The moment I stepped inside, I knew I was somewhere I didn’t belong.

The hall was quiet , so quiet I could hear the soft click of my own shoes on the polished floor. The walls were high, the air cold, and in the center of the room sat a long mahogany desk, wide and heavy like it had carried the weight of years. Behind it stood tall bookshelves that reached almost to the ceiling, lined with thick books and gold-lettered spines I did not even see in my dreams.