hello everyone! a big thanks to Team-Chaser, Lemmie666, BlackAngels, and HeartBrokenMya for reviewing, it means so much to me that people actually read this! thank you! anyways this is chapter 7, a bit different from my usual "suspenseful" chapters. there is a little part in here that might not exactly be suitable for everyone, but hopefully you all are mature enough to handle it : ) hope you all had an awesome new years, and the only thing i own is Vasiliev. here's "Explanations"...
Lara awoke with a slight tickle in her nose. She raised a hand toward her head, touching her forehead and yawning. Rubbing her nose she felt something warm above her lips. Slowly lifting long fingers away, she had to blink twice to recognize exactly what she was staring at. In shock, Lara's eye's widened as the crimson blood on her fingers slithered down her hand. She jolted awake. Shit, the antidote! Still naked, Lara hopped out of bed and raced to the bathroom looking down at the floor, searching for the clothes she had placed last night. Her attire wasn't in the ceramic room; she glanced at the mirror above and did a double take. The blood was not only on her lips but had also run down along her neck and seemed to have stopped just above her collar bone. Lara grabbed a roll of toilet paper and began to wipe it away. Through the corner of her eye she got a glimpse of shimmer, and turned her head to find her corset and skirt placed neatly on top of a coffee table. Her efforts for removing the blood were forgotten, and she pounced onto her clothing, desperately searching for the black vile. Sifting through pockets she finally was able to locate it. The black fluid floated carelessly inside, and silver streaks mixed with the ebony liquid, illuminating a metallic shine.
Helplessly, she stared at the glass tube, deliberating if she should take her chances on lead-looking material. This better work. Lara yanked off the cap and sniffed the top. The scent that filtered through her nose was horrendous, similar to the smell of road kill. She had to turn her head away as nausea swept over her. Lara glared at the bottle, thought of the consequences one more time, and made the decision to drink it. Whatever was really in the bottle, she didn't know. She did know for a fact that she had never before tasted something so disgusting in her life. The tinge of sourness and how thick the fluid was made her want to gag. She took the vile with her to the checkered bathroom and filled it up with water, downing the loathsome pudgy taste with cold H2O.
A few loud knocks erupted from the hallway. "Lara? You awake?"
"Yeah, give me a minute." Her reflection in the mirror cast back an image of a woman who was sick and definitely tired. She walked back towards her clothing, when she noticed a black t-shirt and a note placed on top, clearly near her garments. Thought you could use this. A little signature smiley face stared back at her and she grinned. Hurriedly, she threw on Kurtis' shirt and eased into last nights' denim mini. As she made her way to the door she couldn't help but think, what is it with men and notes?
Kurtis stood at the doorway, holding two "Thank You" bags. The door in front of him flew open and Lara stepped out. "Morning." she smiled and looked down at the plastic sacks. "Food, perhaps?"
"Yeah, thought you might be hungry. I got Chinese." He lifted the bag up and swished the delicious food in front of her face. "Getting cold." He flashed his adorable smirk and walked inside past her. Lara could hear her stomach growling, though growling would be an understatement.
She closed the door behind her and sat down across Kurtis on the unmade bed. "Nothing like Chinese at ten in the morning." He chuckled and began to unpack the savory goods.
"Well, it was either this or bacterial infested peanuts from the bar a few blocks down." Lara laughed while trying hard not to choke on her morning coffee. He grinned and handed her a styrofoam container with the black fork on top.
"Sleep well?" Kurtis had propped himself on his right elbow, while slurping some noodles into his mouth.
"Yes…" She paused catching his gaze. "Look, about last night-"
"Don't worry about it." He interrupted. There was a quiet stillness between them, each eating and thinking of what to say next. Kurtis was the one who broke their silence first. "My shirt looks nice on you." He hiked up an eyebrow. Would love to see what's underneath it.
Lara saw right through him, as if reading his mind she glared at him, and chucked a dumpling at his head.
"Hey! That's not very proper for a lady."
"Yes, well staring at my breasts isn't very polite either." She placed a spoonful of rice into her mouth and chewed. He didn't even deny it! She secretly smiled inside, triumphant of winning the pointless argument. Kurtis put down his food on the bed and looked at Lara. She sat upright with her long legs crossed over each other. Her unbraided hair, something he hadn't yet seen of hers, was loosely curled around her neck. A stray strand fell over her eyes and she tucked it behind her left ear. An image flickered in his mind- the two of them passionately rocking bodies, pressing close and neither letting go of the other as the blissful release engulfed them both. Hearing Lara's voice, he snapped back into the real world.
