Smile, what's the use of crying?

You'll find that life is still worthwhile

If you just smile

***

CHAPTER 78:

TRUTH IN THE TAPE

You can't outrun a wolf. That's one thing we've learned from all our research up to now. Yet, a moment later, everyone was dashing in different directions. I clung to my spear, Tarben to his rope, Mars to his sword, Diego rushed to Blue's side, Helene ducked behind a table, and Ursa scrambled atop a chair.

A knife whizzed past my ear, startling me. But it wasn't aimed at me; it was meant for the wolf about to snap off my head. When the beast howled in pain behind me, my feet tangled, and I tumbled to the ground. Diego managed to strike it in the neck, but it wasn't enough to stop it. Despite the blue blood seeping through its fur and bones, the wolf lunged at me.

My crawl backward was purely reflexive. I knew it was useless. Even as someone shouted my name, I couldn't tear my eyes away from the approaching death. Not until a silver sword suddenly sliced between us... It was Mars who had called out. It was Mars who leaped in front of me, severing the wolf's head from its body with his blade.

"Are you okay?" he asked, pulling me to my feet.

I couldn't respond. My throat was choked with the horror I had just witnessed. Although I felt Mars pulling me along, my eyes remained fixed on the skull on the ground. Then, as the skull and the rest of the wolf began to dissolve, vanishing along with its remains into a cloud of dark blue dust, I finally saw the rest of the scene.

Blue was hunched over the music set, frantically working with Helene to fix the cassette. Diego stood like a wall in front of them, hurling knives at any wolves that dared approach. Ursa, right behind Tarben with a spear in hand, was poised to strike at the wolf he was trying to ensnare with the rope. They would have been better off swapping roles, with Tarben wielding the spear and Ursa utilizing her riding skills. But whatever was causing her fear, she couldn't bring herself to touch the rope.

When the rope snapped tight around the wolf's neck, Tarben yelled, "Ursa! Now!"

We all watched as she froze in response. Ursa's hands on her silver spear trembled so much she looked likely to drop it. She couldn't bring herself to thrust it into the wolf. This was Ursa, after all, the gentlest and kindest soul of this realm. How had we ever believed this was possible? Was I any more capable with the spear in my own hands?

"Ursa!" Tarben shouted.

His muscles tensed as if they were about to burst, his face beet red. He struggled with the wild animal he was trying to subdue. Mars didn't wait any longer. He sprinted to Ursa's side, snatched the spear from her, and plunged it into the beast. I shuddered as the wolf howled wildly, turning into a cloud of dust.

Were we supposed to be happy with this small victory? No, certainly not. I doubted there was a single soul among us not steeped in terror at that moment.

"More... more wolves!" Diego gasped, his breath ragged, gripping the last of his knives. Following his gaze, I saw two robust, fresh wolves enter the fray.

"They... they don't die," Ursa stammered.

Indeed, it seemed that for every beast we felled, another would rise. We were doomed! Just a handful of kids with wooden swords standing against monsters... Mars had been right from the start. I had been delusional, believing in a foolish dream, dragging everyone into this apocalypse. There was no way we were getting out of here alive.

Then, suddenly, the melodious sound of a violin filled the Archive again. All our heads whipped towards the music set as if we could see the notes. We held our breath, anticipating the sound to distort and leave us defenseless. But it didn't. And then... one by one, the wolves began to fall. Thump, thump, thump.

"They're asleep!" Helene exclaimed, her voice tinged with both disbelief and relief. Her face was as white as paper, likely reflecting my pallor. I felt as if all the blood had drained from my body, leaving my limbs numb.

"Quick," Tarben said. "Help me tie up the wolves. We don't know how long the music will hold."

"We don't know if the ropes will hold either!" Mars retorted. "We need to get out of here now!"

"After coming all this way?" Blue asked, disappointment lacing her tone. "At least let's watch the videos we found. Then we can leave immediately!"

