The Nocturne

Una Macchia è qui Tuttora

    The door was still locked so whoever, or whatever it was outside could not get in, despite how much they tried.  I was still sitting on the floor where I had been listening to the music, but it abruptly and bizarrely seemed to stop. 

   The door began rattling again and I wondered if in fact I had fallen asleep again right there on the floor. The exertions of this entity were frenzied and it was  still endeavouring to enter my room. The pounding sound began again in earnest. It knocked violently rattling and shaking the door handle. Turning the handle to the left and to the right, and then banging loudly on the door. The door stayed shut, but not to be deterred, whomever they were, or whomever it was, they kept on knocking anyway. I am asleep again I told myself. Time to wake up. 

   Then suddenly everything went quiet. Had they given up and gone away?  I wondered 

   Then I  heard a peculiar sound. It was like a very eerie, high-pitched whistling.  Was someone standing outside of my door and whistling? No. Wait. That was not what I could hear at all. It was more like a type of birdsong. But I was almost certain that it was coming from somewhere inside the house, not outside. It was outside of my room on the landing, I was sure of that. It was not coming from outside my window.  Then just as suddenly as it had started. It stopped. I listened out intently, but all had returned to silence. 

  BANG. The loud knocking sound was back at my door again. I groaned. It had already been such a long and arduous night. I was about to cry out for whoever it was to 'go away and leave me alone' when I heard a familiar voice outside of my door say. "Are you alright in there Edgar?"

   My eyes flicked open and I began to stir. So, I had fallen asleep yet again I realised.  As I began to return to a semi-alert state,   I began to feel relief, but also a sense of confused disorientation. The first thing that I noticed was that my lamp was switched on and seemed to be functioning normally. So, the power was back on again at Bloomfield. Curiouser and curiouser I thought? 

   "Yes,  Allegra. I'm fine go back to bed." I mumbled in my dazed condition. I knew it was Allegra who was at the door because I recognised her voice.

   "I heard a loud crash, you sure you are Ok?" Allegra said sounding concerned.

     "Yes, I fell out of bed," I lied. "That is all that happened but, I am fine." I said still feeling bruised, but I was more embarrassed than physically hurt.

    "Please open the door Edgar. Let me see if you are alright in there."

    "I'm fine, really, Allegra." I said realising I had a headache and I rubbed my sore head. I sat up and patted myself down to make sure nothing was broken or out of place. My head hurt, but it was still on my shoulders it seemed, so I was glad about that.

"Edgar?" Allegra called again. 

    It was clear that she was not going to take no for an answer, so I got up slowly from the floor. A flash of pain, like white light shot behind my eyes and everything went blurry for a moment. I put my head in my hands and just stayed still for a moment, waiting until the pain passed. As it eased I lifted my head a little.

"Edgar I am getting worried." The knocking was back at the door. "I am not going away until you open the door."

  I sighed, and grumbled to myself sotto voce. "Si. Mamma." And realised I sounded like a stroppy teenager. I never was very good with obeying authority. Out loud I said. "I'm opening the door now Allegra."

   I walked to the door exceptionally slowly, taking my sweet time. Because I was  still feeling discombobulated I stumbled and tripped over one of the leather handles on my holdall bag. This being next to my suitcase which I still had not got around to  fully unpacking. The bag got tangled around my foot and I stumbled  again, accidently knocking it over. I toppled over, landing on one knee, and slamming my stitched hand down to stop me falling further down. The pain stung like a jolt of electricity and the sound of my fall made a loud thud on the floorboards in the silent night.