Disclaimer: I do not own the movies or the characters that you recognize. I am making no money off of this story.

Chapter Twelve:

The Abduction

It was past noon when Elizabeth emerged from the captain's cabin. Her body felt rested and refreshed; an alien sensation to her sleep-deprived and bruised body. Jack and Thomas where on the deck, playing a game of backgammon. Her son was winning by a wide margin. She walked over to them, combing her fingers through her hair.

"Why did you let me sleep so late?" she asked the pirate, although not in an accusing tone.

"Ye looked so peaceful when I came in ta wake you. I didn't have the heart ta get ye out of bed. Ye needed the rest," he stated, concentrating on the game in front of him.

"Yes, I most certainly did. Thank you," she agreed with a smile.

"There's one more apple. We saved it for you," Thomas said, handing it to her. She accepted the fruit and sank her teeth into its flesh.

"If we mean to stay on this ship, we're going to need to buy more supplies," she commented, taking another bite of the apple. "We should probably go into town soon to find what we need."

"Can we finish our game first?" Jack asked.

She sighed into her breakfast. "I suppose so," she allowed while Thomas rolled the dice.

"Ah ha!" the boy exclaimed as he removed the last of his checkers from the board. "Game over."

Jack mumbled a curse under his breath in agitation.

"That's not showing good sportsmanship," Elizabeth chided.

"Good game, Uncle Jack," Thomas said, holding out his hand.

"Yeah, good game," the pirate grumbled, shaking the boy's hand to show he was being a good sport.

"Now, let's go shopping," Elizabeth said.

"Oh joy," was Jack's sarcastic response.

Elizabeth was apprehensive about leaving Eric locked up in the galley with no supervision but had little choice. They needed supplies and she didn't think she could rely on Jack to get everything they would need. She also didn't want to leave Jack alone with Eric, especially not after what he did to Gibbs.

Just thinking of him made her choke up. It was strange not seeing him beside her or listening to him and Jack volley insults back and forth. She had known Gibbs since she was a little girl, and in a way he had been like an uncle to her. His death struck a cord deep within her, and she wasn't sure she would recover any time soon. In an effort to comfort herself, she told herself that he was in a better place. He didn't have to run any longer; he was finally at peace. At least she hoped so.

Before they left, Elizabeth made sure Eric was secure. She added more cloves of garlic to the bars and even stuck one in the keyhole to the cell. After she was finished, she was certain that he could not escape.

The three travelers disembarked and headed for the local market. Their goal was to stock up on food, water, and clothing, but also on garlic, crucifixes, and holy water. Elizabeth and her son set out to get the items necessary for daily survival while Jack searched for the vampire repellants. They might not be able to kill Eric, but they could hold him at bay.

The town was relatively small but bustling with people. Most were middle aged women with children hanging off of their skirts, but there were also business men, young couples, slaves, merchants, and some elderly citizens walking back and forth across the square. It was noisy and crowded; Elizabeth relaxed and submerged herself in the sea of people, happy to be around normal human beings for a while.

After a few hours of intense shopping and haggling for lower prices, Elizabeth and Thomas determined that they had enough of the items necessary for survival to last them for at least a week. The sky above them was littered with dark grey clouds that blocked out the light from the sun. It looked ready to pour at any moment. They decided that they didn't want to wait for Jack, who had become lost in the crowds some time ago. Instead, they headed for the ship, determined to beat the rain.

As they walked, Thomas asked his mother if she had seen Blackbeard.

"The pirate?" she questioned, shifting her basket of supplies from one hip to the other.

"No. Blackbeard's my dog. You know...the one you said I could keep if I gave him a bath. That's his name," he explained. "I haven't seen him since the night the vampire attacked and killed Mister Gibbs."

Elizabeth didn't know what to say. Thomas had no idea his seemingly furry friend was actually a murderous vampire. She wasn't about to inform him of that minor detail either. What if he thought that it was his fault that Gibbs had died because he had insisted on keeping the animal? No, she couldn't bring herself to tell him about his pet's true form.

"Have you seen him?" Thomas repeated, looking hopeful. His mother always knew the answers to his questions.

