Secret of the Lighthouse

Here's my first Tomb Raider fanfiction piece, original in every way. I also host it on my tomb raider site (link is in my signature and profile) if you want to check it out. So here's the story. The below piece is only the beginning of my tale, consider it a teaser.

Here goes!

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“Is this it, Zip?”

“Yeah, this is it.”

Lara Croft and her tech-man Zip examined a tall wardrobe backed against the wall of the attic of Croft Manor. Just a week ago Lara had returned from Nepal after destroying the Midgard Serpent. Crews of builders were now re-building her mansion to its former glory and Zip had discovered something that was indeed worth taking a look at.

He held a small gadget in his hands. He pressed a button and held it out to the wardrobe. Lara was surprised to hear a beep emitted from the gadget as she‟d been up in the attic at least a hundred times and never had seemed out of the ordinary.

“What is it?”

“There‟s something behind that thing. Wanna‟ move it for me?”

“Oh, Zip…aren‟t you just chivalrous?”

Lara walked across a plank she‟d placed just a moment before. The builders were working from the ground up since the blast had shaken the foundation. They‟d not yet reached the attic so a gaping hole resided in front of them and the wardrobe.

Lara crossed the plank with no hardship and examined the wardrobe. It was oak, very common. Double-doors were attached to bronze hinges that clasped the side of the hand-crafted borders. She pulled the doors open by two little brass knockers and looked inside.

It smelled, that was for sure. There was a chest in the bottom, same she‟d seen before. Hung on a pole at the top were some old jackets from her younger years. Obviously the wardrobe hadn‟t been opened in years for Winston always disposed of anything not worn.

Donated, of course.

“Same stuff, Zip. What should I be looking for?”

“Well the scanner is saying a magnitude level of seven meaning something in there has an extreme wave of electromagnetic energy. In conclusion you‟re looking for an item of about size three because the dimensions of the wardrobe don‟t match with the…”

“English, Zip?”

“A switch Ms. Tomb Raider.”

Lara smirked and then flicked on her LCD light. The wardrobe lit with bright illumination, and Lara began her search. She put her hands in the jackets and felt along the back of the wardrobe. Then she kneeled down and opened the chest. It was the same things in here she‟d seen years before when exploring the attic. She remembered she‟d wanted to tell Winston that it needed cleaning, but then forgot as she had been called moments later from the study. The wardrobe had been untouched since.

Inside the chest were old books. They were children‟s stories…but none she‟d ever seen…Why would someone‟s stories be in this chest? Then, her eyes caught a glimpse of gold inlay. A book, at the very bottom had thin pages lined in gold, like an expensive bible or something.

“Hello.”

She picked it up and looked at it. Roughly three-hundred pages thick, leather cover and dusty beyond compare.

“Well open it already!”

Lara opened the book to find something she hadn‟t expected.

A remote control!

“Is that a controller?” Lara asked him.

“Yeah, let me see it.”

She tossed it over the gap with a light overhand throw. Zip caught it with worried hands and then laughed. “Wow! This is cool. You say nobody has been in that thing for years, how many exactly?”

“Well I was only a girl when I had…”

“Fifteen years ago, this stuff didn‟t exist. Controllers like this were experimental. This is a special controller designed to send signals halfway

around the country. Bad if it serves as a garage-opener” Zip joked.

“There's a button on the front. Press it.”

He pressed the button, the smile fading from his face. “Battery's are dead.”

“Can you switch them with that gadget of yours?”

“Maybe…”

Five minutes later, they were in business. Zip pressed the button and a loud THUNK sounded across the attic. Lara turned.

It had come from the wardrobe. The wardrobe, as she hadn‟t noticed before was pressed very tightly against the wall. Now it was shifted, the scratches on the floor around it proved that easily.

“Looks like Croft Manor is full of surprises,” said Zip.

Lara pulled the wardrobe out, it opened like a door. Then she pushed it into a new passage and it easily fit right into place along the side wall.

“Now we‟re talking. Are you coming?”

“Do you find pleasure in pulling me into dark crypts, Lara?”

“Only when we have dark crypts to go into. I‟m afraid this is an attic. You‟re not afraid of a cob-webbed attic, now are you Zip?”

“Alright, alright. Keep your eyes peeled.”

They entered the passage, dust covering the wooden planks of the floor. It was dark, but Lara‟s light kept it quite bright. Several spiders scurried along the way, obviously running from these unknown predators. Then, the passage stopped. The light revealed a metal door. No hinges. No handles.

“What now?”

Lara pushed her hair back behind her ears as she examined the door. Then, she stood up straight and said over her shoulder, “Press that button again.”

Zip, controller in hand pressed the button softly. A low hiss sounded from the metal door, and then it opened inward revealing a small broom-cupboard-sized room. In it was a wooden stand with on it a rolled up parchment.

“I‟m confused. Why is this here?”

“I have no idea,” she said as she closed her hands around the parchment. “Father spent his whole life dedicated to finding Avalon. In his earlier years he‟d spent a few years doing digs alongside my grandfather. But…this couldn‟t be his work. Maybe grandfather? Or maybe…mother.”

“What did your mom do anyway?”

“It‟s a long story.” Lara unwrapped the parchment. On it was a map. Of course. Then a hard object rolled off the map and onto the floor stopping by Zip‟s foot. He picked it up. An orb, glowing blue.

“It looks like we‟re off on another adventure, Lara.”

“Indeed. It looks as if we are.”