16 Mina Is Burned by the Bread

CHAPTER 16 Mina Is Burned by the Bread The men decided they would go to the house in Piccadilly, and that Van Helsing, Dr. Seward, and Jonathan would remain there while Lord Godalming and Quincey Morris left to find the coffins at various other locations and destroy them. It was possible, Van Helsing said, that the count might show up at Piccadilly during the day in human form, in which case they would confront him then.

Mina, who was still too sick to travel, would be safe at the asylum until sunset. The men would be sure to return before then. Still, just to be safe, Van Helsing spread garlic and crucifixes around her room. He then took out a piece of sacred wafer and touched it to her forehead. When the bread touched her skin, Mina let out a fearful scream that froze everyone's hearts. The wafer had burned into her flesh, branding her as if it were a piece of white-hot metal! Everyone realized at once what that meant: The count had truly poisoned her, and she was well on her way to becoming one with him. Sinking to her knees, she cried, "Unclean! Unclean! I must now bear this mark of shame upon my forehead!" Van Helsing tried to comfort her. "I know that scar will vanish just as soon as this monster that is still upon us vanishes, too.

Your forehead will someday be as pure as the heart we still know." Before heading to Piccadilly, the men stopped briefly at Carfax to sterilize it, scattering pieces of sacred wafer into all the boxes there. And, once at Piccadilly, they followed the plan they had come up with. Lord Godalming pretended to be the owner, locked out of his home. The others watched from a park across the street as a locksmith picked the lock. The police actually passed by on the sidewalk and tipped their hats, wishing the burglar Lord Godalming and the locksmith a good day! It was all in how you acted, the men realized.

Once the men were inside with the door pulled closed behind them, they did a quick

search. The count was not there, but they did find eight more boxes and sterilized them all. The ninth box was missing, but they found many important papers, as well as keys to other houses where more boxes of earth were being stored. Lord Godalming and Quincey Morris headed out to destroy the remaining boxes at the other houses, and time seemed to crawl while Jonathan and Van Helsing awaited their return. To pass the hours, Van Helsing told Dr. Seward and Jonathan a bit more about the count. A long time ago, Van Helsing explained, this monster had actually been a wonderful man—a soldier, a statesman, and a scientist. Van Helsing's story was interrupted by a knock on the door. It was a boy delivering a message by telegraph. Van Helsing opened the door and the boy handed them a piece of paper. It was from Mina.

LOOK OUT FOR D, the telegraph said. HE HAS JUST LEFT CARFAX AND SEEMS TO BE HEADED YOUR WAY. "Let him come!" Jonathan cried. "I can't wait to wipe this brute off the face of the earth. I would sell my soul to do it!" "Do not say such things," Van Helsing warned him. "No one is going to sell their soul. We are going to fight this thing head- on." Morris and Godalming returned and confirmed that the boxes of earth in Bermondsey and Mile End had been destroyed. But just then, the men could hear a key softly being turned in the recently picked lock of the front door. Without a word the men instantly came together as a team and took their planned positions, their crucifixes and wafers held tightly in their hands. The seconds seemed to pass with nightmarish slowness. Soon, careful