"…well, but you're sure you're okay?"
"Never better. Though it still intrigues me why the hell did they kept it in… oh shit! Marianne! Didn't I tell you to get that kid to bed?"
The little boy runs up the stairs and dives under the covers in his bed. He just overheard one of daddy's conversations. He didn't understand anything, but daddy is going to be very mad…
The incessant 'bip' of the bedside table clock forcefully tears Kurtis away from a troubled sleep, putting a sudden end to some shredded dream that kept replaying in his head over and over again.
He grunts in annoyance, arm shooting out from under the covers and feeling around for the cursed device. He finally reaches it, knocking down the lamp and a packet of cigarettes in the process, and slaps the 'snooze' button.
Big difference.
The irritating machine rattles noisily against the bedside table, finally earning a hard shove.
It falls a good six feet away, being immediately silenced by the crash.
Kurtis burrows deeper under the covers in a last effort to go back to sleep. After a couple of minutes of failed attempts, he finally sits up with a resigned sigh.
Hand parting the bangs that hang loosely over his eyes, his brow furrows in concentration. His mind feels hazy and cramped, trying hard to reach out to tangled strings of thought.
It's no use. He can't remember.
Shrugging the dream off, he gets up and heads to the bathroom, a last uninterested thought to how he will have to pay Lara for the digital clock.
A very sleepy Kurtis makes it to the kitchen, mumbling a half-hearted 'good-morning' to its occupants.
He heads straight to the fridge for milk, paying no attention whatsoever to Lara and Winston's argument about something to do with 'bread' or to Aysha, slumped in a chair with an absent expression.
He extracts a bowl and a spoon from the cupboard and sits down with his breakfast.
Still unconsciously thinking about the dream, it takes him a couple of seconds to decode that the cereal is resting across the table, in front of Aysha.
"Kid?" he grunts.
No reply. She plays with the cereal in her own bowl.
"Kid?" a little louder now. She looks at him as if he has just woken her up from some deep reverie, surprise soon replaced by annoyance.
"What?" she mumbles back.
"Cereal"
"Huh?"
"Cereal!"
"Sorry, can't hear you…"
"Pass the goddamn Cereal!" He snaps, a little more than annoyed. He receives a pointed stare.
"I think something's missing from that request…"
He looks up, pretending to be thinking.
"Like… 'pass the goddamn cereal you stupid nephilim before I go get it myself and smack you on the way back'?" he whispers, making sure Winston can't hear them.
"Now, that wasn't very polite of you… priest" is the venomous reply, also in a hushed tone.
"Priest?"
"Yeah. The Lux was made of warrior monks, wasn't it?"
"Well, yeah, ages ago…"
"So there. Priest" she shrugs and returns to her breakfast, not sparing him a glance.
He says something inaudible under his breath and leans over the table, trying to gasp the pack of cereal. Aysha, however, acts quicker and grabs the pack, placing it beyond his reach and grinning smugly.
"Gimme that" he growls.
"Say please"
"Gimme that now"
"You have to say plea- hey!" she halts mid-sentence as she feels a pull on the pack, as if an invisible hand was trying to get a hold of the cereal. She quickly grabs it with both hands and glares daggers at Kurtis, who is now sporting a grin of his own "Oh no you don't!"
"Hand it over" he insists, pulling again with his mind. This time Aysha looses her grip on the pack, but soon halts its trajectory across the table with her own mind.
"Will you look at that, she has tricks of her own… oh wait, that's right… you're a proto!" Kurtis drawls.
"Wass the matter priest?" Aysha hisses, giving the pack a hard pull "Having trouble keeping up with the nephilim?"
"You wish" he retorts, in between pulls "I'm actually-having-fun- now give—"
Whatever he was about to say dies in his throat as the pack, being drawn by two opposite forces, suddenly bursts open, cardboard being thorn and cereal scattering all over the place.
Kurtis and Aysha just stare at each other while Lara and Winston go silent and turn to look at them.
"But what…?" the old butler asks, dumbfounded.
Lara just glares at them.
"What just happened here?" Winston insists as he picks up a broom and hurries to clean the mess.
"Wonderful question" Lara whispers, leaning closer to them.
"She wouldn't give me the cereal" Kurtis replies, still looking at the proto.
"He didn't say 'please'" Aysha retorts, refusing to show how stupid she feels.
Lara looks from Kurtis to Aysha, not believing her ears.
"How old are you people?" she hisses, glaring at her former partner.
"Hey, don't look at me!" he replies, feeling ridiculous before even saying it "She started…"
"Oh P-lease! Grow up, the two of you!" Lara snaps, gesturing
with exasperation.
"Hum… it's clean" Winston informs, appearing behind Lara. She turns around, somewhat startled, and forces a smile.
"Great, Winston, thanks! Now… uh… breakfast! That's right, breakfast!" She stammers, rushing to grab a piece of bread and a knife.
