Authors: Kate Cary
Journal of
Lieutenant John Shaw
30TH
O
CTOBER 1916
I have spent the most wonderful week with Mary Seward! Her presence in my life makes me happier than I ever thought possible. We have spent days strolling in our gardens here at Carfax Hall and evenings taking tea by the fire.
Though we have stayed within the bounds of propriety, the deep affection I feel for Mary is undeniable. Her happy laughter sounds like bells to me, and when the sun strikes her golden hair, she does indeed look like the angel I imagined all those weeks ago.
Yesterday afternoon in the garden, I crept up behind her to give her a playful fright. I grabbed her around the waist, and she yelped with surprise. When I whirled her around to face me, we found ourselves standing just inches from each other—lips so close it would have been easy to
kiss. I expected Mary to turn away, but she stood fast. Though the colour built in her cheeks, her clear blue eyes gazed expectantly into mine. How I wanted that kiss! But I also knew that I wanted Mary to regret nothing about our courtship. I turned my face slightly and pressed my cheek to hers.
“In time,” I whispered in her ear.
She sighed softly and closed her eyes. I felt her long lashes brush the side of my face. “John Shaw, you are the gentlest man. I wish for all the time in the world with you.”
My heart soared, hearing her words. With a woman like Mary at my side, my life could be truly complete.
I only wish Lily weren’t so out of sorts. Since the captain’s departure her manner has been morose. I have tried to comfort her, to explain that an important man such as the captain is needed in the world beyond our gates. But she will not be consoled.
So I am in a curious predicament. For Lily’s sake, I wish for Quincey’s speedy return. Yet as it concerns my dear Mary, I wish the captain to stay away for good. There is no doubt that she is far more at ease and far more herself when Quincey is not about.
It is their personalities. Like oil and water, they do not mix well. I hope that someday the two of them can see their way to an amiable truce, for it is my fervent wish that soon Mary will become a part of our family.
31
ST
O
CTOBER
1916
It seems that though I am not fit to return to the front, I can still be of use to the war effort, which pleases me greatly. Quincey returned to the hall this evening to inform me that my translation skills will be required at the Foreign Office over the next few days. He has even made arrangements for me to stay in town at his club, rather than tire myself by travelling back and forth.
My only disappointment in all of this is that I won’t see my dear sweet girl, Mary, while I am away. I shall sorely miss her. Indeed, we have been so close these past days that I scarcely know how I will survive without her.
Quincey’s return has cheered Lily as expected. However, I have instructed Antanasia to keep a watchful eye over the two lovebirds while I am gone.
She has always been so strict with us. I have no doubt that I leave Lily in good hands.
Letter from Miss Mary Seward to
Lieutenant John Shaw
P
URFLEET
S
ANATORIUM
P
URFLEET
1
ST
N
OVEMBER
1916
Dearest John,
My plan is to slip this note into your bag, unnoticed. Are you surprised at seeing it? I hope that it will bring you comfort on your journey to London.
The days I face ahead without you will be long and dreary. But I will busy myself with my work at the hospital and look forward to the day when I can again behold your dear face and warm myself in the glow of your gentle love.
Though I have never confessed the depth of my feelings before, I want to tell them to you now, John. You must think me a coward, doing this in writing, but I did not want you to leave Purfleet without knowing the truth.
I love you, my darling.
It occurs to me that I may have loved you since our first meeting five years ago. Do you remember it? You were fourteen and a dashing boy. Your charm made quite an impression on me. So I think it must be Fate that brought us together
again—that saw you through the battlefield and into my care.
I will think of you until we are together again.
Yours always,
Mary
Letter from Lieutenant John Shaw to
Miss Mary Seward
T
HE
A
RMY AND
N
AVY
C
LUB
36-39 P
ALL
M
ALL
L
ONDON
2
ND
N
OVEMBER
1916
My darling Mary,
I am missing you more than I could ever have thought possible. You have become the safe haven my soul seeks and I cannot imagine life without you.
