1918. This story does not feature Harry Dickson himself, but one of his nemesis, Euryale Ellis, a.k.a. the Gorgon, whose story is told in “Return of the Gorgon,” included in our first collection, The Heir of Dracula. In the original story, we learned how the depraved British historian and scientist Nathaniel Rook, Lord Mangrove, went to Greece and met Georgina Nastakides, a young woman born of a Greek father and an English mother, whose maiden name was Ellis. The two, sharing the same criminal passions, were soon married. A while later, understandably reluctant to return to England under his own name, Rook took that of a distant uncle, Matthew Jarnes, while Georgina became Euryale Ellis. They then embarked on a ghastly criminal spree, before being stopped by Dickson. Matthew’s tale is a prequel to these events...

 

Matthew Dennion: Stone Cold Killer

(A prequel to The Return of the Gorgon)

 

 

The carriage pulled to a stop in front of the Parisian Police station and, as Professor Abraham Van Helsing stepped out of the transport, he took a deep breath of the night air. The old man smiled. While he had traveled the world and had seen many ancient and modern cities, he still felt that Paris had an aura surrounding it like no other metropolis in the world.

He sighed deeply and wished that he had returned to the great city with the intention of enjoying its ambiance; however, his services were required to deal with a series of brutal murders which had recently gripped the city.

Van Helsing shrugged and then helped a young woman climb out of the carriage. She was strikingly beautiful and the men who were walking by on the streets could not help but to gaze at her as she exited the carriage. Her feet landed lightly on the ground, and, to those watching her, she appeared more to glide than walk as she followed the professor up the stairs of the police station.

Van Helsing followed her into the station and was met by the medical examiner.

“Professor Van Helsing, thank you for responding to our plea for assistance. May I say, sir, that, despite the dire circumstances surrounding your visit, it is truly an honor to meet you!”

“Thank you my boy,” replied Van Helsing, grinning, “but, as you said, there are dire circumstances afoot. If possible, could you please direct me to the bodies you wish me to examine?”

“Yes of course,” nodded the examiner. “They are in the Morgue and Detective Juve is waiting for you there as well. If you will please follow me, I will direct you...”

Van Helsing and his companion followed the examiner as he led them to the lower regions of the police station.

As the trio walked through the station, numerous officers came out to see the specialist who had been called in to assist on the bizarre case which currently plagued their city. While they’d entered the hallway to see Van Helsing, their eyes were drawn to the woman who accompanied him. Although she was well aware of the men staring at her, she kept her head forward and focused on Van Helsing.

Finally, they reached the morgue. The examiner opened the door and revealed the bodies of three young men lying on tables arranged in a triangular formation.

A tall, robust man already stood in the middle of the room. He stepped forward and extended his hand to Van Helsing.

“Professor Van Helsing, it is a great pleasure to meet you. I am Detective Juve, the lead investigator on this case. Given the brutal methods of the murders, and the strange condition of the corpses, we needed an expert in rare diseases. You were recommended to me as the foremost expert in the world.”

Juve looked over the professor’s shoulder and his eyes locked with those of the scientist’s companion. He briefly became lost in her green-hued eyes and had to shake his head to free himself from her gaze.

Van Helsing gestured toward the woman.

“Detective, please allow me to introduce Mrs. Mina Harker. She is my assistant and a doctor in training herself. I assure you that she will show the same discretion in this case that I would.”

 “Discretion is paramount in this instance,” said Juve, gesturing to the bodies on the tables, “The press is already aware of the mutilations associated with these murders; however, they do not have the details of some of the more bizarre aspects of this case...”

Van Helsing walked over to the mutilated cadavers. He stopped at the first body and bent down to examine it closely. He waved his arm toward Mina, gesturing her over towards him. Knowing what he wanted her to do, the woman removed a notebook from her purse and began writing down everything Van Helsing dictated.

