Karina stirred and woke up with an aching in her back. Blinking away sleep, she groaned while stretching and stiffled a scream when she met face to face with the wraith's expressionless stare.

Remembering the persistent wraith, Karina, driven by kindness, chose to let it stay. Despite its harmlessness, she wondered if it had silently observed her throughout the night. An impatient tug on her shirt by the wraith prompted her to ask. "What do you want?"

She was not surprised by the lack of response from the wraith. But Karina noticed a few smudges from its mouth and she took a closer look. It looks like candies and chocolate's smudges and right then that she saw few wrappers scattered around the room, mostly wrappers that are half eaten too.

"You... ate my snacks?" Karina's eyebrows raised, amused and in disbelief at the same time. The wraith didn't answer as expected but it tilted its head and grabbed her shirt again.

Karina wondered what the wraith wanted now. She pondered if it was hungry or thirsty for sweets, mostly chocolate. Checking her bag, the wraith still holding her shirt, she searched for something to give. All that remained were a few canned goods, necessities, and water bottles. Sweets were noticeably gone.

She also noticed the side of her bag was ripped, likely the result of the wraith feasting while she slept.

The wraith followed her with a hint of curiosity. Karina gave up on making it release her shirt and moved around the small room of an abandoned jewelry store, dragging herself and the wraith behind her. She decided to brush her teeth first, acknowledging the importance of maintaining her health in a chaotic world.

Karina's plan involved securing more food and water for her next journey, to find a working radio, hoping for news or rescue signals nearby. A walkie-talkie would suffice, anything for human contact. She just hoped not to attract the wrong people.

In a world where laws were abandoned, and humanity was lost, Karina had to be cautious.

A tug on her shirt made her turn around. The wraith was curiously staring at the toothbrush in her hand. Karina raised her eyebrows again, wondering if there was a chance for wraiths to regain their former selves, their humanity. She hadn't heard any news or encountered such cases.

"Do you want this?" Karina asked, waving the toothbrush in front of the wraith. As expected, it didn't answer but accepted the spare toothbrush she got from her bag. Then, with the wraith still holding her shirt and nibbling on the toothbrush, Karina headed out of the store, dragging both her body and the wraith's. She scanned the surroundings, nothing had changed, and there were no signs of people or wraiths passing by.

Reaching the convenience store again, the wraith let go of her arm, only to be found in the candy aisle, fixated on the remaining sweets, the toothbrush forgotten. Karina chuckled and decided to get the wraith its sweets first. While doing so, a thought crossed her mind.

The wraith needed a name. Karina didn't want to keep calling it "wraith." In her eyes, they were still human, lost and suffering.

She knew it was pointless to ask, but Karina did it anyway. "What's your name? I'm Karina."

The wraith tilted its head in response, eyes blank. Of course, it couldn't answer. Karina took it upon herself to find out, checking its pockets for clues. Nothing in the pants pockets, but a glint from its neck caught her eye.

A necklace.

Karina carefully pulled it out, revealing a pendant engraved with the word "Winter."

"Winter? Do you like winter, or is that your name?" She asked, inspecting the pendant. There was nothing else on it, just the word "winter."

"Winter," Karina repeated, looking at the wraith, and was surprised to see a lone tear escape from its void eyes.

Even with a blank face, the wraith was obviously crying.

Panicking