Sunday, 3:06 a.m., Albuquerque, NM

Isao stirs in his sleep again. He had gone to bed early to try to catch up on some of his many hours of lost sleep over the last several nights, but his slumber had been fitful, full of unpleasant dreams. The nightmares had changed each time, frightening him nearly awake. His body twitched or jumped and he would jerk out of REM sleep, the level of sleep named because of the rapid eye movement, to a higher level of sleep, but not enough to awaken fully.

After a few minutes he drifts back through the deeper levels and then returns to the REM level, where dreams occur. Sometimes the location of the dream stays the same, but the people involved change. Once he had been by himself, then he was with Ray, the man whose house he is staying in. He doesn't really know the man, but there is a calming aura about him. Isao does not like to admit his own fears, but something about this man's presence in his dream heartens him to face them.

The next time, there was another man that Isao had not met. He had been of Middle Eastern descent. This man also had a calming presence and seems to command a great deal of power. Another dream had the Middle Eastern man replaced with a young American couple, accompanied by a man of advanced age. Like the Middle Eastern man, the older one also commanded an awesome power. Still again, another dream had the couple and old man replaced with a young American woman of amazing beauty, with a small boy who is equally magnificent.

Sometimes, the dreams change locations, from Tokyo, to Albuquerque, to another American city. The one factor that links all of them together is a pair of red eyes, glowing in the dark of night, amidst a city of devastation and death, with horrific creatures and enormous mutated bugs sleeking and crawling over everything, or flying low to the ground. Multiples of people, either dead or appearing to be close to it, are shuffling slowly toward him, in varying states of traumatized ruin. The people are groaning desperately or growling in a primal fashion, like zombies in a horror movie, reaching for him with the intent of devouring his flesh while he is still alive.

As if suddenly realizing he is in a dream, Isao opens his eyes, fully awake. His heart rate is up and he is breathing rapidly. As he learned early on in his years of martial arts training, he concentrates on calming his rapidly beating heart down to a normal rate. Within a couple of moments, the jackhammer pace slows to its regular rhythm. His respirations also slow to normal. The nightmares have been coming for the past several nights and even though Isao had been prepared for them, they still unnerve him. A quick glance over at the clock on his bedside table displayed the time at 3:07 a.m. There is no chance that he will be going back to sleep. Even though his vital signs are now at a normal rate, the adrenalin released during his nightmare is still coursing through his system.

Since he is now wide awake, Isao decides to get out of bed and get dressed. Might as well go for a run, and then a few hours of training. If he can't sleep without these terrible dreams, he will work his body until it is exhausted. When he pushed his body to its limits, he would rarely dream when he finally succumbed to sleep. He has a busy week ahead of him on his new job and he wants to be fully rested. More importantly, he feels that something is coming that requires all of his strength and skills, something that has to do with the dream