Nightmare
"Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before." -Edgar Allan Poe
The screaming. That was probably the most terrifying thing in the entire situation. That woman's blood-curdling screaming was anything but absent from Spencer's ears. Despite his ice cold hands, tightly clamped against his ears, they did nothing to block out the noise. He turned himself around a multitude of times, but always found himself alone. Worn, brown eyes scanned the dimly lit, wide room for an exit; an escape. As soon as his eyes found the lone, wooden door, the agent ran for it. The door swung open on its hinges, leaving room for the man to run through.
The instant his foot went past the doorway, he suddenly felt himself falling into a dark, endless chasm. The single scream got louder, and another joined it. This new, shrill voice sounded like a child's; most likely a young little girl's. Spencer's teeth were gritted tightly as he plummeted further down into the darkness.
"SHUT UP!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, overwhelmed in his helpless situation of descending and suffering from the noise. "Just stop it!" he yelled desperately, his fingers now tangled into his curly, brown hair. Seconds later, all noise ceased, and he felt his body snag in mid-air. His feet soon met with a surface; it was invisible. He felt unstable, and awkward, standing on something he couldn't see. Maybe it was due to the fact that he couldn't see anything at all in the pitch black milieu.
He walked around, using his hands to feel for something, anything. It seemed as if he wasn't making any distance, but then again it was hard to tell. This notion was soon put to rest, however. Several steps later, the sound his foot made on the surface was hollow, signifying an empty space below. Spencer dropped to his knees and felt the floor for some sort of door. His fingertips brushed against a rope. Pulling up on the rope brought up a section of the floor, leaving a gap large enough so Spencer could fit down into without a problem.
He hesitated at first. Not a ghost of an idea existed in his mind of what could be down below. He eventually decided it was worth a chance. First his legs dangled into the space below, then his torso, and finally he was entirely submerged into the space. The slam of a door made Spencer slightly jump. Realization hit him; it was the hatch above. He pushed his hands above his head, and couldn't get the hatch to open up.
The only difference from being in this space opposed to being up above was the tightness, and the stuffy air, making it hard to breath and making sweat surface to the skin. Spencer could feel panic beginning to fill up inside of him. His heart beat was quickened, and pain thundered in his head.
A dull, green light blinked for a split second. It was minuscule, barely noticeable, but it was enough to be seen by Spencer. Seconds later, it blinked again, this time much closer. He reached out to touch whatever the light was; he determined it was most likely a lightning bug. The green light flashed on, much brighter. The light stayed on, and shone brightly enough to illuminate what looked like a narrow passage way. The bug started to fly down the tunnel, and so Spencer quickly chased after it, keeping a steady pace with the bug. There was no way he was going to be left in the dark once again.
He was unsure how long he chased it, turning on all of its turns and following it down long stretches; all he knew was that it seemed like forever. The bug, or at least its light, disappeared. Spencer stopped in his tracks and held his breath. What now? As if the center of a stage, a golden light beamed on him. He felt like the lone star of the show, a very confusing and slightly terrifying show at that.
As he looked around at his atmosphere, he found that he was no longer in a tunnel. Now he was once again in a large, expansive area. Another golden light shone down, revealing another person. With closer inspection, it was none other than little, four year old Henry; JJ's son. His fair, blond hair was swept aside so Spencer could see the little boy had been crying.
"Hey little guy, it's Uncle Spence. Come over here, everything is alright," Spencer said in a hushed tone as he bent down, ready for the child to come to him. Instead, Henry started crying, and then screaming. He dropped to the floor.
"Uncle Spence!" he screamed, tears streaming down his flushed cheeks. "Help me! I need help!" he yelled. Spencer was about to run towards his godson, but was stopped by an unknown force. Not a single bone in his body would cooperate with him.
"Spence!" a familiar voice shouted. "Damn it, Spence! Help him! He needs you!" JJ shouted desperately. She repeated it over and over again, each time shouting her words louder. Henry also increased in volume, and the urgency in his voice grew more apparent. Before Spencer had time to realize it, the floor beneath Henry disappeared, and soon the little boy fell down into the pit. Spencer shouted his name, and could feel tears stinging his eyes. He could hear JJ screaming, but Henry's voice was nowhere to be heard.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, Henry!" Spencer cried out.