The tone of Van Helsing’s voice instantly changed from a friendly older man to that of an academic professional.

“I can tell from the lack of bloodstains around the area of intrusion into the body that all of these people were dead prior to being dissected. Had they been alive when this process was undertaken, the pumping of their hearts would have caused a much larger amount of blood to flow out. Additionally, the person who did this has no medical training. None of the incisions begin or end in an area of the body in which a professional would conduct a dissection...”

Van Helsing grabbed a nearby scalpel and ran it along the interior of the incision of the first cadaver.

“While not medically accurate, the incisions were done by someone with a steady hand. The cuts are all the same depth and, more specifically, they all appear to follow the same pattern of symmetry.” (The professor turned to Juve.) “I suspect the person who mutilated these bodies is an artist of some manner, perhaps a painter or a sculptor? Next, I will examine the interior of these bodies and see if we can determine why the person who committed these crimes vivisected these individuals...”

The professor began the procedure by doing a cursory examination of the internal organs. An intrigued looked formed upon his face and he turned to the medical examiner.

“This is strange: this man’s organs are sunken deep into his body, almost as if their weight was far more than they should be...”

Using a scalpel, he attempted to remove a tissue sample from the victim’s heart. To his surprise, the scalpel did not penetrate the muscle, but simply scratched it. Van Helsing applied more pressure to the scalpel and flinched in surprise when the blade shattered against the abnormally dense organ.

“I gather you attempted to conduct an autopsy yourself and, upon seeing the state of these organs, you decided to contact me?”

“Yes,” signed the examiner. “The internal organs of the other two victims are in the same condition and I could offer no explanation or reason for their apparent petrifaction.”

“The fact that all three victims also suffer from that same peculiar medical condition would suggest that the person who committed these murders was aware of their condition and sought to learn more about it,” said Van Helsing, nodding. “We must determine what is the cause of this condition and, from there, discover how the responsible agent was introduced into them. I shall conduct the remainder of the autopsy. If you don’t mind acting as my medical scribe for a moment, I shall ask Mrs. Harker to perform several specific tests of the victims’ blood. The entire process should take us a little over an hour...”

Juve waited patiently while Van Hesling conducted various experiments on the subjects’ organs and Harker studied the blood samples of all three victims. Slightly more than an hour later, Van Helsing conferred with Mina and then spoke to Juve.

“Detective, after examining these bodies, I can at least put to rest any fears you may have had about deadly contagion. These people were poisoned by a toxin injected into their bloodstream. It might be that of a spider commonly known as a ‘Black Widow.’ Its venom acts as paralytic which would explain the petrifaction of the organs. I would suggest searching the local apothecaries to see of if any of them have this venom on hand.”

Juve thanked Van Helsing and raced out of the autopsy room to quickly organize the suggested search. The medical examiner walked Van Hesling and Mina out of the police station and to their carriage. On their way, the professor asked his colleague if there was a restaurant where he and Mina could enjoy Greek food, as he had developed a taste for it. After considering the question for a moment, the examiner directed them to a nearby Caspian Restaurant. Van Helsing thanked the man; then, he and Mina entered the carriage and headed for the establishment.

After the carriage had pulled around the corner, Mina questioned the professor:

“Why did you send the detective on a false trail?”

“Ah!” grinned the professor. “As you well know, there are many things in this world which most people are not ready to accept. The explanation I gave the detective was something which fit his perception of reality. Had I told to him that our victims were being turned into stone from the inside out, he would have been skeptical of my findings, and if I had alerted him to whom I think is the real perpetrator of these crimes, he would have labeled me mad. No, my dear Mina, in this instance, you and I must personally put an end to the horrors being carried out in this great city. Prepare yourself, for once more we shall do battle with a monster from the realm of the supernatural.”

The carriage delivered Van Helsing and Mina to the Caspian restaurant. After perusing the menu, the professor ordered a lamb dish, while Mina asked for a steak prepared rare. After the waiter had left, Mina returned the conversation to the issue at hand.

