Those expelled from the Heavens, the Watchers walk amongst Men
AN: Yes, I'm back (and on time, might I add). Right, I've decided to attach a song to each chapter, so if you could, please listen to the recommended song. Ready for an action packed chapter?! This is where my 95% on my science test comes in handy. Oh, yeah, creepy chapter name, huh?
New Divide ~ Linkin Park
Lara gripped the overhead bar on the helicopter, swaying forward as it landed on firm ground. Morgan was leant against a wall opposite her, her arms crossed against her chest, and the young girl looked like she would die if she didn't get off of the chopper soon. Lara let go and made her way to the edge of the chopper, waving as she saw Zip and Alister exit Mason's first mansion, them having stayed to get security set up. When the chopper was firmly on the ground, Lara hopped off, taking her backpack and luggage with her, dropping them on the ground to run over to her companions, greeting them with a hug, her plaited hair flowing behind her. "Nice to see you, Lara. All safe and well....alive," Alistair smiled, pulling away from the embrace. "Yeah, but who's dead?" Zip asked sarcastically, earning a nudge on the arm from Lara.
Kurtis walked up to the trio, gathering Lara's discarded luggage. He stood there for a moment while the group exchanged greetings, before moving forward, not wanting to get in their way. He stopped and turned around as Lara grabbed his arm, pulling him back towards them. "Zip, Alister, this is Kurtis Trent. Kurtis, this is Zip and Alister, very good friends of mine."
"Nice to meet you," Kurtis extended his hand to Alister first, and he took it gladly, shaking it thoroughly. He then turned to Zip and did the same, Zip smiling at him in a way that had a 'I-know-something-you-don't-know-and-I'm-going-to-keep-it-that-way' sort of manner. He sighed, running a hand threw his hair, "Are you sure this was the best idea, Lara?" he asked, turning to her. "I'm not saying it is, but I'd prefer to be comfortable when Karel finds us." she sighed.
"Can I remind you who's house this is?" Mason said, walking past the group.
"All I'm saying is that I want to be safe. I want YOU to be safe." he looked at her until she met his gaze. Then, he turned away, walking up to the house, first jogging to catch up with Mason, then walking along with him. Lara sighed, turning to face Morgan who was just getting out of the chopper. "This is Morgan, a Lux member like Kurtis and Mason."
Morgan smiled as she passed the trio, but continued up the path to the house, ready to collapse; it took everything she had to stand on her own two feet. "We've found some information on the sword you may like." Alister smiled. Lara ushered Zip and Alister towards the house, thanking the pilot of the chopper before following after them. She closed the door with a sigh, joining the group by sitting on the couch where everyone was gathered. "So, what have you found?" she asked. She watched as Alister threw a folder on the table and she picked it up, scanning over the information. "There's a replica of the part of the sword you're looking for." he nodded.
"A replica?" she looked up at him.
"Maybe for security reasons?" Kurtis suggested from his position behind the couch, looking over Lara's shoulder at what she was reading. "I'm not sure, but we could use it to our advantage." Alister said, taking the sheets off Lara. "And how, exactly?" Lara asked, looking behind her to Kurtis, before looking back to Alister. "If we have enough time, we could, I mean, you could, find the replica, take the real one and replace it with the fake one, confusing Karel if he catches up to you."
"And if Karel finds us and we have the real one?" Kurtis asked, walking so that he was in sight range of everyone. "Then he takes it and we steal it back." Lara said simply, standing up and walking over to a wall, leaning against it. "We're already ahead of him with the first part of the sword and the shield, and we have the box, whatever relevance that might be. We can simply take it back."
"I wish it was that easy." he sighed, running a hand threw his hair.
"If we try hard enough, we can do it." Mason said, tapping his lip with the tip of his finger. "We just need to trust each other."
"But Karel can shape-shift, remember? Or that's what you told me, anyway." Morgan asked, joining into the conversation. "How can we trust each other if we don't know if it's actually them?"
Images of her dream from weeks ago flashed threw her head, and Lara felt her mouth dry up. Nightmare, more like she thought to herself. "Well, we'll know if you're you, Morgan, no-one can fake your personality." Lara laughed, brushing away her fears. But the rest of them, she wasn't so sure about. "Any idea where the replica is?" she asked, pushing off the wall.
Zip nodded, "In a tourist destination in the middle of Spain somewhere. There's a temple that was ruled and is 'haunted' by the ancient Maya that gathers 2 million tourists a year. Go when it's busy, you can find it and get in and out easily."
"So Spain is our next destination?"
