Dracula - Abridged version

This is the abridged version of the classic ‘Dracula’ by Bram Stroker, submitted by Aalaya Sonti ( 19CV002A) and Jumaanah Ilhaam (19CV020H) of CEOEP.

Chapter 1:

‘Dracula’ begins with Jonathan Harker’s (a solicitor) journey to meet Count Dracula to sell him an estate in London. The Castle was however in the least known and wildest area of Europe. After arriving in Britritz, Harker was told to reach Borgo Pass, on the following day, where a carriage would pick him up. However, he left on the day “all evils had full sway”. The crowd glared at him sympathetically and made the journey mysterious and uncomfortable. 

The ride to the castle in the carriage was equally queer and suspicious. The carriage driver appeared to have covered the same route repeatedly and had a strange control over the howling wolves.

When he finally arrived at the castle and he was petrified at the sight of the castle.

Chapter 2:

This chapter marks the first encounter of Harker and the Count. The count appears to be a tall old and pale man, with a thin nose and peculiarly sharp teeth. He was clad in black from head to toe with ice-cold hands more like that of a dead man. 

The first morning, Harker woke up to an empty castle but was soon accompanied by the Count in the library. Harker was fascinated by the immense number of books in the library. Their conversation exceeded to the night.

The following day, Harker grew suspicious when he realised that the count had no reflection and by his behaviour at the sight of blood. Harker explored the castle in the absence of Dracula and discovered that the entire castle is a “veritable prison” and he is the “prisoner”.

Chapter 3:

After realising that he was a prisoner, Harker tried to open every door and window but in vain. A feeling of helplessness swept in. Two major events took place here.

 First being, Harker was asked to write letters to his fiancée (Mina Murray) and employer, telling them that he will extend his stay by a month. 

Second, Count warned him to not sleep anywhere but in his own room, but Harker however disobeyed it and fell asleep in a room that gave him a sense of freedom. Here he met three beautiful women with inhumanly red lips and sharp teeth. Whilst one of them bent and placed her lips against his neck, Dracula came in and ordered them to leave Harker alone. He offered them a bag containing a small, “half-smothered” child. The women faded out of the room as Harker fell unconsciousness.

Chapter 4:

The next morning, Harker woke up in his own room. He was asked to write three letters stating that he had finished his work and that he left, but the dates were further ahead in the next month. 

Harker saw the count dressed as him and leave the castle to deliver the letters. He also heard the agonising cry of a woman shouting “Monster, give me my child”.

He entered the count’s room in his absence to a room completely empty except for a heap of gold. He then noticed fifty boxes of earth and discovered the count in one of them, “either dead or asleep”.

When Harker decided to leave, he entered count’s room finding him asleep. After a vain attempt to kill him, Harker took some of the gold and escaped. 

Chapter 5:

This chapter introduces Mina Murray (Harker’s fiancée) and her friend Lucy Westenra, who are exchanging letters. Mina writes about Harker’s expected arrival and Lucy replies with the tales of her proposals. She is proposed by Dr. Seward, Quincey Morris and Arthur Holmwood. She also confirms she has accepted Arthur’s proposal. We are also introduced to Dr. Seward who was upset about the rejection but has kept himself busy with his patient, Renfield.

Chapter 6:

Lucy and Mina finally meet and befriend an elderly resident named Mr. Swales. Dr. Seward focused on Renfield and concluded that he is a zoophagous (life eating) maniac whose “desires is to absorb as many lives as he can”. Meanwhile, Mina grew anxious about Jonathan’s delayed arrival and Lucy’s habit of sleepwalking. One day, Mina and Mr. Swales saw a strange ship and guessed it to be “Russian, by the look of her,”. Mr. Swales assured that they would hear more about it.

Chapter 7:

A cutting from the “Daily graph” spoke about a storm that was “both strange and unique”. The only sail noticed was a Russian “schooner” called the ‘Demeter’ that was washed up on the shore. The crew was missing, captain dead and when the ship touched the shore, a dog leaped on to the deck and disappeared.

It only contained a great number of wooden boxes consigned to a Whitby solicitor. There was a logbook of the Demeter that was examined by Mina. It had details about the disappearance of each crew member and a sailor seeing a "tall, thin man, who was not like any of the crew go along the deck forward and disappear."

Lucy’s restlessness increased and Mr. Swales die with his neck broken and a look of fear and horror in his face. Mina was still anxious about Jonathan.

Chapter 8:

One night, Lucy’s bed was empty. Mina fund her on their favourite seat with something dark bending over her. It had a white face with red gleaming eyes. Before Mina could reach Lucy, the figure disappeared. Lucy was breathing heavily. Mina wrapped a shawl around Lucy and guided her home. She noticed two little red points on Lucy’s neck and assumed that she must have accidentally pricked her. 

One night they saw a bat outside their window and on another Mina saw Lucy’s head leaning out. Lucy was clearly fretting about something.

For the next few days, Lucy got better. News came that Jonathan is found but is ill. Mina left to be with him.

Renfield, Dr. Seward’s patient, had a sudden change. He tried to escape but was captured by the attendants.

