Chapter 25
Lara felt her body pull forcefully forward before it slammed into her seat once again as the vehicle suddenly came to a halt. Her lungs worked spastically with fearful surprise as her eyes blinked wildly out of confusion. Her jaw was down, revealing a stunned expression as she slowly turned to Kurtis, not believing the rate of speed they had reached while traveling to their current location.
She had never been terrified in a vehicle before, another first that Kurtis Trent had given her.
He stared at the digital clock, directing Lara's eyes away from him. It was 3:00am, two hours earlier than their expected arrival.
"Early enough?" Kurtis asked with prideful sarcasm.
Lara simply nodded her head and quickly looked at her surroundings, trying to forget the 90mph turns of her previous ride.
She stared at a sign 100 yards away written in the city-state's native tongue. "Cerkezcoy Private Cemetery." Then subtitled by, "Constantine the Great Memorial. Tours- 6:am to 7pm."
Lara smiled as she quickly left the car and grabbed her imported bag from the back seat. She threw it upon the soft ground and opened it as Kurtis appeared at her side.
Kurtis stared with confusion and slight fear as Lara quickly sorted through the contents of the bag.
He watched her place a shoulder holster over her neck, and fill its placements with a set of fully automatics, considered illegal in this part of the world. She retrieved an assault shotgun from the pack and hooked it to her back using the straps of her backpack. She hid a knife within the leather side-straps of her right black boot, then finally reloaded the ammunition in her trademark 9mms, still strapped to her thighs. She grabbed a flashlight from the bag to complete the militaristic design.
Lara looked to Kurtis and as he held a startled look, much like hers had been in the car earlier. "Would you like anything?" Lara asked as she kicked open the bag further, revealing its remaining contents.
Kurtis stared at the weapons before him, another set of uzis and a sawed-off, plus a large arrangement of smaller weapons, knives and grenades.. He casually turned down her offer, either not wanting to use the assortment of remaining weapons, or simply not knowing how to.
Lara shrugged her shoulders before tossing the bag back into the car and walking past him, eyes locked forward. "Let's go."
Kurtis took that moment to reload his own weapon, Lara's apparent assumptions of danger causing fear to enter his mind.
He quickly followed her to the cemetery's gates and stared at their elegance, contemplating his route through them. They were tall, constructed of periodically placed cement columns that rose well over fifteen feet, and were decorated with carvings of angels and greeters of death. Between the placements, the traditional horror-movie-look was present, constructed of black iron bars spaced evenly, but too close to squeeze through.
The iron structures created the cemetery's gates, held together tightly by a thick steel chain, which was finally adorned with a large pad lock.
Kurtis kept a sharp eye on the wilderness that stood all around them, wrapping around the graveyard, creating a second gate to protect the holy place. The trees seemed alive as a slight breeze carried their limbs into an elegant dance. Their shadows created a blanket of death, darkening the night and making their enemies harder to see.
The cemetery was literally abandoned at that time, giving the wilderness in which it resided an even eerier feel.
Lara quickly clicked on the flashlight, and shown it upon the lock that waited before them. She held the light in place with her mouth, and used her two hands to vigorously tug on the placement to no avail.
She considered her guns to blow the lock out of place, but decided against it, being that the shot would've been heard throughout a small town that resided less than a mile away. She quickly retrieved the six inch, razor edged knife from her boot and dug its tip into the lock's opening.
Kurtis stared into the nearby forest as an unknown and frightened feeling entered his stomach. It was a noise, a sound of some kind within the wilderness that spawned his timidness. Something was watchin-
Kurtis jumped out of surprise as the words "Dammit." sounded loudly behind him. He quickly spun, expecting to see Lara, tackled to the ground by a beast of some kind. She instead, was searching impatiently upon the ground for the flashlight which had just fallen from her mouth.
She angrily retrieved it and shone its light back upon the lock, forcefully shoving the knife into the keyhole once again as Kurtis appeared beside her.
He held a fragile smile as he watched her fight to open the lock with frustration. "You know," he began, knowing his powers could open the gate easily. "I could just-"
"Shutup." Lara cut him off with slight fret, though a smile still appeared across her lips. "I'm going to open this damn lock on my own, even if it takes-" Lara shoved the knife into an upward motion and a loud noise followed. The lock stood open, and she turned to Kurtis with assurance in herself."-all damn night."
Kurtis watched with a grin as she forcefully shoved the knife back into her boot. He started toward her, astonished that such an amazing person could actually be helping him.
Kurtis was forced to stop as the distant noise suddenly came to his attention once again. It was within the nearby forest to their left, a slight disturbance, barely loud enough to hear, but nevertheless there. It was a bristling sound, the sound of feet upon fallen leaves, crushing their dead forms, and making the culprit's presence known. Whoever it was, they weren't very smart for giving away their position, or either they didn't care.
