I awoke what felt like days (though I knew it was probably just hours) later, feeling groggy and unaware of my surroundings. I panicked for a moment, forgetting that I was resting deep within the depths of an ancient temple in the heart of India. I felt slightly more rested that I did prior to sleeping, but I knew I wouldn't feel fully energized until I'd gotten back to my daily life in London. Even then, I hadn't had a good night's sleep in ages.

I stretched my arms above my head, letting out a large yawn. My eyes would usually water after a large yawn like that, but I was so exhausted that my eyes felt like they were perpetually dry—I'd gotten used to the burning by this point. Nate was still knocked out beside me, snoring as his chest rose gently with each breath.

Oh, Nathan, I thought, feeling the slightest bit guilty for getting him into this mess. I knew he'd been in worse before, but part of me couldn't help but feel bad for prolonging his exposure to these sorts of things. Sooner or later, he'd have to get fed up, wouldn't he? He looked quite peaceful; his expression was blank, but his face was lined with almost a decade's worth of age and experience more than me. And yet, a sense of youth remained. Perhaps it was his childish jokes or his rambunctious outlook. He was role model. I looked up to him almost as much as I looked up to my own father, yet I viewed him in a different light. Of course, there was the romantic thing we'd had years prior, but he was happily married to Elena, and I knew it wasn't for me, anyway. I didn't ask him to come along on this adventure simply because I hoped he'd fall in love with me, but rather because he was the one person in the world I could count on; he was the one person who can relate to my lifestyle, and the one person who never thought I was crazy for what I had been through. He understood.

I smiled, still studying Nate's peaceful, resting face in the soft glow of the headlights—I switched the lights off, remembering that conserving battery power was crucial. I decided I'd let him rest a little bit longer; he needed sleep as badly as I did. I sat in silence for a moment, then reached into the pouch in front of me to find my backpack. I pulled it out, unzipped it, and pulled out Jones' journal and my torch, difficult as hell in the darkness of the cavern.

With the press of a button the torch flickered on, then back off again. "Dammit…" I whispered, giving it a couple gentle slaps against the palm of my hand. "Work, will you?" Apparently, gentle taps weren't enough. I slapped it with a little force and it flickered to life again. I held my breath, watching the light for a few seconds. Once I was certain it wasn't going to die on me, I flipped the journal open to a page that looked close to where we were.

"Caverns," I said softly aloud. I stopped at a two-page spread that was covered with a sketch of the Idol Mara, a laser beam firing out of its eye and striking a large, rope bridge at its suspensions. "That must have been what caused the ceiling above me to collapse… but how can that be possible?" I shook the doubt out of my head, remembering that questioning the supernatural at this point was pointless. So much had happened that shouldn't have happened, and I couldn't help but question how.

Gurgle!

Ugh. You really need to eat, girl, I thought to myself, pressing my hand against my rumbling stomach. I shined the torch into my backpack, fishing around for a snack. "Aha!" I whispered eagerly as I found the pack of Jaffa Cakes that I made sure to bring with me—they were my absolute favorite treat. I quietly pulled one out and chewed on it gently, savoring the sweet, tangy orange flavor.

It baffled me how such a simple thing like a pastry could take one back in time, bringing forth memories that had previously been buried for ages. This one reminded me of when I first met Sam. We were dorm-mates during our freshman year at University College London, moving our belongings into the tiny room (more like a prison cell) and awkwardly waiting for the other to break the ice. I remember glancing over to Sam's side of the room, chuckling as I watched her try to arrange all her things into her side of the room; she packed like she was moving into an upscale studio apartment rather than a dormitory.

I sat on my bed, chewing softly as I watched the rich girl desperately rearrange her side gain and again.

What are those? Sam's voice echoed through my thoughts.

Jaffa Cakes! Came my response. You ever had one?

She shook her head, her short, black hair waving with the motion.

Okay then, you've got to try one. Here, take a piece.

She cautiously slid one into her mouth and started to chew. I can't tell if I love it… or hate it.

Oh, come on! You've got to love it, I laughed.

She laughed in response, swallowing the piece with a grimace painted onto her face. Okay, I tried your thing. Tomorrow, you try mine.

Which is…?

We're going clubbing, Sam said with a sly smirk.

Her laugh was unforgettable. We'd been through so much together, but after what happened to her on Yamatai, it was clear to me that she'd never be the same again. No matter how much I tried to get her back, she would never quite lose her grasp of Yamatai—or, rather, Yamatai wouldn't release its grasp of Sam. I closed my eyes and memories of our shenanigans and adventures came rushing back to me. Our hike up Kilamanjaro, our trip to China—even the late nights when she'd drag me out to the nightlife scene against my will, hoping to find boys for us to mess with. I missed everything, and more importantly, I missed my best friend.

Crunch!

I snapped out of my daydream and back into reality. I quickly aimed the torch in the direction the sound had come from. "Hello?" I called softly. I glanced over at Nate—still asleep. My brow furrowed and my hand moved the light in every direction, hoping to catch a glimpse of something. What had been the sound of bats quietly chirping and water dripping from stalactites was now replaced with the eerie sound of nothingness. I rubbed my eyes, trying to reassure myself that I was awake. I wasn't dreaming this time. I shook my head and brought the light of the torch back down to the journal—it was probably just a small animal, or the immense sleep deprivation taking its toll on my mind.

Then came the sound of something hard gently and irregularly clanging against another hard object. After my recent nightmare, I was a bit on edge with eerie sounds in this cave. I'd usually brush off something like that and blame it on wind or rats, as was typical of places like this, but anxiety began building within me. I ran my fingers through my fringe, taking a deep breath inward, then exhaling slowly. I closed the journal and placed it back in my backpack, but kept the torch in hand, grasping it with a white-knuckled grip.

