(Violence and torture warnings, as well as brief mentions of sex trafficking. Also, drugs.)

There's no light here. My head is pounding and I think I hear voices in the distance, but I can't see anything. My hands are bound to a chair and so are my legs. My face is sore. It takes me a moment to remember what had happened.

The flat! Someone had been waiting for me in the flat. I know I gave as good as I got, but they smashed something into the side of my face then jabbed a needle into my arm. A drug cocktail of some kind I think, but it did a damn good job of knocking me out. I still feel groggy and there is a vague sense of unease left over from my dreams. I recall something about Roth and four doors. I really wish I could remember whatever it was he wants to tell me, but my father is there too. It feels like a warning. Like there's something they have to say.

I can clearly see his mouth moving, but the only words that my mind can make out is gibberish. I hear Yamatai, I hear my mother's name, and Sam's name and I don't know what it all means, only that I can't decipher this mystery. I can't drift off again, I can't go back to find out more, though I want to try.

My bonds are well tied, but with some effort I think I can get my wrist out of one of the bindings. I start to twist my wrist around, biting my lip as I start to rub it raw. It will be slow going, and it's painful. If I can get my arm to bleed that'll help. Is this my life, intentionally injuring myself in order to get out of some madman's clutches? At least they don't have Sam. She'd be the best leverage possible. It's a gut feeling, but she's not here and I won't believe anything they say without some kind of proof that they have her. She's safe at the manor. I latch onto that hope as pain shoots up my arm. I'm going to keep trying to get my hand free, no matter at my body's protests. I just need one hand. You can do a lot of damage with one hand.

There's scraping outside the door and I stop. It's dark in here so I hope they don't notice the state of my wrist. The rope there feels looser. The door opens and I'm blinded by the light, turning my head to spare my eyes the visual onslaught. When I feel like I can see again, I turn my head back to the figure in the door.

It's a portly older gentleman. He's shadowed so I can't see his face until he steps into the room. He has a white beard but no mustache and his skin is light but weathered. There's something about him I recognize, but it's his voice that clinches it. "Miss Croft, I know the accommodations don't meet your usual standards, but you'll forgive my caution - you've quite the reputation."

My mind flashes back to my childhood, and that voice conversing with my father in the study. He'd always given me the creeps. I must be gaping stupidly because he prompts me. "You don't recognize me?"

"Of course I do. Nathaniel Shaw." I grit my teeth, wondering why my father would work with a man like this. "You worked with my father."

"Richard was one of the best in the field. You seem to have his knack for digging in places best left undisturbed." There is ice in his voice, and I wonder if he had something to do with my father's disappearance.

I play dumb, though. "If you wanted to know more about Yamatai, I'm working on a book. I'll be sure to send you an autographed copy. You'll be the first to know all the details, outside of the survivors."

Shaw comes closer. His breath is minty as he leans over me, and there's something in his eyes that's inhuman. "Yamatai is just one piece of the puzzle, Miss Croft. A puzzle that I've been putting together since your father and I were fresh out of school and searching for treasures in the Congo." He smiles at me, because I can't hide my reaction to his words. "You're searching for skulls, when you should be searching for vessels."

Vessels? My brain starts to click everything into place. The skulls aren't just artifacts, they're receptive to energy. Sam was right! Those things were feeding on our emotions! And Himiko...her power and her soul flowing from one person to the next, turning human bodies into containers for her energy. They're similar. Maybe even the same. What could the skulls control then? Weather? Something else? Or is it just knowledge. If they'd once been people, been someone's soul, there's knowledge there. And if these artifacts could be other objects, then some of the sites I've disregarded might actually bear fruit. Thinking about the prospect of discovery helps focus my mind. I'm going to need that focus for whatever comes.

"Of course, you destroyed a piece, didn't you. When you destroyed Himiko's corpse." The man steps away. "You're going to tell me everything I want to know about what you found in those rainforests, and what you remember about Himiko."

I just stare at him. "Oh, of course, I'll tell you everything. Himiko was a bitch who tried to kill my friends and drove an entire island of shipwrecked men to insanity. I enjoyed stabbing her in the heart. I'd do it again."

"Vicious. Since you brought it up." He steps aside and another man enters. This man is wide shouldered and tall. He say something in Russian. I recognize the word 'brother' and then I recognize his face. I don't remember his name. Nikolai or Nikolaus I think but I remember that face, that burning hatred in his eyes and the feel of his fists pounding into me while Sam watched on helplessly. It's not really who he is that gets to me - as beatings and pain go that had been somewhat low on my list of traumas, though I wonder how he survived.

It's that he's from the island, that Shaw has brought anyone from that island here that makes my blood run cold. That it's a man who hates my existence for the death of his brother just rubs it in more. It's a hatred I can understand, and sharing understanding with a man like him makes my stomach lurch. I'm back on the island again. My mind goes to the darkest places and I know when I get loose there won't be anything between me and freedom.

The man laughs as he approaches me. "Look at her, Shaw. You can see it. You can see Yamatai in her eyes. I told you. You never leave that island. It's always with you. Always."

When the pain begins, my eyes roll back into my head, and it's like I'm floating there, observing my own torture. I can feel every agonizing thing Nikolai does to me, but eventually none of it matters. I just have to get through this, I just have to keep from telling them anything important. I know I'm screaming, but as long as I don't tell them anything I still win.

I talk. I babble about some of the discoveries I'd made as a child with my father, and I tell Shaw what kind of man I think he is and how my father must have hated his guts. I use language that even Sam would blush at. I think I hit a nerve. He calls his attack dog off. Is it over? It's not over. There's a prick with a needle and then they inject something into me. I feel...I can only describe it as a rush. My cheeks flush and I tilt my head back and groan as the pain is taken away. My arms and legs feel heavy. I try to wet my mouth and speak. "Oh...god, what did you….?"

"They used to grab girls off the street, you know. They'd tie them up, and give them heroin and rape them until they learned to shoot themselves up and accept the sex willingly." His voice is foggy, and sounds like he's speaking to me across a great chasm. "They'd do anything to anyone, for just another hit."

People still do that, I'm pretty sure. I glance at Nikolai, and the only lust I see in his eyes is the kind that wants to beat my face into hamburger. The feeling is mutual right now. I focus on what it would feel like to beat my fist into his nose. Something in my eyes makes Nikolai flinch.

"That's not your fate, Miss Croft. I have some humanity left."

Shaw must have noticed my glance. I look back at him, the room swimming slowly as I move. I don't know what he means by humanity. He's a bastard at the least. "Then what...do you want, Mister Shaw? What are you going to trade me for my next hit?"

"Answers. Answers you're going to provide. Eventually."

Blame the drugs pumping through my veins but I feel emboldened. I grin at him, and reply, "I'm pretty familiar with withdrawals at this point." It's why I tried to avoid taking my painkillers when I could help it. "Won't...tell you anything, but thanks for making me feel so nice."

"Just you wait," Nikolai said thickly. "When you come down, you are mine again, and you'll beg for the shot, outsider."

"I thought I was one of you. Glad to know...still the outsider." I got spit in my eye for my efforts, but its kind of worth it. I grin at them until they're out the door, and hope they think they've started driving me mad. Because I really need to ignore this high and try to get out. Nikolai managed to loosen my bindings further. But god this feels so good. My head flops back against the chair again. Maybe I'll just relax. Just a little bit. It feels really nice, just floating here.

"Lara? Lara don't you fucking give up!"

"Sam?" I open my eyes, but she's not there. Okay. Okay. I can get my hands free. No problem.