Author Disclaimer: What? You expected things to have changed since the last
chapter?! Nope, sorry to disappoint you, but Kurtis Trent still isn't mine.
Dammit. Neither is Lara Croft or Marten Gundersen for that matter. But I
DO own Hulot, the shipyard's dozy watchman. ^_~ I feel privileged. Lol.
Well. I've FINALLY decided to update this, I hope you'll enjoy it. :)
Louvre time!
Chapter 4- A discovery at the Louvre.
Sun streamed in through the dusty glass of the metro car, heating the air inside, rather like a greenhouse. Kurtis awoke, stiff and aching all over from his night on the train seat. He opened his eyes and looked up. The sun was blinding, forcing him to turn away, eyes squeezed shut again. Pushing himself into a sitting position, Kurtis began looking around the area in which he had just spent the night, one hand raised, shielding his eyes from the sun's glare. Broken glass, needles and wrappers littered the floor, and wads of chewing gum were stuck to the windows, clearly holding them in their frames. Kurtis slowly got to his feet, wincing as his sore muscles began to work, and started to walk towards the exit, crushing the occasional glass bottle or cola can underneath his heavy boots. Once outside, Kurtis noticed that most of the Hobos he had seen last night had dispatched elsewhere, with one or two remaining behind to defend their pitch. Locating the door he had used to enter last night, Kurtis made his way back towards Le Serpent Rouge.
"Hey!" A male voice hailed him as he passed. Rolling his eyes, Kurtis stopped and turned around to see who had just shouted. A shady looking Frenchman stood alone, smoking a cigarette. Pale-faced and skinny, Kurtis couldn't help but be reminded of Pierre.
"What?" He asked, rather snappily.
"Looking for anything special, sir?" The man asked, folding his arms across his chest. "Because I might be able to help you there." Kurtis eyed the baseball cap, T-shirt and the sleeveless jacket, and came to the conclusion that this man was definately not to be trusted.
"Well I'm not. Thanks for the offer anyway." He turned to go.
"You sure? I might have something which will tickle your fancy, so to speak." The man pressed on.
"No really. I'm fine."
"How about..."
"No thanks." Kurtis said, glaring icily at the man. "I'm fine." He repeated, as he started to move again.
"Hey, you be careful out there." The man called out to him as Kurtis slipped off.
"Don't worry....I will." He muttered darkly to himself. Back out on the street near the club, once again, Janice was no where to be seen. "Too early for clients presumably." Kurtis thought. His stomach growled loudly, as it had been nearly twenty-four hours since he'd last eaten, and that being at Pierre's cafe. With satisfying his hunger firmly on his mind, Kurtis pushed the visit to the Louvre down to second on his 'to do' list. He headed off down towards the Pawn Shop, in search of another diner- Kurtis was determined to stay well away from Cafe Metro and the area surrounding it incase he should run into anyone with authority. On passing Renne's Pawn Shop, he noticed something a little....different about it. The doorframe was blackened and charred, and the corridor inside was reduced to rubble. Kurtis frowned. "What the hell happened here?" He mused, as he drew closer to what was left of the Pawn Shop. Kurtis stepped inside and began to take a look around, but hastily returned ouside when clouds of dust fell from the ceiling, parts of it crumbling before his very eyes. Deciding that he had spent enough time snooping around places where he shouldn't be, Kurtis hopped over the barrier barring the way to the main street. A loud crashing sound told him that the ceiling in the Pawn Shop had finally given way.
Around fifteen minutes later, Kurtis had found himself a cafe and was sat at a table, a steaming cup of coffee and a croissant in front of him, an English newpaper in one hand.
'MONSTRUM KILLER CLAIMS NEW VICTIM' The newspaper headline screamed in big, bold letters. 'Margot Carvier, 62, is the lastest person to have fallen victim to the Monstrum's brutal killing methods......'
