The Unholy Night

Chapter IX

"I feel like I can't breathe, I feel like I can't sleep, how did I not see? I'm unwell. Please forgive me, I've got demons in my head"

- Demons by Hayley Kiyoko

Addy and Bess spent a lot of time tending to Lucy that day while Seward, instead of doing any really doctoring, instead sent a telegram to Van Helsing. 

I might not have had a medical degree, but I can't say I was doing much better. I was off writing letters to Mina, but they were frantic and worried, and all ended up in the fire in the end. 

I suspect part of the reason they were all such failures was because I felt as if I wasn't writing to Mina. I was writing to the married Mrs. Harker, who was happily married and probably going to have children in a few years. 

The fact that I panicked every time I thought about Mina and Lucy going off and getting married certainly didn't help with matters. Once they'd both made families, it wasn't like we could continue living with them. And we couldn't return to Transylvania. We had some funds we'd stolen from Dracula, but they wouldn't last us very long. We had nowhere to go. 

I was consoled by the fact that Lucy was probably going to join us as a vampire soon enough, so at least we wouldn't be lonely. 

The next day, Lucy's face was sunken and chalky. Most vampires have a sort of glossy effect to their skin, and if you're a white vampire, this means you're probably gonna end up looking really pale. (A common misconception is that if you're a vampire you're automatically pasty. For some of us, yes, but it's not a universal experience.) But Lucy, being sick, was even paler than that. Her breathing was heavy and labored and painful to watch. She lay motionless in her bed. It was clear that she was either having a really difficult transformation or dying before our eyes. 

The Insufferables arrived early that morning, but they took one look at Lucy, and immediately left the room, slamming the door behind them. 

"Cowards!" Addy shouted at them through the door. "Cowards!"

Bess kicked her in the shins while I watched the two men from the keyhole. Contrary to Addy's belief, they were not leaving, merely having a discussion where they thought we couldn't hear them. 

"My God," Van Helsing muttered. "This is dreadful. There's no time to waste. She will die from a lack of blood keeping her heart going. There must be a blood transfusion at once. Which one of us should do it?"

Now is a good time to explain Professor Van Helsing. You can't tell from this moment, but he was a rude, condescending, misogynistic bitch. My only good memories of him was that one time I nearly scared him to death. But that's a story for another chapter. 

Oh, and he hated me, so that's fun too. 

"I am younger and stronger," Seward replied. "It must be me."

"Then get ready at once."

They entered the room with Arthur a few minutes later, who had somehow managed to make his way inside. They'd given me enough time to relay the information I'd gotten from eavesdropping. 

As soon as they were all back, Van Helsing began mixing something in a cup, presumably medicine. He brought it to Lucy's lips, because she was too exhausted to use her arms. 

Addy flew across the room, a blur of tweed and rage, screaming, "No!" and knocked the cup from his hand. The cup turned somersaults in the air, spilling its contents, and for a second, everything was frozen. 

Addy, with her hand out. A scandalized expression on Van Helsing's face. Seward looking shocked. Me and Bess's eyes wide, Lucy lying, pale and wan, in the bed, a flying cup accompanied by strange liquid.