LARA CROFT AND THE SCREAMING SKULLS ===================================== PROLOGUE ---------------- MATO GROSSO - THE AMAZON RAINFOREST 2500 B.C. It was the crack of dawn. Men, women and even small children passed treasure to the end of the line where it was piled onto large stacks. All were dressed in animal skins, only covering the bare minimum. Sweat poured from their dirty faces as they continued to pile on the treasure. There they were, in the huge Tomb that their ancestors and themselves had built to hold their secrets, horde their treasure, but most importantly keep their leader's preserved bodies. The hieroglyphics were in place, the rooms built and the treasure nearly stored. Everything seemed fine - except one thing. Many years before, before their civilisation had begun to build the Tomb, some of the elders and druids had disagreed with the location. They had all felt it. Physically, the location was perfect for the Tomb, but they had said those decades ago that the spirits had warned them. They knew some darker, spiritual force was present in that area. After they finally decided to stick with the location, their last words on the matter had been, "May our children forgive us…" "What is that?" asked one of the men, startled. They all stopped piling on the treasure. Another of the sounds came, this time louder. It was like a clicking, tapping sound echoing in the tunnels… tap…tap…tap…. A sudden gust of wind blew through the tunnel, putting out all the flame torches and blacking everything out into pitch dark. The noise was heard again, followed by a high pitched screeching. An ancient evil descended on them - their screams echoed through the whole Tomb, down to the very last tunnel. "Two coffees please," said Matt to the bored looking waitress standing next to him. "So why have you brought me here? Is there a reason or do you just fancy a coffee?" asked Sean. Matt lifted up a rucksack and produced some sheets of paper and a new looking hardback book. "Take a look at this. I got the sheets printed off the net last night, and this morning I've been doing a little research," said Matt handing the book to Sean. "The library had this book of Lieutenant Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett's journal." The waitress sauntered over the room and placed two coffees on the table, spilling half of the contents in the process. "Green Hell?" asked Sean. "Yeah," said Matt, taking a sip of his coffee. "This guy Fawcett believed that a lost civilisation was waiting to be discovered in the Amazon, and set off on an expedition in the Mato Grosso, named Green Hell because of the dense rainforest environment. Fawcett disappeared on the 29th of May, 1925. People have tried to follow in his footsteps, but none successfully," said Matt. "It's just stirred up new interest as well, people have reported to hearing screams through the night near Mato Grosso." "Lara's gonna love this," said Sean. ONE - THE EXPEDITION --------------------------------- "Fawcett? I know Fawcett. Percy Harrison Fawcett was a friend of my Grandfathers all those years back," said Lara. She sat on a gym block in her mansion with a towel draped around her neck talking over the phone to Matt. "Anyway," said Matt. "What do you think?" "I think we'd better take plenty of water, and extra ammo for our guns," she said with a smile on her face. The small hired jeep bounced along the dirt track with Lara, Sean and Matt sitting in the back and Rodriguez, their guide sitting in the front next to the hired driver. "You need have no fear of any failure," said Matt, his head buried in the sheets of paper and Fawcett's journal. Lara and Sean looked at him in confusion. "Fawcett's last words before he disappeared." "This as far I go," said the driver. Rodriguez spoke to the driver in their language and after a little negotiation, paid him. They thanked the driver, and the four explorers piled out of the car. Below them was a gigantic valley covered in a green canopy of trees. "So this is Green Hell?" asked Lara with a smile. Lara, Matt, Sean and Rodriguez stopped for some water in the intense heat of the Mato Grosso. The sounds of Green Hell were louder than Lara could ever had imagined. Chirps and growls and calls and strange roars were all part of the rainforest orchestra. "Now I know why they named it Green Hell," said Matt, putting his water flask away. The foliage was so dense that they had to hack their way through with machetes. "Come on," said Lara, as she started slashing at the plants in front of her to clear a path. They travelled for nearly two hours with short water stops every twenty minutes. They were all quite exhausted in the humid climate, and had all been stung or bitten by various plants and insects. "How much further?" "I not know," said Rodriguez. They didn't even know exactly what they were looking for, and they'd only hired him because he was an expert on the rainforest and knew what plants not to touch and if you did he knew what to do about it. He could tell his way around by just looking at stars and basically, knew everything there was to know about survival. "It says in Fawcett's that they travelled miles without ever…" Lara interrupted Matt by putting a hand over his mouth. "What's that?" she whispered. She