"So that's the Carvier woman who worked at the Louvre..." Kurtis muttered to himself, deep in thought. "In charge of some Archeological Dig....Hmmm....Maybe she'll have something on the Obscura paintings stored away in her office..." He folded the paper in half and threw it gently back onto the table, grabbing the coffee cup and taking a swig of the thick, black liquid. He could feel the caffine working into his bloodstream, giving him a sudden burst of energy. Kurtis downed the rest of the coffee, threw a few Euros onto the table and left the cafe, the croissant lying half finished on the plate.
Kurtis decided to take his time to get to the Louvre. It wasn't such a good idea to storm in there and start rooting through Carvier's office when all the workers were present. He didn't want to draw any more unneccessary attention to himself, and he certainly didn't want to spend the night in a jail cell. So until dark arrived, Kurtis took to wandering the streets of Paris, browsing the shop windows, watching the endless news reports on the Monstrum killing flashing up on the TV screens as he passed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
By about four thirty, the sky was turning a deep blue and the temperature dropped to below ten degrees celcius as the sun began to disappear once more. Kurtis shivered, his breath rising up in clouds in front of him. "Time to get to the Louvre." He thought. "At least it'll be warm in there." He used the same dusty path he took to get to the shipyard, keeping to the shadows to remain unnoticed. There was a bridge which crossed to the other side of the river near there- He would use it to go the same way Ms. Croft had the day before. It was more discreet than using the front entrance, which would be guarded by sentries and swarming with tourists leaving the museum- Kurtis wasn't about to risk his freedom for an easy entrance.
As he passed the wrought iron gates to the shipyard, he saw the watchman from the night before on the prowl, looking for any unwanted persons on the premises. He quickened to a jog and trotted off around the corner, hoping he hadn't been spotted. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The watchman stalked up and down the yard, absent-mindedly swinging his keys, thinking. He paused and listened for a few moments. Nothing. Shrugging, Hulot went back to prowling the dock, keys clinking together each time he raised his right leg. He had had the most bizarre dream, but he couldn't quite remember what it was. Frowning a little, Hulot returned to his chair and sat puzzling over it. He was at work, in his chair, he could recall that much. He closed his eyes tightly and tried as hard as he could to recollect the dream. There was a man sneaking around the yard. A tall man, with dark hair, a gun at his side. It was all coming back to Hulot now. He remembered shouting something at the man, and him coming over, but after that, nothing. Hulot opened his eyes. The light was rapidly fading, and all the street lights were beginning to glow a dull red. He stretched and ran his fingers through his hair. Hulot winced as his fingers met a bruise which had appeared on the back of his head. "Funny...." He thought. "I wonder how I got that...." Furrowing his brow once more, Hulot shuffled in his seat, trying to get comfortable. He closed his eyes and settled down for a sleep. A few moments later, however, the sound of feet retreating at great speed aroused him from his slumber. Hulot sat bolt upright and whipped out his torch. He scanned the yard, but saw nothing. He got to his feet and crept around the yard, looking for the source of the noise. He reached the mooring site and used his torch to peer into the gloom on the other side of the yard. Drawing an arc with it, he just managed to catch a booted foot disappearing around the corner on the opposite side of the dock. Hulot stopped. That boot looked oddly familiar. It was like one of the boots the man in his dream was wearing. He shook his head. He was getting tired, so he was imagining things. Wearily, Hulot returned to his seat, sat down and closed his eyes. Within minutes, he was softly snoring. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kurtis found himself at the entrance to the Louvre storm drains, the stench of sewage reached his nose. Eyeing the "matter" which floated on the surface of the repulsive green coloured water with some caution, Kurtis lowered himself into the sewage, and waded towards the rotting wooden beam at the other side of the pool with extreme caution. Once again, rats squeaked and scuttled in the darkness, rather like they did at Bouchard's underground hideout. Once out of the pool, Kurtis made his way towards the great open area at the end of the tunnel. Pulling the rather tired looking map of the Storm Drains from his back pocket, Kurtis consulted it, looking up and down the cavernous area, trying to find the most suitable way into the Louvre. After spending five minutes studying the map, Kurtis came to the conclusion that the only way to get to the Louvre was, unfortunantly, to go the wet way. Stepping up to the edge of the deep abyss, he jumped, and executed a perfect dive, right into the heart of the black pool.