"But Lara, dear, I told you I can do…" the butler starts, making to take the knife from her. She pulls it away.
"Oh, come on Winston! I'm a big girl now, alright? I can cut a slice of bread!" and she does so, illustrating the argument. Winston sighs and throws his hands up in defeat, going to wash the dishes on the sink. He removes Aysha's empty bowl from in front of her face, glaring curiously at her and Kurtis, who are casting murderous glances at each other.
"So… everyone sleep alright?" Lara asks as she slices the bread, trying to start a conversation.
Kurtis throws a surprised glance her way.
More talkative now, are we?
"Sorta" he replies.
"Uhu" mumbles a once again absent Aysha.
"Sorta?" Lara returns in an uninterested tone.
"Yeah, I kinda kept waking up and stuff… And by the way, the bedside table clock may have suffered a little accident"
Lara turns her head to look at him.
"An 'accident'?"
He smiles, almost sheepishly.
"It wouldn't shut up…"
"Ever heard of something called 'the off button'? OW!" she suddenly yelps. As she was talking to him, she wasn't paying attention to what she was doing, the knife cutting automatically through the bread and eventually making its way to her finger.
She sucks on it, mumbling curses.
Winston rushes to her side, face boiling with concern.
"Oh, Lara!" he scolds "I told you this would happen…"
"Oh come on, it's just a little cut!" she retorts.
"Well that's what you get for messing with sharp things without paying attention…"
Kurtis suddenly freezes, spoon full of milk poised in midair, mouth hanging open. He closes it slowly.
For some reason, his mind goes back to the tangled dream from last night.
Sharp things…
Something in that line seems to have made a connection in his brain.
Sharp things…
'…that's what they get for playing with sharp things…'
He blinks a couple of times.
Where the hell did that come from?
He digs deeper in his memory, trying to follow some kind of link, but is suddenly interrupted by Lara.
"Kurtis? Kurtis, are you there?"
"Huh?" He turns to face her, noticing the napkin she is using to staunch the minor bleeding.
"I said I wanted to talk to you"
Kurtis stares at her, almost unbelieving.
She wants to talk to him?
Over the past few days she has been doing everything she can to avoid just that.
Five days…
It seems that some silent agreement has been established between the two of them, an agreement to forget that night in the library has ever happened. To pretend no words were ever spoken, no confessions ever made… But like most things involving women, it's better said than done.
He had thought it best to avoid the subject, but it seems that every single time he sights her, their late night conversation will come back to his mind…
His solution? Avoid sighting her. She seemed to agree, as they both have been doing just that for five days.
But he knew they wouldn't be able to go on like that forever. They have problems to solve, unfinished issues to discuss.
And he sure as hell wants to know how Croft managed to completely level Eckhardt's lab, not to mention getting his Chirugai back.
And now she wants to talk.
Alright then…
"Sure… okay" he shrugs, putting down the spoon and standing up. Lara gestures for him to follow her and they both leave the kitchen under a curious look from Winston and an apparently blank one from Aysha.
"So… what do you make of our proto there?"
"Huh? Oh…" Kurtis stammers, his mind everywhere but in Lara's words. He feels it now… a feeble pull… "She's an annoying brat. And I still think she's gonna stab us in our sleep" He forgets about the pull as they move along the hallway on the second floor. For a panicked moment, he thinks she's leading them to the library again. He's gained a personal dread to that division. But, to his relief, she stops in the music room, gesturing for him to take a seat on the nearby couch.
He does so, a strange feeling still washing over him. Lara sits opposite him, on an armchair, and looks past him for a few seconds.
Then she manages a half-hearted smile.
"Well… she's already had a fair amount of chances to do that, don't you think?" she asks. At Kurtis' blank stare, she adds "The kid. To stab us in our sleep."
He shrugs.
"Maybe she's planning something bigger…"
"Like?"
"Hell if I know. I still don't think we should trust her, that's all"
Lara shifts slightly in her seat and pauses for a moment.
"I don't think Aysha is our concern" she finally states.
"What do you mean 'not our concern'?" Kurtis retorts, confused "Then whose concern is it? There's no more Lux, remember?"
"Yeah, I know. I mean… she's not our major concern right now"
"Care to elaborate?"
"The others. Her siblings"
Kurtis leans forward at this point, his face unreadable but his eyes gleaming with interest.
"You remember she said there were seven protos, right?"
"Yes…"
"Well, I have reasons to believe that at least one of them is going to represent a major headache to us"
"A black sheep?"
"According to Aysha, yes. And, fittingly enough, a powerful one"
The cold winter wind blows away the fallen leaves outside, somewhat clearing the gravel path that leads to a tall iron gate.
Shadow stops in his tracks, contemplating the massive brick construction behind it.
A grin tugs at his lips as he analyses what lies beyond those walls.
