Day 1

Adelmo Madison, was busy opening a new box of inventory. Weak streams of mid-morning light filtered through the two front windows penetrating the cozy, dimly lit bookstore he owned that was located in the heart of New Orleans. Madison's Knowledge occupied the corner of a city block. His neighbors consisted of a quaint coffee shop called “The Witches Brew” that sold pastries along with a variety of coffees and a dusty antique store with the moniker of “Granny's Attic” whose proprietor was Granny.

Standing at the heavy wood counter that faced the door, Adelmo's onyx eyes were glued to the inventory list as he absently ran his hand across his perpetual beard that shadowed his jaw. Engrossed in his work, his swarthy complexion gave the impression of a rugged outdoorsman rather than someone who loved books. His assistant Lana Malu Lani, whose long dark hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, tucked stray hairs behind her ear as she stood at a side counter reconciling a second inventory list from the morning's latest delivery.

Lana was distracted briefly as she raised her hazel eyes from the inventory list and pushed her glasses back up on the bridge of her nose. In that brief moment, she noticed a sadness about Adelmo but kept her concern to herself. Adelmo was tall and self-confident, but today Lana noticed or had a feeling that something was different. Adelmo seemed more reserved than usual.

Adelmo glanced up at the clock and his eyes focused on the calendar hanging on the wall. Today is the twentieth anniversary of his parents‟ untimely death. A chill ran up his spine as his mind wandered briefly to the day the news came that he was an orphan at the age of ten. He had been trying to ignore the date to no avail. For some reason, this year's anniversary was particularly poignant. Returning his attention to the inventory list, he was drawn into the rhythm of his work.

The glass shook in the door and the bell rang hysterically as the door swung open, abruptly slamming into the wall behind it, announcing the intruder. A shout erupted, destroying the silence,

“Il caut pe lup!”

Startled, they both looked up from their work to view a strange-looking, wiry man who had barged into the shop. He was all sinew, as thin and tight as a snare drum. His clothes were clean but ragged, and as he quickly paced back and forth, his jaw moved erratically as if he was acting out the words in his mind before allowing their sound to cross his lips. He acted like a caged animal looking for an escape, terrified, unsure but unable to leave.

Finally, he stopped dead in his tracks and closed his mouth tightly, staring at Adelmo and completely ignoring the presence of his fascinated but frightened employee. Their eyes locked on one another.

In that tense moment of unknown, Adelmo gave Lana a reassuring look, which put her at ease, and started to speak when, suddenly, the still, quiet man once more reverted to a fountain of energy.

“Lupul! Lupul!”

He spun around, eyes darting, scanning the shop like a cornered animal looking for escape. Then, just as quickly as he'd turned away, he again faced his audience, both of whom were now too shocked to speak.

For a moment, everything was still once more as he stared at them, waiting for a response, as if he'd decided they understood his strange words and simply needed time to collect their thoughts.

In that frozen moment, as the three of them stood like statues in the park, Adelmo really looked at the man for the first time. His eyes were a true, rich-yellow hue, which mesmerized Adelmo as the color registered in his mind as impossible and unable to accept what he saw.

No one moved for what seemed like hours, but which was actually longer than either of them would have ever guessed.

Finally, the man jerked his head back as if to howl at the moon and released a torrent of barely understandable queries, again in that odd language, recognizable as questions only because of his inflection.

Adelmo moved around the end of the heavy wood counter, leaving its safety and reaching out to pat Lana's hand gently. He gave her a reassuring half-smile and cautiously approached the man.

He nervously raked his thick, raven-black hair and gently offered his hand in a combined handshake/peace offering toward the strange man.

Adelmo had quite a bit of experience with the homeless population of the Quarter, of which he wrongly assumed this intruder a member, and generally had a calming effect on those and others who sometimes entered his store in an agitated state. His mother had always called him her little peacemaker. Such was his ability to pacify other children. A gift he found comforting to adults as well during stressful times.

The thought of her at that moment was both comforting to Adelmo and oddly disturbing as he waited for the man to take his hand.

The man looked at him strangely, surprised at the gesture.

Adelmo started to withdraw his hand when suddenly the man grabbed his hand and bit it.

The expression on his face went from resignation to annoyance, to shock, to horror all in an instant, and he yanked his hand away at the sight of the sharp incisors now imbedded in the soft tissue between his thumb and forefinger.

At least, he tried to pull away. The strange man held fast and nearly bowled Adelmo over as he tried to retrieve his arm. The man's incisors penetrated his hand with the same zest a dog gets over a new bone, and he wasn't giving up his prize.

Lana, awakened from her stupor, grabbed the nearest thing she could find and swung hard at the man, who had released Adelmo's hand. His lips curled over gruesome teeth and blood dripped from them. With wild insanity, he was now going for something softer and deadlier.

Her swing with both hands connected the heavy book to the man's temple just before he almost certainly would have ripped out Adelmo's throat. The man tumbled away knocking Adelmo to the hard wood floor as he slid to a stop against the wood door, breathing heavily and looking up at them through slit, feral eyes.