She shook her head and stroked the top of his head with her free hand. "No, honey, I haven't seen him. Maybe he was scared of the vampire and jumped off the boat to try and get away," she suggested, knowing that it was only slightly reasonable.

But her son seemed to accept her answer. His eyes went wide with worry, and for a moment she was sorry she had said anything. He didn't need another reason to be upset right now. This whole situation had taken its toll on the seven-year-old and with Gibbs dying only the night before, he was sure to be fragile emotionally. The loss of his dog on top of everything else might cause a melt-down.

"Do you really think he did that?" he asked.

"I'm not sure, dear. It's possible. But don't give up hope," she added. "Maybe he's still somewhere around here." She didn't have the heart to tell him he would never see his dog again, and she didn't want him to be too disappointed when the animal never reappeared.

Just as they arrived at the dock, the rain started to fall. They rushed up the gangplank and made their way to the captain's cabin, where they put down their supplies. Jack wasn't back on the ship yet, but Elizabeth wasn't worried about him too much. He could take care of himself if needed, and he could talk himself out of almost any kind of situation.

"I'm going to go check on Eric," she told Thomas.

"Can I play in the rain?" he asked.

"As long as you stay on the main deck. But I don't want you to catch a chill, so you can play until I come back," she stated, making his smile dim slightly.

She made her way down to the galley as her son danced around on the deck, his head tilted back to catch the rain in his mouth. The area where Eric's cell was located was dark and dank, and the stench was nauseating.

But what really made her stomach sick was the fact that Eric was not there.

A large hole, about the size of her head, stared at her from across the room. Elizabeth rushed to the cell, unlocking the door and stepping inside. She examined the hole intently. No human could have fit through a hole that size, and it didn't even look like the hole had been made by human hands. Her breathing became ragged as she failed at remaining calm.

Suddenly, the cell door slammed shut, the lock sliding into place. Before she knew what was happening, the key to the cell was flung across the room, landing by the entrance to the galley. There was no one else in the room but her, but some unseen force seemed to be controlling the items in the room.

Then, just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, she heard a dog barking on the deck above her.

"Blackbeard! There you are!" Thomas cheered happily. She could hear him running over to the dog.

"Thomas! No!" she screamed as loud as she could. "Don't go near the dog!"

But it was too late.

Thomas' laughter changed into a scream of terror. Elizabeth couldn't see what was happening above, driving her into a frenzy. She grasped the bars of her enclosure, shaking them furiously, praying that they would give way.

Her son's screams cut off abruptly and an eerie silence was left in its wake. Elizabeth's heart stopped beating as she listened for any movement above her. No sound reached her ears.

"Thomas!" she screamed again, her voice cracking with strain. The stout steel bars wouldn't budge, no matter how hard she tried to dislodge them. Desperate to get out, she turned to the hole that Eric had escaped out of.

She clawed at the thick and splintered wood, trying to enlarge the hole. Pieces of wood cut her hands and embedded themselves into her skin. After a few minutes, her hands were bleeding and useless.

Elizabeth slumped down with her back against the wall. Tears streamed down her face and sobs racked her body. She was powerless to save her son. She had no idea what Eric had done with her son, or even if he was alive.

"Ninety-nine bottles of rum on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of rum. Take one down, pass it around. Ninety-eight bottles of rum on the wall."

Elizabeth tilted her head up at the sound of Jack's singing. She could hear his unsteady footsteps as he boarded the ship. Slowly, Elizabeth stood up, not using her hands to brace herself on the wall. Her hands were still throbbing and bloody. As the pirate walked about on deck, singing loudly and off key, she called out to him.

"Jack!" her voice was hoarse from screaming earlier, but she knew she had to get out of the cell. "Jack!" she shouted again, as loud as she possibly could.

The footsteps above her stopped. "Gibbs? That you?" he called back, his words slurred.

"No, it's Elizabeth. I need your help. Come down here," she answered loudly.

A few moments later, Jack appeared at the foot of the stairs, a nearly empty bottle of rum clutched in his left hand. His eyes were bloodshot and his skin was sallow. He must have been drinking this whole time, she thought. I guess that's just his way of dealing with grief.

