Dracula

Chapter I, pg. 3

   

   
    I had talked to the older couple about where we were heading. They both looked at each other frightened at the mention of Count Dracula. Intrigued by their reaction, I decided to further push the name, asking them if they knew Count Dracula or anything about his castle but they only said they did not know anything, seemingly trying to get rid of the topic. I did not push further and decided to rest, Jonathan soon following. As Jonathan stepped into our room, the old lady stopped the door from closing with her foot. She entered the room, her hands full of what looked like to be strings of garlic.

    “I can’t let you go into the castle without some protection,” she handed both of us a string of garlic. “Hang these over your door when you get there to ward off any evil.” She then put a rosary around Jonathan’s neck and bid us goodnight.  Jonathan stayed up to write in his journal while I decided to rest, exhausted from a long day. I fell asleep to the sound of a pencil writing and scribbling on paper. I had a very odd dream that night, I dreamed that a man was calling out to me, a hand emerged from the darkness for me to grab. I would try to grab it but if I did, I would wake up. It had awakened me several times and every time I would close my eyes, it would repeat itself.

    Finally, I had enough and decided to stay up and read. Jonathan had fallen asleep at the desk in the corner of the room and I guided him to the bed, putting the comforter over him and then finding a book in my bag to read. The book was titled Frankenstein, I was halfway through it and found it very interesting. By the time I was almost finished with the book, Jonathan had woken from his slumber.

    “What are you doing up already?” he questioned, throwing the comforter off of his body.

    “I was having difficulty sleeping,” I replied, closing my book. Jonathan shook his head in understanding, getting out of bed. We got ready and took a carriage to the Borgo Pass, expecting to see another carriage there waiting for us but it was simply not. The carriage we took had left us and all we had to do was sit and wait. Jonathan took this time to write in his journal while I finished my book, which didn’t take very long. I put my book away to take in the sights of nature. There were trees all around, each one swaying in the wind. There was a town a little ways away, I watched as the people farmed and went on with their daily lives. I heard the stomping of horses and looked to see that our carriage had arrived.

    Jonathan and I grabbed our bags and entered the carriage. I noticed a little group of townspeople had formed not far away. A considerable amount of people formed a cross with their fingers and held it up for me and Jonathan to see. The carriage took off briskly, leaving the townspeople out of sight, leaving me to wonder about their strange actions.