4 October.
This message is for Jonathan Harker. You must stay with your dear Mina Harker today. That is your most important job. The Count is not here anymore. He has gone back to his castle in Transylvania. He prepared for this escape. He took the last box of earth on a ship. He took the money because he was in a hurry.
He knew we were close to catching him. He chose his last plan: to go home. We are going to find his ship. We want to know where it is going. Then we will come back and tell you. Do not lose hope. The Count took hundreds of years to reach London. But we drove him out in just one day. We are strong together. We will win this battle.
Jonathan Harker’s Journal.
4 October.
Mina Harker felt better after she heard Van Helsing’s message. She was happy that the Count was out of the country. But I still see the red scar on her forehead. It reminds me that the danger is real. Mina Harker says that maybe we are doing God’s work. I hope she is right. We are waiting for the Professor and the other men to return.
Mina Harker’s Journal.
5 October, 5 p. m.
Everyone met today to talk. Dr. Van Helsing told us about his search. He looked for ships going to the Black Sea. He went to a place called Lloyd’s. Lloyd’s has a list of every ship that sails. He found one ship called the Czarina Catherine. It sailed to a port called Varna.
Van Helsing went to the docks. He spoke to the workers there. They remembered a tall, thin man in black. He had a straw hat and very white teeth. He was in a great hurry. He paid the captain of the Czarina Catherine a lot of money. Then the man drove a cart with a large box. He moved the box onto the ship himself.
A strange, thick fog appeared around the ship. The captain was angry because he could not see. But when the man came on board, the fog moved with the ship. The ship left London and went to the sea. Van Helsing said the Count is on that ship. He is going to Varna. We must travel by land to meet him there.
I asked if we really must follow him. Van Helsing said, "Yes! We must!" He said the Count is a monster like a tiger. If a tiger eats a human, it always wants more. The Count will never stop. He has spent years learning our language and our laws. He wants to destroy our world. We must stop him to save Mina Harker and the world.
Dr. Seward’s Diary.
5 October.
We all woke up early. We felt more hopeful. But I saw the red mark on Mina Harker’s forehead again. I noticed something scary. Mina Harker is changing. Her teeth look a little sharper. Her eyes look harder. Sometimes she is very quiet. I think the Count’s blood is working inside her.
Van Helsing is also worried. He thinks the Count can read Mina Harker's thoughts. If we tell Mina Harker our plans, the Count will know them too. We decided to keep our plans secret from her. We must protect her, but we cannot tell her what we are doing.
We planned our journey. The ship will take three weeks to reach Varna. But we can go by train in three days. We will arrive in Varna before the Count. We will all carry guns. Quincey Morris wants to take Winchesters (a type of strong rifle). We will leave on the 17th of October.
Jonathan Harker’s Journal.
5 October.
Mina Harker was sleeping like a child. She looked very happy. When she woke up, she asked me to promise something. She said, "Jonathan, promise you will not tell me your plans. Do not tell me anything about how you will fight the Count." She knew the Count might read her mind. I promised her. I felt like a door closed between us.
6 October, morning.
Mina Harker woke me up very early. She wanted to see Dr. Van Helsing. She told him, "I must go with you to Varna." The Professor was surprised. He said it was dangerous. But Mina Harker said, "I am safer with you. And you are safer with me. I know the Count can call me. If I am alone, I might go to him. But if I am with you, you can hypnotise me. Then you can learn where he is."
Van Helsing agreed. He said she was very wise. We will all go to Varna together. Van Helsing said we will board the ship when it arrives. We will put a wild rose on the box. The old stories say a vampire cannot leave a box if there is a rose on it. Then we will open the box and destroy the monster.
I prepared my will (a legal paper that says who gets your money after you die). I am ready for anything. If I die, Mina Harker will get everything. If she dies too, our friends will get it. The sun is going down. Mina Harker is calling me. We must leave soon.