Sorry I haven't been around in a whuile! Had trouble coming up with how to write this. That and Chemistry's being a total drag right now.

Please enjoy!

(Kari's POV)

I opened the door to the house, groceries in hand. I shut the door and set the groceries on the island counter in the kitchen as the phone rang. I hurried over and answered.

"Hello this is the Kamiya Residence." I said.

There was a laugh on the other end.

"And you said I sounded like an operator." said T.K. on the other end.

I smirked into the phone.

"Yeah, yeah, what do you want?" I asked.

"I'm out, done, gone, free." He emphasized.

"They released you finally?" I asked.

"Yeah, funny eh?"

"Yeah, and right when I leave, too! Aren't I a charm?" I joked and he laughed.

"Hey Kari, Matt said that Mr. Kasai was going to your place tomorrow to talk about my mom." He said.

"Yeah, I missed him last week." I answered, placing a hand on my hip.

"Well, I don't really think you should see him." He said in a low voice.

"Why? And why didn't you want to talk to him yourself?" I questioned.

"He's a sleeze and a pervert! And…he's also Bi, so I'm a little nervous t be alone with him anyway. I'm afraid that he might pull something on you if you're not careful." He answered. I rubbed my neck.

"C'mon T.K., I'll be fine. You know me." I said with a smile. I knew he was concerned.

"He has a habit to come to work after late parties, still drunk or heavily hung over. That's when he's really dangerous." said T.K.

"Why would you have him as your lawyer?" I asked.

"Mom hired him and now I can't seem to get rid of him. That, and even though he's an ass, he makes a damn good case." He answered. I shook my head.

"They have to be the Jackasses." I said rolling my eyes.

"Yes, yes they do." He answered.

"Just promise me that you'll be careful around the guy?" he asked worriedly.

"I promise, now stop worrying. I'll be fine." I said in an encouraging voice.

I heard him sigh in what was either relief or vain.

"So, how's everyone doing?" He asked me, changing the subject.

I laughed.

"They're just fine. Dad's still out of town though." I said.

"Oh, that's too bad." I heard him say.

My dad went out of town on business a few weeks ago. He's called us several times, but we don't know where he is now. He said he'd be home soon, though.

"Well, we're pulling in. I'll talk to you later, Kari." He said.

"Later, bye." I hung up and walked over to the island counter and began to put the food away. It had only been a moment, but I realized that there was a warm feeling in the room. I looked at the living room thermometer and it read 87 degrees.

I blinked.

The air conditioner was on, and it was only about 65 outside. I blinked again, thinking.

I turned back around and put away the last of the groceries.

"Have a good day, love?" I heard a feminine voice behind me. Through the heat of the room, it chilled me. I spun around and saw the cloaked girl leaning against the island counter, staring at me. I gasped and grasped the edge of the counter behind me in surprise. She crossed her arms and walk towards me.

"Now, now. Why are you shaking? You're not cold are you?" she asked in a sickeningly sweet voice. I was shaking. I don't understand why I was so scared of her, but I was.

I she grinned, looking me strait in the face with her burning red eyes. They seemed to burn a hole through my own eyes. She pulled back and walked around the living room, as though inspecting it.

"You can let go of the counter now. Any harder and you'll break it." She muttered. I gulped and let go, noticing that my knuckles were white.

She placed her hands on her hips and looked around the room again, her dark eyes skimming the walls and the ceiling.

"Um…What are you doing?" I asked her. My voice was still very shaky.

'C'mon, Kari. Pull it together! What is she gonna do?' I thought to myself and pulled together my composure.

She turned and looked at me, her hand now holding her chin.

"Looking for something." She said.

"For what?"

"You have something of mine." She said, turning back to the room.

I blinked at her, and then I thought 'The Pendant?'

I touched the place on my chest where it rested. Her arm twitched and she glanced at me, hand still on chin.

"Yes. I was looking for that." She said and came back toward me.

I looked up at her as she stared at the pendant that was around my neck.

"This is yours? How did I end up with it?" I tried to take it off to give it back, but it didn't budge. It was as if the chain was melted into my skin. I began to panic.

"I gave it to you. With it, you have a direct connection to me." She explained while I struggled.

I stopped and looked up at her.

"What? How?"

"Do you believe in Magick?" she said suddenly.

I shook my head hesitantly.

"This Pendant has a kind of Magick only found in the Other world. It has a great power, and anyone who wears it carries that power." She said, a smirked played on her face.

I didn't like the look. She was up to something.

"What are you planning? Are you working with Shadow?" I demanded, all of my fear melting with the building heat of the chain.

She stood strait and looked at me with a raised brow.

"Who? Kari, are you on shrooms? Karakin works for herself." She said darkly.

"Karakin? That's your name?" I asked.

"Yes, and you should be pretty damn proud that I'm trusting you with that pendant." She said, turning and looking at me sideways.

I regained my composure.

"What kind of Magic does it have?" I asked, somewhat curious.

"Magick." She corrected. "It has the power to control the Light and Darkness elementals."

"Light and Darkness?"

"Oi, Yes. Light and Dark. I'd tell you more, but I'm sure that you could figure it out on your own.

