the Light
Prologue
Darkness. Ominous, crushing darkness of the cave... his prison. Cold, suffocating darkness. It immobilizes him, binding his hands ... it throws him helpless at the mercy of the blood-thirsty monsters that hide deep within its heart. He can feel them creeping in on him from all sides ... can feel their foul breath as it brushes against his exposed skin. He can see the threatening gleam of their blades as they catch the tiny ray of light that filters through the cracks in the rocky ceiling. They tremble with excitement, anticipating the feast of gruesome
torture that is about to begin. He tries to scream, as the pain explodes in his body, drowning out all other sensations. But the darkness stifles his screams, and the sounds of agony and despair fade away, swallowed up by its cold, indifferent silence. Then one of the monsters steps before him, and he can see the feverish glint in his eyes ... the maniacal expression. The beast's arm is raised toward him, the dark barrel of a gun pointed at
his head. The final image, the final scene...
The echo of the gunshot tears through him like a red-hot knife, and he screams again, a piercing scream of her name, a desperate call filled with agony of fear and pain.
Bolting upright in his bed, his fingers clutching the crumpled sheets, he sat wide awake, breathing heavily, as he waited for his heart to slow down its wild beating. Darkness was still there in his room, and it weighed
heavily on his being, as he took in the familiar surroundings. It was the same dream he had every night ever since he got released from the hospital four days ago. Same nightmare.
He ran his hand over his face, feeling the already familiar beads of cold sweat under his palm. "I'm losing my mind," he murmured, glancing at the alarm clock on his night-stand. 3:30 a.m. Today was his first day back
at work. And if he didn't want to end up in a padded cell in Bethesda, he needed to convince everyone at JAG that he was perfectly fit for duty.
Sleeping a maximum of 3 or 4 hours for the past four days was probably not going to help his case much.
He groaned, slowly rolling out of bed. Going back to sleep was out of the question. He would go take a shower ... read something ... do some push-ups to get the blood flowing, have his breakfast ... and go to work.
He flipped the switch in the bathroom, and the fluorescent light split the overwhelming darkness, making him squint, shielding his eyes. The mirror came into his view, and he frowned in frustration upon seeing his worn out, haggard appearance. "Think we're gonna be able to fool 'em, Rabb?" he nodded at his reflection, pasting a wide grin on his face. But the grin looked as fake as it felt, and he sighed in exasperation and turned away
from the mirror, stepping onto the cold tiles of the shower room.