"Are you ever going to explain to me why you were at the museum last night?" Lara had seen him watch her, but ignored it. She placed her plate down on a near coffee table. "And no 'I wanted to thank you' lies" She added.
Kurtis looked around, trying to avoid the subject. "It's like you're living in a cave Lara." He got off the bed and walked up to the flowered curtains. He shoved them apart, spilling sunlight into the hotel room. "Much better, I can actually see you!" He kept searching for something to look at, other that Lara's determined glare.
"Tell me, or I'll have to force you to explain." Mischief sparked in her eyes.
"Well then you're just going to have to force me." He played along, trying to figure out what she was thinking. He strode over to the bed and was just about to pick up his food when Lara pulled him down onto the mattress. Lust ignited in his ocean blue eyes. He leaned back on his elbows as Lara crawled on her hands and knees over him, her sultry hair skimming his arms and chest.
"Tell me Kurtis Trent, why were you at the museum last night?" She straddled him, as his hands slid up her thighs, and slipped under her shirt. "Uh-uh" she waved her index finger and caught his wanting hands. "Tell me first."
Kurtis' mind filled with so many thoughts, but only one stood out clearly to him. A lusty sigh escaped his lips, "And if I don't?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Oh you will." Lara shoved him down completely and bent down and began to kiss his jaw, making her way down his neck and parts of his chest. She had to admit, he had a killer body. His hands kept reaching for her, anywhere, just to be able to touch her. Lara made sure he wasn't able to connect with her sensitive skin. She pinned his arms down to his sides and slid up his body again. Kurtis was losing his mind; his mental state was completely fogged by desire. He fought within himself just to stay in control. She brushed her lips against his nose, leaned towards his ear and softly nibbled. That was it; he lost his restraint and grabbed her waist pressing her closer to him. Now, only their clothing was in between them, keeping them from going any further. Lara gasped at the sudden contact. Kurtis placed slow burning kisses on her shoulders and neck, and Lara moaned out of pure pleasure. No, I can't... but…oh, god. She pushed herself up determined to get what she wanted, he's not getting it this easily. She sat up, Kurtis under her and not willing to let her go. Lara grabbed his hands again and held them down with her knees. Then with her free hands, she bunched up his undershirt and pulled it upward. The large scar on his left side looked tender, and compared with the rest of his torso, much pinker. She kissed the delicate skin and looked up at Kurtis, who shivered at her touch. She slowly eased her way down, lower, zigzagging across the line of dark thin hair. His muscles began to contract and Lara was surprised to hear him give up so easily.
"Alright!" He gritted his teeth and refused to let another groan escape. Lara grinned and reached over Kurtis' shoulder.
"Oh there it is!" She picked out a cold dumpling from his meal, placed it in her mouth and smiled coldly. Then, she simply rolled off him and seated herself in an arm chair facing Kurtis.
Kurtis slid to the edge of the bed and shook his head. "Sex is not a fair way to manipulate me."
"Worked, didn't it?" Lara crossed her legs and leaned forward. "Now, are you going to tell me?" Her voice was stern. She wasn't planning on physically hurting him, but if it came to it…
"Nikolai Vasiliev owns that museum, as I'm sure you already know. His colleges recently located a mythical artifact called The Jade Key in Tibet. Last night, he held a world wide convention, which I believe I saw you at." Kurtis took something out of his back pocket and held it out in front of her; a simple black and white photo of herself chatting with a stranger from last night. He dropped it on her lap and continued. "But what you might have not realized, or known, was the fact that it was not an archeological convention as so many had thought." He paused, rethinking his next sentence. "Vasiliev is linked to the Russian mafia, noted as quite the drug lord, and his 'convention' last night was actually a meeting with many of his fellow dealers." Kurtis stopped, noticing the shocked look on Lara's face. She blinked away her confusion.
"And how do you exactly know all of this? Better yet, why the hell were you following me later that night when I took the Key?"
"I'm getting to it. You, my dear, have been quite the busy bee; theft, assault, forgery. Last year when you stole Van Gogh's second portrait of Dr. Gadget, from a lovely Madame Ecklund, our agency was in frenzy. Not only had the painting been found after nearly 120 years of being missing, but it was stolen again only 2 weeks after its' auction to her." The hint of a smile tugged on his lips. "No one had absolutely any idea who could've done it. Well, no one except for me that is."
