Vampire hunters
Blade, Quincy Harker, Rachel van Helsing, and Frank Drake stand amazed over the
body of Count Dracula, slain by Blade in the melee at the end of last issue.
But the townspeople, hypnotized by Dracula into being his servants, storm the
castle and make off with their master’s body before the heroes can cut off his
head, killing him permanently. As they follow the procession, they find
Taj Nital alive and well, having been hurled into the river in the fight. As
Dracula’s body decays in his coffin, his control over the townies wanes, and
soon they abandon the coffin and flee….
The servants of
Doctor Sun bring the body of Lucas Brand to Professor Morgo, who runs a series
of tests and concludes that Brand is indeed a vampire, such as Doctor Sun
seeks….
Nearby, Father
Josiah Dawn of the Church of the Forever Resurrected is having a crisis of
faith: his revival tent meetings are poorly attended and he thinks only a
miracle can break through people’s hard hearts. He then spies the coffin with
Dracula and feels the spiritual power residing in it and so three nights later
he is promising the crowds they will witness a resurrection. At the meeting,
after whipping the crowd into a frenzy he seeks to remove the knife from
Dracula’s body. The vampire-hunters, having seen Father Josiah’s advertisements
and recognized the corpse, rush in to stop him but are too late. Dracula is
restored to life and Father Josiah recognizes the vampire as a thing of evil,
attacking him with a large crucifix. Dracula soon finds himself surrounded with
the crosses carried by the congregation and calls down a storm to escape in.
Dracula calls him a hypocrite motivated by hate and calls down lightning to
strike the crucifix in Josiah’s hand, killing him. Dying, Josiah tells the
mocking vampire that his own soul is at peace with the Lord, something Dracula
will never know. Dracula denies this with a hint of panic as he flies off….