Kari walked down the street

Kari walked down the street. It was midday, and the bright May sun was beating down on the city. It was the kind of heat that you could smell before you felt it. Kari walked quickly, on a mission. Her brother Tai was right beside her. He knew he was needed, but Kari wouldn't tell him why, instead insisting that she explain it to everyone at once. Her backpack shuffled slightly, as Gatomon made herself more comfortable in the confined space.

Kari rounded the corner and entered the same park she had seen Aaron twice before. TK stood just inside, with Patamon on his head, talking to Yolei sitting on a picnic table. Hawkmon hovered nearby. Kari walked over and sat at the table. TK sat beside her while Tai sat opposite Kari beside Yolei. Hawkmon perched on the fence and waited like everyone else. Gatomon was let out of the pack and sat on the table beside Kari.

"Well Kari? We're here. Why just us?" Tai asked.

"Because I have a special relationship with the three of you. It's different for each of you, but still more than I have with anyone else." Tai was very close to his sister, TK was her lover, and Yolei her closest female friend.

"What do I..." Yolei started.

"Later." Hawkmon just mouthed the word. Surprisingly, Yolei understood despite the fact that he talks with a beak.

"The past few nights I've been having really bad nightmares. They're so vivid and scary. Not anything like a normal dream. In each one I die, and my body feels near death when I wake up. Once I was shot in my dream, and my heart stopped here. I thought I was going crazy but I think there's someone doing it." Kari spelled all the information out she was willing to share.

"Who is it?" TK asked.

"It's not important." She said. "I think I'm safe for the next few weeks. I think the dreams can only come at night, and during a period."

"That does make a difference Kari." TK said. "If someone is sending you psychic thoughts, it helps if your brain is distracted. Sleep is a pretty major thing. What our talking about isn't much, but it might be enough to get the thoughts through. Anything would work, if you had a deep cut and your body was healing it would do the same."

Tai, Kari, and Yolei stared at TK. "Where'd that come from, professor?" Yolei asked.

"I was reading some about it on the 'net a while ago. I wanted to see if there was any truth to being psychic. That's about all the scientific info they had." He said.

"I don't know what to do." Kari said. She was almost sobbing. "There's nothing I can do to stop it." Everyone was quiet letting all the information sink in. Kari sat up and wiped a tear from her eyes. She looked up and saw a figure sitting on the fence at the other end of the park. It took her a second to focus her eyes that far, and she saw Aaron. She noticed he was wearing the same clothes when she saw him at night, and the day before. Tai and Yolei turned around to see what Kari was looking at, then looked back at her.

"What's so interesting?" Tai asked. As the words left Tai's mouth, Aaron jumped off the fence and walked into the woods flanking the park.

"I saw the guy I think is doing this." They turned to look again, and saw no one. "You missed him."

"Good for him, too. I'll kick the crap out of anyone who hurts you Kari." Tai proclaimed.

"Same for me, Kari." TK added.

"I got some good solid kicking shoes." Yolei said. Kari smiled.

"Thank-you." Kari looked from face to face of her friends. Something moved out of the corner of her eye.