Maya was falling.

She had no idea how long she had been falling.

Three seconds.

Ten seconds.

Possibly three years.

“WE ARE DEFINITELY GOING TO DIE!”

Eli’s voice echoed somewhere below her.

“STOP SAYING THAT!”

“WHY?”

“BECAUSE IT’S NOT HELPFUL!”

“I’M PANICKING!”

“So am I!”

Then something soft hit Maya in the face.

A pillow.

She grabbed it.

“Why is there a pillow down here?”

Biscuit landed on it.

“Emergency pillow.”

Maya stared at him.

“You brought a pillow?”

“I plan ahead.”

Eli landed beside them.

“You’re a cat!”

“Yes.”

“You shouldn’t be able to survive a fall like that!”

Biscuit dusted himself off.

“I have nine lives.”

Eli looked at Maya.

“That’s actually comforting.”

“It shouldn’t be.”

They looked around.

They were standing in a strange underground chamber.

There were no stairs.

No Archive.

No Edmund.

Only hundreds of clocks hanging from the ceiling.

Every clock showed a different time.

One showed midnight.

Another showed three in the afternoon.

Another showed yesterday.

Another showed tomorrow.

And one had no hands at all.

Rose and Julian were standing nearby.

Rose looked around.

“We’re underneath the tea shop.”

Maya frowned.

“That’s what Edmund said.”

Julian walked toward the wall.

“He told us to find the original cup.”

Maya looked at the clocks.

“Then the cup must be here.”

Biscuit sniffed the floor.

“No.”

Everyone looked at him.

“The cup isn’t here.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I can smell it.”

Eli blinked.

“You can smell tea?”

“I can smell everything.”

“What does it smell like?”

“Secrets.”

Eli nodded slowly.

“I regret asking.”

Biscuit walked toward the clock with no hands.

He sat beneath it.

“Here.”

Maya examined the clock.

There was a tiny inscription on its frame.

THE DAY THAT NEVER HAPPENED.

“What does that mean?”

Rose became pale.

“The missing Wednesday.”

Maya looked at her.

“What missing Wednesday?”

Rose hesitated.

“Seventeen years ago, there was a Wednesday that disappeared.”

Eli frowned.

“Days don’t disappear.”

“This one did.”

“How?”

Rose looked at the clocks.

“Everyone in Bellflower remembers Tuesday.”

She pointed toward another clock.

“And everyone remembers Thursday.”

“But Wednesday?”

“Nobody remembers it.”

Maya stared.

“How can an entire day disappear?”

Julian answered.

“Tomorrow Tea.”

Maya’s stomach tightened.

“The tea erased Wednesday?”

“No.”

“It moved Wednesday.”

“To where?”

Julian looked at the clock.

“Tomorrow.”

Maya finally understood.

“That’s why everyone keeps saying tomorrow.”

Rose nodded.

“Someone stole an entire day and hid it inside the future.”

Eli rubbed his forehead.

“This town is officially too weird.”

Maya walked around the chamber.

“So if we find Wednesday, we can find Rose’s missing memories.”

“And stop Eli from disappearing,” Julian added.

Eli pointed at him.

“I appreciate being remembered.”

Suddenly, a clock began ringing.

DONG.

Everyone turned.

The clock with no hands had begun glowing.

A small door appeared beneath it.

Maya opened the door.

Inside was a cup.

A simple white teacup.

No decoration.

No name.

But Maya immediately recognized it.

The same cup from her vision.

“The original cup.”

Rose whispered:

“Don’t touch it.”

Maya looked at her.

“Why?”

“Because it contains the first tomorrow.”

Maya stared.

“What does that mean?”

Before Rose could answer, footsteps echoed through the chamber.

Someone was coming.

Julian grabbed the cup.

“Run!”

They raced through a narrow passage.

The clocks began ringing behind them.

Maya looked over her shoulder.

The man in the black coat was following.

He wasn’t running.

He simply walked.

Yet he was getting closer.

“Who is he?” Maya asked.

Rose shouted:

“His name is Silas Vane!”

“Who is Silas?”

“The first person who drank Tomorrow Tea!”

Maya stumbled.

“The first?”

“Yes!”

“Then how old is he?”

Rose looked terrified.

“Older than the town.”

They reached a wooden door.

Julian pushed it open.

They rushed through.

The door slammed shut.

Silas appeared on the other side.

He didn’t open it.

He simply smiled.

“You cannot hide from tomorrow.”

Maya stared through the gap.

“What do you want?”

“You.”

“Why?”

“Because you are carrying the memory I lost.”

Maya froze.

“What memory?”

Silas smiled.

“The first Wednesday.”

The door suddenly disappeared.

Maya stepped backward.

Eli whispered:

“We’re going to need a bigger notebook.”

Biscuit sighed.

“I need a vacation.”

They continued through the passage.

Eventually, they reached a tiny room.

There was a wooden table.

Four chairs.

And a single candle.

On the wall was a calendar.

Maya stared at it.

Every date was normal.

Except one.

WEDNESDAY.

The word had been scratched out.

Maya touched it.

A memory appeared.

She was seven.

Standing in the tea shop.

Her mother was crying.

Edmund was shouting.

Rose was holding her hand.

And Silas stood near the door.

