, if they failed to kill the monster who had bitten her, that could— would— change.
If that happened, Van Helsing had an idea what would happen next.
He and the rest of Mina’s friends would have a choice—stay and try to lay her to rest, or run for their lives. If they left, the fate of Mina’s soul would be sealed.
But if they stayed, she would probably hunt them all down, either by her own will or that of the one who had transformed her.
Van Helsing knew killing Dracula was a long shot. A very long shot.
He wanted a third option.
He knew a fair amount about vampires—perhaps an unfortunate amount. But he didn’t know if it was possible to break the bond between a vampire and his victim without killing the vampire who created the bond.
And he knew of one place he might be able to get that information.
The female vampires Jonathan had run into in the castle might or might not know if such a way existed. But, if they did, they were more likely to reveal that information than Dracula himself, and they, unlike Dracula, were near at hand.
They might hold the key to saving Mina.
If he could get them to tell him whatever they knew on the topic.
Van Helsing ran his fingers over the crucifix and packet of Host in his pocket.
He had already lost Lucy. He would be damned—perhaps literally—if he lost another bright-eyed kid (although her eyes were a little too bright, now) with her whole life ahead of her.
As he made his way towards the castle, Van Helsing silently prayed that Mina would still be alive when he returned, and that she would never find out what he had come here to do.
...
Van Helsing removed the lid of the tomb and stopped short in front of the sleeping vampire.
She looked so alive, so disturbingly human, that it was difficult to remember the true state of affairs.
That’s not a woman. That’s a dead thing. A monster. An affront to God.
The words felt wrong, and Van Helsing found himself feeling almost defensive on the creature’s behalf. How could such a beautiful...
Stop it!
Van Helsing made a mental note of the fact that, apparently, despite the fact that their powers were much weaker during the day, the vampire’s power of hypnotic influence over potential victims was still present.
Present enough that he wasn’t doing anything but standing here staring, evidently.
You need to get on with it.
But the thought seemed distant, far removed from this drowsy place.
It make sense that they still have this power in daytime. It’s a clever defense mechanism. And it fits with Jonathan’s description of his attempt to kill Dracula with a shovel...
Van Helsing swayed on his feet.
Perhaps by luck, or perhaps by some effort of God, an image of Mina sprang to his mind.
I must carry on with my task. For her.
Quickly, he found the other creatures’ tombs (leaving them covered to block sound and to provide some warning in case they awoke and came after him), used a bit of Host to banish Dracula from his, and returned to the first of the creatures. Her tomb was nearest Dracula’s, so perhaps she was the oldest?
As he retrieved the crucifix from his pocket and dangled it over the creature, her eyes snapped open.
Van Helsing didn’t look at them too closely, wary after his recent near miss. Instead, he held the crucifix directly over the creature’s face.
He didn’t waste time. “You will tell me what I want to know, or the next few minutes will be very unpleasant for you. First, can your sisters hear you? In their minds?” He didn’t want to give her ideas, but didn’t want to be snuck up on, either, and suspected that she already would have alerted her sisters, if she could.
The creature winced as the crucifix came nearer. “Will you kill me if I tell you?”
“I want from you answers, not questions. Can they hear you?” He let the crucifix hover just over her face, and she closed her eyes and turned her head away. “In nomine Patri, Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, te coacto.”
The crucifix touched her cheek.
She screamed, a single, clear note, and the scream turned into words. “No! No, they can’t.”
“Why not?”
“We can all hear him, but not each other, take it away!”
Van Helsing lifted the crucifix off her face. “Is there any way to break the bond between vampire and victim, before the victim become un-dead? Without killing the vampire?”
The creature swallowed, then smiled fiendishly. “You’re here about the Mina girl, aren’t you?”
Hearing Mina’s name in the creature’s unnatural voice was sickening, and for a moment Van Helsing couldn’t respond.
The creature kept talking. “You know you can’t kill him, and you want to keep her?” The creature laughed, a sound oddly like a tuning fork, without any of the soft rough edges of human laughter. “You can’t. She’s ours now.”
Van Helsing felt a fury rise up in his chest, and lowered the crucifix once more. “Answer my question.”
“Killing him is... the only way,” the creature choked out. “But you’ll never manage, and even if you did, it... might not be enough, anymore.”
“You’re lying,” Van Helsing hissed. “How will I know when she can no longer return?” He allowed the crucifix to touch the creature’s face, and she writhed and shrieked.
When he lifted it, the creature smiled weakly. “You won’t believe me,” she said, “but she’s already gone. She’s stopped eating, yes? Sleeps all the time?”
Van Helsing ignored the twist in his gut.
He wasn’t going to get anything useful out of this one.
He took his stake from his bag and placed the point of it on the creature’s chest. “This is your last chance.”
“No, no, you don’t understand,” the creature said frantically. “Do you not see what you’re doing? If you kill us, you’re leaving her alone with him, do you have any idea—”
Van Helsing frowned as he raised his mallet. “Why do you care?”
“I told you. She’s ours.”
Had he had time, Van Helsing probably would have pressed the creature further on the topic of vampire ethics. However, being as it was that he did not, he let it pass.
The wolves were out, and he had to get back to Mina.
First, though, he had to make sure these creatures could never harm anyone again.
The creature’s eyes were squeezed shut, and she looked distressingly like a frightened young woman. But that thought reminded Van Helsing of Mina, and of Lucy, and that thought gave him the strength to raise his mallet and drive the stake home.
When the bloody, loud, chaotic deed was done, Van Helsing cut off the creature’s head and moved on to the next tomb he’d found occupied.
One down, two to go.