He nodded again, "And then Portugal. A tomb of all places, right up your alley, Lara." he chuckled, "I hear it's lovely this time of year."
"If you push aside the killing, bullets, heavy weaponry, scars, decapitating and fighting for the Human Race; then it's just a holiday, really." she smiled.
"What do we do now?" Alister asked.
"We rest. We'll need all the energy we can get if we're going to do what we need to. It's getting late – we should be getting some rest."
Lara stared out at the scene of Berwick, Mason's house being located on one of the most beautiful places she had ever seen. Oh, she had seen many gorgeous spots in the world, but the fact that something so beautiful was right here, practically on her doorstep made her smile. She had travelled around the world, seen beautiful temples in places such as Bolivia and Alexandria, ancient ruins in Peru and quiet jungles in India soon to turn disturbed in her life, but she never accepted that where she lived might just be acceptable for her. But she was never one to not be moving. She enjoyed raiding temples, thrilled in discovering ruins and wasn't afraid to boast that it was her who disturbed the silence in some places that weren't meant to be discovered.
A small river flowed just past the mansion, the banks covered with reeds that weren't too short, but not too long at the same time. A field was on either side, a path framed by trees leading up to a farm. The place was so quiet, so peaceful, that Lara felt she could just stay there forever.
She was snapped back to Earth when she heard a knock on her door and she watched as Kurtis entered, walking over to join her on the balcony. He leaned against the railings as Lara turned to face him, "It's beautiful, isn't it?" he asked, smiling at the rare view in front of him. "You rarely see something so peaceful without it being destroyed in a matter of minuets." he smiled. "True – but for how long will it stay like this?" she asked, turning back to face the scenery.
"I know you're scared, Lara; we all are."
"I'm not scared, I just don't want to think about what we're up against." she sighed, bowing her head.
"We'll be fine. Whatever way this goes, we would have done something to help stop Karel," he turned around so his back was now leaning against the railing of the balcony.
"But that's what worries me. What if we're fine because he's one of us? You know what he's capable of, what if he's been the most camouflaged of people in the places we've been, and worse yet, what if he changes into one of us?" she played with the bottom of her traditional braid, plaiting the ends of it. Her mind flashed images in her head, playing the events of her dream over and over again, making her feel on the verge of unconsciousness. It wasn't as if these were simple memories; it was like they were put there as a means of attack. She finally let her mind wonder to the possibilities of this nightmare; after all, it was Karel who planted them there in the first place. What if this wasn't a simple dream – what if it was something that was going to happen? Everyone has dreams that haunt them, but no-one has had them planted there. It was as if the nightmare was like a first stage of combat, trying to weaken her for the actual assault. But this confused her; if the dream was as simple as it was – a nightmare – then how was it so vivid to her? It was like the images in her mind actually happened – they were so clear.
But it wasn't the fact that the dream contained her being chased by who could be the most dangerous being that ever was, it wasn't the fact that if this came true, she could only have a matter of hours to live and it wasn't the fact that Karel had managed to track them down. It was the fact that he had changed his appearance to that of Kurtis'. If that happened, she would most definitely be dead. She could never harm something with Kurtis' features, never. And even though it wasn't him, Karel still bore the attractive features of his face, the stubble around his chin and his dark, azure eyes. But there was only one thing different about that appearance of Kurtis. Karel's version of Kurtis didn't hold anywhere near the amount of light in his eyes. Even though they were a dark colour of blue, there was always something deep within them, that stuck out to Lara. For her, it wasn't his cocky attitude that said "I'm a cocky bastard, but you'll just love me,", it wasn't his dark, close to black hair colour and it wasn't his masculine figure and scent that struck her as Kurtis being Kurtis. For Lara, it was his eyes. There was something about them that showed such happiness even when he was in the most depressing of moods, something was always shining in them. And if that light ever went out, she would never be able to forgive herself.
"I just can't face the fact that we might be up against something I can't control. The feeling of knowing I can't do anything to help but find those artefact's isn't enough for me. I'm expandable, and I don't like that feeling. I have nothing to do with the Lux Veritatis and I know I can't do anything in the stronghold – wherever the hell that is. I just hate being expandable!" she balled a fist but quickly calmed herself down, resting her head in her hands, "I can't do anything to finish the war your father and Karel started. I can't have anything to do with it and I can't control it. But saying that is saying that I have no control over my death. I don't believe in fate and I can control my future depending on the steps I take in my life." she looked up at him, "But this wipes away all of my courage. What if I was meant to die fighting for you. Maybe I'm expandable for a reason." she sighed.
