This is a painfully short chapter, I am aware. And there will likely be points in this chapter where you will want to stop reading altogether... Though whether that's from what takes place, or the fact that this chap sucks is as of yet indetermined... Please just bear with me on this one.

Again sorry for the shortness, but I had this chapter planned out exactly how I wanted, and it came up a bit short...

Also, a brief warning before we begin: This chapter is violent, and bloody... And Lara gets a bit mouthy.. .But then, after the ending of the last chapter... Can you blame her? Violence, and gore... Consider yourself warned.

Chapter Eleven

Living Nightmare

All Lara could feel was utter and complete rage, and hate, as she set her sights on the merc standing in her bedroom doorway. With an almost inhuman shout, Lara fired both pistols at the merc, before he even knew what hit him. She didn't stop firing until the click of the guns told her the mags were empty, and the mercenary was long dead, his blood staining the walls and the floor. Despite the fact that she knew there had to be more than one, Lara dropped the pistols, and looked towards the still form of Kurtis, lying in a pool of blood, in front of her. She knelt next to him, and desperately searched for a pulse, or any hint that he was alive. There was none. His skin was already losing its warmth. Kurtis Trent was dead, and sheer will alone wasn't going to bring him back this time.

Lara said not a word, she shed no tears, she simply switched off all emotion other than rage, and hate. She got to her feet, her hands covered in blood, and headed for her wardrobe. She dug through several drawers before she found her stash of ammo. Reloading her pistols, she noted, with no surprise, that neither Zip, nor Alister, nor Winston had come running at the sound of the gunshots. That could mean one of several things. They were dead, they were unconscious, or they were being held hostage somewhere in the mansion. With a last glance at Kurtis, Lara left her room, to hunt down the rest of the bastards responsible, and with any luck to save the rest of her friends.

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She came across two more mercs at the open door, leading out to the stairs. She heard them talking, before she saw them.

"Man, what was Karel talking about?" said the one on the left side of the door, "This is easy, all that's here is a few lousy alarms, two geeks, an old man, and a couple archaeologists with a taste for the supernatural. "

"Apparently they give the boss alot of trouble, Mitch, so you might wanna pipe down..." warned the one on the right, "Besides, the woman is the archaeologist... The dude's a Lux something-or-other."

"That's Lux Veritatis, you stupid bastards," Lara said, one pistol pressed against each of their heads, "And tell your buddy hello for me would you?"

The looks of sheer confusion on their faces were priceless... So before they could change to looks of something else, Lara pulled the triggers on her guns, ignoring the droplets of blood that hit her face, as the bullets sprayed blood, brain matter, and skull fragments everywhere. Now, where were the rest of Lefty and Righty's coworkers. Even Karel wouldn't have been so arrogant as to only send three men after her. That would have just been asking to fail. She made her way to the library, not bothering to be quiet or careful. All inclinations that this little battle could result in her death were meaningless, now.

Opening the door that led into the hallway, that would in turn lead to the library, Lara felt a bullet whiz by her ear, as three more trigger happy mercs made their presence known. Lara ducked back out of the hall, pressing herself against the wall. The first merc to come through the door had his neck broken before he even knew Lara had grabbed him, the second had several bullets buried in his skull before he knew his buddy was dead, and the third actually managed to get off a couple shots before Lara killed him. A bullet buried its self in Lara's arm, but it wasn't even enough to make her flinch. She had well and truly switched off... And at this rate, it wasn't likely that there was going to be a 'switch on' option.

The library was a scary sight.

It seemed Alister had gotten to the shotgun that was kept behind a row of books on the shelf nearest to the desk, and had managed to kill one of his attackers. The man was blown quite literally in half, telling Lara that the shot had been taken at extremely close range. The blood spatter seemed almost impossible. Behind the desk, however, was the scariest sight in the room. Alister, obviously dead, his already pale skin even more pale than normal, all the blood that gave him color having drained from his body, through several bullet wounds, and a slashed throat.

Lara squeezed her eyes shut, and fled, the need to slaughter even more of Karel's men growing with each second the sight of Alister lying dead on the floor refused to leave her mind. The image of Kurtis resurfaced as well, causing Lara to clench her guns in her hands so tight that her knuckles turned an impossible shade of white. She found herself hoping that Karel had sent an army of his men, or had even come himself. She was just itching for something else to kill.

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In the kitchen she found Winston, shot in the back. The merc that appeared in the kitchen when she accidentally knocked a pan off the counter was wishing he had never heard of her by the time Lara was finished with him.

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In the computer lab was Zip, dead like everyone else. There was no one there for Lara to take out her fury on, this time. So instead, with another inhuman cry, she shattered several computer monitors.

