The Elixir

by George Willson

“I maintain that it’s all superstition, sir,” the first mate replied. “Something unexplained happened, and they’re all scrabbling to put reason to it with the supernatural. Rubbish, if you ask me.”

  “I agree, but Petrofsky is still missing,” the captain noted. “It’s hard to lose someone on a ship, even one of this size. They always turn up, and we searched.”

  “It’s also possible that he crossed someone in the crew, and ended up being tossed overboard without anyone knowing,” the first mate suggested. “He was not the most congenial of mates.”

  “I believe it may be worthwhile to at least search the ship top to bottom,” the captain said, “both to determine what happened to Petrofsky as well as to allay the fears of the crew. I cannot have my men ruled by their fears.”

  “I do not believe this course of action is necessary, sir,” the first mate said, “as there is nothing on board to warrant these fears.”

  “Olgaren said he saw someone,” the captain noted.

  “Hallucinations.”

  “All the same, get everyone onto the search,” the captain said. “Do it now, so the trail of Olgaren’s mysterious stranger isn’t lost in the morning madness.”

  “Yes sir,” said the first mate reluctantly, and he left to rouse the men from their slumbers to conduct a search.

  Karian knew they would be searching for him, and he moved quickly through the ship to return to his crate in the cargo hold. They would come to the hold during their search, of course, but they would not find him. He did not want to kill any more than he had to in order to survive, since he needed the ship to arrive at its destination in one piece. But if they dared to open his crate, they would never leave the hold.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  John Seward sat in his office in the asylum looking over patient records. Over the past ten days, Renfield had continued his feeding of spiders to hungry sparrows, and Seward wondered to what end the man was working. Still, it was fine for the inmates to keep themselves occupied, and Renfield was not hurting anyone .

  An orderly appeared at Seward’s door and leaned on the frame. Seward looked up at him as the orderly said, “Renfield is asking for you, doctor.”

  “Did he say why?” Seward asked. Renfield was generally more together than most of the patients, and occasionally, he would tell the orderlies something, but this time, the orderly only shook his head.

  “Sorry. When I tried to inquire, he only reiterated that he wished to speak to only you.”

  Seward nodded and closed his files. He left his office and walked past the orderly downstairs into the area with the patient rooms. He knew he would have to enter Renfield’s room, so he gestured to an additional orderly to follow him along with the one who had come to his office.

  He checked the window to Renfield’s cell, and found the man sitting at the back near his collection of sparrows. Seward unlocked and opened the door, and Renfield turned quickly to look. As Seward stepped into the room, Renfield ran toward him and fell to the floor, almost groveling. The orderlies stepped forward just in case Renfield was violent, but Seward gestured for them to stand back.

  “Thank you,” Renfield gushed. “oh, thank you, thank you. I knew you would come. I knew you would respect me as a gentleman, and come without delay at my plea.”

  “You did not indicate what it is you wish to discuss,” Seward said.

  “Of course,” Renfield said. “I knew that if I had told any of these fellows, they would never have taken my message to you. But I knew also that if I just asked to speak to you, you would most certainly come. You are a good man, and one that can be trusted. You had to come. Your honor demanded it.”

  “This is not about honor, Mr. Renfield. It is simply a matter of care and understanding.”

  “Yes, care and understanding. I know you care, Doctor. You are a good man. Thank you for coming to see me.”

  “I cannot help but notice, Mr. Renfield, that you have a veritable colony of sparrows,” Seward said with a nod to the windowsill full of birds.

  “Oh yes,” Renfield said, standing and looking to them. “They are my friends. My pets. My life sustaining force. I need them.” Seward looked at Renfield and noted that just under the corner of the man’s mouth, there was a trace of blood.

  “Are you hurt?” Seward asked. Renfield turned to him in surprise.

  “What are you saying?” Renfield asked with a trace of panic. “Hurt? Me? Why would you ask such a thing? Am I?”

  “You have blood just under the corner of your mouth,” Seward said pointing out the spot he had noticed. Renfield ran a thumb under the corner of his mouth swiping the blood from his lip. He looked at the blood spot curiously, now on his thumb, and then licked it off.

  “It is nothing to worry about,” Renfield said. “See there, I have taken care of it.” Seward nodded and felt it best to say nothing of it, though he would not forget it. “Look here,” Renfield continued. “As you have said, I have a colony of sparrows. I have to admit that I am quite proud of these creatures. I captured them, but they can go if they wish. I do not hold them, but still, they remain with me. Though I...” He trailed off momentarily only staring at the birds sitting on and around the window. “Still they stay.”

  Seward nodded and opened his mouth to ask Renfield why it was he had called him here, but Renfield spoke before he could.

  “I have a request of you, my dear Doctor friend. It is a small thing. A trifle, really.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “I want to ask you … if I might … have … a kitten.” Renfield stared nervously and expectantly into Seward’s face. Seward was not sure what to think of this request. Yes, Renfield had built up a large number of birds, and Seward was afraid to ask what he did with them or where the blood on his mouth came from. Yet these were animals that Renfield had gathered on his own from the wild. To provide him with something would change this situation entirely. Seward felt he would share some measure of responsibility for what happened.

