Once more a vampire,
a weary Dracula hurries across the landscape of Transylvania until his enemies
catch up to him. It is a swarm of vampires in bat form intent on killing him.
He runs, then turns into his mist form to evade the bats and then into his bat
form to outrun them. The people of the village hide in fear from the Dark
Ones….
A farm woman named
Maria Turaka, whose husband and eldest son had died the previous year, now
despairs of the life of her daughter Teresa. Covering her fear of the bats with
prayer, Maria tells her three younger children to wear crosses about their
necks and not to let anyone in, as she takes Teresa in the wagon in search of a
doctor….
Dracula flies over
the town, slipping through a stable and his pursuers pause to feed on the
horses there to gain strength for the chase. A storm begins, Dracula flies near
Maria in her wagon and the woman brandishes a cross to drive him off. Dracula,
weakened without blood, discovers a cottage and, resuming his human form, bangs
at the door. It is the Turaka home and the children are conflicted over what to
do but the eldest, Anton, decides to allow the man sanctuary from the pursuing
Dark Ones. But Dracula is hungry and he violently refuses the offer of soup….
Maria’s wagon
becomes stuck in the mud and she prays to God for help. The vampire hunters,
Rachel van Helsing, Frank Drake, and Quincy Harker, discover her and abandon
their search for Dracula to take her to the doctor….
Dracula reaches for
the children but then discovers they are all wearing crosses about their necks
and he recoils. Meanwhile, the Dark Ones have resumed their human forms and are
laying siege to the cabin. A vampire breaks open a window to get at Dracula but
a cross pressed to his hand forces him to retreat. The vampires batter open the
door but they cannot enter without permission and so send a swarm of rats
inside. Dracula fights off the vermin and tells the kids to use their crosses
to protect themselves. Dracula, realizing the kids are doomed, picks up a
cross, even though it burns his hands, and drives off the vampires before him.
They take to the skies and Dracula pursues in mist form, with the cross….
Rachel van Helsing,
volunteering to check on Maria’s children, finds the house a shambles. The
children tell her that a good man was there, telling them to trust in God while
he drove the Dark Ones off….