Chapter 31

Lara was sick of it, sick of men using her for her body, sick of them depriving her of her innocence.

"God Dammit!" she screamed as she threw herself onto the motel room bed, the feelings instantly bringing back memories of Kurtis, kissing her, touching her, and intimately loving her.

She screamed with hatred, and quickly grabbed the telephone that lay on the night-stand beside her. She forcefully pulled the phone from the wall, and threw it forward, shattering the room's dresser mirror. The room was suddenly still as Lara's movements stalled. She stared forward as her mind comprehended the emotions plaguing her, changing her feelings of hatred to sadness. She felt herself sitting once again on the bed as she buried her head in her hands, wiping away the newly formed tears before they could fall upon her flustered cheeks.

This was too much, too much for her sensitive mind. Her sudden emotions at the graveyard had proved her feelings for Kurtis; she loved him, and had rejected the thoughts of his demise. Now she welcomed it. She shook her head with confusion, unsure of what was happening. "Why?" she muttered lowly. Why would he do this to her? Why would he pretend to love her, just to betray her later? Lara stared at the floor with realization, "Because he wants your child. He wants a Nephilim."

She clenched her teeth before angrily kicking a nearby chair. She should've known better, should've known that men weren't to be trusted. She had done this so many times, disobeyed her instincts and actually opened herself up to a man, making herself emotionally vulnerable and making that person harder to kill in the end.That wasn't the problem now. She wanted to kill him, kill him for lying to her and making her think he cared about her, making her care about him. She would do it now, kill him when he came to her, unsuspecting of anything.

"No." she stopped the thought as her attention was distracted by priority. She had to wait, wait until her wrongful enemies had the Vial before she fractured Kurtis's skull with a bullet.

Her thoughts instantly changed as Mariana entered them. Lara didn't want to trust the wraith, but it was easier not to trust Kurtis.

Lara's movements instantly stopped as a chill ran up her spine. A knock sounded at the door, not one of wanted entrance or welcoming, but one of urgency and fear; it was Kurtis, is was a Nephilim, it was her enemy.

Lara instinctively grabbed a pistol from her holsters and made her way toward the door. She quickly looked through the peephole, confirming her assumptions. She took her eyes away as she saw the man of her previous thoughts, his hair drenched from sweat and the light rain that pelted down outside. He was breathing heavily as though just having completed a strenuous activity, or his anxiety was causing the spastic breaths. Lara stared at the door a long moment with a silent mind, before she quickly leveled her gun with the tiny glass hole. She wanted to pull the trigger; she had to. Kurtis deserved to die, he deserved it for all of the horrible things he had put her through. She had agreed to help him on the day he arrived at her doorstep, agreed to risk her life, which she had done more than once since this horrible reality had began. She had also agreed to let Winston die, just by letting Kurtis step into her house she had agreed to that. He had made her a target, an enemy to the wraiths, and by doing so, Winston had been killed, been killed because of her trust in Kurtis Trent. All of this had spawned from that horrid emotion of actually caring for another human being and believing that their words are those of truth.

"For what?" her mind asked. All of this had happened for what? She had been able to push her sadness aside before, Kurtis's love for her had made it all worth it, had made it better. But now, the truth was out, and his love had been fake, a front to fool her and get her pregnant. She squeezed the pistol tighter at the thought, but her grip instantly loosened as new thoughts occurred, thoughts of her sadness and disappointment over Kurtis's actions.

"Lara?"

She heard him shout loudly from the other side of the thin door. "Are you in there! God please open the door, please tell me you're alright!"

How dare he! How dare he actually pretend to care about her physical status. Her grip tightened once again as she pulled the trigger back, her anger-

Lara stopped, forgetting about her purpose here, forgetting about the Vial. She lowered the gun with unwanted disappointment.

She stared toward the door, quickly wiping away her tears, realizing the condition she was in, the condition of sadness and hatred, a condition that would spur unwanted questions.

She breathed deeply, calming her rage as her fingertips graced the metal door handle. She turned it.

An eerie quiet fell as the door crept open. A single shadowed figure appeared on the opposite side. The man stared in motionless silence as Lara's figure met his eyes, a strange stillness that made her weary. She fought to keep her expression from conforming to a slate of anger as she stared at the man before her. She wanted to kil-

Lara was taken by surprise as Kurtis instantly rushed toward her, his movements so fast that an attack would be impossible to deflect, even by her. That didn't matter however, for Kurtis wasn't attacking her, he was hugging her, tightly wrapping his arms around her lithe body, gently caressing her, and anxiously relieving his mind of horrid assumptions.

