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

Footprints in the snow stayed long after the owner of them left them. There was no snowstorm occurring in the current area. Rather, there only was a thick blanket of it on the ground from a prior storm. It covered trunks of pines partially, and the green needles supported blankets of snow upon them. The snow only left such green beds when the branches were pushed aside. No one but the owner of the steps noticed, and it was questionable if even he noted what his body was doing exactly.

To the left of the individual, there was a quiet small town in the mountains. Almost all of the lights, except street lamps were off. A few warm glows came from some homes: a teenager reading into the late hours of the night, a mother having a glass of wine and watching a movie after a long day of watching her two-year-old and a man, tired, but too restless to sleep. The last one was most similar to the owner of the footsteps. He hadn't received a good night's rest for about ... two months? Maybe, it was more or less. Someone could say any timeframe, and he'd probably believe them.

Right now, he had one purpose, but he kept failing on that. He couldn't locate her; he couldn't find where she had been taken. His shoulders were slumped, and exhaustion ate at him like a gluttonous leech. Was he beyond pissed off about her betraying their promise, about her planning his death with another of his kind and about that same male knocking him out only to take his pink flower?

Yes, he was, but even his body had its breaking points. Despite the rage still coursing through him at the whole situation, he couldn't express it outwardly since he just was so worn out from searching. Barely, he was able to clench his fists at the thought of the note that Callest had left behind for him on the porch of one of the homes in Flat Peak.

I have her. You know what I am; you know what I'm capable of, but I'll keep her alive until you find us. I'll give her a special treatment. It'll break her. And when you arrive, I'll perform the finishing move. Whether it kills her is up to you and how quickly you act. Until then, search for us. Find us. The longer you take, the longer she suffers, though; she does deserve what's coming to her. Or, you can forget about her and let me continue her punishment until she dies from age or wear and tear from my treatment. Probably both. She did break her promise to be your murderer; she betrayed you ... Still, reading? Ha!

In that case, here's a hint. Search where our kind usually likes to live. Lots of options and only one right one. I won't move our location unless it becomes compromised, but I'll try to choose one that won't easily will. That gives you something else to look for: abandoned and forgotten locations. Well, not truly forgotten, but you get the drift. Until we meet again.

- Your Punisher, Callest

Back then, he had screamed in a blood-curdling manner. He had tore through every home in Flat Peak and raced through all of the possible tunnel passages below. Nothing had greeted him, and he expected that, but his anger drove him to such actions. That wrath had fueled him for the first two weeks, but that was when tiredness began to kick in. Never, though, did doubt enter his mind about finding (f/n). She may have betrayed him, but she was his partner, his only partner, and they would have a nice lengthy talk once he found her. Some dessert might even be taken from her if she wasn't in too critical condition, but he had a sinking feeling that he would find her bruised and beaten horribly since too much time for his liking was passing.

When a month had gone by, he never once felt energized, but he kept searching. He couldn't give up on her even if his body was begging him too. The lack of sleep and even food, since he was forgetting to eat for a few days at a time, was wearing down on him, but he didn't care. Her safety was his top priority, but he was having no luck in finding her. It didn't help that he didn't have access to computers or phones most of the time. And when he did, he'd only have it for a short period since he either had to leave the location not to draw attention to himself or the phone would die since he had no charger for it.

As time had furthered even more, his food supply dwindled, but he never replenished it. He just ate less. All he ever did was sneak up on a human when he could in his tired state and steal their phone if it was possible. By the present time, he only had maybe two weeks of food left on him, and his next kill no doubt would be sloppy from his lack of energy. The creature appeared like a zombie trudging through the snow with the sole purpose of finding a brain, or in this case his pink flower.

Eyes blinking open and closed steadily, he stared over to the town through the trees. In the process, he tripped over the snow itself and fell to his knees. As he went to pick himself up, his body slumped against the base of one of the pines. His navy blue duffel bag slipped from his left shoulder and fell into the snow. "I ... need ... to ..." He couldn't even finish his sentence; he just was too weak. Probably, he was at his most vulnerable point in his life.