"Do you hear something?" Lara asked as she stared into the wilderness, shifting her eyes to the subject of his gaze.
Kurtis felt her hand upon his shoulder and turned to her, frustration in his eyes as he shook his head. "Probably just the next test."
"Then we'd better hurry." Lara stated as she forcefully brought her foot into the air and shoved it into the cemetery's gates, leaving them gaped open, and throwing the steel chain to the ground. "We need to have a better defensive position before confronting whatever your test it."
Kurtis closely followed as Lara made her way into the desolate burial grounds. The space around them instantly filled with cement and stone, raising high above them, anywhere from ten to fifteen feet into the sky, and none lesser. All the gravestones held a commanding presence, causing the eyes to lose focus, unsure which placement to gaze upon first, the modern ones with their new carvings and statements of the people that occupied the earth below, or the ancient ones offering mystery within their bare facing, all scripture of their occupants torn away by wind and erosion. Large mausoleums also appeared periodically throughout the cemetery, some larger than a small house that would've been well suited for a moderately sized family. The structure's architecture was constructed so beautifully for such a horrid occasion.
Lara, though overwhelmed by the history that appeared all around, held her hands firmly around the pistols at her thighs as she read the remaining scriptures upon the decaying stones, ready for anything.
Kurtis felt less intrigued by the ancient gravestones, and timidly scanned the area that loomed behind them, ready as well.
The graveyard was smaller than one might have expected. Though it curved over the horizon and continued on for several acres, it was nothing in comparison to the militaristic cemeteries that had been scattered all over the world, but nevertheless was impressive.
"Where is Constantine's memorial?" Lara asked as she slowly continued forward, carefully padding her footfalls within the dew covered grass of morning.
"It's a tall building in the center of the grounds." Kurtis explained as he pointed to a nearby hilltop. "We should be able to see it when we're over that rise."
Lara's pace slightly quickened with anxiousness, and she held her hands firmly beside her holsters as they made their way up the slightly steep incline. Her eyes moved spastically throughout her surroundings, studying every tombstone, waiting for a threat of some kind to spring from behind each one.
The crest of the hill became closer as the companions continued their accent, until it finally fell away, and the heart of the burial grounds appeared before them. A huge depression, almost crater-like, graced the center of the cemetery. It was a perfect bowl shape, and in its center, rising above all of the intricate gravestones, was a large marble building, lined with ancient tablets, used to state its purpose. The Constantine Memorial was much larger than the other mausoleums in the graveyard. Its domed ceiling was colored gold, and shone brightly with reflections of the moonlight. The structure itself was squared, with the carvings of saints holding position in each of its sides, placed randomly to make room for the building's entryway.
Lara stared at the bronze doors with confusion, their hinges curved outward, making them gape open and greet the companions inside. She turned to Kurtis with disarray at the sight of the opened entrance to the memorial. "The doors are open."
Kurtis stared at the large building with a baffled expression. The doors would never have been opened in the middle of the night, unless it were being robbed, but the cemetery's gates had been tightly locked. There was something going on, something dealing with him. "But what about the test?" Kurtis asked with confusion. "The doors shouldn't be opened. I haven't done anything yet."
"Maybe you have." Lara smiled as she turned to him. "Not all noble traits come in physical form."
Kurtis was silent at her words, unsure of there meaning, yet he understood them perfectly. He didn't fully believe them however. He had a strange feeling about the ancient monument.
He saw Lara start her decent toward the towering building, and quickly grabbed her arm before she could step further. "Maybe we should wait until daylight." he told her, feeling that something was wrong. "It'll be safer that way."
Lara stared at him with arched brows, "What do you mean?"
"My last two tests nearly got us killed." He explained. "I really don't feel like getting snuck up on in the dark. We'd be better off-"
Kurtis suddenly felt his body being jerked to the ground.
Lara gripped her hand tightly around his collar as she stared forward in a crouched position. Her instant response to get out of sight had kicked in from a disturbance of some kind. She was watching their path from the gate with timid eyes. Something was there.
Kurtis stared at her unwavering gaze. "What do you see?"
"Movement." She simply stated. "By the main gate." Her eyes turned wide as the movement came into focus. She sighed as the sight of their enemy appeared before her, their demonic human forms leering anxiously around the cemetery's entrance. She turned back to Kurtis with disbelief and anxiety. "We should've kept a better eye on our backside."
Kurtis looked forward with confusion before his jaw slightly fell. He watched with fear as over a dozen wraiths started into the graveyard, their human eyes scanning anxiously through its space, waiting greedily to find Kurtis Trent and seal his fate. "How could they have followed us?" he asked with confusion. "I killed them all at the cathedral."