“Professor, would you care to enlighten me as to the nature of the enemy you think we’re facing?”

Van Helsing straightened his posture as the collegiate lecturer in him came to the forefront of his personality.

“The threat we face is ancient, and far older than even Dracula himself. The enemy, in this instance, comes from ancient Greece. You have, perhaps, heard the tale of Perseus? He was the half-son of Zeus who defeated the monstrous Kraken by using the head of Medusa, whom he had slain, to turn the beast to stone...”

“So you feel that there is hideous looking woman with a head full of snakes roaming the streets of Paris,” said Mina, smiling, “turning the organs of young men into stone prior to dissecting them?”

Van Helsing shook his head.

“I do not know the exact nature of the beast which has invaded this city. There is, of course, the very real possibility that a diseased mind may worship the ancient gorgon, or even perceive itself to be one... The information about a toxin I gave to Detective Juve was accurate, at least in the sense that the three victims were poisoned. However, as opposed to entering the body through the bloodstream, the poison, in this case, was ingested. All of the victims showed signs of their tongues and throats beginning to turn into stone as well. An insane but brilliant person may have developed a formula which can turn people into stone, thus in their mind confirming themselves as a modern-day gorgon.”

Van Helsing took a deep breath and continued:

“There is also a chance that the creature roaming these streets is thousands of years old and is the actual the gorgon of myth. Consider our previous experience: if a vampire is able to exist for untold centuries, is there not the possibility that other ancient horrors might also walk our modern world? I doubt, however, that we are looking for a demonic-looking woman with a head full of snakes. Once more, think of the vampire. In several folklores, he is described as a hellish being, a walking corpse. You know this to be untrue. The vampire exists today by blending in and appearing to be human to the casual observer. In order for our supposed gorgon to have survived all of this time, she would need to operate in the same manner. We know that the victims ingested something which turned them into stone. The myth of one glance from Medusa turning men into stone may have formed over time as part of oral tradition. What started out as a monster forcing men to drink a liquid which would turn them into stone may have evolved into the more dramatic tale of a woman so deformed that to look upon her was to end one’s life.

“In any event, whether we are pursuing a madman or a monster is inconsequential to the police” Van Helsing shrugged. “They would not readily accept the fact the people are being turned into stone in modern-day Paris.”

Mina interlaced her fingers and leaned forward.

“In light of your theory of an ancient Greek monster, I suspect that we have not come to this restaurant simply to dine, have we?”

Van Helsing shook his finger in the direction of his pupil.

“Ah Mina, ever the clever girl! There are stories of Greek fishermen catching fish within their nets which have been turned into stone. I have also heard of unconfirmed reports of a fisherman who saw their shipmates turned into stone before his very eyes after finding a writhing creature within their nets. These reports were never confirmed as the writhing horror in question was quickly pushed back into the sea in order to prevent the perceived curse from spreading throughout the entire vessel.”

Mina stood up from her chair.

“If this information is to be believed, then our suspect might be using a Greek fisherman to supply him with an unusual form of sea life found only in Greek waters. From those specimens, he could be creating the toxin capable of turning men into stone.”

Mina stepped away from the table.

“If you will excuse me for a moment, I feel the need to talk with some of the young men who handle the deliveries for this restaurant. I am sure one of them can direct us to the supplier which brings them their seafood from Greece...”

Mina exited through the front door and strolled toward the back of the restaurant, undoing the top two buttons of her blouse as she walked. When she turned the corner, she saw two young men unloading a shipment of fresh fish for the restaurant. After the first man had walked backed into the restaurant, she approached the stock boy and began talking to him.

Several minutes later, she returned to the dining room.

“We are looking for ship called the Argenta,” she said. “It is the only ship bringing seafood from Greece. It’s docked on pier 16 and is not due to leave until tomorrow night.”