Mars looked like he wanted to curse, but when everyone agreed with Blue, he could only grumble internally. We decided to hurry, not to push our luck, to see what we needed to see, and then get out.

With that, everyone rushed to the spare ropes. Tarben had shown us several times how to tie and knot them. But fear and panic had wiped my memory clean. I stood dumbly, rope in hand, staring at a wolf.

Fortunately, Mars and then Ursa came to my aid. Mars quickly wrapped the rope around the animal, and Ursa didn't hesitate to secure the final knot. Then Tarben went around to all the tied-up wolves for a final check and gave a nod of approval, letting us all sigh of relief.

Stars... I wanted to collapse, even crumble right there. But of course, I couldn't afford to. None of us were truly safe until we were out of the Archive. Diego must have been thinking along the same lines as he collected his knives and reattached them to his belt and pockets. Mars kept his sword in hand, and Ursa, though unable to use it effectively, leaned on her spear.

"Let's go," Tarben commanded, and we all rushed to the desks. Everyone with a videotape took their position at a computer while the rest gathered around. Mars was on my left, Tarben on my right. I felt like I was caught in the crossfire of their intense, ricocheting glares.

Trying not to dwell on their tension, I reached out and booted up the computer as before. The familiar warning screen appeared, prompting me to insert the tape. My fingers trembled as I pushed the tape forward; then, I stepped back and waited for it to play. My friends at the other desks also inserted their tapes—Diego handling his, Ursa managing Pam's. I was certain they were as breathless as I was.

The images filled the nine screens before me, and I forgot everyone else. After all our efforts to reach this moment, I realized I was utterly unprepared for what I saw.

My image now dominated the center screen. Recoiling as if to escape from myself, I bumped into Mars. Even though I felt his hand on my arm, my eyes remained glued to the screen. It didn't seem real. I didn't seem real. The girl lying in the bed didn't have hair down to her waist like mine. Instead, her head was wrapped in bandages like a cap. A neck brace, a cast on my arm, a sling holding up my leg—I looked no different from a mummy.

"You don't have to watch this, Olive," Mars murmured in my ear.

No, I didn't have to. Yet, I continued to watch the painful scene through tear-filled eyes. My gaze drifted to the other screens. At the top were forgotten scenes from my childhood—my family, my sister, my grandmother. In the middle, the accident that had put my body into a coma.

Below that, again, my mom, dad, and sister... They didn't look like themselves either. My mom's usually meticulously ironed dresses were now wrinkled, her curls a mess. Both my dad and sister had lost weight, and their colors had faded. They sat silently, sipping from paper cups, likely in some corner of the hospital.

I expected to see Davon on the next screen; sure, he was waiting for me to wake up. But Dav was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a face I hadn't expected greeted me—my grandmother. She was also in the hospital. After all these years, she had come for me. I watched her walk down the corridor in the footage, heading to my room. She sat next to my comatose body, took my unhurt hand in hers, and started murmuring.

I smiled as if I could hear the story she was telling me, and tears rolled down my cheeks. Without thinking, I turned and buried my head in Mars's chest. His arms instantly wrapped around me, pulling me close. He held me firmly until I calmed down. When I finally stepped back, he watched me with compassion.

"Your family is waiting for you," he said with a wistful smile. "I think you saw the most beautiful thing possible."

He was right. People were fighting to keep me alive, waiting for me to open my eyes, praying for me. Yet I was shaken. Now, I truly understood why Mars had been so reluctant to watch his tape. The chances of finding such a scene on the tape I had hidden under my sweater were so slim. For a moment, I felt ridiculously ashamed of being consoled by him.

"You're right," I said quickly, wiping my eyes. "That really was the most beautiful thing to see." I tried to smile. "Thank you for coming here with us despite everything."

He shrugged. "I probably wouldn't have come if fate hadn't punished me with the world's most stubborn soulmate."

He was making a joke, even in our current situation. His smile didn't quite reach his eyes, but his lips were turned up. Just then, our attention shifted to Diego. He was staring at the screen in astonishment, laughing with his hands on his head.

