We all walked down the stairs of the building, and hurried through the door. We walked briskly, going in a random direction with no sense of destination. Simply put, we just wanted to get as far away from Maynard's house as possible. 

As we walked, I ended up looking over my shoulder at the house. It was a wooden house, and in its vicinity, the environment looked rather gloomy. The energy given off by its appearance alone was daunting enough. 

We had to carry Miguel, his arms wrapping around his shoulders. He had no other choice but to limp. "I still can't believe we have to go back

there," he said, limping. 

"We're under his spell. From the time he summons us," I looked down at the ground, "we'll have no other choice but to return to him. I don't like this at all. We don't even know what'll happen if we fail to bring him his son."

"I'd say his son is the biggest problem," opined Hanso. "We don't know much about him. But what I do know is that he's sick in the head for sure. The old man emphasized just how not 'normal' his son was."

I qailed. "Another one of our problems is that leg of Miguel's," I looked at him, "he's losing a lot of blood. We need to get him to a place where the bullet can be removed."

"Ahh, I'll be fine," Miguel said, "It's just a rubber bullet. I'll be able to cope until later."

I grimaced at him. "Are you insane! No way we're gonna do that. What? And let you just bleed out to death? The wound will get infected."

"I said I'll be fine," Miguel said, "don't worry about me. It doesn't hurt much."

"Rubber bullets and misconceptions mesh seamlessly," I said, "you think they're not that harmful. You think they can't penetrate the skin and kill you? You're wrong. Rubber bullets are just metal coated in a little piece of rubber. They were created to be used from far. But when used from close proximity, it either causes permanent disability or death. We need to get you to a hospital."

Miguel shook his head. "You do not let up, don't you?" He smiled at me.

Hanso looked over at me as we carried limping Miguel who lingered betwixt us. "A hospital though, Ash? That's highly unlikely. I doubt we'll find a hospital in this place. The Government doesn't even care about us."

Miguel's demeanor seemed to change upon hearing Hanso mention the Government. I only knew him for a day, but this always seemed like the case for him. He had resentment for the bureaus. 

I shifted focus to Hanso. "We need to find something. Someone. We need to heal Miguel up before it's too late. And we don't want the wound to grow septic. Maybe we can find a healer. Healing abilities shouldn't be too hard to find in here."

"Finding a healer shouldn't be a problem," Hanso said, "it only becomes a problem when he doesn't want to heal Miguel, because we don't have what he wants in return."

I furrowed my brows. "We'll just have to resort to our hands should we find ourselves in such a dilemma."

***

We returned to the place I really wanted to call a manor. It was still quite crowded. Maybe people didn't know where to go, so they decided to stay near the entrance gate of the dome. Or perhaps they were hoping to receive more free food here.

It was quiet as always. Almost too quiet to believe. What wa the cause of this near silence? I had no idea. The only thing on my mind was finding a healer for my friend. 

"It's futile," Hanso said, "we've been looking for hours. We won't find a healer in time. What do we do? Just keep waiting until people exhibit healing magic?"

Miguel scoffed. "You two are wasting your time for nothing."

Hanso was right. Waiting was the most ineffective way to seek a healer. We couldn't just wait for people to use their abilities. They were like lame, zombies shambling the area and gawking at you. Blunt. We had to start approaching people and asking them for help.

"We should start approaching people and asking them if they're healers or not," I said, looking at Hanso. 

"It's about time," Hanso said.

Miguel heaved. "Guys, my dominant leg is getting really tired of all this limping. My head's burning up as well. Maybe you can put me to sit on that unoccupied bench until you return with the news of failure."

I looked at him and frowned. "Fine. We'll put you on the bench. But we're not returning with bad news at all. We're coming right back here with a healer."

Miguel shook his head, smiling softly.

***

"Good sir, my friend's hurt, and he really needs a healer. You don't happen to be a—"

"Get lost!" A troll man snapped at me. "I ain't no healer."

I fumbled. "But sir ... he's really h—"

"I said get fucking lost, kid! I'm not in the right mood for this." He gritted his grotesque teeth at me. 

"Fine. Have a great evening," I said, walking away cowardly. 

I frowned as I edged away from the crowd of people. I had no idea finding a healer would be this hard. I approached Hanso, who stood in the distance wearing a frown as well.

I stopped when I was in front of him. 

"Any luck?" He asked.

"No," I scratched behind my neck, "none at all," I looked up at him. "What about you? Found someone yet?"

"Nah, just some rip-off kid who tried to pickpocket me," he folded his arms, "the people won't tell me shit here. Apparently they're not fond of demons."

This wasn't working at all. 

Miguel's life was in danger. 

I clenched my fists, and took a deep breath in. I had to break the rules. "WE NEED A HEALER ASAP! WE NEED A HEALER! OUR FRIEND IS DYING!" I shouted atop my lungs.

Everyone slowly turned their heads and gawked at me in a strange way. Hundreds of pairs of eyes were directed at me. I suddenly felt my heart thumping faster. 

Hanso whispered from the side of his mouth, "Ash, what the hell are you doing?"

"I'm finding a healer," I whispered back. 

I then raised my chin up. "I NEED A HEALER. Please. My friend," I frowned, "got shot. And he's losing his life. I really need a healer. Is anyone here a healer? I really, really—"

"Me! I'm a healer." Said a voice in the crowd. The crowd began to make way for him. He approached us, smirking. "I'm a healer."

I smiled nervously. 

Hanso shook his head. "You broke rule one. Rule one, Ashn You're not supposed to draw attention to yourself." 

I glanced at him. "But it was worth it, wasn't i?"

Was it worth it? 

Or were we falling into another trap?