The Mina Murray Series Bundle, A Dracula Retelling: Books 1-3

by L. D. Goffigan

  “Mina, he’s right. We need to go,” Seward said. “Abe, can you walk?”

  “Yes,” Abe said with difficulty.

  “Seward, help Abe up and head south. You have the strength to carry much of his weight,” I said, forcing myself to focus. “I’ll fetch our bags from our carriage.”

  “No,” Abe protested weakly, shaking his head. “We will wait for you before we depart. If the vampires are almost upon us—”

  “I’ll be right behind you,” I said, giving Abe a reassuring smile, though a sliver of trepidation crawled up my spine. “You’re injured. We need to get you to safety first.”

  I leaned forward to touch the side of his face, holding his gaze. There were a multitude of things I wanted to say, but I focused on my most immediate and greatest desire.

  “Stay alive,” I whispered.

  Before even more tears could threaten my thin grip on control, I turned and hurried towards the destroyed train. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gabriel moving quickly between the various groups of passengers. As he spoke to them, they each moved off into a different direction. He’s scattering them, I realized. They had a better chance of survival if they were spread out, rather than being centered in a single location. I felt a small glint of admiration for Gabriel, whoever he was.

  I approached the destroyed train, counting out the carriages until I spotted our own, which had been the third from the rear. My memory was correct and it was intact, resting askew on the tracks.

  I made my way to the entrance, where the door to the carriage hung limply off its side. With great effort, and ignoring the steady throb of pain in my lower back, I stepped inside. Many of the seats were still in place, while multiple bags and shattered glass from the windows covered the interior of the carriage. I made my way towards the rear, scanning the various bags, until I spotted our bags, lodged beneath one of the seats. I hurried forward until I reached them, and reached into mine, taking out my additional kukri and the pouch of wolfsbane. I tucked the wolfsbane into the bodice of my dress and the kukri into my other sleeve. I had just begun to knot the straps of our bags around my shoulders when I heard the first screams.

  I stilled for a moment before turning to peer out of one of the destroyed windows.

  Dozens of vampires had emerged from the forest and descended onto the scattered passengers like a swarm of ravenous beasts. With a chill, I was reminded of the vampires on the Demeter as they began to tear into the flesh of the passengers with brutal and lethal efficiency.

  I forced myself to look away from the gruesome sight of the massacre, quaking with fear. I had to focus on not letting my panic overwhelm me, and slowly removed one of my kukri knives from my sleeve, turning to move back towards the front door of the carriage, the straps of the bags now tied around my shoulders. Once I stepped out of the train, I would have to sprint to the tree line.

  I was halfway to the carriage door when I heard a ferocious snarl, and a female vampire leapt inside the carriage, her fangs exposed as she trained feral black eyes on me.

  18

  Gabriel

  Trembling, I met her monstrous eyes.

  Think, do not panic.

  I could try to climb out of one of the shattered windows, but I knew that she would move too quickly for me to escape. I would have to fight her off.

  My breathing was frantic as I clutched my kukri, keeping my eyes locked with hers. Her eyes shifted down to my blade, and I thought I saw her lips curl slightly, an oddly human movement, as if she were amused. She lunged forward with astonishing speed, landing on top of me and pinning me down with enormous strength. Her eyes were ferocious and pitch black as she reared down towards my throat, her fangs sharp and glinting.

  Recalling what I’d done on the Demeter in the same precarious position, I twisted out of her reach, swinging out with my kukri in a sharp arc, my blade lodging into the side of her neck. Dark red blood spurted from the wound, and as she stiffened with a pained hiss, I yanked the blade out and sank it into her heart. She stilled, her eyes going from black to a very human hazel, and as her eyes met mine she looked . . . human. In that brief moment, I saw a glimpse of the vulnerable young woman she must have once been, her eyes displaying both grief and relief before they went blank. I yanked the blade from her chest as her lifeless body slumped forward.

  I scrambled out from beneath her, stumbling towards the carriage door. I dashed out of the carriage, my muscles protesting with agony as I sprinted towards the tree line opposite the train tracks.

