simple wire shelves covered three walls , stacked up high with books and containers of various ingredients i would use ( like the thick , sealed lead box that contained an ounce and a half of depleted uranium filings ) , and loaded down with various objects of arcane significance ( like the bleached human skull that occupied its own shelf , along with several paperback romance novels ) or professional curiosity ( like the collection of vampire fangs the wardens in the united states , me and ramirez , mostly , had gathered in the course of several skirmishes over the past year ) .