No I didn't forget...the website was being stupid and wouldn't let me log on for no adequately explored reason =P
Lara and Kurtis jumped from the helicopter before it even touched the ground. They quickly loaded fresh magazines into their pistols, running towards the manor in Le Havre. Kurtis could feel it – something wasn't right. And Lara didn't have to be psychic to know something was wrong, either.
They both quickly pushed through the door of the house, standing in the midst of destroyed glass, picture frames, and table ornaments. They glanced around frantically, glimpsing the hand of a body lying in the hallway. Lara quickly headed in its direction to see both Alister and Zip unconscious before her. She quickly bent down, shaking them awake. She breathed relief when they stirred, groaning with pain. "What in the bloody hell happened…?" Alister said, sitting up.
"You tell me," Lara said.
"Karel," Zip muttered, rubbing the bump on his head. "He and his damned buddies came through and tried to take Emma."
"Where is she?" Lara demanded quickly.
"Lara!" Kurtis called down the hall. She quickly rose to her feet and headed in the direction of his voice. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Garin's corpse lying before Kurtis as he bent over his old friend. Kurtis breathed in a low, silent breath, as if defeated in an instant. Lara quietly bent down at Garin's side as well, drawing in the same breath. "I'm so sorry, Kurtis," she said quietly.
"Yeah," he muttered. "Me too."
Kurtis continued to mourn over his fallen brother as Lara rose to her feet. She glanced towards Alister and Zip, who stood just feet away. "Where is Emily?" she asked.
"I-I don't know," Alister stammered. "She was…"
Lara glanced down at the fallen mercenaries lining the hallway, their clothes holed with crisped tears from being singed. Then, she turned up the hallway, stopping in each room to call her daughter's name. Finally, she entered the old storage room – the last room – calling for Emily. She heard a small shuffle in the corner, and raised her gun, wary it could be a trap. She lowered her weapon, though, when she recognized her daughter. "Thank God," Lara breathed, holstering her weapon as she approached Emily's side. "Are you alright?" she asked quickly.
Emily sat curled in a ball in the back corner, her legs pulled to her chest, her hair falling over her face. Lara bent down near her daughter. "Emma…" she said slowly. "Are you…are you hurt?" Emily slowly shook her head negatively, then reached a hand up to wipe her eyes. Finally, she looked up at her mother, her eyes swollen from crying. "Is Garin…?"
Lara sighed quietly. "He's…he's dead." Emily dropped her head again, tucking her head into her arms folded over her knees. Lara tucked Emily's hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry, love," she said softly. "Won't you come downstairs?"
Emily slowly looked up at her mother, then drew in a slow breath. Finally, she rose to her feet, following Lara down the hallway. She was entirely grateful to see that Kurtis had taken Garin's body outside so Emily wouldn't have to see it again. Alister kicked some of the glass around, sighing. "Thankfully I missed the action…" He turned towards Zip. "Some security system you have."
"At least I know how to use a weapon," Zip retorted.
"Enough, you two," Lara silenced them. Lara turned to Emily. "Stay here for a moment," she said. Then, she turned and headed out the back door, glimpsing Kurtis in the distance. She slowly approached him, staring out at the distance. Lara drew in a silent breath. "Thank you for taking his body out from the house," she said quietly. "Emma's quite shaken up."
Kurtis turned towards her, a strange look on his face. "I didn't touch his body," he said.
Lara matched his gaze. "Corpses don't just get up and walk away," she said.
Kurtis gazed past her with suspicion, then brushed past her to return to the house. Lara followed after him as he entered the house, leaning over the kitchen sink, thinking. Lara stood next to him, folding her arms over her chest. "What are you thinking?" she asked softly.
"There's only one place he could be," he pondered. Then, he looked up at Lara.
"Lemuria?" she asked cautiously.
"He did say something about that," Emily chipped in from behind them.
Lara and Kurtis turned to face their daughter as she stood under the doorway. "What did he say?" Kurtis asked quickly.
"He said that he'd see you in Lemuria," she said quietly.
"He might've known something we didn't," Lara speculated, "and held it back for our own protection."
"I can't get into Lemuria," Kurtis argued. "I wouldn't even know where to begin. Garin was the one who seemed to know everything."
"We'll figure something out," Lara said, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Kurtis shook her touch off of him and turned away, brushing past Emily in silence. Lara sighed quietly, knowing this had hurt both Kurtis and Emily hard. Then, she turned past Emily to find Alister. She found him and Zip in the hallway, dragging the bodies outside. "Alister, you need to find a location on the knight's sword," she said. "We need to get to him quickly. He may be the only one to help us get into Lemuria."
"Right," Alister said, abandoning his dirty job. "I'll get on it immediately."
Alister turned down the hallway, heading towards the library to start doing research. Lara glanced down at Emily. "Why don't you go upstairs and relax for a bit," she said. "We'll relocate later this evening."
Emily turned and headed up the stairs without a sound. Zip sighed, approaching Lara's side. "She's really taking it hard, isn't she?" Zip asked.
"She's still a child," Lara reminded him. "Once Alister finds a location on the sword, we're leaving town."
"Of course," Zip said. "And what about Kurtis? Is he okay?"
"I don't know who's taking it worse," she sighed. "Kurtis or Emily…"
She turned away from Zip, heading up the stairs to find Kurtis. Emily's door was closed, as if telling the world to go away. The door to Kurtis's room was cracked open, as if desiring privacy, but allowing only a specific person inside. Lara drew in a deep breath, then knocked twice, and pushed the door open. She found Kurtis packing his things into his suitcase, merely glancing up at Lara's presence. Lara closed the door behind her. "I know this is difficult for you –"
"Don't give me any bedside treatment right now," Kurtis interrupted. "I'm not in the mood."
