The engine was still running. A soundless rain peppered the windscreen between wipes. This was where the road ended and where the hardest part of the journey began. The gate’s wet steel shone like polished bone in the headlights. Ben stared into the field beyond, dreading the gauntlet that lay ahead of them. Grasses rippled like dirty hair; greens and browns, with the rarest vein of red. The sombre sky had been all but squeezed dry, leaving the land sodden. He could already feel the mud squelching and hear the cool wind whistling by his ears.

The lane was pockmarked with potholes, but none too deep. Few wheels came this way to grind them down. Ben rested his chin on the steering wheel, imagining the slippery feel of the gate against his skin. A chain held it shut. Its links were scabbed with rust. The car could have broken through it if he found the speed, but how far would they get? Its wheels would sink in seconds.

‘This is the worst idea you’ve had in a long time,’ Chloe said, shrunken into her seat.

Try as she might to veil it, Ben knew she was terrified, and with good reason. A voice inside his head hadn’t quit screaming since seeing that thing outside her window. Whenever he closed his eyes, its pale face glowed in the dark of his thoughts, patrolling their perimeter; so clear that Ben could count its teeth.

Chloe had spoken only to guide the way with her GPS. She couldn’t stop shivering. Ben had turned the heater up. It didn’t help. Instead, it made the air sparse and heavy to breathe as though they were both trapped in a coffin, sharing the last of its oxygen. He recalled most of the twists and turns without need for a co-pilot but thought it best to let the journey distract her from their destination. Now that they had arrived, he felt guilty for letting her come. Still selfish, no matter how he tried.

‘You don’t have to do this, you know?’ Ben said.

She nodded, staring absently at the field ahead. ‘I want to,’ was all she whispered before her jaw tightened up like a stiff lever turning off the tears.

Ben tugged at the nub of his beard and pressed his skull into the headrest. He clicked off the wipers. Then he cut the engine. There was peace in the nothingness. He listened for a moment to the rain, to his heart, to the calm before. His gaze returned to the gate like a mountain climber standing in the shadow of Mount Everest, plagued with doubts and second thoughts.