Okay. I tell myself not to panic but it's not working. I've fallen into some kind of tunnel and when I step forward to try to push open the door the floor is gone. I understand why Lara once called Yamatai a giant sadistic slip and slide as I tumble. Something jabs into my side and I pull myself into a ball to try to protect my head. There's that laughter again, like before!
I land in a pool of frigid water and the shock makes me gasp. I'm panicking, my limbs flailing and the water pulling me under before I grasp onto rock and haul myself out of the water. It tastes nasty and I cough my lungs up for god knows how long before I flop onto my back.
It's that same sort of darkness from earlier, where it seems to swallow up all light. Like there's something alive, something that's maybe a little angry, and I remember the way Yamatai had made me feel, or how Peru had sent shivers down my spin. The creeping sensation of being watched returned, and I pull myself into a corner to regroup.
My camera survived the trip, and I kiss it. I'd gotten the most rugged durable cameras we could find, knowing that even a routine expedition was hell on equipment. But then, Lara's expeditions never seem to be routine. I mimic her voice in my mind, and it calms me down. Good purchase, Sam. You're brilliant. Come here so I can show my appreciation with my sexy, sexy lips.
Flicking on the light, I peer around. There are more of those stone faces, like before. They have so many expressions that for a moment I think they're actual people. But they don't move. The crazy thing is I don't think that's the thing that's watching me. Something else is. There's only one way to go, so I start walking down a corridor. It looks ancient, carved from the stone in big chunks, with the eyes and the faces following my every step. I record everything with the camera, hoping in the safety of a studio it will be less creepy.
After ten minutes, I find myself blocked by a chasm. My light can't go down far enough to see the bottom, and it's a good five feet to the other side. What would Lara do? She'd jump that motherfucking chasm, that's what Lara would do. So I back up as far as I can, and then start to run. I shout when I jump, and for a moment it feels like I'm suspended in the air. My stomach floats inside my torso, and this giddy terror floods through every limb. I land on the other side and skid to a stop. Hugging myself, making a panicked gasping sound, I can't believe I've just done that.
I could do that again. I want to do that again! I'd probably have to later. I still don't know where I was going or how I'd get out of this place. Lara is probably trying to dig a hole just to get to me. It would be like getting between me and a nice pair of heels on sale. I'm shallow sometimes, I admit it.
I realize I've been walking on an incline for the past twenty minutes. I can hear water dripping, and the air is growing colder. That sense of being watched is stronger, but I can't tell where it's coming from. One moment it's behind me, the next above. It's like big brother, and he's giving me the creepy stalker vibes.
The hallway opens up into some kind of ritual chamber. At least that's what I think the chamber is for. I'm not the expert, so I film as much as I can, as slowly as I can, so that the expert can figure it out later. We've been doing a lot of that today, but I don't mind at all.
Footsteps interrupt me, and I swivel the camera to see Lara approaching. Oh thank god. "Sweetie! You must have been so worried, I'm so sorry but you have to check this place out!"
Something is wrong. She walks right past me so I grab her arm. When she turns towards me, I scream. Her eyes are oily black pools that shimmer and ripple, and her mouth is pulled back into a vicious grin. The skin is too pale, stretched too far back, and there are gaps in her cheeks, but I can't see bone, just more of that blackness.
Jerking back, I let go, landing on my butt and scrambling back away from the thing that looks like Lara. It follows me. I don't see it's hand move but it's holding Lara's axe and I roll out of the way, my cheek burning from the sparks as it hits the stone near my head.
I don't know if it's Lara, or something that's...borrowing her face, but it's fast. Faster than me, faster than anything human should move. I don't have a choice. God, Lara, if that's you I'm sorry. I fumble for the gun and fire.