Now the stage is bare and I'm standing there

With emptiness all around

And if you won't come back to me

Then they can bring the curtain down

***

CHAPTER 76:

THE LAST ONE JOINING THE GAME

I was dangling from the balcony railing, my hands gripping the cloth around my wrists. It was no use, of course. The fabric was already starting to fray. With my dress making me twice as heavy, I couldn't turn around, lift my leg, or pull myself up, no matter what I tried. And with my mouth still gagged, there was no one to hear my tears or my pleas.

Lea was right. Mars wouldn't spend such a night alone. The likelihood of him returning to this room was even slimmer than my chances of escaping this trap on my own. Even if he did come back, I was sure he'd be too occupied to hear me. I'd die knowing he was with someone else.

Bravo, Lea! Truly, a masterful revenge.

I sobbed, each cry intensifying the pain in my muscles. The cold sliced through my skin, and the crashing waves only heightened my terror. I wished I could faint, to slip away from this world and escape the torture quietly. But even the mercy of losing consciousness eluded me. I was doomed to fade, feeling every ache, every cut, every agony.

Minutes turned into hours as I sat alone in the endless dark. Time blurred—one hour, maybe two, then three—it was impossible to keep track. The biting cold and relentless pain clouded my thoughts. Trapped in a timeless hell, each second stretched into eternity. My neck gave out, and my head drooped limply onto my shoulder.

Then, the first snap echoed through the night, shattering the silence like ice breaking around me. Paralysis melted into panic—I knew this was the start of a chain reaction that could end with my death. The fabric holding me was giving way.

Snap, snap, snap...

As the tension on my left arm lessened, my tears increased. I lifted my head, looking through blurry tears as the final threads unraveled.

Then, suddenly, one arm was free.

In a panic, I clung to the remaining fabric with both hands. My movements caused me to spin, and the last piece of cloth tethering me to life began to fray.

"No," I pleaded. "Please don't break. Please... come. Please... find me."

But neither the fabric nor the soul I called out to could hear me. No one was coming. There was no salvation. My time was running out. I had resigned myself to die in the Archive tonight, and it was my choice. Now, though, I was just the victim of a cruel game, fading from the world unheard, as Helene would undoubtedly put it, 'going down the drain.'

But then, at that very moment, a noise came from the room. It was unmistakable in the night's silence—a creak of the door followed by a click. Mars had returned to his room! It didn't matter who might be with him; I still had a chance. My heart was in my throat as I waited, hoping to hear giggles from a girl or Mars's voice. But neither happened. Only the sounds of opening, shutting, hitting, and bumping echoed. Mars must have been moving around inside the room.

Despite the cloth over my mouth, I screamed as loudly as I could, though it came out more like a muffled groan. There was no chance he could hear me through the balcony door. Still, I didn't give up. My tears, sobs, prayers, and pleas all tried to break through the curtain as muffled screams.

Meanwhile, in my uncontrolled thrashing, I had neglected the condition of the last piece of cloth holding me to the balcony. A new snap mingled with my moans. At that moment, I felt like I died. I knew this was the end. The countdown began. Ten, nine, eight... Snap, snap, snap... Six, five... No, no, no! Four, three, two... Snap! One, I thought. My eyes shut.

"What..."

My eyes snapped open. At the most unexpected moment, Mars's voice followed a creak from above. He vaulted over the railing in a second. One hand reached out and caught my wrist just in time. The other was gripping the metal bar. The cloth had snapped just then. Now, I was hanging from his hand below the balcony.

"I've got you!" he shouted.

With all his strength, he pulled me up. He grunted with the effort, and as my other hand reached the railing, I grabbed it and pulled myself up to help him. It worked. Soon, I had managed to step onto the ledge. Once I stood fully, Mars jumped back inside the balcony and pulled me in after him. I collapsed into his arms, overwhelmed by fear, cold, and pain—my body's battery was drained.

"It's okay," Mars whispered as he embraced me. As soon as we entered the room, his knees buckled, and we collapsed onto the carpet together, our bodies trembling. He held me tightly against his chest, one hand stroking my hair, the other smoothing down my back as if to reassure himself I was really okay. When he noticed the cloth in my mouth, he quickly reached up and untied it. I coughed deeply with my first free breaths. Then he helped untangle the remaining cloth that had knotted around my arms.

"How?" Mars asked, his voice trembling as he looked at my bruised wrists. When I tried to speak, my teeth chattered, and sobs escaped me instead of words. Mars pulled me in closer, holding me tighter. I cried in his arms until I could cry no more. The warmth from his body gradually melted the ice on my skin, but the deep winter inside me wouldn't fade so easily. Lea had inflicted a trauma I would carry in my heart for a lifetime.

Even after the hysteria subsided, I couldn't pull away from Mars. It felt like if he let go, I'd be back over the ocean. It seemed he wasn't ready to let go either, maybe fearing the same. He lowered his head, trying to catch my gaze.

"Why do you keep doing this to me?" he murmured. "Why do I always find you on the brink of disaster?"

"I didn't... do this," I managed, my voice hoarse, words jagged.

"Who did?" he pressed, leaning in closer. "Who did this to you, Olive? Tell me!"

"It was Lea. She wanted... revenge."

Mars pulled back to look me in the eye, horror dawning on his face. "Revenge for what?" He paused, and then his expression darkened with realization. "Because of me?"

No answer was necessary. The bulging veins in Mars's temples told me he already knew the truth. He pulled me back against his chest, resting his chin on my head.

