'What a great way to spend the night!' Lara thought sarcastically. She glanced over to the modernized wall clock mounted above the doorway leading out of the hotel room.

Seven forty-three. Exactly.

Lara shrugged, and noticed that her sarcastic joke turned out to
be true. She walked into the bedroom that was included with a robe and
towels laid neatly out on the bed. She completely ignored them, but
eyed her blue sequined dress hidden within the closet.

Lara walked over to the closet and unhooked the dress from its
hanger. She walked it to the bed and admired it. A few minutes later,
she had the dress on, and she was ready to go.

The dress was a sparkling blue, with the back completely open,
until it reached about halfway down. It extended all the way to the
ground, but it did not touch it. The bottom half split towards the
thigh, and the cut continued to where the fabric ended. Lara finished
putting on her high-heeled shoes, before exiting the hotel room.

She took the elevator to the lobby of the hotel, and walked
gracefully to the barrage of doors leading outside. She got a few
stares, but now she liked it. Shoes clocking on the marble floor, Lara
headed to a stretched limousine scheduled for someone else. She pushed
aside a door, and walked out to the musty rain smelling night.

"Excuse me Miss, but this limousine is reserved for a person
other than yourself," the chauffeur directed at Lara. He still held
the limo's door open. Lara entered, ignoring the chauffeur yelling at
her.

"Miss! Do you not hear me?"

Lara threw her handbag to the other side of the car, and shut
the door in the man's face.

"To The Karniverous Kairo Klub, please," Lara ordered the
driver. He craned his head to the side to glance a look at his
customer.

"Yes, Miss," he answered, in an American accent.

"Not from around here, I see," Lara commented.

"No. I'm here on business. Not everyday you get a chance like
this, so I took advantage of it when I could."

Lara nodded, but didn't respond. The driver pulled away from the
hotel. He directed the car into traffic. Rain pounded down on the
windshield.

"Will you excuse me for a moment Miss?" the limo driver said,
reaching into his suit. He pulled out his cell-phone, which was
ringing.

"Hello?" he asked into the phone.

Lara couldn't hear the complete conversation, but she could just
make out the voice of a woman at the other end. She talked about
'getting' someone.

"Yes, I have her," the driver said. He hung up, and put his
phone back into his suit pocket. "Sorry about that," he told Lara.

"It's not a problem," Lara said, now looking through her purse.
It wasn't unusual to get Lady Croft skeptical. She pushed aside many
papers, until she reached the bottom. There hidden where you would
least expect it, sat a Desert Eagle pistol-complete with ammunition.

Lara took the pistol out, and hid it underneath her purse. She
just didn't feel comfortable now that she overheard the limo driver's
conversation.

The driver made a sharp left onto a road filled with clubs and
lounges. Huge neon lights reflected off of the large puddles on the
ground. People were running for shelter. Nobody was prepared for
weather like this. It struck without warning.

The streets were packed. People packed into the wide sidewalks.
The mass of humans was so dense, it looked like a solid block. The
streets were so packed that the limo moved at the speed of a snail.

Every now and then, the driver would let out a curse, and beep
at the car in front of them.

"C'mon! Move it!" he said. He laughed in disbelief.

"I'm in no hurry," Lara butted in. "It's just that I have to get
out now." She tugged on the door handle, and the musty smell of rain
overcame her. She stepped out.

The driver turned around from his own 'adventures'.

"Have a nice night!" he called from his seat.

"You too."

Lara shut the door, and walked into the crowd of people. She
tightly grasped her purse in her right hand. She quickly hid the
pistol in her garner, and walked ahead to the Kairo Klub.

Her high heels clocked dully in the puddles. Lara pushed aside a
few talking couples, and entered.

The doors were wide open, and seemed to invite the cool draft
inside. Lara moved over to the right, where a woman standing at a
podium was handing out tickets.

"Hi, and welcome to the Kairo Klub!" the woman exclaimed,
sounding very much like a pre-recorded CD.

Lara was too busy looking at the handsome bassist playing in the
club to notice the woman.

"Excuse me! Hello?" The woman behind the podium yelled rudely.

Lara spun around, and greeted the woman.

"Sign here." The woman demanded. She held out a pen, and
gestured to a pad of paper, already filled with multiple names. Lara
grabbed the pen, and signed quickly. She left the podium in such a
hurry, she didn't notice that her pistol had slipped out from under
her dress.