Lara breathed deeply as he held her, calming her hatred and desire to fire a bullet into his stomach at that very moment. His body was firm against her own, his shirt drenched in sweat and the smell of testosterone, his manly presence bringing back memories of her lost love for him, and of their intimacy.

She wanted him to let her go, let her go before more of the thoughts emerged, thoughts of how he couldn't be the bad guy, and of how Mariana was just tricking her. "No!" she forced the words away. All the proof was there, all the proof that Kurtis Trent was a Nephilim, and that she was a simple pawn in his fucked up game.

Her want wasn't granted; he didn't let go. His grip never wavered, it only grew tighter.

"I thought I'd lost you." He spoke lightly in her ear, the slight whimper of sadness in his throat.

Kurtis tried his best not to cry as he held Lara in his arms. He wouldn't show weakness in front of her, though the fact that he'd lost her to the wraiths had already proven his cowardliness.

Lara swallowed hard at his words, forcing herself to muster a smile. "You'll never lose me. Why would you think such a thing?"

Lara felt Kurtis's grip loosen as he backed away. She tried her best not to gasp as she saw his face, unwanted tears streaking his cheeks.

"Because Mariana had you." He answered with confusion, wiping away the embarrassing lines of moisture. "I thought she was going to kill you to get back at me."

Lara was silent, unsure what to say, unsure of how to be inconspicuous. "Then why didn't she?" she had to sound unknowing.

"She said that you could help me get the vial."

"What?" Lara began with confusion at the statement. "You spoke with her?"

"Not intentionally." he stated jokingly, but couldn't force a smile. "I was trying to kill her."

Lara didn't understand. If Mariana had been in contact with him, why hadn't she captured him and forced him to go to Silivri herself.

Lara realized Kurtis was staring at her as the thoughts ran through her mind, possibly creating assumptions of her awkward behavior.

No, he was staring at her out of disbelief, out of love. Lara was so confused. Why was he staring at her with such loving eyes? Why was he crying?

He was crying because he'd lost her, crying because he thought she had been dead, crying because he loved-

"No!" she stopped the thought before it could create hope within her. He was crying so he could fool her, make her think that he cared. She felt her hand instinctively hover by her pistol as she looked to him. She forced her angered action to stop as Kurtis continued.

"Lara." his tone was almost mute though his happiness screamed loudly from his wide smile. He quickly neared her.

Lara knew his intentions, and she would have to abide by them. What would have normally been an impossibility occurred as Kurtis grabbed her once again, bringing his lips to her own and kissing her. Lara wanted to scream throughout the act, the horrid tongue of a Nephilim within her mouth. She couldn't stop, this was something she had to do, something to prove her trust in him, though she had none whatsoever. She had already fucked him; the thought made her cringe. This was nothing in comparison.

That's when it happened, Kurtis's hand slowly sliding down her form, wrapping around the back of her thighs as he lifted her off of the floor, gently resting her back against the nearby wall as he spread her legs, wrapping them around his waist.

This couldn't happen. This wasn't going to happen. Kissing him was bad enough, but Lara couldn't even muster the thought of sleeping with him again.

She quickly pressed her hands against his chest as his waist pressed hard against her inner thighs. She gently pushed him back.

"Kurtis," she spoke lightly, grabbing his attention. She searched her mind for an escape from the Nephilim's hold. "I'm really tired." She said the words with a fake smile, trying not to hurt Kurtis's feelings, wanting to hurt him somewhere else.

The fake Lux Veritatis warrior returned her smile as he lightly kissed her once again, then lowered her to the floor. "So am I." he stated as he walked away.

Lara sighed once his back was turned, thankful for his understanding mind, something she had always admired him for when she had thought he was human. "Stop it!"

"We need to get out of here anyway." he continued. "Mariana knows we're here."

Lara nodded her head though her thoughts disagreed. She wasn't sure if leaving the hotel, and her new friend's contact was the best action to carry out. Mariana knew where they would end up however, so everything would be fine, even if they left the Vivec Inn.

"Where are we going?" she asked with a teasing smile, making her pretend-lust for Kurtis more evident as she rubbed her hands against the tone of his back, the act making her sick inside.

"I don't know." He simply told her as he stared into her eyes.

Lara searched for the words, searched for the foolery that would get him to Silivri.

She found it.

"Well where did the scroll tell you to go next?" she asked, forcing herself to hold the smile.

Kurtis's face changed from happiness to distress. "I don't know."

"And why not?" Lara asked with confusion. "You did get the scroll didn't you?"

