DRACULA

In the mountains of Transylvania there stands a castle. It is the home of Count

Dracula, a dark, lonely place, and at night the wolves howl around the walls. In the
year 1875 Jonathan Harker comes from England to do business with the Count.
But Jonathan does not feel comfortable at Castle Dracula. Strange things happen
at night, and very soon, he begins to feel afraid. And he is right to be afraid,
because Count Dracula is one of the Un-Dead: a vampire that drinks the blood of
living people...

JONATHAN HARKER'S DIARY

1 - COUNT DRACULA

My story begins about seven years ago, in 1875. My name is Jonathan Harker, and
I live and work in London. My job is to buy and sell houses for other people. One
day a letter arrived for me from a very rich man who lived in Transylvania. He
wanted to buy a house in England and he needed my help. The man was Count
Dracula, and I agreed to help him. I found a house for him, and he asked me to
take all the papers for it to Transylvania. I was not very pleased about this. I was
planning to get married in the autumn, and I did not want to leave my beautiful
Mina.

'But you must go, Jonathan,' she said. 'The Count is rich, and perhaps he will

give you more work later.'

So I agreed to go. I did not know then of the terrible danger which waited for me in
Transylvania. And so, on 4th May I arrived at a little town called Bistritz.
Transylvania was a strange and beautiful country. There were mountains, trees
and rivers everywhere. And somewhere high in the mountains was the Count's
home, Castle Dracula. I had six hours to wait before the coach came to take me
there, so I went into a little hotel. Inside the hotel it was warm and friendly. The
people there were all laughing and talking.

'Where are you going?' they asked me.

'To Castle Dracula,' I replied.

Suddenly the room was silent and everyone turned to look at me. I could not
understand why they all looked afraid.

'Don't go there,' someone said.

'But I have to,' I answered. 'It's business.'

They began to talk again, but they were no longer laughing. Slowly, the hotel
keeper's wife took the gold cross from her neck and put it into my hand.

'Take this,' she said.

'There is danger at Castle Dracula. Perhaps this will help you.'

When the coach arrived and I got into it, a crowd of people came to watch, and I
heard the word 'vampire'. The coach travelled up into the mountains. Higher and
higher it went, faster and faster. The sun was bright, but above the trees there was
snow on the mountain tops. Then suddenly the sun went down behind the
mountains and everywhere was dark. In the forest around us, the wolves were
howling. It was a terrible sound. Suddenly the coach stopped. A small carriage
came down the narrow road on the right. Four black horses were pulling it, and the
driver was dressed in black, with a black hat pulled down over his face.

'Where's the Englishman?' he called. 'I've come from Castle Dracula!'

He looked strange, standing there in the moonlight, and suddenly I was afraid. But
it was too late. I could not go back now. Soon we were on our way to Castle
Dracula. The mountains were all around us and the moon was behind black
clouds. I could see nothing... but I could still hear the wolves. The horses went
faster and faster, and the driver laughed wildly.

Suddenly the carriage stopped. I opened the door and got out. At once the carriage
drove away and I was alone in front of the dark, silent castle. I stood there, looking
up at it, and slowly, the big wooden door opened. A tall man stood in front of me.
His hair was white and he was dressed in black from head to foot.

'Come in, Mr Harker,' he said. 'I am Count Dracula.' He held out his hand and I
took it. It was as cold as ice!

I went into the castle and the Count carefully locked the door behind me. He put
the key into his pocket and turned to go upstairs. I followed him, and we came to a
room where a wood fire burned brightly. In front of it there was a little table with
food and drink on it. The Count asked me to sit down and eat, but he did not eat
with me. Later, we sat and talked by the fire. His English was very good, and while
we talked, I had time to look at him carefully. His face was very white, his ears
were like the ears of a cat, and his teeth were strong like the teeth of an animal.
There was hair on his hands and his fingers were very long. When he touched me,
I was afraid. It was nearly morning when I went to bed, and outside, the wolves
were still howling.

The next morning I found my breakfast on the little table in front of the fire. Now
that it was light, I could see that Castle Dracula was old and dirty. I saw no
servants all that day. The Count did not come to breakfast, but there was a letter
from him on the table.

'Go anywhere in the castle,' it said, 'but some of the rooms are locked. Do not try to
go into these rooms.'

