Ashley is not a frequent patron of Mario's or any other restaurants. She prefer making her own food and leaving the leftovers at the fridge for her to eat later. It was how she and mom managed their money back in the day and she wanted to continue that life. There are exceptions to this preference though like when was too tired to cook (which never happened) and holidays (which is the current situation).

It hasn't been the same though, eating food alone felt like tasting ash in her mouth and as much as she tries admit it she is only doing it out of habit. She could try inviting Emily or accepting Professor Rudolph's offer to join him in the Christmas. Right she should've done the latter but she doesn't really want to impose herself on him. 

She felt like an idiot.

Ashley closed her eyes, the diner wasn't that filled there is nothing to steal on her so maybe she could just take a small nap...

[hr]

Ashley opened her eyes sitting on a stool, that was weird because she remembered taking the seat. Her eyes darted around her where finds Emily, a crow and a man who won't be out of place in music videos. The man appears to have a beef with the crow and the crow seems to be capable of speaking

What is happening? Is she on a high?

Fortunately it is enough to distract her from the shock of waking up dead.

"So what is this place? I'm pretty sure this is not anyone's idea of heaven?" she asked touching the card between her fingers.