Maja always liked to walk home from school through Chamber Street. It was the narrowest and oldest street in their town, squeezed between a row of creeping tenements whose windows reflected in the puddles as if in a mirror. As Maja walked there with her rucksack slung over her shoulder, she felt a little like the protagonist of a novel - all around her were hiding individual leaves, forgotten posters and even the breathlessly hazy shop windows of small antique shops. In spring, the sun scattered mosaics of light on the pavement, but today, with heavy, graphite clouds hanging over the city, everything looked different. Maja passed gate number 7, where it always smelled of old wood, and suddenly felt a slight shiver on the back of her neck. Something in the air seemed different. A wind blew, knocked a flower petal off the tree in front of the antique shop and unexpectedly stopped it on her shoulder. She smiled under her breath. A mere coincidence? Without a second thought, she entered the antique shop because she loved the smell of books, dust and strange old objects. It was thundering outside the window and the shop was unusually empty, even the owner had disappeared somewhere in the back. She was strolling between the shelves when a book caught her eye - a thick, leather-bound book with a suede bookmark. It was lying on the windowsill, as if someone had left it there especially for her. Maja reached out her hand, but suddenly something moved out of the corner of her eye. In the reflection of the glass she saw a shadow - slender, too long for an ordinary passer-by. Instinctively, she turned around, but no one was there. Then a quiet murmur came from behind the bookcase, a barely audible whisper of words she didn't understand, as if someone was trying to give her a message. Suddenly, the light outside the window dimmed and something like a sign was outlined on the wall, moving slowly towards the door. She stretched out her hand to the book and felt her fingers tremble from the interception. Something in her told her that she should open it now.... At the same moment, the door leading to the back room opened with a protracted creak, and a figure appeared before May....