After dragging himself through the murky depths, Kurtis surfaced in a smallish room, filled with scrap metal. Shivering somewhat, Kurtis gazed around the room, trying to find a way onto the steel platform above the water. A beaten-looking yellow mesh climbed crookedly upwards and joined with the platform. Kurtis pulled himself towards it, grabbed the mesh with both hands and heaved himself onto it, and began to climb, his feet slipping occasionally as the soles of his boots made contact with the metal. Once at the top, he set about finding the boiler room, and with the help of a few explosives, he could blast his way into the lower areas of the Louvre.
He leapt into the round entrance at the end of the platform, and crawled underneath the gap in the bars blocking anything from progressing any further down the tunnel. As he neared the entrance to the boiler room, he paused, sniffing the air. The strong, acrid smell of burning oil reached his nose. Cautiously, Kurtis edged towards the slope leading to the boiler room, took one last look back at the way he had just come before placing a foot onto the slope and sliding, snowboard style, to the bottom. From his new lofty position above the boiler room, he could make out the distinctive flickering of the flames on the water's surface. "I'd better be careful. Ms. Croft has obviously already blown the boiler room wall to Kingdom come, and I don't wish to get fried whilst attempting to get inside." Checking that there were no flames below his route to the boiler room floor, he began to climb down the beaten old ladder to the metal floor underneath. Once on the walkway, Kurtis carefully made his way towards the gigantic hole in the wall, hopping over the odd flames rising from the water below. Somewhat pleased with his progress, Kurtis stepped over the pile of rubble and onto the shiny, cold floor of the lower areas of the Louvre. He was in. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Well....It's clean..." Kurtis thought as he made his way up the marble staircase. "A little too clean....." It was as silent as the grave inside except for the sound of boots on marble, and the humming of something electrical. He would need to be careful of security cameras and any Museum guards who may be lurking around, but, as Lara had already used this route, he was hoping that she had managed to clear out most of the guards for him. Slipping past the angry red glare of a camera at the top of the first set of stairs, Kurtis made his way up the second, passing the bullet ridden bodies of two guards who had obviously annoyed Miss Croft with their presence. "Must remember to thank her next time we meet." Kurtis said to himself in what sounded like a mixture of sarcasm and sincerity. Rounding the corner, Kurtis found himself facing some double doors which probably led to one of the museum's many galleries. A funny green coloured gas was seeping through the gaps underneath and inbetween the two doors. Kurtis frowned. "Gas?" He asked the silence around him. "But how....?" Deciding that now wasn't the time to hang around waiting for the answer to his question, Kurtis took a last breath of clean air before pushing the double doors open and sprinting through the gallery which clearly used to have security beams running around it until the gas arrived, deactivating them. He took several more turns through different galleries, passing the bodies of suited soldiers whom only Lara could have disposed of and museum guards who had choaked to death on the gas.
Upon reaching a corridor which wasn't filled with toxic green gas, Kurtis paused, regaining his breath, filling his lungs with oxygen. He glanced at the staircase ahead of him. "And the office should be up there somewhere." Willing his tired limbs to work, Kurtis dashed up the staircase, only to find himself faced with another door with the same green gas trapped behind it. Using the same precedure as before, he flung the door open and examined each of the rooms on the right hand side in turn, trying to find Madame Carvier's office. He eventually found it, after exploring many research rooms, now equipped with a respirator he had found in one of the offices. Pushing the door open, he made his way towards her desk and began sorting through the many papers which littered it's surface, only to find nothing of interest. Undeterred, he checked the computer next, opening file after file, trying to catch a glimpse of something which may have reference to Eckhardt and the Obscura paintings. Fortunantly, he didn't have to search hard. With one click of the mouse, a whole page filled with Obscura details appeared on the screen before him.
