Here we are yet again. Chapter 14 is up for your viewing pleasure. Read on, minions.
"Wow," Emily breathed, gazing up at the ceiling of the hotel. The railings along the stairwells were embellished with gold, the floors were tiled of marble, and the ceiling had articulate watercolor designs, giving the building shade. Of course, the Croft Manor was twice as grand as this, but she'd never really been outside of her home – anything from a dark alley to Buckingham Palace was a new experience for her.
Emily pulled her bag taught against her shoulder, struggling to keep her grip on her luggage and her backpack at the same time. "This place is nice," she commented.
"A little unnecessary if you ask me," Kurtis muttered.
"Well, thankfully no one asked you," Lara retorted.
Emily dropped her head, knowing better than to observe the fight. For whatever reason, Kurtis and Lara were still arguing, and they certainly weren't making any effort to hide their animosity. Alister cleared his throat, stepping forward. "I'll check in with the bellman for our rooms," he said quickly, leaving the scene.
"Why are we staying here if you have a friend that lives in Ireland?" Kurtis asked irritably.
"So you have one more thing to complain about," Lara replied.
"Quite a waste of time and energy, don't you think?" he asked rhetorically.
"This hotel is closer to Glarryford than where Father lives," she said dryly. "Is there anything else you'd like to argue with me about?"
"Several things," Kurtis said. "But I'll keep it quiet for now." He held his glare with Lara for a moment, absently taking Emily's bag from her hand and turning to follow after Alister's path, just to get himself away from Lara. Emily watched with confusion as Kurtis trudged away angrily with her bag in his hand. Then, she sighed. "Can't you guys just try to get along?" she asked calmly.
"Go help Zip with the bags," Lara said, ignoring her request. "He knows which rooms are ours. Follow him upstairs when you're done."
Lara watched as Emily tiredly headed out the side door of the hotel to reach the van where the rest of the bags were being unloaded. Then, she drew in a long, silent, deep breath, trying to purge herself of her anger before she was face-to-face with Kurtis again. For whatever reason, he was completely irritable with her, and for what? Had she honestly done anything to upset him? Sure, he was upset about Garin's death, but he acted as though it was her fault – either that, or as though she was just an imposition on his life.
Lately, he'd been so wishy-washy. One minute, he was the Kurtis she'd known since the dawn of time. The next, he was blowing up in her face angrily, behaving in a threatening manner that Lara would never have expected from such a person as Kurtis. Then, within a moment's time, he changed again – he was cold and distant. I'm starting to think he's the woman in this relationship, Lara thought. Whatever this relationship is…
There were still some things he'd not told her. He hadn't spoken more than a few words of Lemuria, except to say it had devastated him. What exactly had happened? There had to have been something that had completely changed him around – obviously not for the best. Getting him to bring it up though would require stepping behind enemy lines. Lara knew a thing or two about that – but she was never afraid to do it in those times. Here, she knew bridges could be burned if she took the wrong step. No matter how upset we are with each other, I won't lose him again. Three times is too many.
With that thought, she fought to push her irritability aside even more, closing her eyes and counting to three, then opening them and forcing a subtle smile to her face as she approached Alister. He scooped up five room keys into his hands and turned to face her, holding them up in view. "All set now," he said. "The bellman says these five cards have access to all three rooms, so make sure no one loses theirs."
Lara plucked one of the keys from his hand. "Smashing," she said. "Then let's get settled in."
"Where's Emily?" Kurtis asked her hollowly.
"Helping Zip," Lara replied as calmly as she could manage. "They'll be up in a bit."
"Brilliant idea," he muttered. "Leave her unsupervised."
"She's with Zip," she said, a bit more firmly. "They're retrieving the bags, not trekking the Himalayas."
"I don't care what they're doing," he said. "We can't take her out of our sight."
Kurtis dropped the bags at Lara's feet, turning and leaving through the same door Emily had gone through. Lara glared angrily at him, finding the task of being cordial a lot harder than expected. "Look who's suddenly 'father-of-the-year'," she muttered.
"He's just trying to help, Lara," Alister said.
Lara glared at him. "I wasn't asking for your opinion," she said coldly.
Lara turned away, scooping up the bags that Kurtis had dropped and heading towards the elevator in the distance. Right now, she didn't want to be around anyone – not Kurtis, not Emily, not Zip, and not Alister. She needed her space. They were all growing on her – not so much Emily, but the rest were.
The ding of the elevator was the most relief she'd gotten in days. The eighth floor of the hotel dropped her off just around the corner to room 836. Unfortunately, she'd be sharing the room with Kurtis. She'd planned to share the room with Emily at first, but after a while, decided it would be good to give the girl her space.
