Disclaimer – I own nothing. Nada (bursts into tears). Apart from my dreams
of Raziel's adventures ^_^.
Chapter 2: Lara.
The night passed remarkably fast, and soon Raziel and Kain were restored to their human forms. It was with some trepidation that the both of them set off to the university to begin their search for the book. Kain instantly headed back to the massive library they had started in, logically deciding that it would be in there. As for Raziel, he marched off to his first ever lecture, feeling at the same time nervous and excited.
He found the lecture theatre with comparative ease, and took a seat at the back, his habit of trying to blend into the shadows coming to the fore even now. As the lecture theatre filled, he scanned the sea of faces for anyone who looked remotely like Janos. He was praying that the old vampire was not here, in case he was recognised. But even if his cover was blown, he doubted very much that anyone here would have even heard of him.
A little bored now, Raziel picked up his pen and doodled aimlessly on the edge of his pad of paper. Some giggling made him look up. A group of girls was sitting a couple of rows in front of him, and they were looking straight at him. One of them whispered something to one of the others, and more giggling ensued. Raziel gave the girls a smile, which set them off giggling yet AGAIN. They are as bad as the maids in the Sarafan stronghold, Raziel thought to himself. It seemed that once again his good looks were sending girls weak at the knees. But he suspected that the girls were all as bad as the maids he had known – only out for one thing. As a former priest, any relations with the opposite sex had been frowned upon. That hadn't stopped most of them, but Raziel had stuck with the vow and found that somehow that made him more appealing to the girls. His purity had been what had attracted Kain to make him his foremost lieutenant, the old vampire reckoning that Raziel was less sullied than the others and somehow more... malleable. And so it had seemed.
The clearing of a throat made Raziel stop his musings and turn his attention to the lecture. The professor was old, old as the hills, and Raziel mentally calculated the amount of time he had left to live. Not too long before I come for your soul, old man, Raziel thought, smiling to himself.
The lecture was almost as boring as listening to Moebius, so Raziel's attention quickly drifted. He started looking at his fellow classmates, again doing the mental calculations on their lifespans and wondering if their souls would have the metallic taste of the souls of Nosgoth. He looked down the row he was sitting in and he noticed someone sitting a few seats away from him, alone. She was not in any sense of the word pretty, being rather plain and with large round glasses on. Her hair was slightly greasy and pulled back in a low ponytail. Her clothes screamed 'charity shop' and she was taking notes with a rather chewed pen. And yet... Raziel sensed something about her that made him curious. Scooting along the bench, he crept next to her and waited until she noticed him. She jumped as she made eye contact and looked away, biting her lip and blushing. She leaned away from him a little, trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible. But once Raziel had his eye on someone, he did not let it go.
Raziel sat next to the girl for the rest of the lecture. When it ended and the general bustle of students trying to leave as fast as possible started, he caught her attention. 'What is your name?' he asked, as gently as he could.
'L-lara,' the girl said, still keeping her eyes averted from him. She stole him a little glance and blushed again.
Raziel found that rather adorable. 'I am Raziel,' he said to her. 'It is nice to meet you, Lara.' He stood up at the same time as she did, and he realised that he towered over her. She could not have been more than five feet tall. 'Lara, would you like to go for some lunch?'
Lara's hazel eyes positively lit up. 'You mean that? Oh, yes please!' She looked away again. 'I've not really made many friends here – in fact, I haven't made any at all.' She sighed. 'Do you really want to have lunch with me? You weren't put up to it by... them?' She pointed at the group of giggling girls.
Raziel gave the giggling girls an evil look before turning back to Lara. 'Nobody put me up to anything,' he said. 'I make my own choices.'
'Oh, they're coming over.' Lara hid, actually HID, behind Raziel as the four giggling girls came over to them.
The tallest of the four, a redhead, waltzed up to Raziel and batted her eyelashes at him. 'Hi, handsome. What are you doing with this minger?'
'Lara is my friend,' Raziel said, his blue eyes narrowing. 'If you have nothing civil to say to her, I suggest you leave.'
'Oooh!' Another of the girls, an Oriental-looking one, cowered in mock fear. 'I'm so scared!'