  “Why?” Seward asked.

  “Because I want to care for it,” Renfield said. “I want to baby it as if it were a child. I want to care for it and feed it. I would feed it. And feed… And feed it. And feed … it.” Renfield’s gaze became distant as he spoke.

  “I don’t believe this is a good time for this,” Seward said apprehensively. Renfield snapped his gaze back to Seward.

  “What makes you the charge of a good time? It is only a simple request. It need not be anything special. Take one off the street. It matters not to me. The life force of a cat is more powerful than that of a bird. It is why the cats eat the birds. You must do this for me.”

  “No, I must not.”

  “Please,” Renfield dropped to the ground and held Seward’s trousers. Seward took a step back as he begged. “You must. Do not deny me this, I beg of you. I need it. It is a simple thing for you. No effort at all.”

  “I’m afraid not, Mr. Renfield,” Seward said. He wanted to come off as apologetic, but in reality, the notion disturbed him, and he had no intention of giving Renfield a kitten. “As I said, this is not a good time for this. I’m sorry.” Seward turned to leave, but Renfield reached out and gripped Seward’s collar.

  “Do not deny me this,” Renfield said angrily. “What harm could it possibly do to you?” The orderlies stepped in and took hold of Renfield’s hand, but the man was unyielding and his grip, astonishing.

  “I am your doctor,” Seward said and looked confidently into Renfield’s eyes, “and if I feel that your actions may be detrimental to yourself, that is my decision, not yours. Now, release me, or these gentlemen will have to hurt you.”

  “You will give me what I want!” Renfield screamed.

  “I will do no such thing,” Seward replied calmly. One of the orderlies punched Renfield in the stomach, and he released his grip on Seward. Seward quickly left the room, and the orderlies followed, closing the door behind them.

  Renfield screamed and pounded on the metal door. “Please!
It is but a simple request! Why can you not give me what I want? Please!” Renfield continued like that for quite some time as Seward walked back to his office.

  The incident remained on Seward’s mind as the day turned to night, and finally transitioned once more back to day. A quick inquiry with his staff told him that Renfield had quieted some time after the incident and had not made a sound since. He also had not touched the food they had given him. He felt it necessary to check on the man to make sure he was physically all right, or at least alive.

  He opened the window into Renfield’s room and immediately noticed that all of the sparrows were gone. Renfield was at his window doing something, and Seward was compelled to find out what had happened. He gestured to a pair of orderlies and entered Renfield’s room.

  “Mr. Renfield?” Seward said.

  “Good morning, doctor,” Renfield replied calmly.

  “I can’t help but notice that your birds are gone.”

  “I released them.”

  Seward slowly approached Renfield to see what he was doing. Renfield had a cup of sugar and was sprinkling it along the windowsill attracting flies.

  “You seem to be doing much better today,” Seward said encouragingly, and Renfield nodded in reply. Seward glanced around the room and noted some spots of blood on Renfield’s bed. Renfield said he had released the birds, but Seward suspected that he may not had released all of them.

  “I see you are starting over with the flies, then?” Seward continued.

  “Flies are easier,” Renfield said without looking up from the sugar. “Life was easier when it was just flies. I could see the life force grow more easily.”

  Renfield stopped and looked at Seward. He dropped his cup and coughed, but nothing came out. Seward quickly realized he was choking, and struck him on the back several times until he heard Renfield cough and a couple of wet feathers fell to the floor.

  “Thank you,” Renfield said hoarsely. Seward had seen enough and backed out of the room followed by his orderlies. What he had seen confirmed his suspicions over what had happened to the sparrows, and he returned to his office to consider everything he had observed.

  He wondered what could have happened to a man so upstanding to cause him to fall so far. The Richard Renfield of Exeter had never shown anything like this according to the people who knew him before. They uniformly had indicated that the person in the cell seemed like a shell of the man who had left for Transylvania only a few months earlier.

  Renfield continued to speak of a life force contained in the animals he caught and that the larger animals consuming the smaller ones took on that life force which is how they became stronger. He had taken this idea to heart, apparently, by consuming some of every animal he had captured from the flies to the birds, and Seward had no doubt that the kitten, at some point, would have been consumed by Renfield. How far would he have taken these tendencies? A puppy? Something larger? How long until he desired his fellow man? He had no doubt that the thought would have crossed this patient’s mind, and though not in the mind that anyone might call sane, Seward could recognize the intelligence of the man. Even lunatics are well reasoned within their own scope.

  The other curiosity from Seward’s perspective was the dramatic change from yesterday to today in Renfield’s attitude. The consumption of the birds had quelled his fury, to be sure, but he wondered why that would be. Renfield also generally refused the food he was given unless it was some form of meat, and he avoided drinking the water he was given completely. He could not help but wonder how all of this fit together, but one thing was most certain. Renfield could not be released. His fellow man would not be safe in his company.

  * * * * * * * * * *

  The stem to stern search of the Demeter revealed no intruder, but it also revealed no sign of Petrofsky either. The first mate questioned the crew extensively, but no one had seen him since before his watch on the night when Karian had killed him.