Lara dropped her bag on the ground, heading straight for the window to peer out over the view of the Ireland night sky. Even living just a few hundred miles away, she'd never really gotten to visit Ireland. The last time she'd been there, she was sixteen years old, chasing away evil spirits on the Black Isle. She chuckled to herself a bit, recognizing the foreshadowing – now Emily, twelve years old, was here in Ireland, being chased by evil spirits, aka Karel. How's that for irony? she thought.
Lara heard the doorknob twisting behind her, and she turned to look upon Kurtis wearily entering the room, dropping his bag down with a thud. "Where's Emma?" Lara asked quickly.
"In the room with Zip and Alister," he said. "She's helping them hook the things up."
"She should be getting to bed," Lara said. "We have to be up early to meet with Father."
"Then go ahead and tell her that," he muttered, running his fingers through his hair.
Lara glared at him for a split second, then turned her gaze outside to the sky again. She heard the bedsprings creak as Kurtis seated himself on one of the mattresses, sighing with exhaustion. This tension is going to be the death of me, she sighed in her mind. Then, she heard him removing his shoes, likely preparing for sleep. Lara knew she should do the same. She turned away, trying to avoid looking at him, even as she seated herself on the opposite side of the bed. On the way over, though, she stopped, glancing down at the Chirugai lying atop the nightstand.
Lara glanced back at Kurtis, who leaned back on the pillows, closing his eyes. Then, she returned her gaze to the legendary weapon. She let her fingers gently fall over the cold metal. It suddenly struck her that she hadn't seen him use it once since he'd returned from Lemuria. She scooped it into her hands tenderly, holding it close to her heart. Then, she turned and looked over at Kurtis, who lay motionless on the bed. Normally, he would react, as though the Chirugai was a part of him, as though he could feel when it lay in someone else's hands. It was now as though he had no knowledge and no care of what became of it. Lara wasn't quite sure why, but the mere thought brought pain and ache into her heart, not only for herself, but for Kurtis as well. She turned towards him – he still hadn't moved. "Why don't you use it anymore?" she asked softly.
After a silent moment, he stirred, removing his arm from over his eyes and looking wearily upon her. "What?"
"The Chirugai," she said. "It used to be your other half. Now you can care less."
"Guns are more effective," he muttered.
"You're a poor liar," she said.
"Go psychoanalyze someone else, Lara," he said.
He sat up and roughly pulled the disk from her hands, tossing it onto the floor by the nightstand. Then, he leaned back on the pillows, covering his face with his arms. Instead of being angry or afraid, Lara felt an overwhelming sadness overtake her soul. He's given up on everything that's ever meant something to him, she thought.
Lara drew in a silent breath. He'd saved her time and time again, mostly from herself. Now, it was her time to do the rescuing. She reached a tender hand up to his arm, pulling it away from his face so she could look into his empty eyes. She held her gaze with him for eternity, wishing she could just read what his mind was thinking. "What happened in Lemuria?" she asked him.
Kurtis stared up at her, then broke the gaze, staring past her. He let his eyes slowly drift shut. "Nothing," he muttered.
"Kurtis, please," she begged softly.
He sighed, sitting up, dropping his feet over the edge of the bed to where his back faced her. "What the hell does it matter?" he muttered.
"It matters to me," Lara said firmly. "You used to have to drag it out of me when I refused to admit anything I felt. Now, I'm going to do the same with you."
"There's no point," he said hollowly.
"There is a point," she argued. "It hurts me to see you feel this way, to know that not even I can save you from what's killing you. Me, the woman whom you said you loved. Or has that changed in the past twelve years?"
"It can't change," he said. "It never would."
"Then why the hostility?" she asked. "Why are you pulling away from me?"
He ran his fingers through his hair, leaning onto his hands. Lara could tell he was growing frustrated, but she wasn't about to stop now. If anything, it's causing progress, she thought, even if he did have to blow up on her – at least then he'd get it out. It would be like sucking the poison out after being bitten by a snake. It would hurt, no doubt, but only for a minute.
Kurtis didn't respond. He remained in silence, holding his head in his hands. "Why won't you talk to me?" she asked.
The next thing she knew, Kurtis had lurched himself in her direction, shoving her backwards onto the bed, his weight suspended over her. He pinned her down with one hand against her throat. The other hand was balled into a fist, raised in the air as if he intended to strike her. She knew she should be afraid – could this even be defined as domestic violence? Instead, she challenged him – she held her gaze with him. The hatred in his eyes was currently directed towards her, and she half-expected him to send a fierce blow to her face, or to start strangling her. I know you're in there somewhere, she thought, searching his eyes, never breaking her gaze with him.
