Part 2

I stood up with a start and thought I heard something behind me. I turned quickly. For a moment, I thought I could see the outline of a man on the step above me. I nearly fell backward. But the outline disappeared almost as soon as I saw it. My mind must've been playing tricks on me in the dark. Despite being in the dark for what felt like minutes, my eyes simply would not adjust. It was still pure blackness. I reached out and the railing was still there, but that provided minimal, minimal comfort. I used my other hand to swipe in front of me, just to be sure there truly wasn't anything there.

The words of my grandmother came to my mind as I stood petrified. She told us the story of 鬼打墙, the Gui Da Qiang. The name roughly translated to "ghosts building walls". It's a phenomenon where all seems normal to a wanderer, but slowly, the wanderer starts to circle back to where they started, and nothing can stop them from doing so repeatedly. It's as if a ghost is building walls to keep the wanderer in a single space.

As a kid, I always wondered, why would the Gui Da Qiang do something like that to a poor wanderer?

I tried to remember everything Grandma had ever said about the Gui Da Qiang. "Don't look over your shoulder." It was too late for that. I had turned around multiple times at this point. "Look between your legs. The space is a window into the demon's world." I honestly considered this, but I was far too afraid of what I might see if I went through with it.

What happened if I never got off these stairs? Would my mom and brother find my corpse here on these steps? Did I even still exist? Or had I vanished from my dimension? Would I ever see my friends or family again? Hear them again? Touch them one more time?

Ultimately, I decided I would slide down the stairs. I thought about falling, but I figured I'd break a bone, if not die. I could get on my back and slide down as if it were a water slide. It would be uncomfortable, but eventually, I would hit the landing, right?

I assumed the position, crossing my arms over my chest as I lay down on the steps. I took a deep breath, ready to send myself down.

But just as I was about to shove off, I heard something. Lurching. It hit the left wall, then the right. Soon, I could hear it breathing. It was heavy, heavy breathing. Whatever it was, it was much bigger than me. A bear? No, it must've been bigger. It probably barely fit between the walls of the stairwell. I could hear it coming up the steps. It was definitely walking on two legs, despite how heavy it sounded. As it took its steps, I heard something else... clanking... the clanking of metal, like armor. Or chains. I slowly sat up as the footsteps continued. At a rhythmic pace, the footsteps started getting faster. I slowly and clumsily scrambled to my feet, and I started sprinting up the stairs. I was running and running and running. I could feel my hair blowing behind me. The steps behind me kept getting faster in their own time. I didn't know how long I was running, but I was sweating and wheezing and my muscles were on fire. Eventually, I started scrambling on all fours up the stairs like some kind of ape. I collapsed on the steps. With one hand, I clutched the carpeted stairs between my fingers, and my shirt with the other as I sobbed, not ready to face the hands or teeth of whatever was pursuing me.

In an instant, past the sobs, I heard the words in a whisper: "Inside out..."

And I remembered my grandmother's words. When trapped by a Gui Da Qiang, you turn your clothes inside out. As the breathing down the steps grew even heavier, I frantically dragged my shirt off my body, turned it inside out, and pulled it back on.

I closed my eyes tightly. The footsteps sounded like canon fire before stopping right next to me, and the creature's breath glossed over my cheek.

Through my eyelids, black turned to red.

The breathing on my face disappeared. My breathing was normal again. The cheeks that were tearstained a moment ago were now dry. My muscles felt relaxed. There was no trace of sweat on my forehead. I opened my eyes slowly. I saw the banister on the wall across from the one I leaned against. I looked up and to my left. There my brother stood at the open door atop the stairs, one hand on the light switch, the other rubbing his eye, groggily asking, "Are you okay?"

I foolishly looked back down where I saw my phone laying in the center of the landing. But I didn't go back for it. I ran up just five steps and hugged my little brother around his neck. He was surprised. After pulling myself off him, I begged to know, "What time is it?" He confusedly showed me his watch which read 1:02 a.m. Not even one minute after I'd left the couch.

"Why is your shirt on inside out?" he asked, but I didn't answer. I needed to get away from those steps.

I quickly hugged him again then scurried past him and to my room. Though I was unsettled, I felt mentally exhausted, and I managed to get to sleep quickly.

The next morning, I turned on all the lights in the house and grabbed a little flashlight out of the hallway closet just to be safe. I ran downstairs, snatched my phone and laptop, then ran back up. I didn't hang out in the basement so much after that.

I sat at the kitchen table waiting for my bread in the toaster. I opened my laptop. There was a new email from an employer. Before I got the chance to open it, my brother came in and sat across from me, preparing some cereal. I suddenly became curious, and asked him, "Why did you come to the basement door last night anyway?"

"Something woke me up. For a few minutes, I heard really loud stomping coming from the stairs."

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