Chapter 28
Kurtis cursed himself as he quickly darted through the graveyard, making his way to the crest of the hill, toward the Constantine Memorial. He had a bad feeling about this, about leaving Lara alone despite the fact the she could take care of herself. Something was telling him to go back, but he couldn't. He knew that Lara's words had been correct. If he didn't get the scroll now, the wraiths would have it. It was only a matter of time.
Kurtis kept his figure in the shadows, hiding it from the frequent passing demon that would rush down the hill, searching for the cause of all the gunfire, seeming to appear from nowhere. There were so many of them, so many wraiths that were advancing on Lara's position. She would never be able to kill them all, not from lack of skill, but from lack of ammunition. He cringed at the sounds erupting from behind him, the enemy's machine rifles firing at a solitary target, possibly meeting their marks.
He listened for the sound of ease, the firing of the 9mm pistols, and occasionally the loudness of a shotgun. The sounds meant that Lara was still alive, still defending her position for him.
Kurtis pressed his back against a nearby tombstone as the sound of rapid footfalls passed beside him. He sighed with relief as the wraith continued down the hill, never knowing he was there.
Kurtis cursed himself. What was he doing? The more wraiths that advanced down the hill, meant the more enemies Lara would have to face.
Kurtis quickly left his position, searching for the wraith that had just ran by. He spotted the creature's back as he gripped his churigai and slung it forward.
The demon's host connected with the stiff earth of the cemetery as the blade pierced the base of its back. The ancient weapon left its placement as fast as it had been planted their, as Kurtis lifted his hand, bringing the blade back toward him, and then slinging it onto his belt.
He quickened his pace as he headed back up the hill, wanting to get back to Lara as quickly as possible. The crest was their, he passed it. Now it would be easy to-
Kurtis felt his jaw drop as he stared at the vision before him. His route to the Constantine Monument wasn't as he had hoped. The path wasn't clear, it was opposite. At least a dozen wraiths blocked his way, searching the grounds for something, something of importance. The scroll!
Kurtis quickly crouched behind one of the smaller gravestone as the creatures directed their eyes toward him. The silence that followed was a welcomed one. They hadn't seen him.
Kurtis cursed in a whispered voice as he shook his head. The sounds behind him had changed, and he rarely heard the fire of Lara's weapons. He had to hurry.
He exhaled deeply, readying himself for the battle that would follow. He gripped his blade in one hand and his pistol in the other as he dove from his cover, aiming his Boran X at the first wraith he saw.
(-)
Lara angrily slung her pistols back into her holsters, her last clip jammed into the left one. She retrieved her shotgun once again, and gasped loudly as a wraith appeared on the mausoleum roof above her, and quickly leaped down. Lara lifted the barrel to the figure and fired, sending the creature's body back atop the extravagant tomb.
She reloaded her shotgun, knowing that this would be the last time she could, her final ammunition being shoved into the chamber.
She held the weapon tightly to her chest as she pressed her back firmly against the wall behind her. She didn't have enough shells to advance on the wraiths any longer. They would have to come to her.
Her eyes timidly scanned the space around her, waiting for one of the demon's to appear beside her, waiting to greet the creature with a metalbarrel.
She stared at the hill to her left, wondering if Kurtis were still alive, and if he was, whether he already gotten the scroll and was making his way back to her, or whether he had retrieved the artifact and abandoned her.
She didn't want to think of such things, and forced herself not to. Her thoughts were interrupted as a figure appeared in the shadows beside her. Her hope that it was Kurtis faded as the form began to growl, flashing its blood stained teeth. Lara leveled her gun and fired.
(-)
Mariana stared at the mausoleum at the base of the hill, a person she hated more than any human she had ever seen, hiding behind it. Lara was in the company however, of someone else, someone she needed and wanted.
The demon cursed as another of her wraiths dashed around the building's corner, only to fly back from its position, a huge hole in the creature's chest. Her plan was being delayed. She wanted to take Kurtis and Lara alive, but was she really necessary? Kurtis was the one who would retrieve the Vial, not Lara. "But the Master wants her." Mariana's reminded herself. "He wants Lara Croft alive."
The demon cursed loudly at the thoughts. Her Master would receive just that. He would receive the Vial, and Miss Cr-
Mariana stopped herself as a single gunshot sounded in the distance, behind the cemetery's crest, and was then followed by several more. The shots were familiar, fired by a gun that she knew very well, Kurtis's Boran X.