"The blood sign or Sanglyph....." Kurtis read, his eyes flickering across the blue screen. "Brother Obscura's engravings.....Pieter van Eckhardt.....Could he be a relation of this present day Eckhardt? Or....." Kurtis straightened up and turned towards the door. "Or could it somehow be the same Eckhardt........?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the respirator was beginning to run low and the gas had not yet reached this particular area of the Louvre yet, Kurtis pulled it off and threw it to the floor. He turned the corner and found himself looking at the back of Ms. Croft. Smirking a little, he drew his Chirugai which immediately sprang to life at his touch. It rose out of his hand and tore towards Lara at great speed. She turned, the Chirugai missing her by inches, to find noone there. Confused, she remained where she was, which created the perfect opportunity for Kurtis to launch his ambush. Creeping out from his hiding place, gun drawn, he walked towards Lara, who was now aware that someone else was present. Just as she began to turn around, Kurtis pressed the barrel of the gun to her head, stopping her in her tracks. Slowly, Kurtis went about disarming her, grabbing each gun and throwing them to the floor. Lara finally broke free of his clutches, and they both stood, eye to eye, Lara's fists clenched, Kurtis's Boran X trained on her forehead. He leant closer into her, staring right into her eyes and remained like this for some time. Smiling rather nastily, Kurtis drew back and reclaimed the Chirugai from the wall behind Lara's head. Nodding at her, Kurtis turned and sprinted towards the opposite end of the room, just as the heavy figure of Marten Gundersen and one of his armoured soldiers prepared to enter the room from a parallel door. Shaking herself awake, Lara took off after Kurtis. The armoured soldier took aim and fired dozens of bullets at her retreating figure.
"After her!" The burly Czech snarled as he and the soldier began to follow Lara, and, unknowingly, Kurtis, Gundersen's heavy footfalls resounding through the corridors.
Eh. I hope you liked. I was trying really hard to get everything as accurate as possible, i.e. The route through the Louvre, but I found that it wasn't that simple, so I had to improvise a little. Heh. R&R please. ^_~
Chapter 4- A discovery at the Louvre.
Sun streamed in through the dusty glass of the metro car, heating the air inside, rather like a greenhouse. Kurtis awoke, stiff and aching all over from his night on the train seat. He opened his eyes and looked up. The sun was blinding, forcing him to turn away, eyes squeezed shut again. Pushing himself into a sitting position, Kurtis began looking around the area in which he had just spent the night, one hand raised, shielding his eyes from the sun's glare. Broken glass, needles and wrappers littered the floor, and wads of chewing gum were stuck to the windows, clearly holding them in their frames. Kurtis slowly got to his feet, wincing as his sore muscles began to work, and started to walk towards the exit, crushing the occasional glass bottle or cola can underneath his heavy boots. Once outside, Kurtis noticed that most of the Hobos he had seen last night had dispatched elsewhere, with one or two remaining behind to defend their pitch. Locating the door he had used to enter last night, Kurtis made his way back towards Le Serpent Rouge.
"Hey!" A male voice hailed him as he passed. Rolling his eyes, Kurtis stopped and turned around to see who had just shouted. A shady looking Frenchman stood alone, smoking a cigarette. Pale-faced and skinny, Kurtis couldn't help but be reminded of Pierre.
"What?" He asked, rather snappily.
"Looking for anything special, sir?" The man asked, folding his arms across his chest. "Because I might be able to help you there." Kurtis eyed the baseball cap, T-shirt and the sleeveless jacket, and came to the conclusion that this man was definately not to be trusted.
"Well I'm not. Thanks for the offer anyway." He turned to go.
"You sure? I might have something which will tickle your fancy, so to speak." The man pressed on.
"No really. I'm fine."
"How about..."
"No thanks." Kurtis said, glaring icily at the man. "I'm fine." He repeated, as he started to move again.
