Chapters: 25 and 26

The group arrive in Varna after a journey of just three days from London. Before they leave however, Mina makes all of the men swear that they will not hesitate to kill her if she becomes a threat to their survival. Jonathan is the last to painstakingly swear to this. He then emotionally reads out the burial service for Mina at her request. Van Helsing and Dr Seward have their doubts about the safety of Mina and are very wary of any changes in her. They keep any suspicions they have, between themselves so as not to make the others more anxious, especially Jonathan. Mina is hypnotised every sunrise and sunset by Van Helsing and continually gives the same description of the Count at sea. Incidentally these are the times of day that she is most alert and awake. They make preparations in Varna for the Count's arrival and successfully get permission to search the ship upon its arrival. They then discover that the boat has been spotted at Galatz, with Dracula trying to deceive his pursuers. They head to Galatz the next morning in an attempt to catch him off guard. As they near Galatz by train, Mina's power and ability to warn of the positioning of Dracula is fading. Dr Seward suspects that the Count's power is strong over her and that they could be misled. After visiting the docks they discover that the boat has landed and the box has been collected by a man named Skinsky who is later found to be dead. They seem to be at a dead end. Mina decides to look through all of their information and ponders over the Count's possibilities of travelling by road, train or water. She comes to a conclusion that he travelled by boat and uses maps to find a route that can be taken to reach Castle Dracula. She is praised once again by the whole group for her brilliance. They then decide to split up to increase their chances of intercepting him. Arthur and Jonathan go by boat in an attempt to catch him up the river. Quincey and Dr Seward ride horses alongside the river to see if they can intercept the boat when it lands. Van Helsing takes Mina, hoping to use her powers to help them find Castle Dracula.