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“That’s not true,” Thorne argues. “He has one.”
“Elsie,” Francis fills in the blank. She turns toward me. “You’re his weakness. The one that got away. The one he could never control.”
“I’m not his weakness. I’m his obsession. The two are not synonymous.”
“They’re right,” Luna agrees. “You’re his weakness. You’re the key to ending him.”
THIRTEEN
a distant relative
We spendthe better part of the afternoon searching the “internets,” as Francis calls it, for any information on Kragen. Just as I suspected, we find nothing new.
“I’ve spent hours, months, hell…years searching for information on him and to find a way to bring him down. I’ve found nothing. I’m not sure what you all expect to find in one afternoon.” I sit back, running my hands through my already messy hair.
“A loophole? A mistake? Something that tells us where to find him?” Luna says next to me.
“He doesn’t make mistakes. Besides, I have no idea how old he is. No matter the case, I doubt he’s going to be using the World Wide Web to store secret information. The man captained a pirate ship, for God’s sake.”
“Were you on the ship the entire time you were with him?” Thorne asks.
“Most of the time, yes. There were several times throughout the years that he would take me to an island somewhere. I was blindfolded and covered in silver when transported.” My words bring sadness to Thorne’s eyes, and I instantly regret telling him so much.
“That’s it,” Francis says. “That’s the key to stopping him. Find that island, and you’ll find him.”
“Unless Kragen has experienced a radical change of heart, he’s not on the island. He’s out, searching for me.”
“You said he captained a pirate ship?” Francis asks, moving across the room.
“Aye,” Thorne answers. “I spent years looking for the ship with no luck.”
She pulls a large book from the shelf, bringing it to our small group. “I acquired this last year. It’s the manifest load from Blackbeard’s ship after they captured him.”
“Blackbeard, Blackbeard?” Luna asks. “How did you get your hands on that?”
“A woman never tells her secrets.” Francis smiles. “You know Blackbeard sailed around these waters at one time.” She opens the book toward the back, flipping through several pages before settling on one in particular. “Here.” She points. “Read this.” She hands the book to her ancestor.
“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to see,” he confesses.
“Here.” She points again. “Mixed in with all the items he stole, it lists a stowaway.”
“That’s not unusual during that time,” he argues.
Francis takes the book, turning to another page. “This lists a man who was found bound with silver and blindfolded in the bows of the ship.” She turns another page, reading the description aloud.
“The man was wearing only a pair of trousers despite the weather being brisk. His skin was as white as death and his eyes as dark as night. When the chains were removed, he thanked us in an unfamiliar accent before killing three men and escaping within seconds. Each man was drained of blood.”
“He was a vampire,” I say out loud.
“Aye, there’s no other explanation.”
“The description sounds like a very strong vampire,” Luna adds. “Why would he be captive on Blackbeard’s ship?”
Francis moves quickly to the bookshelf, pulling out a much smaller book, resembling Thorne’s journal I found in his room. She opens it, searching for something specific. “This is a copy of Blackbeard’s journal.”
“Where did you find that?” Luna asks.
“Walmart. They sell copies for the tourists.” She hands the copy to me. “During July of 1717, Blackbeard spent quite a bit of time around the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The journal doesn’t list what he wasdoing while there, but maybe that’s where he met up with Kragen and acquired the vampire.”
