(Dracula appears, then disappears.)
HARKER
And there!
MINA
Oh my dear, dear husband. You are mad.
HARKER
He’s toying with me.
MINA
You are infirm with nerves.
HARKER
He’s here, Mina. And what’s more… He wants us to know it.
MINA
You’re scaring me. You’ve lost reality.
HARKER
No, I assure you. I am very much replete with sanity.
MINA
I’m not comfortable here, all of a sudden.
HARKER
Nor I. Come, Mina. This place is not safe.
(Music of suspense. Husband and wife exit the garden. The same music leads into the next scene.)
[END OF SCENE]
Scene 7
“Revelations”
[Seward’s Office, Whitby Asylum]
(Enter Van Helsing, followed by Seward.)
VAN HELSING
You need not trouble with the bone saw. We will not do it.
SEWARD
Why not? Only three nights ago you were so resolute.
VAN HELSING
Because it is too late.
(The professor hands a copy of the Morning Gazette to the Doctor.)
What do you think of that?
(Seward gives the paper a cursory glance.)
SEWARD
I don’t know what you mean.
VAN HELSING
Here, beneath this headline…
(Seward reads aloud.)
SEWARD
“At the cliffs near Whitby Abbey, innocent children are being lured away, evidently decoyed by a mysterious woman yet to be identified. When the children are recovered, it is discovered they all share identical sets of marks. Pairs of deep puncture wounds are bored into their throats.”
VAN HELSING
Well?
SEWARD
It’s like poor Lucy’s.
VAN HELSING
And what do you make of it?
SEWARD
Simply that there is some cause in common. Whatever it was that injured her, has injured them.
VAN HELSING
That is true indirectly, but not directly.
SEWARD
How do you mean, Professor? Tell me. I can hazard no opinion. I do not know what to think and I have no data upon which to found a conjecture.
VAN HELSING
Do you mean to tell me, friend Jack, that you have no suspicion as to what Lucille Westenra died of? Not after all the clues given. Not only by events but by me?
SEWARD
Of nervous prostration. Followed by a great loss or waste of blood.
VAN HELSING
And how the blood lost or waste?
SEWARD
I know not. That I cannot decipher.
VAN HELSING
You are a clever man, Jack. You reason well and your wit is bold. Listen to me. In some islands of the Western seas, bats hunt at night and the very sailors who sleep on the decks of their ships, in the morning are found dead men. White, even as Miss Lucy was? And there are some human-like creatures who cannot die.
SEWARD
I am bewildered by such ideas.
VAN HELSING
Can you say with absolute conviction that Lucy is now, even as we speak, sealed in her crypt?
SEWARD
With absolute certainty? No. For I never observed Mr. Swales perform the interment.
VAN HELSING
Let’s imagine he did. Yet what if Lucy herself has become… a vampire.
SEWARD
What!
VAN HELSING
I want you to believe.
SEWARD
Believe in what, exactly?
VAN HELSING
In things that your reason tells you, you should not believe… Come with me.
SEWARD
Where are we going?
VAN HELSING
You’re going to take me to the cell of one, R. M. Renfield. Your man, Mr. Simmons just found me in the hallway. He told me that this man urgently wants to speak with me and Miss Mina as well. Mina is also very concerned it seems with mental disturbances in her husband, Jonathan. Let’s find Mina and to Renfield’s cell.
SEWARD
This way, Professor!
(Exeunt.)
[END OF SCENE]
Scene 8
“Warning and Betrayal”
Renfield’s cell, Whitby Asylum
(Music. Renfield’s cellblock. Enter Seward, Mina, and Van Helsing…)
SEWARD
All right, Renfield. We’ve summoned Mrs. Harker and Professor Van Helsing. Say what you have to say and do it with speed.
RENFIELD
Rats! Rats! Rats! Hundreds, thousands, millions of them! And every one a life! I hunger for rats now. And soon I shall hunger for larger, living things!
SEWARD
More delusions? Right then, we’ll be on our way. Come, friends.
VAN HELSING
Just a moment, Doctor. Mr. Renfield, I am Professor Van Helsing.
RENFIELD
I know exactly who you are.
VAN HELSING
You wanted to see me?
RENFIELD
Aye, to ask you to be Mrs. Harker’s protector.
MINA
Protect me from what?
RENFIELD
Where are you staying?
MINA
At the Westenra cottage adjacent to the old abbey.
RENFIELD
Oh! Stay not there!
MINA
But, why not?
RENFIELD
It isn’t safe.
MINA
Why?
RENFIELD
The blood! The blood is the life! And now yours is in jeopardy.
MINA
By what? By whom?
RENFIELD
Dr. Seward, in the name of all that is holy, protect this dear woman from the fiend. He is my master and I obey him, but just this once, I must warn Mrs. Harker to lock herself up. Stay in hiding with your husband, Jonathan. If not, the same fate of Miss Lucy will befall you!