  I didn’t dare look back, but the cries of the passengers behind me were of a different sort this time. They were sounds of hopelessness and despair, of horror at their gruesome deaths at the hands of these creatures, echoing the cries of the dying shipmates aboard the Demeter—sounds I would never forget. I forced myself to keep running, pushing the image of the dying female vampire from my mind, and trying to block out the sounds of the screams.

  Once I arrived in the sprawling dark forest, I picked up my pace, my legs screaming in pain with every footfall, struggling to maintain focus on the jagged path through the forest ahead. I soon made out two familiar forms—Abe and Seward. Abe moved slowly and painfully as Seward shouldered much of his weight, helping him along.

  Flooded with relief at the sight of them, I started to pick up my pace, when I felt multiple cold gazes on my skin. The sensation came from the dense cover of trees that surrounded me. Multiple vampires were tracking me.

  I deliberately slowed my pace. I couldn’t lead them to Abe and Seward. My eyes filled as I watched Abe and Seward continue to limp forward, unaware that I was only yards behind them. Stay alive, I pleaded. Stay alive.

  I turned to veer towards a tangle of trees away from them, praying that the vampires would follow me, not Seward and Abe. The cold sensation indeed trailed me, and as I stumbled towards the edge of a small clearing, lightly dappled by moonlight, I halted.

  Four vampires were gathered, crouched in animalistic stances, their lethal eyes trained on me. They looked different than the feral vampires from the Demeter and the creatures back at the train wreckage. They appeared more controlled and refined, dressed in fine clothing like the vampires who had appeared at the Langham. If it weren’t for their preternatural white skin and oddly colored eyes ranging from pitch black to blood red, I would have mistaken them for humans. But there was no denying their monstrous nature now as they hissed and snarled at me, preparing to strike.

  I stood completely still, my heart wildly pounding in my chest. I had been fortunate with the previous vampire. How could I fight off several of them?

  One of the male vampires straightened from his crouch to his full height of nearly seven feet; his red eyes glittering with recognition as he studied me, and I felt rather than heard his whispered word.

  “Ghyslaine.”

  The same word the vampire had whispered to me on Westminster Bridge. I was rattled by this, but maintained my focus on the matter at hand. I knew I couldn’t outrun them, so I would have to take my chances in a fight. I could only pray that the wolfsbane tucked into my bodice would deter them, if not turn them away altogether, though it seemed to have no effect on the female vampire on the train.

  It took a Herculean effort to remain still as I faced off with them, bracing myself for their attack. Be prepared; but never be the first to strike. The one who makes the first move loses his advantage, Sofia had once told me.

  They all moved at once, eerily coordinated and impossibly fast as they launched themselves towards me. I took a step back and swung out my kukri, making contact with the neck of the first vampire. I yanked my blade free as she crumbled to the ground with a pained hiss and sunk it into the heart of the second vampire, pulling it out as a third vampire grabbed me by the neck and hurled me to the ground. I again tried to swing my blade as I lay prone, but the two male vampires crouched at my sides, pinning my arms to the ground in an inhumanly strong grip. I screamed, more in anger than in fear, that fate would have me die
this way, the same way Father died, in a remote forest at the hands of a vampire.

  One of the vampires reared down to my throat, sinking his fangs into the flesh. It was a horrible sensation, the feel of my blood flowing into the monster’s hungry mouth. I closed my eyes, willing the darkness to take me, for a quick death . . . but something strange happened.

  The fangs abruptly withdrew from my throat and my arms were released. My eyes flew open, and the two vampires retreated from me. The one who drank from me clutched his blood-stained mouth as he looked at me in horror. He turned to the other vampire, speaking in a language I did not recognize.

  “Li shi’l necre.”

  And they both vanished from the clearing.

  For several moments I sat there, stunned, searching amongst the trees for any sign of the vampires. But they had inexplicably retreated and left me alive.

