Dracula: The Last Sunset

Van Helsing and Mina drove for days through the snowy mountains, and Mina slept more and more and would not eat.On the last night, near the castle, Van Helsing drew a circle around her in the snow and sprinkled holy bread along it.Out of the whirling snow came the three women from the castle, calling, “Come, sister, come to us!”

But they could not cross the circle, and the horror in Mina’s eyes told Van Helsing that she was not yet one of them.At dawn they melted away, and while Mina slept safely inside the circle, Van Helsing went up to the castle alone.There he found the three women asleep in their tombs and did the terrible work that set them free, then sealed the Count’s empty tomb with holy bread.

The next afternoon, from a rocky hillside, they saw riders racing towards the castle with a cart, and on the cart was a great box.The riders were racing the sun: once it set, the Count would be free.Then, from two sides, came four more riders: Jonathan and Arthur, and Quincey and Dr. Seward.

With rifles raised, they forced their way to the cart, and Jonathan threw the box to the ground.As the lid came off, the Count’s red eyes saw the setting sun, and his look of hate turned to triumph.But at that instant Jonathan’s knife and Quincey’s knife struck together, and the Count crumbled into dust, with a look of peace on his face.

Quincey had been badly wounded in the fight, and he lay in the snow with his friends around him.“Look!” he said, pointing at Mina. “The mark on her forehead is gone. It was worth it.” Then, with a smile, he died.Seven years later, Jonathan and Mina had a little boy, and they named him Quincey.