Darling Mary, I love you! And your letter tells me that you feel the same for me. I never wish to be without you again, and so I must do this now—even though I cannot kneel before you and ask you in person. I must do this while I have the courage and without delay.
I, too, feel that our lives are intertwined. We are meant to be together.
Mary, nothing would make me happier than if you would do me the great honour of becoming my wife. Please marry me and make me the luckiest man on earth.
There—now it is said. I count the hours until I have your response, and if I should see welcome in your eyes when I return, I will approach your good father for your hand in marriage.
My eternal love,
John
Journal of
Lieutenant John Shaw
5
TH
N
OVEMBER
1916
My handwriting is not as steady as I would wish, for I am aboard the train back to Purfleet. How I am looking forward to seeing Mary again and receiving her answer.
My time with the gentlemen of the Foreign Office was puzzling. I wonder they asked me to come at all for there was hardly anything for me to do there. Perhaps Quincey will shed some light on this when I see him at the hall.
I have been counting the hours until I see Mary again. I can hardly wait.
Journal of
Mary Seward
5
TH
N
OVEMBER
1916
John arrived back from London this evening. “Oh, my darling!” I exclaimed, embracing him, delighted he had come to me so soon. “The answer is yes! Yes! Come in,” I entreated, pulling him over the threshold and into the hall. “Father is keen to meet you.”
And then I saw his anxious expression, the bewilderment flickering in his eyes. My hand dropped away from his. “Have you not come here to ask Father for my hand?” I asked uncertainly.
“Oh, dear Mary … I wish that were my reason for being here …” John replied. “But something dreadful has happened.”
As he spoke, I noticed how quickly he was breathing. “My love, what is it?” I asked, alarmed now. “Come into the parlour. Sit for a moment and regain your breath.”
But he just stood there, shaking his head. “It’s Lily …” he said at last. He held out a letter.
As I took it from him, a horrible coldness crept into my heart.
Letter from Miss Lily Shaw to
Lieutenant John Shaw
C
ARFAX
H
ALL
3
RD
N
OVEMBER
1916
My dearest John,
I hope you will forgive me, but we could not wait for your return. Quincey received word today that he must travel to Romania immediately. He does not know when he will be free to return to England, and we cannot bear to be parted from each other. Dear brother, Quincey has asked for my hand in marriage!
For propriety’s sake, Antanasia is with us, and we shall, with her blessing as my guardian, be wed in Transylvania, in the castle where Quincey grew up.
I must leave now. The carriage waits to take us to Whitby, whence, Quincey tells me, we shall sail to the Bulgarian port of Varna on the Black Sea and then travel overland to Transylvania.
I beg you, John—do not feel badly when you find this note. Instead, rejoice! I am to be united with the man I love! We shall all be together and happy again when this war is over. Your Lily has nothing to fear in Quincey’s tender care.
With all my love,
Lily
Journal of
Mary Seward
5
TH
N
OVEMBER
(
CONTINUED
)
“Well, are you going to bring the young man in, Mary?”
The sound of Father’s voice calling from the parlour flustered me. These were not the joyous circumstances I had envisioned for his first meeting with John.
I returned the note to my love, squeezing his hand as I did so. I could see the great effort it required for him to gather his stormy emotions as he stepped into the parlour to take my father’s hand.
“Dr. Seward, do forgive me,” he began. “I’ve had unpleasant news, and it distracts me. It will, I fear, spoil my hope of impressing you in our first meeting.”
Father smiled kindly at John. “That Mary deems you worthy as a husband impresses me enough, sir. Let us not bother with formalities now; there is clearly something troubling the pair of you. I would like, if I may, to help.”
“Thank you, sir,” John replied. “I would value your advice.”
Father gestured to the sofa. “Sit and tell me what causes two young people to look so worried.”
As John and I seated ourselves, I looked at Father with some surprise. His voice was stronger than I had heard for a
long while. Perhaps having his advice sought had restored some of his former vigour. I felt a prick of regret that I’d tried so hard to shelter him from the horrors I’d seen these last months.
