I apologies that I had to republish this chapter. For some reason didn't want to keep my paragraphs separate. Hopefully that won't happen again.
Chapter 3: Highway to Hell
Sam, Reyes and Jonah arrived in London within a couple hours of each other. Once all together, they called a cab and split the cost to get them to the Croft Manor in Surrey. The ride there was very quiet, the three friends were nervous. They didn't want to find out about Lara's death through the news, but she hadn't kept in touch with any of them after Yamatai.
Once they had all gotten to their respective homes, Lara immediately threw herself into proving her dad was right about everything. She never answered any of their texts or calls, the only reason they knew she was still alive was her constant presence on the news. Sam was confused as to why her best friend so suddenly decided that she didn't want to be friends anymore. She ended up theorizing that Lara having to save Sam so much on Yamatai and risk her life for her that Sam wasn't worth being a friend with. Sam realized just how weak she was on that dreadful island. She was useless when Lara was getting beat up by Mathias's thugs and then she didn't listen to Lara's distrust of Dr. Wittman and got captured a second time. Lara had to fight through a whole army to get to her and Sam could do nothing to lessen her friend's burden.
No one had realized how bad of a beating Lara had taken on Yamatai until she passed out on the freighter that brought them back to Japan. The doctors at the hospital had told them that they were surprised that she was still alive, but Sam always knew that Lara was a survivor. She had only Roth and Winston to help her as she grew up, Winston was very professional about it and Roth would often take her to dangerous places. Lara was stuck in a coma for a couple of weeks and when she woke up she got herself back to England without saying goodbye to anyone.
Sam thought about her friend's adventures and realized, danger runs in the Croft family they were drawn to it and it always killed them in the end. She heard the stories of Lara's parents and grandparents, and could only assume that the Crofts had been adventurers for generations. This made her even more nervous for Lara's safety, what if this explosion was what finally killed Lara, similar to what that plane crash did to her mother.
"We're here, but this place blew up not too long ago. No one is here anymore. If you're looking for Lady Croft I can take you to the hotel she is staying at." Instead of questioning where the cabbie got the information on where Lara was staying, Sam agreed to have him take them to the nearby hotel. It was probably leaked to the press by some nosey person who didn't know how to mind their own business, but it worked out for the best, at least for Sam, Reyes and Jonah.
A few minutes later they arrived at the hotel, it was nothing special, Lara definitely could have afforded a better place, but she probably wanted it to be private. "You ready Sam?" Jonah asked when he noticed Sam was still standing where the cab had been staring at the hotel.
"Of course Jonah. I'm just worried about what we will find." Sam answered him. It was true, as she saw it, either they learn that Lara was dead or they find Lara and she tells them to go away and she never wants to see them again. Whatever happened Sam's heart was going to break all over again, she was going to lose her best friend once and for all.
Sam thought back to the time her and Lara met. It was move-in day for freshmen at the College of London. Sam walked into her dorm room to find one side already set up, her roommate had arrived before her. Disappointment filled her when she realized that her roommate was not in the room. Where is she? She must have arrived hours ago and got tired of waiting for me. She had thought, unpacking her things. Sam had traveled a long way, all the way from New York City so she was alone, her parents were too busy to come.
Hours later she was finally finished and collapsed on her bed. The door opened to reveal a toned woman about her age. The woman was average height, sun-kissed skin, brown eyes and hair the same color pulled back into a ponytail. "Oh! You must be my roommate. I'm Sam Nishimura, film major." Sam told the woman who entered the room.
"Lara Croft, I'm majoring in anthropology." The woman, Lara, answered. Seeing the confusion on Sam's face she continued, "I'm studying to be an archeologist." Sam smiled, this must mean she likes adventure, she thought, this year was going to be amazing.
Sam soon found out that as much as Lara did like adventure, it was only if it involved history. Lara wasn't one for drinking and partying opting to stay in and study instead of going out with her roommate. Despite this Sam and Lara grew to be inseparable and learned everything about each other by the end of their first semester.
Sam smiled at the memory as she walked up to the desk attendant and asked, "We're looking for Lara Croft. Can you tell us what room she is in?"
"Sorry I'm not allowed to give out that information." Replied the attendant. Sam was about to retaliate, she would never give up on finding Lara when she heard someone with an English accent behind her say, "Samantha Nishimura? It's been a while."