Chapter 18
Kurtis felt his mind slowly wane into reality as he was woken by a strong beating at the door. The sudden disturbance made him feel nervous, unsure of the cause behind it. He suddenly regretted his decision to stay at the hotel, fearful of whoever had found him, but the extra rest made him feel stronger. He slowly climbed out of the bed, careful not to make a sound. He grabbed his Boran X off of the table beside him and started for the door.
The knocking came again as he proceeded slowly toward it. He raised the gun and carefully unhooked the chain lock above him, then the deadbolt. The door slowly creaked open, and he steadied his sidearm.
A dark figure appeared on the opposite side, its features hidden, consumed by the shadows of night.
"You son of a bitch."a familiar voice suddenly called out. Lara started to come toward him.
"Don't!" Kurtis shouted realizing who the figure was. "Stay back." He steadied the gun to her forehead. "What is she doing here?" His mind questioned. He knew Lara would never have gone back on her decision, even though he had hoped for it before. It couldn't have been her.
"What the hell are you doing?" she angrily asked. She swung at the gun and Kurtis quickly backed away.
He stared at her, confused. "I have to be sure." he spoke, almost to himself.
"What?" Lara loudly asked with sarcasm.. "You think I'm a wraith? That I've been possessed?" her features conformed with hatred as she looked on with anger. "Right now I'd welcome it!"
"If you are Lara, then-"
"Oh, you want proof?" Lara angrily and sarcastically cut in. "I fucked you the other night, is that proof enough!"
Kurtis sighed as he noticed her condition. Her hair was down, flowing to her waist, soaking wet from the rain that pelted down outside. Her shirt was torn, and blood flowed heavily from her forehead. The bandages he had secured upon her two days before where completely gone, bloody scars had taken their place. He wondered what had happened to her, if it was her.
She seemed angered, more than usual if that was possible. The expression she held was unlike anything he had ever seen before, so full of rage, and yet so vulnerable that she seemed on the verge of crying.
Kurtis wasn't sure what to do. Could he trust her? The world depended on his decision. "What if she has been taken?" he thought. "Then what would be the point of going on." He pondered himself as Lara looked on with the twisted face.
Kurtis stared at her with fear, and on a whim he flipped the gun away from her and handed it forward. It was a test, a maybe deadly one, but how else would he ever know? It was easy: if Lara killed him, he had made a poor decision.
He watched with anxiety and fear as Lara quickly stripped the gun from his grasp, and in an instant it was turned back around on him. She gritted her teeth together as she pressed the barrel against his chest.
Kurtis grinned as he stared at her, then closed his eyes, knowing he had made the wrong decision; he had trusted her. It wasn't Lara, but a wraith, a vile creature sent to destroy him. It was his fault, his fault that Lara had been taken, been condemned for simply helping him. He stood still with regret, waiting for the prototype round to blow through his rib cage, waiting for his destiny to be completed.
A strange quiet fell over the room, filling him with fear and anxiety, which was instantly broken as Kurtis felt his Boran X suddenly move from his chest and bash against his skull.
Pain instantly seared through his head, and the forceful blow knocked him back. He heard Lara shout, "It's all your fault!" as he opened his eyes. He jumped with fear as he saw her charge toward him, and then felt his back hit hard against the floor.
"If only I wasn't so stupid for trusting you." Lara yelled, her voice filled with pain and anguish.
Kurtis felt her sitting on his stomach as her hands pummeled into his chest. He could sense Lara grasping his collar, and watched without understanding as she flung his gun back then quickly brought it down, striking it against the side of his face. Kurtis could feel the muscle and bone bruise as the weapon was quickly raised once again, preparing for another swipe across his cheek. He wondered why the wraith was doing this, why was it wasting it's time hurting him, and giving him the chance to get away? It should have killed him by now.
He had to take advantage of the situation, had to take advantage of the wraith's stupidity.
Kurtis quickly kicked up his leg and lifted his waist, which sent Lara flying forward. She landed on her back, opposite of him. Kurtis felt her head behind his own as he quickly flipped himself backwards and landed, sitting on her waist as she had been on him only seconds before. He jerked the Boran X from her hand, and quickly pointed it at the demon's head.
Kurtis stopped. He felt his jaw slightly lower as he saw her face, plagued by tears. She shuddered as he slowly lowered the gun. He leant down, staring at her with confusion. She couldn't have been a wraith; he would have been dead if she had been possessed, and why the hell was she crying? But if it was Lara, she definitely wasn't herself. Kurtis knew that she would never have let him get the best of her. Lara would've kicked his ass by know. Something was wrong.
"Stop!" he shouted while she struggled against him. He was forced to grab her wrist, and slammed them into the floor. "Now," he began, as if to wake her up from some dream that infested her mind. "what's going on!"
Lara suddenly became still, as she looked at him with a fake and painful smile. "You want to know what's going on?" she sarcastically asked. She stared at him with anger. "You ruined my life! Am I such an idiot that I trusted you, that I went, let alone slept with you?"
"What's happened?" Kurtis hurtfully asked with confusion at her words. "I've done nothing to you, and you're here trying to fucking kill me."
"You have done everything." she answered with a slightly more sullen tone that delivered the same presence of anger. "I seek happiness in the one place I treasure and love, only to find it desecrated and taken from me, along with the only person that I could truly call a friend."
"What are you talk-"
"Because of you," Lara cut him off. "my life is ruined."
Kurtis looked at her with pity and confusion.
"They killed him." she outwardly and emotionally stated. "And burnt my home and existence to the ground. Everything I have gained, everything I have earned, is gone because of you. You dragged me into this stupid escapade, you put Winston's life in danger, and you got him killed!" she stopped, her voice lowering with regret. "You ruined my life."
