Lena had always thought that their house on Meadow Street was the dullest place in the world. Ever since she was fifteen, every wall seemed all too familiar to her, every corner predictable. Even the creaky staircase leading to the cellar no longer aroused curiosity, because how many times can you find jam jars? But on that rainy afternoon, something had changed. Lena descended the stairs, dragging her wet rucksack behind her and being careful not to step on Zircon's cat, which was always lurking on the steps. At least that's what she thought until, instead of the familiar meow, she heard... rustling? Unsure, she wiped her shoes on the doormat and looked around the semi-dark basement. Instead of a musty smell, the smell of... jasmine and old paper reached her nose. That's when she noticed a previously unfamiliar door handle sticking out from behind a pile of cardboard boxes from last year. She would have sworn there was no door here until yesterday. Lena moved the boxes, barely containing her curiosity. Her hand trembled on the handle, but at the same moment something grabbed her ankle. Her heart sped up. She looked down, expecting Zircon, but there was only a thin shadow on the floor. She swallowed her saliva and pressed the door handle harder. The door opened with a rasp, revealing a staircase descending at a completely different angle to the usual cellar steps. A golden light seeped from inside, and somewhere deep inside she could hear quiet laughter and the rustling of pages. Lena couldn't help herself. She moved cautiously downwards, and when she set foot on the last step, she saw a huge hall in front of her. Tall shelves full of bizarre objects, lamps floating from the ceiling and a huge table where people were leaning - or maybe not just people? One of the figures, who suddenly raised his gaze, had silvery eyes and smiled at Lena as if he had been waiting for her for a long time. Before Lena had time to say anything, a door slammed right behind her. The hall flared up even stronger, and the air was filled with swirling pages of mysterious words....