The Red Rose

Chapter XXIX

We set off towards the direction where the famous Sherlock Holmes supposedly lived. We knew the address wasn't actually real, but had been invented by his author. Yet, the letters didn't lie; if Holmes existed, his house must have existed too.

At the same time, Carmilla was thinking about the revelation of Dracula's secretary's identity, information that I quickly sent to Juanpi, placing us in charge. Although she knew perfectly well who she was, vampires are very familiar with each other and their lore.

What we had learned was that somehow, Dracula managed to survive and turned Mina into a vampire. Both Juanpi and Carmilla seemed to agree on this, which didn't bode well for Miss Mina Harker's friends.

Another conclusion we drew was about none other than Lucy Westenra, who in the original timeline would have become a vampire and was supposed to have died at the hands of her husband and Dr. Van Helsing, who was already deceased in the newly created alternate timeline.

"What was Dracula's trick? What cheat code did he use to avoid death?" I wondered as we walked through the torrential rain that covered London, and I couldn't stop thinking about the book, the hand, and the strange portrait that seemed to hang over what appeared to be Dracula's office.

"It must be here..." Carmilla murmured.

We arrived at a very strange alley. Here it seemed as if time had stopped, and the Victorian atmosphere was palpable, even the lamps were still there, now dimly lit by electricity.

"Hmm... This place gives me a bad feeling..." I told Carmilla.

"Oh, my dear, if only you knew the scandalous places Dracula rented for our meetings. Even for an undead like me, they gave off a strange sensation. By the way, any clues about your dreams? I have a feeling they're more than just manifestations of your subconscious," she asked.

"I also think I should take my dreams more seriously. Did you know I dreamt of you before we met?" I confessed.

"How flattering! It sounds so romantic! Do you think some cosmic force intervened for us to eventually meet?" she asked, smiling as we slipped through a window.

"With the way things are going, I'm not ruling anything out. Not even my grandparents know what or who sent me to the past, it was something really crazy," I said, thoughtful.

"Same as with our dear Franky. Where could he be now? I worry about him," Carmilla whispered as we entered what seemed to be an old library.

We wandered around, trying to sharpen our senses so as not to raise suspicion.

"Uhh! It's going to be a challenge to find a secret letter here!" I whispered, seeing the large number of books and papers scattered everywhere. Carmilla thought for a moment, adorably putting her hand on her chin and staring into the void.

Carmilla took out the letters we had and began by touching them, then smelling them, and finally demanding that I do the same.

"Concentrate well on the texture and smell. Then, let's start feeling and smelling until we find something similar," she smiled.

"How did you learn to do all this? Your detective skills are really starting to scare me!" I joked.

I followed her instructions and started wandering around, looking for something similar, but it seemed we weren't going to find anything until Carmilla began to smell something.

"It must be here..."

She started moving books and opening them, but we couldn't find the clue. It was so close, yet so far.

"Could it be?" she wondered.

Suddenly, she moved the shelves aside, smelling the walls.

"Careful! We don't want to be heard..." I whispered.