Chapter 75 Chapter Seventy-Four

I took off my coat and covered him lightly, hiding his face. The stone cover was too heavy for us to put back. Helen picked up her little pistol, and despite the ups and downs of her heart, she examined it carefully. "The library," she whispered, "we must find it right away. Did you hear any noise just now?" I nodded, "I think I heard it, but I can't figure out where it's coming from." We stood there, listening, and there was silence overhead. "It must be getting dark outside," Helen murmured. "I know," I said, "maybe the library is in another part of the church, maybe at the foundation."

"It's got to be completely hidden, and it's probably underground," said Helen in a low voice, "otherwise it would have been known. Besides, if my father is in this tomb—" She didn't finish, but in my first shock at seeing Rosie, the question was tormenting me: Where is Dracula? Helen's sensitive hands were already groping for the stones around it.Suddenly, she spotted a loose rock, "Paul!" she exclaimed softly. "This mechanism is ingenious. The iron handle is made of a horned animal, which is embedded in it. When a person walks down the narrow stone staircase, he can pull the door behind him and shut it dead. Inside, although my candlelight is weak, A big room was illuminated. We leaned against each other and listened carefully, but there was no sound in the room.

"Is this a library?" I said. "There's nothing here." We stood still, listening, as Helen's pistol gleamed in this brighter light. "Look, Paul." She pointed with her free hand, and I saw something that caught her eye. "Helen," I said, but she had already stepped forward.After a while, my light hit a large stone table that hadn't been seen before.I saw at once that it was not a table but a sarcophagus.There is another mouthful nearby.Looking further back, we see the largest sarcophagus.The name is engraved on the side of the coffin: Dracula.

At this moment, we heard a commotion somewhere behind us, chaotic footsteps, bodies crowded together, which almost drowned out the slight sound at the other end of the sarcophagus, and the sound of dry mud falling.We jumped forward at the same time, and looked in—the sarcophagus had no lid, was empty like the other two, and the sound was somewhere in the dark, like a small animal running along the roots of a tree. Helen fired a shot into the darkness, hearing only the crash of clods and gravel; I ran forward with the candle. There was no exit at the end of the library, only a few tree roots hanging from the top of the tomb.A niche on the back wall might have held an icon, but I saw a streak of black goo on the exposed stone—blood?Liquid seeping in from the soil?

The door flung open behind us, we turned abruptly, and I grabbed Helen's arm that wasn't holding a gun. Strong lights, torch light, and hurried figures.His shadow rushed up and overwhelmed us: Gazzo Joseph.He was followed by the terrified Friar Ivan.Behind him was a stubby official, and another person who was staggering.I understand now that his sluggish gait often slowed them down.This is Stoichev.He moved his lips as if thanking God that we were still alive. "Put the gun down," Ranov said to Helen. Helen obediently let the gun drop to the floor.I slowly reached out and hugged her.

"What are you doing here?" Before I could stop Helen, she said to Gazuo. "What are you doing here, dear?" he answered.I loathe his recklessness. "Where is he?" Ranov shouted, turning his gaze from me to Helen. "He's dead," I said. "You should have seen him when you came in from the basement." Ranov frowned, "What nonsense are you talking about?" Something stopped me from talking.This is an intuition I learned from Helen. "Who are you referring to?" said Helen coldly. Gazzo pointed the gun more accurately at Helen, "You know who I mean, Elena Rossi. Where is Dracula?"

This question is easier to answer, so I'll let Helen go first. "Obviously he's not here," said her tone most resignedly. "You can go and inspect that grave." After hearing this, the little official took a step forward, as if about to speak. "Watch them," Ranov said to Gazzo. Ranov moved cautiously from table to table, looking around, and it was clear he had never been here before.The black-clothed officer followed him without saying a word. They walked up to the sarcophagus, and Ranov raised his lamp and his gun, and looked in cautiously. "It's empty," he said to Gai Zuo, and turned to look at the two small sarcophagi. "What is this? Come, help me."

"No," he said after a moment, "the tomb in the basement is empty, and so is this one. Now that we have found it, he will never come back." This made me ponder for a while.The tomb in the basement is empty?Where did Rosie's body that we left there just now go? Ranov turned to Stoichev. "Tell us about this place." Seemingly waiting for this moment, Stoichev raised his lamp, walked over to the nearest table, and tapped on it. "I think it's oak," he said slowly, "in terms of design, probably medieval." Yes. But I don't know much about furniture."

At this moment, the lamp in Ranov's hand suddenly shone in another place.It turned out that he had been holding up the lamp to shine east and west, checking the table.Now his lamp shone sideways on the face of the little black-clad official with his hat pulled down, who stood silently beside Dracula's empty sarcophagus. I clearly saw the thin face under the unnatural beard, and the familiar light in the eyes. "Helen!" I cried, "Look!" She stared at him too. "What?" Ge Zuo turned to her immediately. "This man—" Helen gasped, "the man over there—he's—"

"He's a vampire," I said dryly. "He's been following us from our school in America." As soon as I opened my mouth, the guy immediately started running away.The evil librarian is gone, running so fast, I'm not sure if he actually ran down the hallway or just disappeared right under our noses. Ranov chased out the door, but came back immediately.We stood there, staring at him.His face was pale, and he grabbed the torn coat, a little blood was already flowing between his fingers. After a long time, Ranov said, "What the hell is going on?" His voice trembled.

Gazzo shook his head. "My God," he said, "he bit you." He took a step away from Lanoff. "I've been alone with the little guy a few times. He said he could tell us where to find those Americans, but he never told me he was—" "Come on," Ranov chased us away with a gun and put his hand on his injured shoulder. "You are not helping us at all. I want you to go back to Sofia as soon as possible and get on a plane. Luckily for you, we didn't get permission to let us go." You disappear—there will be trouble." I looked back at the imposing sarcophagus at the door, and I saw something very wrong: the reliquary of San Peco was holed in its base.They must have used some kind of tool to open where we couldn't.The marble cover below has returned to its place, covered with embroidered cloth as if untouched. Helen glanced at me blankly.As I passed the reliquary, I glanced inside and saw bones, a polished skull—the remains of the local martyr. The monk and I went down to the basement first. Stoichev said: "Those - those villains are still looking for you in the church and in the woods. We saw the man in the tomb - not Dracula - I know you have been there. So we closed It. When they came down, just opened the reliquary. They were so angry, I thought they were going to throw the poor saint's bones out." Brother Ivan looked strong enough, but the frail Stoichev must have rare strength in his body. Stoichev gave me a keen look. "But who is that man lying down in the tomb, if he isn't—" "Professor Rossi," I whispered. Ranov was opening the car door and ordering us inside. Stoichev gave me an expressive glance. "I'm sorry."