Game

Chapter Eight

The night seemed to have crawled up over the cottage. Though it was early evening it felt different in some way. Maybe it was because he had been busy and up at some unearthly hour. Levi wasn't used to very early mornings, not as early as most anyway. He shivered as he sat by the fire. In front of  him the monitor rested in the table with the xbox. Controller in hand, he cycled through a list if games. He was looking for something less noisy to play. Ice wind whipped round the cottage. The chimney whistled a hollow sound but it wasn't any of this which  gave him cause to shiver. The cottage was warm, his stomach was full, and he was comfortable. Still, he felt ill at ease.  He wasn't used to the countryside at all.  It wasn't like London. At least there  the sound of passing traffic and noise from the pub  where he lived added some sort of....what? Comfort? No...atmosphere. That was it. In London he'd always hear something, cars or motorbikes, singing a fight or music.   Even when he'd arrived here he hadn't heard a bird sing or even the flutter of wings. A void would best describe it. A void around the bungalow and the open fields. Only now when everyone else had gone to bed had he thought of that. He shrugged the thought aside, took a sip of coke and chose a game from the on screen menu. Sometimes, he thought, you can really over think matters.
Andrew awoke surrounded by darkness. At first he wondered where he was. Immediately the bed felt unfamiliar as did the room and the smell of it. His bedroom at home never once held the fragrance of flowers. As his mind processed the information he sat up and slid  his legs over the bed. The polished oak floor felt cool under his feet. Now he remembered he was on holiday in a cottage. He reached for the bedside lamp and switched it on.  He blinked his eyes a few times. Soft  light revealed a box room complete with oak beams, dark wallpaper embossed with circular scrolling. Shelves lined one wall, a standard lamp stood beside a comfortable chair on which Andrew had put his bags.  His boots lay by the door where he'd kicked them off. He did mean to sort the bags out  before sleeping but fatigue had gotten the better of him. He hadn't even bothered to undress. He just hung his coat on the peg behind the door, kicked his boots off and lay on the bed before sleep took him.  He stretched his arms and yawned as hunger growled in his belly. He realized he hadn't eaten since breakfast. He gets up from the bed. The  curtains hadn't been drawn. It was black as pitch outside, no moon shone  and there were no lights in the surrounding field. He got up from the bed, opened the window as wide as it could go, and took in a lungful of crisp air. He slowly exhaled. The snow lay deep on the ground covering the camper and the civic. He stood at the window taking in the quiet. It made a change to hear nothing at all. He shut his eyes for a moment  before he removed the bags from the chair.
He picked up his boots and  sat down. The dressing on his forearm needed changing he realised.  The dressing had become stained with blood. It was quite normal and it didn't worry him unduly. There were no stitches to tear. He didn't feel the need for them even though the cuts were quite deep.  This did not go down well with the infirmary staff.
He frowned, and hoping he packed his med kit he rummaged through his rucksack. 
The old red bag was there. This was something he carried on his travels but now amongst the usual first aid items were prescription medications, extra dressings and pain killers. He should've organised the other items he brought at the surplus shop too but was simply too tired. He did remove the walking stick, a dark oak thing which was lead filled and had steel steaks which could be retracted in good conditions. It was crook handled and wider  than an ordinary walking stick. Which made it perfect. He'd brought it for  the sole intent of hiking. He had this idea that he would spend some time walking and sketching. Though the weather had turned now he wasn't sure if a hike would  be possible.
He tied his laced and went back to the window.
Somewhere beyond the forest an orange glow sliced  the night like a flare. He shut the window, grabbed his first aid kit and made his way downstairs.