In the past, he had been separated from (f/n), but she never had been put into a position like the current one. Even when she had been with Nick, he trusted that b*st*rd to keep her safe and not harm her. Now, though, she was in danger every second, and he was even more lost on her location than he had been in the past. His left hand went to clench itself, but his nails only twitched in the process. He wanted to stab himself to wake up more, but he couldn't even do that.

Why couldn't she just appear in front of him? He really needed that at the moment; he wanted her so badly even though she had betrayed him, but he could forgive her. She would need time to heal after all since she probably was being ... tortured by Callest. Almost, he choked on his own saliva at the thought. Then again, he was the reason for everything right now; he had pushed her to that point and had expected her not to do something as crazy to trust another of his kind.

H*ll, he didn't even know that there had been any more of his kind around! Slightly, his anger revealed itself outwardly, but it lasted less than a second. It was as if a frown had up and appeared on his face only to vanish immediately. Ultimately, though, he couldn't cast blame on her even though his mind desperately wanted to. She had betrayed him, yet ... Yes, she had made the decision to trust Callest and give that a**hole the duty to kill him, but all of his past actions had driven her to that point. His effect on her mind was clear, and he doubted that rationality was her best friend. Maybe, he just should've disclosed it all to her, the truth of the matter, but he didn't ... he didn't want to lose ...

"Not right now," he muttered to himself, taking a labored breath afterwards. He went to push himself up, but he fell back down and sunk into the snow. Before he attempted to stand back up a second time, his eyes caught hold of something in the town. Directly across from him was a small shop. It had a large display window in the front and various floral bouquets could be seen inside. In one of them, he noticed multiple pink carnations. He hadn't seen one since the grocery store back in Faller's Grove.

Pressing his right hand into the trunk of the tree, he gripped the bark hard and managed to pull himself up, though barely. Once he was standing again, his legs trembled a bit before they got used to the same position from before his fall. One foot at a time, he advanced towards the store and avoided the street lamps. His sunglasses were in his bag, and he didn't have the energy to put them back on. All he wanted was the flower. It would give him some relief after the few months of searching for his actual one. If only she was nearby so that he could put it in her hair. The color really did look so lovely on her.

"(F/n)," he mumbled quietly. Part of him still hoped for the impossible, and he wanted her right in front of him. Or, perhaps, she could be in the store waiting for him. She wouldn't have been tortured, and she would be smiling that rare smile of hers. When his feet reached the door of the shop, however, none of that happened. He looked through the window in the door and saw no one inside. Only flowers and various gifts decorated the shop.

With a heavy, silent sigh, he picked the lock with his left index nail and entered the store. He closed it behind him and locked it once more. The heat wasn't on, and the whole place felt like a cooler, not that he minded. As he made his way over to the display window, he paused by a stack of boxed chocolates. Each box advertised an assortment of flavors, but he couldn't tell the difference. They'd all taste like nothing to him, but his little helper would be able to distinguish the various tastes.

He recalled how he had smelled chocolate upon her lips back in the tunnels and how he had smeared her blood over them later on. The fond memory lifted his lips up slightly before they fell back down. Shifting his attention away from the chocolates, he stepped up to the window and, delicately, lifted a pink carnation out of the one bouquet. Between his right fingers, he twirled the stem of the flower and watched the soft pink petals spin around. How beautiful. It would be like his pink flower dancing in a pink dress just for him. If only such a fantasy could become a reality.

Truly, though, he needed to find her. He lowered the flower a little bit before he placed it in an inner pocket in his duffel bag, which reeked of death, but the smell only made his stomach growl. The creature ignored the urge to eat, however, and left the shop before he became too lost in fantasy. Once outside, his eyes turned north, but his legs didn't move. If he continued to travel north and explore every abandoned location he could find online or luckily happen upon, he might never reach her. Or, he wouldn't learn her position for at least a very long time.

No, he required an extended period of time to search the internet where he wouldn't be interrupted. He also would need a new supply of food soon that wouldn't cause people to notice he was there. His mind sought something familiar too that could give its tormented state a little bit of peace to think clearly. And, there was one place that ticked all of those boxes even if he didn't want to head there.