The alley was dark and cramped, the buildings on either side seemed to press in more tightly the deeper in one went.

While the walls seemed to be covered in built up fungus, the ground was covered in hastily strewn about trash and puddles of

fetid water dripped from above. A solitary dumpster sat by a bare door, empty except for some cardboard where a homeless

person had obviously made a nest.

Jacob stood at the entrance and took this all in. He did not know why he was there, the message left on his cellular

phone was devoid of any details, a simple 'I need you here with me' and directions. He didn't know why he had answered,

either. It was foolish, dangerous, and plain stupid, but here he was. He shivered as a cool wind blew past him, breaking the

warmth of the late summer night.

To think that he would end up here was, well, laughable. He had a job and kids he loved, an ex-wife whom he still pined

for on occasion, and a girlfriend who spent far more of his money than he could probably afford. He was an upstanding

citizen, a future pillar of the community. Yet, a simple text message 'I need you here with me', and he came running.

Anyone who knew me probably wouldn't recognize me, he thought, that much at least is a blessing... Jacob was

dressed in an old faded polo shirt with comfortable jeans, a far cry from his usual button down shirts and khakis. His short

black hair was ruffled as much as it could be, and he wore his contacts instead of his normal glasses.

'I need you here with me.'

He took a step forward, and another, and was deep into the dark alley a moment later.

----

Later, Jacob would wonder what had happened. He remembered walking into the alleyway, but everything else was

a blur. He remembered the text message, but it was gone. The next morning, he had simply woken up at home in his bed.

Everything was normal. Maybe it was just a bad dream, he thought. He shuddered.

Jacob took comfort in his routine that day, he took a five minute shower, got dressed and meticulously combed his hair

before oh so carefully shaving with a straight razor. He ate an egg, over easy, and two pieces of toast- lightly toasted and

buttered- while reading the business section of the newspaper. Finally, at 6:55 AM precisely, he left to go into the office.

There his desk awaited him, filled with routine papers needing routine signatures that he routinely gave. Sometimes

he sent a request back for greater explanation, occasionally he flat out denied it, but still it was the normal day.

Finally, noon rolled around, and finally the one break in the day hit. Lunchtime, when he'd spend an hour with a couple of his

coworkers, David and Steven.

Dave was already at a table in the cafe downstairs when Jacob got there, Steven came a couple of minutes later.

"Catch the game last night?" Dave asked as he brushed a bit of dirt off of his carefully pressed white shirt.

"I missed it," Jacob replied at the same time as Steven.

Steven sat down, slapping his tray on the table. "Can it Dave, no one cares about Hockey except for you."

David and Steven both worked in the marketing department. Dave was short and thin with patchily thinning brown hair.

Steven was almost his opposite, tall and heavy with long blonde hair that bordered on the unprofessional. Still, both of them knew

their job and got it done better than almost anyone else in the department. Their fake feuds were legendary.

"Bah, you know hockey's great," Dave replied.

"It's all right," Jacob commented.

"Not as good as football," Steven shot back.

"Oh lord, not this again," Dave sat back down and crossed his arms. "You think football's the best sport in the world."

"It is! Hockey you can get by playing as individuals. Same with soccer and basketball. Football? No way, you have to be a

team."

"That doesn't make football better."

"Yeah," Jacob piped in. "I'd rather see a game where the individual players can show off how good they are."

Steven just shook his head. "I sit with heathens, heathens I say."

The conversation continued for the rest of the lunch hour, and then they went their seperate ways for the rest of the day.

----

'I need you here with me.'

The text message was there again. It had been almost two weeks since the last one, but now it was back. Jacob still didn't

know who was sending it, but...

Now he stood outside a club. This was where the directions told him to go, but...

Why was he here? He knew he shouldn't be, that he should stay home and get a good night's sleep so he could pick up his

kids the next day. He'd been looking forward to seeing them for a month now, but...

There he was, standing outside of a club on a dim, rundown street.

It didn't make any sense, but...

'I need you here with me.'

It was so compelling, even in print form. Six simple words shouldn't be enough to stir one's soul, but every time Jacob looked

at it, he couldn't help himself. He wanted, no, needed to be there.

And so, against all logic, he went.

----

Jacob walked under the darkened neon sign and made his way into the club, paying the cover. It was packed wall to wall with

pretty people, mostly in their twenties or younger. The club's obvious popularity put the lie to the rundown facade it showed the world,

as the dancers, grinding against each other in or out of rhythm with the music, tried to put the lie to their inhibitions. Everywhere he

looked, that was all Jacob could see.

He made his way deeper in until he finally reached one of the few sad unused tables pushed off to the side, where those who

couldn't or wouldn't dance gravitated. Here sat the older people, or those more enamored with each other than the beat.

Occasionally, one of the younger ones moved out of the throng and sat, but for the most part few people were seated, and there was

only one that didn't fit the mold.

She was a young woman, perhaps 18 or 19 but certainly too young to be here. She was dressed conservatively compared

to those around her. Where most of the women in the club were baring midriffs and cleavage at the very least, she was wearing a

well cut black dress that gave tantalizing hints of her form, but not much else. The black of the dress contrasted sharply with her fine,

pale skin and blonde, nearly white hair, which was tied into a pony tail with a black bow.

She looked at Jacob.

"I need you here with me."

No one said it, but he heard it nonetheless. Or he thought he did.

"I need you here with me."

He went to her.

He looked in her eyes.

The world went black.

----

Again, he was in his bed. Again, he couldn't remember what had happened the night before. It was late, though, and he had

to rush. He couldn't even take his time to work through his various morning rituals. He had to hurry to get to his ex-wife's house and

pick up his children so he could spend as much time with them as possible.

He rushed and rushed and...

And he missed a turn.

----

Jacob woke up. The girl was standing there, all black and pale with shining eyes. The girl from the club.

"Who are you?" Jacob managed to ask.

The girl smiled.

"How long have you been waiting?" he asked.

Silently, she extended her hand to him.

He took it.

"I've been waiting here for you." She said.