The demon smiled as she stared at the hiding place of her enemy, the hiding place of Lara Croft. "She's alone."
Mariana signaled her hands forward, directing the wraiths that surrounded her to take position around the mausoleum below them, and retrieve the woman who hid behind it.
(-)
Kurtis never wavered physically or mentally as he fired upon the wraiths that surrounded him. Seven of the creature's had already fallen to the power of the prototype bullets piercing through their bodies.
He quickly unleashed his churigai forward, rapidly disposing of four of the remaining creatures, before firing a single bullet through the final demon's head.
The creature collapsed as death consumed it, and Kurtis quickly rushed toward the monument that stood before him, its opened doors welcoming him to enter. His feet met the structure's marble stairs as he forced its door's open wider, and hurriedly entered the sacred place.
The marble and gold interior of the structure would've impressed anyone other than him. His mind was too eager to find the next step in his destiny to gawk over formal architecture, but more than that, he was too eager to get back to Lara.
His eyes rapidly scanned the space around him, searching for the object he needed though he wasn't sure where to look. The monument was large inside, so large that Kurtis new he wouldn't find the scroll in time to get back and help the woman who desperately waited for him at the cemetery's entrance.
"Fuck this." he spoke aloud, knowing that the threat to the scroll was now gone. He had killed all of the wraiths that may have found it, and there was no need to worry with it anymore. Lara was more important.
He quickly ran from the elegant building and his lungs tasted the stale air of the cemetery once again. He forced his tired legs forward, and back toward the opposite side of the hill. Kurtis felt himself gasp at a reality he hadn't noticed before. The distant gunfire had stopped.
(-)
Lara desperately whipped her shotgun forward, connecting it hard with one of the approaching wraiths' throats. She had run out of ammo over five minutes ago, and she could feel the muscle in her arms slowly giving way as she tried to break free from the wraiths approach. There were too many off them, almost double the amount she had seen enter the cemetery when she had been with Kurtis. Where had they all come from?
Lara fiercely slung the butt of her gun to the left, breaking a wraith's nose as she kicked another in its chest.
The creatures continued their advance, and Lara sighed out of fear as she felt her back touch the wall of the mausoleum. She was pinned down with nowhere to go. It was hopeless.
She desperately slung the weapon forward once again, but the force wasn't enough, and the wraiths continued toward her. She stared at the single demon that stood right in front of her, and watched as it slightly opened its mouth, flashing demonic teeth before letting out a monstrous growl.
Lara smiled out of fear as she watched it. It was over. She'd died for Kurtis Tre-
The wraiths had stopped.
Lara stared at them with confusion as the creatures slowly began to back away from her. There minds had completed the act simultaneously as if something were controlling them, telling them to back away and let her go free.
One fear was replaced by another as Lara spotted the cause of the wraith's sudden generosity. Mariana walked hastily through the band of demons, a crooked smile gracing her evil features.
Lara lifted the shotgun as the leader of the wraiths continued toward her. She leveled the weapon to the demon's head though she knew her ammunition was depleted. "Hope for a miracle." she told herself as she pulled the trigger.
Silence followed. Lara fell with hopelessness, and Mariana smiled.
Lara was silent, and didn't move as the demon took the weapon from her hands. Mariana eyed the shotgun before nodding with approval of the weapon's craftsmanship. "Very nice." she stated as she turned back to Lara. "It will work just fine."
Lara watched as the weapon hurriedly sailed toward her face. An unbearable pain erupted within the side of her head, but quickly faded as darkness consumed her, and unconsciousness took her mind.
(-)
Kurtis breathed deeply as he ran up the steep incline. He pushed his tiredness aside, consumed with worry at what may have happened on the other side of the hill's crest. The ground slowly peeled away as he continued forward, rushing like he never had before. The earth turned to a darkened sky as he reached the highest point of the incline. He stared.
Emptiness and abandoned space met his eyes and Kurtis fought to remain standing. The wraiths were gone, the remaining being nothing but piles of dead flesh upon the dew-covered ground.
Nothing moved within the cemetery, and Kurtis realized then that Lara was gone as well, either taken by the wraiths, or as one of the dead bodies that lye before him.
His emotions were blank as he rushed down the hill, rapidly heading toward the mausoleum that had served as Lara's hiding place. He scanned the dead bodies as he approached, fearfully hoping that none of them belonged to her.
None of them did, and Kurtis sighed with relief as he hurriedly continued back toward the mausoleum. He prayed to a god, whom he didn't believe in, that she would be resting behind the building, not lifeless as the others were, but strong with her heart still beating.
