Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Professor Layton franchise.

The break in

The group returned to the abandoned house soon after their expedition. Vivian had been quiet during their trip back, almost as if she was calculating what to do and what to say. When they settled on the dusty couches and chairs once again, she finally opened her mouth.

''Our plan is to break into the library tonight.''

''Wait… okay, why and how?'' Flora asked.

''Let me start with why,'' Vivian ran her hand through her scruffy hair. ''Since the puppets are guarding the place so diligently, we believe that there is something inside that's worth stealing, or at least something they value enough.''

''That makes sense.'' Aurora said softly. She had tried to search for a sign of life inside the old church, but couldn't find any.

They couldn't really look inside either through the black stained windows, so they had to trust Vivian and James on their word that it really was a library.

''If it's a library, maybe it's a book they're protecting?'' Flora suggested.

''Could be.'' James sighed. ''We… kind of hoped our parents would be in there, but…''

''We already confirmed that's not the case.'' Vivian quickly added. ''We monitored the place for a couple of days on that rooftop. No food or water went in or out the building, nor any person. The puppets did change from time to time… but that's it.''

Aurora nodded. ''I didn't feel any presence either.''

''Continuing on to the ''how'', this is where you guys come in. With just the two of us, we considered it impossible to bypass the guards. They really have every nook and cranny surrounded and there are four of them. If one of us were to serve as bait, they would maybe send two people after them. The other two would surely notice the other sneaking in. It was too dangerous.''

''So now that we're with four…'' Flora said.

''They will need more manpower. Exactly.'' Vivian smiled. ''This is but a theory, but I believe James is big enough to gain him two followers. So we would need just one person more to get the third guard to leave their station. The remaining of our group can then sneak in.''

For a moment, silence hung among the group. The plan was clear and seemed pretty sturdy. The only problem was… who was going to serve bait together with James.

''I'll be bait.'' Both Aurora and Flora eventually said in unison.

They looked at each other in shock, both surprised by the other's words. It didn't take long for them to giggle.

''Flora, you are not a very fast runner.'' Aurora pleaded.

''No, but I might be able to build something to help us escape.'' Flora replied with her arms crossed.

''You can build stuff?'' James asked.

''Uh, well, yeah.'' Flora replied sheepishly. ''I have a bit of an inventor gene inside of me I suppose. My uncle has been helping me out a lot lately and well… I really like doing it.''

She felt a little embarrassed to talk about it, since it wasn't really adding to her lady-like appearance. She was about to second-guess her abilities, when she felt a small hand on her own. She looked to her side and blushed when she found Vivian only inches away from her face.

''Maybe we can invent something together!''

''Then it's settled.'' Aurora said triumphantly. ''James and I will run and maybe prepare to fight these goons, and Viv and Flor' will invent something to aid their break in.''

''Deal!'' Both James and Vivian agreed.

Flora wanted to protest, but felt like she only had so little room to breathe with Vivian ignoring any sense of boundaries at the moment. The sun was setting behind the grim little village, giving the group only ample time to construct their final plans.

The night had fallen and Alderfall felt like a shadow of its daytime twin. The eerie little town was dark, bleak and clad in grey tones on a beautiful day. But at night, true darkness showed nothing. The single light of an overly bright streetlight painted a stark contrast so pointed, that it barely lit up anything besides the spot below. It made you want to run from door to door, lantern to lantern and warm arm to the other; for safety was not found in the black ink of the night.

Smart residents were already tucked into their blankets with the lights turned off. Informed tourists would lock their doors or already be far away from this place. But, our eyes are turned to those who sought out discomfort. Who sought the truth. Who sought… answers. Their favourite orange and light pink clothes were replaced with black suits that made it hard to spot them as they moved closer to their target. The leader on the front of the group made sure to look in every direction before rounding the next corner. They had discussed all they needed to know.

Now, for the execution.

Aurora grabbed Flora's hand one last time to make her look at her. They didn't say a word. They just nodded. They knew they loved each other and that they would see each other soon. This plan was solid. It would work. Flora and Vivian squatted down to the ground and waited for the other two to move.

''3… 2… 1…'' James counted down softly.

Flora could hear her heart pound into her ears as she watched Aurora and James move close to the ground to the front of the church. She really hoped her theory was correct. She really hoped… what she felt had been correct.

Before James and Aurora could even get close to the church, the puppets had already turned their heads towards them. They were watching them with hollow eyes as they approached; waiting for anyone to make a wrong move. They didn't say anything. They just… waited.

''Good to see you again, mister Sightfree.'' Aurora said confidently as she moved her hood back to reveal her face. ''Do you remember me?''

Robert Sightfree was about to take a step forward, when the major's daughter put her arm up.

''No distraction.'' she mumbled, to which the butcher nodded and moved back.

''What, aren't we doing good as a threat?'' James fake pouted. ''I thought you wanted to get us?''

Jenny Seinlor looked like she was grinding her teeth, obviously irritated with their behaviour.

''Don't come near us boy.'' she threatened.

''Or… what?'' Aurora taunted. ''Now James!''

James grabbed something out of his pocket that looked like a small bottle of sorts. He started running past the four guards, while pouring out the insides over the ground.

