This is me

Chapter nine

"I want the President found!" Ryder was shouting to several Inquisitors, who had shown up to assist with the arrest. "Sir, perhaps it would be best if you took a step back," said one of the Knights in black leather, but Ryder ignored the Knight. "We don't know where he is!" Troy shot back, both he and Ryder glaring at each other. "All we have found is a pile of blood and guts down by the bank, but a wrist was also found, and the watch on that wrist belonged to Thomas List. He was destroyed, and David was possibly kidnapped!" Ryder paced up and down, fury and panic both etched onto his face as he balled his fists. "Do we know what took him?" he asked quietly, and Troy shrugged. "We do," said a Knight in black leather, making both Ryder and Troy whirl around to face him. "I'm Jackson," the Knight said, but Ryder seemed to not care. "What took David?" he asked quietly, and the Knight reached to the top of his head and pulled the black mask from his head.

The Knight's hair was blonde, the sides cut short and the top long, but gelled down and looking slick. His bright blue eyes gazed at the two with interest, and his square jaw was set. "We identified the track marks beside the abandoned truck. Werewolves took him, but why, we are not sure." Ryder's face went pale, and his breathing became shorter and more frequent. "However, we can find the President within 48 hours." Ryder scoffed, "Unlikely. How do you expect to find him so quickly?" Jackson shrugged, outstretched his hand towards a nearby tree, and in a single snapping motion, the tree splintered, falling to the side in a heap. "Because I knew him, once. I was like his brother, or as the term in Ancient Greek and the Bible declare, I was his Parabatai." Ryder's eyebrows went skyward in surprise, and his mouth fell open. "You were the President's Parabatai?" Troy asked in awe, and Jackson slowly nodded, a small smile on his face. "So yes, I know him well enough to find him. Also, I know the Werewolf pack that kidnapped David."

Ryder sighed and glanced at Troy, who nodded, and he returned his attention to the Knight. "First off, I watched the security footage myself. The Knights are extinct." Jackson chuckled, shaking his head slightly. "No, we're not. What you saw was a cover-up. Whilst everything that happened in that is true and real, it was not as big as it was made to be. That was one of the final battles of the Old Wars, reused to make it look as though the Knights were now dead. In short, we Knights are very much alive." Ryder ran a hand through his hair and gazed at Jackson curiously. "Ok, fine, you can find David. How do you know which Werewolf pack he's with?" Troy asked, and to that, Jackson smirked. "Because this pack leader is the only one nearby who rips people limb from limb and leaves their guts as a symbol." A growl ripped through the air, making the Knight whirl around and take a glass sword from his belt, the tip lighting up like a firework.

A wolf sat in front of the Knights, its teeth bared and growling. The Knight sighed, sliding the glass weapon into his belt and then murmuring, "Tiago, good. Got any news?" The wolf cocked its head to the side, straightened, and in a low flash of green light, the wolf changed into a man hunched over. The man got to his feet, cracking his joints, and glancing at the two Royal Guards before nodding swiftly at Jackson. "No, sir. However, I did see the President being dragged into a room. Theo said he was going to interrogate the President until he found what he was looking for." Jackson sighed, nodded, and then said, "Alright. Go back to the camp and tell Theo that I am on my way. It looks like we're going to have to break David out."

***

David sat in the large shed, his hands bound by handcuffs, and the handcuffs themselves were chained to the ground. He had tried to twist and slip his way out but to no avail. Even if he did manage to escape the handcuffs, he was still restrained on his knees, chains encasing his ankles and keeping him to the ground. David remembered fighting Thomas on the boat, he remembered the armoured truck pulling up, but then he only remembered waking up in the cool shed. "Comfortable?" a voice asked, cutting through the deafening silence and startling David. David looked around, his eyes wide, and he saw the black outline of a man move towards him. "Why am I here?" David asked, and the outline seemed to chuckle, as though the idea of David wanting answers were amusing. "Do you honestly believe that I kidnapped you because I felt like it? The short answer, to save you from answering, is no. I captured you because there is something that belongs to me, and you have it."