To the Land of Green

Chapter Nineteen

We walk inside the village. Cricket noises are the only thing that can be heard other than our breathing. José and other people muffled the guards with a piece of cloth that had herbs he mixed, killing them instantly. 

Then, José signaled that it was safe for us to enter. We enter and spread out. Patricia and I, along with Andres, Manoy, and three other people head to the cell area to retrieve the diary and free our fellow people. Like what José did out front, Manoy and Andres do to the guards inside the cell.

"I'll check the bathroom," I say.

"Okay. I'll come with you since I know what it looks like. Manoy, Patricia, and you three, free everyone and be careful," says Andres.

Manoy, Patricia, and the three other people start freeing everyone. Andres and I enter the bathroom to check if the diary is there. We check everywhere and see that everything is still the same.

"I think someone has taken it and probably gave it to Sebastian," I say.

"I think so too. Do you have any clue who would take it and give it to Sebastian? Who was your cell guard?" asks Andres.

"It was Lucio. He was my cell guard, but I don't know where he is because the guards we killed are not him," I reply.

"Are you looking for Lucio?" asks a girl. Both Andres and I turn around and reply with a nod.

"Yes, we are. Do you possibly know where he is?" asks Andres.

"He's Alvarez's guard now. That means he is with him and Lucio usually stays in Alvarez's office to guard, so he must be there," says the girl.

"Thank you," I reply. Andres and I head to Alvarez's office. I still don't know the place but with Andres's help we get near. There we see Alvarez's office. We walk slowly, staying close to the wall and wait. As Andres and I are about to move ahead, Lucio comes out of the room. He looks side to side to make sure no one is around and locks the door. As he is locking the door, Andres attacks him from behind, not making any noise.

"Where is the diary? Who did you give it to? Did you give it to Sebastian?" demands Andres. "What diary?" asks Lucio.
"The diary I left in the bathroom," I say.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Let me go!" says Lucio.

"Marie?" A woman's voice from behind me says. "Davina? Is that you?" I hug her.

"How are you? By the way, this is Oscar. And what is he doing to Lucio?" asks Davina as she points at Andres.

"I am fine." I say. "We need to find a diary. It is brown and very old. Have you seen it?" "A brown diary?" asks Oscar.

"Sí," I reply.

"I heard that General Alvarez has a diary in his office. Apparently that is not good because it means that more people know about a secret," says Oscar.

"But I thought Sebastian had it?" I say.
"Yes, he did. But then Alvarez took it," he replies. "We can help you find it," says Davina.
"Thank you," I reply.

I pick up the keys Lucio dropped and open the office door. If we don't hurry up, Alvarez will catch us especially now that there are a lot of ruckus in the cells. As quickly as possible Davina, Oscar, and I enter the office as Andres puts Lucio to sleep.

"I'm going to start at his desk," says Oscar.
"I will check his drawers," says Andres.
"Okay, Davina and I will start checking his bookshelf," I say. "I will start from the left," says Davina.
"Ok," I say. I start skimming from top to bottom but no diary. "Did you guys find the diary?" asks Patricia with Manoy. "No, we are trying to find it," I reply.

"Okay, we will help," says Manoy.

If we don't find the book, we are doomed. Alvarez will find us and get us killed. I search by the middle of the bookshelf and see a book sticking out more than the others. I try putting it back but for some reason it won't slide inside. I try again but still don't work so I then decide to remove it and see if there are crumbled papers behind it. When I take the book out, I notice a red button to push. "Guys, there is a push button here," I announce.

"What do you mean?" says Andres. Everyone gathers around me.

"What is that?" asks Davina.

"A push button," I reply. "You see, if I push this something will come out or disappear."

"Push it," says Patricia. "Maybe it will lead us to the diary."

"Okay," I reply. I back up and push the red button. The bookshelf starts moving, revealing another room. The room has a long table with more books on the side of the wall and a Lobo?!

"Why is there a Lobo here?" asks Andres.

"I don't know," I say.

We enter the secret room. I approach the Lobo and feel a strong energy from it. Ractro, behind me, keeps moving. How is this different from the other Lobos? Is this the reason why Ractro is going crazy?

"I think I found it," says Davina holding the diary.

"That's her diary," says Andres. We stand closer to Davina and look at the diary. However, the diary is empty. Angela's writing is not there anymore.

"They ripped out the pages. Of course, they did," says Andres. "What will we do now? We can't find her anymore," says Andres.

I look closely at the diary and see some carvings behind the book. "I think you still have a chance," I say.

"We don't, Marie. We have to tell José," he says.
"No. I think you still have a chance. Come look at this," I say.
In the back of the book is a carved heart. "She's in danger," says Andres. "What do you mean?" I ask.

"When she draws hearts it is either because she's bored or in danger. She never draws on the back book unless she's in danger. She would always draw a lot of hearts in a paper. That means we have to make the Lobo work and get to your world," says Andres.

"How? And that will be dangerous. My life is in danger there," I say.

"That's right, your life is in danger, Marie," says a male voice. We all look up and see Sebastian standing there.