"They're not the same." Lara answered, still staring at the creatures that searched below.
"But they'd have to be." Kurtis returned, his voice filling with fear and disarray. "No one else would've known we were comi-"
"Shh!" Lara quieted him as her eyes met one of the demonic enemies, a familiar form with its blonde hair and leather suit. This figure had brought the wraiths to them. Lara clenched her fist at the vision. She would enact her revenge tonight. "I think I know how they followed us." She turned to Kurtis with a fake grin. "Your friend is here."
Kurtis looked to the gates at her words before crouching further to the ground with fear at the sight of Mariana. "Fuck!" He yelled with a whispered tone, not wanting his voice to carry. He shook his head with worry. 'We can't do this. It's to dangerous. Not with Mariana."
"Come on Kurtis." Lara returned with a smile. "After some of the things I've seen you do, this should be simple." She paused as she glanced back at the opened doors of the Constantine Memorial, her expression changing to concern. "Other than that, the next scroll is already free for us to take. If we don't get it first, the wraiths will have it, and then they'll have the Vial." She stared at Kurtis with agitated eyes, slightly angered by his hesitance. "We have to do something now or it will all be over, no matter how dangerous it is."
Kurtis looked deep at Lara, disbelieving of her determination. She was doing all of this for him, doing all of this after everything that had happened to her. He felt selfish at that moment, and sighed at the realization of her words. They did have to act now, before the wraiths could take things any further. He nodded his head as Lara stared at him. She smiled within though she didn't show it; her impatience had covered it up.
Lara was silent as she studied her surroundings, planning a defense against the demonic humans. She watched the wraiths, walking with slight hesitance toward the hill's crest. She smiled at their fear. They must have seen Kurtis's destruction in Samandira.
Lara cautiously stood and directed Kurtis toward her. They quickly fled to their right, and hid in the large shadow of a tall mausoleum. Lara slowly peered around the building's side, watching the wraiths as they slowly made their advance. There were three main groups of the creatures, at least four of them in each.
One of the groups was nearer to their position, and the others followed behind, slightly distanced apart. She looked to Kurtis and softly whispered her plan.
"Stay here." she instructed him. "The wraiths will have to pass through these shadows to get to the monument, and when the first group does, take them out."
Kurtis held a worried expression as he listened. She hadn't mentioned staying with him. "What about you?"
"I'm going to circle to the right." she explained. "I'll take the last group out from behind. Then we can advance on the center group together."
Kurtis thought a moment before shaking his head with doubt.
Lara sighed with impatience. "Listen." She grabbed his shoulders, trying to convince him. "This is the only way to kill them. If we take them out a little at a time then-"
"What about Mariana?" Kurtis cut her off. He stared at Lara's eyes, instant hate filling them, hate toward the bitch who had ruined her life just as the same demon had ruined his. He knew her thoughts. She was going after her, she was going after Mariana. Kurtis shook his head and grabbed her, trying to erase the thoughts from her mind. "I know you want her Lara, but it isn't gonna turn out the way you want it to."
Lara stared at him, the words slightly sinking into her mind. She had never wanted anything more than to see the blood of Mariana covering her hands, but Kurtis was right. Her hopes would never come true. It would turn out opposite, her blood upon the hands of Mariana. Lara closed her eyes, forcing different words to come, giving up on herself and her revenge. "Avoid her."
Kurtis sighed with relief at Lara's words.
"If she wants you," Lara continued, slightly fretted, "she'll go after you. Then I'll take out the remaining wraiths once she's occupied."
"So I"m the bait?" Kurtis stated with a smile.
"Is their another position that you would prefer?" Lara returned with sarcasm.
Kurtis grinned jokingly. "I could think of a few."
Lara returned his smile and raised her brows with a teasing fashion before starting away from him and heading toward the far end of the mausoleum. She turned to him before beginning her pursuit toward the wraith's left flank. "Remember," she whispered, "kill them quickly and quietly. Do it in the shadows." she smiled with excitement that Kurtis couldn't comprehend. "We don't want them to know where we are."
Kurtis sighed with worry as Lara vanished from his sight, disappearing around the building's corner. He quickly positioned himself to the mausoleums edge, waiting for the wraiths to circle its side and meet him, waiting to attack. He closed his eyes to rid himself of horrid thoughts, thoughts of Lara being killed as she snuck around the cemetery trying to fulfill his destiny. He forced the images away, knowing that she would never have thought such things about him.
Kurtis suddenly straightened himself against the marble wall as a faint noise sounded on the mausoleums side, footsteps slowly growing louder, coming closer toward him. He gripped his churigai tightly between his fingers, ready to face the demons that were slowly advancing on his position.