"Will you stop talking like that! Stop putting yourself down, Lara. You're not expandable. Don't you dare call yourself that. You're no where near expandable – not to me. You may not be needed in the war, but I need you. I don't believe in fate, either, but we met each other again. You can't give into his little mind-fucks, Lara. If you do, he would have won." he stroked her cheek softly, but when he realised what he was doing, he snatched it back, putting it down beside him. He turned back to the beautiful scenery, taking advantage of the most peace he might get in, well....ever. He didn't know if this battle was going to be his last, but he was damn sure it would be a fight worth dying for. He breathed in the fresh English air, closing his eyes as he exhaled, just relaxing for all the time he could.
A loud scream came from downstairs and he snapped his eyes open, looking at Lara in a confused manner, before dashing out of the balcony and out into the hall. Lara ran to the end of the hall, Kurtis close behind her and she looked over the balcony, gasping at what she saw. Morgan had decided to rest on the couch that night after watching television for several hours, and the teen had fallen asleep happily while the others of the group did their own things. She had brought a small blanket down from her room and had rested her eyes without a worry. She was now lying on her back, three streak marks on her back, seeping threw her t-shirt; blood. Lara could see the pain in the girls eyes and she quickly sprinted down the stairs, kneeling down beside her. Her eyes gazed over the blood stained shirt, and she widened them as she realised how deep they actually were; the red liquid making it's way from her body to the shirt in great amounts in a matter of seconds. "My God," Kurtis breathed, standing beside her.
"You need to get a first-aid kit." Lara ordered Kurtis. She turned back to Morgan, who was now trying to sit up. Lara grabbed her arms and steadied her, guiding her to a comfortable position on the couch. She stood up, making her way behind the arm rest and she peeled the back of Morgan's top up so she could see the damage. "What happened, Morgan?" she asked, taking the first-aid kit Kurtis handed her. Kurtis walked around and sat on the sofa beside Morgan, seeing if there was any more damage. "I don't know, I was sleeping-" she hissed as the antibiotic came in touch with her skin and tears began to swell up in her eyes. "I think Karel had something to do with it." she sighed.
"Karel?" Lara asked, tying the knot in the bandage she had covered Morgan's wounds with. "I had a...vision of him, coming here. He was just....there. I wasn't dreaming anything, but he was just in my mind without me knowing it." the tears from her eyes began to glide down her cheeks. Kurtis quickly wiped them away as Mason, Zip and Alister came rushing into the room, coming to see what the noise was about. "What happened?" Mason asked, gripping a pistol in his shoulder holster.
"I don't think we're safe any more." Kurtis said, taking his Chirugai off his belt. "I think Karel has found us." he watched as Lara wondered over to the front of the hall, resting her ear against the bricks of the wall. "Lara?" Kurtis asked, speaking for everyone else. Her eyes widened as she found what she was hoping wasn't there, "Get down!" she screamed, beginning to sprint forward. Before she could make it to a safe spot, everything at the front of the room exploded, forcing Lara to fly forward, landing roughly on the floor, "Lara!" Kurtis rushed over to her side, covering his mouth as ash and dust covered the mansion. He looked behind him at Morgan who was standing still in shock, staring at the sight in front of her. Kurtis helped Lara up, wrapping his arm around her unconscious body, lifting her into his arms, "Morgan, come on!" he waited until Morgan followed the rest of the group, making her way to the back of the house before he followed.
By the time he exited the house, his lungs were burning and his face was covered in ash. He set Lara on the ground after he re-joined the group and sighed as he had to perform moth-to-mouth. After what seemed like hours, and when he was about to give up, her eyes jolted open and she coughed up the dust that had gotten into her lungs. She stood up, covering her mouth as she continued to cough and looked back at Mason's manor. Mason sighed, running a hand threw his hair. "I had all my best equipment in there!" Zip screamed, kicking a rock on the ground, "That's the least of our problems right now." Alister said. They all stood in silence, watching the flames make the house crumble. "Which way is the quickest escape route?" Lara asked, turning back to the group. Morgan was sat on the ground, holding her burn from days before. "What escape route?" Kurtis asked. "I want Zip and Alister back in Surrey." she said, tightening her holsters at her thighs.
"We're not going to leave you, Lara." Zip said, in a lower, darker voice than what she had ever heard him speak in. "No, I want you back home. You can research for any information about the artefact's. Mason, Kurtis, Morgan and I will stay. We are the only people that know what Karel's like." she sighed, taking her pistol's out and loading fresh clips into them. "There's a dock just around the corner," Mason said, "I have a garage there, there should be a car that'll have everything you need to get to Surrey as soon as possible." he handed them a key and watched Zip walk away. Alister sighed, nodding before following after his companion.