  I looked down at the wolfsbane, still tucked securely into my bodice. Perhaps the scent had deterred them. But doubt niggled at my mind, and I suspected that was not the case.

  I stumbled to my feet, my eyes falling upon the two vampires I’d stabbed, who still lay crumpled on the ground. Grabbing my kukri, I staked the first vampire in the chest to avoid his possible resurrection, before turning to scramble out of the clearing.

  I retraced my steps until I found my original path, my mind ablaze with questions as I ran. Ghyslaine. What was Ghyslaine? Did it have something to do with why had they left me alive?

  I set my questions aside, focusing on locating Abe and Seward. I saw no sign of them. I fervently prayed that they’d made it unscathed to one of the abandoned farmhouses.

  The trees seemed to watch me as I ran, but I felt no sensation of cold, vampiric gazes on my skin. I picked up my pace despite the persistent soreness of my limbs, eager to leave the dark forest behind.

  I emerged from the forest onto a moonlit plain, where several farmhouses were dispersed across the countryside. I paused, unsure of which one Abe and Seward had taken shelter in, and decided to approach the closest one.

  The door was partially open, and splatters of blood stained the entrance. Palming my kukri, I stepped inside. The room I entered appeared to be a kitchen, with dusty wooden floors, a small table and two chairs, a fireplace, and cupboards. It looked and smelled as if it had been in disuse for some time, and I wondered with unease what had happened to make the inhabitants leave.

  The sound of muffled male voices came from the cellar. Familiar voices. Abe and Seward.

  I descended the stairs. Abe was seated on the floor, propped up against the wall, the shrapnel no longer in his side as Seward bandaged the wound with his torn jacket. Abe was no longer bleeding, and though his face was crumpled with pain, some color had returned to his skin.

  They both turned when I entered, looking relieved and then alarmed as they took me in. I followed their eyes. I had been so dazed with shock from my encounter with the vampires that I did not realize that I was splattered with blood, and still bled from the vampire’s bite at my throat.

  “Bloody hell, Mina,” Seward gasped. “What happened?”

  “Later,” I said, hurrying forward to kneel down next to Abe. Seward was moving too slowly in bandaging up Abe’s wound. “Let me do this. Did you clean the wound?”

  “Yes,” Seward said defensively, but he got to his feet and stepped back to let me finish securing the bandage. “Abe directed me. It was irritating.”

  “I did attend medical school,” Abe said weakly, a trace of wry humor in his tone. “You would have killed me had I not directed you.”

  “You need water,” I said, irritated by their lighthearted banter. Abe was still wounded. “We’re going to need better bandages while your wound heals, and I’m not sure how much blood you’ve lost, or if you’ll need a—”

  “The shrapnel was a surface wound. I have lost some blood but not enough to require a transfusion.”

  “I’ll get water,” Seward said, turning to hurry up the stairs as I continued bandaging his wound. Abe reached out to gently touch my arm.

  “I will heal, Mina. The wound was not as grave as it appeared.”

  I nodded, but kept my eyes lowered. My relief was greater than he could possibly know, and I couldn’t deny that it was linked to long-dormant feelings that now stirred beneath the surface of my awareness with aching familiarity. I was suddenly very aware of my hands on his bare skin, and hastily finished bandaging his wound, turning away from his perceptive eyes.

  Seward returned with a bucket of water from a water pump in the rear of the farmhouse, along with a large cup from upstairs. I dipped the cup in the bucket and pressed it to Abe’s lips.

  “Now that we have confirmed I am not on the edge of death, are you going to explain why you are covered in blood?” Abe asked, after he took a long sip.

  I used torn pieces of Seward’s jacket to clean and bandage my neck wound as I told them of my encounter with the female vampire on the train, the vampires who had surrounded me in the clearing, the whispered word ‘Ghyslaine’, and their inexplicable action of leaving me alive.

  They were both silent, until Abe looked at me with a concerned frown.

  “Robert did not want you to return to Transylvania. This is all too much to be mere coincidence.”

