The person continued to hold her, restrain her, with their hand over her mouth. But they weren't dragging her back any further, than into the shadows. As soon as they were out of the light, they stopped.

She watched as the one that was chasing her ran past the alley, and as soon as they did her 'captor' sighed.

"Good." they said, as they let her go.

When she turned around, she could make out the figure of a young adult male, slightly slim build, but with clear muscles where they could be seen. He looked at her, and shook his head.

"You had to steal from HIM?" he asked her, gesturing in the general direction of where the person had run.

"If he'd caught you, you'd have been beaten black and blue." he commented.

"Or something equally as brutal. He has a zero-tolerance policy for shoplifters."

"....excuse me?" the man asked.

"You're saying his days-old, borderline rotten, tasteless offerings of fruit is better than what you have for options?" he asked her further.

"Do you even HAVE any other options?" he then asked her.

She merely shrugged in response.

"Yeah, no." the man said.

"Screw that noise." he commented, taking her by the wrist.

"Come on." he told her. "You're NOT eating THAT garbage."

"You are NOT going to get by on eating HIS pathetic excuse for produce." the man said.

"I'm going to take you somewhere that you can get some REAL food. And some GOOD food, if I do say so, myself." he told her further.

With that, he continued to 'escort' her through some alleys and down some streets, until they stopped at a restaurant called 'International made Local'. She'd heard of this place, it was a place that did a wide variety of dishes from around the world, and although that was normally a recipe for disaster, as it made everything mediocre, they did it all well. It continuously got rave reviews, and it commanded a high price, as such.

The man took her past the front entrance, and then took her behind it, where they stopped at the employee's entrance. The man took a key out of his pocket, and unlocked the door.

"You can hide in the back office." he told her. "Only I ever go there anyway, as it's never used, and as head chef, I kinda get to unofficially dictate some minor things in the area." he whispered, as he opened the door.

"Why?" the man asked.

"Because being fed is number one." he told her.

"It doesn't matter whether or not you're a good person. It doesn't matter whether or not you have a place to go. Being fed comes first. Being fed is the first step to improving all other areas in your life." he said further.

"And I refuse to sit back and watch someone have to fight to even be malnourished. Not when I can actively DO something to help." he told her.

He then slipped her inside, and quietly brought her to the office in back, which she saw appeared to be used by one person, and not for administrative reasons. There were index cards strewn about with partial recipes written on them, food labels, a small desk with a laptop computer on it, and a chair as well.

"Hey Ash, that you!?" she heard a voice call out.

"Yeah, it's me!" the man called back. "Just got back from my lunch break, what's up!?" he asked.

"Can you check this butter chicken sauce?" the voice called back.

"Be right there!" Ash responded, before looking back at the girl.

"Shhhh." he said quietly. "I'll be back in a bit with something for you." he told her. "Feel free to dick around on that laptop if you want." he finished.

As she browsed the net, she could smell the myriad of aromas that were coming from the kitchen... and she had to admit that they were mouth-watering.

A few minutes later, the door opened, and Ash showed up with a plate of food. When she looked at it, she saw there were large pieces of chicken, potatoes, sauce, and some various vegetables as well.

"Here." Ash said quietly, setting the plate down on the desk, as well as some utensils. The then pulled a bottle of fruit and berry juice out from his pocket, and placed it beside the food.

"Dig in." he told her.

"Oh, and the washroom is just down the hall from here if you need to use it." he went on. "Just be careful not to be seen." he added, before disappearing from the room, leaving her with the food and drink he'd given her.

Which smelled absolutely amazing.

When she tasted it, she discovered that it tasted just good as it smelled and looked. The flavours were amazing, and the spices gave it just the right kick that woke up her taste buds.

The juice tasted really good, too. It was sweet with just the right amount of tart, and it quenched her thirst, to boot.

Before she knew it, she had devoured the entire contents of the plate, and downed the entirety of the bottle... which was when the man, Ash, returned.

"Ah, done already." he commented.

"Perfect." he said, bringing in some more things for her. This time, she could tell it was a plate of homemade donut holes, dusted with various types of sugar, and a large glass of chocolate milk.

"Here, some dessert." he told her with a smile, setting them down in front of her, and gathering her dirty dishes.

The rest of the time she was there, she dicked around on the internet, snuck to the bathroom, and did little else. She was there for a number of hours, before she heard voices on the other side of the door. They all seemed to be having conversations, before they all disappeared, and the door was opened again.

"All right, everyone's gone home for the night." Ash told her.

"You can come out and roam freely if you like." he said.

"So how was the food and drink?" he then asked. "I assume it was to your liking?"

Ash was silent as she said what she did, and then asked her question.

"Eh?" he muttered.

"I never really asked for, or expected any repayment." he told her.

"And... anyone I'd like to see again?" he then asked, before pausing and thinking. "Hm." he mumbled, as he seemed to honest prod his brain for the answer.

"Well... in reality, I can only think of one person." he told her.

"Her name was Deidra Clarimont. She was a hunter and a very close friend of mine." he said, almost absently. "Sadly, she died to a grievous wound which also injected deadly poison into her system. Died within a minute of receiving it." he lamented quietly.

"Why do you ask?" he then asked her, seeming to come back to reality.

"Woah, woah, woah." Ash muttered as he was pushed out of the room. Well, he was more ushered out of the room. The girl didn't have the strength to actually force him out, but he wasn't about to argue with her.

When the door was shut, he was silent, scratching the back of his head.

"Uhhhhh... right." he mumbled.

"Guess... I need to go and do what I need to do." he sighed.

He was the last one left in the kitchen, as the janitors came in later to do cleaning overnight. He needed to clear out the dishes and such, put sauces in containers and such, and just make sure anything that was left out was either put away, or taken away.

So he went into the kitchen to start putting away what he needed to, planning to give any and all leftovers to the girl... and then ask her about something.

Ash looked at the locket, and the strange carvings on it.

"Eh?" he muttered.

"Well... all right." he said.

"If you say so." he told her.

He then put the locket on, but something was puzzling him. Why had she made sure nobody was around. Those that would be here would be early janitors, and they wouldn't care.

He also wondered what the weird carvings were, but he had a feeling he'd find out soon enough.

And sure enough, as soon as he put on the locket, he saw a woman with blonde and red-streaked hair standing before him, which caused his jaw to gape open.

"..D.. D... D..." he stammered, unable to form words, before looking at the girl.

"Is... is what I'm seeing real?" he asked her, as the woman before him merely chuckled under her breath... though the girl still heard her.