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Part Twenty Nine

   Sam kept himself safe, traveling along the side of the walls so as not to end up stepped on by an unaware human roaming through the house.

   He didn't think twice about leaving Axel to Eli's care; it wasn't that he didn't notice Axel's fear, he just knew Elijah would be the only one to help him overcome it. Besides, Sam had gone through the same thing in the past, and Eli was the one to shake him out of it. Having an older brother figure to comfort Axel in his time of distress was the one thing Sam could do for Axel, and so he left the room with an eager mind solely focused on getting prepared to see Leo and Skip once again.

   The only problem was the fact that he had never been upstairs before.

   Eli mentioned just humans might be up there, lounging in the bonus room, but Sam had absolutely no way of getting up unless he traveled through the wires inside the walls. And with his parents still inside, Sam was at risk of being caught before him and Axel could make it back. Not that Sam had an exact plan of getting Axel away from Elijah, but he figured it was best to leave everything up to improvisation.

   So, instead of going the easy route, Sam found that he might as well travel to the carpeted staircase leading up the bonus room as best he could. He had his climbing gear and about as much determination as a little borrower could, so he figured it wouldn't be too impossible.

   He made it to the bottom of the stairs without a problem. Now the issue lay in using every ounce of his muscles to reach the very top, which was composed of exactly seventeen stairs.

   Sam threw the fish hook from his waist and attempted to catch it onto the first step, only to end up distraught when the hook wouldn't sink into the soft carpet like he thought it might. It seemed the stairs were too soft, and he would require a wooden surface to latch onto before getting a solid grip enough to climb.

   So, with enough aim and precision, Sam aimed the hook to the top of the wooden guardrails attached to the stairs, and was elated to discover that it struck gold.

   He tugged hard at the string with all his might, and when it didn't budge, Sam began to climb.

   It took longer than a usual climb might've, but Sam knew it would be worth it. Using his strong arms, he pulled himself up until he reached the wooden surface, only to leave him with one more problem at hand.

   The surface, which he didn't quite account for, was sloped. Meaning Sam couldn't exactly stand up straight, let alone run upwards toward the top of the stairs. Instead, out of ideas and exhausted from the climb, Sam gripped the fish hook with one arm and slid to a seated position to await for his humans to come rescue him.

   'Being with them is making me an idiot,' Sam thought to himself, disappointed in the facts that he didn't question any details beforehand. Suddenly, he could understand at least a portion of his father's words.

   It was while that Sam was sitting there, alone and bored out of his mind, before a slow rumble broke through the house and directed itself into Sam's very core. He recognized the thunder and didn't feel threatened enough, but if it were to get loud enough to shake the house, Sam knew it might lead to trouble. Instead of freaking out, he figured the humans would come eventually, and so he took slow, deep breaths to wait for them.

   It wasn't long before Sam's pointed ears picked up the distinct thud of human footsteps rummaging through the upstairs hall, forcing creaks to run throughout the house, staircase included. The borrower took attention to the heavy-set rhythm and could almost guarantee he knew who it belonged to, but was awaiting for further proof before jumping to conclusions. It wasn't as if he could do anything anyways, being stuck on the top of the guard rail.