Author disclaimer: Nope. Kurtis, Lara, Gundersen and the guards aren't
mine, where's the surprise in that?
Haha! Finally! You've been waiting for this chapter for months (Literally!!), so I REALLY hope this doesn't disappoint. :) I warn you, I am a little rusty when it comes to writing, but you have GCSEs to thank for that. ¬_¬ I'll try make this long for you guys to make up for it. ^_^ Enjoy...
Chapter 5: A chase through the Louvre, and a visit to Prague.
Kurtis sprinted through the corridors of the Louvre, his Chirugai rhythmically bumping his right leg as he did so. He could hear Lara behind him, her boots making a clicking noise whenever they came into contact with the wooden flooring. Kurtis could also hear the loud shouts of someone else, their heavily accented voice echoing through the mezzazine corridors. He didn't know who this person was, but then again, he had a gut instinct that he didn't want to stick around and find out either. Looking up, he saw that there was an entrance with a huge brass gong hanging above it, and a sudden brainwave struck him. Grabbing the Chirugai, he threw it into the air, where it promptly sprang to life, whirring and spinning towards the chains which held the gong in place. A few seconds later, the chains had snapped, and the gong had landed on the floor with a crash. Diving through the doorway, Kurtis paused, freeing his mind, and concentrating hard on the gong. As he raised his arms, the gong proceeded to roll across the gap.
Lara, who had noticed what was going on, put on an extra burst of speed, and slipped through the narrowing gap, unharmed. The guard who had been following her however, did not. He reached the door just as the gong had almost covered the entrance, and attempted to squeeze through. The sickening crunch of human bones followed this act of stupidity, and the guard slumped, lifeless, onto the gong. Marten Gundersen roared like an injured animal, and brought his fist crashing down onto the gong. Kurtis peered over the guard's head at him. The Czech narrowed his eyes and scowled at Kurtis, before motioning to the remaining guard and stalking off down the corridor, coat swishing behind him. Turning his attention back to Lara, he recalled the Chirugai, took a couple of steps backwards, keeping his eyes fixed upon the brunette before sprinting away again. Lara, who was temporarily stunned by the events, snapped out of it and started to pursue Kurtis once more. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This place goes on forever." Kurtis thought, as the blood pounded through his veins, making his temples throb. "Gotta find a way out of here." It seemed as if was luck was on his side, because when he rounded what seemed like the hundredth corner, there was an open doorway to his right which would lead him right out of the museum. Sliding to a halt at the top of the staircase, Kurtis peered over the railings to the ground below. It was quite a drop to the dusty concrete- at least ten feet or so. Perching himself on the railings, he waited until Lara was in view. Eventually, she arrived. Kurtis smirked, gave her a little wave and performed a backwards somersault off the railings.
He landed, cat-like, on the floor a few moments later. Kurtis looked up at Lara, who wore a horrified expression on her face, and smirked. Scowling, Lara hurled herself towards the stairs and proceeded to decend them as fast as her legs would carry her. Upon seeing her do this, Kurtis once again took flight, and sprinted in the general direction of the street. He slowed to a walk, positive that he'd finally shaken Lara off. Pausing, he looked back over his shoulder. Nothing. Kurtis smiled to himself and started to walk again, unaware that someone was watching him closely from behind the dumpster. Stealthily, the person crept up on Kurtis, raised the butt of their gun and smashed him in the back of the head. Kurtis swayed for a moment before crashing to the ground, out cold. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Moaning, Kurtis sat up, one hand clasped to the back of his head where he had been hit. His eyes slid in and out of focus rapidly as he tried to stand, and decided to remain seated on the cold, damp concrete for the time being. Narrowing his eyes, Kurtis surveyed the scene, trying to find his attacker, and found nothing, except Lara, who was lying next to him, who appeared to have suffered the same fate as himself. Pulling himself together, Kurtis got shakily to his feet, and started to shuffle towards the backstreet beside the Louvre, not wanting to be around when Ms. Croft awoke from her "knocking out", which would mean he would run the risk of being asked difficult questions he did not particularly want to answer at this moment in time.
