She took a deep breath and tried to calm the buzzing nerves she felt pulling beneath her skin.  Mr. Johnson had been right, the man driving her seemed like a good person.  Someone who actually cared about keeping her safe, rather than the paycheck she could provide.  It was enough to cause some of her sudden fears to fall away.  The safe houses sounded rather...lonely.  She looked over at him,  her eyes focusing on the strange mask he wore.  He could have worn it for anonymity, she imagined in his line of work it would come in handy, but the mask itself was so distinctive,  it had to have garnered a reputation at this point among the world he ran in.<br/><br/>"I think...I would prefer to stay with you, if you're willing to let me.  Mr. Johnson spoke very highly of you and he assured me you would keep me safe.  A safe house just sounds...Like I ran from one cage straight into another."  That was what it would be.  A safe cage where her mother probably could not get to her.  Still, Mr. Johnson had warned her that any time money changed hands, it could create a path by which she could be tracked and therefore a way for her mother to find her.  If she spent a large chunk of the money she had managed to take out of her trust, it could set off alarms when her mother realized she was missing.<br/><br/>"You must think I'm spoiled brat, but this isn't some silly rebellion.  Today is the first time I've ever left the grounds of my mother's company."  She looked out the window as they [bcolor=rgba(246, 213, 217, 0.635)]drove [/bcolor]through the city streets.  She saw enough in the tabloids to know how people like her were seen in the outside world.  Rich, powerful, to be admired and envied, but also to be hated.  Scorned.  Mocked.  There was reason the children of the corporations were referred to as "new royalty."  The princes and princesses of industry, who would inherit their parents' realms and one day become kings and queens in their own right.<br/><br/>"She was hiding things from me.  She took away anyone I ever got close to...I had to get out.  I couldn't stay there."  She explained to this veritable stranger.  Kore was not sure why, but she did not want this man to see her that way.  He had already offered her a strange bit of kindness that she really did not deserve.  Maybe that was why.  On the campus of her mother's corporation, she could never be sure if people were truly her friends or just trying to use her as a rung to climb up to her mother.  There had been a few who had acted as true friends, but several more had wanted to be close to her in hopes of becoming close with her mother, Anora Demeter.  This stranger had no motives for that.  He could have thrown her out of his car the moment they arrived at the address.  Kore felt indebted to him.