A crowd of people gathering at the entrance gasped, and jumped
back, acting as if the pistol was a dead rat, or something similar.
The club, filled with partying people, heard the gasps, and stood
silent. Lara finally noticed what had happened, and stood still
herself. She breathed in deeply, and turned around. She marched after
the weapon, and picked it up off of the ground; people still staring.

Lara put the gun back into her garner, and tried to walk back
into the club without a big commotion. But tonight was unusual, and
Lara knew it.

"Hold it woman!"

More gasps arose from the crowd.

"Drop the weapon, and nobody gets hurt!" Two police officers
drew their own weapons at the clubs entranceway. Lara froze. What was
she going to do?

The police officers approached cautiously, knowing very well
that they had a dangerous person on their tails. They approached
closer, and closer, until Lara could feel their cold breath running
down her back.

Gathering all of her strength, Lara turned around, and looked
the officers right in the eye.

Their eyes were glowing bright green.

The police officers surprisingly dropped their firearms to the
ground. The crowd still stood silent. Then, the officers reached
behind them, and pulled out a sharp, strangely cut dagger. They both
reached their knives to Lara in a synchronized manner. Lara now gave
up, and put her hands in the air reluctantly. She stared down at the
blades aimed uncomfortably close to her stomach. They had strange
writings engraved all over the sides, and they wrapped around to the
tip of the blade. Lara was able to read Hieroglyphics. She translated
the engravings aloud, with the entire crowd still in awe.

"Forever sealed in hell, I am a servant. Slave of Osiris." Lara
read, the officers still pointing the knives. Suddenly, the tilted
their heads slightly to the side, and locked their focus on Lara's
hair. They seemed to focus on the strands of hair hanging in front of
her face. Their eyes started to twitch rapidly. The green glow was
changing to red. Lara stared back, and they stood exchanging looks
until a large bulge started to stick out of one of the officer's
forehead. It disappeared quickly. Lara gulped. The bulge came back,
now even bigger, and now, it stayed in its place.

The crowd screamed, and ran to the door, leaving Lara and her
opponents alone. The officers did not move, and sometimes Lara thought
that they even noticed what was happening to them. More bulges popped
up around their faces, and they got unbelievably large in size. A
purple fluid was sloshing around inside the bulges. It was at that
moment that the officers decided to charge. Lara moved out of the way
just in time, and the knives the officers had in their hands swiped
into the air. Lara made a frantic dash into the club, and tossed music
stands, and folding chairs behind her so that her pursuers would have
a hard time reaching her. Time seemed to freeze, and the chairs, and
couches became a consistent multi-colored blur.
Lara could almost sense the officers scrambling after her. In a
frenzy, she ran up to the small stage, where the jazz instruments
still laid from that night's performances. The officers made a path
through the chairs, and kept a steady distance behind their target.

Lara was out of breath, but she couldn't stop. She ran suddenly
behind a cello, just a flying knife cut the strings in half. The cello
made a horrible sounding strum. The officers still stayed on task.
They sprinted almost equally as fast as a fish darting from a child's
hand on its tank's glass walls. Their hands moved faster than their
legs, as the inched in on Lara.

Lara noticed the knife still stuck inside of the cello, and ran
around in a circle like pattern to retrieve it. Running a top speed,
Lara took the knife from the cello, and took aim at the officer
disoriented by her sudden movements. As he pivoted around looking for
his prey, Lara moved behind a huge column located to the right of the
club. She peered out the side, carefully eyed the officer, and..

Hit the officer right in between the eyes. But to Lara's
surprise, he didn't do what he was expected to do. He just stood
there, and looked at his partner. He didn't say a word when he gripped
the handle of the dagger protruding out of his forehead, and pulled
forcefully outwards in a painful notion. The dagger made an
earsplitting cutting noise, and made Lara wince in disgust.

She watched him throw the dagger to the ground. He turned to
Lara, and their eyes met. For a few seconds, Lara felt a pure
adrenaline rush.

The officer's eyes gave off sudden flash of green light, greater
than the glow it was giving off before. It blinded Lara. The officer
filled with rage, and charged to Lara. He got closer, and closer.

Until a shot rang out in the air, and the police officer
stumbled backwards. Blood spilled out in a stream from his forehead.

