Chapter 11: Captured
It was a cold, snowy day in the city. The time of winter was showing, as trees lost their leaves, the sun coming up late in the mornings and set fast at night. Two figures were sitting in the waiting room. Nurses walking up and down, telling families and friends of their beloved once.
Elizabeth found herself staring at the hallways direction for one reason, her friend was in surgery for two hours now. Elizabeth didn't really like hospitals; they were just a place to die in. Death, she could always feel it here, the crying of people around her, hearing of the death. It was just too much for her. She closed her eyes and tried to take her mind of it.
Kurtis on the other hand was keeping himself busy. From reading a magazine to writing in his notebook and now drawing. It always relaxed him, it took his mind of the crying all around him and the feeling of hurt and sadness. He looked up to see Elizabeth's eyes closed. Damn she's not taking this good, he thought and drops the pensile in his hand. He looked at her until she opened her eyes again.
She felt someone's eyes watching her and she opened them to see Kurtis looking at her. She glanced at the clock and sighed. "It's been two hours and half. What's keeping them in there?"
"Elizabeth, she's gonna be fine." He knew that she couldn't have been. Karel attacked her and the likeliness that she could make it out alive, is one out a million.
Before she could answer him, the nurse came up to them. Both Elizabeth and Kurtis got up to face the nurse. "How is she?" Kurtis heard Elizabeth ask.
The nurse looked at Kurtis. "She survived the surgery."
Elizabeth took out a breath of relief but she could see there was more. "What's wrong then?"
The nurse looked back at her "During the surgery her heart stopped." Elizabeth almost fell but kept her balance. The nurse continued "We managed to bring her heart back to life."
"How long did it take?" Elizabeth was looking her in the eyes but noting came. "How long!" She yelled at her in anger.
"A little over five minutes." The nurse said with fright.
Elizabeth knew what that meant. She saw it all before. "Is there brain damage?"
"We won't know until she wakes up." The nurse answered.
"I want to see her?" Elizabeth said with more anger.
"Of course follow me." The nurse said and walked to the hallway. Elizabeth and Kurtis followed after and entered a room not long after. The nurse stood at the door for a moment and then disappeared.
Elizabeth looked at the women that were lying on the bed. It was hard to think that she was alive. The only thing that told Elizabeth that her friend was alive was the ventilator's noise and the green line on the monitor and of course the slow movement's of her chest that was inhaling oxygen.
Elizabeth took a chair and pulled it up next to the bed and took a seat. She was trying to keep the tears from falling. She couldn't believe this was happening, she never thought that Karel would go that far to hurt her, by hurting her friends. Kurtis could see the pain in her eyes as he stood at the only window in the room that looked out onto the bust streets of Cape Town. Kurtis couldn't believe he was in a country where she grew half of her life in. He looked back to her as he saw her eyes starting to tear up. She was wiping them away, trying to stop it but failed.
Visiting time was almost over making Elizabeth and Kurtis to leave the hospital. They were now on the busy streets and Kurtis looked at her wondering where to now. She knew the place better than he did so she looked up and sighted. "The nearest hotel is a block away."
"Well let's go." Kurtis said and they started walking through the crowd of people. It was so crowded that Kurtis lost Elizabeth in it. He started looking and calling her name "Elizabeth" but no response.
Elizabeth found the hotel but realized that Kurtis wasn't with her. "Now where did he go?" She said out loud and headed in. I'll get us rooms and then go and find him, she thought. Walking to the receptionist, who was old and tired. "Good afternoon, how my I help you?"
"I want two rooms." Elizabeth answered.
"I'm sorry, but we only have one room open. It has two single beds." She told Elizabeth.
"I'll take it." Elizabeth said and wrote in the guested book. Writing her name, telephone number and car plate number. She took the keys and head up to her room. The room was not that big but it will do for now. Elizabeth walked out onto the balcony to see the sea from far. Hm, I can't believe I'm back again. Now to find Kurtis, she thought.
Kurtis however was still walking in the crowd of people, trying to find Elizabeth. No damn luck, he thought then he saw her face from far, coming to his way. "Kurtis!" She said to him.
"What the hell Elizabeth, I was looking everywhere." He said with anger.
"I damn to. We have to move, I just saw Karel at the hotel." She said in a fast voice.
What the hell Elizabeth, slow down, Kurtis thought. She was acting a little strange "Elizabeth, did he see you?"
"I don't think so, come on lets go." She answered and pulled him to the right.
