A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.

Since their game still was on, she panicked as he raced towards her. He was less than seconds away from her, and the game could end within that time frame. She didn't have too much time to react, so she forced herself to lose her balance and fall to the ground. Just barely his right hand missed her, and he ran past her overhead. (F/n) didn't relax, however. Rather, she crawled back as best as she could, though; her right arm protested against the action, but she didn't have time to focus on its demands.

The creature halted his pace and spun around to face her. She looked up to him and felt her heartbeat pick up. His grin from before vanished, and a frown coated his lips. He held out his right hand to her, and she stared up to him like he was crazy. "I'm not grabbing your hand if that's what you want." (F/n) backed up a little bit more before she reached for the fence and used it to help pull her up. His optics followed her every move.

Once she was on her feet, she created more distance between the two of them. Her right hand supported some of her weight on the fence, and she ignored the pain in her arm. The creature drew his arm back to himself and sighed before she noticed that worry crossed his gaze. "I'll allow another timeout." She gave him a skeptical glance. "I've always meant it in the past, and this time is especially serious, my partner."

"I'm not ..."

"I don't care," he responded hurriedly, frustration now entering his voice, and she took a step back. He combed his left nails through his hair and scraped his skin again, but he didn't wince at all even though she saw some blood drawn. She noticed also that his nails already were painted crimson. Was that from the same action made earlier, or had he killed someone? "Right now, we need to get out of here."

"Why?" she asked, though; she already suspected his reason. Callest was right; he was incredibly worried for her. The creature broke his gaze with her and appeared troubled.

"I'm not sure myself, but there's someone else around here." He frowned heavily, and his high-pitched tone dropped to a lower one. "And, they've somehow been able to evade me so far." His eyes locked back onto hers, and she resisted the urge to grip the fence harder. "They were the one who tended to your injuries." The creature's left index nail pointed to her. "I smelled and saw your blood back in the woods. It had been fresh too."

Dropping his hand back to his side, his stern expression didn't let up. "Someone also had been in Flat Peak when I had gone looking for you, but I never could capture them. They had set those maps out also; I'm sure of it." He placed both of his hands in pockets. "Short story, (f/n), there's someone here who might be as capable as me, and they might be after both of us." She didn't say a word, but she forced herself to appear incredibly concerned.

"So, you need to come with me. I'll take you out of here. We can continue the game somewhere else." She stepped back again, and she wondered when Callest would show up. (F/n) resisted the urge to glance around the surrounding buildings and search for him. Right now, though, he might be observing simply for his own amusement. He had stated that he hated her, and that had been his reason for terrifying her in the tunnels, so he might be doing something similar now; he was enjoying the scene before him.

"Someone as capable as you?" she asked, her tone filled with doubt. "How could that be? Both of us know that no human could face you head on." The snow crunched as she stepped further away from him. "I'm only alive because of luck, help and ... you."

Slightly, a smirk graced his lips before they fell back into a frown. "True, but it would seem that there is someone. Otherwise, they'd be in my clutches right now and more than likely dead." She figured that he was debating on whether torturing Callest or not, though; she hoped that he never would get that chance. Callest needed to succeed, or she didn't want to imagine what would happen afterwards.

"But right now, your safety is more important. I've had this awful feeling in my gut ever since I saw that dead man in the woods." Dead man? She only had seen the one man in the red flannel. Had Callest killed him? It made sense since he needed to eat humans too, and he might've found her in the middle of his kill. For the moment, she pushed that aside. That didn't matter; she wouldn't reveal anything to the creature in front of her.

"Well, you now know the feeling," she retorted back. Before he could respond, she continued, "I feel that quite a bit when I'm around you. My stomach turns at your wants and needs." His expression became annoyed, and he took a step towards her. "So, enjoy it because I'm not going anywhere with you. I still have a chance."