Chapter 9:

Mina wrote to Lucy about Jonathan’s state, that he remembered nothing about his journey and that they have decided to get married immediately. 

Lucy’s started her own journal. She wrote about her dreams and her mother, Mrs. Westenra’s condition.

Lucy’s condition got worse. Arthur requested Dr. Seward to examine her. He did so and recommended Van Helsing. Van Helsing confirmed that a lot of blood was lost.

Renfield grew unstable. He used to be violent all day and then quite from moonrise to sunrise.

Chapter 10:

Lucy’s condition got worse but couldn’t be revealed to Mrs. Westenra. Dr. Seward and Van Helsing performed a blood transfusion with Holmwood’s blood but soon had to perform another. Dr. Seward had to give his blood the second time. They examined the marks on her neck and concluded that there was no sign of disease.

Van Helsing sent a parcel of white garlic flowers. They placed it around Lucy’s neck and her room at night. Van Helsing then assured that she would be able to sleep safely.

Chapter 11:

The next day Van Helsing and Dr. Seward visited to check Lucy. Mrs. Westenra informed them that she removed all the flowers and opened the window a little bit. They checked on Lucy and another blood transfusion took place. They informed Westenra to not remove anything from her room.

Meanwhile, there was a story about “The Escaped Wolf” where a wolf named “Bersicker” escaped from the Zoological Gardens and came back on its own the next day. Its head was broken and covered with glass.

The night the wolf escaped, Lucy woke up by the flapping of a bat and a howling wolf. Her mother came in that night as she was concerned about her.

The wolf smashed through the window and injured his head. The terrified mother tore Lucy’s flowers and she had a fatal heart attack. Lucy slowly lost her conscious. Four maids helped her and went to have a glass of wine each. The wine was drugged, and they all passed out.

Chapter 12:

The next day Van Helsing and Dr. Seward came in and saw Lucy and her dead mother. Another blood transfusion took place with Quincey Morris’ blood.

Mina wrote to Lucy about her wedding and that they have returned to England.

Renfield escaped again and attacked men from Carfax.

While Dr. Seward was thinking about the death of Lucy’s mother and Arthur’s father, Van Helsing informed that Lucy was going to die and asked Arthur to meet her for the last time.

Lucy, in a voluptuous voice asked Arthur to kiss her but Van Helsing swooped in and asked him to kiss her on her forehead. This marked the end of Lucy, but Van Helsing whispered to Dr. Seward “It is only the beginning”.

Chapter 13:

Lucy and her mother’s body were buried. Van Helsing informed Dr. Seward that he must cut off Lucy’s head but later decided against it when they realised that the crucifix, they had placed around her was lost.

Van Helsing asked Arthur for permission to read Lucy’s papers and letters. 

Mina gets to know about Lucy’s death and for the first time sees Count Dracula. On the sight of the Count, Jonathan felt uneasy. Mina thus decided to read Jonathan’s diary to know about his experience in Transylvania.

There was an entry about a Hampstead Mystery where children were being picked up by a “bloofer lady” near a place where Lucy was buried. The children went missing but the ones that returned had wounds on their neck.

Chapter 14:

Mina finished reading the diary and understood what Jonathan went through. Van Helsing wrote to Mina to discuss about the events leading up to Lucy’s death. 

Van Helsing and Mina met. She gave him a copy of Jonathan’s diary. Jonathan realised that the Count reached London and started his journal again. 

Renfield got back to his normal state.

Van Helsing noticed the “Hampstead Mystery” and explained to Dr. Seward about supernatural things and the occurrence of things that can’t be explained. He concluded that the wounds on the children were caused by Lucy.

Chapter 15

On Professor Van Helsing’s insistence that Lucy is behind the attacks on the children, he and John Seward decide to investigate. After observing that one of the attacked children has the same puncture wounds on its neck like Lucy, they decide to visit her grave and Seward is surprised to see that her body is seemingly and impossibly preserved. Van Helsing explains that Lucy has become a vampire and must be eliminated. They meet Quincey Morris and Arthur Holmwood to enlighten them on the next course of action and to convince Holmwood who is Lucy’s fiancé. Van Helsing convinces them to atleast give him a chance to prove it.

Chapter 16

The four men visit Lucy’s grave that night and the men are surprised to see that Lucy’s body wasn’t in it.  Lucy finally appears dressed completely in white, carrying a child who she bites and drinks blood from. They are stunned to see the change that has come over the once sweet Lucy who looks more heartless, cruel, reckless and more demon like. Lucy tries to seduce Holmwood but Van Helsing saves him with a crucifix because of which Lucy returns to her tomb. Holmwood finally agrees it best to get rid of the monster by driving a stake through her heart and liberating the soul at last.

 Chapter 17

Jonathan Harker and his wife Mina come to stay with Seward who while reading the Harker’s journal figures out that Dracula is living right next to the asylum. Jonathan is worried about the boxes of earth that Dracula has shipped from his castle in Transylvania so that he can travel and prey outside Transylvania and in London.  This is worrying and Seward notices that Renfield’s behavior is very much in tandem with the closeness of the Count. Holmwood and Quincey join them at the asylum.