"So what are we supposed to do?" Kurtis asked, clipping his Chirugai back on his belt. "We make sure Karel doesn't get the sword fragment." she sighed, beginning to walk forward. "My best guess is that it was him that caused the explosion, and he'll be looking for us. We need to get away from here." she turned back around, looking over the group, "It sounds like our only option." Kurtis said, walking up to her. "If we can make it to the docks, we can take one of my cars and drive to Surrey." Mason said, walking ahead of the group. "You do realise we're just running?" Morgan said, catching up to them. "If running keeps us alive, then that's what we'll do." Lara said, looking back at the house as a figure emerged from the house. "But we need to run fast." she jogged forward, heading in the direction of a group of alleyways.
Morgan gasped as she looked back to see a large group of people exit the house, and she increased her speed so that she caught up with her peers. "They're coming." she warned, walking by Lara's side. She looked around her as they entered an alleyway, the stone walls reflecting the water of the sea they were near, "Where are we going?" she asked as they exited it. A dock surrounded them, garages covering some walls, warehouses covering others. Boats were in the sea water, bobbing up and down on the surface. As they walked forward, they came closer to an abandoned car. "Stay here." Mason said, going into one of the garages.
Lara tapped her foot impatiently on the ground, "Are you feeling OK?" she asked Morgan, the fact that the teen had been running with holes in her back finally hitting her. "They just sting a little." she sighed. "You're a brave girl, Morgan. I wish I was like you when I was-"
"Miss Croft!" she heard someone shout behind her, turning around to see Karel and his 'buddies' emerging from the alleyway, standing in front of a warehouse. "I believe you have something we need."
"Oh, really, I wonder what that could be." she crossed her arms, pretending to be in deep thought. "You're not a fool, Lara. You know what I want and you know I shall get it." he stalked forward, leaving a smaller space between Morgan, Lara and Kurtis. "We don't have what you need." Morgan sighed. "Nobody asked for your opinion." he dismissed her, quickly. Morgan fell to the floor, the blood from her cuts rapidly progressing threw her blue t-shirt, making her scream in pain. Kurtis looked over to Karel, who was smiling smugly at the sight that he was causing. Anger fuelled him, and Kurtis quickly grabbed his Chirugai, throwing it in the air, heading towards a guard, who's head was quickly cut clean off his neck. "Leave her!" he screamed, picking Morgan up.
"Why is it that you need the sword, Karel?" Lara asked, taking a step back so that she closed the space between her, Morgan and Kurtis. "Is it not clear? I shall bring about the new age of Nephilim and they will roam the Earth, picking off your helpless little species one by one."
"But what does the sword and shield have to do with this?"
"They are the only things that can destroy my kind, now that the Periapt shards are gone. They are also the key to my success, but you happen to be missing one small thing." he stepped forward a few paces, making Lara's heart race.
"And that would be?"
"The Bamburugh Beast. A very, very small artefact which has the same power as that of God." Lara watched as he left his group of mercenaries, walking towards them. She quickly jogged away, pushing Kurtis and Morgan with her. There was only a short distance between them and Karel, and that space was closing too fast for her liking. "Get that hose." she said to Kurtis, sprinting over to the car and crawling under it, then lying on her back, looking for an element that could possibly be the thing that could save their life at this time.
She heard Karel laugh as she came out, holding pieces of pink and silver rocks in her hands. "I must say, I have never seem someone do that in a time of need."
Lara smirked as she watched Kurtis pour a line of water on the ground, just in front of them and a few feet away from Karel. Lara walked forward, so her feet were just on the edge of the line of water, as she continued to talk to Karel. "Join my Empire, Lara. Join the Cabal, and leave people like them to fend for themselves." he stood in front of her, nodding his head towards Morgan and Kurtis. "Those expelled from Heaven, the Watchers walk amongst Men."
"Join you? I'd rather be scum." she spat, jumping back and throwing the element on the ground, making a chemical reaction occur, fire exploding from the ground. She stepped back as she watched Karel back away from the line of fire, before slowly, very slowly, walking towards it. "Make the fire bigger!" she shouted to Morgan, who was now standing by her side, Kurtis behind them, training his gun on anything that could make it's way threw the blaze. "What?" Morgan asked, staring at Lara as if she had spoken in another language. "Potassium reacts with water. Make the flames grow." she screamed.
"I can't, what if they backfire? I can't control it, Lara, what if it goes wrong?"