"Are you accusing me of stealing a Van Gogh? This is absurd!" She tried her best to camouflage her worry.
"Perhaps… we don't have any hard evidence against you, but seeing last night's theft, I'm pretty sure my verdict is correct." He got a glimpse of uneasiness and noticed that Lara's hands where trembling. "But no worries Croft, that's not why I was following you. I wanted to watch you work; see how the Key tempted you until you had it in your own hands. Its display though, did trigger an interest back home-"
"Who is 'we' Kurtis? Who the hell are you working for?!" She yelled at him, fueled by confusion and distrust. He deeply sighed and turned to fully face her.
"I work for the CIA. It was not you we were following, it was the Key and Vasiliev."
It took Lara a few long seconds to register what Kurtis had just old her. "Kurtis Trent, Demon Hunter, working for the CIA." She chuckled harshly. "Bullshit."
"You can either trust me, or get your own ass arrested for misconduct against an officer."
"Are you blackmailing me? Because if you are, I might as well kill you right now. I have things to do and people to take care of, you get in my way, and you'll be one of them." She snapped at Kurtis, stood up and began to pace the room. After several long muted moments, she turned to him. "What does the CIA want with Vasiliev?"
"As I said before, he's linked in with the mafia." He took a long pause, "in 92, he literally took a coup de taut of his fathers' archeology foundation. His father 'mysteriously' disappeared the same day, never to be heard from again. We've been tracking his records for months now; the list of crimes would go on for pages. Our only problem is that he knows how to keep clean, everything he does is done by someone else. By the time we get to the accused, they've wound up beheaded in some ditch. This Jade Key could be the perfect way to bring the bastard down."
"Kurtis, do you know why he wants the Key?" He began to say something, but Lara cut him off. "During the Middle Ages, a peasant had approached the Vatican; trying to convince the Pope that the item he held in his hand had the power to reveal anyone's fate. Pope Clement II, mocked the man, but it was his curiosity that made him want to see his future. Upon seeing his own death in a blurred image, the Pope demanded the Key be taken to a place so far and unknown, that absolutely no one would be able to recover it. However, someone did recover it. Towards the end the Second World War, a Portuguese archeologist named José Tavares Silva found an intricate jade artifact, in the shape of a pentagon, nearly 50 kilometer north of Lisbon. He had no idea what great power the item held. Unfortunately, a few years after his discovery he died in a plane crash heading to Beijing, taking the Jade Key with him." Lara walked to her hotel room door, bent down and picked up the newspaper that lay on the floor. She opened the paper, folded it and handed it to Kurtis. "This is the Key" she pointed to a colored photo that captured a five-sided green item locked in a glass case. "José's plane crashed in Tibet, where recently Vasiliev was able to locate the Key and throw it on display." She sat down on the bed and sighed. "The thing is, nobody is able to figure out how to make the Key work. There must have been some sort of saying or chant that was lost with the bearer. What worries me," She looked up at Kurtis, "Vasiliev knows how, and will use it."
He stared blankly at Lara, totally confused and curious at the same time. "So what you're saying is that if he gets his hands on the Key, then pretty much modern religion as we know it will be screwed?"
"Not entirely with that term, but yes, definitely change people's beliefs." Lara paused for a while and then continued. "Many religions state that god has some sort of plan for their believers. That's part of the reason why people do not go to psychics; some believe that it's not in gods will to see your destiny. So by seeing your future you're able to change your fate, therefore ruining gods' great scheme, also showing that you have no faith in the Almighty. If Vasiliev is able to make it work, then he would be able to create a completely different religion, making all others insignificant and giving him the power to exploit his followers at his own will."
"Jesus Christ." Kurtis ran a hand through his hair. "Well you've got the damn thing, right?"
"Had, he somehow was able to find it in the Manor."
He tilted his head back and sighed skeptically then walked towards the window on the other side of the room.
Lara watched him pass by her in silence, "Kurtis we have to the Key back-"
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing doll, but right now," he jerked his head in Lara's direction, "we've got some company."
Four men were traversing the parking lot, each carrying black handguns equipped with silencers.
: ) i know, i know... another cliffhanger! but don't worry i'll have the next chapter up soon. so i hope you enjoyed this 'little' (hah who am i kidding) chapter, and you're excited enough to review :D reviews also make me write faster hint hint see you all soon! thank you!