Raziel could feel the Reaver wanting to break through on his right hand, but he quelled his anger. 'You should be,' he said. 'If any harm comes to Lara, you will have me to deal with.'
'And just who are you?' the tall, thin blonde one demanded (there is always a tall, thin blonde one).
'I am Raziel,' Raziel said. 'And you are?'
'I'm Keiko,' the Oriental said. 'The redhead is Kat, the blonde is Melissa and the other one is Michelle. If you want to get anywhere at the university, you'll hang out with us. If you don't, you'll hang out with the likes of Lara. And you're FAR too cute to be seen with her.'
'I'd rather make my own friends, thank you,' Raziel said, giving his most winning smile. 'Lara, let's go. I am rather hungry.' And taking Lara's arm, he walked out of the lecture room.
Lara hung onto him, hardly daring to believe what she had witnessed. 'Y-you stood up to them!' she said, amazed. 'Nobody has ever done that before.'
'It's easy,' Raziel said. 'You must just speak your mind. If you believe in what you say, other people will believe you.' He stopped. 'Where would you like to go for lunch?'
'I do not mind,' Lara said. 'There is a nice café in a bookshop I know.'
'Then let's go there...'
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Raziel and Lara became firm friends, and were never apart. But one day, Lara asked Raziel the question he had been dreading. 'Why do you never come out at night?' she asked one day.
Raziel paused in his writing. They were in the library again. 'I have commitments every evening,' he finally said, burying his nose in his textbook. 'I am sorry, Lara. I would love to see the city at night, but...'
'You don't have to explain yourself to me,' Lara said, with a sad smile. She was gradually coming out of her shell since meeting Raziel. His very presence seemed to fill her with confidence, and she was starting to discover the beauty underneath her usually scruffy appearance. Raziel encouraged her to take pride in herself, and Lara was falling under his spell every day. 'You're my best friend, Raz. And as such, I trust you.' She stood up and planted a gentle kiss on Raziel's cheek. 'I've got a lecture. I'll see you later.'
'Bye.' Raziel watched her leave before turning his attention back to his coursework.
'She's quite a girl.' Kain sat down opposite Raziel, a heap of books in his arms. 'I'm glad to see at least you've made a friend. People here seem to be a little scared of me.'
'You just need to let your winning personality shine through,' Raziel said.
Kain narrowed his eyes. 'Raziel...'
Raziel gathered his books together and stood up. 'Listen, Kain. I may be your most faithful lieutenant. I may have chosen to be imprisoned in the Reaver. I may have spared your life on more than one occasion but remember...' He leaned forwards and his eyes flared with white light. 'I still hate you.' And so saying, he strode away.
Kain sighed and shook his head in frustration. Raziel was certainly living up to the image of the frosty teenager. As he leafed through another research book, he found his mind wandering to the days when he had had Raziel at his side as a lieutenant. He was made first of them because Kain had been enchanted by the young man's fragility and innocence. But as Raziel matured as a vampire, his real fiery temperament was revealed. He thought nothing of attacking the other lieutenants, but he was never stupid enough to turn on Kain. And the day Raziel had revealed his wings... Kain felt his anger rise up again. That day, jealousy had overwhelmed him. Jealousy and fear, fear that he had created something that surpassed his greatness. Raziel was always the wise, canny one. Kain had thought that if he allowed Raziel to live, his young charge would eventually overthrow him. But even casting Raziel into the abyss had not dented his spirit. Their fates twined and twisted together, and neither of them could escape the other. Finally Raziel had allowed himself to be swallowed by the Reaver, and Kain realised that Raziel's loyalty was greater than he could have imagined. Raziel's parting words rang in his head. 'I still hate you...'
'I no longer hate you,' Kain muttered, looking out of the window and down onto the quad where he could see Raziel sitting on a bench, reading. 'I need you, Raziel. And you need me.'
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Lara hadn't realised that she had been in the library for so long! It was nearly ten at night and the librarian had just thrown her out. She hefted her bookbag onto her back and hurried back to her room, not liking the fact that her route took her through some of Oxford's back streets. The badly lit routes frightened her, although she would never admit it. 'What would Raziel think if you told him you were scared of the dark?' Lara reprimanded herself. 'Honestly, girl...' She turned down a back alley, thoughts of Raziel dominating her mind to the extent that she didn't realise she was horribly lost.