Maya heard her mother say:

“Don’t give him the cup.”

Edmund shouted:

“He’ll destroy the town!”

Silas laughed.

“Only if you stop me.”

Then young Maya stepped forward.

She was holding the original cup.

“I can fix it.”

Rose grabbed her.

“No, Maya!”

Young Maya looked at Silas.

“I’ll give you Wednesday.”

Silas smiled.

“And what will you take?”

Maya answered:

“Nothing.”

Silas laughed.

“You’ll lose something.”

“What?”

“Your memory of today.”

Young Maya nodded.

“Okay.”

The memory ended.

Maya opened her eyes.

Everyone was staring.

“You gave him Wednesday.”

Rose nodded.

“I tried to stop you.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I couldn’t.”

Maya looked at Julian.

“What happened after?”

Julian answered quietly.

“You erased the day.”

Maya shook her head.

“No.”

She looked at the original cup.

“I didn’t erase it.”

She remembered the final moment.

Young Maya had turned toward Silas.

And she had whispered something.

A secret.

Something nobody else could hear.

Maya suddenly smiled.

“I didn’t give him Wednesday.”

Rose frowned.

“Then what did you do?”

“I hid it.”

“Where?”

Maya looked at herself.

“In my own memory.”

Silence.

Eli stared.

“That is ridiculously clever.”

Maya smiled.

“I was seven.”

Biscuit nodded.

“Apparently you were a very strange seven-year-old.”

Maya took the cup.

The moment her fingers touched it, every clock in the chamber stopped.

Then the original cup cracked.

A golden light escaped.

The missing Wednesday rushed into Maya’s mind.

She remembered everything.

The truth about Silas.

The truth about the tea.

The truth about Rose.

And most importantly…

She remembered the final words she had spoken to Silas seventeen years ago.

She had looked directly at him and said:

“You can have tomorrow.”

Then she had smiled.

“But I’ll keep today.”

Maya opened her eyes.

She knew exactly how to stop him.

She looked at Rose.

“We don’t need to find tomorrow.”

Rose frowned.

“Then what?”

Maya smiled.

“We need to bring him back to today.”

Julian understood.

“The missing Wednesday.”

“Yes.”

Eli looked confused.

“How?”

Maya held up the broken cup.

“With the original tea.”

Biscuit’s eyes widened.

“You’re going to make him drink it?”

“No.”

Maya smiled.

“We’re going to make him remember it.”

Suddenly the wall behind them exploded.

Silas stepped into the room.

His eyes glowed silver.

“You remembered.”

Maya turned toward him.

“Yes.”

Silas smiled.

“Then give me the day.”

Maya shook her head.

“No.”

“You promised.”

“I was seven.”

“A promise is a promise.”

Maya held up the broken cup.

“You’re right.”

She smiled.

“So keep yours.”

Silas frowned.

“What promise?”

Maya answered:

“You promised me you would never take anything from today.”

Silas froze.

For the first time, fear appeared in his eyes.

Rose understood.

“He can’t.”

Julian smiled.

“Because the original rule binds him.”

Maya nodded.

“The tea never gave him the power to own tomorrow.”

She looked at Silas.

“It gave him the power to remember it.”

Silas stepped backward.

“No.”

Maya raised the broken cup.

“Then remember this.”

Golden light filled the room.

The missing Wednesday returned.

Every clock began spinning.

Silas screamed.

The stolen day rushed through him.

His memories returned.

His age returned.

His stolen years returned.

And in seconds, the man who had looked young for decades became an old man.

He collapsed.

The clocks stopped.

Silence filled the chamber.

Eli stared.

“Did we just solve it?”

Maya looked around.

“I think so.”

Biscuit sniffed Silas.

“He smells old.”

“Biscuit!”

“What?”

Suddenly the tea shop above them began shaking.

Rose looked upward.

“The spell is breaking.”

“What happens now?”

“The day returns to Bellflower.”

Maya smiled.

“Then let’s go home.”

They climbed the stairs.

When they reached the tea shop, sunlight poured through the windows.

For the first time in seventeen years, Wednesday had returned.

People outside suddenly stopped.

Some cried.

Some laughed.

Some remembered lost friends.

Some remembered forgotten promises.

Mrs. Clementine stood behind the counter.

Tears filled her eyes.

“My daughter.”

Maya looked at her.

“Rose?”

Mrs. Clementine smiled.

“No.”

She pointed toward the window.

A young woman stood outside.

Rose.

Beside her stood Julian.

Maya smiled.

But then she noticed something.

The grandfather clock was still ticking.

It stopped at exactly midnight.

A tiny envelope appeared beneath it.

Maya opened it.

Inside was one sentence.

THANK YOU FOR RETURNING MY DAY.

Below it was a name.

Arthur Bell.

Maya looked toward the door.

Detective Arthur Bell was standing outside.

He removed his hat.

And whispered:

“Now I remember who stole Wednesday.”

Maya’s smile disappeared.

Because Arthur was looking directly at her.

And behind him…

Someone else was standing in the street.

A woman with silver hair.

Maya recognized her.

Her mother.

But Maya’s mother had died three years ago.

The woman smiled.

Then disappeared around the corner.

Maya dropped the letter.

The mystery wasn’t over.

Not even close.