Taking only the torch with me, I carefully slid myself down and out of the transport, once again landing onto the dusty surface below, for real this time—I made myself quite aware that this wasn't a dream. I stopped to listen for a moment in the darkness, trying to determine the exact location of the sound. One second, the sound was coming from a few meters ahead of me. The next, the clanging sounded as if it was much farther away.

I continued slowly, running may hands against the side of the wall so I could feel where I was going. I came across a small alcove in the rock wall and clicked the torch on, aiming the light at my feet: a large wooden crate sat begging to be opened. "What's this?" I mumbled aloud. With one hand, I prized the crate open. I set the torch down next to the crate so I could use both arms; the weight of the lid as heavier than I was expecting. Inside were two identical Heckler & Koch USP Match pistols and a few rounds of ammunition.

"Well, this is awfully convenient, isn't it?" I mumbled again. I set the torch on the ground so I could take the pistols and ammo, sticking one in a holster on either of my thighs. I placed the pistol rounds in my pockets and then reached for the torch.

A flash of red caught my eye, so, furrowing my brow and squinting my eyes, I tried to make out a design on the side of the crate that was barely visible in the glow of the torch. "It couldn't be… could it?" I breathed. I hastily grabbed for the torch, fumbling to hold it steady in my hand that was now trembling—the fight or flight response was kicking in. I shone the light directly onto the side of the crate, allowing me to see clearly a black symbol with three points and a red background; there was no mistaking this insignia.

They're already inside, I thought, my brain panicking at the realization. They're two steps ahead of me.

"Trinity."

I stood up and turned around quickly, but suddenly was unable to move. I was paralyzed with both fear and confusion as my torch illuminated something grotesque: a full human skeleton standing before me. My heart accelerated, and as the skeleton began to step toward me, I took a step back. I could only step back so far, though, as my back was soon flat against the cavern wall. I reached to my side and grasped for my climbing axe, whipping it out and taking a heavy swing at the skeleton's head, letting out a loud groan as I did so. The skull flew off the rest of the body, and rolled downhill into darkness. I let out a deep exhale, then began at a quick run back toward where I'd left the transport just minutes earlier.

The journey back seemed longer than before; no matter how far I ran, I couldn't find the transport, or Nate.

"Nathan!" I called, cupping my hands around my mouth. My voice echoed throughout the caverns, bouncing against the rock walls. I didn't care if I woke him now, so long as I could find him again.

The sound of silence was the only response I got.

"Shit!" I said, frustrated. I squeezed the bridge of my nose between my eyes, trying to prevent the headache I could feel forming; stress, dehydration and sleep deprivation were beginning to take a toll on me. Perhaps I had just been hallucinating moments ago; perhaps the living skeleton was just the lack of sleep beginning to take effect. That was probably it, but after what I'd seen thus far, nothing was out of the question.

Crack! Snap!

My brow furrowed and my eyes darted left and right as the sounds of wooden boxes opening surrounded me on all sides. I reluctantly raised the torch upward, following the light from the ground and slowly up toward the wall. Wooden crates—dozens of them—were beginning to crack open, the wooden nails that were holding them closed popped out and fell to the ground. I narrowed my eyes and I tried to make out what was coming out one of the boxes: skeletal fingers reached out from inside, grasping the sides of the box as the lid was forced outward and landed at my feet. I took a step back, staring at the wooden lid that almost hit me. I then refocused on the box, where another full human skeleton was clamoring out clumsily. I shined the torch in every direction around me, my heartrate and breathing rapidly increasing as I saw the same thing happening tenfold: boxes of various shapes and sizes were bursting open and skeletons were climbing out of each one.

I took off at a run in no specific direction, simply with the intention of getting away from the bony bastards. Dozens—no, hundreds of them surrounded me, and they were all coming toward me with frightening speed. These were much faster than the first one I'd encountered just moments ago. I leveled the torch with my head and readied my axe, swinging at any skeleton that stood in front of me as I ran. The awful sound of the metal axe against the ancient bone sent a chill down my spine, but I pressed on.

The torch flickered for a moment until the batteries finally died. No matter how much I pounded it against my leg, it refused to come back to life.

"No, no, no!" I said quickly. Despite the darkness, I could still hear bone clanging against the rocky ground, so I knew there were still many more skeletons ahead of me. I stuck the torch in my back pocket and continued running, swinging my axe blindly with the hope that I'd at least take out some of the skeletons.

A faint glow appeared several hundred feet ahead of me, illuminating the rocky cavern. I skidded to a halt, watching as the shadows cast on the rock walls moved quickly—that meant the light source was moving, too, and fast. Suddenly, the light rounded a corner, and I winced as I covered my face from the blinding brightness. As my eyes adjusted, I realized that the light source had diverged into two bright lights: it was the transport.

I left out a soft laugh, watching as the transport mowed down hundreds of skeletons and various bones flew in every direction. The transport came to a screeching halt, stopping just inches in front of me. I covered my face again until the blinding headlights were turned off, along with the engine. I couldn't see a thing once again.

"Jeez, Nate," I laughed, bending down and putting my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath. "Haven't you any respect for the dead?" I stood upright again, then went around the right side of the transport, my hands running across the body of the vehicle so I could feel where I was going. I found the opening where the seats were, so I swung my leg up and hoisted myself into the seat, buckling the seatbelt. "Let's get going. Going by Jones' journal, the caverns ahead lead to the rope bridge."

"I know. We've already gotten that far, Lara. But it would that you haven't."

That's not Nate, I thought, panicking. That's…

Rosa.