Monster in My Closet Read Online Free PDF Page B

shivered.
    Something small tugged on the fabric at my hip. Tiny, dull claws gripped me for leverage, yanked twice as if gearing up for a leap, then plopped across my stomach in a heap. I peered down at my belly and two small black eyes peered back. A cat? A dog? Whatever it was, it had the most enormous ears I’d ever seen, each one the size of the animal’s head. It was a tawny gold with a fluffy, black-tipped tail, and the intensity with which it stared into my eyes was both endearing and unnerving. The head twitched in a micro-sneeze, then it buried its nose in my neck and flopped flat on my chest. Tiny wheezes tickled my neck as it dozed.
    “He doesn’t usually do that with strangers.” The shop owner carried two steaming mugs of tea over and placed them on the coffee table next to me. “I’m Andrew and I’ll be your server. Today we have a delightful blend—an intoxicating mix of homebrewed goodness guaranteed to cure what ails you. At least until we get you sorted out so the migraines stop happening.” He helped me dislodge the animal on my chest—was it a deformed Chihuahua?—nudged me upright and placed the mug in my hands.
    “Zoey.” I blew into the hot liquid to cool it off. “Thank you, Andrew. Really. Thank you.”
    The odd animal made a squeaking protest at having been moved and leaped back to my lap. He turned twice, wrapping himself in his tail, and went back to snoring.
    Andrew looked amused. “That’s Milo. Apparently, you now belong to him.”
    “I feel stupid for asking, but what…?”
    “Fennec fox. Exotic, but tame. Though not usually this tame with people he doesn’t know.”
    I ran my fingers over the stiff fur. A fox. Of course. Big ears, bushy tail. Now I really felt stupid.
    I took a sip of tea. The flavors lined up and came through in groups. It was spicy, like Christmas cookies, then flowery like perfume. A nutty flavor threaded its way through, and the whole thing ended on an aftertaste that made me think of gym socks left over the summer in a high school locker. I pinched my nostrils shut with fingers.
    “Yeah,” he said. “I can’t do anything to disguise the aftertaste. You’ll get used to it.”
    We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes while I sipped. There was no pressure to talk, and it felt right to hang out quietly. Before long, I noticed my shaking had stopped and my headache was receding. My eyebrows rose in surprise.
    “Better?”
    Years of doctors and useless prescriptions, and the answer had been tea. “What’s in this?”
    He shrugged. “Stuff. Stuff for pain, stuff for nerves, stuff for nausea. I assumed your stomach’s not doing so hot either.”
    I nodded, noticing that the tidal motions in my gut were also subsiding.
    “I have a knack for knowing what to throw in. I should really write it down in case you run out. You’re taking some with you, whether you think you need it or not.”
    While we drank, my eyes roamed the strange little shop. Bottles, jars, boxes and bins lined the walls and counters. Overstuffed bookcases stood side by side, their shelves weighted and bowed with teetering piles of books. Stacks of empty vials, containers, funnels and eyedroppers shared space with brass bowls and marble mortar and pestle sets. Unfamiliar smells mixed in a heady but not unpleasant incense that permeated everything.
    “I suppose that happens all the time to people like you,” Andrew said, motioning to the fluffball in my lap.
    “People…like me?”
    “Empaths. You know.”
    “Empaths.” Repeating what people said to me was the order of the day, apparently. I really needed to get some of my own material.
    He slouched in his chair and became still, staring at me for a few moments. He sat that way long enough for me to become self-conscious. “When you meet people, do you feel what they’re feeling? Anger, sadness, that sort of thing?”
    “Well, yeah. Doesn’t everybody?”
    Andrew threw his head back and laughed. “Oh, honey, no