"Hey, you be careful out there." The man called out to him as Kurtis slipped off.
"Don't worry....I will." He muttered darkly to himself. Back out on the street near the club, once again, Janice was no where to be seen. "Too early for clients presumably." Kurtis thought. His stomach growled loudly, as it had been nearly twenty-four hours since he'd last eaten, and that being at Pierre's cafe. With satisfying his hunger firmly on his mind, Kurtis pushed the visit to the Louvre down to second on his 'to do' list. He headed off down towards the Pawn Shop, in search of another diner- Kurtis was determined to stay well away from Cafe Metro and the area surrounding it incase he should run into anyone with authority. On passing Renne's Pawn Shop, he noticed something a little....different about it. The doorframe was blackened and charred, and the corridor inside was reduced to rubble. Kurtis frowned. "What the hell happened here?" He mused, as he drew closer to what was left of the Pawn Shop. Kurtis stepped inside and began to take a look around, but hastily returned ouside when clouds of dust fell from the ceiling, parts of it crumbling before his very eyes. Deciding that he had spent enough time snooping around places where he shouldn't be, Kurtis hopped over the barrier barring the way to the main street. A loud crashing sound told him that the ceiling in the Pawn Shop had finally given way.
Around fifteen minutes later, Kurtis had found himself a cafe and was sat at a table, a steaming cup of coffee and a croissant in front of him, an English newpaper in one hand.
'MONSTRUM KILLER CLAIMS NEW VICTIM' The newspaper headline screamed in big, bold letters. 'Margot Carvier, 62, is the lastest person to have fallen victim to the Monstrum's brutal killing methods......'
"So that's the Carvier woman who worked at the Louvre..." Kurtis muttered to himself, deep in thought. "In charge of some Archeological Dig....Hmmm....Maybe she'll have something on the Obscura paintings stored away in her office..." He folded the paper in half and threw it gently back onto the table, grabbing the coffee cup and taking a swig of the thick, black liquid. He could feel the caffine working into his bloodstream, giving him a sudden burst of energy. Kurtis downed the rest of the coffee, threw a few Euros onto the table and left the cafe, the croissant lying half finished on the plate.
Kurtis decided to take his time to get to the Louvre. It wasn't such a good idea to storm in there and start rooting through Carvier's office when all the workers were present. He didn't want to draw any more unneccessary attention to himself, and he certainly didn't want to spend the night in a jail cell. So until dark arrived, Kurtis took to wandering the streets of Paris, browsing the shop windows, watching the endless news reports on the Monstrum killing flashing up on the TV screens as he passed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
By about four thirty, the sky was turning a deep blue and the temperature dropped to below ten degrees celcius as the sun began to disappear once more. Kurtis shivered, his breath rising up in clouds in front of him. "Time to get to the Louvre." He thought. "At least it'll be warm in there." He used the same dusty path he took to get to the shipyard, keeping to the shadows to remain unnoticed. There was a bridge which crossed to the other side of the river near there- He would use it to go the same way Ms. Croft had the day before. It was more discreet than using the front entrance, which would be guarded by sentries and swarming with tourists leaving the museum- Kurtis wasn't about to risk his freedom for an easy entrance.