thought she'd heard some rustling in a tree ahead. She drew her Magnums, stepped over an outcropping branch and looked up to see a man with a rifle aimed right at her. TWO - DISCOVERY --------------------------- "Hold it right there, Miss Croft," the sniper said in a southern drawl that reminded Lara a lot like Larson. The sniper was somewhat taken aback when Matt, Sean and Rodriguez joined Lara pointing guns right back at him. "If you shoot me, my friends here will finish you off anyway," Lara said. "Drop it," she said looking at his rifle. He did. "Now come down slowly," she ordered. He obeyed, and climbed down the tree. "Who sent you?" she asked, guns still aimed at the sniper. "Ms. Tyford," stuttered the man. Lara came closer to the man, and dug one of her Magnums deep into his rib cage. "I have a good mind to kill you," she said, right next to the man's face. She could feel his fear. In panic, the man lunged at Lara with a knife. She stepped to the side, and stuck out her leg, sending the man flying over her and hitting the ground. "He's unconscious," said Sean, looking at the man. "He'll find his own way back to Tyford," said Lara, before taking the ammunition from the man's rifle and then hacking at the foliage again. That night they set up a small camp fire and sat trying to get some sleep. "Let's hope we don't get flattened by giant dinosaurs again this time," said Matt. Sean and Lara had to smile. Rodriguez didn't understand, and wasn't sure he wanted to know anyway. The next morning, after an uneventful night, they set off early. They travelled all morning in the terrible heat, and sometimes wondered what the point was and considered turning back a few times, but despite that they pushed on. They had gone miles, and the location they were in at that moment was like something out of a horror film. All around them the trees were dead, and the calls that they had heard when they had first set off were all gone, like a deathly silence. "I not like this," said Rodriguez. "Neither do I," said Matt. "How come is it every time I come out with Lara, I always end up in places like this?" They all knew it was Matt who had suggested going, but they said nothing and carried on until Sean made a discovery. "Take a look at this," he said. Below Sean's feet was the skeleton of a man. Lara took a photo. "This could be Fawcett," said Matt. "We can't be too far off his lost civilisation," said Lara, looking up through the trees ahead, but still seeing nothing but dead trees. They then started hacking at the plants even faster, determined to reach the lost civilisation. Lara led them, and an hour later stopped suddenly when her machete didn't slice through a plant straight away. She cut at the same area. It felt as though there was something solid behind the plants. "Look at this!" she said, and parted the plants with her hands. Hidden behind the plants was a wall of ancient stone blocks. "My God," said Matt, astonished. "Fawcett was right." THREE - THE ANCIENT TOMB ------------------------------------------ "Here it is!" shouted Sean. He had found a flight of steps with a huge door at the top. "Not even in dreams have I imagined a place like this," said Rodriguez in pure amazement. It was then that they realised the actual size of the Tomb. It was only the large trees that covered it before. "This is going to make an incredible journal," said Lara, taking photos of the outside of the Tomb. The walls and steps were covered in vines and plants, like ivy does on an old house. "Chris is really missing something," said Sean. "Where is Chris anyway?" asked Matt. "He said he's got a busy schedule of archaeological digs and lectures," Sean said, unenthusiastically. Lara finished taking her photos, and led them up the steps. The door was something. Immense carvings went all the way up and across, and next to the door was a large lever, obviously connecting to a device that would open the door. "Who's going to do the honours?" asked Lara. "Go ahead, Lara," said Sean. Matt nodded in agreement, and Lara reached out with one hand to pull the lever. It wouldn't budge, the centuries of wear had made it pretty tough. Lara put both hands on, and pulled with all her strength. The door slid open horizontally, moving up with the sound of the grinding of stone. It revealed a doorway leading into a dark tunnel. Lara reached into her backpack and revealed a large flash light. She flicked the switch, and the powerful beam lit up the whole tunnel. "Let's go," Lara said, stepping into the tunnel. The others followed her. Rodriguez took one step, and in panic said, "I go now." He turned to leave, and the door came down, slamming shut with a deafening thud. "Oh great," said Matt. They walked forward, starting into the tunnel. Lara shone her flash light on the walls. "Whoa, pretty impressive, huh?" said Sean, looking at the hieroglyphics adorning the walls. "Yeah, but look at it. It must date back before the Egyptians," said Lara. "But that's thousands of years ago!" said Matt. Lara nodded. They were all pretty amazed, but stopped feeling so amazed when they heard a distant horrible wailing sound. "What's that?" asked Sean, alarmed. "Whatever it is, it sure ain't friendly," said Matt. "Let's just move on. Whatever it is it can't