"I can't believe it," he said. "I've been wondering who would bother to keep a nobody like me alive since I ended up here. Look at this..."

We all moved curiously to his side. Diego's broken body lay in an incredibly luxurious room, which looked more like a hotel than a hospital. Ursa explained the story to us. The street fight that had cost Diego his life was fought on behalf of someone else. The boy whose life he had saved that day must have been very important to someone. In return for Diego's sacrifice, they had chosen to keep him alive under the best conditions.

We all laughed and rejoiced on his behalf. Just then, I realized one person wasn't with us. Helene was still alone, hypnotically watching her tape. Blue had seen the same thing I had at the same moment. First, we approached, and then the others slowly joined us by Helene's side. Like the other tapes, Helene's comatose body lay in the middle of the screen. Beside her, a woman held her hand tightly, her head resting on the bed.

Scenes from the day she died played on either side of this image. I already knew Helene had committed suicide. Watching the girl sitting on the bed, staring at a pill bottle, my eyes started to tear up. She shoved all the pills into her mouth and collapsed back onto the bed. Her eyes closed. She was alone. No one had seen or heard her.

My gaze moved to the top screen, displaying Helene's childhood. A frail, scowling little girl sat alone on the bed as if in the moment of her death. In every image from her childhood, she was alone. A nanny dressed her, a nanny fed her, and a nanny tucked her into bed. Whether at home, school, or sports, her family was never by her side. I feared this profound loneliness might have driven her to her demise. Despite every material advantage, Helene's soul remained unloved and neglected.

However, the scene changed drastically on the bottom screens. Her parents, who had never been by her side, now appeared in the footage. One stood at the hospital room door, the other by their daughter's bed, tears in their eyes. They clung to the remnants of their daughter's spirit, desperately trying to pull her back to life.

I looked at Helene and understood the astonishment that overwhelmed her into tears.

"So, I had to die to see this," she murmured.

Blue was quicker than me, wrapping an arm around her. Diego reached out from the other side to hold her hand. Ursa patted her back.

"You're very lucky," Tarben said, trying to bolster her spirits. "You've found a reason to go back. Isn't that why we all came here?"

The answer was yes for most of us, but not for Mars. He had bowed his head and stepped back, distancing himself. He stood in front of another desk, hands in his pockets, absorbed in the displays of Pam's life. It was obvious he was avoiding the conversation. I couldn't help myself and moved to stand beside him. He sensed my approach but didn't turn to face me. I think he was uncomfortable with the idea of being comforted.

So, rather than putting him on the spot, I silently watched the video. Honestly, I was just as curious as Ursa about how Pam had become such a monster. The first shock came when I saw that her hair was as black as mine. The second was realizing she was far from a princess. Child Pam lived in a nearly dilapidated house crowded with over ten people. She begged on the streets, took on impossible jobs, and endured rough treatment and beatings at home.

The men she worked for were clearly involved in the drug trade. Little Pam carried bags, far too large for her tiny hands, to dangerous people in dreadful places. So, this was how she had risen to become the drug queen of this realm. And that wasn't all. Another constant in her life was a pink-haired, fluffy-skirted ballerina doll, always clutched in her hands.

Just like her... I thought, my heart aching.

Pam's circumstances improved slightly when she was moved to a protective home as she grew up. Yet, her life remained harsh, shifting from one group home to another. It appeared that the government was responsible for maintaining her coma in the hospital, given that the screens at the very bottom were completely empty. Evidently, Pam had neither loved ones nor anyone waiting for her.

"Who knew?" Mars said, astonished.

It was impossible not to hear the sadness in his voice. My heart wrenched in response. Despite all the bad things she had done to me and others, for the first time, I couldn't feel angry at Pam. Mars and I locked eyes, both of us at a loss for words. But we wouldn't have had a chance to speak anyway because the music set was rewinding the tape again. We all knew what that meant. Ursa voiced our collective dread.

"Wolves!"

***