  Karian was grateful he had done what he did on that night since not long after the search, a squall came up which turned into a full on storm that lasted the majority of the next day and a half. By the time the winds had died down, the crew was exhausted, and Karian felt like it would be a good time to feed once more since there would be a better chance of his coming and going unseen.

  He tracked the one called Golovin for a short while as he crossed the main deck, and finally dropped down silently behind him. Golovin took only a few steps before he seemed to sense something behind him. As soon as he turned, Karian attacked him, feeding deeply once more and depriving the Demeter of another member of its crew.

  He listened to their conversations the following day and learned that the disappearance of Golovin had not gone unnoticed. In fact, the crew was now frightened out of their wits, even though this outraged the first mate, who believed their problem was among the crew though most of them were convinced it was supernatural. He had once more taken them all to task for the disappearance, but naturally, no one knew anything.

  His response was to have everyone pull double shifts to ensure that someone knew where everyone was at all times. No one argued with this as most of them felt they would have trouble sleeping as it was.

  This trouble was increased as he learned they were entering the Bay of Biscay and some nasty weather was on the horizon. In order for everyone to be at their best, they needed rest, and this situation was serving to do the opposite.

  So between the weather and the double shifts, Karian felt he would need to stay in his crate for quite some time, and he was grateful once more that he had fed when he did. His hope was that the journey would be near its end when he had to come out again. With Gibraltar behind them and Biscay ahead, all they had left was the English Channel, and they would arrive at that little island up North to which he had never given a second thought. The length of their journey would depend heavily on how long the weather in Biscay set them back. Karian hoped it would not be long, since this trip was lasting far longer than he anticipated.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Mina Murray had been primarily in Whitby for the past couple of months, only returning to London on a couple of occasions to check for mail and in particular, any word from Jonathan. He was only supposed to be gone a couple of weeks, but those weeks had turned into a month, which had extended beyond that without any word. She had received two letters from him while he traveled, and then only one after arriving at the Castle of the Count Draculya. The single letter had said that he could be there through the end of the month, but his tone was so strange, she was not sure what to make of it.

  On her most recent trip south, she had gone all the way to Exeter to see Peter Hawkins, Jonathan’s employer to find out what Mr. Hawkins knew.

  “I’m sorry, Miss Murray,” Mr. Hawkins said, “but I’ve not heard from Jonathan since he requested the final paperwork for the sale. I’m just as concerned as you are.”

  “Who was this for, anyway?” Mina asked. “Are they close? Can we see them?”

  “I already thought of that,” Mr. Hawkins assured her. “I went by the Carfax Abbey a few days ago, and it was still quite dark. The count has no reason to come see me for anything, so he can move in at his leisure. I did knock on the door, but there was no answer.”

  “Do you think something happened to all of them?”

  “I don’t know what to think. Harker has always been a most dependable fellow. I would admit that this absence has me concerned.”

  “Mr. Hawkins, I’m staying with a friend in Whitby,” Mina said, preparing to leave. “Please do let me know as soon as you hear anything.”

  “Of course, of course,” he replied, walking to open the door for her. “And please do the same for me.”

  “I will,” she said. “And thank you.”

  She had walked to the station, her heart heavy with worry over her missing fiancée. What could have happened to him? Where was he now? And why was his final letter so odd? Most importantly, would she see him again? These
things plagued her during the entire train ride, and she remained distant even when Lucy greeted her at the station.

  The wedding plans for Lucy’s marriage to Arthur Holmwood were proceeding well, and they were looking forward to an autumn wedding in a few short months. Her excitement was momentarily infectious as it distracted Mina from her troubles for a time, but as they arrived back at the Westenra house, the calmness of the afternoon led Mina to walk to the old Whitby Abbey churchyard by the sea, where she sat on a bench that overlooked the sea to the east.

  She had brought Jonathan’s letter with her and read it to herself several times trying to make sense of it, but her worry over his continued absence overshadowed the comfort his words attempted to provide. She looked at it once more.

  My dearest Mina,

  My time here is short, and I hope to see you soon. We are to leave by month end. With each passing moment, I long to feel once more the warmth of your touch and see the life in your smile. Never forget that I love you.

  Yours,

  Jonathan

  “Are you all right?” Lucy asked, bringing Mina out of her sadness.

  “I don’t know,” Mina said softly. “I don’t know where he is. I don’t know if he’s all right. I don’t know if he’s…” She trailed off unwilling to say what she was thinking. She did not want to consider it.

  “I’m so sorry,” Lucy said gently, sitting next to her on the bench. She put her arm around Mina, and Mina leaned onto her friend’s shoulder. “What did Mr. Hawkins say?”

  “He hasn’t heard anything either,” Mina said. “No one has. I don’t know what to do. It’s just not like him.”

  “I’m sure he’ll be ok,” Lucy assured her. “Just because you haven’t heard anything doesn’t mean he is hurt. Maybe it just means he got stuck between here and Transylvania. It is a long way.”

  “He was supposed to leave three weeks ago,” Mina said. “Three weeks.”

  “It used to take a lot longer to cross Europe,” Lucy said.