'Oh, cheese,' Lara swore, stopping and surveying her surroundings. She was near the big Blackwells store, which was nowhere on her way home. She was down a side alley and near a sandwich shop she recognised. 'You're stupid, Higgins,' she said to herself as she retraced her steps. 'Stupid...' She squealed as an arm shot out and pinned her to the wall.
'Where're you going?' a heavy masculine voice drawled. Lara turned her face away from the man, who stunk of alcohol. 'I wouldn't struggle, my girl.' A click and a flash revealed a small flick knife in the man's hand. 'I could kill you right now, but I'd rather have some fun with you first...'
'HELLP!' Lara screamed 'HELP!' Her cries were cut off as the man shoved his hand over her mouth.
'I said shut up,' the man snarled. He pushed against her. She could smell his sweat mingled with alcohol. 'The more you scream, the worse it will be for y...'
'You touch her and I shall kill you,' a smooth voice said. Lara gasped as a strange blue demon stepped out of the shadows, followed by what could only have been a vampire – if they existed.
Her attacked sneered. 'What is it, Halloween?'
A white light leapt from the demon's arm and formed into a sword. Before the attacker could move, the sword impaled him. 'This one's for you, Kain,' the demon said to the vampire. 'You've not eaten all night.'
'My thanks...' Kain picked up the corpse and drained it of its blood.
Lara fell to the floor and cowered defensively as the demon walked over to her. 'Don't hurt me,' she whined. 'Please...'
Raziel knelt down beside her. 'Lara...'
Lara looked up as she heard that familiar voice. 'Raziel?'
'It is me.' Raziel moved so she had enough room to stand up. 'You wondered what I did in the evenings. Now you know.'
'Raziel...' Lara reached out to touch his chin. Her hand caught his cowl and found utter nothingness. 'Oh god...' She folded up and fainted.
'One for you, Raziel,' Kain said, mirth in his voice.
Raziel scoffed and picked Lara up. 'Just get us home, vampire,' he said.
'With pleasure...'
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When Lara came round, she found herself in a room she recognised. Raziel's! But... where was he? She quickly replayed the events of the evening.
'Glad to see you are awake,' Raziel's voice came floating from the shadows. 'I wondered when you were going to wake up.' He was idly playing with the resonance from the Reaver, winding the strands of white round his fingers. Lara gasped. 'Do not worry,' Raziel said. 'The blade will not harm you.'
Lara backed away from the Soul Reaver, her eyes wide as she beheld the white blade seemingly generated from Raziel's arm. She refused to believe that this demon was infact her best friend. 'I-it's horrible,' she said, backing even further into the wall. 'And... and so... are you.' She looked away from the demon in front of her and saw Raziel's essay sitting on the desk, as well as a number of his personal effects that she knew well. And then, she believed. 'Raziel...'
Raziel would have smiled if he could have. 'Now do you believe it is me?' he asked. Lara nodded, her eyes filling with tears. 'Lara...' Raziel twisted his cowl down so Lara could look at him properly. Lara whimpered, clearly frightened. 'I know my appearance must be strange to you. But I am still Raziel – still your friend.' He pulled the cowl up again to spare Lara the sight of his chinless face. 'I will become human again at first light. But this is my true form.'
'What happened to you?' Lara asked, wiping some tears away.
Raziel sighed. 'Have you got all night?' he said. Lara nodded, so Raziel launched into his story. When he was finished, he sighed again. 'Strange, isn't it?'
'Yeah,' Lara admitted. 'So... you and Kain are here looking for this book, right? And you think it's somewhere in the university, right?'
'Yes,' Raziel said, wondering where her mind was taking her.
'Have you considered the museums?' Lara queried.
'A good plan.' Kain misted through the door, a broadsword held in his hand. 'Raziel, your young friend has some great ideas. We should make use of her knowledge of the city to find the book – if she is not too scared of us, that is.' He gave her a smile, exposing his fangs.
