Just a Happy Ending

Knowing

Buddy's eyes snapped open. He sat bolt upright, instantly regretting the vertigo that crashed through his head. His jaw clenched.

Stand up.

Shakily, his limbs obeyed.

He stood against the rough wood of the broken elevator, rubbing his head and trying not to let the creeping dread sit him back down into a shivering ball.

Oddly, it was a bit easier than usual to collect his thoughts. Buddy felt... more like himself. He held his hands up and wiggled his fingers. His senses seemed clearer.

Boris must still be out of it.

Fine by Buddy; the less that wolf was in the way, the better. He needed to act if he was going to save his friends.

A shiver zipped up his spine at the memory of Alice's sing-song voice as she dared Buddy to find Henry and Sammy. Buddy's ears flattened; well, little did that fallen angel know he was going to save them!

He hoped.

He shook off some of the ink drops that had fallen on him from the elevator and padded down the hall. The sign at the end pointed to the Archives on the left and Grant Cohen's office on the right.

Cohen? Had Buddy met him before? His name sounded... vaguely familiar.

He shook the thought away. The Archives were probably the way to go.

Except for the missing door handle.

All right then, to Grant's office it was.

...

Buddy had to psyche himself up to get in the room. Sure, he had seen writing on the wall before, but never in this amount in one place.

He spotted his desired door handle. All the way in the back corner. Could these things never be in arm's reach?

The toon set his jaw and tiptoed into the room. Don't look at the overturned stool, that tape probably had some finance mumbo-jumbo, don't make eye contact with that ink puddle...

He grabbed the handle and bolted from the room, slamming the door behind him. His fingers clenched around the metal object as he tried to get his heart back down and out of his head.

Keep calm. Just move on. Nothing happened.

Thankfully the handle fit and turned.

Boris must have woken up as soon as the door opened and he spotted the giant Bendy statue. Buddy had to physically hold the doorframe to keep his legs from rushing him back to the elevator. He had an urge to curl up into a shaking ball and not move.

Stop it. Let go. It's just a statue, and those Lost Ones aren't moving. I have to save my friends. They're counting on me.

Boris was unconvinced.

Buddy shoved him aside and moved on anyway.

He had to admit, the Archives were kind of nice. Felt like a library.

He turned the Bendy cutout around. Didn't want that smile staring at him.

A tape? No name. Play it.

"They told me-"

Click.

Nope. Don't need to hear that voice right now. The less of that voice, the better.

How did this door open? There was no handle, no visible keyhole, nothing. Maybe there was something in the books?

Stand in the middle, look around. What's different? What's out of place? What can be a clue?