As you all so nicely supported me, here it goes.. the second part of the story. I really hope I manage to surprise you a bit and you don't find it strange what comes now. I was glad to read that some of you were so sure that the second guy would be Karel... hmm... then start reading to find out :)
And after this I would really love to hear what you all think :) Have fun!
For a moment it came to her mind that she was not seeing well, blinking she tried to clear her mind. But they were still there, both of them.
"What the hell is going on here?" – Lara asked barely audible taking one more step backwards.
Kurtis… better to say the guy who she met first looked very entertained, a cocky smile was sitting on his lips. However, the second Kurtis seemed to be anything else but in good mood. Anger was glittering in his eyes as he looked at his mirror image leaning against the heater again. For a moment time stood still and Lara was just turning her astonished look from one to the other. Then suddenly the newcomer strode towards the other, and Lara knew there would be trouble.
"You bastard…" – Kurtis shouted at the other guy and grabbed his shirt with both hands.
"Hey, calm down. What's your problem?" – he was backing away surprised, putting his hands up meekly, not really understanding what he did wrong.
"I'll tell you in a second what my problem is" – Kurtis snapped raising his right fist in the air.
"How could I have known that she belongs to you?" – the other guy said, still amusement on his face as if not even taking the threat seriously. Kurtis' hand stopped in the mid-air on this statement. Was it embarrassment running over his face? Lara was not sure.
"She does not belong to me" – Kurtis muttered under his breath looking at her for the first time since he stepped in as if only noticing then that Lara was there at all. Then he abruptly let go of him and stepped back trying to control his anger.
"Would you tell me what's happening?" – Lara spoke out in a slightly harsh voice after a few seconds of silence, there were millions of questions swirling on her mind.
Kurtis looked at her once more and pulled out a chair at the simple table standing in the other side of the room.
"Sit down" – he said simply, silence followed. "Please!" – he added after a while. "And you too" – he looked at the other guy. Lara hesitated for a moment, but then walked over to him and sat down. They were all eyeing each other suspiciously for a while, Lara more curious than angry, Kurtis annoyed, the other Kurtis rather relaxed and casual.
"Come on, brother. Tell us the story" – the relaxed one spoke out. Lara raised an eyebrow hearing his comment.
"Brother? You have a brother?" – she asked in amazement. "You never told me."
"We never really talked a lot, did we?" – Kurtis asked back, what made his brother laugh out. "You better shut up" – he snapped at him still furious.
"What? Once she was just standing in the door like this" – he leered at her for a moment. "What would you have done in my shoes?" – he grinned. Kurtis almost jumped up from the chair, but then restrained himself.
"You don't know when to stop, do you?" – he threatened him again.
"How could I have known that it wasn't me she was interested in?" – he teased him further. "What can I do, I just have the look."
"Not if I take care of you" – Kurtis rose a bit again, but Lara put her hand on his arm.
"Guys!" – she interrupted them impatiently. "If you didn't realise, I am sitting here too."
The two men just kept staring daggers at each other for a while still, then one of them eased back on the chair.
"You could have told me maybe that you are not Kurtis when I called you so." – she looked at him with slight reprimand.
"Where would be the fun in that?" – he grinned at her obviously enjoying himself.
"Who are you at all?" – Lara asked finally still wondering how they could look so much the same.
"This is my brother, Kaleb" – Kurtis blurted out finally.
"You told me that already. Are you twins?" – Lara couldn't stop wondering how similar they looked like. She could not tell who was who. It felt like seeing a perfect copy of him. Even their gestures looked the same.
"I didn't know about him until recently either" – Kurtis started explaining, leaning back on the chair, but keeping his eyes on Kaleb.
"And it would have been better for all of us if it had stayed like this" – Kaleb answered ironically, holding his gaze. "Except I wouldn't have got to known you" – he added with a cheeky smile looking at Lara. Lara couldn't stop thinking how similar and still how different the two were. "By the way, who are you, honey?" – Kaleb asked in a malicious tone. Lara frowned at him for a moment, but had no time to answer.