"Sure, you want revenge? You want to make me feel bad?" he asked, an irritated giggle parting from his lips. "Fine. I don't give a sh*t right now." His tone was harsh and felt like it could cut through metal. She winced at it and walked back farther. "Like I said, I just want you safe. And, I'm calling a timeout. So, you either come over here and make this easy, or I'll knock you out and take you."

Seeing no sign of Callest yet, she was beginning to panic. The creature only was getting more anxious and angered, but Callest still wasn't attacking. She didn't know how much longer she would last outside with ... Ether, not that she could call him that now or he'd grow suspicious. Her mind searched for some way to stall, and she found her left hand traveling back to her bag where her knife was.

"Are you planning on attacking me?" he questioned, remaining in his spot. "Am I really not convincing you that you're in danger right now?"

She couldn't help but laugh bitterly. "I've always been in danger since I met you." Her eyes narrowed. "You may not want to kill me. You may say that you love me, but you've been torturing me for your own selfish wants." The creature clenched his hands before he broke his eye contact with her. (F/n) could tell that he was holding himself back, but it only proved her point that he couldn't fight back against her words; they were true.

"Maybe, but this time it's different." His eyes continued to stare off to his right.

"Why? Because you can't control the situation?" she argued back, rolling her eyes.

A scowl grew on his lips, and he sharply returned his gaze to her. She took a step back at how quickly his head snapped back in her direction. "Perhaps, that's part of it, but it's also because I'm concerned." His tone still didn't gain back its high-pitched quality. It almost sounded ... normal if she could use that word, whatever it meant in the current situation. (F/n) just couldn't pinpoint it, but it was like she was hearing his true voice for once.

"Whoever this person is ... They could take you from me." She was about to say something, but he cut her off. "And, it's not like Nick." His tone dropped a pitch lower. "Even though that whole thing still pissed me off." He raked his left nails through his hair again and painted the nearly white locks red to a degree. The sight caused her stomach to flip in a less than desirable manner. "But, this," he glanced around them before he focused back on her, "is different." The creature's tone returned to that ... normal sounding one.

"They could take you from me and not take care of you." Again, he broke his eye contact with her. His frown lessened, and he looked like he didn't want to say anymore, but his lips parted. "With Nick ... I ... don't want to admit it, but ..." A heavy sigh fell from him. "He kept you safe. He gave you a home: a place to be safe. Now, this individual ... I ..." He trailed off and faced away from her. Slowly, her hand lowered from her bag, but she maintained her distance from him.

Both of his hands gripped the fence. "I don't know what they'll do if they get you. Even if they haven't harmed you yet, they could, and I might not be able to stop them." The wood began to snap under his hold. "Already, they saved you in the woods, led you into the tunnels and presumably took you out of them without my noticing."

"What ..."

"I had been observing this whole town from the trees. I knew you went into the tunnels, but I never saw you leave them. I entered them and came out here to find you, but, maybe, there had been a secret entrance or something." His optics looked to hers, but she didn't say anything since she knew how she had gotten out of the tunnels. It was Callest's doing. The creature stared back to the snow. "But, the point is that I could lose you permanently, and I ... I ..." He couldn't finish, and he met her eyes once more.

Momentarily, she was taken aback. She swore that she could see a small trace of tears forming. Was it an act? His ... peculiar voice ... His words ... All of it? Her mind traveled back to his mother's letter. Too late. Before she could even question the voice in her head, she saw a swift movement. The creature went to move his head, but the metal impacted first. It rang against hitting the creature's skull as he fell to the snow, and a cracking sound hit the air. Her eyes locked with Callest's before she stared back to ...Ether, who didn't look behind him. Rather, his very pale blue optics focused on her as he lied on the ground on his right side. "You ..." His breath was labored from the blow. "... My l-l-love ... you're my m-mur-murderer ... We a-ag-agreed ..." (F/n) felt her heart tightened, and she heard laughter all around her, but neither creature was laughing. And, she couldn't break her gaze from his.