A while later Kurtis and Elizabeth came to a factory that closed down years ago. They head in and Kurtis felt something was wrong here. "Elizabeth, do you feel that."
"Feel what?" she asked
Before Kurtis could answer he was knocked unconscious from behind. Elizabeth then shape shift into Karel who was now laughing "Take him" he said to the mercenary who knocked him out.
Hours later
Kurtis wake up in a chair his wrists tied at the back of him. He was still trying to shack the blackness when he heard someone sighing a few inches away from him. He looked up to the direction the sound came from. He saw Elizabeth hanging from the ceiling. Her wrists were tied up to the ceiling. Her legs hanging in the air and her consciousness barley there. Kurtis could see the cuts and burses in her face, arms and legs. She had tried to fight her way out but lost.
What the hell had happen in the few minutes he was still conscious, he thought. Then it hit him in his face, Elizabeth was smiling when someone had hit him on the head back in the factory. "Shit" he said out loud making Elizabeth look up. He heard her voice.
"Kurtis, what happened back in the crowds?"
Kurtis looked back at her with confusion. "What do you mean?"
"I came to the hotel and noticed you were gone. I booked us a room and went looking for, only to find myself face to face with mercenaries." She said with heavy breaths.
"I don't understand, I found you in the crowd." Kurtis paused and it hit him again. "Shit, Karel! He fucking tricked me."
Elizabeth looked down at him with questions. "Wait, did he shape shifted into me?"
"It looks like it, yes." Kurtis answered.
The door opened up and Karel came in and seated himself on another chair that was in the room. "I have a special trick to show you."
Kurtis didn't like that sound and Elizabeth had the same thoughts. Elizabeth looked at Karel "What's the torture."
"Oh you'll see." Karel said with laugher. The room then change into a familiar place that she knew too well. Kurtis couldn't identify it, but heard her breath faster, show her freeze in recognition. What was this place, he thought.
"What?" he asked softly. It didn't take a genius to work out that she was in some kind of emotional stage.
"Don't ask," was her reply. Kurtis had no choice but to watch and wait. A figure, gasping for breath, stumbled up from a plane crash- Elizabeth herself.
"You son of a bitch." She muttered to Karel as she saw herself. In the plane crash with Lara coming out with her. It happens not too long ago but he was showing her, her past. All Kurtis could do is watch as the two came out of the crash.
"Elizabeth come on, the plane is going over the edge." Lara yelled at a younger Elizabeth. She was maybe six years younger than the one hanging on the ceiling; Kurtis thought and watched how Elizabeth walked with Lara away from the plane to find shelter. They walked onto a bridge; Lara was already on the other side, while Elizabeth was half way. The bridge was really old and Elizabeth could feel it, hearing Lara from the other side yelling "Hurry, the bridge is going to break."
Elizabeth started to run as fast as her tired and injured body could go when the ropes broke at the side they came from. Elizabeth jump but didn't catch the ledge only grabbed the bridges planks. No hanging from her doom, Lara was now lying on her stomach, reaching a hand to Elizabeth.
"Come on; climb up, I can't reach you." Lara said.
Elizabeth climbed with arms when she heard the cracking noise of the rope it was breaking. She looked down into the water stream down below.
"Stop it Karel" Elizabeth yelled as the moment came that she didn't ever wanted to see again. Kurtis could hear her voice breaking as she yelled at Karel. Karel didn't even hear her. He was enjoying the show.
"Lara, the rope." Elizabeth yelled at her and Lara looked up to see the rope was on its thinness. "Come on climb." Elizabeth continued to claim and reached for Lara's hand when the rope broke, sending her to the water below.
"Wait, why didn't you just fly up when it broke?" Kurtis asked looking at Elizabeth who only sighed.
"Let's see, I still hate my flying ability and at that time I was injured and tired, for a reason my powers didn't want to come to me when I needed it." She looked away "The training your father gave me was not enough I had to train myself after this event happened."
Kurtis hears Lara scream. "No…." and Elizabeth was now underwater. "Shit, Shit." Was all Lara could say to the water below, Lara got up and headed down to the stream.
The room went dark and all Kurtis could hear was the shaken breathing of the real Elizabeth. The scene came up again with Lara pulling a body out from the water. Elizabeth was now lying on the ground cold. Lara checked her pulse, couldn't even find on and stated giving CPR. Lara pressed her chest counting "One, Two, Three, And Four" Lara was going on and on. "Five Six, Seven. Come on Wake up." Lara begged and soon Elizabeth coughs out water and started freezing.
Elizabeth heard Lara's voice. "Thank god." Then the scene change where Elizabeth was now maybe seven years old.
