Apparently, the anomalous old man wanted us to attempt to leave his house. Hanso still seemed confused. But I knew he wasn't stupid. He knew what kind of situation were we in. But for some odd reason, he pretended not to know. He looked at Miguel. Raising his brows, he asked, "Why'd you return? You had the chance to run away. Were you worried about us?"

Miguel kept his brows furrowed. He averted his eyes. "No ... I just couldn't leave. I couldn't even think about leaving. I saw ... I saw something. But I just can't ... explain it."

Hanso looked at Miguel's leg. "Was it your leg? I'm guessing you came back because you couldn't walk down the stairs with that leg of yours."

I inched closer to them. "Hanso," I said, "it's nothing to do with that. An ability is at play here. That old man's ability must've worked on him. It's our job to figure out what it is," I looked back at the smirking old man. "And," I looked at the door to the stairs, "there's only one way to find out."

Miguel nodded at me. "Ash is right. I'll try again. Only this time alongside you two."

Hanso looked at me with nuance on his face. An ineffable expression I couldn't discern. What was wrong with me? Why was he pretending not to know things that stood clear? From what I've seen from him earlier, he seemed like a smart person. 

He caught me gawking at him and simply turned to the door to the stairs. "Alright. Let's try," he said, walking toward the door. 

I furrowed my brows and swallowed my fear. This was a door to escape from the old man, after all. I wasn't supposed to be scared. I followed Hanso through the door and Miguel followed me. 

We stood at the stairs. Looking down the flight, I was able to see the front door. It was so close. I perked up, getting anxious to leave. But soon after, I felt an  urge. An urge to turn around and go back to the old man. I felt weak on my feet.

Hanso looked at me. He seemed troubled as well. "Ash, I think Miguel might need some help getting down the stairs."

I nodded. "Right," I looked at Miguel. "Wrap your arms around our shoulders, and avoid placing pressure on the injured leg while going down the stairs." I felt my stomach pulling toward my spine. 

Miguel slowly wrapped his arms around my neck. Then, he wrapped his arms around Hanso's. He was taller than us both so it was easy for him to keep his arms around us. He slowly raise his injured leg, keeping the unharmed one on the floor. Then, he looked down at the stairs.

I felt like a piece of metal, near a huge magnet. Attracted. The magnet was the room in which the old man remained. I nodded at Hanso. And quickly, we both went down the first step. Miguel climbed down a second afterward. 

I felt light-headed. Dizzy. Migraines made my sight nauseating. I quickly took a step down the wooden stairs. The old, rotting wood creaked. Pursuingly, Hanso took a step down. Then, Miguel took a step down whereupon.

My heart hammered in my chest. My blood thundered in my ears. My sight was being benighted. My legs were giving up on me. I felt veins appearing at my temples. I needed to take another step down the stairs but it was harder than ever. 

There were only ten more stairs to go. I clenched my teeth, slowly putting out a trembling leg. I felt the old man's power pulling the legs back to the ground. A force was holding me back. Restraining me. I had to take a—

Suddenly, Hanso took a step down the stairs. He nodded at me. I averted my eyes. 'If he was able to do it, then I should to,' I thought, mustering all my might to take a step down the stairs.

Sweat trickled down my face, veins appearing at my temples and lower jaw. We had to keep going. But Miguel still hadn't made it to our step yet. He struggled to take a step down the stairs. His wound was hindering him. However, he was strong. He took a step down the stairs in less time than us. 

I pushed my glasses higher up my nose bridge. My entire body was doused in sweat. I trembled and twitched continuously. My vision was going black. I felt like a force was pulling on my skin. My skin felt numb and tight. My head felt light, and heavy at the same time. Needles seemed to stab me in the back of my eyes. 

Still, I was able to take a step down the stairs.  Blood trickled down from my nostrils. I felt as though parts of my soul were left behind. And then, my vision started to warp. Everything distorted. I felt my feet growing weaker. Gravity pulled me down stronger than ever. I staggered but quickly steadied again. For if I fell down the stairs, Miguel and Hanso would have as well. 

I was stair ahead of Hanso and Miguel. What was taking Hanso so long? I quickly looked over my shoulder. He looked at me, raising his brows. Pouting. "I can't ... I can't do it. I need to go back," blood ran down from his ears and trickled down his cheeks. "I'm going back."

"W-we can do it ..." I frowned. "Please, let's not turn back. We only have a few more to—"

"Let's go back!" Hanso snarled at me. He coughed, blood dripping on the floor. 

My heart sank, my body deflating. I felt the force growing weaker as I stopped thinking about opposing it. I looked at the door again. It was so right there. Then, I looked back at Hanso and Miguel. They were both bleeding. I was trying to run away again. But running away would have cost me my life this time. I retained my frown. "Let's .... let's go back."