be too bad," said Lara. She had learned to ignore her fear to an extent that she almost didn't feel it. It was even almost as if she cherished fear. Matt unshouldered his rifle, and they continued walking, staring at the hieroglyphics as they went. They look the most similar to Egyptian hieroglyphics, although have a strange style of their own. Thought Lara. It's almost as if they're telling a story. Soon after, they reached a junction. Lara shone her flash light right, to reveal another tunnel with the same style hieroglyphics on the walls. The left tunnel was just the same. "Which way?" asked Sean. Without any answer, Lara turned right. After a short distance the tunnel turned a corner, which led to a flight of steps going up. "Be careful on these things," said Lara. "They'll be thousands of years old, and might crumble under our weight." She then walked up, and once the others had seen that it was safe, they followed. At the top was another tunnel, and after turning a corner they saw skulls lying on the floor. Immediately there were shrill, haunting screams. They echoed through the tunnels, seeming to be going through every last tunnel… Rodriguez let out a blast of rifle fire at the skulls in panic. They shattered easily, and the screaming stopped. Rodriguez let out a sigh of relief, shouldered his rifle, and wiped his brow. They then walked on. At the end of a tunnel was a doorway, and the hieroglyphics showed treasure. When they stepped into the doorway they saw the vast quantity of treasure that the civilisation had left behind. There were crowns as well as the usual bracelets and other items of jewellery. This civilisation must have had a chosen leader obviously of some importance. Thought Lara. And judging by the amount of crowns, this treasure must have been collected over many generations. "This Tomb was probably built over a long period of time," she said. "I expect the villages of the people who created this Tomb must long have been ruined. I doubt we'll find any other trace of their civilisation other than this Tomb." "Look at this!" said Matt, stepping over to look at a large, very ornate sword. Lara stopped him, holding him back. "Listen!" she whispered. They now heard a tap…tap..tap… and then a fall of rocks…and then two more taps…. "Let's get the hell out of here," said Sean. Lara nodded. "I think we've disturbed something….we've woken something up." What they heard definitely didn't sound too good. Lara drew one Magnum and kept her flash light in the other hand. She then spotted another tunnel on the far side of the treasure chamber, and led them into it. "Those sounds are getting louder," said Matt, anxiously. Lara walked down the tunnel and immediately saw who the treasure had belonged to. Along both walls, skeletons each in small compartments replaced the hieroglyphics. At the top of those compartments were horizontal ones, with skeletons lying in them. "We've got to get up in those compartments before those noises get too loud," said Lara. She then jumped up and lifted herself into one of the horizontal compartments, concealing herself. Matt and Sean quickly did the same, and had to get close to the long rotted skeletons, their bony fingers against Matt, Sean, and Lara's skin… "Come on Rodriguez, jump!" shouted Sean. They couldn't do anything to help, they couldn't give him a hand to climb into one of their compartments as there wasn't any room. Rodriguez would have to make it on his own, and those noises were getting louder than ever. Rodriguez jumped and tried to get up into the compartment. He fell, and ended back on the floor. He picked himself up and tried once more, knowing it would be his last chance. He was suddenly blown back by a sudden gust of wind, and that was followed with a terrible screeching. Two pairs of gleaming red eyes rushed at him in the dark. Rodriguez screamed as he was dragged away by the creatures, screaming his last scream. FOUR - CAVE IN ----------------------- Lara, Sean and Matt kept deadly still, lying in the skeleton compartments and waiting for the screaming to fade out into the distance. When it finally stopped, they got down and cautiously continued walking down the tunnel. As they walked, they began to hear a low rumbling sound. "It's going to cave in!" cried Lara. They then rushed down a staircase and sprinted down another tunnel. Behind them they could see small boulders and rocks avalanching together down the tunnel. The sound was deafening, and as they turned a corner, Lara saw a light, and then as they got nearer they saw it led out back into the rainforest. They could nearly feel the avalanche now, and sped up the pace, sprinting as fast as they all could go, knowing that if they slowed down they would be at the mercy of the rocks. They carried on, and rushed out just in time to dive out of the way of the rocks flowing out of the tunnel. Lara, Sean and Matt watched as the Tomb fell down, the last remnants of the lost civilisation they had discovered going. All was not lost though, they still had evidence of the Tomb and had revealed some of the secrets of the lost civilisation. "You need have no fear of any failure," said Matt, as they got up and began to travel back through the rainforest and back to modern civilisation once again.