Cryptic Canticles presents Dracula

Episode Synopsis: Mina and Van Helsing start eastward on foot, carrying provisions and means of keeping warm. Mina is tired after a steep descent, and Van Helsing finds a sort of sheltered spot that he picks to rest. Mina is still unable to take food. Van Helsing starts at the sight of the Szgany driving their wagon at top speed, upon which is the box containing the Count. Van Helsing quickly draws another holy circle protecting their location from the Count. As they watch the wagon, they catch sight of Seward and Quincey racing from the south and Jonathan and Arthur racing from the north, all on horseback converging on the team carrying the Count and hurrying to catch him before the imminent sunset. Another survey revealed clusters of wolves gathering. Just as the team approaches their rock, Mina and Van Helsing bear their weapons as both groups of pursuers command the team to stop. Jonathan and Quincey break through the fight of attackers and manage to prise the lid of the box, despite Quincey having been wounded in the act. The Count’s body disintegrates almost immediately, frightening the Szgany, who run frightened. Attention turns immediately to Quincey, who is collapsing under the strain of his wound. Quincey attests, however, that it was worth giving his life, for the scar has disappeared from Mina’s forehead, symbolizing the eradication of her vampire affliction. Surrounded by his friends, Quincey Morris quietly passes away. Seven years later, Jonathan recalls the horrific events of the past. He and Mina journey to Transylvania to retrace their old steps. Arthur and Seward are both married, and life has healed around their traumatic past. Mina and Jonathan have a son which they call “Quincey”. Van Helsing remarks that some day their child, who shares a birthday with the day Quincey died, will learn that his mother, Mina, is a most loved and most remarkable woman. Follow us on Twitter.com/CryptiCanticles, Facebook.com/DraculaRadioPlay, and at crypticcanticles.com

Episode Synopsis: Mina continues to sleep solidly during the daylight hours. Van Helsing commits himself to remain awake at night while Mina is awake, but finds himself dozing during the day while driving the carriage, and when he awakes, is overjoyed to see the Castle Dracula looming in the distance. As they settle down for the night, Van Helsing creates a circle surrounding Mina, using the holy Eucharist broken into a fine dust. Mina admits that she is unable to leave the circle, which Van Helsing is pleased to hear, as it means she can not leave in the night. When Van Helsing gets up to feed the fire, Mina stops him, and he discovers that the swirling snow has materialized into the three Vampire Women from Jonathan’s diary. They beckon to Mina, but are unable to enter the circle. In the morning, Van Helsing discovers that the horses, who had been outside the circle, are dead. He is unable to awaken Mina to hypnotize her. While resting the horses, Seward and Quincey catch sight of the Szgany hurrying along with their wagonload as though being chased. They are aware of the presence of wolves in the woods around them. Van Helsing leaves Mina sleeping in the holy circle, and attends to the gristly business of sanctifying the Count’s castle against him. He is momentarily delayed by the realization that Mina might be in danger from wolves, but presses on with his work. He starts by removing the great front doors, so no spell might trap him inside the castle. He quickly finds the chapel and the three brides who sleep in their coffins. He falters in his task if dispatching them, as he begins to fall under a trance, but is awakened by the sound of Mina’s voice calling from afar. He drives his stake through each of the brides and cuts off their heads, upon which act their bodies crumble to dust. Van Helsing sanctifies the Count’s grave and meets Mina who awakens and tells him that Jonathan is coming in their direction and the end is nigh. Follow us on Twitter.com/CryptiCanticles, Facebook.com/DraculaRadioPlay, and at crypticcanticles.com

Episode Synopsis: Seward and Quincey hear from the locals that Jonathan and Arthur had encountered trouble navigating some of the rapids in their steamer and need some help righting their vessel. Van Helsing and Mina reach the Borgo Pass at sunrise. Mina made her same report at sunrise while under hypnosis. When she awakes, she recognizes the way to the Count’s castle from Jonathan’ description in his diary. Mina sleeps all day, and Van Helsing is unable to hypnotize her at sunset. Mina makes Van Helsing’s diner, but tells him that she has eaten hers already, which makes him nervous. Mina is awake and alert all night, but in the morning, Van Helsing is unable to hypnotize her before sunrise, but she falls into such a deep sleep, he has to lift her into the carriage. Van Helsing worries about the acceleration of Mina’s affliction. Jonathan agonizes over the accident that he and Arthur had encountered earlier, surmising that had it not occurred, he believes that they could have overtaken the Count already. He prepares his arms for the possible combat ahead, and writes a preemptive goodbye to Mina should he be unable to write again. Follow us on Twitter.com/CryptiCanticles, Facebook.com/DraculaRadioPlay, and at crypticcanticles.com

Episode Synopsis: Seward worries about the impending snow as he and Quincey continue to follow the Count. They hear from the local people that Jonathan and Arthur’s boat had recently passed by and is en route to Bistritza. Follow us on Twitter.com/CryptiCanticles, Facebook.com/DraculaRadioPlay, and at crypticcanticles.com