Lara set her jaw. 'I'm not scared of you. Well...' She blushed a little. 'Perhaps you're a little scary, Kain, but Raziel is my best friend and I'm going to help you if he wants me to.'
'Your help would be welcome,' Raziel said. If he could have smiled, he would have. Instead his eyes went a brighter white. He reached out one clawed hand and took Lara's tiny hand in his. 'Thank you.'
Lara smiled. 'What are friends for?'
Raziel was about to reply, but a piercing shriek halted his speech. He suddenly felt light-headed. 'The Reaver!' he said, instinctively leaping up to the box where he kept the shattered fragments of the sword. Opening it, everyone was nearly blinded as bright blue light spilled out into the world.
'What the hell...?' Kain dragged Raziel out of the way and plunged his hand into the box, grabbing a piece of sword. He dropped it almost instantly and slammed the lid shut. 'What is going on? That burned.'
'I can explain.' Moebius materialised. Raziel and Kain's demeanours changed instantly, Lara noted. Raziel took up a crouched position, ready to spring. Kain's hand tightened on the handle of his sword. 'The Reaver is simply reacting to the presence of one with Hylden blood in their veins... Lara.'
Lara nearly fell off the bed. 'What? What do you mean?'
Moebius laughed. 'Did you not wonder why Raziel was so drawn to you, my girl? He sensed something about you. That was it. You have Hylden blood in your ancestry. The Reaver is attuned to these things.'
'Your point being?' Kain snarled. 'You are trying my patience.'
'My point is that you can use Raziel's little PET,' here Moebius threw Lara a disparaging glance, 'as a tracker dog.' He lifted Lara off the bed. 'Sic 'em, little puppy. Sic 'em...'
There was a whum whum noise as the Reaver sprang into life on Raziel's arm. 'You will not speak about my friends in such a manner.' The white blade was frighteningly close to Moebius' throat. 'Drop her.'
Moebius released Lara, who retreated under the safety of the blankets. 'I was merely stating her purpose,' he said, his eyes narrowing. 'She is not of our world, Raziel. Use her like the animal she is...'
'Moebius!' Raziel struck with the Reaver, but Moebius had vanished. 'The bastard...' Raziel growled and the Reaver receded. 'I'll kill him.'
'Again?' Kain asked, smoothly. 'Leave him, Raziel. He did actually have a point. Lara would be able to track the book. If the Reaver reacted to her the way it did, the book and, more importantly Janos, would go mental if she was anywhere near them.' He looked at the sky. Dawn was poking over the horizon. 'Raziel, we are going to transform soon. I shall leave you two alone. I am sure Lara has no wish to see my transformation. Good day.' Kain departed, leaving Raziel and Lara alone.
Raziel winced as he felt the sun touch his body and he felt his human form coming back to him. When he was changed, he wrapped his dressing gown around himself and went over to the bed, where Lara was still a sobbing heap of blankets. 'Lara?'
Lara poked her head out of the cocoon of covers she had made. 'Who was that horrible man?' she asked.
'You mean Kain, or Moebius?' Raziel asked, a mischevious gleam in his eye. 'Moebius is the reason we are here, like I said. And he did have a point about using you to track the book. But he didn't have to put it in such a derogatory manner.'
'I'm used to people talking about me like that,' Lara said. She double taked as she looked at Raziel. 'You're human again.'
'Told you so,' Raziel said, sitting down next to her. 'Which do you prefer?'
Lara blushed. 'Your... weird... blue form is kinda cute,' she said, with a giggle. 'It's your feet, I think.'
Raziel laughed. 'Each to their own,' he said. 'So... are you going to help us, even after what Moebius said?'
Lara nodded vigorously. 'Of course I'm going to help you!' she said. She suddenly flung herself on Raziel, taking him into a hug. 'Raz, I'd go to the ends of the earth for you.'
Raziel closed his eyes and rested his cheek on Lara's soft hair. I hope you don't have to go to the ends of the earth for me, he thought. I dragged you into this, but with your help perhaps we can all get out of here...
^_^ Next chapter... Raziel and Lara kiss! Kain bites off more than he can chew! And Raziel and Kain discover something about this mission that they REALLY didn't need to know... Keep reading and keep reviewing!!!