John ran his fingers nervously through his hair, then addressed Father. “I have just arrived at my home—Carfax Hall—to find my sister, Lily, gone. It pains me to say it, but she has eloped with our houseguest, Captain Harker.”
Father frowned deeply. “Why did she feel the need to elope rather than stay and marry in Purfleet?”
“That, sir, I do not know,” John replied. He handed Father Lily’s note.
I was surprised to see Father become rather shaken as he read it. He turned to John. “I did not realise that the Captain Harker Mary mentioned was a Captain
Quincey
Harker.” He handed the note back to John and straightened in his chair. “Tell me, John. Do you know something of his origins?”
“A bit, sir,” John informed him.
“Was he born in England, then taken to live in Romania?”
John nodded, wide-eyed. “How did you know, Dr. Seward?”
Father sighed. “It is as I feared. He and the Quincey Harker I once knew are one and the same.” He turned to me. “As a small child Quincey Harker visited this very house with his parents, Jonathan and Mina. We were good
friends then. But Jonathan died shortly after Quincey’s first birthday. Soon afterward Mina took Quincey to live in Romania with Count Tepes, her future husband.”
I blinked. “Why did I not know of this?” I asked, confused.
“It happened long before you were born, my dear,” Father explained. “And when Mina left, your mother and I never heard from her again. We made our disapproval of her relationship with Tepes clear. We suspected something untoward going on between them while poor Jonathan was still alive.”
Father turned back to John. “I’m sorry to hear that Quincey has inherited his mother’s haste. My wife and I felt that she acted improperly, too—marrying Tepes so soon after poor Jonathan’s death.” He shook his head sorrowfully. “I understand that Quincey was your CO?”
“Yes,” John confirmed. “When I arrived at the front, the men regarded him as something of a mysterious hero, known for his night raids. Unless he was leading into battle, he was hardly ever seen during the day.”
Father stared at him. “Tell me about these … night raids. …”
John swallowed. “I still struggle to separate the true horrors I witnessed from the fevered imaginings that haunted me afterward, sir.”
But Father would not take no for an answer. “This is vitally important!” he insisted, striking the arm of his chair with his fist. “You
must
describe them to me.”
John slowly described the gore-filled night-time atrocities I’d read of in his journal, and a chill seemed to enter the room. By the time he had heard all John had to say, Father had become quite grey.
“Father, we did not wish to trouble you so!” I cried, alarmed for him.
He shook his head. “Believe me, it is most important that you did, for I believe that I may be the only one left who can help you.” He breathed a long rattling sigh. “My dear daughter, I fear an old enemy has returned. An enemy my friends and I had hoped our children would never know.”
He turned to John. “My boy,” he said, “I do not believe your testimony of Quincey Harker’s demonic activities is that of a fevered mind. For I have encountered such behaviour before. From what you have told me, I believe Quincey Harker must be descended from the same evil, parasitic presence I helped remove from the world thirty-five years ago. One Count Dracula …”
“Dracula … I have heard that name before,” John whispered. “In the Romanian folklore of my childhood—but surely those monstrous tales cannot be true …”
Monstrous tales? A deep chill shook me. What could John mean? “Believe me, my boy, they are,” Father assured him gravely. “And though Dracula himself was destroyed a full six years before Quincey was born, it is now clear that his evil bloodline continues—and it must be through
Tepes.
” He
spat out the word. “Poor Jonathan … none of us knew that the bouncing baby boy he adored was not truly his own—but the spawn of the devil himself.”
John’s eyes were filled with stark despair. “But sir, what does this mean for my sister?” My heart twisted as I saw the pain and worry in his face.
“It means that your sister’s very soul is in danger. Quincey Harker is undoubtedly a bloodsucking demon. A vampire. And he has taken Lily to Castle Dracula to make her his own—as Tepes did with Mina. Lily’s only hope is for you to follow—armed with the knowledge I can provide. I shall furnish you with essential reading for your journey. But you must go immediately—leave tonight. Or Lily may be lost forever.”