Slouching Toward Bethlehem
A continuation of Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness.
Disclaimer:
I do not own any recognisable characters that appear in this piece of fiction. Lara Croft, Kurtis Trent and others are property of Eidos and Crystal Dynamics. The only thing I own is some OCs and the plot. This story was written for pleasure only. I am making no profit from this story.
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» Chapter Eight: The Prague City Archives »
If she'd known Kurtis had just been watching the exact same news report she might have been relieved. Actually, she would have kicked his ass for scaring her like that. As it was she now sat in a gloomy little bar, eyes glued to the television set in the corner. She didn't need to understand every word to get the gist of the news report; obviously they wanted Kurtis in for questioning about the events at the hospital. She knew straight away that the police barricade in place at the hospital had something to do with Karel and his wanting of Kurtis.
She soon found her glass empty, and called for a refill. Absently she realised she'd been drinking a lot lately, and if she continued on like this any longer she might become an alcoholic. She raised an eyebrow at the thought and took a gulp of brandy, reassuring herself that she had way too much self-control for that to happen.
Two glasses later she left the bar, hugging her arms and cursing herself for wearing a tank top in this weather. Not that she had any other clothes to wear anyways. It was getting late and she decided to find somewhere to spend the night, checking into the first hotel she came to and practically throwing herself onto the bed. She fell asleep instantly, and when she woke up it was already late morning.
She took a shower and changed into her spare set of clothes, realising she was running out of clean garments. The majority of the morning and early afternoon was spent collecting information about Kurtis' whereabouts from the newspapers and television, but the Prague press had less of a clue then she did.
Not about to admit defeat, she decided to redirect her energies towards researching into the Nephilim, hoping to find some information about Karel and what he might need a Lux Veritatis warrior for. She found an internet café not far from her hotel and accessed the internet, typing in the word 'Nephilim' and clicking search. The page came up with 152,000 results and she audibly groaned, waving the waitress over and ordering a very strong cup of coffee.
Six hours and eight cups of coffee later, Lara had amassed an impressive stack of papers about the Nephilim. The majority of websites she had visited recounted the story of the Nephilim; their lust for the beautiful daughters of men, their relations with the aforementioned and the consequent offspring who had become known as the Nephilim.
When her eyes became too strained to read the bright screen in front of her, she decided it was time to leave and search through the information she had found back at her hotel. Besides, the waitress who had been serving her all day was clearly freaked out by her choice of internet surfing.
She unzipped her backpack and took out her mass of papers, dropping them onto the bed. She sat down cross-legged and began to look through them, hoping the word 'Lux Veritatis' would jump out at her.
After half an hour of looking she was about to give up and go get some food when the word 'Strahov' caught her eye. Tucking the loose hair which had fallen in front of her face behind her ears, she bent down and examined the page carefully. It read: "Luther Rouzic is the acknowledged world authority on dead languages and texts. He is currently the Librarian Honorarium at Prague City Archives and keeper of the Strahov Archives. Rouzic is fluent in many ancient languages including Latin, Sanskrit and Hebrew, and has done extensive study into the legend of the Nephilim, or 'those who have fallen' in the language of Hebrew…"
A fuzzy black and white photograph accompanied the writing, and Lara squinted her eyes to see it more clearly. Luther Rouzic appeared to be bald, wearing an immaculate black and white suit and had very dark and deep-set eyes which contrasted sharply with his pale skin. He did not look like the kind of character you'd want to meet in a dark alley.
Lara sat back on her heels, considering this new information. If Rouzic had been keeper of the Strahov Archives then he must have had something to do with Eckhardt and the Sleeper, and almost certainly knew something about Karel's current activities.
She chewed her lip in thought, leaning down and searching the page for an address for the Prague City Archives. She found one at the bottom of the page: "Prague 1, Krakovska 11."
She quickly folded the page and placed it back into her backpack. Loading up her Vector-R35, she slipped it into the holster on her right ankle and stocked her backpack with plenty of ammo and a few medkits. She had no idea how cooperative Rouzic was going to be, or even if he would just put a bullet through her head the moment she stepped inside the Archives. Either way, she wasn't going to take any chances.
It was 8 o'clock when she finally reached the address on the piece of paper clutched in her hand, and she slipped the thing into her back pocket and approached the entrance. From the outside the Archives looked like a regular library. A long sign over the entrance read, "Prague City Archives", a large set of double doors below this flanked on either side by two large pillars.
She stepped forwards and pushed open one of the doors, wondering if she had just entered some long-forgotten library of the ancients. The floor before her was dark mahogany, lengths of red carpet running before her at intervals beside the hundreds of bookcases which seemed to stretch endlessly into the distance.
Everything was covered in dark, earthy colours and deep tones of red, and when she lifted her head to look at the ceiling she gasped. Beautiful intricate carvings covered the entirety of the ceiling; images of angels and saints and all manner of Biblical drawings. The ceiling itself was dome-shaped, so that the carvings curved around and hung down the walls.
She went inside further, beginning to read the text of a huge volume standing on a burnished lectern of mahogany. She was so immersed in the beautiful calligraphic words that she did not notice the person come up behind her.
"Miss?"
Lara visibly jumped, spinning around to find Luther Rouzic standing before her. In person he looked much the same as his picture, although this close up Lara noticed the red scratch marks which marred his right eye.
"I'm sorry if I startled you," Rouzic said hurriedly, "I was just wondering if you needed some help?"
Either he has no idea who I am, Lara thought, Or he's one damn good actor.
"Er, I'm actually interested in the Book of Enoch," Lara told him, "I need to do some research on the subject."
Rouzic indicated he follow her, and Lara obeyed. Their footsteps over the floor seemed worryingly loud in the extensive room, and presently they had reached a long, although rather dusty stack marked 'Apocryphal Books'.
"I think you'll find everything you want to know in this section," Rouzic told her, waving an arm down the row, "May I ask what interests you in the Biblical tales?"
Lara, caught off guard by this question gave a very weak reply about the study being a hobby, and when Rouzic moved off to leave her to her own devices she could tell he was suspicious. In actual fact she'd mentioned the Book of Enoch because she'd come across the phrase several times in her research. She only wished to read about the Nephilim, and figured this was a good place to start. She might as well use the resources here, and then interrogate the librarian later.
She'd been searching for a good ten minutes, pulling down volume after volume and amassing a modest collection of books on the nearby table when she heard soft footsteps from behind a nearby stack.
She paused in her position at the end of the row and looked over towards the entrance, reassuring herself that Rouzic was sitting working at his desk. She heard the footsteps again however, and silently produced her Vector-R35 from the hidden holster at her ankle, flicking off the safety and raising it up to her shoulder.
She stole along the row, blessing the person who had put down the carpeting which quietened her footsteps and saw a glimpse of someone moving along the opposite row of shelves.
She flattened herself against the end of the bookcase, raising her gun and quickly turning the corner to take out her opponent. The person she saw there was definitely not who she had expected.
"Kurtis?"
TBC...
Ah, cliffhangers, how I love to torture you with them :) Since it is Christmas tomorrow, I thought I would post a chapter today and then another on Boxing Day. I already have the next chapter rewritten and am about to do the one after. Do not worry, there is a lot more of this story to come! Also, there was a joke in this chapter that only freaks like me would get. It is referencing an article in which Adrian Smith mentions they seriously considered making Lara an alcoholic. Oh well, I'm the only one who got it then... :s Merry Christmas!