But she didn't have time to think about Jack's emotional problems and how he handled them. "Jack, he's taken Thomas," she told him as he swayed back and forth, taking another swig from his bottle. "We need to go out there and find them before he does anything to Thomas."

"Who took him?"

"For God's sake," she exclaimed. "Eric…the vampire," she added when he continued to appear clueless. "Get me out of this cage. The key is over there in the corner."

Jack turned his head in the direction she was pointing, but it took him several moments to find the key to the cell. It took him even longer to try and put it into the hole properly. After several failed attempts, Elizabeth grabbed the key from his hands and opened it herself. She groaned in pain from having to use her injured hands.

"Now, let's go. We don't even know where he's taken him," she said, pushing past him and walking up the stairs to the deck. He followed her at a slower pace.

The sky was black, dotted here and there with stars, the clouds from earlier that day having disappeared altogether. When Jack emerged from below deck, he seemed even more disoriented and his face held a green tint to it.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," he stated, dropping the bottle and clutching his stomach. Elizabeth rushed over to him, but couldn't do anything to help except lead him over to the port railing.

He vomited several times over the side of the ship, then slumped down to the deck. A mixture of exhaustion and the effects of alcohol put him to sleep in an instant.

Elizabeth didn't know what to do. She needed to search for Thomas, but she knew it was foolish to do so alone. Jack was of no use to her in this state, and her hands were in danger of becoming infected.

After a moment of deliberation, she decided that it might be best to recover tonight and set out early the next morning. Jack would be hung-over, but at least sober. And after she tended to her hands, she might be able to touch things without cringing in pain. At this moment she wouldn't even be able to hold a sword.

She left him on the deck and retired to the captain's cabin. She washed her hands, removed as many splinters as possible, and slathered her hands in an ointment that she had purchased in town that day.

It was only after she had changed for bed that she noticed the letter pinned to her pillow.

Her heart raced as she picked up the note. It read:

Do not worry about Thomas. I'm taking good care of him. After all, someday soon he will be my apprentice.

Yours Truly,

Eric Sinclair

Elizabeth couldn't get to sleep that night because she kept worrying about the meaning of Eric's letter.

"I don't see why ye've insisted on coming back here. Yer wastin' yer time if ye ask me. And ye don't have any of that ta be wastin'. This is day two remember?" Gibbs commented as he and Will hiked up the hill to where his wife's cottage was located. "I told ya, there's nothing but rubble left."

Gibbs was right; the only thing that remained of Elizabeth's cottage was charred wood and miscellaneous items that had escaped the fire. Will caught a glimpse of something shiny amongst the debris and bent down to retrieve it. He lifted up a silver necklace. Dangling from the delicate chain was an ornate cross. Will wiped away the ash that had settled onto the silver, and then placed it around his neck. The necklace had been a gift from her father when Elizabeth was young and he was sure that she would want it back. He also found his dagger in the burnt rubble and placed the blade in his boot.

"Let's go. There's nothing here," Will said, turning around and starting back down the hill. Gibbs was still panting from the ascent.

Once they were both back on the ship they charted out a new course.

"We were about a mile from Port Royal when we were attacked. Give or take a few hundred feet. We had anchored, but I'd doubt if they are still in the same spot. They would have moved on by now," Gibbs supplied helpfully.

"Well then the question is where they went," Will said, looking over his maps.

"It's not all that difficult. Ye can eliminate most of the ports along the coast, especially the main ports."

"Why is that?"

"Cause Jack is a wanted criminal in most of 'em. Most of the charges are for piracy or theft. He wouldn't be stupid enough ta go ta one of them," Gibbs reasoned.

"Oh. Well which port do you think they're likely to dock at?" Will asked, glad to have Gibbs there with him.

His friend squinted at the maps, reading the tiny print of the different ports and mumbling to himself. After a moment of consideration, he pointed to a small port located halfway between Port Royal and Tortuga.

"My bet's on that one," Gibbs announced.

"Then that's where we'll go."

Author's Note: Didn't see that coming did you? Well, actually, you probably did. I'm not very good at the creating suspense thing, but I'm trying. Tell me what you thought. I hope you liked it.