MINA
What fate is it you speak of, Mr. Renfield?
RENFIELD
The Professor knows. Don’t you? He can tell you. You’ve no doubt heard of the “Bloofer Lady”? My master is lord of all vampires, Count Dracula! Miss Lucy is now un-dead, his concubine. He has bitten her. She now bites the children.
SEWARD
The “Bloofer Lady”! But Mr. Renfield, where does this name come from? Why do the children refer to her this way?
RENFIELD
Because Miss Lucy is beautiful, still. At least to the children. And when they try to pronounce the word, ‘beautiful’, it comes out ‘bloofer’. Mrs. Harker, I implore you to stay here in the Asylum. It is the safest place!
VAN HELSING
Though this sounds of madness, there is method in it. Seward, can you accommodate Mr. and Mrs. Harker at your asylum?
SEWARD
I can. We have a small room with a bed we can use for guests. Mrs. Harker, step outside the door for a moment. When we finish here, we’ll escort you to a safe room.
MINA
Yes, Doctor.
(She leaves.)
RENFIELD
Let me entreat you, Dr. Seward, oh, let me implore you, to let me out of this asylum at once! And do it secretly, in daylight. Send me away how you will and where you will; send keepers with me, bearing whips and chains; Let them take me in a straight w
aistcoat, manacled, and leg-ironed, even to a jail, but let me go out of this!
VAN HELSING
Come with me, Dr. Seward. We must make plans. And we must share them with the others. We’ll need all the help we can get. I’ll explain it all to you. For there is an evil burning in our midst. And vee are the chosen ones to extinguish the flames!
(Music. The two men exit. Renfield is left alone in his cell. Fade to black.)
[END OF SCENE]
Scene 9
“Suffer the Children”
A Wooded Area, Whitby
(Mysterious music eases in. Fog rolls about. Blue lighting illuminates the forest area where Dracula appears. Dracula stands motionless and gestures as though conjuring the appearance of the un-dead Lucy Westenra. The “Bloofer Lady”, slowly enters as if gliding upon a wisp of smoke. At a given moment in the music, small children appear one by one from behind trees, between shrubs, from the deep woodlands as though stirring from a deep and restful sleep. Like a bizarre Pied Piper of Hamlin, the “Bloofer Lady” beckons the children with her hands to follow her. Slowly, in a daze-like state, zombie-like, they walk up to her and each child clutches hold of part of her gown, cape, and/or train. Dracula approaches her, they kiss passionately, then she turns to walk towards the woods. The children follow behind her and all vanish among the trees and darkness.)
END OF ACT II
ACT III
Scene Breakdown
1 “Jack Straw’s Castle”
2 “Behold the Un-Dead”
3 “Baptism of Blood”
4 “Darkness and the Swirling of Water”
5 “The Orient Express”
6 “October 31st”
7 “Precious Cargo”
8 “The Final Conflict”
Scene 1
“Jack Straw’s Castle”
[A Tavern in Exeter]
(Music. Lights come up in a smooth, gradual, and magical glow in the interior of “Jack Straw’s Castle”, a cozy little tavern. Van Helsing, Godalming (formerly Holmwood), and Morris are revealed seated at a table, eating and drinking. A serving wench brings a bowl of bread, clears a dish or two and then exits. Music fades.)
VAN HELSING
Good food, Ja?
MORRIS
Best chow I’ve had in a coon’s age.
VAN HELSING
It should be. For this is Jack Straw’s Castle. The food is hot, the place is warm. The fireplace is always stoked.
GODALMING
Yes, Professor. Very nice. Now, I wish you’d reveal your intention behind this impromptu meeting.
VAN HELSING
Of course. You don’t think I brought you here for quaint conversation.
GODALMING
That I doubt.
VAN HELSING
Nor have I brought you here to discuss body fluids, the four humors, open wounds, and dried pools of coagulated blood.
(He immediately picks up a plate of liver and holds it under Godalming’s nose.)
More kidney pie?
GODALMING
I believe I’ll pass on that for now, Professor. Now, what’s this all about?
(Van Helsing brings a crowbar out of his leather bag and places it on the dinner table.)
MORRIS
What have you got there?
VAN HELSING
An iron crow. Which you English call a ‘crow bar’.
GODALMING
We know what it is, Professor. But why have you brought it to the dinner table?
VAN HELSING
It’s for later. To open a crypt.
GODALMING
A crypt. What crypt?
VAN HELSING
There is a grave duty to be done.
GODALMING
What the devil are you talking about, old man?
VAN HELSING
You were, doubtless, surprised by my letter?
GODALMING
I was. It rather upset me for a bit. There has been so much trouble around my house of late, that I could do without a trifle more.
VAN HELSING
Yes, I know. Your father has died. And now you’ve a new title, inheritance,…
GODALMING
If you’re suggesting that I’m better off without him,… Listen here, old man… I’d rather my father were alive and I a pauper, than to be without him and this title foisted upon me. And his passing so soon upon the heels of losing my fiancé to some malady I’ve yet to understand.
