In the pause he spoke in a sort of keen, cutting whisper, pointing as he spoke to Jonathan
"'Silence! If you make a sound I shall take him and dash his brains out before your very eyes' I was appalled and was too bewildered to do or say anythingWith a mocking smile, he placed one hand upon my shoulder and, holding me tight, bared my throat with the other, saying as he did so, 'First, a little refreshment to reward my exertionsYou may as well be quietIt is not the first time, or the second, that your veins have appeased my thirst!' I was bewildered, and strangely enough, I did not want to hinder himI suppose it is a part of the horrible curse that such is, when his touch is on his victimAnd oh, my God, my God, pity me! He placed his reeking lips upon my throat!" Her husband groaned againShe clasped his hand harder, and looked at him pityingly, as if he were the injured one, and went on
"I felt my strength fading away, and I was in a half swoonHow long this horrible thing lasted I know not, but it seemed that a long time must have passed before he took his foul, awful, sneering mouth awayI saw it drip with the fresh blood!" The remembrance seemed for a while to overpower her, and she drooped and would have sunk down but for her husband's sustaining armWith a great effort she recovered herself and went on
"Then he spoke to me mockingly, 'And so you, like the others, would play your brains against mineYou would help these men to hunt me and frustrate me in my design! You know now, and they know in part already, and will know in full before long, what it is to cross my pathThey should have kept their energies for use closer to homeWhilst they played wits against me, against me who commanded nations, and intrigued for them, and fought for them, hundreds of years before they were born, I was countermining themAnd you, their best beloved one, are now to me, flesh of my flesh, blood of my blood, kin of my kin, my bountiful wine-press for a while, and shall be later on my companion and my helperYou shall be avenged in turn, for not one of them but shall minister to your needsBut as yet you are to be punished for what you have doneYou have aided in thwarting meNow you shall come to my callWhen my brain says "Come!" to you, you shall cross land or sea to do my biddingAnd to that end this!'
"With that he pulled open his shirt, and with his long sharp nails opened a vein in his breastWhen the blood began to spurt out, he took my hands in one of his, holding them tight, and with the other seized my neck and pressed my mouth to the wound, so that I must either suffocate or swallow some to the? Oh, my God! My God! What have I done? What have I done to deserve such a fate, I who have tried to walk in meekness and righteousness all my daysGod pity me! Look down on a poor soul in worse than mortal perilAnd in mercy pity those to whom she is dear!" Then she began to rub her lips as though to cleanse them from pollution
As she was telling her terrible story, the eastern sky began to quicken, and everything became more and more clearHarker was still and quiet; but over his face, as the awful narrative went on, came a grey look which deepened and deepened in the morning light, till when the first red streak of the coming dawn shot up, the flesh stood darkly out against the whitening hair
We have arranged that one of us is to stay within call of the unhappy pair till we can meet together and arrange about taking action
Of this I am sureThe sun rises today on no more miserable house in all the great round of its daily course
CHAPTER 22
JONATHAN HARKER'S JOURNAL
3 October-As I must do something or go mad, I write this diaryIt is now six o'clock, and we are to meet in the study in half an hour and take something to eat, for DrSeward are agreed that if we do not eat we cannot work our bestOur best will be, God knows, required todayI must keep writing at every chance, for I dare not stop to thinkAll, big and little, must go downPerhaps at the end the little things may teach us
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