Under_The_Whispering_Door_by_TJ_Klune

CHAPTER
15
Alan tried to leave.
He didn’t make it very far before his skin began to flake.
He returned, expression stormy.
“What’s happening to me?” he demanded. “What have you done?” He
clawed at his chest. “I don’t want this, whatever it is. It’s a chain. Can’t you
see it’s a chain?”
Hugo sighed. “I’ll explain as best I can.”
Wallace didn’t think it would be good enough.
Charon’s Crossing Tea and Treats opened as normal the next day, bright and
early.
The people came as they always did. They smiled and laughed and drank
their tea and ate their scones and muffins. They sat in their chairs, waking up
slowly, ready to begin another day in this town in the mountains.
They couldn’t see the angry man pacing through the tea shop, stopping to
scream at each of them. A woman wiped her mouth daintily, unaware that
Alan was shouting in her ear. A child had whipped cream on the tip of his
nose, not knowing that Alan stood behind him, face twisted in fury.
“Maybe you should close the shop,” Wallace muttered, staring out the
porthole windows.
Mei had dark circles under her eyes. She and Hugo hadn’t slept, kept
awake by Alan causing a ruckus through the night. “He can’t hurt anyone,”
she said quietly. “What would be the point?”