Chapter 2: Lara.
The night passed remarkably fast, and soon Raziel and Kain were restored to their human forms. It was with some trepidation that the both of them set off to the university to begin their search for the book. Kain instantly headed back to the massive library they had started in, logically deciding that it would be in there. As for Raziel, he marched off to his first ever lecture, feeling at the same time nervous and excited.
He found the lecture theatre with comparative ease, and took a seat at the back, his habit of trying to blend into the shadows coming to the fore even now. As the lecture theatre filled, he scanned the sea of faces for anyone who looked remotely like Janos. He was praying that the old vampire was not here, in case he was recognised. But even if his cover was blown, he doubted very much that anyone here would have even heard of him.
A little bored now, Raziel picked up his pen and doodled aimlessly on the edge of his pad of paper. Some giggling made him look up. A group of girls was sitting a couple of rows in front of him, and they were looking straight at him. One of them whispered something to one of the others, and more giggling ensued. Raziel gave the girls a smile, which set them off giggling yet AGAIN. They are as bad as the maids in the Sarafan stronghold, Raziel thought to himself. It seemed that once again his good looks were sending girls weak at the knees. But he suspected that the girls were all as bad as the maids he had known – only out for one thing. As a former priest, any relations with the opposite sex had been frowned upon. That hadn't stopped most of them, but Raziel had stuck with the vow and found that somehow that made him more appealing to the girls. His purity had been what had attracted Kain to make him his foremost lieutenant, the old vampire reckoning that Raziel was less sullied than the others and somehow more... malleable. And so it had seemed.
The clearing of a throat made Raziel stop his musings and turn his attention to the lecture. The professor was old, old as the hills, and Raziel mentally calculated the amount of time he had left to live. Not too long before I come for your soul, old man, Raziel thought, smiling to himself.
The lecture was almost as boring as listening to Moebius, so Raziel's attention quickly drifted. He started looking at his fellow classmates, again doing the mental calculations on their lifespans and wondering if their souls would have the metallic taste of the souls of Nosgoth. He looked down the row he was sitting in and he noticed someone sitting a few seats away from him, alone. She was not in any sense of the word pretty, being rather plain and with large round glasses on. Her hair was slightly greasy and pulled back in a low ponytail. Her clothes screamed 'charity shop' and she was taking notes with a rather chewed pen. And yet... Raziel sensed something about her that made him curious. Scooting along the bench, he crept next to her and waited until she noticed him. She jumped as she made eye contact and looked away, biting her lip and blushing. She leaned away from him a little, trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible. But once Raziel had his eye on someone, he did not let it go.
Raziel sat next to the girl for the rest of the lecture. When it ended and the general bustle of students trying to leave as fast as possible started, he caught her attention. 'What is your name?' he asked, as gently as he could.
'L-lara,' the girl said, still keeping her eyes averted from him. She stole him a little glance and blushed again.
Raziel found that rather adorable. 'I am Raziel,' he said to her. 'It is nice to meet you, Lara.' He stood up at the same time as she did, and he realised that he towered over her. She could not have been more than five feet tall. 'Lara, would you like to go for some lunch?'
Lara's hazel eyes positively lit up. 'You mean that? Oh, yes please!' She looked away again. 'I've not really made many friends here – in fact, I haven't made any at all.' She sighed. 'Do you really want to have lunch with me? You weren't put up to it by... them?' She pointed at the group of giggling girls.
Raziel gave the giggling girls an evil look before turning back to Lara. 'Nobody put me up to anything,' he said. 'I make my own choices.'
'Oh, they're coming over.' Lara hid, actually HID, behind Raziel as the four giggling girls came over to them.
The tallest of the four, a redhead, waltzed up to Raziel and batted her eyelashes at him. 'Hi, handsome. What are you doing with this minger?'
'Lara is my friend,' Raziel said, his blue eyes narrowing. 'If you have nothing civil to say to her, I suggest you leave.'
'Oooh!' Another of the girls, an Oriental-looking one, cowered in mock fear. 'I'm so scared!'
