Chapter Two: And so it begins again...
AN: Please forgive me on the German translation...that's all I gotta say x.x;;
Kurtis headed down the dingy hallway quickly, still in his sleep wear. The hallway was painted a puke green, lined in various places with a bleak and cadaverous white. A macabre denizen padded past him, making him feel like he never existed. Kurtis shrugged mentally 'Weird...' he thought. Somewhere he could hear a television blaring some comedy sitcom. Still further down he heard moaning and the sound of wood against the wall. 'Jeeze...you don't have to bang her that hard...' Kurtis shook his head and mentally kicked himself for even thinking about it. 'Charming' he thought to himself. He hated this place the minute he walked in–now quickly shaking himself from his thoughts as another scream came from below. He had to find out where the scream came from, hoping that he wouldn't have to still keep on adventuring on like this, mentally feeling the scar across his midriff.
He let out a sigh and opened the door to the stairwell, hearing the door clang shut against the musty, cracked cement walls. A flourecent light flickered above, giving an ashen look to the place. He heard the scream louder this time and promptly swung the door open. He now heard the screams come out in a torrent, as he stealthily made his way to down the hallway. It was coming from the right of the puke green walls, and then sensed it was from room 204. He pulled back the safety trigger from the pistol and felt the familiar rush of adrenalin gestating in his flesh. He inhaled deeply as he heard words in a tongue he did not understand, one female, two males.
Quickly, He kicked down the door. He brought his gun up to face his front to see if anything was there. Nothing. The light was still on, the room was completely trashed; the bed overturned, the lamp on the floor, bleeding its light onto the once white carpet, the cheap framed art shattered on the floor, the televisions placid face was smashed in. He quietly moved in, feeling shards of glass breaking under the thick soles of his shoes. He saw that blood covered certain parts of the bed, as also ropes were attached to the sides, they covered in blood too. The somewhat large window had been smashed open, and the cold snow ridden air leaked in. 'Alright...what the fuck is going on here?'. Kurtis sighed once more and let his eyes close as he deposited Lara's pistol on the floor. He reached his arms out and faced his palms upwards, as if to cup something.
His vision blurred as it became an aged orange. He saw the two men pull the woman into a white van. He tried to get a glimpse of the licence plate, but none was there. It quickly drove off, surprisingly fast for being in all of the snow. Kurtis brought himself out of it and stumbled back. Black vacancies danced infront of his eyes as he brought up a hand to his mouth and breathed in some carbon-dioxide, so the dizziness would pass. Once he was again accustomed to his surroundings, he went for Lara's pistol. When he was about to pick it up, there was a piece of paper that was next to it. He carefully unfolded it and looked at its contents:
Wenn Sie dieses jetzt sehen, wissen Sie, daß es zu spät ist, mich zu speichern. Sie sind gekommen, mich, das neue Regime zu sammeln. Sie denken, daß ich zu viel weiß und ihre Vermutungen recht sind. Traurig wenn ich Ihnen alles erklären sollte, würden Sie das gleiche Schicksal aushalten, das ich außerdem habe. Andere erleiden mein Schicksal. Alles, das ich sagen kann, ist, daß Sie das neue Regime von der Tötung stoppen müssen andere.
Kurtis wished he could read German, but he was able to make out some words. He began to wonder what this Regime was. He carefully folded it again, looked about the room once more and walked out into the hallway. A teenage girl walked by the room with a soda in her hand, took one good look in and stared oddly at him, then with wide eyes at the scene afore her. Kurtis tiredly shook his head "Don't ask." He waived the pistol, and she gasped, hurrying along the length of the hallway. He heard her mutter "Amerikaner" before disappearing into the mirage of vomit green and flourescent lighting. 'Could my night get any better?', Kurtis asked himself before he turned round and meandered through the metallic door, back up the stairs to where Lara still was.
He was about to open the door, when suddenly, it opened on its own. Kurtis eyed the room until his visage fell on Lara. She sat on the edge of the bed in plaid boxers and an oversized t-shirt that had a faded picture of Bram Stoker's "Dracula", her hair tied back, and holding a glass of water. She looked like she had just had one hell of a hangover. Kurtis placed the pistol back on the dresser and walked towards her. Lara looked up, seeming that she never saw him come in the door. "Where did you go?" Kurtis looked back into her deep umber eyes, and grinned wryly. "After you passed out?"–He sat down next to her and put his elbows on his legs, as he put his hands together, and hunched over, looking at his hands– "Well, I found something interesting..."
Lara took a sip of water from her glass and set it down as she looked at him. "What did you find?" Kurtis already had the piece of paper in between his fingers as he handed it to her
"This..."