Under_The_Whispering_Door_by_TJ_Klune

“Something you’ll have to find out for yourself. I don’t have those
answers, Alan. I wish I did, but I don’t. I wouldn’t lie to you about that, or
anything else. I promise you that, and that I’ll do whatever I can to help you.
But first, would you like a cup of tea?”
Alan looked down at the tray on the table. He reached out to touch the jar
of leaves, but his fingers twitched and he dropped his arm again. “Those
leaves. I’ve never seen tea like it before. I thought it came in bags with the
little strings. My father, he…” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Tea comes in all shapes and forms,” Hugo said. “There are many kinds,
more than you could possibly imagine.”
“And you think I’m going to drink your tea?”
“You don’t have to,” Hugo said. “It’s an offering to welcome you to my
tea shop. When people share tea, I’ve noticed it has the power to bring them
closer together.”
Alan snorted derisively. “I doubt that.” He took in a deep breath, tilting
his head from side to side. “I bled. Did you know that? I bled out in an alley.
I could hear people walking by only a few feet away. I called for them. They
ignored me.” His gaze grew unfocused. The lights flickered again. “I asked
for help. I begged for help. Have you ever been stabbed before?”
“No,” Hugo said quietly.
“I have,” Alan said. He raised his hand to his side. “Here.” He moved his
hand to his chest, fingers curling. “Here.” To the side of his throat. “Here.
I … I owed him money that I didn’t have. I tried to explain that to him, but
he … he flashed the knife, and I said I’d get it. I would. I was good for it. But
I’d told him that before, time and time again, and…” His eyes narrowed. “I
reached for my wallet to give him the few bucks I had on me. I knew it
wouldn’t be enough, but I had to try. He must have thought I was going for a
weapon because he just … stabbed me. I didn’t know what was happening. It
didn’t hurt at first. Isn’t that strange? I could see the knife going into me, but it
didn’t hurt. Even with all the blood, it wasn’t real. And then my legs gave
out, and I fell in a pile of trash. There was a fast food wrapper on my face. It
smelled awful.”
“You didn’t deserve that,” Hugo said.
“Does anyone?” Then, without waiting for an answer: “He got away with
seven dollars and a debit card he doesn’t have the PIN for. I tried crawling,