Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Ending
Chapter 15: Voices
"Who are you?!" Arthur managed to spit out with fear. "What do you want from me?!"
Kurtis slowly walked towards him. In the moonlight he made out Arthur's features; they were exactly as Lara had described.
"I really don't want to hurt you," Kurtis replied lowly, "But I need your help."
Arthur seemed to ease a little. He let out a slow breath, and fiddled with his thumbs. Despite that, he was still tensed and beads of perspiration covered his forehead. A thick silence hung in between them. Kurtis stared at Arthur, understanding flickering with unspoken hope in his blue orbs. The silence had carried on until sometime.
"Do you want anything?" Arthur murmured, breaking the silence.
"Yes. A statement."
The chauffer was shocked at the reply. But then again, this stranger was pretty unpredictable. Breaking into a hotel room, armed with a gun, talking softly as if trying to make him realize something… Korneev merely sat on the bed like a sitting duck while Kurtis seated himself on a chair nearby, Boran X shining in the moonlight.
"A statement about what?" He asked, concerned.
"About Bouchard," Kurtis replied distantly. Almost instantly, Arthur fidgeted and looked the other way. Kurtis' eyes now became full of rage; after all, he did not need spoken words to be aware what the other person was thinking.
"I don-"
"DON'T joke around with me, Korneev!" Kurtis suddenly shouted, standing up and drawing the Boran, while his chirugaii hummed to life.
"What do-"
"I KNOW something! I want YOU to tell me with your own VOICE that it took place!" The Glaive circled near Arthur's head. "And yes," said Kurtis lowly. "It is as dangerous as it looks, if not more."
Arthur shook from head to toe under the thin sheets. He was sweating profusely now, in spite of the freezing temperature outside.
"Where were you at 8:45 PM, three days ago?" demanded Kurtis ruthlessly.
Arthur raised an eyebrow, and dug into his memories.
"Driving for my employer. Why?"
"Louis Bouchard, isn't he.."
"Yes, we were taking off from the Louvre, but what is this about?"
"I'll let you know soon. Who was with him?" asked Kurtis.
"A woman… Very beautiful, but not the kind Mr. Bouchard picks up off the streets to spend his nights. She seemed serious and business-like," replied Arthur with little hesitation.
"Do you know who she is?"
"No… Although I do find her a bit familiar," said Arthur calmly. "I wonder if she's a celebrity…"
"She is something like that… Ever heard of Lara Croft?" asked Kurtis, pacing the room.
Arthur muttered the name under his breath, then again tried to recall it. After a few moments, he finally recognized her. "Ah! I remember her!" He looked at Kurtis. "She was on the news a few times… She's a dare-devil type person, isn't she? But… Wasn't she wanted for the Monstrum?"
"Adventurer, yes. And again, yes she was… The Prague authorities have her. But, she's innocent," said Kurtis, making eye contact.
This seemed to anger Korneev. "Murdering... No, slaughtering people like that is now "innocent"?" he asked with rage.
"No. But people who risk their lives to save the whole humanity must be honored in any case… Damn it, she almost died whilst trying to save us all!"
"So what do you mean?!" responded Korneev. "She's not the Monstrum?!"
"Exactly, she isn't!" exclaimed Kurtis in a tired voice. "Listen. I'm a close friend of her," he lied, "and I'm defending her on this case. Fact is, at 8:45 Paris, Lara was with Bouchard. Now, Prague is half an hour ahead of us, then, at 9:15 Prague, the Monstrum struck. Now, how EXACTLY could Lara be with Bouchard and kill another person in a different city at the same time?"
Arthur looked down and thought about it. The stranger made sense. He was a witness to the fact that this adventurer was with Bouchard at the time of a Monstrum killing in Prague.
"You want a statement from me defending this adventurer woman with the little information I have?" asked Korneev.
"Her name is Lara, and yes, precisely," Kurtis said with a smug smile.
A small silence took over.
"You want me to come to the police station? Or Prague?" Asked the chauffer suddenly. "I'm not budging! Not in the least! They could throw me in for working for Bouchard, nope! Sorry mister, can't help you!"
Kurtis became angry, but he suppressed his feelings; he needed to negotiate.
"Nothing will happen to you. All I need is to record the statement that Lara was with you and Bouchard, and for you to tell the authorities that you're you and you're not bluffing," Kurtis said calmly, yet in an urgent tone.
"What if-"
"I can talk to the commissioner now for Christ's sake!" responded Kurtis, losing control. He took out his cell, flipped it open and scrolled through his contacts for the senior commissioner. When he found the number, he waited before dialing it, and looked at Korneev.
"I have a video camera with me. I just need to make a maximum two-minute film of you saying that you picked up Lara from outside the Louvre and at 8:45 she was with you and Bouchard, NOT in Prague engaged in murder. That is it!"
"Are.. Are you sure?" asked Arthur, in fear.
"Trust me. After that, just talk to the commissioner whilst I'm filming you, saying that you worked for Bouchard and how you saw Lara so-and-so. I can take a file with me which has your personal details to court, where the fact will be confirmed that you were Bouchard's employee. OK?"
"I… I trust you…" said Korneev slowly, fidgeting again. "When do we start?"
"Now," replied Kurtis with a sincere smile, as he fished out a small video camera from his pocket and flipped the screen. Since the lighting wasn't good at all, he switched on the lights, and saw Korneev smoothing out his clothes and combing his hair with his fingers.
Irritated, Kurtis asked: "What are you doing?"
"I gotta look good, now, don't I?" came the lazy return.
"No, you don't," Kurtis returned coldly. "Start."
"Hello? Chief Cornelius?" murmured Kurtis, smoking a cigarette whilst leaning against a stop sign.
"Yes, Mr. Trent?" came the reply over the cell.
"Are you satisfied with the statement? That guy did not want to come in court… I understand though," said Kurtis lightly, "He is justified for being scared out of his wits, he did work for Louis Bouchard."
"Yes, I am. Furthermore, the file of other employees' personal details and Mr. Arthur's entry will confirm everything."
"Sure, I'll have that. Thanks, take care," and with that, Kurtis ended the call and walked tiredly towards his small hotel.
It was around 3 AM. The streets were silent and almost haunted. Kurtis was passing through the same ghetto in which he was four days go, looking out for the suspect Ms. Croft and her relations with the Cabal.
He kicked a Pepsi can on the pavement aimlessly. Everything was quiet, deathly quiet. The shadows from the buildings seemed like demons to him. They were after him; they were trying to catch him.
'Stop it! Damn it!' he thought hotly to himself. 'It's over! He's dead, father now rests in peace! I have no further obligation to fill towards him!'
He passed through the closed gates of Le Serpent Rouge, the serpent painted bright red on the doors where Janice usually hung about. Janice was standing there, with her back to Kurtis, and top almost falling off. There seemed to be a thick, manly figure behind her, crouching, and his dirty arms roamed around her body rapidly. Disgusted, Kurtis turned his gaze to the burnt down pawnshop ahead and quickened his pace.
'To think I made her my fiancé,' he thought sickeningly as he walked down the deathly street towards the darkness of night.
'Eckhardt passed by me when I entered the pawnshop,' he randomly recalled Lara saying this before being locked up. Just the very sound of Lara's voice made him smile, even if it was just inside his head. Then, it dawned on him.
'Janice must have seen Lara enter and Eckhardt leave the pawnshop. That means…'
His eyes shot open, and the revelation completely charged his mind. Lara could be released of Renne's murder! "Tomorrow, Janice..." he muttered to himself. "Damn, this trip just keeps getting better!" he added bitterly to himself.