Chapter 33

"No!" Mariana screamed as she dove forward, her hands gripping the pistol in Lara's hand, deflecting it away as the bullet in its chamber flew from the barrel, spinning toward the final Veritatis warrior, missing his head by mere inches. A mark that would've been met had the weapon's aim not been slightly altered.

Kurtis felt his hands wrap quickly around his head as the stone wall beside him exploded into pieces from the force of an iron round. He lowered his body out of surprise and instinct.

"You fool!" he heard shouted in the head wraith's voice, her anger centered at Lara. He slowly raised his head and watched as the demon took the gun from Lara's grasp. He stared at his would be killer, her face completely blank, all emotion gone with the tears, dissolved by rage. Kurtis wanted to scream with sorrow as he realized what had happened. Lara had fired a gun at him. She would've killed him.

He wished she had.

Lara closed her eyes as the demon yelled at her, insulting her foolish ways. She deserved it. Lara knew that they needed Kurtis alive, needed the brand upon his shoulder to open the cavern before them, to retrieve the Vial. "I'm sorry." she spoke to the creature as she stared at Kurtis, his eyes watering with sadness from her previous act, her act of trying to kill him. His emotions were fearful, unsure of what had just happened.

Why was he so upset? Was it his knowing that he was about to die? Or-

"Weren't expecting this were you Kurtis?" Mariana broke Lara's thoughts as she neared the whimpering man before them. "For Miss Croft to realize the truth?"

The words were blank once again in his ears, his attention captured by Lara and only her.

"I told her everything," Mariana continued as she rubbed her hand around Kurtis's collar, "everything from your brand being connected to the Nephilim, to your true purpose at the Strahov in Prague, everything that would make the hate that she should have for you arise." the demon paused as she looked back to Lara and smiled, then met Kurtis's gaze once again. "I told her to get you here, and she has. She's very reliable." the demon paused and instantly raised Lara's gun, leveling it with its owner's forehead. "And very gullible."

Lara felt herself stop with awed fear as her own 9mm pistol was suddenly pointed toward her head, Mariana holding the gun tightly. She looked back to Kurtis as realization entered her mind. Kurtis hadn't lied, it was Mariana, a trick to get the Veritatis warrior where the demon had wanted him, a trick to get the Vial.

Lara gasped loudly as she cupped her mouth with surprise, tears instantly streaming down her face. She fell to her knees and covered her face with her arms, her mind torturing her with previous actions and idiotic assumptions. She could've killed Kurtis, she would've killed him.

She sighed loudly as sorrowful moans poured from her throat.

"I have to say thank you Lara." Mariana spoke as she stared at the figure cowering upon the ground. "Thank you for finishing my work for me and getting Mr. Trent exactly where I need him." she laughed. "You're a really stupid bitch."

The demon turned away from Lara and looked back to Kurtis.

He ignored her. His eyes were steady against the ground, brows slanted with hate, staring at the woman before him, the woman he had once loved, that love abandoned by betrayal and hatred. He watched with never wavering eyes as Lara slowly lifted her head and stared at him, her eyes red with self-hatred, her mouth muttering the words "I'm sorry" over and over again before her head disappeared under her arms once again. The words meant nothing to him because his emotions were those of nothingness, all feelings consumed by his disbelief and anger of betrayal.

"Now," Mariana began as she studied the stone structure wavering behind Kurtis, "it's time to finish what you've started, it's time to retrieve the Vial." she walked back to him, his eyes still trained upon Lara Croft. "Open the door. Uncover the Veritatis brand and let me finish my assignment."

Lara breathed spastically as she heard the demon's words. This was all her fault. She couldn't let Mariana get the Vial, she wouldn't let her. Her history of betrayal had caused her to overreact to mere assumptions of Kurtis's true status as her companion, and now she would renew herself; she would stop the bitch who had deceived her.

Fear entered Lara's mind as she looked to Kurtis as he slowly arose to a stand. His hand gripped his collar, pulling his shirt down, ready to reveal the Veritatis brand to the stone doorway, ready to open the sacred cavern and give the Vial to Mariana. What was he thinking?

"Kurtis don't!" Lara shouted as she reached toward him. "You can't open the doorway!"

"Why!" Kurtis screamed as he turned fiercely toward Lara, his sudden anger frightening her and the demon that stood beside him. "Why does it matter anymore! You don't give a fuck about what happens to me, so neither do I!"

Lara watched with heightened anxiety as Kurtis turned back toward the doorway, lowering his shirt further, revealing the brand completely and causing the structure before them to violently crack as a red glow emerged from its center. She wanted to cry at his actions. He was giving in because of her, because she had turned on him, because she hadn't returned his love, only distrust. That didn't matter now, what mattered was the Vial. It couldn't meet Mariana's grasp.

She had to act, had to get her and Kurtis safely within the cavern's door without Mariana following behind. She watched as the doorway suddenly began to spread, creating an opening for the evil wraiths around them to enter through.

"Yes!" Mariana shouted as the stones began to separate, welcoming her inside, welcoming the destruction of the world.

Lara had to do something now. She knew that Kurtis's mind would never change, his love had been destroyed and now he didn't care. He was giving in to the evils around him, showing the brand and unlocking the door. Lara had to stop him.

She stared at the doorway, waiting for an opportunity, hoping that her sudden assumptions were correct, hoping that the door would close if the brand was taken away, covered up, its powers blocked from the enormous stones. She watched timidly as the door inched open, Kurtis directly in front of it, her behind him, as it opened wider, a foot, two, three; they could make it through.

Lara forgot her feelings of guilt as she rushed forward, Mariana faced away from her, unsuspecting of anything. She pushed her hands forward as they met the upper part of Kurtis's back, forcing him forward and passed Mariana, Lara following swiftly behind his forced movements.

Mariana gasped as Kurtis's form suddenly fled beside her, Lara behind him, the two rushing quickly through the three foot crevice of the stone before her. "No!" she screamed as their bodies disappeared into the darkness beyond the doorway. Their quick advance wasn't the problem however, but the fact that the door quickly began to return to its original placement, closing her path to the Vial, her path to Kurtis and Lara. She gritted her demonic teeth as she dove forward, uncaring of the risk of being crushed between the giant structure, only wishing entrance to the ancient cavern, housing her life's goal, the Vial of Kindred Shadows. Her body met darkness as she continued forward, the doors closing rapidly behind her.

Mariana's feet planted firmly against stone as her body rolled forward. A loud noise sounded behind her, the sound of stone connecting with stone, the sound of the ancient door closing. She smiled; she had made it into the Lux Veritatis ruins, she had made it to her destiny. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light of the room the surrounded her, her mind remembered the two other pursuers of the Vial. She timidly scanned the room, a simple entry hall, lit faintly by the ever familiar torches. A pair of wooden double doors graced the opposite wall, still swaying from the force of a rushed entry.

Lara Croft and Kurtis Trent were nowhere to be seen.