Chapter 18

Mina meets Renfield, who much to Seward’s surprise is very coherent in his behavior. Van Helsing then explains the lore of the vampire or as the locals of Transylvania call them, nosferatu. He tells them the strengths of Dracula which is superhuman strength, can control animals, has transformation powers (into a bat, mist, wolf, etc.), can climb walls like a lizard and various other abilities. He then explains Dracula’s weaknesses which include the fact that he needs blood to survive, becomes weak in the morning, repels from holy things, must take refuge in boxes filled with earth from their home ground and in this case from Dracula's castle. 

Chapter 19

The five men go to the chapel in Carfax, one of the places they assume Dracula has kept his boxes of earth. They make sure to take holy objects as weapons against him. They don’t take Mina in order to keep her safe. They break into the Chapel and they find only 29 boxes. They are suddenly stormed by a sea of rats. The men are frightened but they blow a whistle and call their dogs who chase the rats away. Meanwhile, Mina seems to be facing a hard time with her growing uneasiness. She wakes up due to sounds coming from Renfield's room and when she goes to check, she sees the window open and mist sweeping towards the castle. She sleeps very irregularly and wakes to see a pale white figure bending over her but presumes she is dreaming. 

Chapter 20

Jonathan Harker continues his search and finds that some of the boxes are in a suburban house in Piccadilly. Renfield’s behaviour  seems to have changed drastically, he gave up his obsession with collecting animals and all he wanted to do was live. Later the same day, Renfield was found fatally hurt and in a pool of blood. 

Chapter 21

With life ebbing away from him, Renfield confesses that he was manipulated by the Count into giving him permission to enter the asylum. When he realised Dracula was preying on Mina, he tried to fight back and was thrown across the room, ending up breaking his neck. The others rush to the Harker's room, break down the door and are met with a ghastly sight. They see Jonathan's inert body on the floor while Mina was being forced to drink blood from a wound on Dracula's chest. Dracula tries to attack them, but recoils when Van Helsing holds up a communion wafer. He disappears into a thin mist and they see a black bat flying away from them. They also see that Dracula has tried to destroy their documents to stall them. However, they have duplicates of them which the Count didn’t get to. Mina comes to her senses and narrates the incident where she wakes up and finds her husband unconscious. She tells how Dracula emerges from smoke and drinks her blood after which he slashes his chest and makes her drink his blood. 

Chapter 22

The men go to the Count's estate in Carfax and place communion wafers in each box which will prevent  Dracula from using them. They make Mina's room also safe with communion wafers and when they place a wafer on her forehead, it burns and leaves behind a scar. Mina mourns that she has been polluted. They then head to his house in Piccadilly.

Chapter 23

The group divides into Harker and Van Helsing going to sterilize the boxes in Piccadilly where they realise that one of the boxes is missing. Meanwhile, Hollywood and Quincey go on a hunt for the remaining boxes. They plan to trap Dracula at his Piccadilly house as it is morning and he will be weak. However, he manages to escape. They realise that Mina's spirit is tethered to the Count and by hypnotizing her, they can figure out his location. She hears the sound of water lapping and thus figure out that he is travelling by water. 

Chapter 24

The men investigate and find that Dracula is travelling in a ship named Czarina Catherine which is going to port at Varna. Van Helsing convinces the other men to accompany him in this quest to rid the world of this evil. They want to keep Mina safe but she insists that her connection with the Count will help them immensely and thus they set out on their quest to save humankind. 

Chapter 25

Mina is slowly turning into a vampire and thus her health is failing her too. Therefore, she asks the men to give her their word that they will eliminate her when the time comes so that her soul may rest in peace and she doesn’t become a monster. The men promise and they catch the Orient Express to Varna. At Varna, they find out that the ship ported ahead in Galatz.  Van Helsing guesses that Mina's connection with Dracula was the same thing that led him to figure out that they would be waiting to kill him in Varna and thus escaped them. 

Chapter 26

Mina's connection with Dracula seems to be getting weaker and weaker but they know that he is still on water. Mina figures out the various ways to Dracula's castle, they split up. Holmwood and Jonathan decide to stay on water via a steamboat, Mina and Van Helsing continue by train but later had to travel by horse and carriage while Quincey and Seward travel on land via horses. 

Chapter 27

It is night when Mina and Van Helsing climb towards the castle, they are approached by the three female vampire who use their seductive and persuasive powers to kure them to the castle. But Van Helsing saves them by making a circle of communion wafers around Mina. The next morning Van Helsing heads to the castle alone, leaving behind a sleeping Mina. He finds the three female vampires and eliminates them. He then finds the Dracula's coffin and places communion wafers in it and seals the castle so that the Count can never enter it again. They travel towards east and from far see a group of gypsies carrying a box and their band of four men closing in on them. The overpower the gypsies, open the box and see the look on Dracula's face turn to triumph. Jonathan slices his throat and Quincey stabs his heart. Dracula crumbles into dust and Mina says how she notices his face turn peaceful too. Morris is hurt and dies from the wounds but notices that Mina is safe now as her scar has disappeared. 

Seven years later, Jonathan and Mina have a son named after Quincey, Hollywood has moved on from Lucy and married. Seward has married too.