  “Well, I don’t know how. Or why,” I replied, though I had to grudgingly acknowledge the truth of his words. “I didn’t even know vampires existed until Father was murdered. And even then I remained in denial. No,” I gasped, as a sudden dark thought occurred to me. “What if Jonathan was taken because of me? What if—”

  “Do not let conjecture turn into needless worry,” Abe gently interrupted.

  “We haven’t asked the most important question,” Seward said, after another brief stretch of silence. “Why would vampires target those train tracks?”

  “Easy prey?” I asked.

  “Why make such a scene? The authorities and newspapers will cover this. They’ve mostly carried out their attacks in ways that can be explained away,” Seward mused aloud, in full inspector mode.

  “Perhaps they want to call attention to themselves,” I said, unnerved by the thought.

  “Or they’re done hiding in the shadows.”

  The voice came from behind us. I reached for my kukri as I got to my feet and whirled around.

  Gabriel stood at the doorway to the cellar, his grey eyes shot with fatigue, his shirt splattered with the dark blood of vampires. How had he entered so silently?

  “I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said shyly, taking a cautious step into the cellar. “I saved as many passengers as I could, but many were still killed,” he continued, his voice trembling with regret.

  “Who the devil are you?” Seward asked, his eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Why’ve you been following us?”

  Gabriel didn’t look surprised by the question, but he stiffened, his eyes shifting to the floor. He was silent for so long that I feared he wouldn’t answer. When he looked back up again, his entire focus was on me.

  “I–I’ve been following Mina. Since before the Demeter. Long before that, actually. Much longer.”

  I went completely still. I recalled the coldness on my skin at Highgate Cemetery, Tilbury Docks, Amsterdam, the train, and my absolute certainty that it was a vampire’s gaze.

  I studied Gabriel even closer now. The preternatural flawlessness of his dusky skin and steel grey eyes. His great height. The jagged gash on his cheek from the derailment, which had already begun to heal.

  Memories flashed through my mind. Gabriel had somehow survived the massacre aboard the Demeter and tonight’s train derailment. He had warned me to get off the train before it derailed, as if he knew what was going to happen. And he had sensed the vampires’ approach before they were even upon us.

  A terrible dawning awareness burned my insides like the scorching flames of a fire. A realization that slammed into me with such force that I stumbled backwards, my hand flying to my mouth to stifle a cry.

 
Oh God, I thought, my turbulent emotions careening from astonishment to horror to panic to fury. How had I not seen this before?

  He was one of them. He was vampire.

  I was across the cellar in an instant, shoving Gabriel back against the wall, the blade of my kukri tight against his throat, my eyes wild with rage and tears.

  19

  Revelations

  From somewhere far away, I heard Abe and Seward cry my name. But my entire focus was centered on the man who stood before me. The vampire who stood before me.

  “Monster!” I hissed, my blade pressed into his throat, drawing a thin trickle of dark red blood. Images flickered before my eyes, graphic and unbidden. The vampire hovering over Father’s still form. The vampire standing before Jonathan at the Langham. Arthur dying on the small boat in the North Sea. The terrified final screams of the passengers at the site of the derailed train.

  Gabriel evenly met my eyes, not flinching at the force of my rage or the pressure of my blade in his skin. In his eyes, I saw self-loathing, pain, and . . . surrender.

  I felt Seward’s firm hands on my shoulders, trying to push me back, but I shook him off. Gabriel did nothing to defend himself as he sank to his knees before me. I kept the blade against his throat as he moved. I wanted to kill him. I needed to kill him. For all that his kind had killed and destroyed.

  “Mina,” Abe whispered softly into my ear. He was behind me, but I didn’t turn or back away from Gabriel. Abe’s hand drifted down to mine, preventing me from pushing my blade further into Gabriel’s skin. “He has saved our lives—and countless others—twice now. I do not believe he means us harm. Please, lower your blade. We need to hear what he has to say.”

  “He’s vampire,” I whispered rawly, unwilling to allow the reason of Abe’s words to permeate my haze of fury. “He doesn’t deny it.”