Episode Synopsis: Jonathan is surprised to see that instead of waking him for his watch, Arthur had let his sleep through the night so that he might recover his strength. Jonathan wonders if Mina and Van Helsing have reached he Borgo Pass yet, and how Seward and Quincey are getting along. Despite only pausing long enough to rest the horses, Seward and Quincey feel surprisingly alert under the circumstances, which Seward attributes to habit from their previous hunting experience. Mina convinces Van Helsing to let her share the driving, as his strength will be more critical later. The day is bright, but cold and somehow oppressive. Van Helsing’s hypnosis reveals that the water is changing somewhat, but the Count continues to rest aboard the boat. Van Helsing purchases two additional horses when he exchanges the last ones for the final leg of their journey. They expect to reach the Borgo Pass the following day. Mina wishes that God will watch over Jonathan, with the understanding that she herself is still unclean in his eyes. Follow us on Twitter.com/CryptiCanticles, Facebook.com/DraculaRadioPlay, and at crypticcanticles.com

Episode Synopsis: Jonathan and Arthur continue to follow their presumed path of the Count up the river, searching the boats they come across. Struck with an idea, they fly a Romanian flag over their boat so the other boats that they search will think they are a government craft and give them no trouble. Mina and Van Helsing travel over the countryside, exchanging their tired horses for fresh ones through the good nature of kindly farmers who feed them along the way. Once, Mina removes her hat, and a woman starts at the sight of the red scar on her forehead. Mina carefully keeps her scar hidden from the townsfolk henceforth. Van Helsing’s hypnosis report is unchanged. Follow us on Twitter.com/CryptiCanticles, Facebook.com/DraculaRadioPlay, and at crypticcanticles.com

Episode Synopsis: Jonathan and Arthur continue upriver in their steamboat, but have yet to overtake any boat that looks to carry the Count. The wrap themselves in fur coats and huddle by the steam furnace against the increasingly cold weather. Van Helsing can only hypnotize Mina very briefly to learn that it is dark and quiet surrounding the Count. He purchases a carriage and plenty of provisions for their journey, and they depart on a seventy mile journey to the Count’s castle shortly after supper. Follow us on Twitter.com/CryptiCanticles, Facebook.com/DraculaRadioPlay, and at crypticcanticles.com

Episode Synopsis: When aboard the train to Galatz, Van Helsing finally succeeds in hypnotizing Mina with only a minute until dawn. She manages to tell them that the sounds of water are now level with the Count’s ears, and the sounds of livestock are nearby. She is unable to complete her thought before the sun breaks Van Helsing’s spell. Mina and Quincey go to the hotel while Arthur tried to contact the Consul and Jonathan and Van Helsing board the Czarina Catherine, which is currently in the harbor. The meet the captain, who tells them that the journey had been far faster than any made prior, and the speed of the wind in the sails made it difficult to hail the shore at times. He explained that the crew liked neither the box nor the man that brought it on board, and at one time, he had to fight off the crew who wanted to throw the box into the Danube. Once in Galatz, a man named Immanuel Hildesheim came on board to collect and sign for the box, taking it away. The team tracked down Hildesheim, who had been employed via telegram by a “Mr. de Ville” from London, to remove the box before sunrise so as to avoid customs, and deliver it to a man named Petrof Skinsky. Unfortunately, the team managed to learn that Mr. Skinsky had been killed two days prior, his throat having been torn out. The men agree that Mina must be taken into their confidence once more, as they are running out of options to catch the Count. Mina reviews all the papers and maps and deduces that the Count must be escaping via the Sereth River, which will take him as close as possible to his castle. Ultimately, it is decided that Arthur and Jonathan will follow the Count up the river in a steamboat, Quincey and Seward will scout the terrain on horseback, and Van Helsing and Mina will attempt to sanctify the Count’s castle before he arrives. Jonathan feebly objects to Mina being in such close proximity to evil, but ultimately concedes. Within four hours, all is prepared for their journey. Mina comments about the power of money to aid them in their purpose. Jonathan and Arthur start up the river, while Seward and Quincey purchase enough horses to provide for their whole party when they regroup. The divisions say farewell until they meet again. Follow us on Twitter.com/CryptiCanticles, Facebook.com/DraculaRadioPlay, and at crypticcanticles.com

Episode Synopsis: It is more difficult for Van Helsing to hypnotise Mina than it had been in the past. In Mina’s sunset hypnosis, she reports that she no longer hears the open sea, but the swirling of water and oars, along with the ambience of men’s voices and distant noises. Before boarding the train, and whilst waiting at a station, Van Helsing is able to hypnotize Mina twice more, but each time it gets harder and harder to make contact. She continues to report sounds of creaking wood, strange voices in foreign languages, the howling of wolves, and other noises that may help them pinpoint the Count’s location. Follow us on Twitter.com/CryptiCanticles, Facebook.com/DraculaRadioPlay, and at crypticcanticles.com

Episode Synopsis: Rufus Smith sends a telegram to Arthur that the Czarina Catherine has been reported entering Galatz. The group is not overly surprised to discover that the Count had changed course. Mina is surprisingly helpful and free to talk as she tells the group the best train to take them through Galatz. Arthur, Quincey, and Jonathan go to make preparations for their departure and reception in Galatz. Van Helsing and Seward surmise that the Count peered into Mina’s brain on the day that she was very lethargic, and discovered their plan. Mina concurs with them that she feels that the Count has distanced himself from her, having discovered the risk to himself by her knowledge of his movements. Van Helsing and Mina deduce from Jonathan’s journal that the Count will retreat to his own castle by the same route as he did in the battles of old, as by his character he has shown that he is a creature of habit. Seward, Mina, and Van Helsing prepare for their next journey with renewed vigor. Follow us on Twitter.com/CryptiCanticles, Facebook.com/DraculaRadioPlay, and at crypticcanticles.com