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

Racing farther from the light of flames from the destroyed truck, her light source began to vanish, and it still was quite dark outside. Thankfully, she still had her backpack on, and there was a flashlight in there. Quickly, she opened it up and pulled out the device before she zipped her backpack up again. She switched the flashlight onto the dimmest setting, which still provided her enough light to see ahead of her without drawing too much attention to herself, but she did imagine that the creature already knew her position. No doubt, he would be able to hear the snow crunching under her feet since she was running, and she didn't wish to slow down. Right now, she needed to create distance; she didn't require stealth.

Behind her, she just could hear soft whistling, and even though she comprehended that the creature was the source of it, it continued to unnerve her, especially since it was dark out. The way the sound carried through the woods made it hard to pinpoint where exactly he was behind her, and he was whistling soft enough that she couldn't tell how far behind her he was. (F/n) gripped the flashlight harder and hoped that he would stay behind her. Maybe, he would continue the game for awhile, and this was just him having fun. No, she was certain that he was enjoying himself at the present moment.

A snap to her left, though, caught her attention. She resisted the urge to shine her flashlight over there. Rather, she continued to dart forward. If she reached Flat Peak, she might find brief safety, which could give her more time to establish a more permanent solution. Her desire to remain in Faller's Grove and relax there in the peacefulness it provided suddenly seemed incredibly foolish. No doubt, she could've been on the other side of the country or in another country that permitted only a passport to stay there for a bit, yet part of her didn't regret her decision to stay.

She had gotten to spend some time with Nick and catch up with him; she had created a lasting friendship, and she had to protect him. If she had left, the creature would've reached Faller's Grove and probably would've torn it apart, hoping to find some answers to her location. Nick and his team would've been tortured and killed, and the creature still would be at square one.

What she was doing now and what she had done in the past prevented that to a degree. Her actions bought them much needed time, and for once, her actions in the game hadn't killed anyone. That was an improvement from the beginning of it. Up her spine, a shiver traveled at the thought of the diner, and she wished never to view that place again.

Focusing her attention back to what was in front of her, she dodged another tree and continued to head in the direction of the town. Maybe, she'd get lucky and find a taxi service of some sort. She doubted it, but someone might be willing to drive her farther away from the creature. If she took that route, though, she hoped that the driver wouldn't get killed in the process, or she'd start on that awful count again.

Another snap to her left, though, struck slight panic in her veins. Was that him, or was it something else? She didn't know which was worse since she didn't know how long the creature would keep the game going. The dreadful reality was that she only was in the game still because the creature wished that to be the case. Once he wanted it to end, it would be over, so she had to take advantage of the current situation. Whatever else was in the woods, though, wasn't part of their game, and if it wished to kill her, it wouldn't hold back, so she ended up wishing that it was the creature.

(F/n) did notice, however, that the whistling had stopped with the second snap, which pointed to the likely possibility that the creature and that noise were separate. A pit in her stomach formed. If the creature was going on alert, that didn't bode well for her at all. She couldn't resist a gulp, but she kept the flashlight's beam on low. Right now, she especially didn't desire to draw any more attention to herself.

When the third snap sounded, it was nearby. In fact, it seemed like it was only a few feet from her. Scared, she spun to her left and shone the light on the area. The beam only caught trees in its field of sight, and the area was silent around her. Was something else following her? Nervous, she took a step back, and she went to remove the knife from her backpack, but she never received the chance.

Once more, the noise of a snap resonated in the space. She stood alert, and her flashlight darted to her right. Soon enough, she heard quiet crunching in the snow, but it wasn't from behind her; it was in front of her. (F/n) lowered the flashlight as she just was able to make out a form coming towards her. It wasn't the creature since the clothes were different unless he had changed since she had seen him at the grocery store.

Whoever it was, the person was tall and had a bright red flannel shirt on. From what she could make out, the individual probably had blue denim jeans on too and snow boots. The sleeves, though, on the shirt were too long for the person, and she couldn't see the individual's hands, which made her all the more nervous. As the person got closer, she noted that the individual was a man, but his face remained in the shadows, and she didn't wish to shine her flashlight on his face and possibly be noticed if she wasn't already.