"Morgan, you either make them bigger, or we die!" she stepped back, pulling Morgan with her. She heard Morgan sigh and the flames suddenly grew, combining violently with the power from Morgan's mind, making the flames spread to other places on the ground. Lara smiled at Morgan, before her face dropped as she watched a figure walked threw. Karel stood before them, his cocky smile haunting Lara. She backed away as a car drove out of the garage, stopping just behind Kurtis. "Lara, let's go!" Kurtis ordered her, getting into the car after Morgan. She shook her head, "Go, I'll catch up. Get Morgan to safety."
Kurtis stared at her for a moment before he finally got into the car, slamming the door shut behind him. Mason rolled the window down, "Good luck, Lara." he nodded before he finally drove away, leaving Lara to fight their battle; alone. She turned around, seeing Karel coming rapidly closer to her before she un-holstered her pistols. "Those expelled from Heaven, the Watchers walk amongst Men. Over my dead body."she began to fire, backing away from the scene, heading in the direction of a group of alleys.
Kurtis stared out of the wind shield of Mason's car, looking up at the mirror every so often to check on Morgan. She was staring out of her own window, tapping her fingers in time with the rain that poured down from the sky. Why did he leave Lara there? He should have stayed to help her; there was no way she could survive an attack from Karel by herself. Mason looked over at him, sighing as he turned his attention back to the road, "I'm sorry, Kurtis."
"Sorry for what?" he said in his low, yet light voice.
"I'm sorry for Lara. I know you feel something for her, and I'm sorry it had to end like that." he sighed, moving into a new lane on a dual carriageway. "It's not your fault." he said. As much as it hurt him to admit it, he knew that when he saw Lara, cuts covering her face, rain pouring down on her auburn hair, that might have been the last time he ever saw her. He wanted to run up to her, take her into his arms and force her into the car, not letting her be the hero in the story. He would have stayed, but that could have ruined everything. Lara kept saying how she was expandable, but she wasn't. She wasn't expandable; not to him.
"Stop the car." he said, making Mason and Morgan look at him. "I'm going back to help, stop the car."
Morgan's eyes grew, as well as Mason's. "Are you sure, Kurtis?" he asked, pulling over at a pavement. "I can't let her go. Not without knowing that I could have done something." he got out of the car, turning back to where a blaze was visible. He wasn't going to let Lara go without fighting with her.
Lara gasped for breath as another blow came to her back. She quickly pushed the pain aside and continued to sprint down the endless alley's. She could see the green lights on the walls either side of her and now, was the time she had doubted her decisions. She doubted her decisions for doubting him, if that was even possible. An orb of energy flew around to her front, hitting her square on the face.
Her skin burned as she stumbled backwards, falling onto her back. She looked up as the dark shadow of the figure strolled casually towards her, holding green orbs of energy about his hands effortlessly. His long coat flowed behind him as he stopped, a few feet away from her. She was tired. Too tired. All she wanted to do was to curl up into a ball and crawl into a corner, almost seizing to exist. She couldn't fight any more. She was so tired. But she had to fight. Giving up would mean death.
She got back up and ran as fast as she could, barley being able to see where she was going from the burning fire in her eyes. Her stomach dropped as she faced a wall. A dead end. No way out. The only way out was back. And going back certainly wouldn't mean getting out. If anything, it meant choosing a slow, horrible death. She gulped and turned around, gripping the pistols at her thighs on top of her jeans. She withdrew them and aimed them at the figure, knowing her final moments had come. Bullets couldn't do anything. But she couldn't give up. She could at least distract him with pain. But that would only last a couple of seconds. No weapons she had could harm him - or it rather.
His appearance changed before her and she found tears swelling up in her eyes. She hated him - even more, if that was possible - for changing into that appearance. She couldn't fight him. No matter how much her brain willed her to, her heart would never let her harm him. But she needed to. It wasn't him."Change back!" she screamed as she took the safety off of her guns.
"Change back!" she could never fight him while in this form. Not while he had those piercing blue eyes and raven black hair. Never.
All she knew was that her nightmare was coming true.
And your voice was all I heard
Did I get what I deserve?
~Linkin Park - New Divide~
AN: You all know how I love cliffhangers, don't you? OK, brownie points to anyone that can tell me which line I used from the start of AOD. Nobody says it, it's written as a quotation, something about Nephili. Give it a guess! I'll give you a clue, watch the official trailer for AOD. I also used the dream from the first chapter, so that's why the last bit sounds so familiar :D CRAZYMARTIANFIGHTER: PUT THE KNIFE AWAY!!!! lol
See you on Friday!