Under_The_Whispering_Door_by_TJ_Klune

CHAPTER
14
Wallace paused in the doorway, frowning. The lights were on as normal, but
they seemed … dimmer, as if the bulbs had been changed. Apollo whined,
ears drooping as Nelson rubbed his head soothingly. “It’s okay,” Nelson said
quietly. “It’ll be all right.”
Hugo had set the tea on one of the high-top tables, though it wasn’t the
same one he’d used for Wallace’s arrival. Wallace went over to Nelson and
Apollo, leaving Hugo to stand next to the table, hands clasped behind him.
He was different, now, even just standing there. It was subtle, and if
Wallace hadn’t been watching Hugo since he arrived, he might not have
noticed it. But he had, and he catalogued all the little changes. It was in the
set of Hugo’s shoulders, the way his expression was carefully blank, though
not disinterested. Wallace thought back to his own arrival, wondering if this
was how Hugo had been then.
He tore his gaze away, looking around the room, trying to focus on
something, anything, that would distract him. “What’s wrong with the lights?”
he asked Nelson. He glanced at the door. “Did you turn them down?”
Nelson shook his head. “This is going to be a rough one.”
Wallace didn’t like the sound of that. “Rough?”
“Most people don’t want to be dead,” Nelson muttered, running a finger
along Apollo’s snout. “But they learn how to accept it. Sometimes it comes
with time, like you. But there are some who refuse to even consider it.
‘These violent delights have violent ends, and in their triumph die, like fire
and powder.’”
“Shakespeare,” Wallace said, glancing at Hugo, who hadn’t looked away
from the door.