Mina by Elaine Bergstrom Read Free Book Online Page A

was too new, too strong. I dared not trust my
will.
    My expression must have given my thoughts away, for Van Helsing
stared at me a moment, his eyes so clear in the firelight, so filled with
relentless understanding. "You will destroy me if I become undead," I
whispered. He might have seen thisasself-pity, or a need to be certain that he
will end my life if necessary. Perhaps he even understood that I meant this as
no more than honesty, an acknowledgment that this truth should be stated. I
would never know. Without a word, he returned to tending the fire.
    Through the evening, the horses had complained often, protesting
the cold, the absence of any real shelter, the distant howling of a pack of wolves.
Later they began to whinny with fear. Van Helsing went to them, stroking them
and talking softly to calm them. As he did, I detected the sound of seductive
laughter carried on the winds of the night from the castle to my mind. The moon
that had first given some light was soon covered by clouds, and a heavy wet
snow began to fall.
    I knew what
this meant all too well. My sisters were coming. I sat hugging my knees,
rocking my body, waiting happily for them—
    my new kin!
    When the snow was at its heaviest, a
glowing white mist rolled down the path from the castle, bringing with it what
seemed at first a rush of lighter snowflakes. The flakes whirled in a vortex
that could be seen but not felt. Indeed, the air was strangely still. The laughter
I had heard only in my mind became audible, and following it, their bodies took
form. As they did, I saw Van Helsing make a slow circle, reciting a prayer as
he held out his last host. I dared not ask him to come and seek protection with
me, and he knew enough to not do so.
    Dracula's brides may have been
ordinary in life, but in death their power made them beautiful. As Jonathan had
described, two were dark and resembled Dracula. The third was very fair, in
the manner of Irish women, with honey-colored hair and eyes blue as an autumn
sky. Her smile was so coquettish that I could not help but see the resemblance
to poor Lucy.
    Their voices
tinkled like strings of tiny brass bells in a spring breeze. Their lips were
red against their teeth like some bold harlot's,
    their voices sweet as they
called to me, "Sister. Sister, come and join us."
    I wanted to.
But in spite of their allure-perhaps because of the crumbled host circling me,
or Dracula's promise, or only my own
    stubborn will-I knew I had a
choice. Yet there was one temptation that could not be resisted. I held my hand
beyond the circle.
    "Stop!" Van Helsing cried,
but even as he rushed forward, he dropped his last remaining host. It fell into
the shadows of the snow-covered ground. I heard his cry of frustration as he
knelt and groped for it. As he did, the darkest of the three vampire women stepped
forward and eyed my outstretched arm. Though I recognized the hunger in her
gaze and knew she could easily pull me from the circle and end my human life,
my arm was steady. I had to touch her!
    She clasped
my hand in both of hers. I felt the hardness of her flesh, sensed the
incredible strength of her delicate hands as they
    pulled me to the edge of the
sacred circle.
    That touch,
light as the brush of a wind-tossed feather, changed my life forever.
    I whispered
her name-Illona-then leaned forward, willingly letting her hands explore my
face, her lips brush the scar on my
    forehead.
    I had already decided that God would not damn me without my full
consent. Consent requires knowledge. In Dracula's absence, this woman shared
hers with me. Good and evil, ecstasy and terror flowed into me with a swiftness
that made me weak. Her hands an either side of my head were all that kept me
from collapsing as I sank slowly to my knees before her.
    I had guessed the age of these
creatures by Dracula's history, but the years had meant nothing without some
understanding of their passing. She gave me that. She and I watched the last
battlements of the