When the Count came back in the evening, he wanted to know all about his new
house in England.

'Well,' I began, 'it's a very big house, old and dark, with a high wall all round it.
There are trees everywhere. That's why the house is dark. It has a little church too.'
And I showed him some pictures of it.

He was pleased about the church. 'Ah,' he said, 'so I shall be near the dead.'

We talked for a long time and once I fell asleep. I woke up suddenly and found the
Count's face near me. The smell which came from him was terrible. It was the
smell of death.

'You're tired,' the Count said. 'Go to bed now.' And when he smiled, his face was
the face of a wolf.

Our business was now finished. The Count had all the papers for his new house,
and there was nothing to keep me in Transylvania or in Castle Dracula, but the
Count did not want me to leave. I was alone with him in the castle, but I never saw
him in the daytime. I only saw him at night when he came and sat with me. We
always talked until the morning and he asked me many questions about England.

'I have plans to go there myself soon,' he said. 'Tell me about sending things to
England by ship.' So we talked about ships and the sea, and I thought about Mina,
and her friend Lucy. Lucy and her mother were staying by the sea, and Mina was
planning to visit them there some time. Stupidly, I told the Count about them.

There was no mirror in my bedroom, but I had one with me, a present from Mina.
One morning I was standing in front of it and I was shaving. Suddenly a hand
touched me and a voice said, 'Good morning.' The Count was standing next to me.
He was standing next to me, but I could not see him in the mirror! My hand shook
and I cut myself. Blood began to run down my face and I saw that Count Dracula
was watching it hungrily. Suddenly he put out his hand. He had a wild look in his
eyes, and I was afraid. But his hand touched the gold cross at my neck and his
face changed. He took the mirror from me, went to the window, and a minute later
the mirror was lying in a thousand pieces far below. He did not speak, but left the
room quickly. And I stood there, and asked myself why I could not see this man in
the mirror. I went over to the window and looked out. I was high above the ground.
Many of the doors in the castle were locked. Suddenly, I understood. I was a
prisoner!

2 - I AM IN DANGER

One evening the Count said, 'You must write to your London office and tell Mr
Hawkin that you'll be here for another month.' When I heard this, I went cold.
Another month! But what could I do? I worked for Mr Hawkin, and the Count's
business was important to him, so if the Count needed me, then I had to stay. I
wrote my letter, but I knew that the Count planned to read it. I could not tell Mr
Hawkin that I was a prisoner in Castle Dracula!

That evening the Count did not stay and talk with me, but before he left the room,
he turned to me and said, 'My young friend, sleep only in this room or your
bedroom. You must never fall asleep in any other room in the castle. You will be in
danger if you do.' When he left, I went to my room, but I could not rest and began
to walk round the castle. Many of the doors were locked, but I found one which was
open. I pushed back the door and saw that there was a window in the room. It was
a beautiful night and the mountains looked wonderful in the soft yellow light of the
moon. Suddenly, something moved below me. It was the Count. Slowly, he came
out of the window - first those hands, like the hands of an animal, and then his
head. He began to move down the wall, head first. With his black cloak around
him, he looked like a horrible black bird - and my blood ran cold. What was Count
Dracula? I shivered, and sat down for a minute. The room was warm and friendly. I
think that many years ago it was a room for the ladies of the castle, and I decided
not to go back to my cold, dark room, but to sleep in this room. So I lay down and
closed my eyes.

Suddenly I felt that I was not alone. In the moonlight from the window I saw three
beautiful young women. They were watching me, and talking quietly. 'He is young
and strong,' one of them said.

'Yes. There are kisses for all of us,' another answered. I was excited and afraid. I
knew that I wanted those soft red mouths to touch me. One of the women came
nearer. Her strong white teeth touched my neck. I closed my eyes and waited. 'Kiss
me! Kiss me!' I thought.
Suddenly there was a cry of anger. It was the Count! He pulled the woman away
from me, and her bright blue eyes turned red with a wild anger. I looked at the
Count and his eyes were burning with all the fires of hell.