Stumbling out onto the main street, Kurtis looked up into the blackened sky littered with tiny stars. "Next, Prague." He glanced at the wall beside him which was plastered with posters of all kinds, but one in particular stood out from the rest. Pierre's face was on it, and so was a smaller picture of his bike....Kurtis had forgotten about that completely. He didn't know what the French underneath it meant, but he got the gist of it. He was a wanted man, although they did not know it was him at the moment, it was only a matter of time before they had sufficiant evidence which would lead them to him...
He had to get to Prague as soon as possible, and leave this foul city behind him. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he dived into the nearest subway station, and began examining the maps to find the best route to the main station. When he found the appropriate line to take, Kurtis strolled onto the platform, and waited for the right tube-train amongst the drunkards and the homeless. One man in particular was causing a disturbance on the almost dead platform, waving a beer bottle in the air and shouting obscenities in French at the top of his lungs. Kurtis was only too glad when the 167 trundled down the tunnel, lights blazing. Hopping onto the stuffy tube was a sharp contrast from waiting on the freezing concrete, but Kurtis was greatful for the warmth.
The carriage was empty except for an oldish man with a bowler hat perched on his head. The overpowering smell of cigars and whisky reached Kurtis' nose, forcing the American to sit as far away from him as possible. Seating himself near the window, Kurtis stared out into the pitch black, waiting.
About fifteen minutes later, Kurtis emerged from the subway near to the main station to find that the heavens had opened and were pouring icy droplets onto passers by. Dashing out into the open, Kurtis sprinted for the entrance, rain and wind beating at his face and body. By the time he had gotten inside, he was drenched to the skin. Shivering, Kurtis stepped up to the ticket machine, pushed the appropriate number of coins into the slot and retreived the ticket. Crossing the floor, he went up the stairs and stepped onto platform 5. The sleeper train was ready and waiting, so it was a matter of flashing the ticket to the man on duty and boarding the scarlet snake-like vehicle. Kurtis found himself a comfortable enough spot for him to settle down and get some shut-eye without being disturbed by any 'jolly' folk. He stretched out, his mind wandering. An image of a green motorcycle flashed into his mind, and he sighed. He loved that bike. but it wasn't worth risking his freedom to go and collect. Closing his eyes, Kurtis tried to put the events of the past three days behind him.
Eventually, he fell into a restless slumber, haunted by pale-faced, skinny Frenchmen....... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning, he awoke to the sun streaming in through the clear glass window. A woman appeared at his side, offering him coffee, which he gladly accepted. Gulping down the caffine-enriched liquid, Kurtis reached for the latest newspaper and started to flick through it, looking for any sign of Monstrum activity. "Mathias Vasily..." Kurtis muttered, "The art dealer. Linked with Eckhardt." He folded the paper and slung it onto the table.
The woman appeared at his side again.
"Not long to Prague." She said in somewhat broken English. Kurtis nodded a thanks, and turned to stare out the window at the view.
Approximately twenty minutes later, the train pulled into the central station in Prague. Kurtis stepped off the sleeper onto the platform and made his way towards a map of the city. Even after close inspection, Kurtis was none the wiser of where he needed to go to even begin searching for Eckhardt's whereabouts. The map was covered with stickers and Czech characters sprawled across the face of it. Maybe there was someone around who'd know where to point him. Sweeping out of the station, Kurtis stepped out into the street, snow covering his boots. "Great." He thought bitterly. "Out of one dark city and into another." Brushing the flakes of snow which had fallen into his eyes, he trudged off in search of the Vasily place. Perhaps there was something there which would point him to Eckhardt....
Ok. It was pretty uneventful, but I had to find a way to get him to Prague from Paris, and I tried to make it more interesting than it might have been. ¬_¬ Tried being the keyword here. *sigh* Next, the Vasily place, Luddick (^_^) and the Strahov. Could be very, very interesting...R&R people.
