The Swimsuit Contest
by Andrew Mason aka Dr. Amazing

This is a work of fiction.  Tombraider and Lara Croft are both trademark and copyright of EIDOS Interactive and Core design.  All other characters are copyright of the author.

            This story contains violent and sexual content and is suggested for mature readers (18 and over).
            Comments, complimentary or critical, can be addressed to: dramazin@alphalink.com.au

            “How long?”  She swallowed nervously, her mouth suddenly dry.  “How long have you been in him?”

            “I think you already know, my dear.”

            She remembered Crombie telling her about the illness in his workers when the theatre had been opened, about the tremors and rigors they’d had.  She remembered seeing Jack shiver in the theatre, although it had not been cold.  And she remembered holding Peter last night as his body shook, with fear she’d then thought, but not now.

            “You were inside him the whole time,” she said, feeling an awful nausea threaten to overwhelm her.

            “And very sweet you were, my dear.”  He was out of the bed, advancing towards her.  “I made the right choice, I believe.  My spirit slipped beneath the door moments before it fell.  The scream you heard was poor Crombie, waking to the grip of the altar.  I had to find a new host quickly and it was tempting to take you then but, weakened though you were, I still worried that you might resist me.  A few seconds later it became apparent that this body would be better, since it was clear that you two would become lovers.”

            Lara backed away from him.  She did not want to hurt Chifley, but she did not want the demon inside him to touch her again.

            “And now you will see how much more pleasant it can be to submit.  I will…”

            A confused expression played on his face.  “What?”

            His body started to twitch and his mouth curled into a grimace.  A few moments later he was still again, but the expression on his face had changed.  The predatory look had gone.  He looked as frightened as she felt.

            “Lara?”  The voice was unsteady but familiar.

            “Peter?”

            “Yes, it’s me.  This… demon must be weakened now that it’s separated from the altar.  It took control while I was asleep.”  An awful, agonised look was on his face.  “I didn’t know it was inside me, I swear it!”

            “I know that,” she said, amazed that he was thinking of her, despite the terror he must be feeling.

            She moved to the bathroom and gathered her robe and his trousers.  “We can probably think a little better clothed,” she said.

            They dressed, though Chifley was slow and awkward.  “It doesn’t want me to dress,” he said, his voice shaking.  “It wants me to…  Oh god, it wants to do awful things to you!”

            Lara forced herself to remain calm.  “You can sense its thoughts?”

            “Yes.”  His face was a mask of misery.

            “Can you sense anything that it’s afraid of?”

            His brow furrowed.  “I think we’ve already missed on that one.  It’s afraid of being sealed in the theatre again.”

            “Anything else?  Anything we might use to drive it out of you?”

            “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”  Chifley took a few deep breaths and tried to emulate her calm, direct manner.  “I don’t want to end up like Lorna and Maia.”

            “I don’t believe you would.  Crombie was unaffected by a long tenancy, so I suspect it only damages its host when it forcefully takes them over.”

            “Which it’s trying to do now.”  Sweat was glistening on his brow.

            “Fight it Peter.  We’ll find a way to drive it out.”

            “No.  That’s no good either.  In fact, it’s trying to get out now.”

            “Let it go Peter.  You will be alright.”

            He looked at her with desperation in his eyes.  “I might be, but you won’t be.  This thing is fixated on you Lara.  It wants to rule you or destroy you.  I can hold it, for now, but if I let it go, you won’t know who will try to kill you next.”

            It was a terrifying thought.  She would be forced to fight for her life, as she had done last night, probably against the people she held dearest.

            “I won’t let that happen Lara,” said Chifley quietly.

            Her admiration for him soared.  He was terrified but, once again, he was defying his fear in order to protect her.

            “I have a friend who may be able to help,” she said.  “He’s an occultist and if anyone can destroy this demon he can.”

            “I don’t think I can wait until we get to see him.”  Chifley’s body was starting to twitch.  “I have to act now, while I’m still in control.”

            He abruptly turned and left the hut.  She followed him.

            He was striding away from the site, heading towards the beach.

            “What’s going on Peter?” she asked.

            He continued to walk down the jungle path, speaking through gritted teeth, as though every move, and every word, was an effort.  “There must be a limit on how far it can travel in its spirit form.  Otherwise it would have left the island long ago.”

            “Agreed,” said Lara.

            “Then if I can take it far away from everyone else it will be unable to possess anyone else.”

            “What are you planning Peter?”  Her fears for herself were forgotten as a terrible dread for her lover emerged.

            “I’m going to swim to the mainland, to Peru,” he said, his voice stiff.

            “No Peter!  It’s fifty kilometres away!  Don’t kill yourself.”

            She grabbed his arms and turned him to face her.  “Let it go Peter.  I’ll fight it and defeat it, whatever form it takes.”

            He shook his head.  “I’m sure you’d try, but this thing is relentless Lara.”  He winced.  “I wants to do such horrible things to you.  I will not allow it!”

            He shrugged her away and continued down to the sand of the beach.  He continued to the shoreline then, with the waves lapping at his feet, he finally hesitated.

            “Don’t do it Peter.”  She stood in front of him, standing between him and the ocean that would swallow him.  “There must be another way.”

            “If there was, you’d have already thought of it.”  He smiled and it was his old smile.  Fear for him clutched at her heart.

            He reached out to touch her cheek but she flinched, knowing what was inside him.  The look of sadness in his eyes pained her further.

            “I may well survive this,” he said quietly.

            “Fifty kilometres Peter.  It’s not possible.”

            “Not for me alone, no.  But this thing is strong Lara.  I can feel its strength, even though I can control it.”

He laughed and she could not understand how he could be laughing.  “Believe me, it objects to my plan even more than you do.  It must have been weakened by the sealing of the theatre, or perhaps by its rushed exit from Crombie.  But even weakened as it is, I cannot control it forever.  Whenever I sleep it will take control.”

The laughter was gone now as an anguished expression ruled his face.  “I don’t want to wake up to be standing over you, after it has done…”

He tightened his resolve and looked out to sea again.  “But my plan is a good one—the best we could hope for.  The demon can’t swim--it’s terrified of the water.  It’s holding on to me for all its worth, trying to anchor me to shore.  So once we’re out there, my passenger and I, it will have to cede control to me.  It will have to let me do the swimming, it will have to channel all its power into me to give me a chance of survival, in order to survive itself.”

He stepped into the waves, wading in deeper.  “So if I reach Peru, I will be in command of it.”

She did not make any further attempt to stop him.  Though his plan sounded forlorn to her ears, she had nothing better to offer.

She watched him swim through the waves, moving with the fluid grace that she recognised as his own, though she was too late to appreciate it.  She watched him swim deeper and deeper into the ocean, until she could no longer be sure if what she watched was Peter Chifley or not.

And she shed silent tears for the bravest man she had ever known.

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