"Look, I need your help."

The stranger sitting across the table from Shannon said abruptly, leaning in with a serious look on his face.

It had been a stressful day, so she'd decided to go to her favorite little diner and treat herself. For some reason, the quiet chatter and light-hearted music always cheered her up. She'd ordered one of her favorite meals, and started devouring it the minute it came.
Halfway through her meal, though, this man came in and sat across from her at her table. A complete stranger. Which admittedly isn't too rare in this town, especially not in this diner. There were always people coming and going, the town was where truckers would stop for the night. So Shannon had grown used to seeing a strange new face in the quiet little town, but never have any of those faces been so... upfront?

Shannon's first mistake was to even acknowledge his presence. She was sizing him up, judging if he might be threatening or not, but somehow it came across the wrong way. He wore beaten up jeans and a black t-shirt, but neither pieces looked natural on him, almost like just the fabric made him queasy. He had a bit of a 5 o'clock shadow thing going, and his hair was disheveled and greasy. He didn't seem threatening, but boy did he seem like a pain in the ass.

"Like what you see, do you?" He smirked, sitting back.

Her second mistake was engaging in conversation with this stranger.

"Not exactly. Can I ask what I did to make you think it's okay to sit at my table, stranger?" She asked, making sure to not look as annoyed as she truly was deep down.

He looked insulted for a moment, but quickly composed himself before saying, "My name's William, we aren't strangers."

"Knowing your name doesn't change the fact that you're a stranger. And are you going to ignore my question?"

"No, we know each other, Shannon. Don't you remember?" He asked, his voice rising in slight frustration.

"How do you know my name?" She asked with a twinge of fear in her voice. She'd never seen this man before, how could he know her name?

"Forget that. Look, I need your help." He said abruptly, leaning in with a serious look on his face.

"With what?" She asked cautiously, looking around the diner for an escape route.

Making a scene was easy, she could scream and get other people's attention, and if everyone was aware of her presence, they could protect her. But Shannon didn't know if this William guy had buddies around the restaurant ready to jump in to defend him. She didn't know what kind of danger she might put herself in if she acted out. She wasn't even entirely sure she was in danger yet, but everything about this guy screamed 'danger', and she'd rather go with her gut and be safe than sorry.

If she could manage to get the attention of her waitress and call her over, she might be able to get William distracted for long enough to make a run for it. She was sure Kayla, the restaurant owner, wouldn't mind if she came back later to pay for her meal.

If only her waitress would look in their direction.

"I'm stranded here," He said gesturing around the diner angrily, "And I think you're the only one who can help me."

"Listen, William, I don't think I'm going to be of much help. I don't even know you, much less where you live to get you home."

"I'm in the wrong world. Not the wrong city."