As he broke off the hug and was about to lift his hands from her shoulders, this was when the car stopped without any previous warning, leading him to hold her back in panic.

The scenes outside the car window were passing by in a blur, not that either of the passengers were in a state to enjoy the passing landscape. Even if they had been, the cloak of the night was far too impenetrable to be pierced just by human eyes. There was no moonlight illuminating or skimming even the tallest tips of trees, as it was the last night of the lunar cycle; so the tall pine trees...