''What the…'' one of the twins said in a low grumble.

''...this smells like...oil?'' the other twin added.

''Precisely.'' Aurora grinned, before grabbing a lighter out of her pocket, lighting it, and throwing it onto the oil.

One of the many teachings she had gotten from Emmy; Never forget your lighter. The oil instantly started burning splendidly, creating a big wall of red and yellow against the black backdrop. The four guards quickly moved back against the church with small yelps of fear. Flora silently pumped her fist into the air.

She had been correct after all.

''Wait… so his skin didn't feel… real?'' James asked.

''Yeah.. It felt really coarse like sand… or maybe rope.''

''Rope?'' Vivian asked.

''Hm. It was really weird. It made sense that Aurora mentioned that he didn't feel completely human.''

Flora caressed the spot on the arm that the butcher had grabbed so roughly the other day.

''That would feed into our own theory actually.'' Vivian said while placing her hand on her chin.

''Oh?'' Aurora asked.

''We have been calling them puppets you see.'' James explained. ''Because they seem like they are being controlled by someone… or something. And they have this hollow look in their eyes. Like puppets.''

''So maybe they are made of string!'' Flora gasped.

''Could be…'' Vivian mumbled.

''You impudent brats!'' Jenny yelled. ''Get them!''

The twins and the butcher quickly moved around the line of fire and started chasing the already running James and Aurora. Flora and Vivian watched the group disappear around the corner, into the darkness. The only person remaining, just as expected, was Jenny Seinlor. She was staring at the fire in front of her, not making a move to stomp it out or anything. She was probably frightened of it. If… she was also made of rope. Flora felt a tap on her shoulder that came from Vivian. The redhead beckoned her to follow her into the other side of the alleyway, that let around to the building they were aiming for. Their plan was to sneak to the side of the church, where they could use their invention to climb up onto the roof, open one of the windows and then climb inside.

One person would install the contraption, while the other stood on look-out for Jenny. Flora was pretty proud of her little invention. Vivian was pretty handy herself, but she was more of a thinker than a do-er like Flora. Together they thought up something similar to the ladder contraption Vivian had made to get onto the rooftops. It was smaller and depended on the sturdiness of the gutter of the building. If it failed… their next plan would be to smash another window in. This of course, was not the best back-up plan.

They had quickly made their way to the side of the building. They figured they would have some time since the fire was still burning. Flora squatted to the group and moved her backpack to her front. She would be the one to install the contraption, while Vivian very silently moved her way to the front to check on Jenny. Thankfully for them, Jenny still seemed enthralled almost with the fire. It was getting close to going out however, since a slight drizzle was falling from the sky. Vivian inwardly cursed at the lack of oil. They could have postponed the plan until tomorrow to get more, but they didn't want to risk losing anyone else to the puppets.

Flora was starting to make progress. The top metal part of the invention needed to connect to the gutter. This was the tricky part. When they made this, they hadn't considered the noise it would make. Metal on metal… tended to create some kind of sound. Flora carefully leaned forward to attach the invention.

She was so close… she just needed to…

''AARGH!''

She stopped dead in her movement and her heart had leapt to her throat. She shot her head into the direction of Vivian, who had her back against the wall in the corner. She had moved her hand up to her mouth with her finger placed against her lips. She was telling Flora to keep quiet.

''Those stupid kids! Messing with his plans…'' she heard Jenny say.

It sounded like she had snapped out of her trance.

''His plans?'' Flora thought. ''Who is… he?''

Vivian had moved over in the meantime so she could whisper to Flora ''We have to be quick.''

Flora nodded and proceeded to move the invention towards the gutter. It barely made a sound when she placed it against it, causing them both to sigh inwardly with relief. She pressed a button that caused a small ladder to pop out of the metal. Flora quickly climbed up, with Vivian following behind. Once they had both made their way up onto the roof, Flora pressed a button on top, that made the ladder pop back in. The invention slid into itself like a satisfying puzzle. Her father and uncle would be proud. Once the device was small enough to put back into her backpack, Flora and Vivian turned to one of the windows. They looked inside, but found that it was hard to see through the glass.

''I guess we just have to go in and see.'' Vivian whispered.

''Okay… ladies first. So... I guess we go together?'' she smiled awkwardly.

Vivian smiled a small smile and nodded as she quietly opened the window.

Their plan had been successful thus far.

Aurora and James were halfway through town before they took a moment to breathe. Aurora had prepared herself and her partner to fight the puppets to the best of their abilities, but they still preferred to outrun them. They only needed to buy enough time for Vivian and Flora to get in. After that, they had a different plan to get them out.

As she turned around and stopped to catch her breath, Aurora noticed that there was no one behind them. Were they safe? Did the puppets stop their pursuit and return to the library? Or were they waiting for the right moment to strike?

''I think... they aren't following us anymore.'' James said softly.

''I still… have this strange feeling.'' Aurora mumbled.

She didn't understand. Was there someone still here? Or were they alone and was she imagining things because of the scary situation. She was about to ask James for his opinion, when…

''Hello Aurora.''

Aurora abruptly turned around to the source of the voice to find none other… than her caretaker… Professor Desmond Sycamore.

Is it really him?