Raziel could feel the Reaver wanting to break through on his right hand, but he quelled his anger. 'You should be,' he said. 'If any harm comes to Lara, you will have me to deal with.'
'And just who are you?' the tall, thin blonde one demanded (there is always a tall, thin blonde one).
'I am Raziel,' Raziel said. 'And you are?'
'I'm Keiko,' the Oriental said. 'The redhead is Kat, the blonde is Melissa and the other one is Michelle. If you want to get anywhere at the university, you'll hang out with us. If you don't, you'll hang out with the likes of Lara. And you're FAR too cute to be seen with her.'
'I'd rather make my own friends, thank you,' Raziel said, giving his most winning smile. 'Lara, let's go. I am rather hungry.' And taking Lara's arm, he walked out of the lecture room.
Lara hung onto him, hardly daring to believe what she had witnessed. 'Y-you stood up to them!' she said, amazed. 'Nobody has ever done that before.'
'It's easy,' Raziel said. 'You must just speak your mind. If you believe in what you say, other people will believe you.' He stopped. 'Where would you like to go for lunch?'
'I do not mind,' Lara said. 'There is a nice café in a bookshop I know.'
'Then let's go there...'
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Raziel and Lara became firm friends, and were never apart. But one day, Lara asked Raziel the question he had been dreading. 'Why do you never come out at night?' she asked one day.
Raziel paused in his writing. They were in the library again. 'I have commitments every evening,' he finally said, burying his nose in his textbook. 'I am sorry, Lara. I would love to see the city at night, but...'
'You don't have to explain yourself to me,' Lara said, with a sad smile. She was gradually coming out of her shell since meeting Raziel. His very presence seemed to fill her with confidence, and she was starting to discover the beauty underneath her usually scruffy appearance. Raziel encouraged her to take pride in herself, and Lara was falling under his spell every day. 'You're my best friend, Raz. And as such, I trust you.' She stood up and planted a gentle kiss on Raziel's cheek. 'I've got a lecture. I'll see you later.'
'Bye.' Raziel watched her leave before turning his attention back to his coursework.
'She's quite a girl.' Kain sat down opposite Raziel, a heap of books in his arms. 'I'm glad to see at least you've made a friend. People here seem to be a little scared of me.'
'You just need to let your winning personality shine through,' Raziel said.
Kain narrowed his eyes. 'Raziel...'
Raziel gathered his books together and stood up. 'Listen, Kain. I may be your most faithful lieutenant. I may have chosen to be imprisoned in the Reaver. I may have spared your life on more than one occasion but remember...' He leaned forwards and his eyes flared with white light. 'I still hate you.' And so saying, he strode away.
Kain sighed and shook his head in frustration. Raziel was certainly living up to the image of the frosty teenager. As he leafed through another research book, he found his mind wandering to the days when he had had Raziel at his side as a lieutenant. He was made first of them because Kain had been enchanted by the young man's fragility and innocence. But as Raziel matured as a vampire, his real fiery temperament was revealed. He thought nothing of attacking the other lieutenants, but he was never stupid enough to turn on Kain. And the day Raziel had revealed his wings... Kain felt his anger rise up again. That day, jealousy had overwhelmed him. Jealousy and fear, fear that he had created something that surpassed his greatness. Raziel was always the wise, canny one. Kain had thought that if he allowed Raziel to live, his young charge would eventually overthrow him. But even casting Raziel into the abyss had not dented his spirit. Their fates twined and twisted together, and neither of them could escape the other. Finally Raziel had allowed himself to be swallowed by the Reaver, and Kain realised that Raziel's loyalty was greater than he could have imagined. Raziel's parting words rang in his head. 'I still hate you...'
'I no longer hate you,' Kain muttered, looking out of the window and down onto the quad where he could see Raziel sitting on a bench, reading. 'I need you, Raziel. And you need me.'
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Lara hadn't realised that she had been in the library for so long! It was nearly ten at night and the librarian had just thrown her out. She hefted her bookbag onto her back and hurried back to her room, not liking the fact that her route took her through some of Oxford's back streets. The badly lit routes frightened her, although she would never admit it. 'What would Raziel think if you told him you were scared of the dark?' Lara reprimanded herself. 'Honestly, girl...' She turned down a back alley, thoughts of Raziel dominating her mind to the extent that she didn't realise she was horribly lost.