MORRIS
Out with it, Professor. What’s this mission? We’re a bit befuddled. ’Cause as it stands now, we don’t know our blame hawk from a handsaw.
VAN HELSING
Ah! Ah-Ha! A hand-saw! You are closer than you think!
GODALMING
What do you mean?
VAN HELSING
I want you to come with me, and in secret, to the churchyard at Kingstead.
GODALMING
Where poor Lucy is buried?
VAN HELSING
Ja.
MORRIS
And once we’re there, then what?
VAN HELSING
We enter the tomb.
GODALMING
Professor, are you in earnest or is this some monstrous joke?
MORRIS
And once we’re in the tomb?
VAN HELSING
We open the coffin.
GODALMING
For what purpose?!
VAN HELSING
Exhumation.
GODALMING
This is too much! I am willing to be patient in all things that are reasonable; but in this, this desecration of a grave, of one who, …..
VAN HELSING
You will understand when we arrive. If I could spare you one pang, my poor friend, God knows I would. But this night our feet must tread in thorny paths. If not, the feet you love will forever walk in paths of flame!
GODALMING
Take care, Sir, take care!
MORRIS
Easy now, Art. Easy, friend.
VAN HELSING
Lord Godalming, I will reveal all to you! Would it not be well to hear what I have to say?
(After a moment’s pause.)
GODALMING
All right. I will listen. That is all I will promise.
VAN HELSING
That is all I ask. If we are finished here, I shall explain all along the way. Come, let us pay for our meal, gentlemen, and be gone. I will alert Dr. Seward to our purposes. Meantime, you two do the same with young Mr. Harker. With the five of us, more crow bars, lanterns, and fresh horses, we should be able to move the stone lid of Miss Lucy’s grave. And do what is to be done. Come!
(Exeunt.)
[END OF SCENE]
Scene 2
“Behold the Un-Dead”
[Kingstead]
(Dr. Seward and Jonathan Harker enter Lucy’s tomb at Kingstead.)
HARKER
You were right. Kingstead is very much an eerie crypt.
SEWARD
Yes, most crypts are.
HARKER
Look. This is indeed the tomb of Lucy Westenra. Her name is carved into the stone.
SEWARD
I told you. I’ve been here before you know.
HARKER
So you’ve indicated. I hope we’re doing the right thing.
SEWARD
Never you worry. Trust in the Professor and all things will come to light.
HARKER
Speaking of which, my lantern is very little help in the darkness here.
SEWARD
It is a profound darkness, of that you can be assured.
HARKER
What on
earth could be keeping the other three?
SEWARD
Gathering the necessary supplies. The Professor promised to dole them out as soon as he arrived.
HARKER
He may want to hurry. I don’t know how long my flame will hold out.
VOICES
It’s this way! They’ve opened the tomb! Come along! Where’s her crypt?
HARKER
In here, Gentlemen!
(Enter Van Helsing, Godalming, and Morris.)
VAN HELSING
Ah! Thank you, young Jonathan. Now, gather round. I’ve assembled your kits. (He hands out leather carrying cases) One for each of you. Open and check your inventory. First, an iron crow, second, two wooden stakes, then a hammer with which to drive them, a vial of Holy water, a strand of garlic, a small prayer book, and most importantly, a crucifix forged in pure silver! You all remember how I taught you to use them, Ja?
HARKER
We do. We’ve been practicing the rituals.
VAN HELSING
Young Jonathan, we’ll not need our prayer books or perform a ceremony. What we have to do is simple. Now, no delay, take your crows and help to crack open her sealed coffin!
(Music in. They do so. And open the lid finding the body of Lucy missing.)
GODALMING
Good Lord! Where is she?! You knew she was gone! What have you done?
VAN HELSING
Dr. Seward, you were with me here yesterday. Was the body of Miss Lucy in that coffin?
SEWARD
It was.
VAN HELSING
You hear? And yet there is one who does not believe with me.
GODALMING
The coffin is empty!
VAN HELSING
It is now, Ja! Very observant are you.
(Godalming grabs Van Helsing by the lapels.)
GODALMING
What have you done with her, old man?! Tell me! Or by all that is holy, I’ll cast you to such a crypt as this!
(Morris jumps in between the men and pries Godalming’s hands from Van Helsing.)
MORRIS
Professor, I answered for you. Your word is all I want. I wouldn’t ask such a thing ordinarily. I wouldn’t so dishonor you as to imply a doubt; but this is a mystery that goes beyond any honor or dishonor. Is this your doin’?
VAN HELSING
I swear to you by all that I hold sacred that I have not removed nor touched her!
(Godalming releases. Van Helsing brushes himself off.)
Dracula of Transylvania: The Epic Play in Three Acts Page 9