CHAPTER 4

As he wandered aimlessly, he decided to try to figure out what it was that had been keeping him restless since he'd come to his senses. There was nothing else to do, so he could try to figure out something for himself.

The sensations themselves were like a call, and they came from different directions. It made Isaia a little uneasy, as he wondered which direction was best. Seeing that there were no priorities, he decided to stop guessing and just trust in chance.

Beginning to move in the direction of the greatest call Isaia still wondered about the lack of discomfort. The cold that should penetrate to the bones and require the search for comfort and warmth had no effect, but its presence was indicated not only by the rather damp branches of the trees, immersed in dull cold colours, but also by the hoarfrost that was visible here and there on various objects.

To Isaia, however, there was only the appearance of cold, and no sign of the inconvenience of climatic phenomena.

As he moved forward, he was also interested in the fact that he felt no pain from walking barefoot. At first he was even extremely slow in moving his feet, for fear of stepping on a pebble or hitting something with his toes, causing the most unpleasant of possible pains and at the same time making a person immobile.

As time passed, however, without feeling chafing or other painful urges, the lad became more confident in the direction he was heading. It was another matter that decided to add himself without being asked to the succession of a growing list of unknown factors.

Isaia even stopped and crouched down on the ground to be able to check the heels of his feet, but found no distinguishing elements.

To the touch there were no standouts either, maybe a slightly harder skin than there should have been, but the young man, to be honest with himself, had not checked such minor factors of his own body in far too long. It was impossible to tell whether any changes had now formed in his heels, or whether they had been so for many years.

He wore shoes as a matter of habit, and the last time he had had trouble with calluses and other scuffs was quite some time ago, from which ignorance arose.

The call that constantly pestered him was a far greater area of interest, and of paramount importance, than the pickiness of the absence of tactile or other anomalies.

A previous attempt to push this disturbing aspect farther into the recesses of memory had not been allowed by research and playful excitement. Long years of personal development of their instinctive skills and characteristics, which are so dear to professional players, did not allow to forget and ignore such a key ailment.

This is how badly he wanted to eradicate the root of ignorance by finding out the reasons for the sensations that arise hence to understand the changes in himself. An ordinary fool would probably have given up long ago, but there is a small percentage of people who do not give up until they find out the nature of their interest, and the fact that this interest is connected with his own body makes this aspect even more weighty.

The fact was that Isaia constantly felt a certain call, a summons that whispered to go and find it. The problem was not understanding the direction in which to move, for the call came from all directions at once.

Somewhere it was weaker, somewhere stronger, but it was there. Isaia couldn't think of any explanation, but he was almost certain that it wasn't just a mere obsession or mind games due to some external stimuli. It was difficult to speak of absolute conviction, for a man who had found himself in the middle of an unfamiliar environment, even if he were the most retarded dimwit, would not deny the possibility of being injected with something psychotropic, at least for the purpose of blacking out his consciousness in order to take him to this godforsaken 'no-know-where'.

Walking in the darkness for about an hour did not attract any results, it seemed that there were only empty fields and expanses around, or maybe this lack of light source played a cruel joke, but he could not give up and stop.

A man who in his everyday existence thinks about the meaninglessness of life, goes headlong into suicidal moods, only after getting into a difficult and hopeless situation that threatens his existence can realize how much he is attached to life and how much he wants to stay alive.

On the positive side of things, he still had a sturdy physique that showed no signs of fatigue or exhaustion. Perhaps only the psychological pressure was depressing and brought a dark tone to the whole situation, straining his body so much that it left an unpleasant residue on his soul.

Moving and constantly looking in all directions in a futile attempt to spot something in the darkness, Isaia came closer to the results.

The soothing feeling of coming to some results and outcomes certainly pleased the mind, but the shape of the lights seen did not create a sense of clarity, for cities and towns should have something like lighting, not a mere flickering of lights from sluggish and very small light sources.

There was also no movement of car headlights, of which there is such an overabundance in metropolitan areas during the dark hours of the day that it is hard to find a street or a section of space where cars are not scurrying in different directions. And there were still no signs of roads, creating even more doubt about the lights seen from afar, but it was too early to draw conclusions, so far away were the sources of light.

Being barefoot was quite exhausting, constantly worrying about the possible consequences of getting a chill or kidney dysfunction in general, which made it necessary to get to the goal as soon as possible. And of course, he had to carefully watch the places where he steps all this time.

Thankfully, even a long walk, which does not do without stones, on which he involuntarily step, did not leave any damage or scratches.