Stage One: Hope in Darkness

The Game is a Paw? (Lara)

"Are you still not talking to me Lara?" Ryan asked from behind me.

I walked with my arms crossed over my chest and remained silent. I was behaving like a child throwing a temper tantrum and I knew it. But did I care, No. WE were making our way to the old camp then after to where I last saw that sniper. WE. Ugh it shouldn't be a we. The others were being stubborn. This was for me, something I had to do. Why couldn't they get that?

To make matters even more fun none of the others had seen the shine off the scope so they thought that my insane hope was just clouding my mind and making me see things. I didn't have time to look for a camp in the woods, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. I had already lost so much time laying in bed because of my leg. There was no time to go on a wild goose chase or to argue. As much as I wanted to. Ryan had wormed his way onto my mission.

We had argued, neither one of us giving an inch. Long story short we glared at one another before I had turned around and stormed off. Ryan, Sam and Rose followed. Idiots. The lot of them.

"You kinda irritated her," Rose said to Ryan. You think?!

"I'm just looking out for a friend," he tried to justify himself.

"By using your authority and yelling." Sam piped up.

"Are you two together again?" Ryan asked, changing the subject away from himself and his shitty behavior. Typical. Never could admit your own wrongs.

"No." Rose said almost instantly.

"Well you two are acting like you are." Ryan replied. His footsteps sped up, so now he was right beside me, keeping pace.

"You are really not going to talk to me?"

"I hate you." I finally said. Maybe that would get my point across and he would leave me alone. Bastard just chuckled, "No you don't." He's right, I don't hate him. He was a good friend and trustworthy. It was just hard for me to accept their help. The thought of any one of them getting hurt because of me made me insane with pain.

The guilt would be backbreaking. Ryan and I made a good team. When the Chief wanted something done he was likely to put us on it together. That went for missions that required flawless work. Not that our work was always flawless.

"Lara we need more info. You can't keep us in the dark. We're in this together now, we can't go in blind." Ryan said. Sounding like the leader he was supposed to be, yeah for the camp. You're taking him away from that. He was right though. Since they were coming with they deserved to know. They had to know what they were risking their lives for.

I finally uncrossed my arms, done with my temper tantrum. I pushed my anger to the back of my mind.

"Fine" I agreed. Rose and Sam moved up to join me on my other side.

"That ripper. The one we interrogated, he said they were looking for a mute girl with auburn hair....I didn't think anything of it....until I checked his pocket. He had a picture of Annabelle." I stopped glancing around at them. There faces were carefully blank. Till Rose spoke up,

"On the few occasions you talked about her you never mentioned that she was mute"

"She's not... or she wasn't. But that could have changed right? Look I know this is a long shot and I am grasping at straws here, but this....this is just something that I have to do. Belle...Belle is my family, and if she..if she needs me...." My vision gets wavy as my eyes fill with water. I know that all of this was crazy. That was why I didn't want them to come with me. I was chasing ghosts, chasing memories of a better time.