The Historian

Paul and Helen return to Istanbul to find Bora and Aksoy waiting for them. Bora informs them that Mr. Erozan has been bitten again. He and Aksoy have uncovered correspondence that seems related to their search. Written by Brother Kiril, a monk from the Carpathians, it describes his travels to Istanbul; Bora explains that the sultan was tolerant of Christianity once he had conquered the city. The sultan searched for an object that was already moved out of the city into Bulgaria; the year of the correspondence is 1477, one year after Vlad Dracula’s death. The letter is addressed to the abbot at Lake Snagov. In this year, there are also accounts of a plague. Helen connects this information to the Romanian ballad.

Bora impresses upon Paul the urgency of his search; Rossi has been missing for more than two weeks. Helen will again call upon Aunt Éva to help arrange their travels to Bulgaria. Finally, Paul presses Bora and Aksoy to reveal how they know so much about this history. Bora explains that they work for the sultan.

Bora and Aksoy are part of a centuries-long organization called the Crescent Guard, enlisted to fight Dracula and his Order of the Dragon. Even though Sultan Mehmed II is long dead, the organization lives on. Founded in 1477, membership is usually passed from father to son, though in Bora’s case, his mother extended the legacy. Bora warns Paul and Helen to keep their mission secret—upon pain of death. The conversation is interrupted by a phone call: Mr. Erozan has been attacked for the third time as the sun sets.

The narrator and Barley are in the hotel at Perpignan. There is only one bed in the room, so Barley simply shrugs and puts on his pajamas. They both dissolve into laughter; the tension of the trip, as well as their attraction to each other, throw them into hysterics. They kiss and undress each other. The narrator is shy and inexperienced. Barley stops and wraps his arm around her protectively.

Bora and the others rush to Mr. Erozan. Bora brought a vampire kit. He admonishes Helen to look away, but she refuses. Paul realizes what bravery this takes. He falls more in love with her.

Bora and Aksoy pray over the writhing form of Mr. Erozan as they drive the stake into his heart. His face looks peaceful, finally. Bora urges Paul and Helen to go to Bulgaria.

Paul and Helen arrive in Bulgaria. While Paul expects to see downtrodden and depressed people, he finds that the Bulgarians seem happy.

They are assigned a guide, Krassimir Ranov, who will escort them through the country. Both are aware that he will be watching them for any breach of politics. When they ask to speak with famed local historian Anton Stoichev, their request is icily granted. Ranov sees Stoichev as an adversary. They will have to be careful.

Meeting Stoichev is a pivotal moment in their search for Rossi, though it is difficult to speak openly about their research in front of Ranov. Helen tells Stoichev that they are interested in medieval monasteries and how the monks might have traveled. When Helen introduces herself fully, Stoichev asks if she knows Professor Rossi; she and Paul relate their connections to him. Paul tells Stoichev about the letter from Brother Kiril that they have found in Istanbul, warily watching Ranov for any reaction.

Immediately, Stoichev becomes alert and asks his niece and caretaker, Irina, to prepare some lunch for them. On some silent communication between them, she asks Ranov to help her. Once he is gone, Stoichev tells Paul and Helen that he has a letter by Brother Kiril.

The narrator and Barley finally arrive at Les Bains. They go directly to the hotel where she and her father once stayed. The concierge recognizes her and gives her the key to her father’s room. They find the room in disorder—quite unlike her father’s usual neat habits—and conclude that he left in haste.

Stoichev’s letter relays a different part of Brother Kiril’s journey: He delivered a book to the abbot at Saint Vladimir, and their wagon was heavily guarded during their stay. They planned to travel toward “the capital of the great enemy,” where they hoped to find assistance (482). This capital is most certainly Istanbul. Their discussion is interrupted by the arrival of lunch and the reappearance of Ranov. They eat and plan to meet again the next day.

That evening, Paul and Helen talk quietly at a café, knowing they are probably being watched. Paul mentions that Ranov reminds him of someone, but he admits to amnesia about who. After casually uttering the word, Paul starts. “Amnesia” triggers a different memory: In one of Rossi’s letters, Rossi records an evening at a tavern in Greece where a dark stranger gives him a drink called amnesia. This explains why Rossi forgot about his travels in Romania and Helen’s mother. Helen is furious with Dracula.

Paul and Helen arrive again at Stoichev’s, Ranov in tow. They will celebrate a local feast and, hopefully, sneak away for further research. After some eating and drinking, the three leave Ranov flirting with Irina and disappear into Stoichev’s study. Paul tells him about Rossi’s disappearance, their subsequent travels, and their search for Dracula’s tomb. Stoichev believes the dragon books were printed by a 17th-century scholar in Romania, long after Vlad Ţepeş died. Stoichev has another manuscript he wants to show them—a chronicle that he helped publish after his mentor died—found at a monastery in Rila. He relates the main points to them.

