Some days later there were strange stories in the newspaper, stories about young children who went out at night and did not go home until the next morning. And when they did go home, they talked about a ‘beautiful lady’. All these children had drops of blood and two little wounds on their necks.
Van Helsing read these stories, and he brought the paper round to me. ‘What dod you think of that?’ he asked.
‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘These two title wounds sound like poor Lucy’s wounds, but how can that be?’
Then Van Helsing explained. At first I could not believe it, and we talked for a long time. At last I said, ‘Are you saying vampire is taking blood from these children too?’
‘No,’ Van Helsing replied. ‘You haven’t understood. The vampire which is taking blood from these children is ... Lucy herself.’
I was very angry. ‘That’s not true!’ I cried.
‘Then come with me,’ he said. ‘And I will show you.’