The forest sped by in a blur as Travis flew down the road. Moonlight leaked through the tree canopy, creating a mottled view of the asphalt. He had the route memorized and could make it home in under twenty minutes, as long as the deer stuck to the forest and no trees--the motorcycle struck hard. The forest spun. The sky flipped beneath him as Travis became weightless.

He crowed a triumphant whoop before skidding across asphalt. Pain erupted in his shoulder and ricocheted along his spine. Travis pushed himself up on shaky hands and knees, dragged in a breath, and a laugh rumbled from his fractured chest. Another death dodged.

The shadows rippled under the trees, and a dark figure emerged.

Travis waved them off. “It’s happened before. It’ll happen again.”

The figure stood in the line between the tree shadows and a pool of moonlight, lit by one and tethered to the other.

Travis climbed to his feet. “No worries. I have never died even once. Five deer and two trees, can’t see them in the dark. I know, ‘turn on your headlights, stupid,’ but then the police’ll spot me for sure. I drive too fast for the lights to make a difference anyway.”

The figure didn’t respond.

“You want something?” Travis asked with a nervous chuckle, and his pain receded.

The figure held out a bony hand to him.

“First time for everything, eh?” Travis shook his head and followed the hooded figure into to the shadows.

Photo by Prateek Katyal