Chapter 73 Chapter 72

It's been almost a month and he's still wearing the same suit he was wearing that night when the two of us last talked.The clothes were torn, as if there had been a car accident.The skin wrinkles on one side of the neck were soaked with strands of blood, forming a scarlet mass on the dirty collar.His breathing was weak, his mouth was loose and swollen, and except for the heaving and falling of his shirt, his body was motionless. Helen held out her hand. "Don't touch him," I snapped.This made me even more terrified. I don't know if things would have been worse if he had opened his eyes, but he did.Even in the dim candlelight, his eyes were blue and bewildered, looking around as if trying to see our faces, while his body remained dead still.His eyes seemed to be fixed on Helen who was bending over to look at him. The blue eyeballs gradually became clear and widened, as if to see her whole body clearly.

"Ah, my love," he said softly. "Dad, I'm Helen Lina. I'm your daughter." He took her hand. I wanted to tell him we were going to get him out right away, we were going home, but it was already clear to me that he had multiple injuries. "Rosie," I said, leaning over, "I'm Paul and I'm here." He sighed and closed his eyes, "Oh, Paul," he said, "you came to me, you shouldn't have done this." He looked at Helen again, "I remember you," and after a while, he murmured muttered. I took out the ring that Helen's mother had given me from my jacket pocket, and held it up to his eyes.

He let go of Helen's hand and touched the ring awkwardly, "Here you are," he said to Helen. Helen took it and put it on her hand. "My mother," she began tremblingly, "do you remember? You met her in Romania." He looked at her, with old longing, and smiled. "Yes," he whispered at last, "I love her. Where has she been?" "She's safe in Hungary," Helen said. "You're her daughter?" There was a hint of surprise in his voice now. "I am your daughter." Tears welled up in his eyes—as if tears were hard—and trickled down the lines at the corners of his eyes. "Paul, please take care of her," he said weakly.

"I'm going to marry her," I told him. I put my hand on his chest, and there was a gasp that didn't sound human. "Then—well," he said at last, "how is her mother?" "Yes, Dad," Helen's face was trembling, "she's in Hungary, safe and sound." "Yes, you said that," he closed his eyes again. "She still loves you, Rosie," I rubbed the front of his shirt with trembling hands, "and she gave you this—and a kiss." "I've tried many times, trying to remember where she is, but there's one thing—"

"She knows you've worked hard, take a break," His breathing was rapid and hoarse. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and struggled to get up. "Children, you must get out of here immediately," he gasped. "You are in danger here. He will come back and kill you." His eyes flicked dangling. "Dracula?" I asked softly. Hearing this name, his expression went wild for a while, "Yes, he's in the library." "Library?" I said, "What library?" "His library is over there—" He tried to point to a wall. "Rosie," I urged him, "tell us what happened and what we should do."

For a moment, he seemed to be struggling to see something, staring at me, blinking rapidly, "He suddenly came to my office and took me a long way. Don't know where this is." "Bulgaria," Helen said, gently clutching his swollen hand. His eyes sparkled with the usual interest, and there was a gleam of curiosity, "Bulgaria? So—" He tried to moisten his lips. "What did he do to you?" "He brought me here to look after his - blasphemous library. I've tried my best. It's my fault, Paul. I've started researching again for an article-" He breathed heavily , "I wanted to prove that he belonged to a - wider tradition, which originated with the Greeks. I - I heard that there was a young scholar at school who was writing about him, but I couldn't find out who he was. name."

Hearing this, Helen took a deep breath.Rosie's eyes flicked to her. "Looks like I should finally publish—" He hissed again, closing his eyes for a moment. "It's all right," I said, "rest." But Rossi seemed determined to finish. "Something," he choked, eyes still closed, "he gave you the book, and I knew he'd come to me next, and he did. I fought him, but he nearly made me— turned into him—" He seemed unable to lift his other hand, and turned his head and neck awkwardly.We suddenly saw a deep puncture on the side of his throat.When he moved, the wound opened and blood oozes.He looked at me pleadingly, "Paul, is it getting dark outside?"

A wave of terror and desperation swept through me, reaching into my hands. "Can you feel the darkness, Rosie?" "Yes, I know when it's dark, I'll feel—hungry. Please, he'll hear you soon. Come—go." "Tell us how to find him," I said desperately, "we're going to kill him now." "Yeah, kill him, kill him for me if you don't risk your life doing it," he whispered. "Listen, Paul. There's a book there, The Life of St. George." He began again Breathless, "very old, with a Byzantine cover - no one has ever seen this book. He has a lot of strange books, but this one - I hid it in the back of the first cupboard on the left, with Get on it. I wrote something—I put something in it. Come on, Paul. He's waking up, and I'm waking up at the same time as him."

"Oh my God," I looked around for something I could use. "Rosie, don't—I can't let him have you, we'll kill him, and you'll be fine. Where is he?" But Helen was calmer now, and she picked up the dagger and showed him. He seemed to exhale heavily, and smiled.Then I saw his teeth grow longer, like a dog's, and the corners of his mouth had been roughened.Tears welled up in his eyes, "Paul, my friend—" "Where is he? Where is the library?" I pressed Rossi more urgently, but he could no longer speak. Helen made a quick gesture, and I understood. Helen unbuttoned Rossi's shirt and gently pulled it open. She pressed the tip of Turgut's dagger against his heart.

He looked at us trustingly for a while, his eyes blue like a child's, and then closed his eyes. As soon as he closed his eyes, I smashed the ancient stone on the hilt with all my strength.