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As she made her way to the court yard, she kept feeling something tug her arm, and the quietest of whispers, as if someone was trying to speak to her, but they were afraid to raise their voice. She ignored it, and kept going. Just before she got to the door, however, she felt someone grip her arm, hard, and give her a good yank. As she spun, to hit her attacker, she was sure she heard someone shout her name. It didn't matter. She hit the merc who'd grabbed her square in the face. The crunch that signaled his nose breaking was like music to Lara's ears. He dropped to one knee, and Lara spun again, this time kicking him in the jaw. He dropped to the floor unconscious.

Another tried to grab her as well, and again, Lara was sure that she heard someone call her name. Again she ignored it. This time the blow she dealt was with the butt of her gun. Like his coworker, he fell, unconscious.

In the court yard was nothing, but in the gym was what Lara had been hoping a find. A shitload of Karel's men, all just waiting to die.

"Hello boys," Lara said, a grim smirk on her face, "Just lining up for the slaughter aren't we? Karel really should have remembered who he was fucking with."

"Oh but I did," said a voice, from above, as the men spun to look at Lara, surprised by her arrival. Lara looked up, to see Karel floating near the ceiling,"I remembered very well in fact. The men were merely a precaution to make sure all of your little friends were out of the way and therefore unable to help you. So tell me, Lara, how was it, seeing them all dead?" He dropped down until he was standing right in front of Lara, "I can make one of them come back, if you like. Who will it be?" First, he changed into Winston, Lara was prepared to shrug it off, but something was wrong... His eyes weren't the soulless, empty ones normally on a nephilim... they were Winston's caring ones... Next was Zip, with the same thing wrong... then Alister... Then Kurtis... Lara almost lost her hold on her emotional 'off' switch at the last.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Lara screamed at the nephilim, as the voices she'd heard before, got louder... She could hear them, Kurtis, Winston, Alister, Zip... She could hear them, and it was going to drive her insane, "GET AWAY FROM ME! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

Karel only laughed, as he moved up towards the ceiling again, "So Lara, do you think you can take on all of my men? We'll see, I guess... And I'll be waiting to finish you off, if you survive. Men... Kill her."

Lara had no time to think, no time to try and banish the voices from her head, before a wave of mercs swept towards her. But they were on her territory now. They were in her gym, and each and every one of them was going to regret it. Each and every one of them was going to pay for the deaths of her friends. And when she was done with them, the sorry son of a bitch flying about the room was going to pay too. And pay dearly.

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Lara dropped to the floor, panting, covered in blood, some of it hers, most belonging the twenty or so bodies that lat about her. She stood directly in the middle of the room, the bodies surrounding her in something resembling a grotesque ceremonial circle, their blood dripping from her fingers, as she watched Karel descend to stand in front of her. He applauded mockingly as his feet touched the floor.

"My, my, Lara. Well done. Though I must say, you're looking a bit worse for wear, why don't you just lay down the guns, and just join me?"

Lara glared at him a moment, then tossed her empty guns aside. Karel had just started to smirk in satisfaction, before Lara spat blood right in his face, "Go to hell, you stupid son of a bitch."

"Come now, Lara," said Karel, wiping the blood/saliva from his face, sounding more than a little annoyed, "So many people have died tonight, it would be a pity to raise the death count.

Lara shrugged, "What's one more, when stacked upon all the rest? Your men were just in the way... You're the one I wanted. Pity I can't kill you more than once though. You deserve it."

Karel laughed at her, "If you think you've even the slightest chance of beating me, by all means, dear girl, please try... But, perhaps there is a form more suited for such an attempt?"

Before Lara's tired, blood-lust filled brain could register what he meant, Karel's pale unattractive face had morphed into Kurtis' handsome one. Lara froze for a moment when she noticed that again, the eyes she saw were Kurtis'. She shook her head. It was just a nephilim trick, combined with shock, and likely a desire to have her partner back. Nothing more.

"Change back," she spat at the nephilim, ignoring the rather convincing faked look of confusion he gave her. "He's dead! You think your petty little mind-fucks are going to work on me now?" Still she ignored the fact that Karel was putting on one hell of a show, with his confused expressions, and with those eyes that were so like Kurtis' pleading with her to recognize him... She shook her head fiercely, and desperate to make the image of her lover disappear, she threw a punch at the nephilim.

He didn't fight back, he only dodged her blow, with surprising accuracy, taking a step back.

"Lara, it's me!" said the nephilim, shielding himself.

"Shut up! He's dead! Dead like everyone else!" Another failed attempt to hit her foe. Tears burned her eyes, but Lara refused to let them fall. No matter how hard she tried, she wasn't able to hit the man in front of her. He somehow knew what she was going to do, before she did it...But he didn't try to hit her in return. He just dodged her blows, taking steps backwards when necessary. "Fight back," Lara hissed, "Just fight back, I'm not falling for your charade."

The not-Kurtis only looked all the more confused, "Lara, what are you talking about? It's me. You had a dream is all..."