'Get off him!' he cried. 'He's not for you! Stay away from him.' A second later, the
women were no longer there. They did not leave by the door, but they were no
longer there! I remember no more of that night. When I woke, I was in bed in my
room. My gold cross lay on the table next to me, bright in the morning sun. I knew
then that those women were vampires, and that they wanted my blood. Two nights
later, the Count came to me. 'Write to Mina,' he said. 'Tell her that your work in
Transylvania is finished and that you are coming home.' How pleased I was when I
heard this! But then the Count said, 'Say that you are at Bistritz, and put June 29th
on the letter.' I shivered when he said this. I knew then that the Count planned to
kill me on that day. What could I do? There was nothing. I could only wait and try to
escape. But the Count took away all my other clothes and my travel papers, and he
locked the door of my room.

A week or two later, I heard noises in the castle, the sound of men working.
'Perhaps one of them will take a letter out of the castle for me,' I thought. But it was
too late! It was already June 29th, and that evening from my window I saw the
Count leave the castle, with my letter to Mina in his hand. He was going to post it! I
knew that I must do something before it was-too late. Vampires can only come out
at night, so I knew that there was no danger during the day. The next morning I
decided to visit the Count's room to see what I could find. To do this I had to get
into it by the window. This was possible because his room was just below my
bedroom, and there were little holes in the wall between the stones. I could put my
feet in these, and I could use the heavy curtains from my window to hold onto. It
was dangerous, but I had to try. Slowly I moved down the wall. Once or twice I
almost fell, but at last I found myself in the Count's bedroom. The room was empty.
The Count was not there. I looked for the castle keys, but I could not find them.
Over in one corner of the room there was some gold, and on the other side of the
room there was a big wooden door. It was open and I saw that there were some
stairs going down. I went down them, and I came to another door. This was open
too, and I found myself in a room with a stone floor. Slowly, I looked around me.
There were about fifty wooden boxes in the room. They were coffins, and they
were full of earth. In one of them lay the Count! I could not say if he was dead or
asleep. His eyes were open and looked cold and stony, but his face did not look
like the face of a dead man. His lips were still very red, but he did not move. Slowly
I went nearer. I thought perhaps that he had the castle keys on him. But when I
looked at those cold, stony eyes, my blood ran cold. Afraid, I turned and ran back
to the window. I did not stop to think until I was back in my room.
That night the Count came to me again. 'Tomorrow you will return to England,' he
said, and I knew that tomorrow was the day of my death. I lay down on my bed, but
I did not sleep very well. During the night I heard women's voices outside my door,
and then the Count, saying, 'Wait. Your time has not yet come. Tomorrow night...
you can have him then.' The women laughed, a low, sweet sound, and I shook with
fear. Morning came at last, and I was still alive. 'I must escape,' I thought. But first I
had to get the keys.

Once again, I went down the wall and into the Count's room. I ran down the stairs,
to the room with the coffins. The Count was there, in his coffin, but he looked
younger and his hair was no longer white. There was blood on his mouth, which
ran down across his neck. My hands were shaking, but I had to touch him, to look
for the keys. I felt all over his body, but they weren't there. Suddenly I wanted to kill
Count Dracula. I took a workman's hammer, and began to bring it down hard on to
that horrible, smiling face. But just then the head turned and the Count's burning
eyes looked at me. His bloody mouth smiled more horribly than ever. I dropped the
hammer and stood there, shaking. What could I do now? Just then I heard the
sound of voices. The workmen were coming back. I hurried back up the stairs to
the Count's room. Below, I heard the noise of a key. The workmen were opening a
door. So there was another door to the outside down there! I listened carefully, and
heard the sound of hammers. They were getting the coffins ready for a journey...
perhaps to England! I remembered the Count's words about his plans to visit my
country. I turned to run back downstairs, to find this open door. But I was too late.
A cold wind ran through the castle and, with a crash, the door at the top of the
stairs closed and locked itself. I could not get back down the stairs. Soon I saw
from the window the heavy carts full of coffins, and the workmen drove away. I was
alone in the castle with those terrible vampire women. While I was writing these
words in my diary, I decided what to do. I must try to escape. I shall try to get down
the wall outside. The window is high above the ground, but I have to try. I shall take
some of the gold with me... if I escape, perhaps it will be helpful later. If I die, it will
be better than the death that waits for me here. Goodbye, Mina! Will I ever see you
again?