Just Another Lullaby

Chapter 14: Down The Rabbit Hole

"How likely are they to expect a sneak-in at three in the morning?" The question hung loosely in the air as the trio sat huddled together within the library walls. With Rocky's project now completed, all that was left to do was to go over the plan and put it into action. It was almost startling just how quickly the night snuck up on them while they busied themselves in preparing for the mission.

The cockapoo waited expectantly for an answer, staring at her two friends as they pondered the question.

"Hopefully not too likely," Rocky answered. Truthfully, he didn't know if this was too cliché. Would it be expected? It seemed like their best bet would be at this time; it's dark and most people would be asleep. Still, that "what if" chance was nerve-wracking at best. "Let's go over the plan one more time, just to make sure we all know what we're doing.

"We will make our way to the base. From inside, we'll split up with you two searching for Sacant and his staff while I look for any prisoners and a way to contact the military and send our location. Once you two find him, you find a way to take the staff away from him and run and notify me by quickly turning on and off our tags, just enough to flash a light," Rocky explained, making sure to simplify the plan the best he could. "And most importantly, keep radio silent; this is a stealth mission after all. Any questions?" The lack of nods and confused faces made him breath out softly in relief. They were all briefed; they all knew the plan. It wasn't a very thorough one, especially since they didn't know the layout of the base, but it was a plan nonetheless.

Chase continued to flip the pages of the book on the floor next to him, trying to find any more useful information that could help them. They had already read up on all the stones; their origins, what they do, how to use them, how to mash their powers, etcetera. By the amount of times that he has reread it, Chase could practically recite each stone's description word-by-word. Chase flipped over the last page in the stones' section, disappointingly yet expectantly, finding no new information. With a frown, he grabbed the edge of the book, about ready to close it, and took one last glance at the current, unrelated page. His frown deepened; something was off. Like when you walk into a room and forget why you came in. He was missing something.

He eyed the page harder, nothing. He flipped the page back, noth- wait. His eyes focused on the page number, flipped the page, ah ha! "Rocky," Chase called out. He pointed at the page for the pup to see. "We're missing a page."

The mongrel's brows furrowed and quickly snatched the book away from the police pup. He flipped the page back and his eyes widened. "How had I not seen this before?!" he questioned himself, continuing to flip the same page back and forth in a sprout of panic. His eyes had to be playing tricks on him, they had to be. Otherwise, there was crucial information they were missing, information that could very well be detrimental to their plan. He looked up at his two friends, eyes as wide as saucers. He blinked hard, a futile attempt to calm his nerves, but an attempt nevertheless.

It could be another stone, one that they now have no information on and could impact on how they could use the staff to break the hold of Sacant's mind-captured prisoners, not to mention that they could barely grasp on how to use the stone they already have despite having all the useful information at their disposal. It could be a warning page, a page that says if you mishandle the stones, it could explode or something. That was already a possibility that they had accepted, but seeing it in fine print would have been very useful. At best, or maybe even worse, it was a failsafe. A way to disarm a user or to handle the stones if they ever went out of control.

Rocky closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, reopened them to see the very unwelcomed sight of his friends' worried faces. Skye opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Rocky. "It's okay, I'm okay," he assured, though it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself rather than the worried Cockapoo. "We'll stick with the plan we already have in set and hope for the best, otherwise..." he trailed off, not necessarily needing to continue the sentence to get the message across.