Kiara slowly began to regain consciousness; she cold feel herself lying under a soft warm blanket. She opened her eyes to find herself in a strange place; she looked around and saw she was in a room of some kind. Kiara began to feel scared; she shoved the covers off her only to get the shock of her life.
Her fur, paws and tail were gone and she now had long brown hair on her head; she had become a human. Kiara attempted to get up off the bed and stand up but wasn't used to standing on two feet and found it difficult to keep her balance.
'Wow! This is creepy!' She thought to herself. 'How did this happen?' She said to herself; she then realised her voice had changed. Using the wall as an aid she slowly made her way around the room. She eventually came to a mirror on the wall; she glanced into it and was horrified at the face staring back at her; it was the human that attacked her in the tomb. Kiara almost screamed.
Meanwhile down in the main hall of Croft manor Winston was on a step ladder hanging tinsel over the portrait of Laras parents in preperation for Christmas. Just then Zip entered. 'Hey Winston' He said. 'I thought Lara always put up the Christmas decorations.'
Winston began to get down from the ladder. 'I thought this would be a nice surprise for Lady Croft considering what shes been through.'
'The doctor said they couldn't find anything wrong with her, and that she should just get some rest.'
Winston rolled his eyes. 'Taking a first aid course hardly qualifies you as a doctor Zip. I still think we should have taken her to hostpital.'
'I'll have you know that it was a medical degree actually!'
Winston was surprised at Zip; all this time he thought Zip was no more than a stuck up computer hacker.
'Really?!'
Zip laughed. 'Na! Me! Medicine! That's like mixing pizza with whipped cream. My friends a doctor; she was on holiday in Africa and I was able to convince her to be on the chopper that rescued Lara to check her out.'
Winston was confused. 'Why not just let the medical crew do their job.'
'Cos they would have just taken her to the nearest hostpital; and you know Lara and hostpitals, like I said, pizza and whipped cream. If Lara found out we let them admit her she'd rip our thoughts out.'
'You have a point there. How is Lady Croft doing by the way?'
'Alistair's just going up to check on her now.'
Outside Laras Bedroom
Alistair tapped on the door to see if Lara was still asleep; no answer. He then poked his head in the room. He got the shock of his life when he saw what appeared to be Lara standing at the opposite end of the room stark naked.
Kiara screamed so loud it echoed throughout the manor. Alistair screamed as well as he quickly slammed the door. 'Sorry Lara!' he shouted through the door. 'I didn't know you were awake!'
Kiara now began to panic even more. 'Wh…wh…who are you?!' she shouted nervously. 'What do you want?!'
Zip and Winston came running down the hallway. 'What's wrong?' Zip asked. 'We heared a scream.'
'I poked my head through the door to check on Lara; I didn't know she was up and she freaked out because I saw her naked.'
'Ok I'll handle this.' Zip replied; he then moved closer to the door. 'Lara, it's not what you think! My friend's a doctor, she was the one that helped you into bed; we had nothing to do with it!'
Kiara curled up in a corner of the room. 'What have you done to me?!' she shouted.
'Lara calm down!' Zip shouted through the door. 'You're going to be alright.'
'Where's Kovu?!' Kiara shouted in fear.
Zip, Alistair and Winston were confused. 'Who's Kovu?' Alistair asked.
Zip then turned his attention back to the door. 'Urrrr Lara, we're not followin ya.'
'Why do you keep calling me that?!'
Zip was even more confused. 'Because it's your name. Lara Croft.'
'My name's Kiara!'
Zip turned to Alistair and slapped him across the head. 'Way to go and traumatise her genius!'
'Don't blame me!' Alistair said in defence as he rubbed his head. 'I knocked first!'
'Will you two shut up!' Winston shouted. 'I know Lady Croft well and believe me it would take more than a couple of perverts to do that kind of damage. This must be an after effect of her blackout.'
He then pushed Zip aside and leant his head close to the door. 'Lady Croft' he shouted. 'You've suffered a bit of a fall during your latest adventure and you're clearly not thinking straight. If you come out we can sit down, have a cup of tea and talk about this.'
Kiara didn't know what to do; these humans clearly mistook her for someone else. In any case she didn't think they could pose much of a threat so she hauled herself off the floor and slowly walked towards the door, again struggling to keep her balance. She stared at the door wondering what she had to do. 'How do I get out of here?' She shouted.
'Step away from the door and I'll let you out' Winston said. Winston then opened the door and once again found their employer stark naked. 'Maybe you should put some clothes on first.' Winston said.
Kiara was puzzled. 'Clothes?'
Zip grinned at her. Alistair then turned to him and slapped him across the head.
To Be Continued