Kurtis instantly released her wrists as her emotions changed to sadness. He watched as she quickly covered her face with her hands and started to cry. He lifted himself off of her, picked her up, and held her in his arms, bringing her to his chest as he gently sat on the closest bed.
As if not remembering that she was trying to kill him moments before, Lara continued sobbing as Kurtis caressed her.
"It wasn't supposed to happen." she muttered so low that Kurtis could barely hear her. "Not to him. Not like that."
Kurtis stared at her, still confused, but no longer scared.
"It's all my fault." she continued. "Not yours. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have stayed here. I'm so stupid."
He held her in wonder, stroking her hair and forehead, starting to understand. He heard her sigh loudly one last time before her body fell limp, and she drifted into unconsciousness.
(-)
She felt the sense of life once again, as a bitter cold attacked her skin. She clenched her fist with the pain of opening her eyes, which burnt from the soreness of previous tears.
As she reached for her face, she realized that the task was impossible. Lara quickly searched her arms to find them tightly tied down to the frame of the uncomfortable chair in which she sat. She tried her legs, but found they too were restrained.
She wondered what had happened. Unsure of-
She felt her eyes suddenly water once again as thoughts of Winston appeared.
She forced the painful memories away, trying to comprehend her current situation. She remembered going to her house, and coming back for Kurtis, though he wasn't around now. She didn't know about being tied up, and figured that she must have passed out.
She forcefully began moving her limbs, desperately trying to break one free. She could feel the rope burning the flesh around her wrists and ankles, slowly eating away the meat and cutting deeper with each strain.
She instantly stopped her movement as the main door out of the motel room suddenly opened and a man walked in. Seeing that it was Kurtis, Lara ceased her attempts to escape.
He acted different, moving with hesitance, like trying not to upset her. Kurtis slowly walked to her with a look of disappointment in his eyes. He leant down and stared at her for several seconds in silence.
"We think so much alike." Kurtis began as Lara looked on with anger. "You thought I was bad and you tied me up. I think you're bad," he slightly smiled at her. "and look where you are."
"Don't trust me?" Lara asked as she stared at the ground.
"I usually don't make it a custom to trust women that try to kill me." Kurtis answered with sarcasm.
"So that happens a lot?" Lara jokingly asked without a smile. He ignored her statement and gently backed away.
Kurtis was glad to see that she seemed to have calmed down. He looked at her, and the condition she was in. Other than the same status of her torn clothes and messy hair, he saw a large bruise on the left side of her face that had appeared overnight. Red stains soaked small parts of her clothing that had stayed solid until being drenched by the force of oncoming blood.
He watched her as she put her head down, as though trying to say something she didn't want to admit.
Lara closed her eyes and forced the words to come out. "I'm sorry." She spoke loudly, not wishing to have to repeat the words. "I wasn't myself last night."
"Don't be sorry." Kurtis began with seriousness. "It's my fault that-"
"No." Lara sternly cut him off, raising her voice. "I shouldn't have stayed here with you. If I'd been there, I could have done something."
"Yeah," Kurtis started with sarcasm. "You could have died." He stopped as he looked away, his words sinking in. He shook his head, "And I wasn't exactly begging you to get off of me that night."
He paused as he saw her slowly lower her head and could tell that she was on the verge of crying once again. He couldn't take seeing her like this because of him. His emotions turned to anger. "Who did this?" He asked with pity and hate.
"Who do you think?" Lara sarcastically asked. "Our ghostly friends."
Kurtis stopped at the mention of the wraiths. He stared at her with surprise ."In their natural form?"
Lara nodded.
"You don't know how lucky you are." Kurtis told her. He couldn't believe she had confronted the demonic creatures and escaped without being possessed.
A fake grin appeared across Lara's face. "I wouldn't call my current situation lucky." She spoke with hatred.
"Why did you come back?" He asked. "Just to kill me? That's what they want."
"I realized that." Lara answered. "So I want to help you, and get rid of those bastards. After they're gone I can kill you."
Kurtis smiled at the words of her last sentence, but stopped as he realized that Lara was serious.
She stared at him, knowing that even though she wanted to kill him, that it had been her choice to leave, and that she had left Winston. She hated herself, and knew that she would forever. The thought of guilt ceased as she heard Kurtis suddenly speak.
"I'm sorry."
"Save it." Lara returned harshly. "What's done is done. Only revenge offers comfort." She instantly looked to Kurtis, realizing what she had said, reminding herself of his revenge. She was forced to smile at him. "Maybe I am like you."
Kurtis returned her expression. "I'll get you loose." He quickly retrieved a knife from his boot and cut the ropes on her legs and arms, even though he still felt as though she would attack him immediately after she was freed.
He was relieved as she simply walked past him, and headed to the sink that stood across the room. He watched her turn the faucet and splash water across her tattered face.
"I can get this room for another night." He offered help. "If you need some more rest."
Lara looked up at him with blank features. "Give me an hour." She grabbed a towel from a nearby rack, and quickly entered into the bathroom.
Kurtis heard the shower cut on, and sat down. He felt selfish for making her help him, and felt even worse at the fact that she now hated him. He shook his head as he closed his eyes with guilt.
Twenty minutes later, Lara emerged from the bathroom already dressed. She grabbed a hairband from her pack, and Kurtis watched her lift the long hair, which reached past her waist, and pull it behind her head.
"Let's go." Lara flatly stated as she walked past Kurtis's form, never turning to speak into his eyes.
Kurtis followed her movement with a stare of confusion. "Might I ask where?" He asked with sarcasm and unsureness.
"Don't you remember?" Lara slightly turned her head back toward him, speaking without expression. "Things haven't changed." She walked out of the cheap room. "We're going to Utah."