As he passed the wrought iron gates to the shipyard, he saw the watchman from the night before on the prowl, looking for any unwanted persons on the premises. He quickened to a jog and trotted off around the corner, hoping he hadn't been spotted. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The watchman stalked up and down the yard, absent-mindedly swinging his keys, thinking. He paused and listened for a few moments. Nothing. Shrugging, Hulot went back to prowling the dock, keys clinking together each time he raised his right leg. He had had the most bizarre dream, but he couldn't quite remember what it was. Frowning a little, Hulot returned to his chair and sat puzzling over it. He was at work, in his chair, he could recall that much. He closed his eyes tightly and tried as hard as he could to recollect the dream. There was a man sneaking around the yard. A tall man, with dark hair, a gun at his side. It was all coming back to Hulot now. He remembered shouting something at the man, and him coming over, but after that, nothing. Hulot opened his eyes. The light was rapidly fading, and all the street lights were beginning to glow a dull red. He stretched and ran his fingers through his hair. Hulot winced as his fingers met a bruise which had appeared on the back of his head. "Funny...." He thought. "I wonder how I got that...." Furrowing his brow once more, Hulot shuffled in his seat, trying to get comfortable. He closed his eyes and settled down for a sleep. A few moments later, however, the sound of feet retreating at great speed aroused him from his slumber. Hulot sat bolt upright and whipped out his torch. He scanned the yard, but saw nothing. He got to his feet and crept around the yard, looking for the source of the noise. He reached the mooring site and used his torch to peer into the gloom on the other side of the yard. Drawing an arc with it, he just managed to catch a booted foot disappearing around the corner on the opposite side of the dock. Hulot stopped. That boot looked oddly familiar. It was like one of the boots the man in his dream was wearing. He shook his head. He was getting tired, so he was imagining things. Wearily, Hulot returned to his seat, sat down and closed his eyes. Within minutes, he was softly snoring. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kurtis found himself at the entrance to the Louvre storm drains, the stench of sewage reached his nose. Eyeing the "matter" which floated on the surface of the repulsive green coloured water with some caution, Kurtis lowered himself into the sewage, and waded towards the rotting wooden beam at the other side of the pool with extreme caution. Once again, rats squeaked and scuttled in the darkness, rather like they did at Bouchard's underground hideout. Once out of the pool, Kurtis made his way towards the great open area at the end of the tunnel. Pulling the rather tired looking map of the Storm Drains from his back pocket, Kurtis consulted it, looking up and down the cavernous area, trying to find the most suitable way into the Louvre. After spending five minutes studying the map, Kurtis came to the conclusion that the only way to get to the Louvre was, unfortunantly, to go the wet way. Stepping up to the edge of the deep abyss, he jumped, and executed a perfect dive, right into the heart of the black pool.
After dragging himself through the murky depths, Kurtis surfaced in a smallish room, filled with scrap metal. Shivering somewhat, Kurtis gazed around the room, trying to find a way onto the steel platform above the water. A beaten-looking yellow mesh climbed crookedly upwards and joined with the platform. Kurtis pulled himself towards it, grabbed the mesh with both hands and heaved himself onto it, and began to climb, his feet slipping occasionally as the soles of his boots made contact with the metal. Once at the top, he set about finding the boiler room, and with the help of a few explosives, he could blast his way into the lower areas of the Louvre.
He leapt into the round entrance at the end of the platform, and crawled underneath the gap in the bars blocking anything from progressing any further down the tunnel. As he neared the entrance to the boiler room, he paused, sniffing the air. The strong, acrid smell of burning oil reached his nose. Cautiously, Kurtis edged towards the slope leading to the boiler room, took one last look back at the way he had just come before placing a foot onto the slope and sliding, snowboard style, to the bottom. From his new lofty position above the boiler room, he could make out the distinctive flickering of the flames on the water's surface. "I'd better be careful. Ms. Croft has obviously already blown the boiler room wall to Kingdom come, and I don't wish to get fried whilst attempting to get inside." Checking that there were no flames below his route to the boiler room floor, he began to climb down the beaten old ladder to the metal floor underneath. Once on the walkway, Kurtis carefully made his way towards the gigantic hole in the wall, hopping over the odd flames rising from the water below. Somewhat pleased with his progress, Kurtis stepped over the pile of rubble and onto the shiny, cold floor of the lower areas of the Louvre. He was in. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Well....It's clean..." Kurtis thought as he made his way up the marble staircase. "A little too clean....." It was as silent as the grave inside except for the sound of boots on marble, and the humming of something electrical. He would need to be careful of security cameras and any Museum guards who may be lurking around, but, as Lara had already used this route, he was hoping that she had managed to clear out most of the guards for him. Slipping past the angry red glare of a camera at the top of the first set of stairs, Kurtis made his way up the second, passing the bullet ridden bodies of two guards who had obviously annoyed Miss Croft with their presence. "Must remember to thank her next time we meet." Kurtis said to himself in what sounded like a mixture of sarcasm and sincerity. Rounding the corner, Kurtis found himself facing some double doors which probably led to one of the museum's many galleries. A funny green coloured gas was seeping through the gaps underneath and inbetween the two doors. Kurtis frowned. "Gas?" He asked the silence around him. "But how....?" Deciding that now wasn't the time to hang around waiting for the answer to his question, Kurtis took a last breath of clean air before pushing the double doors open and sprinting through the gallery which clearly used to have security beams running around it until the gas arrived, deactivating them. He took several more turns through different galleries, passing the bodies of suited soldiers whom only Lara could have disposed of and museum guards who had choaked to death on the gas.
