Author's Note: This is a slightly shorter chapter, but hopefully still engaging! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Lara and Sam.
Lara read the note twice. She read it a third time. Then a fourth. Then a fifth and a sixth and a seventh and she didn't stop until she could no longer read the note without going lightheaded. She had already vomited. It was the thought of this man taking Sam away from her, the thought of him keeping her locked away, torturing her. Though Lara didn't actually know what this man looked like, or whether he was a man at all. It had become clear to her that there were several people working on this mission and so far she had only seen two. Obviously the man who she chased wasn't the same person who had kidnapped Sam. The other thing that occurred to Lara was how someone had managed to kidnap her- to take someone in broad daylight and get away without people noticing any screaming must have taken an enormous amount of planning and strategic effort. Unless, of course, Sam didn't scream. This notion was even worse to Lara as it suggested Sam had been unconscious throughout the kidnap.
Unconscious, Lara thought. If she was unconscious she either got hit or somebody drugged her. That means...
Lara sighed. She didn't know what that meant. She felt helpless, but she had to keep going. Cow Blood (this was Lara's name for the person who left the notes- a he she had decided) had mentioned that he enjoyed playing with riddles and games, so surely that meant there was a riddle or clue in the note somewhere. He wouldn't have left Lara without a clue, she knew that for sure. He said he wouldn't hurt Sam without playing with her- and Lara- first. Of course, Lara couldn't trust this man, yet somehow she knew that playing the game was Cow Blood's intentions for her. It wouldn't be easy, but she knew that she was expected to work fast and hard. Besides, if that's what it would take to get Sam back and find out what these people want with her, it would be worth it.
Lara did a quick workout to get her blood pumping before setting down to work.
A riddle... she thought. Let's see. Perhaps there's some kind of skip code or anagram in the messages.
She puzzled over the large, now fading letters on the window, rearranging the words and letters until she could think of no other combinations. Nothing seemed to work. She repeated this with the note from the envelope addressed to Sam as well as the note she had just recently received. She was still none the wiser.
Think, Lara, think! It's all in the same hand writing, yet the man who posted the envelope was different to the one who took Sam, he had to be. So he was a messenger. Cow Blood wrote the note and made him post it. Then when I chased him, Cow Blood came into the house, wrote the note and took Sam. But why wouldn't he have written the note beforehand? Maybe he did... So it could have been another one of Cow Blood's minions that took Sam. God.
Lara sighed and let out a frustrated groan. Cow Blood was smarter than she, and he knew how to piss her off. She needed help.
Lara shoved the note into the pocket of her cargo trousers and went outside. She figured she was probably being watched, but at this point she didn't really care. She walked along the pavement and went up the driveway of the house next door, giving the door a hard rap.
A large Indian lady dressed in traditional Indian dress greeted Lara with a large grin. The two had known each other for a short amount of time but got on very well.
"Hello, Lara," she said, her light Indian accent giving the words a natural flow. "Are you well?"
"Yes thank you, Mrs Arya. And yourself?" Lara replied politely. She tried to smile and keep her patience, but her leg bounced with anticipation.
"I am well, we all are," Mrs Arya smiled, referring to her family. "How can I help you?"
"I was just wondering- it's quite strange actually- if..." Lara stalled momentarily, realising she was going to sound suspicious. "I was wondering if you had heard any- er- screaming this morning?"
"Screaming? No, not that I recall. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, it's nothing really. Sam's cousins are here and I've been looking after them. They're very young so we're playing hide and seek. I was wondering if you'd heard them, I can't seem to find them," Lara lied fluently. It was a rubbish lie, but it was good enough.
"Lara! You have lost Samantha's children!" Mrs Arya exclaimed, flying into a panic.
"No no no!" Lara assured her. "I haven't lost her children, they're her cousins! And I haven't lost them anyway, we're playing hide and seek."
"You should call the police, Lara. There are nasty men around these days." Mrs Arya reached for the phone.
"No!"
Mrs Arya jumped, a very startled expression on her face.
"No, it's okay. I think I just heard them now. Thank you for your help though."
"I hear nothing, Lara," Mrs Arya argued.
"No it's definitely them. Trust me," Lara said, trying to smile convincingly. "Those little... rascals."
Mrs Arya seemed confused, but she let Lara walk away and she shut the door after her.
"Oh!" exclaimed Lara, turning back. "Mrs Arya, one more thing."
She went back up to the door. The idea had only just come to her and she regretted it the moment she handed over the note. She hoped Mrs Arya wouldn't notice it was written in blood.
Lara watched her facial expression carefully as she finished reading.
"What is this?" she asked Lara, bemused.
"It's a note... from a treasure hunt for the kids. Sam left it before work and there's some kind of riddle in it, but I can't work it out myself, never mind letting the kids puzzle it through. I was wondering if you could work it out?" Lara explained, false-cheerfully.
"I don't know, but that is disturbing. I would not give this to my children," Mrs Arya replied, suddenly looking stern and disapproving.
"It's only a game, Mrs Arya. The kids will love it."
"Hmph," she replied, shaking her head. "I am sorry but I cannot help you. The only thing I do know is that my English is better than Sam's and I'm not even from this country."
Lara frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I mean I was born and raised in India so English is not my native language."
"No, I mean what's wrong with Co- Sam's English?"
"Well, look here. She has put a capital letter in the middle of the sentence," Mrs Arya pointed out, poking her finger at 'I like a good riddle and I love a good Game'.
Lara hadn't even noticed that. But now she had, she didn't know how she could have missed it. Of course, she still didn't know what it meant. But the riddle obviously had something to do with that.
"Thanks again, Mrs Arya!" she said, snatching the note back and running into her own house.
She darted back to the living room and pulled out her laptop, opening it quickly. Yet again, however, she came to a halt in her tracks. Microsoft Word was open with a message written on it. It was written in a large, red font.
Obviously, Lara thought.
The message read: Seeking help? I thought you were smarter. I'll let you off this time. It is, after all, only the first stage. Good luck with your puzzles, Lara.
Lara breathed out through her nose angrily. Cow Blood was messing with her and she didn't like it one bit. She slammed the laptop shut and walked to the window, looking around to see how someone could have possibly been in and out of her house without her noticing from only yards away. She flung the large window open and stuck her head out.
"Show yourself!" she screamed at the top of her voice. "Come and fight me face to face, then we'll see who wins!"
There was silence, broken only by the sway of trees outside her window. She could see a few of her neighbours opening their doors and shooting her quizzical glares. She pulled her head back in and went to sit down. This was too much, too fast. It was too soon after The Island. It was too much to deal with, yet she couldn't simply run from the situation. It wasn't going to fix itself. Lara was all set and ready to give up, but she reminded herself that Sam was probably crying her heart out right now, waiting for Lara to swoop in and save the day. Sam needed Lara. Lara was her only hope and she couldn't be let down.
Lara thought hard about Game.
Game... she thought. What are you? An organisation, an acronym of some sort? You were written like that for a reason. But what reason?
Lara returned to her laptop and googled Game, making sure the capital letter was there. A couple of seconds later, her answer was staring her in the face.
Author's Note: So I wanna know what you guys think Game means! Let me know in a review or PM and we'll see if you're correct. Don't cheat with Google! It may spoil the next part of the story. Try and work it out with your own knowledge, but UK readers do have a slight advantage.