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Ziff growled deep in his throat, "I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Ziff, calm down," his boss warned, "I'm not accusing you of anything. I'm simply telling you that I was told you have. And until this can be investigated further I'm not giving you anymore cases."

"How the hell am I supposed to calm down?" demanded Ziff.

"Just go home for the night. Take a shower, watch some TV or read. Get some sleep. And come back in the morning so we can discuss this. But only if you've managed to calm down."

"This is freaking ridiculous!"

"Ziff, please. Leave quietly or you will be lead out and not welcomed back anymore."

Ziff swore under his breath and stalked out of the office, slamming the door behind him. Ignoring stares from his coworkers he left the building and walked to his apartment which was close by. The lavish building greeted him with open arms as Ziff entered it, heading towards the elevators.

"I can't believe my life," Ziff grumbled.

As he waited for the elevator to arrive, the doors to the building opened again and a Siberian husky walked in, carrying several boxes. Ziff watched curiously as the newcomer struggled to walk towards the elevator without dropping anything. If he'd been in a better mood he would have offered a hand but was too angry to even consider it. With a ding, the elevator arrived and Ziff stepped on, the newcomer following close behind him. The two rode in silence, Ziff glancing at the husky a few times, remembering how he was often mistaken for a husky when he was really a wolf. It drove him crazy.

"Um, I'm sorry, can you hit floor sixteen for me? I should have asked sooner," the newcomer said.

"I already did. That's my floor," Ziff responded.

"Oh."

The doors opened and Ziff stepped out, heading towards his apartment. The newcomer went to the apartment next to his and pushed the door open with his hip. Ziff briefly remembered his neighbor had moved a month before and realized that the apartment had been rented once more. He hadn't paid too much attention to his neighbors before, due to work being his primary interest.

Ziff stepped into his apartment and looed around at his apartment which he knew should be cleaned but he was too lazy to get to it. In his mind, work was more important than cleaning. He flopped onto his couch and searched for the remote for the TV. Before he could find it, there was a knock on his door.

"Really?" Ziff muttered, looking up at the door as if willing whoever had knocked to leave.

There was another knock and Ziff got off the couch, opening the door. His new neighbor was in the hall.

"Um, hi..." the husky slowly.

"Hi," replied Ziff.

"I was wondering if you might be able to give me a hand... I locked myself out of my apartment..."

"Oh, no problem," Ziff said.

He stepped into the hall and approached the apartment next to his. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pocketknife, searching through the various tools till he found the screwdriver on it. He quickly set to work on the lock and soon had it open.

"Voila," he grinned.

"Thanks so much," said the husky, "Oh, I'm Colbi. Your new neighbor."

"Obviously," scoffed Ziff, "I'm Ziff."

"Do you want some cookies or something as a thank you?" asked Colbi.

"Nah. Just be more careful about not locking yourself out," Ziff said, heading back to his apartment.

Colbi nodded and went inside his apartment, grabbing his keys before heading back to the elevator to get more of his belongings. Ziff got back on his couch and looked around his apartment. He was debating moving lately because he felt a smaller place would be a better option for him since he lived alone and didn't need so much space. He stretched out on the couch and kicked off his black boots, not caring where they landed, and then proceeded to roll onto his stomach.

He thought about his day, how he was accused of letting people go if they paid him or gave him various drugs and weapons. He knew he was innocent. At least to an extent. He had been given things in the past but he never allowed them to work as a bribe. He kept them as 'presents' as he liked to call them and had the weapons which included guns, knives, a few swords, machetes, and others stored in the other bedroom in his apartment. Ziff then began to consider the other accusation he'd heard at work and fought back a snarl. When it came to that accusation, he was fully innocent, but had no proof. His eyes began to drift shut as he fought to come up with a way to prove his innocence.

There was darkness. But what was that? A small flash in the distance. Ziff looked down but couldn't see his own body. It almost seemed as if he didn't exist. But he had to, right? He felt himself moving towards where the flash had come from. It didn't appear again, however. Where did it go? What had it been? Another flash, this one to his right. Ziff headed towards it.

Nothing but a book. But a book couldn't cause a flash, right? Ziff longed to reach for it but couldn't figure out how to. He'd been able to get to it but he couldn't move his seemingly invisible arms. Did he have feet but no arms? What was going on?

"Where am I?" he asked into the dark.

"The answer is in the book..."

"Who said that?" Ziff demanded.

"The answer is in the book..."

"What the hell is going on?" Ziff snarled.

"The answer is in the book..."

"I heard you! But you didn't answer my damn questions! Tell me where I am and what's going on!"

"The answer... Is in the book..."