Haha! Finally! You've been waiting for this chapter for months (Literally!!), so I REALLY hope this doesn't disappoint. :) I warn you, I am a little rusty when it comes to writing, but you have GCSEs to thank for that. ¬_¬ I'll try make this long for you guys to make up for it. ^_^ Enjoy...
Chapter 5: A chase through the Louvre, and a visit to Prague.
Kurtis sprinted through the corridors of the Louvre, his Chirugai rhythmically bumping his right leg as he did so. He could hear Lara behind him, her boots making a clicking noise whenever they came into contact with the wooden flooring. Kurtis could also hear the loud shouts of someone else, their heavily accented voice echoing through the mezzazine corridors. He didn't know who this person was, but then again, he had a gut instinct that he didn't want to stick around and find out either. Looking up, he saw that there was an entrance with a huge brass gong hanging above it, and a sudden brainwave struck him. Grabbing the Chirugai, he threw it into the air, where it promptly sprang to life, whirring and spinning towards the chains which held the gong in place. A few seconds later, the chains had snapped, and the gong had landed on the floor with a crash. Diving through the doorway, Kurtis paused, freeing his mind, and concentrating hard on the gong. As he raised his arms, the gong proceeded to roll across the gap.
Lara, who had noticed what was going on, put on an extra burst of speed, and slipped through the narrowing gap, unharmed. The guard who had been following her however, did not. He reached the door just as the gong had almost covered the entrance, and attempted to squeeze through. The sickening crunch of human bones followed this act of stupidity, and the guard slumped, lifeless, onto the gong. Marten Gundersen roared like an injured animal, and brought his fist crashing down onto the gong. Kurtis peered over the guard's head at him. The Czech narrowed his eyes and scowled at Kurtis, before motioning to the remaining guard and stalking off down the corridor, coat swishing behind him. Turning his attention back to Lara, he recalled the Chirugai, took a couple of steps backwards, keeping his eyes fixed upon the brunette before sprinting away again. Lara, who was temporarily stunned by the events, snapped out of it and started to pursue Kurtis once more. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This place goes on forever." Kurtis thought, as the blood pounded through his veins, making his temples throb. "Gotta find a way out of here." It seemed as if was luck was on his side, because when he rounded what seemed like the hundredth corner, there was an open doorway to his right which would lead him right out of the museum. Sliding to a halt at the top of the staircase, Kurtis peered over the railings to the ground below. It was quite a drop to the dusty concrete- at least ten feet or so. Perching himself on the railings, he waited until Lara was in view. Eventually, she arrived. Kurtis smirked, gave her a little wave and performed a backwards somersault off the railings.
He landed, cat-like, on the floor a few moments later. Kurtis looked up at Lara, who wore a horrified expression on her face, and smirked. Scowling, Lara hurled herself towards the stairs and proceeded to decend them as fast as her legs would carry her. Upon seeing her do this, Kurtis once again took flight, and sprinted in the general direction of the street. He slowed to a walk, positive that he'd finally shaken Lara off. Pausing, he looked back over his shoulder. Nothing. Kurtis smiled to himself and started to walk again, unaware that someone was watching him closely from behind the dumpster. Stealthily, the person crept up on Kurtis, raised the butt of their gun and smashed him in the back of the head. Kurtis swayed for a moment before crashing to the ground, out cold. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Moaning, Kurtis sat up, one hand clasped to the back of his head where he had been hit. His eyes slid in and out of focus rapidly as he tried to stand, and decided to remain seated on the cold, damp concrete for the time being. Narrowing his eyes, Kurtis surveyed the scene, trying to find his attacker, and found nothing, except Lara, who was lying next to him, who appeared to have suffered the same fate as himself. Pulling himself together, Kurtis got shakily to his feet, and started to shuffle towards the backstreet beside the Louvre, not wanting to be around when Ms. Croft awoke from her "knocking out", which would mean he would run the risk of being asked difficult questions he did not particularly want to answer at this moment in time.