"She will pay for this. I swear it, Olive! This won't go unanswered."

"No," I said firmly. "It won't."

I didn't know what was going through his mind, but I was determined to confront the Principal. It was time someone in the Dorm stood up to the bullies. I couldn't let Lea and her gang continue to roam freely and hurt others. As my fear began to dissipate, anger surged within me. I moved away from Mars, and he supported me by the waist when I tried to stand.

"Do you want me to take you to the infirmary?"

I shook my head. There was nothing the infirmary could do for a broken soul.

"Wait here then; I'll get you some warm clothes."

I didn't object. He helped me to the bed and then went to the closet. I noticed then that his shirt was unbuttoned and his jacket tossed over a chair. It looked like he had come here to change, but he must have heard me on the balcony instead. He returned with a sweater, thick sweatpants, and sneakers that somehow fit me. I didn't question how he had clothes in my size.

"Do you want a hot shower first?" he asked as I got up.

I shook my head. "What time is it?"

What I really wanted to know was how long I had been fighting for my life here and what my friends had been doing in the meantime.

"Just past midnight," Mars said.

So, the ordeal that felt like a lifetime lasted only a few hours. The ball might still be going on, and they might not have descended into the Archive yet.

"Have you seen the others?" I asked as I stood.

"Yes," Mars replied. "They've been looking everywhere for you. That's why I came back to the room—to change and go look for you. I was going to check the greenhouse next. Don't worry, I'll let them know. You change, and you can sleep here tonight. You shouldn't be alone. And don't worry about tomorrow. I'll handle Lea."

"No," I said, rejecting all his offers at once. "I can't stay here. I need to find the others before we go down to the Archive. And Lea is my problem. I'll handle it myself."

Anger flared in Mars's eyes. "Are you insane? You were hanging from that balcony for who knows how long! If I had been just a second later, if I hadn't noticed you, if I hadn't reached you in time, you would have died! And now you want to go to the Archive? What's wrong with you, Olive? Are you so desperate to kill yourself?"

I laid the clothes he had given me on the bed, then stood up to face him. I knew his anger was rooted in fear, but I needed him to understand.

"No, Mars," I said calmly. "I'm desperate to get out of here to escape death. Don't you see? As long as I stay, as long as I'm seen as your soulmate, they won't leave me alone. Pam, Bong, Lea... there will always be someone out for revenge, someone looking to hurt me."

"I won't let that happen!"

"You can't always be by my side, Mars. And you don't want to be. You've made that clear." He started to protest, but I cut him off. "I don't want that either. I don't want to be someone who constantly needs saving. I can't just stay here, watching you from afar, dealing with your admirers and enemies as if nothing ever happened between us."

"Olive, I..."

"Mars, I want to leave. I've done everything I can up to this point, and we both know it hasn't worked. I need to find another way. And that way might go through the Archive. There might be something there that can make sense of all this. I won't give up without trying. Just because Lea chose today to seek her revenge doesn't mean I'm going to abandon my plan."

Mars watched me, speechless, perhaps silenced by the truth of my words. He had no argument to make, no other path to offer either of us. His gaze dropped to the floor, and then he turned his back, standing there for a while with his hands on his hips. I knew he was thinking, maybe even preparing for a real goodbye. But when he moved again, it wasn't to face me. Instead, he walked over to his desk.

"Okay," he said, opening a drawer. "Okay, if that's what you want... You want to enter the Archive, huh? Then we'll go to the Archive."

What? We?

"What are you doing?" I asked, walking over to him.

He had taken out paper, envelopes, and stamps. "Where were you supposed to meet them?" he asked, pen in hand. I was confused. "Where were you supposed to meet the others, Olive?"

"At the... library. Why?"

He didn't answer. Instead, I read the note he scribbled: Found Olive. We're coming to the library.

"Mars, what are you..."

He stormed away from the desk, dropped the letters in the mailbox, and slammed the lid shut. Then he went to the closet and threw his shirt on the floor. "Come on," he said, dropping his trousers. "We won't make it in time if you don't change right now."

"No, wait!" I protested. "You're not coming with me. I don't want you to."

He glanced over his shoulder at me with a knowing look. "You can't decide that can you, Olive?"

Just hours before, I had said the same to him. He knew I had no answer to that. He slipped jeans over his boxers.

"If I'm not going with you, then you're not going to the Archive!" he said.

"That's just childish stubbornness!"

He ignored me as he put on a sweater and shoes. When he was done, he came over, took the clothes he had given me from the bed, and placed them in my arms. I tried one last time.

"You were the one who opposed going to the Archive the most. Why are you doing this now? Has your fear suddenly disappeared?"

His eyebrows shot up. "You think I didn't want to go back to the Archive because I'm afraid of dying?" I couldn't respond. He laughed bitterly. "Yes, I'm scared. But not for myself. I don't care what happens to me, Olive. I didn't want to go back because I didn't want anything to happen to you or the others." He sighed. "Unfortunately, you're the most stubborn soulmate in this realm. I can't change your mind even after what just happened. So... either you go with me, or I lock you in this room. The choice is yours."

The choice was not mine. Mars had decided our next step for both of us. Why was he doing this? Out of pity for my condition? Was he moved by my words? Did he feel guilty? Perhaps it didn't matter. Either way, he wasn't going to give up on the Archive or on me. Tonight, we were returning to that forbidden place. Together with Mars...

Resigned, I clutched the clothes to my chest and meekly headed for the bathroom. I had no choice but to believe that my bad feeling was not a premonition of the future, just an insignificant worry.