Lara was taken aback. "Kurtis, I'm just trying to –"
"Whatever it is, just don't do it," he said.
Lara eyed him suspiciously. "What is this really about?"
"Let's see," he said with sarcasm, turning away from his bag. "Garin is dead, Karel's out and about like a contagious disease, and Emily was almost kidnapped – again. What do you think this is about?"
"Stop being so hostile towards me," Lara demanded. "I'm trying to help you –"
"I don't want your help," he said flatly.
Lara recoiled in shock, her face knitting with confusion as the man she loved stood before her, denying her. She was hurt, but the look in his eyes read that he didn't even care. Again, she felt that unease creeping into her heart – the one she'd felt when he'd shoved her into the wall the night before as anger overtook him.
The last thing she wanted to do was make him angry. Instead, she dropped her gaze to the floor and turned away, exiting the room. She pulled the door shut and leaned against the wall, closing her eyes as she drew in a deep breath. Well I feel quite useless right now, she thought. Perhaps I ought to go talk to Emily again. She turned down the hall, pushing her thoughts of Kurtis out of her mind, and opening Emily's door. She found the young girl seated on her bed, holding a poster in her hand. Lara slowly approached her, seating herself next to her daughter.
"Ah, target practice," Lara grinned, looking over the silhouette poster in Emily's hands.
Emily nodded. "Garin taught me to shoot a Glock," she said quietly.
"You did this?" Lara asked.
She nodded again. "He said I was pretty good for my first time."
"That you are," Lara agreed, peering over the shots through the paper. "And to think I haven't yet trained you…"
Emily slowly lowered the paper to her lap, looking up at her mother. "Why…why are you and Dad fighting?"
Lara sighed quietly, pulling Emily's hair back. "He's…he's not taking Garin's death very well."
Emily set the silhouette aside. "Is he going to stay with us when all of this is done?"
Lara wished she could've just lied to Emily and told her yes – she wished it for both of their sakes. However, she couldn't do that. "I don't know," Lara admitted.
"Do you…do you want him to?"
Lara sighed again. "There are a lot of things to work out, Emma," she said softly.
Emily sighed in irritation, rising to her feet to start packing her things. She's too much like her father, Lara thought as she watched Emily repeat the same actions she'd seen Kurtis enacting moments before. She rose to her feet, heading towards the door. "I'll let you know when we're leaving," she said, leaving the room.
Lara sighed in her mind as she trudged down the stairs, wishing the day would just move along. She entered the library, feeling as though her presence was essentially dispensable. Alister turned towards her upon her entrance. "Glad you're here, Lara," he said. "I've got some information."
"Perfect," Lara said, glad to feel occupied. "What do you have?"
"Well, it looks like we're going to be heading for Ireland," he started.
"Is that where the sword is?"
"After finding correlations between both my research and Garin's research, yes," he said. "We're to go to the town of Glarryford. The sword is fabled to be hidden in Dundermot Mound."
"How's that for irony," Lara said. "One of the two legendary Ireland gateways into hell."
"Yes, well, let's hope we don't encounter any coach drivers asking if the bridge is still up," Alister sighed.
"It could be interesting," Lara joked. "If that's where you say it is, though, then that's where we'll go."
"All I've got is that location," Alister confessed, "but I can likely find some more information."
"Smashing," Lara said as Zip entered the library. "Zip, we need to get to Glarryford in Ireland. Arrange flight plans immediately, please."
"Will do," Zip said, seating himself at the computer.
Lara leaned over the laptop on the opposite desk, pulling up the video and audio communication satellite feeds to make a call to Ireland. After several rings, it was answered by Lara's old friend, Father Patrick. "Lara, is that you?" he asked, half-shocked.
Lara grinned, nodding. "It is," she said. "And how are you, Father?"
"As well as can be expected," he chuckled. "All things age with time."
"Of course," Lara said. "It looks like we'll be heading into Ireland sometime later this evening. Is there any chance we'd be able to meet up for a chat?"
"Chasing more demon knights, I see?" he joked.
"Something of the sort," Lara replied.
"I would love nothing more," he answered. "When are you and your friends expecting to arrive?"
"Sometime in the late evening," Lara said.
"Then I'll look forward to seeing you soon," he said.
"Are you free tomorrow afternoon?" she asked.
"Absolutely," he replied. "I'll see you then."
Lara turned the communicator off and faced the boys, startling a bit to see Kurtis in the room. "Thanks for the update," he muttered irritably.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she replied with sarcasm. "I'd assumed you still wanted nothing to do with me."
He turned to Alister, ignoring Lara's sarcasm. "We're going to Ireland?"
"Y-Yes," he said, a bit confused as to their hostility. "To Glarryford. The sword is located in Dundermot Mound."
"Then what are we still doing here?" he asked, scooping up one of the bags lying nearby.
Lara glared at him, and he glared right back. They held the hostile gaze for what seemed an eternity, both challenging each other beneath their eyes. Lara drew in a silent breath as she folded her arms over her chest. Then, she turned towards Zip and Alister, who were more confused than Lara was angry. "Let's get things cleaned up," she said softly. She glared up at Kurtis again, then turned away heading towards the foot of the stairs. "Emily, we're leaving!" she called up the hallway.
Ah, Dundermot Mound...I researched it and found out that apparently superstition tells that there was a cabbie lost in a storm or something and the last time he was seen, he was asking if the bridge at Dundermot was still up...then apparently Hell itself opened up and swallowed him and his cab...so rumor holds that if anyone passes by Dundermot Mound and encounters the cabbie asking about the bridge and they answer him, then they will die within a year......perhaps my story-telling is a bit off, so that's my disclaimer...but I did my best to retell it, haha.
I'll catch you guys on Wednesday!