Van Helsing quickly paid the check, and then he and Mina returned to their carriage and headed to pier 16

When they reached the river front, the couple strolled around the docks calmly, without saying a word, until they found the Argenta. As they approached the vessel, they could see numerous sailors exiting the boat, eager to enjoy their last day of shore leave in Paris. They all stared at Mina with ravenous eyes as they left the ship.

“Would you like me to see what I can learn about our case from one of these men?” she asked, smiling.

Van Helsing laughed.

“No, my dear, allow me to address them instead. I think that I will be able to convince them to point us in the right direction rather quickly.”

Van Helsing walked over to the ramp from which the sailors were exiting.

“Excuse me, I am Professor Abraham Van Helsing. I was hoping that I might speak to you for a moment?”

The sailors gave him annoyed looks. One of them spoke up.

“I don’t much feel like talking to you, but your lady friend looks like she’s worth my time.”

A laugh rose up from the gathered sailors.

Van Helsing shrugged.

“Very well then, I had hoped to address the issue at hand quickly and quietly, but if I must follow official procedure and speak to the captain about quarantining you all to the ship, I shall do so.”

The laughing sailors quickly fell silent. One of them moved to the front of the crowd and asked:

“Why would we need to be quarantined?”

Van Helsing pressed his advantage.

“This ship provides fish from off the coast of Greece to several Parisian restaurants. There have been several recent cases of Marahari Fever showing up in the people who have eaten seafood at these restaurants. Marahari Fever is a fatal disease, causing lesions to form on the body, as well as a high fever, stomach cramping, and vomiting. The sickness originates from several rare species of fish which are found only in the coastal waters off of Greece. These fish, of course, would never be found on a menu for obvious reasons. However, other species can carry this disease and are sometimes sold on the black market for a high price. Marahari Fever has two strains: one which can only infect a person through ingestion, or directly handling a live, infected specimen; the other is more virulent and is passed through human contact between people with unclean hands who have handled the fish.”

Van Helsing waited a moment for the sailors to process the information he had given to them, then continued:

“I am here to determine which strain of the disease has invaded the food supply. The first strain may have occurred if one of the infected fish came into contact with the supply of fish being sold here. I can determine this by talking to the person who brought the black market fish onto the ship. If it is the first strain, we will simply shut down the restaurants and destroy your cargo. Unfortunately, if the second strain is present on this ship we must keep you all onboard in order to make sure you don’t infect anyone else while your vessel is thoroughly cleaned. Your lives will not be in jeopardy, but you would miss your time on shore and your time aboard could be rather unpleasant.”

The professor paused again before asking:

“Have any of you begun to exhibit any of the symptoms I mentioned?”

Most of the sailors mumbled they hadn’t. Van Helsing sensed that his ruse was having the desired effect.

“Then perhaps one of you might be aware of a person whom you have seen smuggle a few species of restricted or unusual fish onto the vessel?”

The men began to whisper to each other as Van Helsing remained silent, allowing them the opportunity to assess the situation. Finally, the whispering stopped and the sailor who seemed to be the group’s unofficial leader spoke up:

“Joe Ramos. We’ve all seen him bring some strange things onto the ship. He is still aboard the Argenta. If you will follow me, I will bring him to you.”

Van Helsing thanked the man and he and Mina followed the sailors aboard. They were led to a large room and were asked to wait a moment.

When they were alone, Mina smiled at the professor, “The Marahari Fever?”

Van Helsing laughed.

“An imaginary sickness and a small lie on my part, with enough truth in it to convince these sailors that there was a legitimate threat to their health and their shore leave. You see, my dear, you may have mastered using men’s desires to manipulate them, but by using the sailors’ fear, I was able to convince them to do something they would not normally do and turn one of their own over to a third party.”

Mina kissed the older man on the cheek.

“You are ever the teacher.”

