The rumbling and screeching of departing trains drifted into the distance as Ben walked up the stairs leaving the subway station. The nighttime street then welcomed him with the honking and screeching of passing taxis. This was the natural jazz of New York City.
Smelling something odd, Ben looked to the left to see a homeless person urinating on a wall. This was the natural piss of New York City...
Ben was at City Hall station, a block's walk from Annabelle's apartment in Tribeca, Manhattan. She'd invited him to, as she put it, meditate and chill...
He liked the sound of the chill part...
Soon, he arrived at her building and buzzed the apartment number.
"Hello?" Her soft, slightly monotone voice drifted from the intercom.
"It's Ben."
"...Ok. I can let you up under one condition."
"…What?"
"You must promise you are not a vampire…"
…
She elaborated. "My invitation into my home does not apply to vampires…"