Jane has visitors

It was some time after breakfast and Jane Harker was having another hot dream about Mina. Not that she had any hope that she'd see Mina any time in the near future -- or even in the far future. But, hey, a girl can dream, can't she?

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and the dream disappeared. Jane opened her eyes and noted that she was still in the cell that the three weird girls had put her in last night after they had had their fun with her. She no longer had to wear the collar with the silver bell attached to it; instead her current collar was made of iron and attached to the wall of her cell by a long chain. She still had a rag stuffed in her womanhood in case her period made an unexpected reappearance but apart from that, she was totally naked.

Not that that fact seemed to affect the man who was entering her cell at that very moment, Indeed, the man -- Renfield, if Jane remembered correctly -- seemed almost bored by the sight of her. Jane was not sure how flattered she should be that Renfield seemed more interested in the bugs on the walls of her cell than he was in the sight of Jane's naked body but under the circumstances, it was probably just as well Renfield was not sexually interested in her.

In any event, Renfield had not come empty-handed. He had a green dress under his arm that he threw in her direction and then gestured that she should get dressed.

Wait a minute! thought Jane. Renfield wants me to get dressed. After all this time in Castle Dracula, somebody other than her wanted her to get dressed.

And yet one question came to mind.

"Isn't it a little awkward for me to get dressed with this collar on?" asked Jane.

"Give me a minute, and I'll take off your collar," said Renfield. "But first I have to warn you. No funny business. I might not be as scary as the Master or his three hostesses but I can be very creative about punishing disobedient guests if I have to be."

"Okay," said Jane.

Once Renfield unlocked her collar, Jane slipped into the dress as fast as she could, hoping that Renfield did not change his mind about giving her clothes.

While Jane dressed, she thought about asking Renfield for some underwear and maybe some shoes and stockings. But no. It seemed best not to push her luck. Wearing a dress was already more than she would have expected for today; if she asked for more, the chances were great that Renfield would punish her. Perhaps by sharing his lunch with her.

"Hurry up," said Renfield. "I know you like to daydream but we have visitors at the front entrance and you're the only other human in the place. If we keep them waiting too long, they'll grow suspicious and the Master would not like that. So just say hello to them and then tell them whatever it is that will make them leave."

Jane briefly remembered her dream about Mina and wondered if perhaps Renfield had observed her while she was dreaming. And if he had seen the type of things Jane liked to do when she dreamed about Mina.

But instead of asking about that, Jane simply said, "Yes, Renfield. Yes. I'll do that."

When she left her cell, Jane noticed that it was daytime, not night like it usually was when the weird girls came for her. Moreover, the place seemed even more different in the day than it had the night before when the weird girls had pulled her out of the wooden box they had put her in several days earlier. Was she still in Castle Dracula -- or was she now someplace else? And if she was somewhere else, where was she?

Come to think of it, even the front entrance looked different than she remembered. Granted, last time she went through it, she was inside a wooden box but still it looked different.

Then there were the two visitors. One was a big-breasted brunette who spoke with a Dutch accent. The other was a redhead in a cowgirl outfit.

The brunette smiled at her and introduced herself as Professor Adrienne Van Helsing. Then she introduced her assistant Yosemite Tam.

"And you are?" asked Professor Van Helsing.

Ah, thought Jane. An easy question.

"Jane Harker," said Jane, confident that there was no way Renfield could fault her for this answer.