'Oh, cheese,' Lara swore, stopping and surveying her surroundings. She was near the big Blackwells store, which was nowhere on her way home. She was down a side alley and near a sandwich shop she recognised. 'You're stupid, Higgins,' she said to herself as she retraced her steps. 'Stupid...' She squealed as an arm shot out and pinned her to the wall.
'Where're you going?' a heavy masculine voice drawled. Lara turned her face away from the man, who stunk of alcohol. 'I wouldn't struggle, my girl.' A click and a flash revealed a small flick knife in the man's hand. 'I could kill you right now, but I'd rather have some fun with you first...'
'HELLP!' Lara screamed 'HELP!' Her cries were cut off as the man shoved his hand over her mouth.
'I said shut up,' the man snarled. He pushed against her. She could smell his sweat mingled with alcohol. 'The more you scream, the worse it will be for y...'
'You touch her and I shall kill you,' a smooth voice said. Lara gasped as a strange blue demon stepped out of the shadows, followed by what could only have been a vampire – if they existed.
Her attacked sneered. 'What is it, Halloween?'
A white light leapt from the demon's arm and formed into a sword. Before the attacker could move, the sword impaled him. 'This one's for you, Kain,' the demon said to the vampire. 'You've not eaten all night.'
'My thanks...' Kain picked up the corpse and drained it of its blood.
Lara fell to the floor and cowered defensively as the demon walked over to her. 'Don't hurt me,' she whined. 'Please...'
Raziel knelt down beside her. 'Lara...'
Lara looked up as she heard that familiar voice. 'Raziel?'
'It is me.' Raziel moved so she had enough room to stand up. 'You wondered what I did in the evenings. Now you know.'
'Raziel...' Lara reached out to touch his chin. Her hand caught his cowl and found utter nothingness. 'Oh god...' She folded up and fainted.
'One for you, Raziel,' Kain said, mirth in his voice.
Raziel scoffed and picked Lara up. 'Just get us home, vampire,' he said.
'With pleasure...'
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When Lara came round, she found herself in a room she recognised. Raziel's! But... where was he? She quickly replayed the events of the evening.
'Glad to see you are awake,' Raziel's voice came floating from the shadows. 'I wondered when you were going to wake up.' He was idly playing with the resonance from the Reaver, winding the strands of white round his fingers. Lara gasped. 'Do not worry,' Raziel said. 'The blade will not harm you.'
Lara backed away from the Soul Reaver, her eyes wide as she beheld the white blade seemingly generated from Raziel's arm. She refused to believe that this demon was infact her best friend. 'I-it's horrible,' she said, backing even further into the wall. 'And... and so... are you.' She looked away from the demon in front of her and saw Raziel's essay sitting on the desk, as well as a number of his personal effects that she knew well. And then, she believed. 'Raziel...'
Raziel would have smiled if he could have. 'Now do you believe it is me?' he asked. Lara nodded, her eyes filling with tears. 'Lara...' Raziel twisted his cowl down so Lara could look at him properly. Lara whimpered, clearly frightened. 'I know my appearance must be strange to you. But I am still Raziel – still your friend.' He pulled the cowl up again to spare Lara the sight of his chinless face. 'I will become human again at first light. But this is my true form.'
'What happened to you?' Lara asked, wiping some tears away.
Raziel sighed. 'Have you got all night?' he said. Lara nodded, so Raziel launched into his story. When he was finished, he sighed again. 'Strange, isn't it?'
'Yeah,' Lara admitted. 'So... you and Kain are here looking for this book, right? And you think it's somewhere in the university, right?'
'Yes,' Raziel said, wondering where her mind was taking her.
'Have you considered the museums?' Lara queried.
'A good plan.' Kain misted through the door, a broadsword held in his hand. 'Raziel, your young friend has some great ideas. We should make use of her knowledge of the city to find the book – if she is not too scared of us, that is.' He gave her a smile, exposing his fangs.