Stumbling out onto the main street, Kurtis looked up into the blackened sky littered with tiny stars. "Next, Prague." He glanced at the wall beside him which was plastered with posters of all kinds, but one in particular stood out from the rest. Pierre's face was on it, and so was a smaller picture of his bike....Kurtis had forgotten about that completely. He didn't know what the French underneath it meant, but he got the gist of it. He was a wanted man, although they did not know it was him at the moment, it was only a matter of time before they had sufficiant evidence which would lead them to him...
He had to get to Prague as soon as possible, and leave this foul city behind him. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he dived into the nearest subway station, and began examining the maps to find the best route to the main station. When he found the appropriate line to take, Kurtis strolled onto the platform, and waited for the right tube-train amongst the drunkards and the homeless. One man in particular was causing a disturbance on the almost dead platform, waving a beer bottle in the air and shouting obscenities in French at the top of his lungs. Kurtis was only too glad when the 167 trundled down the tunnel, lights blazing. Hopping onto the stuffy tube was a sharp contrast from waiting on the freezing concrete, but Kurtis was greatful for the warmth.
The carriage was empty except for an oldish man with a bowler hat perched on his head. The overpowering smell of cigars and whisky reached Kurtis' nose, forcing the American to sit as far away from him as possible. Seating himself near the window, Kurtis stared out into the pitch black, waiting.
About fifteen minutes later, Kurtis emerged from the subway near to the main station to find that the heavens had opened and were pouring icy droplets onto passers by. Dashing out into the open, Kurtis sprinted for the entrance, rain and wind beating at his face and body. By the time he had gotten inside, he was drenched to the skin. Shivering, Kurtis stepped up to the ticket machine, pushed the appropriate number of coins into the slot and retreived the ticket. Crossing the floor, he went up the stairs and stepped onto platform 5. The sleeper train was ready and waiting, so it was a matter of flashing the ticket to the man on duty and boarding the scarlet snake-like vehicle. Kurtis found himself a comfortable enough spot for him to settle down and get some shut-eye without being disturbed by any 'jolly' folk. He stretched out, his mind wandering. An image of a green motorcycle flashed into his mind, and he sighed. He loved that bike. but it wasn't worth risking his freedom to go and collect. Closing his eyes, Kurtis tried to put the events of the past three days behind him.
Eventually, he fell into a restless slumber, haunted by pale-faced, skinny Frenchmen....... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning, he awoke to the sun streaming in through the clear glass window. A woman appeared at his side, offering him coffee, which he gladly accepted. Gulping down the caffine-enriched liquid, Kurtis reached for the latest newspaper and started to flick through it, looking for any sign of Monstrum activity. "Mathias Vasily..." Kurtis muttered, "The art dealer. Linked with Eckhardt." He folded the paper and slung it onto the table.
The woman appeared at his side again.
"Not long to Prague." She said in somewhat broken English. Kurtis nodded a thanks, and turned to stare out the window at the view.
Approximately twenty minutes later, the train pulled into the central station in Prague. Kurtis stepped off the sleeper onto the platform and made his way towards a map of the city. Even after close inspection, Kurtis was none the wiser of where he needed to go to even begin searching for Eckhardt's whereabouts. The map was covered with stickers and Czech characters sprawled across the face of it. Maybe there was someone around who'd know where to point him. Sweeping out of the station, Kurtis stepped out into the street, snow covering his boots. "Great." He thought bitterly. "Out of one dark city and into another." Brushing the flakes of snow which had fallen into his eyes, he trudged off in search of the Vasily place. Perhaps there was something there which would point him to Eckhardt....
Ok. It was pretty uneventful, but I had to find a way to get him to Prague from Paris, and I tried to make it more interesting than it might have been. ¬_¬ Tried being the keyword here. *sigh* Next, the Vasily place, Luddick (^_^) and the Strahov. Could be very, very interesting...R&R people.