"No." Kurtis spoke lightly as a smile returned. "I destroyed it."

Lara stared at him with arched bows. "You destroyed it?" she asked. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I don't give a fuck about it anymore." He answered as he neared her. "All I care about is you."

Lara stared at him, her jaw slightly lowered at his words. Maybe he did love her, maybe this Nephilim did. It didn't matter. He was evil, and he would be destroyed.

Lara had to be herself. Any emotion that was unlike her could give her away. "And what about all the other people in this world!" anger filled her words. "Do you care about them!"

Kurtis was silent for a moment before shaking his head. "No."

"Liar!" Lara's mind screamed. "You fucking liar! You don't care about me! You don't love me! If you did, you wouldn't hide behind this mask! You'd tell me who you are, what you are!"

"Kurtis," she spoke to him, calming her emotions, "we have to get that Vial."

"Why?" he returned, confused. "Why do you care so much about the Vial?"

"Because I'm a good person!" she answered. "I look out for more people than myself!"

"What do you think I'm doing!" he argued on the verge of a scream, Lara's not understanding building his frustration. "I'm doing this for you! I'm not gonna loose you again over this fucking Vial!"

"You will lose me." Lara stated, trying to be subtle though still angry inside. "And everyone else on this planet, because once you die, we'll all die. Don't you understand that!"

"Yeah!"

"Then why don't you care!"

"Because its not my problem!"

"Well how long do you think it will be before the wraiths catch up with you, before they kill you and unleash their horrors into the world!"

Kurtis was silent at the words.

"You don't care," Lara continued, a quieted voice "but you should."

An awkward silence fell as the two looked away from one another, their argument dismaying them both.

Lara knew that both their words had been those of untruth. Kurtis didn't care, and neither did she. Neither of them cared because none of it was true. Kurtis had made it all up. No dangers would appear once he died, but absolute peace and reassurance for the world. Lara instantly frowned as the thoughts wavered. She had just caught one of his statements, caught something that made no sense. Mariana had said that Kurtis wanted to find the Vial so that he could create another nephilim. If that was the case, he would never have abandoned his quest to find the Vial like the Kurtis before her had just stated, and he never would've destroyed the scroll. Kurtis wasn't bad, he-

"Just Stop! Please stop!" her mind pleaded for the thoughts to leave her. "You know that he is evil, stop creating false hope. Get him to Silivri, that's all you have to do." She turned back to Kurtis, his hansom features and heavenly body making her sigh with disappointment. He was thinking, thinking about the Vial, and retrieving it. She knew the Nephilim would never stop looking for it.

"It's pointless now." he spoke softly, his anger receding. The scroll's gone. I don't know where-

"Silivri." Lara cut him off. "The Vial's in Western Turkey."

"And how do you know that?" Kurtis was confused by her outburst.

Lara had to answer, had to stretch the truth. "I heard Mariana talking about it when she had me. She said that she's known where it was all along, but she wanted to delay your search, so she kept it to herself."

Kurtis shook his head. "But Mariana wants the Vial." he told her, his frustration rising once again. "If she knew where it was why hasn't she gotten it already?"

"Because she needs you." Lara spoke as she neared him, the words being forced, hoping a mistake would not be made. "The Vial's resting place will only open for you, just like in Annaba."

Kurtis stared at her. "How do you know all this?" he asked with confusion and distrust. "Mariana said you were unconscious."

Lara was silent for a short moment, her mind searching for an answer. She had to agree with the demon's words. "I-I was, at first." she paused. "I woke up in a warehouse and heard her, then they put me out again."

Kurtis was silent, staring at her with steady yet timid eyes. He shook his head, giving in, "Is this what you want?"

"What?"

"For me to get the vial?"

"Of coarse that's what I want." Lara spoke, her voice slightly rising once again. "You should want that too."

Lara watched him, anxious to hear his response, anxious to get to the Vial.

Kurtis stared at the ground, contemplating her request. There was no question. "Fine." he stated under his breath.

Lara felt herself sigh before another silence fell, Kurtis staring at her.

He quickly walked past her, heading toward the door. "Lets get the hell out of here." his voice was sullen. He opened the door as Lara followed behind him.

"What about rest?" Lara asked, trying to convince him to stay. "We both need some, and we'll never reach Silivri before morning, probably not even by tomorrow night."

"I don't care." Kurtis spoke as they left the room. "Mariana knows we're here. I'd rather sleep on the fucking street than stay."

Lara sighed as Kurtis turned his back to her. They quickly went to the bike he had taken, ready to start toward the Vial.