E-Book Overview
A THRILLING, PAGE-TURNING TALE OF ADVENTURE AND FORBIDDEN PASSION... Syrie James approaches Bram Stoker's classic Dracula with a breathtaking new perspective--as, for the first time, Mina Harker records the shocking story of her scandalous seduction and sexual rebirth. Who is this magnetic, fascinating man? And how could one woman fall so completely under his spell? Mina Harker is torn between two men. Struggling to hang on to the deep, pure love she's found within her marriage to her husband, Jonathan, she is inexorably drawn into a secret, passionate affair with a charismatic but dangerous lover. This haunted and haunting creature has awakened feelings and desires within her that she has never before known, which remake her as a woman. Although everyone she knows fears him and is pledged to destroy him, Mina sees a side to him that the others cannot: a tender, romantic side; a man who's taken full advantage of his gift of immortality to expand his mind and talents; a man who is deeply in love, and who may not be evil after all. Soon, they are connected in a way she never thought humanly possible. Yet to surrender is surely madness, for to be with him could end her life. It may cost Mina all she holds dear, but to make her choice she must learn everything she can about the remarkable origins and unique, sensuous powers of this man, this exquisite monster, this ... Dracula!
E-Book Content
Dracula, My Love The Secret Journals of Mina Harker A Novel
Syrie James
For my son Ryan Michael James, who piqued my interest in vampires, and who is a wizard in his own right. And in memory of my brilliant, beloved father, Morton Michael Astrahan, who used to thrill me with his bedtime stories, which always ended with a cliffhanger…and who encouraged me to follow my dreams.
Contents Maps Prologue IT HAS BEEN SEVEN LONG YEARS SINCE THE FIRST NIGHT… One WHEN I FIRST STEPPED OFF THE TRAIN AT WHITBY ON… Two I AWOKE WITH A START, MY HEART POUNDING, TO HEAR… Three LUCY AND I WERE SO TIRED FROM OUR LONG WALK… Four THAT NIGHT, ALTHOUGH LUCY INSISTED SHE WAS FAR TOO knackered… Five SHORTLY AFTER BREAKFAST, I WENT OUT ON MY OWN TO… Six WHEN JONATHAN AND I ARRIVED AT EXETER ON THE 14TH… Seven IT ALL HAPPENED SO SUDDENLY. SHORTLY BEFORE DINNER, Mr. Hawkins said… Eight IT WAS SLOW GOING AT FIRST, AS MY SHORTHAND WAS…
Nine JONATHAN MET DR. VAN HELSING AT HIS HOTEL EARLY THE next… Ten AS I VENTURED DOWN THE LONG, GRAVEL DRIVE THAT LED… Eleven IN THE CAB BACK TO THE TRAIN STATION, I TOLD… Twelve I FOUND JONATHAN DOWN-STAIRS IN THE DINING-ROOM, DEEP in conversation… Thirteen I LEAPT FROM MY BED AND SHRANK BACK AGAINST THE… Fourteen I FELT A SUDDEN BLAST OF ICY WIND, ACCOMPANIED BY… Fifteen I AWAKENED VERY LATE THE NEXT MORNING, THE SUNLIGHT making… Sixteen I PUT MY HANDS OVER MY FACE, LAY ON THE… Seventeen I HAD NO TIME TO SCREAM; NO WAY TO EVADE… Eighteen HYPNOTISE YOU?” JONATHAN REPEATED WITH CONCERN. Nineteen
THAT NIGHT, AFTER DRACULA TOOK ME BACK TO THE asylum,… Twenty AS THE FIRST RAYS OF DAWN CREPT OVER THE HORIZON,… Twenty-One AS THERE WAS NO NIGHT TRAIN AVAILABLE WHICH COULD take… Twenty-Two I LEAPT TO MY FEET, DEEPLY WORRIED, FIGHTING BACK A… Twenty-Three I SCREAMED AGAIN IN TERROR AND BEWILDERMENT. NICOLAE had said… Twenty-Four IN A WHIRL OF SOUND AND WIND AND MIDNIGHT AIR,… Epilogue IT IS NOW THE SUMMER OF 1897, NEARLY SEVEN YEARS… A+ Author Insights, Extras & More… Acknowledgments Praise Other Books by Syrie James Credits Copyright About the Publisher
Maps Europe 1890
Dracula’s Transylvania
Mina Harker’s England
PROLOGUE 1897
IT HAS BEEN SEVEN LONG YEARS SINCE THE FIRST NIGHT HE came to my chamber, seven long years since the string of haunting, incredible, and perilous events occurred—events which I am certain no one else will believe, even though we took care t