Under_The_Whispering_Door_by_TJ_Klune

His bottom lip stuck out farther. “Oh, Wallace. There’s nothing for you to
fear. I’ve told you that. You will find—”
“Yeah, see, I don’t think you know,” Wallace said. He leaned forward as
Mei sucked in a breath, as Nelson tapped his cane on the floor. “I think you
want to. You try to emulate us. You try to make us think you understand, but
how could you? You don’t have our humanity. You don’t know what it’s like
to have a beating heart, to feel it crack. You don’t know what it means to be
happy, what it means to grieve. Maybe some part of you is jealous of all the
things we are that you can never be, and though you may not believe me, I
wish that for you more than you know. Because I know there’s something on
the other side of that door. I’ve felt it. I’ve heard the whispers. I’ve heard the
songs it sings. I’ve seen the light that spills from it. Can you even begin to
imagine what that’s like?”
“Careful, Wallace,” the Manager said, pout melting away into steel.
“Remember who you’re talking to.”
“He knows,” Hugo said quietly. “We all do.”
The Manager frowned as he glanced at Hugo. “Do you? I should hope so.”
“What are the Husks?” Wallace paused, thinking as hard as he ever had.
“A manifestation of a fear-based life?” That seemed like the right direction,
but he couldn’t quite get the picture to come into focus. “They … what? Are
more susceptible to…”
“Fear-based life,” the Manager repeated slowly. “That’s … huh.” He
squinted at Wallace. “Figured that out on your own, did you? Good for you.
Yes, Wallace. Those who lived in fear and despair are more … how did you
put it? Susceptible. All they know is dread, and it follows them across.
Though it doesn’t affect them all the same way, people like Cameron
sometimes can’t accept their new reality. They run from it and … well. You
know what happens next.”
“How many of them are there?” Hugo asked.
The Manager reared back. “What?”
Hugo stared at the Manager, barely blinking. “People like Cameron.
People who’ve been brought to the ferrypeople all over the world and lost
their way. How many of them are there?”
“I don’t see what that has to do with—”
“It’s the entire point!” Wallace exclaimed. “It’s not about any one person.
It’s about all of us, and what we do for one another. The door doesn’t