Chapter 7 – The disrespect
When Lara returned to the underground temple at Greece, she knew that she needed to be fast to stop Jeffrey. When she opened her eyes and realized that she was at the right place, she took the Iris to the back of the room, close to the corner next to her. When it lost the strength, it landed perfectly at the air. Lara noticed that Von Croy was sitting on the ground, with a hand resting on the stone bench. She was Jeffrey's back. He was leaned to his knees with the gun on his hand in a awkward position: with his hands on the knees, a little curved.
- Drop the gun! – she said while she touched her pistol on his nape. – Now!
Jeffrey threw the gun on the ground but didn't worry in turning to face Lara. He just stayed at that position as if he had ran a marathon. Lara thought that everything was weird specially Von Croy sitting on the ground next to the stone bench.
- What happened here? – She asked a little scared.
Jeffrey stepped forward, approaching the wall, he put his hands on it while his head was facing the ground. Lara looked to Von Croy again and he now was holding tightly his left hand, as if he was trying to make some kind of massage, and his gaze was almost distant from his hand.
- You know what? – Jeffrey turned around to face Lara. There was a part of his face and neck that was oscillating from black to yellow. – I don't need your little ball.
- He stood under the light, Lara! – Von Croy said before Lara could ask anything.
- If this light can give the power of teleportation to a little ball, imagine if a person didn't need it! – he tried to approach menacingly towards Lara, but he fell on the ground, feeling a pain in the chest.
Lara didn't know what to do.
- Help me! Please! – Jeffrey started screaming with a hand on his chest.
Lara ignored Jeffrey and approached Von Croy.
- Werner – the old man said nothing - Werner! Why are you there?
- We thought "if Lara could put the Iris in the light without nothing happening to her hands, then nothing would happen with us too. Jeffrey stayed under the light, but something strange started to happen. I decided to pull him, and my hand hit the yellow light too. I felt a horrible pain, but something worse happened to Jeffrey. – Werner lost his speech.
- What happened?!
Von Croy didn't want answer anything and she was already getting impatient. When she looked to Jeffrey on the ground, she realized that he was almost motionless, as if he was in some sort of trance.
Lara and Von Croy carried Jeffrey from their shoulders. The Iris and her gun was inside Lara's bag. Von Croy was very worried with what could happen to him. Each moment Jeffrey had spasm or had his skin black and yellow, Von Croy was on the verge of passing out of fear that could happen to him.
They went upstairs with difficulty. They noticed that the initial hall door was closed and remembered that they opened that door placing the Iris on the pedestal outside.
- We are locked! – Von Croy snapped.
Lara looked around and realized that the wall at her left has a depression, a type of square alcove. She used her flashlight on it and saw the same symbol that was carved on the pedestal outside. She took the Iris from her bag, making Jeffrey falling on the stairs, place the artifact on the little alcove. The door opened and then she took the Iris back, putting in the bag again. She took Jeffrey by the arm, helping Von Croy. It seemed that he was better at that moment because he was managing to walk better but, even though, he was taken outside by Lara and Von Croy. It was already night.
- Let's put him in the car and… - Von Croy thought of saying "take him to a hospital" but what a doctor could do to him? He was like that because he stood under the light that recharges a artifact that has the power of teleportation, given by Hera and Iris. No doctor could help him.
Lara put Jeffrey on the back seat, making him lay down. He was getting that some sort of trance again. Half part of his body was oscillating between black and yellow, slowly.
- I'm gonna be the… mightiest… - he said slowly. Lara and Von Croy looked at each other. Von Croy rushed to sit on the driver's seat, thinking where he would take him.
Lara walked around the car, opened the door, knelt on the passenger seat after closing the door so she could face Jeffrey all the time. He was having spasms and talking nonsense things.
Von Croy accelerated the car. And then, Jeffrey opened his eyes wide and the movement of his lungs began to get very slow. The American died there. Lara opened her mouth a little scared, asking Von Croy to stop the car. Jeffrey's body was in the same normal hue again, as if the effect had passed after his death.