Van Hesling smiled. He had felt a fatherly affection towards the girl during the Dracula affair. He also felt at least partially responsible for her current condition. After Jonathan had left Mina, the professor had offered to guide her through her new life by taking her on as his protégé, and from there the two of them had grown even closer.

The door flew open as the lead sailor from the group outside pushed a man into the room.

“This is Ramos. He has already admitted to bringing the strange fish onboard. He has agreed to talk to you about his smuggling after you have examined him to see if he is infected.”

Van Helsing walked over to the sailor and rolled up the man’s sleeves. He then removed a magnifying glass from his coat and looked at Ramos’ skin; then, he retrieved a stethoscope from his doctor’s bag and placed the instrument on the man’s stomach and listened. The professor shook his head and sighed.

“I am sorry. From the digestive issues I hear in your stomach and the small marks on your skin, I am certain that you are in the first stages of Marahri Fever. The symptoms will continue to worsen over the next couple of hours unless you are treated for the disease.”

Van Helsing addressed the other sailors:

“Luckily from the small lesions on his skin, I can assure you that his form of the disease is only transferrable through ingesting the fish or handling a live specimen. As long as none of you have assisted this man in his smuggling, you will all be free of the sickness.”

The sailor thanked Van Helsing and left the room. Ramos threw himself at Van Helsing’s feet.

“Please, doctor, treat me for the fever! Don’t let me suffer!”

Van Helsing grabbed the man by the collar.

“I have a good mind to let your suffer for your crimes, but in order to prevent others from sharing your fate, I will give you the treatment for the sickness if you tell me exactly what manner of fish you sold, who you sold it to, and then take me to your buyer immediately!”

“I sold him several species of puffer fish and a large squid. Some people call it a ‘gorgon squid’ in accordance with the old legends. I sold them to a British nobleman who introduced himself as Lord Rook. I can take you to his warehouse right now!”

Van Helsing glared at the man.

“Very well then. Take me to him and I will give you the treatment for the sickness.”

The man sprang to his feet and led the professor and Mina off of the ship. Within moments they were back in their carriage heading for the industrial district of Paris.

Van Helsing and Mina learned little more from Ramos as they traveled to the warehouse. The professor had determined that alerting the captain of the Argenta to Ramos’ operation was the most efficient method of dealing with the smuggler and he vowed to do so after he captured Rook.

Once they there were outside the warehouse, Van Helsing bound the sailor within the carriage, and gave him a sugar cube which he assured him was the cure for the fictional fever.

Van Helsing and Mina quickly surveyed the abandoned warehouse and determined that no one was within. The professor Helsing returned to his carriage and removed a pair of handcuffs, knives, a club, and a pistol. Mina listened attentively as the professor revealed his plan:

“We shall proceed in the following manner. First, we will enter the warehouse and wait in the shadows for Lord Rook to return. When he enters, I will strike him in the back of the head from behind. If he is human, he will fall to the ground unconscious and we shall secure him. Then, when he wakes up, we shall interrogate him and try to find out how he made those men drink the formula that turned them to stone. We shall also determine if there are any other victims we need to help, and if he has developed a cure. If there is no cure, we will obtain the remaining formula samples from him. Perhaps, we’ll be able to develop a cure ourselves.”

Mina ran her finger across her lips.

“What if Lord Rook should shrug off your blow and prove to be the fabled gorgon you spoke of?”

Van Helsing smiled; he could see that his protégé yearned for action.

“Legends would have us believe that all the gorgons were females; however, should he prove to be more than human, then please feel free to intervene.”

Van Helsing removed a massive knife from within his coat.

“Just as there are traditional methods to slaying a vampire, there are methods for slaying a gorgon as well.”

He then offered his arm to Mina. She put her arm around his and the two of them walked toward the empty warehouse.

 

The warehouse was dark as Lord Rook approached the building that he used to carry out his horrific experiments. Rook removed his keys from his pocket and unlocked the door. He then walked into the building and saw a young woman seated in the middle of the room.