His movements slowed as the building grew closer, his anxiety causing him to hesitate. He forced himself to continued around the side of the structure, forced himself to witness the truth of what had happened. He didn't breathe as he reached the other side of the mausoleum. His eyes met something he hadn't expected, nothing.
Kurtis shook his head at the empty space before him, confused at what he saw. He stopped as realization entered his mind. "They've taken her."
"No." Kurtis spoke softly as he left the building's side. He desperately called Lara's name throughout the cemetery, not caring if the enemy were still around. Silence followed his shouts as he delivered them, giving proof to his assumptions. The wraiths had taken her.
Kurtis fell to his knees as the thought took him. He cursed himself for leaving her alone, and wanted to cry at the thought of what Mariana would do to her.
He felt himself jump as a loud noise sounded beside the mausoleum where Lara had been hiding. He anxiously began toward it, not granting hope that it was Lara to his thoughts, for fear of being disappointed.
He stared at the stone structure, his hand gripped firmly around his Boran X, unsure what was to come. The grip loosened as the vision became clear. The noise had been caused by the door of the mausoleum falling forward, and connecting hard with the ground.
He stared at the darkness that stood before him, the open tomb beckoning him to come forward for an unknown reason. He obeyed his instincts as he continued toward the mausoleum, its sides now desecrated by bullet holes.
His form was consumed by darkness as he entered the ancient resting place of some unknown human. He ignored the unbearable smell the tomb held as he walked deeper into the darkness.
Kurtis caught himself from falling forward as his form was met by a structure of some kind. He gasped with slight fear as a candle instantly caught aflame beside him, triggering from nothingness. An immense light flooded the room, despite the small size of the candle from which it emerged.
Kurtis stared at the flame with anxiety before turning back toward the structure he had run into. He gasped once more.
Kurtis stared at the podium with disbelief which immediately turned to anger. The image had met his eyes before, first in Utah, and then in Samandira, the image of an ancient scroll atop a cursed platform.
Kurtis shook his head as he stared at the rolled paper, realization entering his mind. The scroll had never been in the Constantine memorial, it had been here, waiting for centuries, waiting for him to finish his third test, the test of losing Lara Croft.
He angrily took the scroll from its placement atop the raised podium, and quickly opened it. He read the cursed message with a saddened yet enraged expression.
"The third test of caring has been achieved. For no one can be the true savior without compassion for his fellow man. The faith is of great importance, but lacks in comparison to the true means behind the faith, its people."
Kuris shook his head with hatred. His test had been of importance and caring, whether he chose to save a life, or to retrieve something that would have saved his own. He didn't understand. He hadn't saved a life, the wraiths had taken it away from him, they had taken her.
Kurtis wanted to scream with hatred toward the Lux Veritatis. They had ruined his life once again, to the point now that he could care less whether or not he found the vial. All he wanted was to find Lara. "Fuck them."
Kurtis angrily threw the scroll to the ground, not reading its statement of his next test, and not caring if he did. He kicked the lit candle to the ground, and watched without regret as the scroll turned to ashes before his eyes, consumed by the flames that devoured it. The fire spread quickly throughout the room, and Kurtis watched as it engulfed the rotten corpses that were placed throughout the mausoleum.
He was silent as he left the ancient building, and didn't look back as the entire tomb erupted in flames.
He made his way toward the cemetery's gates, and quickly walked through them, exiting this cursed place, and hoping he would never see it again. He stopped with slight surprise as several vehicles met his eyes, vehicles of the deceased wraiths, who no longer demanded the need of transportation. All of the assorted cars were black, their brands BMW, something easy to spot in such a minor country. That's how he would find them.
Kurtis quickly walked to one of the abandoned motorcycles that was parked beside a large tree. He angrily kicked away the bike's lower facing and redirected its wiring, making the need for an ignition key pointless. He slung himself onto the vehicle and quickly turned the throttle. He stopped, his eyes distracted by a bright object upon the dark ground beside his feet. He curiously directed his hands toward the object, picking it up. The figure was nothing more than a scrap of paper, but the words the paper held caused Kurtis to shake with anger.
"You want her back, come to the Sinthium Warehouse in downtown Cerkezcoy tonight, not before 11pm, and no later than midnight."
Kurtis threw the paper to the ground as he forcefully kicked away the motorcycle's kickstand. His teeth were clenched as he sped onto the dirt backroad, ready to find Lara, and ready to kill the bitch who had taken her.