A dark shadow started to enter the club. Its facial features
were still anonymous, as the shadow reached into its inside pocket,
and took out a small cylinder. He twisted it onto the barrel of his
pistol. The shadow's shiny, polished shoes stepped twice into the
club.

Lara looked, fascinated, but still very aware what could happen
if her attention strayed. A man dressed in a dark suit, the one who
just entered the club, shot the second officer in the heart, killing
him instantly. His body spun around twice, and hit the ground hard.
The dark shadow stepped out from the shadows. Lara gasped. To her
surprise it was the American limo driver.

" How did you-," Lara started. The limo driver interrupted her.

" Got yourself in a bit of trouble," he said, raising an eyebrow
beneath his sunglasses.

"Take off the glasses," Lara ordered. The driver gripped the end
of his glasses' frame, and yanked them off. Underneath were the most
beautiful, deep green eyes Lara had ever seen. Both stood staring at
each other, until a small groan broke out. The officer that got
stabbed in the head started to gain strength, and stood up. He was now
more powerful than ever.

Letting out an ear piercing scream, the remaining officer shed
his skin. His body was not of a police officer, but it looked like the
Anubis statues that Lara had dueled with earlier that day. The eyes
were not green now, but a strong, steady red. The limo driver shot his
pistol several times. The silencer attached to his gun made a pellet-
like sound, adding to the suspense of the situation. The officer's
purple bumps were completely gone now.

Lara took out her own pistol, and shot away at the officer as
well. The officer's bruised, and bloodied body was shot at endlessly.
Lara only ceased to stop when she saw herself that he was gone. The
limo driver walked up to Lara, and greeted her.

"The name's Gary. Gary Carmichael. I never caught your name." He
said to Lara.

Lara returned the favor.

"Lara Croft." Gary held out his hand, hoping for the woman's
delicately gloved hand to reach out for his. Lara refused to do so.

Gary shook off the act, and snapped back into reality. He walked
up to the dying officer, and raised his pistol.

"Galiemtut mohanukuthed. Galiemtut mohanukuthed!" the officer
pleaded. Gary showed no mercy. The officer raised himself up from the
ground with his two weak arms, but fell back down again. Gary raised
his .22 and shot constantly four times. The officer retreated, and
screamed. He fell back to the ground.

"Nice shot." Lara commented, hands on her hips. Gary turned
around.

"Thanks. But it was in a close range," Gary returned. Lara
nodded. She walked up to Gary, and those unbelievably green eyes.

"Yes. But what about that phone call you made? What did you mean
by 'I got her'?" Lara asked. Gary looked guilty. He hesitated before
talking.

"Well," he started, starting to walk in little circles he made
up himself. "I work for someone named Jacqueline Natla. She hired me
to kill you. That's why that chauffeur made a big show. He knew that
you would get inside for sure, but he wanted you to suspect that he
didn't. But the phone call wasn't planned. She really did want me to
kill you."

"I see," Lara recalled, remembering all of the events as Gary
told them. "Why don't we discuss this over a drink?"

Sirens blared, as Lara and Gary disappeared out of the club
doors.

***

"Yea, and I believed it too. It's really quite sad." Lara told
Gary. She picked up her wine, and took a small sip. She put the
velvety red liquid down. She swallowed.

Gary, who sat across from Lara, understood.

"So this.Mohammed man stole your Scarab?" Gary exclaimed, using
hand gestures to prove his point.

"Yes, that's correct."

"And you want it back?"

"Precisely."

Gary let out a stream of air. He sat back into his chair. He
extended his arms out across the armrests.
Lara fidgeted as well. They sat silent for a while, and let the
soft mutter of others in the café overcome them.

Lara looked over at Gary again. He wasn't looking back at her.

'I can stare all I want.' Lara thought to herself. She directed
her eyes to Gary's. For some unforeseen reason, she just couldn't help
but look into that young man's eyes.

Gary looked up, and forced Lara to break her blistering gaze.

"Uhh, so.." He stammered suddenly.

Lara understood that the young man was trying to make a
conversation, and she was being rude by not joining in.

"So, this Natla woman, who I've dealt with before, is trying to
kill me?"

"Yea, that's it. She thinks you have the Scarab, but from your
claims, Mohammed has it."

"She's chasing the wrong person!"

To Be Continued...