Tudor Rose [BoyxBoy]

Chapter 22 - Inhuman

The sun was bright red gold as it set over the hillsides and Michael could feel his powers returning to him. The thoughts of his companions were flooding his mind, though he was particularly concerned with those of Abraham Van Helsing, who he was now sure was the current head of the Van Hellsing Organization.

Michael and Henri were travelling with Van Helsing, Lord Quincy, and Arthur Holmwood to the nearest neighboring house, though it was still thirty acres away. The house belonged to Fitzgerald Murray and he lived there with his wife Clarissa and his children Ethan and Mina. The manor was slightly larger and more impressive than the Lord Qunicy's dwelling, though that was not a major implication of anything. As they approached the gate, they were immediately let through upon the gatekeeper's recognition of Lord Quincy.

"Have you spoken with the Murrays about Lucy's disappearance?" Michael asked to Arthur and Lord Quincy both.

"We have made inquiries but after Lucy rejected Ethan's proposal of marriage, the relationship between our families has been jeopardized," said Lord Quincy.

"I doubt that Ethan will be at all happy to see me," added Arthur.

Lord Quincy knocked using the bronze lion head and a servant girl immediately answered the door. "We've come to see the Murrays. Are they in?" asked Quincy.

The servant girl nodded timidly and pulled the door open for them to enter. "Wait here," she said in a meek voice before disappearing from the foyer. Michael took in the dark surroundings. This house was nothing like Quincy's bright home where maps and foreign artifacts lined the walls. This house was dark and portraits framed in gold of austere men and women were the focal decoration. Michael looked to Henri, nervous about how he was handling this. He had barely spoken a word, something Michael had passed off as his inability to effectively converse in English. When he had said this, he had been able to read Van Helsing's thoughts. He had no faith at all that they were from the Vatican—a Frenchman and an Eastern European. He could immediately tell that Michael was a vampire, though he saw no use in killing him now when his agenda was so unclear. Michael had to be extremely wary, as he had no idea what the vampire hunter was capable of.

"Follow me," the servant girl said and lead them into the Murray's reception room. Sitting on a chaise lounge by the fire was the most beautiful human woman Michael had ever seen. Her beauty was not just in her features—the glossy black hair that she let had pinned up, the radiant health of her skin, her supple red, heart shaped lips, or her large round blue eyes—but in deep emotion of her gaze, the subtle but meaning part of her lips, and her grace as she stood up from the sofa to greet them. She was wearing a black dress, as though in mourning. Michael had initially thought she was mourning her friend, Lucy, but quickly he realized the main subject of her thoughts was a man. When she gave him her hand to kiss, an electrifying memory came to her mind and her eyes widened in horror. Michael saw brief flashes of a broken vision—the blood stained teeth of a vampire, the crimson eyes of Dracula. Michael had to speak to her alone.

"Lord Quincy," said Fitzgerald Murray. "Who are your friends?" he asked this while standing with his son, Ethan. Ethan was tall and handsome, though he did not have Arthur's strong build or healthy complexion. He was pale and there were dark circles under his blue eyes. Michael could see how Lucy, who had grown up in the light of the Westenra household, would have chosen Arthur over the gaunt Ethan.

"These two young foreign gentlemen are here on special orders to help me discover what has happened to my daughter and this is Dr. Abraham Van Helsing, a man I have hired to help diagnose and stop the illness plaguing her. Though... We fear it is too late," said Quincy.

"We know it's too late," said Van Helsing.

"What's happened to Lucy?" asked Ethan, and Michael noticed as Arthur turned away. Michael and Henri sat across from Mina near the fire, while the other men conversed. Mina was listening intently to the conversation about her friend, but her mind was terribly distracted. He could have imposed his thoughts on her, but she appeared to be frightened enough of him, he could not risk any hysteria.

"Mina," said Arthur, "We came here chiefly to question whether you have any knowledge that could help us in finding Lucy." He knelt at her feet, looking up at her with a pleading gaze. A solitary tear fell from her eye and glistened in the firelight as it dropped from her cheek.

"It's all my fault," she said.

"How can that be?" Quincy said eagerly. His enthusiasm moved Fitzgerald to hold him back.

Mina turned her head to him slowly, and then to Arthur. Michael realized now that Mina was not the weak woman she was pretending to be for these men. There was a strength about her that was inhuman, and she drew on that now. "My fiancé," she began slowly, "Jonathan Harker, went to the Carpathian Mountains three weeks ago to meet with a Transylvanian Count about a real estate transaction." She stood up and went to look into the fire, though Micheal could feel her eyes on him. "I believe him to be dead."