Chapter 1
Past
She walked down the stairs. Lara Croft, an amazing archeologist ready for everything was now broken inside. It had been one month since her best friend Alistair Fletcher was murdered by her Doppelganger…Lara was furious, rage burning under her skin…but still that wasn't helping at all…She remembered everything, every little detail of his murder.
Heading for the tech room which was untouched from the flames, she turned around…She had a feeling…a very bad feeling and her instincts never lied… looking at her reflection, she started taking slow steps close to the glass…But to her surprise it wasn't her… "No..." she knew what was happening… a Déjà vu … It was her Doppelganger this time. She had white skin, her hair was crimson red. She was pale and veins were visible on her face and hands…but what made Lara terrified were Doppelganger's eyes. They were golden…Lara unholstered her gun and started moving backwards in order to open the doors and get out of there…And then it happened…Alistair walked in coughing when Doppelganger shot him…Lara panicked, pressed the button and the doors opened, but she found herself face to face with Doppelganger who disarmed her and kicked her on the stomach letting her there…she left and Lara very quickly ran to Alistair and started pressing his wound to stop the bleeding, but nothing was happening. He turned to Lara and started talking "I feel…bloody awful..." "Shhh just lie still" she responded but he wasn't listening…he knew he wasn't going to make it. "I'll see…see you…" "Alistair hold on!" she interrupted again, but he didn't care "…see you…in…Avalon…" Tears started to roll down her cheeks. "Damn it! "She cursed out loud.
Being lost in her memories she didn't realize she was sitting at the bottom of the stairs. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around. Zip was looking at her, his face full of concern. He kept on holding her shoulder for some minutes till he said "Girl, if you keep up this way you are going to loose your mind. "She looked at him, Zip was her second best friend, he was always there for her and he always cared about her. But she wasn't in mood so she simply said "Maybe I already have, Zip…" He looked at her, sorrow obvious in his face and after a moment he talked. "Go get some rest Lara… I'll be in the tech room…if you need anything…" "I know, I will tell you… Thanks !" she got up and made her way slowly to her room and without stopping she went at her bathroom and took a look into her mirror…She was tired and she could feel it…Damn how am I like that? She thought to herself. Her eyes were red (result of crying for hours) and she was pale. She took her clothes off and stepped into the shower, letting the hot water melt her thoughts and concerns. When she realized that the water couldn't take away her pain, she stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. What Lara wanted now was a cup of tea. She put on a pair of blue jeans and a black tank top and for some reason she put her hair in a braid. Wait, why did I make my hair like that? Before she could think anything else, she heard a loud noise from her library and that was when her instincts said to her something was wrong.
When she stepped in the library, her mouth fell open. A flying thing had destroyed her desk and it was coming towards her. "No way, no way, no way. It's been six years. It can't be!" The thoughts were running in her head. She ducked then raised to her feet and ran down the stairs after the flying thing. It smashed the door and Lara cursed under her breath. She opened the door and sprinted out when the Chirugai was caught by his owner. "What the hell is going on? Am I dreaming or is it truly him?"
"I bet you hate me for that Lara" he said calmly. Lara couldn't move, it was like her feet turned into ash. Kurtis took some steps closer slowly.
"Not happy to see me?"
"You are dead!"
"Do I look like dead?"
"Well you should! I never found you in the Strahov."
"I left you a souvenir…" he pointed, looking at his Chirugai.
Lara stopped talking. The only thing she wanted was to hug him and never leave him again…but she couldn't. That wasn't her.
"So you took what you came for" she said immediately regretting that she said it.
"I don't think so" he said and when he saw her puzzled face he added "I came here for you…"
Zip stood at the door looking at Lara, Winston next to him, looking at the stranger. Then to their surprise Lara collapsed and the stranger caught her in mid-air. They both rushed at Lara's side and made sure she was okay. Then Zip turned to Kurtis and said "Man start talking. NOW!"