Kings On The Horizon (Vol. 7-9)

287 | Ninth Circle

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HIS FRIENDS TOLD HIM not to, but Max was insistent. Earlier at lunch, Hedeon Stallion announced that Max should meet him at Saints Haven at exactly 6:00 PM. So when the Angelus began and as the prayer echoed throughout the campus, Max was already on his way to their meet-up as planned.

     "I can feel everyone staring at me," Max whispers under his breath, looking back to see a bunch of white uniforms peeking through their window, curious to see what might happen to him.

     Hedeon openly declared war on the five brotherhoods in this house. Then he practically told everyone that Max is his accomplice, which means he is now a potential target; something that Hedeon obviously wanted to happen.

     Max looked around cautiously, holding onto something in his pocket that Xander had given him before he left earlier. Max only had two outcomes in mind as he walked his way to the saint's dormitory. One was that he was going to be ambushed by angry brotherhoods, or two, he was going to be left alone since no one really cared about Hedeon's warning.

     Max was hoping for the second outcome, but of course that was instantly forgotten when an arrow came rushing towards him in full speed. Max didn't even notice it. He only realized what had happened when he turned around and saw the arrow stuck in a tree truck. If he moved just an inch to the left he would have been the one to be pierced.

     "Shit..."

     Before Max could even make a move, someone tackled him to the floor, his face on the gravel, knocking the air out of him for a quick second.

     "Looks like the king gave us a pretty good sacrifice," someone says, standing in between Max while someone ties his hands in his back.

     "L-Let me guess...Red Tigers?" Max asks as the unknown attacker tightens the rope on Max's arm. "You're really treating me like an animal, huh?" Max sarcastically asks as the attacker puts a sack on his head next, blocking his vision.

     "No hard feelings, Sinclaire."

     Max could see people's silhouettes through the sack as a bigger man grabbed him from the floor and carried him up like an actual sack of potatoes. He could tell that people were talking in a distance, but Max couldn't listen to them properly. It was all muffled. The only thing that Max heard was the words "waste of time" and "he's become boastful." Max wasn't sure if they were talking about him, or if they were talking about Hedeon.

     The man carrying Max was walking straight, but then they started descending. It took at least five more minutes for them to finally stop moving.

     The place they were in was pitch black, Max could at least tell that much, but when he was forced to take a seat, a soft light finally shone on top of him like a spotlight. Eventually, the sack over his head was removed, making Max squint his eyes. He couldn't scratch his eyes since his hands were still tied behind his back, but after a while, he finally adjusted to the light.

     Max was in a circular room with statues of who knows what. Max could feel the eeriness in the air, and the angel-looking stone figures weren't helping. But as Max was trying to remove the rope around his wrists, Max saw movement. After looking hard enough, he realized that five living figures were sitting in front of him. They were no longer statues like he first thought.

     "Good evening, Sinclaire," a voice says, and five more spotlights turn on, finally revealing the people who kidnapped the young heir.

     The leaders of the brotherhoods Checkmate, Scarlet Letter, Red Tigers, Archers, and even the Gallants were sitting on thrones that represented their title. There were also two empty seats with the words Gluttony and Lust engraved on them, and Max could only assume that these belonged to PHD and the Clan.