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"Mr Stoker, thank you, we'll be in touch." Those were the death words to your chances of getting a job. They wouldn't be in touch, he'd already been passed over for this one. It seemed everyone did that to him.

"I'll be glad to hear it." He smiled, but he was lying. He'd bet against hell itself that he wouldn't even be mentioned when they were making he decision process. As many times as that happened, you'd think he was purposefully sabotaging these things. Thing is he had no reason to do that. These were favors pulled by hiss mother, his best friend, other people who he wouldn't spit on by screwing up legitimate attempts to help him. And it seemed as though while Elijah tried to find a job that the rest of the world was going down the crapper. Or maybe that was just his world. Each interview he had been to looking for something to keep himself afloat was a failure. He had maybe 3 left and then he was out of ideas and his friends and family were out of IOUs.

The nightmares weren't any fun either. They had started after his black out in the alley. They were always of the same violent, brutal and grisly incident. He recognized the victims as the thugs from the alley and the place it happened as the alley. The news reports of a bloody mess of gore only made it worse and weirder. He couldn't have done that. Hell, he could have hardly taken one of them in a fight, let alone tear 5 of them a part. And how had he found his way home after the black out anyway? It was a question he dreaded asking out of fear for the answer was something out of a horror movie or Stephen King novel. He probably should go see a psychiatrist, someone to help him sort through all this weirdness, but he doesn't have the money for that. He had to get himself a job first. So his problems all seemed connected.

Leaving the building he loosened his collar, tore the tie from around his neck and shoved it in his pocket. What was he going to do? He didn't have any ideas. As he walked down the street, he merged in with the crowd, its New York City, the sides of every street always seem choked like an artery clogged with cholesterol. He bumped into someone who reeked of B.O. just rank with it. As he pushed past, nearly stepping on a small dog he thought to himself how there is nothing on God's Green Earth that should smell so foul. Putting distance between himself and that crowd, Elijah's head began to swim. He put his hand to his brown and tried shaking it off. What a freak sudden dizzy spell. Was his blood pressure hitting the floor?

As he stepped onto the street it began to fade, just as a car came down the way, Stoker an unseen obstacle as the driver was too busy cursing his wife out on the phone. Elijah didn't see him either through the haze, it was the makings of an accident that would be paper and prime time worthy news.
Then it all stopped.

Everything froze around them. Them, the man in the car, Elijah and someone new. He wore a fine tailored suit the color of the darkest night that you've ever seen. His face was pale and gaunt yet lively. His hand stretched out and touching the hood of the car. Inside the vehicle the driver seemed to have just noticed the person in the street, his eyes bugged out feet on the brakes and arms locked on the steering wheel. He would have been too late if not for this fantastical and mysterious stranger's intervention. Even Elijah's head had stopped spinning, like it was never there, not even a fizz.

Eli was in total shock, his heart pounded in his ears and he wanted to run but his legs just wouldn't work, not one step worth of function could be pulled from them despite all the desire that he had to get away from the stranger. He didn't seem to mind, his hand still held before the car. A bird overhead was frozen mid flap, a scattered little flock of pigeons coming off a rooftop in the distance. Not a single thing moved. The world, save for Elijah and this man in black, had been paused.

"Your brother was having a nasty go at you. You have a lunch date with your mother and her friend to attend." The way he talked to Elijah was like he had known him his whole life. Like some kind of uncle for family friend but he had never seen this man before. With a face like death he would have remembered seeing him. "I'll be seeing you later. The restaurant is that way." As he spoke he pointed a long bony finger in the direction the younger man should go.

It baffled him, he stepped backwards, he wanted to get across the street before everything unfroze. The Man In Black however decided to stay where he was, watching the only thing that moved. "Don't be late, that'd be rude." And then he vanished into thin air, seconds later, life returned to the world.