Kurtis heard the real Elizabeth "No not this, No…" What happened hear that she went on like this, he thought.
Kurtis saw the young girl playing in the garden with her one friend. He was maybe two or three years older the she was. "James, where's the car." The toy car was nowhere to be found. "I thing I left it at the back." He said and stood up and walked off and disappeared around the back.
James was taking his sweat time and Elizabeth stood up and walked at the back to go find him. When she saw a man who just stabbed her friend in silenced. "No…" came out of her mouth and she run back but only the man caught her by the arm. "Let me go." She yelled. No one else was home, well just the older girl but she was always lusting to music in her ears.
The man throws her against the wall and took the knife he used to kill James, to kill her also. She got up but he grabbed her neck. "Let me go." She said
"No, I wont let the prophecy come true, you must die" He said and wanted to stab her but she kicked him in the balls but he stabbed her in the arm before he dropped her. Now bleeding, she ran when he lost his grip on her neck. She runs far away until she was in town. She lost a lot of blood and passed out.
Once more the scene change. Elizabeth was being rushed to the hospital and was still unconscious. Kurtis heard the doctors say that she lost too much blood, take her to surgery. They did that closed the wound up. The monitor then went off, showing the doctor that they were losing her. They started to give her blood transfusion and fast. They saved her life just in time.
Kurtis looked up to Elizabeth who closed her eyes and tears coming down. He could see that this was breaking her.
"Fascinating," Karel said, and appearing to truly mean it. Kurtis could see her reaction, she was angry at Karel. "She looks like a scared and broken girl." Karel said
Before he could continue, a low voice interrupted him. "Leave the country, Karel. In fact, leave the planet, because I'm going to find a way to kill you." Elizabeth's voice was breaking. Kurtis mentally cheered at this show of her usual attitude, but Karel merely smirked.
"Oh, Elizabeth, want me to show more." He said with a bigger smirk on his face
"Fuck you Karel." She was really pissed off at him. Kurtis could hear it in her voice.
"Well I'll show you more lately." Then two men came in to the room. "Take her to the track; I'll deal with Mr Trent here." He orders the two muscled men. They took Elizabeth of her hanging possession and while she straggled to get out of their hands, they dragged her out of there.
The Cambodia trip was all for nothing, well not the part where Lara found her father, but Karel took the book. They were sitting in the jeep, driving to a hotel. The sun was setting and fast. Lara could see the pink sky above her. Chris was sitting next to her and Richard was at the back seat.
"Father, what happened?" Lara asked, still in a little shock.
"Konstantin and I was busy working on the temple when He got a phone call. He heard that Karel knew of my existence." He paused and then continued. "Konstantin came up with a plan. He said that I must disappear for a while. So I did."
Lara sighed "So you left me and made me thing you where dead." Lara said with anger.
"I'm sorry, darling but it was for your protection. Not that you need it anymore. I kept track of you." He took a breath. "I heard your name come up on the news a lot; I couldn't believe my only daughter got her name famous, so fast."
"I did have Roth to thank for." Lara said.
"AH, Roth, then I have to take him out for a beer." Her father said.
"Roth isn't going to do that anymore." She mumbled.
"He's gone. I thought nothing could take him down." Richard said.
"He was protecting me, a man tried to kill us, While we where stack on an island." She said in a low and even angry voice.
"I see, well may his soul rest in peace then." Richard answered looking at Chris "I must say I wouldn't have guest that you and my daughter would be working together I more thought Kurtis would-" He was cut off by Lara.
"Kurtis is working with as father, he is at the moment off to South Africa, dealing with something." Lara said
"Oh I see"
"How did you know that my brother will be helping Lara?"
"Konstantin told me that one of the orders members had a vision. He said he saw Kurtis working with my daughter one say in helping to stop Karel and his work."
"Vasiley" Chris mumbled
"Konstantin did tell me who it was but if you know who it could be then yes."
"He never talked about me."
"He did once tell me that one of son's had been kidnapped and killed and that Kurtis is alone without his brother." Richard glanced at him "How did you survive boy?"
"Sir that's a long story I don't want to talk about."
There was silence until they got to the hotel. They walked in and check themselves in. heading for their rooms, Lara couldn't shake the feel. The fact that her father was alive made her happy but also angry. How dare he come out from who know where and help us, she thought. Lara walked into her room and closed the door. Maybe a good night's rest will help, she thought. She dressed into her pajamas that were in her carry bag. She slipped into the cavers of the bed and fell asleep.