Part of her was tempted to ask if he knew the way to Flat Peak, or rather how much farther it was until she reached it, but the way he was walking didn't feel right to her. His steps were sloppy, and he kept walking on fallen tree branches in the snow, hence the snapping. It seemed almost like he was drunk and in a stupor. If he was drunk, he probably wandered out of the town accidentally, which meant that it was close; however, she knew that it wasn't right just to leave him in the middle of the woods, but she had the creature after her.

If she went too near to him, the creature might act before he thought. He might just kill the man and lose his temper again since he might assume that she was trying to escape with the human male. There was the other chance that the creature might run into the male regardless and kill him anyway as food or because he thought that the man was hiding her. Whatever the case, the male shouldn't have come into the woods.

Since he also was a stranger, she didn't want to call out to him. She had no idea what the male was capable of, and she didn't wish to find out. So, (f/n) backed multiple steps away from him. The best solution to her was to leave him alone. As she went to turn and run off, however, she didn't sight that the ground slanted down to a degree. Her foot missed the ground, and her balance was compromised in the process. Before she could regain it, her back hit the snow, and she couldn't stop the momentum from her fall causing her to roll down the hill.

No scream left her since she had no time even to catch her breath. She tried to stop herself from rolling even more, but she just kept going, and she only was tumbling faster the longer she traveled down the hill. Somehow, she managed to miss any trees so far, but she couldn't really distinguish her surroundings either. It didn't help that she had lost her grip on her flashlight, and she hoped that her knife didn't break through the fabric of her bag and stab her.

Right arm hitting the side of a tree, though, a harsh grunt of pain parted from her as she felt the fabric of her jacket and shirt rip as well as her skin before warm liquid poured out over her skin and clothes. Nothing felt broken yet, but all of her was completely sore, and she could only imagine the bruising that she would receive when she managed to stop if she wasn't dead by then. Due to her arm hitting the tree, however, she did slow down some, and her direction changed slightly, but not for the better.

Tumbling more, she rolled towards the bottom of the hill as well as the stream that was there too. Her back before it reached the water, however, slammed into the trunk of a tree. She moaned from the pain, and she rolled onto her stomach. The coldness of the snow numbed some of the bruising since it touched her skin in various places due to her clothes being ripped in more places than just her right arm.

Catching onto the sound of the stream, she directed her attention that way, but she didn't have the energy even to go near it to clean her arm. Her foggy mind, though, remembered the medical supplies in her backpack, and she forced herself to slip it off of her, but pained, quiet groans left her the entire time. Once it was, she undid the zipper and grabbed some bandages. She didn't know how much time of consciousness she had left, but she felt herself slipping already, so she ignored the small bottle of rubbing alcohol, which luckily hadn't broken during the fall.

Bruised fingers gripped the bandages and unwound them before she tore off part of her jacket and shirt to get to the injury. Once off, she wrapped the wound and tied it off, but she never placed the remaining bandages back in her pack. Instead, her head dropped forward, and her eyes began to close. She only could hope that she would wake up later on, and that it wouldn't snow during her sleep. (F/n) managed to rest her more exposed arm over the other one, and her (h/c) locks, which thankfully had dried, fanned around her head.

Slipping into unconsciousness, she thought that she heard rushing footsteps coming down the hill, but she couldn't be sure; she couldn't reopen her eyes. They felt far too heavy, and the bed of snow felt far too nice despite its coldness. "(F/n)! (F/n)!" Was her name being called by the creature? Had he seen her fall? He sure sounded worried. A small smirk touched her lips. Serves him right for what he did earlier. It was as though her mind didn't even comprehend what condition she was in when she thought that. Hands rested on her shoulders, and they began to lift her up, but she still felt the snow against her. Maybe, she just lost, but she was sleepy. Perhaps, he was giving her a timeout right now. That thought relieved her, and she fully slipped into the realm of sleep.