--Previously--
A room lit by no more than a dying fire, contained two men as they spoke.
"So she has the other Amulet?"
The dark shadow that sat in a high-backed chair nodded his head.
"And we have to get it, don't we?"
Another nod.
"Sir, with all do respect, this will not come easy. You know as well as every other criminal out there that Lara Croft is not one to steal from or mess with."
Silence. The man that stood breathed heavily as he shifted his weight.
"You are nervous, Vladimir." The deep-throated voice said as he sipped a glass of wine. The man known as Vladimir stumbled in his thoughts.
"I can assure you sir, that the majority of our crew is ten times more nervous than I am." He shifted his weight again.
Who the hell
would want to steal from Lara Croft?
The sitting figure's raspy voice was heard again. I suggest that you get
ready to invade in the morning." Vladimir raised his head and squinted his
eyes in question at his boss.
"The... the morning, sir? Isn't that..."
"Silence. I do not want any questions. If all goes to plan, it will be
better than attacking at night. Now go. I want the men ready, all of them! Now
go!"
Vladimir scurried as fast as he could out of the darkened room. Thank god he was
out; he thought his boss was going to kill him for sure this time. It wasn't
that Vlad had done anything wrong, his boss was just... the devil. Vladimir made
his way through a series of hallways until he reached the training room. Flinging open the doors, he saw all of the crew that was to steal the Amulet
from Lara Croft.
"Gentlemen!" He watched as all of the burly men faced
him in attention. "You must all be ready to attack the Croft Manor by
morning! We will leave here at precisely five o'clock. Any man that stays behind
will be shot."
Vlad watched the impact of his words hit the muscular men as their eye contact
broke for the smallest amount of time.
"We will be searching for the Amulet
of Ilse. After killing Croft, you will search her entire house. The one place
that you should be sure to look is the room that is surrounded by glass walls.
If you follow the plan correctly, the explosion will knock out the first
barrier- the bulletproof glass. Another barrier will fall, however. This will be
made out of solid steel. You know what to do there. When you have penetrated the
defenses, it is your mission to capture the Amulet with no questions asked.
After retrieving the Amulet, you will put it in the safe-box. Is that
understood?"
"Yes sir!" Was the reply. Satisfied, and without another word,
Vladimir turned on his heel and walked out of the door.
A small man ran as fast as he could down a winding staircase towards the
basement. It was almost five o'clock, and the crew would be leaving soon. If he
wasn't down there in ten minutes, they would find him and kill him. This small
man's name was Peter. Peter had the most important job of all, or, so he was
told. Commander Vladimir didn't tell him what they had in store; all he said was
that with Peter's help, they would surely kill Lara Croft. That was enough for
Peter. All he wanted was to get paid so he could provide for his family.
Peter Margin might not be the bravest man in the world, or the smartest, but he
had dedication. He was dedicated so much to this cause, that he never asked any
questions. And he thought that the commander, maybe even the head boss, was very
impressed with him. Sadly, they didn't even acknowledge that he existed, but he
didn't need to know that. Quickening his pace, Peter jumped down the steps two
at a time.
Only six more minutes, Peter! He had been on the tenth floor when
he found out what time it was. He wished that someone would have told him, but
he didn't have any friends that worked with him. In fact, no one liked him and
he really didn't know why.
Peter was nice enough. Or, at least he thought so. He was small in build and not
very tall, but he wasn't a mean person. He was raised to be a gentleman, and
that's what he was. Peter eased the heavy flow of thoughts that raced in his
mind as he reached the basement floor. He was out of breath, and he had an awful
stitch in his side. With all his force, he pushed open the huge iron door and
made his way toward the truck that he had been assigned to.
Yes. Today was the
day when he would finally get some money for his family. He wouldn't have to go
on these dangerous missions anymore. He would quit, and that would be that.
No
more risking his life!
Margin reached the truck and almost hurled. He was feeling very sick after all
that bouncing on the stairs. He had been jolted quite a bit, and his stomach
simply did not agree.
"Oi! Shrimp, get ova here!" Peter jumped up quickly and felt his stomach reel again.
"Yes sir?" He squeaked, still breathing hard. He watched as the other man looked down on him in disgust.
"You need to put this suit on. Aren't you the one that Commander Vladimir assigned?" Peter nodded his head wildly as the man threw the suit at him. It smacked him in the forehead.
"Don't touch anything on it. Just put it
on, and shut up." Again, Peter nodded. He never thought himself to be a
very passive person, but he was. For not being a very smart person, he thought
an awful lot.
A sharp whistle blew and everyone loaded up into the trucks. Every crewmember
had been assigned a special number, and if they were to get in the wrong van,
the penalty was death. These people didn't mess around, Peter had noticed.
Quickly, Peter scrambled to his assigned van- number 16. He had to look at his
hand to make sure. He wasn't quite good at remembering things. When he got
there, he discovered that the other people that occupied the van left no room
for him.
"Um, excuse me?" Peter squeaked. No one turned his way. Peter tried to raise his voice a little. "Pardon me?"
Everyone looked at him with a cold glance. "What do you want, you little maggot?" One of the men spat at Peter.
"I... I was assigned to this van..." A sharp blow
to Margin's head sent him flying back, and he heard the laughter of everyone in
the vehicle.
Then the Commander entered the basement. "Why are you on the floor,
soldier?" Peter looked up shakily and tried to stand back up.
"I was just trying to get into my assigned van, sir." He watched Vladimir glare at the occupied vehicle.
All of the men had stopped laughing some time ago out of
fear. They knew whom they could mess with, and who would just blow their damn
head off. With one short movement of his hand, Vladimir ordered the men to make
room. He then roughly shoved the bleeding Peter towards the doors and walked
away. Peter lifted himself into the back of the van and huddled himself into a
corner. That was all the room they gave him.
Right at five, all of the vans started up, and off they went to the Croft Manor.
Peter was feeling very uncomfortable in his tight space, but of course he
wouldn't say anything. Why would he? All of these men were extremely big, and
they needed the room. Peter didn't.
Peter looked out of the window opposite him and watched as the scenery flew by before his eyes. Soon, he would find out exactly what he was meant for in this mission. He hoped that it would really help them achieve their goal! Peter's thoughts fluttered away as the rest of the men in the back of the van spread their legs more, leaving the smaller man with barely any room at all.
Well, they need it more, not me. And besides, it's only a little drive away. I won't have to sit here that long.
So the assassins were off to invade Lara's mansion. And Peter would finally find out what he was 'meant' for.