He immediately shot up in his bed, his hands shaking, and his breaths coming out in gasps. His skin was covered in a sheen of perspiration, his sheets half hanging off the bed and half wrinkled on the floor. It took him a moment to calm himself down, to slow his breath and to assure himself that it was just another stupid nightmare. His eyes shot over to his alarm clock. It illuminated the time in red; 3:39. A harsh knocking soon registered in his mind.
It seemed as if he were on auto-pilot. He swung his legs over the edge of his bed, placing his feet on the wooden flooring, and then made his way to the front door. He swung open the door to find one of his friendlier neighbors standing in front of him. Laura's her name, Spencer recalled. Her dyed, red hair was messed up, as if she probably just woke up. A lime green sleep gown hung down to her knees, and on her feet were two white socks.
"I heard you shouting. Is everything alright?" the young woman studied Spencer, noting the worry in his face. He nodded feverishly, and managed to swallow.
"Y-yeah, I just had a… um… a nightmare," he answered, uncertain whether or not to tell her. They had talked occasionally in the past, in the halls of their apartment complex, and they even had coffee and chatted for an hour or so. Turns out she's an avid fan of Star Trek.
"You… uh, wanna talk about it, Spencer?" she asked with concern. Spencer stood dumbfounded for a couple of seconds.
"No thank you. I'll be alright. Thank you for your concern though," Spencer replied, managing to pull out a fake smile. His neighbor must have been too tired to notice.
"Well, if you need me, I'm right across the hallway," she said before turning around to leave. Spencer panicked, and he wasn't quite sure why.
"Actually," he piped up, loud enough for Laura to hear. She turned her head around. "If it's alright with you… could I talk with you about it?" He fidgeted with his fingers down at his abdomen in worry, and slightly in embarrassment. Laura came up to him and smiled.
"Sure thing, as long as you can make me a cup of coffee," she teased, patting the side of Spencer's shoulder. A ghost of a smile traced his lips.
"I-I can do that," he said, relief washing over him. And so, within minutes, the two of them were sitting on Spencer's couch, both of them holding warm mugs of sugary coffee. Spencer had taken his time, and he described everything he could about the nightmare; Laura intently listened, and comforted Spencer when comfort was needed. By the time Spencer was done explaining, he felt much more relieved, having someone to confide in. Laura told him what she did whenever she had nightmares that bothered her. She said that if she didn't have anyone around to talk with, she'd write the events of the nightmare on a sheet of paper, and then would shred the paper. She also mentioned that she did that if she was too embarrassed to tell someone what had happened.
"I'll make sure to try that," Spencer said honestly. It certainly seemed like a good idea, and so he kept it in mind. They sat in silence before Laura asked,
"So, do you feel better now?" Spencer nodded, and could feel some heat rise to his face.
"Yeah, I do. They're right; talking about things helps," he said. He soon realized it was currently almost 4:30. He had to leave in an hour. "You should probably get back to your apartment; it's kind of early. Try getting some sleep."
"Eh, as soon as I have a cup of coffee, I'm pretty much up," Laura shrugged, her silky hair resting on her shoulders.
"Sorry," Spencer apologized. Laura shook her head and smiled.
"Don't be. As long as your better now, it's alright. I have off tomorrow, well… today, so it's no biggie," she explained truthfully. She walked over her and Spencer's mugs to metal sink in his kitchenette. She then strode over to Spencer, and lightly kissed him on the forehead. "You however, do have work. Sleep," she stated quietly. Laura then left, silently shutting the door behind her. Spencer faintly touched the place on his forehead that she had kissed, and sat there in shock. What did that kiss mean? Any hopes of sleeping were dashed the instant her lips pressed against his face, sending warmth and electricity throughout him, and left him wondering what the electricity meant.
I hope you guys enjoyed this little Reid one-shot. Allow yourselves to think whatever you you'd like of what that kiss meant. Let me know what you guys thought of it though! Should she be a character that comes up more often in little one-shots, or even in a full-fledged story? If you guys have story ideas, feel free to let me know! They could be become my next story :D Thanks to all of you that read this, I'll be back with another story sometime soon (hopefully ^^') Bye guys!