Life in that small town was as calm has it had promised. Will settled himself in the school easily, after all he was used to teach. Didn't really made connections with anyone in particular but that was a trade of his personality. In his spare time he bought books and items to decorate his new house, hoping to create a comfortable home to live in.
However the nighttime was the hardest for him. Sleeping had always been a torment but lately it had became impossible to fall asleep, he was invaded by fear and anxiety when the sun lay under the horizon and as hard as he tried he couldn't fall asleep. His nights were filled with insomnias that turned into ghostly days in which his conscious didn't get caught in anything in particular, roaming between reality and dream. The dark circles beneath his eyes were darker again and he was paler than ever even though the sun was out every day in that part of the country. Will feared the sleep deprivation would make it hard to distinguish reality from fantasy once again, and that though hunted his days reminding him of the time his mind separated from his body.
On a Saturday's sunny afternoon Will walked the streets looking for a new bookstore where he could find story books since he was tired of reading the old technical books of psychology and needed to fill his head with other thoughts. Without noticing he made a turn to a street he didn't know and arrived to a small alley. Down the street there was a small shop with flower beds under the windows, and a set of tables and chairs near the open door. He approached out of curiosity, it was a pretty place, and he wanted to start appreciating the beautiful things again. He placed himself at the door trying to understand what kind of store it was and for his amazement he saw big shelves on the inside filled with books, and caught the scent of freshly baked cookies in the air. He felt a wave of nostalgia pass through his body, even from the door he could feel comfort coming from that place. Will remained at the entrance enjoying that strange feeling of comfort when he heard a voice coming from inside:
"You can come inside, there's no need to stay at the door." Will searched for the voice and found, behind the mahogany counter, a small lady of advanced age. She seemed like a vision, for moments he questioned if it all was real or if his mind was playing tricks on him again. He felt like the little red hen coming in grandma's home after the wolf had been caught. What a magical place.
He smiled at the lady and went inside looking around. The shelves went from floor to ceiling and occupied all the four walls of the shop, the light was dim and yellow entering from the windows creating a mysterious atmosphere.
"Are you looking for something in particular? Or would you like a glass of milk and some cookies, just took them out of the oven!" The lady continued talking in a sweet and soft voice.
"Actually I came looking for storybooks or tales…" he said, suddenly interested in the cookies and milk.
"Oh but you came to the right place, we're all about storybooks, if you allow the suggestion look in that shelf, you might find something of interest." She said smiling as if she could see through him.
Will headed for the shelf and looked at the books, they all had stiff colorful covers with golden lettering announcing fantastic stories from distant lands on some writer's imagination. He couldn't explain why he felt so compelled to those books, he never liked fantasy. His world was filled with theories and realities not with fantasy and imagination. He suddenly thought about leaving without buying anything but the lady was still looking at him with a smile on her lips. He then decided to take the first book he reached and went to the counter to pay for it.
"I can't let you go without taking some cookies, take a glass of milk with them before bed, you'll sleep better, you'll see." She said looking strangely normal for someone who had just read his thoughts. Will didn't know how to react and thought that maybe it was all just dream where she was his conscious in a seer's body.
"Thank you." He replied hurrying to leave that strange place.
That night Will sat on his couch with his new book, a glass of milk and some cookies he brought from a dream. He opened the book and started reading. It told the story of a knight who lived in a distant land a long time ago. It was about dragons, princesses, evil kings and dreadful battles. Maybe because of the story, or the milk and cookies or perhaps just because of the tiredness, Will fell asleep.
It was a turbulent night. He had a dream he was on a distant land and was preparing to fight a terrible dragon but only with a book and a box of cookies on his hands. Suddenly the dragon disappears and he was back on the FBI morgue. Slowly one of the drawers starts opening and Will could see Hannibal Lecter's lifeless body lying on the cold iron bed. Will tries to run but all the doors are locked and when he looks back Hannibal is standing next to him, he paralyses with fear and in that moment hears the doctor say: "Will, it's not over yet."
The young man wakes up rising violently from the sofa, his clothes drenched by his own sweat and his muscles sore from all the tension. He stood up stumbling and looked for the window to catch some air. Outside the street was deserted, in the distance a dog howled at the moon.