Harker has no choice; he must try to encounter Dracula during daylight. Therefore, he crawls out his window and descends, perilously, until he reaches the Count's room. Oddly, it is empty, and it seems "to have never been used"; everything is covered with dust, including a "great heap of gold in one corner." Seeing an open door, Harker follows a circular stairway down through dark, tunnel-like passages; with every step, he becomes more aware of a "deathly, sickly odour, the odour of old earth newly turned."
In the vaults below, Harker discovers fifty boxes, and in one of them, he finds the Count, apparently asleep, even though his eyes are "open and strong." Horrified, he flees to his room and tries to decide what he must do.
On June 29th, he reveals the full extent of his terror. He is terribly afraid; if he had a gun, he would try to kill the Count, but at this point, he believes that the Count is supernatural and that bullets would have no effect on him. Yet when the Count appears, he bids Harker goodbye, assuring him that a carriage will take him to the Borgo Pass and from there, he will be able to return to England.
Later, Harker opens his door and sees "the three terrible women licking their lips." He throws himself on the floor, imploring heaven to save him until he can escape the following day.
Not surprisingly, Harker wakes early, scales down the wall, and once more he finds the Count laid out in one of the large wooden boxes. Curiously, the old man looks "as if his youth [had] been half renewed." The reason is clear. He has been renewed by blood. On his lips are thick blotches of fresh blood which trickle from the corners of his mouth and run over his chin and neck. Dracula is gorged with blood, "like a filthy leech." The thought of Harker's assisting this monster to travel to England and satiate his lust on unsuspecting English men and women so horrifies Harker that he seizes a shovel and slashes madly at the Count's "hateful face." The Count's mad eyes so paralyze Harker, however, that the blow only grazes the Count's forehead. Hearing voices, Harker flees to the Count's room, where he hears the boxes below being filled with earth and the covers nailed shut. Then he hears the sound of wheels in the driveway, the crack of whips, and a chorus of gypsies. Now Harker is convinced that he is absolutely alone, a prisoner, and Dracula is off for England to wreak his evil. Yet Harker is still determined to at least try and escape and take some of the gold with him. He is sure that this castle is a nest for the "devil and his children," and he cannot remain in it a moment longer. The precipice which he must confront is steep and high, but he must attempt it at all costs. The last entry in his journal, at this point, is desperate: "Good-bye, all! Mina!"