Upon reaching a corridor which wasn't filled with toxic green gas, Kurtis paused, regaining his breath, filling his lungs with oxygen. He glanced at the staircase ahead of him. "And the office should be up there somewhere." Willing his tired limbs to work, Kurtis dashed up the staircase, only to find himself faced with another door with the same green gas trapped behind it. Using the same precedure as before, he flung the door open and examined each of the rooms on the right hand side in turn, trying to find Madame Carvier's office. He eventually found it, after exploring many research rooms, now equipped with a respirator he had found in one of the offices. Pushing the door open, he made his way towards her desk and began sorting through the many papers which littered it's surface, only to find nothing of interest. Undeterred, he checked the computer next, opening file after file, trying to catch a glimpse of something which may have reference to Eckhardt and the Obscura paintings. Fortunantly, he didn't have to search hard. With one click of the mouse, a whole page filled with Obscura details appeared on the screen before him.
"The blood sign or Sanglyph....." Kurtis read, his eyes flickering across the blue screen. "Brother Obscura's engravings.....Pieter van Eckhardt.....Could he be a relation of this present day Eckhardt? Or....." Kurtis straightened up and turned towards the door. "Or could it somehow be the same Eckhardt........?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the respirator was beginning to run low and the gas had not yet reached this particular area of the Louvre yet, Kurtis pulled it off and threw it to the floor. He turned the corner and found himself looking at the back of Ms. Croft. Smirking a little, he drew his Chirugai which immediately sprang to life at his touch. It rose out of his hand and tore towards Lara at great speed. She turned, the Chirugai missing her by inches, to find noone there. Confused, she remained where she was, which created the perfect opportunity for Kurtis to launch his ambush. Creeping out from his hiding place, gun drawn, he walked towards Lara, who was now aware that someone else was present. Just as she began to turn around, Kurtis pressed the barrel of the gun to her head, stopping her in her tracks. Slowly, Kurtis went about disarming her, grabbing each gun and throwing them to the floor. Lara finally broke free of his clutches, and they both stood, eye to eye, Lara's fists clenched, Kurtis's Boran X trained on her forehead. He leant closer into her, staring right into her eyes and remained like this for some time. Smiling rather nastily, Kurtis drew back and reclaimed the Chirugai from the wall behind Lara's head. Nodding at her, Kurtis turned and sprinted towards the opposite end of the room, just as the heavy figure of Marten Gundersen and one of his armoured soldiers prepared to enter the room from a parallel door. Shaking herself awake, Lara took off after Kurtis. The armoured soldier took aim and fired dozens of bullets at her retreating figure.
"After her!" The burly Czech snarled as he and the soldier began to follow Lara, and, unknowingly, Kurtis, Gundersen's heavy footfalls resounding through the corridors.
Eh. I hope you liked. I was trying really hard to get everything as accurate as possible, i.e. The route through the Louvre, but I found that it wasn't that simple, so I had to improvise a little. Heh. R&R please. ^_~