After moments passed, she saw the hatred slowly fade away and convert into guilt and sadness. She felt his grip on her throat loosen. She heard his breathing coming more steadily. Then, he looked about, as if he wasn't even aware of what was happening. He pulled himself off of her and sat back on the bed, then crawled off of it, facing away from her where he stood.
Lara slowly sat up, watching him carefully. He gazed down at his shaking hands as if he didn't even recognize them to be his own. Lara slowly rose to her feet and stood just inches behind him, to the point where she could feel the heat coming from his body. Then, she slowly rose a hand to both of his arms. He startled, as if he didn't recognize her touch. Then, he turned and faced her. "I don't know what I've done…" he said.
Lara stared up into his eyes, then slowly leaned forward, reaching him for an embrace. That was all he would need – a tender embrace to show that she'd already forgiven him, because she knew that he was dying inside.
Kurtis stared up at the ceiling as the time neared to two a.m., trying not to move so he wouldn't awaken Lara. I can't believe I acted that way, he thought. He'd never ever expected himself to lash out at Lara in such a way. Then again, he'd not expected her to be so persistent in getting a response from him about Lemuria. That's the last thing I want to talk about, he thought. Of course, he knew it was eating him up. He couldn't very well hold it in much longer – who knew what would happen next time?
Kurtis turned his head to the side to look over at Lara's sleeping body. She was so beautiful. How she put up with him, he would never know – but she loved him. She hadn't stopped loving him, not even after twelve years, and after claiming to have given up on him. And here he was, threatening her both physically and mentally. The mere thought made him sick to his stomach – the last thing he would ever do would be to hurt Lara.
Lara stirred, rolling over on her side to where she faced him. She drew in a silent breath as a few stray tendrils of hair fell over her closed eyes. Kurtis watched her, wishing he could tell her everything that was going on. Where to start, though?
Then, as if his thoughts had been projected vocally, Lara's eyes slowly flickered open. She met his gaze, connecting with him as though she'd never been asleep. He drew in a silent breath, reaching his hand up towards her face. He ran his fingers over her cheek, then traced the plump, moist features of her lips. "Are you alright?" she asked him softly.
He drew in a deep breath, dropping his gaze from her eyes. Then, he sat up, dropping his feet over the edge of the bed and running his fingers through his hair. He clasped his hands together, leaning his weight on his elbows as he leaned over the bed. "I wanted to die in there," he said quietly. Lara sat up in the bed, ready to listen to every word he spoke. Kurtis stared down at the ground, faced away from the truth. "Everywhere I turned, I saw what I wanted, but it wasn't real. Karel was taunting me with it – with all of it. My father, my family, the brothers, you…"
Lara shuddered a bit at the thought – Karel was a sadistic bastard, and he didn't care about who he hurt. More so, she began to feel Kurtis's pain. "I don't think I ever slept. The entire thing was like a really long nightmare that I just had to keep fighting off." He drew in a silent breath. "I tried for so long to reach one of the brothers, but none of them responded. Finally, I called to Kyran, and it must've worked. He relayed the message to Garin, and Garin left to Maldives to find me. After twelve goddamn years, the portal finally opened."
Lara kept her solemn gaze on Kurtis as he still sat facing away from her. She didn't have to see into his eyes to know his pain. Finally, he drew in a deep breath. "The only thing that kept me going was you. You were the only thing that I saw in Lemuria that I knew was real, that existed beyond that hell I was trapped in."
"And here we are," Lara replied softly. "We're both real, yet for some reason, you're still afraid."
Lara let the comment sink on him for a moment. Then, she sighed quietly, leaning forward. She gripped both of his bare arms, kissing the soft flesh along his shoulder. Then, she leaned her mouth towards his ear. "I'm not going anywhere," she said softly, kissing his neck. "And you'd better not either." He sighed quietly, as if relieved to hear her say that. Then, he turned to look at her as she offered a subtle smile of solace. He pulled her face towards his, brushing his lips against hers, and finally kissed her full on the mouth.
Lara held her gaze with him for a moment, then leaned over him, pushing him down on the bed. It was her turn to show him what love was like – rather, to remind him of what it was like. She leaned over him, her full weight atop his body, trailing kisses down his neck and his chest. She was acutely aware of every piece of flesh that his fingertips reached for, savoring every part of him as though it were the last time she would. She felt him reach his hands up near her shoulder blades, gently slipping the tank top off of her body, and gripping her by the hips to pull her towards him. Lara straddled him, staring passionately into his eyes as she felt his hands trace up her legs. She positioned herself over his body and then lowered herself onto him, reveling in the feelings of pleasure she'd longed for for twelve years.
Oh yes, she would remind him of what love was like, and she would do it all night if it took just that.
Well, there ya have it. Kurty is finally going to stop being so pissy now that he's...getting healthy. Ahem. See you guys on Monday!