"This is Lady Lara Croft" – Kurtis said emphasising every word.
"Hmm.. impressive" – Kaleb's look wandered down her body again not even caring about his brother's cutting glance. Kurtis lost his patience and jumped up from the chair walking over to the window. For a while none of them spoke again.
"Why am I here, Kurtis?" – Lara asked finally talking to his back.
"Because you have something I need" – he said simply not turning to face them.
"I can definitely confirm that" – Kaleb commented, but only earned a stern look from Lara. Though she still couldn't believe her eyes seeing them together. A quick thought ran through her mind for a moment, but quickly she dismissed it again. No, this cannot be – she pondered.
"You are not telling me everything" – she narrowed her eyes knowing that there was a reason why Kurtis did not want her to see his face.
"There is nothing else you need to know" – Kurtis said. I cannot drag you into this.. he though. Lara stood up walking over to him.
"We were in this together, I know that you are planning something" – she stopped a few steps behind him. "Let me help you."
"Give it up, honey. He doesn't even tell me what he is up to" – she heard Kaleb's voice behind her. "I must be a complete fool to have come here, I still don't know how he convinced me" – his voice sounded rather amused though. Lara ignored him calling her honey again.
"Look, Lara. Just give me the chirugai and walk away" – Kurtis turned to face her, with determination in his eyes.
Well.. that's why he wanted to see me. But why didn't he tell me to bring it right away? – Lara was wondering.
"What the hell is a chirugai?" – Kaleb watched them with growing interest, but neither of them reacted on his question as if he wasn't there at all.
Those blue eyes were piercing into her chocolate ones, not being able to turn his gaze away from her. The bell of a church started to ring not far away from them.
"All right, Kurtis. If this is what you want" – Lara gave up. At least she said so. "I give it back to you, it's yours after all."
"Very well" – he looked relieved. Knowing her he wouldn't have thought that it would be so easy to persuade her.
"Then let's go" – Lara said simply.
"What do you mean?" – Kurtis looked at her surprised.
"If you want it, you have to come with me. Obviously I don't carry it with me everywhere."
Kurtis started to loll around, not able to decide what to say.
"What's wrong now?" - Lara stopped and looked around in the ragged room. "Or are you so attached to this place that you don't want to leave it?" – she grimaced slightly glancing at the dirty walls and broken furniture.
"I'm sure I wouldn't have anything against your place" – Kaleb cut in walking over to Lara's side. Now there were the two of them sending Kurtis a questioning look.
"Okay, you won" – he gave in at the end, and meekly followed them out of the room.
:::::::
"Hey, not bad at all" – Kaleb called out when they got out of the car in front of Croft Manor, but he didn't even look at the building. His glance was stuck to Lara's bottom as she was walking in front of them.
"Well, guys. Give me five minutes and I get what you want" – she pointed at the sofa in front of the fireplace.
"The place is also nice" – Kaleb smiled at Kurtis, who was just standing stiffly in one place. His brother on the other side couldn't help walking around in astonishment after Lara disappeared at the top of the stairs.
Lara went straight into her bedroom, thoughts swirling in her mind. I need to find out what he is up to – she was pondering. She still remembered the day when he was lying there, blood all around. One day later he just disappeared from the hospital and she had no chance to give his weapon back to him.
She stepped to the drawers hesitating for a short moment. Slowly she opened the second drawer as if not being sure the thing would be still there. But it was. Not that she wouldn't have known it. There was almost no day when she didn't look at it trying to find out how it worked. Her fingers ran over the cold metal, it was a strange feeling. As if the thing was slightly vibrating, living its own life. Lara slowly slipped her fingers in the holes, not taking her eyes off it. This was the only thing connecting her to him. Maybe she would never see him again if he walked out of the door now. Her hand came to a halt in mid-move. In this moment she realised that she did not want to let him go. Suddenly the chirugai stirred in her hand and started to glow orange. Lara looked at it in amazement knowing exactly that Kurtis was there.