He sounded so convincing... So, so convincing. Lara even dared to let herself hope for a moment, as she squeezed her eyes shut, that this was all a dream. But the smell of blood in the air didn't disappear, if anything it got stronger. When Lara opened her eyes, the bodies were still there, her clothes, and hair were still sticky with drying blood, but the one thing that convinced her that it was all real was the change in the nephilim before her. It was only for a moment, but that moment was enough. The eyes that were so convincing changed for just a second to the dull, lifeless orbs one saw on a nephilim... Then they changed back...

Hopes crushed, Lara attempted to hit her foe, again and again. All the while, he never fought back... Until Lara came dangerously close to actually hitting him. Not-Kurtis grabbed her arm, spun her around, twisting the arm he had hold of, hard.

"Sorry about this, Lara, you're not givin' me much of a choice here," he said, as he started to shove his captive towards the floor.

Lara managed to squirm out of his grip, and shove him backwards. The nephilim tripped over one of the many bodies littering the floor, reaching for Lara as he fell. He grabbed Lara's hand, and pulled her down with him. Lara fell on top of the nephilim, her knees on either side of his body, her hands on either side of his head, with her looking straight down at him... Memories of the night not so long ago in Denver hit her like a ton of bricks...

Kurtis' hands wandered over her bare skin. He was taking his time, exploring every inch of her body. Lara's own hands ran over his scarred chest, and back, her fingers tips mapping out every detail of his flesh...

Lara blinked, and shook her head... She couldn't let her mind play tricks on her. This was a nephilim she had pinned to the floor... Not Kurtis... But her mind refused to listen, refused to stop showing her flashes of her own memories...

She lay with her head resting on her lover's chest, index finger tracing light circles over his skin, as she listened to his heartbeat slowly return to it's normal rhythm.

Just as Lara was beginning to drift off to sleep, she felt Kurtis press his lips to the top of her head, and heard him mutter, more to himself, than her, she was sure, "I think I'm fallin' in love with you, Croft."

Lara smiled slightly to herself, considering saying something in return. She chose not to, and instead, simply let sleep claim her, the smile never leaving her lips.

Lara's hands clenched into fists, as she bowed her head. In her attempts to get herself under control, she had almost forgotten about the nephilim underneath her, until he moved slightly, in what seemed to be an escape attempt. She couldn't have that.

"Get out of my head," she muttered, one more, before she grabbed a rifle from a near by corpse. As she pressed the barrel of the gun to the nephilim's forehead, she heard the voices of her friends again. She blocked them out, and pulled the trigger.

The being beneath her didn't move again. But nor did he revert to his true form, like Lara had hoped he would. No, he stayed looking like Kurtis. Looking like a very dead Kurtis. She needed to look at something else, anything else, so she looked around the gym. The sight of all the bodies had been a bit of a comfort before, when she had been hellbent on getting her revenge. Now that she had completed her task, the sight of the corpses made her sick. And now the voices were back, louder still, yet she still wasn't able to make out what they were saying. She only knew that they belonged to her friends.

"I've lost it," she said to herself, with a sound that was somewhere between a sob, and a laugh, "I've totally lost it." She continued half-laughing and half-crying for a moment, before she felt the body beneath her vanish.

Karel/Kurtis was gone, leaving her sitting on the floor, while Karel's cruel laugh echoed through the mansion.

"Fuck," Lara sobbed, slamming her fists onto the floor, "Fuck it all!"

Then the room changed. It was no longer dark, instead it was brightly lit. The smell of blood was gone. Lara looked up.

There were no bodies.

There wasn't a drop of blood.

Near her feet was a rolled up corner of one of her floor mats, for the gym, right where the body she had tripped over should have been.

Alister, Zip, and Winston stood near by.

Alister was holding a now-stained handkerchief to his obviously broken nose, being mindful of a newly-formed bruise on his jaw. Zip was was rubbing a nasty bump on the side of his head. All three were looking at her as though she had gone insane.

Lara blinked in confusion.

It was then that she noticed she was once again sitting on someone. Slowly, almost painfully so, she turned her head to look down at her living cushion.

Kurtis lay there, under her, staring up at her, as confused as the others.

Just a little taste of what I can do, Miss Croft. Lara heard Karel's voice in her head, as she realized what had just happened.

Her gaze met Kurtis', and underneath the confusion, she saw concern, and... love?

Seeing that, and the rest of her friends, was all Lara needed. She let her body relax, and let down the rest of the barrier, keeping her emotions in check. She fell against Kurtis' chest, body shaking with sobs, and the remnants of fear, and sorrow left over from what she had witnessed, as she felt Kurtis wrap his strong arms protectively around her, and heard his murmured words of comfort, chasing the feelings away.

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Now, hit that lovely little review button to berate me for putting Lara through that :p