“Lord Rook I presume,” she said, smiling. “I have been searching for you all night.”

Rook stood for a moment in stunned silence. He began to reply when Van Helsing crept out from the shadows behind him and clubbed him across the back of his head.

Van Helsing used the handcuffs to secure the unconscious Rook to a chair. He then took a small vial from his medical case, removed its plug, and waved it under Rook’s nose. The nobleman’s head shot back and his face winced in revolution.

“Lord Rook, welcome back to the world of the living,” said the professor. “We have found the tables and materials you have been using to vivisect your victims. We know that you are using a formula you derived from a rare fish species brought to you by the Greek Ramos. As you can see, there is more than enough evidence here to incriminate you for the horrible crimes you have committed. However, I still require more information from you, such as telling us if there are more people currently being turned to stone, the complete formula you are using to transmutate these men, and any accomplices you may have.”

Rook spat on the floor.

You can go to Hell! I won’t tell you anything, old man!”

Van Helsing sighed and looked out of the window. He could see that the night had nearly come to an end. He turned to Mina.

“We are running out of time. Could you please convince this man to give us the information we require, my dear.”

 “It would be my pleasure,” replied Mina, smiling.

Mina seemed to float towards Rook. The Englishman’s eyes were filled with anger as he yelled at her.

“Stay away from me you...”

Rook’s words were cut off as Mina put her fingers to her lips and directed him to be silent. Rook’s eyes were caught by Mina’s gaze. Her eyes seemed to take on a red hue as she spoke to Rook:

“Tell me is there anyone else you are turning into stone?”

Rook spoke in a slow measured tone.

“There are two people in the basement.”

“What basement? I did not see a basement door. How do we get down there?”

“There is a false floor in the back left corner of the building. It lifts up to reveal the stairs to the basement.”

“Do have a solution that will reverse the process of turning those men into stone?”

“No.”

“Where is the formula that you used to turn these men into stone?”

“I don’t have it. My wife has the formula memorized.”

Mina leaned in closer to Rook.

“What role does your wife play in these experiments of yours?”

“She created the formula. She still has not perfected it. She wants to turn people into stone completely. She swears she is Medusa reborn, and that she needs to turn men into stone because of the curse that was placed on her centuries ago. Despite thinking of herself as Medusa, she is beautiful, even more beautiful than you. She lures men here and offers them drinks laced with the formula. After one treatment, the process begins and then the men’s organs and throats begin to solidify. Following the initial treatment, she keeps them in the basement, giving them additional treatments until they die as a result of the process. After they have died, she has me vivisect the bodies to see if the adjustments she has made to the formula are causing the process to occur more effectively. She also has me dispose of the bodies afterwards.”

Mina glanced at the window behind Rook.

“When is your wife going to return here?”

“She should be here soon. She always brings our victims home shortly before dawn, after the bars have closed.”

Van Helsing walked behind Rook and gagged him.

“We still need him. He is just the assistant. His wife is the mastermind behind these crimes. We will wait for her and capture her as well. Perhaps from her we can extract the information needed to help those men in the basement.”

 

Dawn was just begging to break when Lady Rook returned to the warehouse. She walked arm and arm with a young man who was clearly intoxicated. Prior to entering the building, she walked the young man around the entire warehouse. As she walked, she carefully examined the perimeter of the building meticulously, surveying all of the windows. Once she was satisfied that none had been tampered with, she returned the door. Lady Rook quickly scanned the surroundings to make sure that no one was around to see her enter. She then removed a key from her pocket and checked the lock to see that no attempt had been made to pick it or force it opened. The lock appeared to be in the same condition that it was when she had left earlier in the night. She smiled at the young man, kissed him on the check, opened the door, and then ushered him in.

As the door swung shut, Lady Rook saw her husband handcuffed to a chair and gagged. Mina stood several meters behind him smirking at her. A few meters to her left, she heard a pistol hammer click into place.