Five beings.
Three humans… an animal…
He twists his nose. He seems unable to identify the fifth being, which troubles him somewhat.
But he isn't one to dwell on minor concerns, so he shrugs the thought off and moves to crouch behind a nearby bush that provides him both the perfect coverage and a clear view of the mansion.
Settled, he waits.
At nightfall.
When shadows roam.
"One of her siblings, Ethan something, seems to have developed a slight 'distaste' for our kind" Lara continues, casting an uninterested glance at the wind ruffled trees outside.
"Isn't that marvellous?" Kurtis is, once again, having trouble in focusing on the conversation. The pull is at it again. Somewhere under him… It tugs feebly, but stronger each time "Does she know where he is?"
"That's the problem. She's lost track of all of them"
"Does it even bother her?" Kurtis struggles to follow a line of thought. The pull is getting a little more than distracting now.
"Is something bothering you, dear?"
"Huh?" Aysha looks at the butler, putting down the plate she was cleaning "No… nothing, everything's fine" she assures him.
"You seem kind of absent lately" Winston insists, unconvinced.
"Oh… I huh… I'm thinkin' about… stuff"
"Stuff, is it?"
"Yeah, stuff…" Aysha casts a furtive glance at the main hall. Something is messing around with her senses… something, somewhere on the ground floor, is emitting some kind of calling. Trying to establish a link with another something… upstairs?
"Might I ask a somewhat personal question?" Winston's voice sounds again, bringing Aysha back from her insight.
"Sure, why not?" she smiles at the older man, finishing cleaning another plate.
"You and your brother… you don't get along very well, do you?"
Aysha blinks a couple of times.
Me and my… oh!
She looks away, suddenly very interested in a spot on her plate.
"Well, you could say we have a 'peculiar' relationship…"
"Peculiar?"
"Humhum… listen… I need to use the uh… toilet!" Aysha replies, stumbling over her own words "I'll be right back" she promises.
"Of course, dear"
She rushes out of the kitchen, completely overwhelmed by curiosity towards the 'calling something'.
Slightly disappointed by her not too creative 'toilet excuse', she closes her eyes and focuses. Looking for the source of the calling… that enticing humming of mystical energy…
Right… there!
She opens her eyes and turns in the direction of the calling, azure orbs widening in confusion when they meet a wall. A long, plain extension of white wall, covering the hallway that leads from the main hall into the gym. A lonely panel dots the creamy surface, standing out with its wooden presence.
A rectangular piece of wood in the middle of a wall.
That would make it a door, smartass.
This door however, has no handle of any kind and a half-hearted push reveals exactly what she expected: locked.
She leans against it with a furrowed brow, refusing to admit defeat. Ear glued to the wood, she listens carefully for any signs of… well, anything. Something that is 'calling', preferably.
And there it is… she is sure now… It's inside.
Aysha steps back, staring at the closed portal.
How to open it?
She paces back and forth, looking around for something that may prove helpful.
Nothing. Just the usual length of chess-patterned mosaic, stretching through the entire length of the hall to her right and the by now very familiar gym to her left.
There's gotta be something, somewhere that will open this…
Defeated and disappointed, she returns to Winston and his dishes.
"Long time in the toilet" The butler comments.
But Aysha's attention is so focused on how to open the stupid door that she misses the sarcasm in his words.
"Yeah…" she replies. And then she lets it slip, perhaps out of frustration or just lack of attention, she mumbles "Nice decoration out in the hall. Very pretty"
Winston slowly puts down a dish as a crooked smile tugs at his wrinkled face.
"Yes, very pretty… Victorian, I hear. But you should see the garden outside. That is truly interesting"
Aysha looks up at the older man, noticing the hint of good natured mischief in his voice. Her face lights up has she receives a wink in return, and she quickly puts down her still soaking plate.
"I didn't get a chance to get a good look at it when I arrived" She chants merrily, biting back the details of that particular night "But it seems huge!"
"Oh, you have no idea… Miss Croft even had a natural maze planted, fancy that!" Winston croaks fondly, but not dropping his meaningful tone "It took many years to grow, but now I rejoice in stating that its bushes rise a good three meters above the ground!"
He prepares to go on about the grandeur of said maze, but Aysha has already rushed out of the kitchen, a slight skip in her pace.
Impatient youth…
Winston watches her go with an amused and slightly guilty expression.
If Lara asks, I didn't tell her…
Of course he didn't. He, in his innocence, noticed that the girl took interest in architecture and directed her to the natural extension of the manor: the garden. And, of course, he couldn't avoid mentioning one of its most sublime beauties, could he?
It didn't even cross his mind that there is another very interesting detail in the heart of said beauty, oh no…
Winston laughs to himself, very much aware of the storm that will soon ensue when that girl finds – and she will find it – the way to the trophy room.
Until then, he'll keep to his dishes.