The road took a twist, winding round a bend before stretching out as far as the eye could see among the towering pines like a river through a valley. Above the frosted spires, a full moon hung low inside a black sky, making the icy road gleam. But the footprints didn’t follow it any further. Movement in among the trees pulled Peter’s attention back towards the woods. Cooper appeared. Or at least, Peter thought it was Cooper. He didn’t have time to take in the full form, just a dash, a smudge, passing among the trees. Emerging from behind one, disappearing behind another.

Peter’s heartbeat quickened. He left the road, staggering down the bank, clutching at tufts of frozen grass to steady himself. He lost his footing and grabbed hold of a branch. But his hand slipped, skinning the snow from the bough. Sharp pine needles sprang up, pricking the palm of his hand. He let go and tumbled into the woods, carried forward by his own momentum, and before he knew it, the road disappeared behind him and the woods rushed in and he was running. And he ran. He ran, stumbling over bumps and hollows buried by snow. And he thought he saw Cooper or a dash of Cooper weaving in and out of the trees. And the forest got darker and the trees grew tighter until the canopy closed over, blocking all starlight out, when his foot snagged across a root and he fell.

Peter lay there for a moment, cheek to the ground, watching blood trickle from his palm. It pooled like liquid night across the snow. He blinked to dislodge snowflakes that had started to bank across his eyelashes and became aware of a dull throb across both shins where bone had bashed root on his way down. But he was somehow untroubled by all this. There was a stronger sensation.

The night was dark, but snow-glow lit the forest from within, transforming the night into day. Peter pushed back on to his knees, watching the bluish snow falling gently across the drooping pines, and a pair of eyes turned towards him. A bobcat looked down from its perch in the snowy boughs. The black tips of its ears were alert to Peter being there. Its yellow eyes were wide. But it wasn’t alarmed to find a stranger sharing its midnight world. It acknowledged his presence, then looked off deeper into the woods to the night and the things that stirred there. Peter pulled a pine needle from the heel of his hand and followed the bobcat’s gaze, seeing its world now the snow had lent him night vision to do so. But neither of them were the strongest presence here.