She turned to see Van Helsing standing in the shadows with his gun pointed at her. Upon seeing the gun, the intoxicated man ran out the door.

Lady Rook quickly looked at Van Helsing, then snapped her attention back to her husband and Mina. Her eyes filled with anger.

“You fool!” she exclaimed. “How did you let them follow you here!”

Mina laughed.

“We didn’t follow him. It was the trail of mutilated bodies with their insides turning into stone that led us here. All we had to do was follow the fish from your supplier. He led us here.”

Lady Rook shifted a few steps to her left as she screamed at her husband:

“I told you to sculpt those bodies into statues! We could have hidden them in plain sight!”

“Don’t take another step!” yelled Van Helsing. “I need you alive to help those men in the basement, but I am not above wounding you. Trust me, as a surgeon, I am quite capable of inflicting maxim pain on the human body with minimal damage.”

Lady Rook vented her anger once more at her husband.

“You also told them about the men in basement. Is there nothing you kept from them?”

“Enough!” interjected the professor. “Where is the formula which you use to create your serum?”

“It’s in here,” replied Lady Rook, lifting her suitcase,

“Open it slowly.”

“As you wish,” said Lady Rook, smiling.

When she opened the suitcase, several long tentacles shot out of it and pair of bulbous eyes stared at Van Helsing.

The professor screamed and threw his hands in front of his face. He fell to the ground and found his body paralyzed.

Lady Rook quickly sprang toward the window and tore the curtains down, letting the morning sun pour in through the widow. As its rays struck Mina’s hands, it singed them, causing them to smoke and burn. The young woman jumped backwards and hissed as fangs sprang from her mouth.

Lady Rook took the handcuff keys from the paralyzed professor and quickly freed her husband as she shouted at Mina and Van Helsing:

“The squid secrets a pheromone when frightened which temporarily paralyzing whatever it sees. This beast, in conjunction with my formula, will help restore my former abilities.”

She turned to Mina who was still trapped behind a beam of sunlight.

“Did you think in my dozens of incarnations and millennia of walking the Earth, I have not encountered your kind before? Vampires are such pathetic creatures. hiding in the dark and clinging to their unlives.”

Mina could see Van Helsing beginning to stir behind Lady Rook. She tried to keep the murderer’s attention.

“You think yourself a gorgon then, do you? Step across that sunlight and we will see exactly how pathetic a vampire is.”

Before Lady Rook could respond, Van Helsing stood up and slashed at her throat with his knife. Lady Rook ducked under the weapon, causing the knife to cut off a lock of her hair.

She attempted to kick the professor but the vampire hunter avoided the attack and delivered his own kick to her midsection, causing her to fall to the floor. He then spun and slashed the arm of the attacking Lord Rook.

As the husband grabbed his arm, the wife kicked Van Helsing’s legs out from under him. Lady Rook then grabbed her suitcase, and shut it, as she and her husband ran out of the warehouse.

Mina watched helplessly trapped behind a wall of sunlight as Van Helsing rose to his feet and chased after the couple. He fired a few shots in their direction as they entered a motor car and raced down the street.

The professor returned to the warehouse and covered up the windows, allowing Mina to move freely. She placed her quickly healing hand on his shoulder.

“I am sorry. Had I not positioned myself on the other side of the window from her, we would have captured them both.”

 “They may have escaped for now” shrugged Van Helsing, “but in the meantime they will have to deal with each other. I doubt very much that Lady Rook currently possesses much confidence in her husband’s ability to assist her with her plans. In the meantime, we will attempt to help the victims in the basement and perhaps we can learn more about our adversary from what they have left behind”

Van Helsing bent down and picked up the lock of hair he had cut from Lady Rooks head. He examined it closely and then showed it Mina.

The vampire gasped and placed her hand across her mouth as she saw the head of a tiny serpent intertwined within the hair.