Lara set her jaw. 'I'm not scared of you. Well...' She blushed a little. 'Perhaps you're a little scary, Kain, but Raziel is my best friend and I'm going to help you if he wants me to.'
'Your help would be welcome,' Raziel said. If he could have smiled, he would have. Instead his eyes went a brighter white. He reached out one clawed hand and took Lara's tiny hand in his. 'Thank you.'
Lara smiled. 'What are friends for?'
Raziel was about to reply, but a piercing shriek halted his speech. He suddenly felt light-headed. 'The Reaver!' he said, instinctively leaping up to the box where he kept the shattered fragments of the sword. Opening it, everyone was nearly blinded as bright blue light spilled out into the world.
'What the hell...?' Kain dragged Raziel out of the way and plunged his hand into the box, grabbing a piece of sword. He dropped it almost instantly and slammed the lid shut. 'What is going on? That burned.'
'I can explain.' Moebius materialised. Raziel and Kain's demeanours changed instantly, Lara noted. Raziel took up a crouched position, ready to spring. Kain's hand tightened on the handle of his sword. 'The Reaver is simply reacting to the presence of one with Hylden blood in their veins... Lara.'
Lara nearly fell off the bed. 'What? What do you mean?'
Moebius laughed. 'Did you not wonder why Raziel was so drawn to you, my girl? He sensed something about you. That was it. You have Hylden blood in your ancestry. The Reaver is attuned to these things.'
'Your point being?' Kain snarled. 'You are trying my patience.'
'My point is that you can use Raziel's little PET,' here Moebius threw Lara a disparaging glance, 'as a tracker dog.' He lifted Lara off the bed. 'Sic 'em, little puppy. Sic 'em...'
There was a whum whum noise as the Reaver sprang into life on Raziel's arm. 'You will not speak about my friends in such a manner.' The white blade was frighteningly close to Moebius' throat. 'Drop her.'
Moebius released Lara, who retreated under the safety of the blankets. 'I was merely stating her purpose,' he said, his eyes narrowing. 'She is not of our world, Raziel. Use her like the animal she is...'
'Moebius!' Raziel struck with the Reaver, but Moebius had vanished. 'The bastard...' Raziel growled and the Reaver receded. 'I'll kill him.'
'Again?' Kain asked, smoothly. 'Leave him, Raziel. He did actually have a point. Lara would be able to track the book. If the Reaver reacted to her the way it did, the book and, more importantly Janos, would go mental if she was anywhere near them.' He looked at the sky. Dawn was poking over the horizon. 'Raziel, we are going to transform soon. I shall leave you two alone. I am sure Lara has no wish to see my transformation. Good day.' Kain departed, leaving Raziel and Lara alone.
Raziel winced as he felt the sun touch his body and he felt his human form coming back to him. When he was changed, he wrapped his dressing gown around himself and went over to the bed, where Lara was still a sobbing heap of blankets. 'Lara?'
Lara poked her head out of the cocoon of covers she had made. 'Who was that horrible man?' she asked.
'You mean Kain, or Moebius?' Raziel asked, a mischevious gleam in his eye. 'Moebius is the reason we are here, like I said. And he did have a point about using you to track the book. But he didn't have to put it in such a derogatory manner.'
'I'm used to people talking about me like that,' Lara said. She double taked as she looked at Raziel. 'You're human again.'
'Told you so,' Raziel said, sitting down next to her. 'Which do you prefer?'
Lara blushed. 'Your... weird... blue form is kinda cute,' she said, with a giggle. 'It's your feet, I think.'
Raziel laughed. 'Each to their own,' he said. 'So... are you going to help us, even after what Moebius said?'
Lara nodded vigorously. 'Of course I'm going to help you!' she said. She suddenly flung herself on Raziel, taking him into a hug. 'Raz, I'd go to the ends of the earth for you.'
Raziel closed his eyes and rested his cheek on Lara's soft hair. I hope you don't have to go to the ends of the earth for me, he thought. I dragged you into this, but with your help perhaps we can all get out of here...
^_^ Next chapter... Raziel and Lara kiss! Kain bites off more than he can chew! And Raziel and Kain discover something about this mission that they REALLY didn't need to know... Keep reading and keep reviewing!!!