“The ‘Chronicle’ of Zacharius of Zographu” takes up the tale of the monk, Zacharius, who resided in a Bulgarian monastery in the latter part of the 15th century. His story records the travels of Stefan the Wanderer, another monk who lived out his final years at Zographu. Stefan wanders because, after the fall of Constantinople, he is exiled; this is a common tale among Christian monks of the time. The other part of his travels—transporting an alleged treasure to Bulgaria after 1476—is unique.

Zacharius also discusses Vlad Ţepeş within his “Chronicle.” He claims that Vlad traveled to Snagov before his death, a perilous journey of some apparent importance. Stefan reports on a lack of clarity surrounding Vlad’s death but that all accounts concur that he was beheaded. Some of the soldiers loyal to him apparently transported his remains to the monastery at Lake Snagov. Stefan goes on to say that those remains were removed, then taken to Constantinople (now Istanbul) before being transported finally to a monastery in Bulgaria, Sveti Georgi. No monastery of that name exists; the only record of such a place relates to its founding. Stefan’s account also discusses the fact that the monks were attacked by Ottomans on their journey—unusual for a time of relative religious tolerance. There is also reference to the confusion of the monks at Snagov at the time of Vlad’s death: An appearance of animals and fog at his death suggest vampirism, though the monks disagree on the validity of these apparitions. This part of the “Chronicle” was omitted in later versions.

Stefan’s actual account claims that he never wished to travel again after his experiences with Dracula. He was never a witness to the living man but only to his death, and the headless corpse was terrible. The abbot called upon eight of the monks to take the corpse away from Snagov; they would only pretend to bury him there. They are also assigned the task of finding a treasure that would help Prince Vlad reach salvation. After reaching Sveti Georgi, they leave the body; the monks there assure them that the treasure has been delivered by other pilgrims. Shortly thereafter, a plague troubles the surrounding countryside. At this revelation, the manuscript ends.

Stoichev then admits that he has a copy of the antiquated dragon book. When he found his, however, he had already been engaged in research regarding Dracula’s death and entombment. He returned to his study after his work at Rila to find his papers in disarray and a trail of blood over his desk. The blood was his own—though he had not been there at the time. The fingerprints found at the scene were not a match, but the police believed that Stoichev staged the intrusion. He also found his own name inscribed within the book. He stopped his research after the incident.

Stoichev asks Ranov to arrange a trip to Rila, where he will accompany Paul and Helen. They rejoin the feast outside, where the attendees are now singing and dancing. The songs sound like the ballads in the Romanian book.

The Rila Monastery is a museum filled with artifacts of Bulgarian history and culture, including books and manuscripts. Stoichev leads Paul and Helen to the other letters penned by Brother Kiril: They were traveling out of Constantinople, besieged by wolves and frightened of the Ottoman warriors. While nobody can be sure, they speculate that Brother Kiril and his fellow monks traveled to Constantinople to retrieve some treasured item, then turned back toward Bulgaria. Helen realizes the monks went to Constantinople to retrieve Dracula’s head. Her comment is overheard by one of the monks.

Paul revises Helen’s theory: Snagov’s abbot sent Dracula’s body with the monks to Constantinople so that he could be reunited with his head. When Paul wonders how they could travel with a decomposing body, Helen notes that the undead, according to legend, do not decay. She urges Paul to take a walk with her and asks if Dracula could be buried at Rila. She also mentions that Ranov—or someone in his employ—must be following them. When Paul wonders why they have not been stopped in their research, Helen suggests that Ranov, and his government employers, are interested in what they are looking for: Knowledge of resurrecting the dead could be turned into a powerful weapon.

Walking up into the surrounding mountains, Paul and Helen pause for a rest. Paul asks Helen to marry him. She hesitates, noting her relationship to Dracula. Then, she says yes.

The narrator scans her father’s disordered room. She sees, among the papers, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, as well as a series of postcards. They are all signed with the name “Helen Rossi” and addressed to the narrator, dated from 1962. Helen wishes her daughter could speak Romanian, the language of her heart.

Stoichev dissembles in front of Ranov, but when the guide moves out of earshot, Stoichev tells Paul and Helen that “Vlad Dracula is certainly buried at Sveti Georgi, wherever that is” (542). Saint George is an important icon in Bulgaria, the slayer of the dragon.

When they realize that Ranov has been missing for quite some time, Paul goes to look. He sees him talking with Géza József next to the car. This is worrisome, but they go ahead with their plans to stay at Rila for the night.

There are more postcards from 1962, addressed to the narrator. Helen speaks of her search, of trying to be frugal with the small fortune she has, and of how much she misses her daughter.