I blinked and looked at the pendant. How could something so small be so powerful? Why would she give it to me of all people? I knew that she was up to something, I just couldn't understand what.

"Come. I want to show you something." She said. I looked up as she spoke, but her lips never moved. Her voiced was cutting like a double edged sword, almost demonic.

She walked down the hallway toward my room and I followed. She pulled back the rug that covered most of the middle of my wooden floor and knelt down. I looked over her shoulder to see what she was doing.

She was tracing her fingers in a large pattern across the floor in a fluid motion. When she pulled her hand away, a figure of a pentacle burned into the wood where her fingers had traced.

It burned and died down, etched into the wood. It resembled the Pendant greatly, only it a little more old age.

"Why did you just burn my floor?" I asked somewhat annoyed.

She looked up at me with an unpleasant smile.

"You'll see." She said and stood up. She walked towards the window at a slow pace.

"Hey! Where are you going?" I called.

"Back." She answered, still walking.

"Then take this with you!" I shouted, trying to pull off the necklace. She stopped and turned.

"This isn't right. This thing is evil, I know it!" I said. I felt a sudden anger toward her, I couldn't understand it. I felt as though she was using me as her puppet.

She grinned and waved her finger at me.

"Watch your tone. Takeru would be displeased to hear such anger from your pretty lips." She said, speaking like a mother to her four-year-old. With that, she turned on her heel and disappeared in a rise of black dust.

I looked out the window to the darkening sky, after the invisible traces of Karakin's once being here.

I shuddered and looked down at the pendant that I was still grasping in my fist. I hadn't realized the searing pain that it was causing my hand and I released it quickly. It was white hot once more and had left a deep burn into my skin in the shape of the Pendant.

The chain was etching its metallic body into my neck and my chest, and then the pain stopped. I panted from the pure and agonizing pain it had brought.

I never once remembered screaming, but Tai ran into the room in a panic.

"Kari? What's wrong, what happened?" he asked. I spun around and looked at him.

He walked up to me.

"What's the matter Kari?" He asked me again.

I looked around the room. The carpet was back in its place and the burning smell was gone. I felt for the Pendant to find that there were no burns on my skin.

"Nothing." I answered.

"That didn't sound like nothing." He said, placing his hands on his hips.

I shook my head.

"Nothing happened. I just zoned out."

"And screaming?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow. I ignored him and walked out of the room and into the kitchen.

"Dammit Kari, why won't you tell me?" he demanded.

"I'm not to sure that it even happened, Tai" I answered.

"What?"

I was still holding the pendant. I looked down at it and turned it over in my hand.

"Now it looks like I have to make my point." I muttered to myself, remembering Karakin's words from my dream. Tai looked at me with concern, but decided not to question any further.

(T.K.'s POV)

I flipped the phone shut and stepped out of the car. I knew Kari was tough, but I couldn't help but feel nervous. Matt looked over at me in concern.

"T.K., It's gonna be alright. It's really no big deal. You're still nervous ever since what happened with mom." He said reassuringly.

I looked at him and forced a grin.

"I know… it's just been a long day." I said to him. He smiled back and we walked to the apartment building.

"So then, how was your time in the Hospital?" asked Matt jokingly.

I glanced at him.

"Dude, daily drugs, nurses in tight little skirts, and being bottle fed…. It's the greatest." I said sarcastically.

"I bet you're glad to be out." He grinned.

"Finally." I muttered.

He laughed.

"I know. The smell was enough for me just to walk in." he said. We reached the elevator and he pressed the button for the 7th floor.

The elevator rumbled its way to the floor slowly, stopping a couple times to let people on and off.

We reached Matt's floor and we walked/hobbled to his door. He opened the door and we entered a rather messy slightly disturbing living room. I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I know. I haven't got to cleaning in a while." He scratched his neck.

I shrugged.

"So, where am I staying?" I asked.

"I have a spare room in the back there, you can stay there until we get things sorted out." He said.

I sat in a chair in the kitchen and set down the crutches, my underarms feeling rather grateful to be rid of them.

"You hungry?" he asked.

"Nah. Just grateful." I said and leaned back. I was tired and I wanted to sleep.

"Well, you know where the fridge is, so you can pick if you get hungry."

I yawned and lay my head on the table.

I heard him chuckle.,

"You're tired, go to bed." He said, picking up my crutches to offer me.

I lifted my head to look at them, then dropped it back on the table.

"C'mon, T.K." he said.

I grunted and took the crutches and I hobbled my way to the spare room muttering my distaste for the movement.

I fell on the bed and threw the crutches aside. My ribs hurt from the sudden impact, and my hip and leg were throbbing, but I didn't really care. I was just tired and wanted sleep.

I closed my eyes and quickly slipped into sleep.

---

It was black and very cold. I shivered violently, then my body began to settle into the cold. I looked around at the empty darkness. There was nothing there. I was light looking to a dark forest at night in the middle of a blizzard.

'Damn it's cold!' I thought. However, it didn't really seem to bother me that much now.

I shook my head, feeling it stiffen in the cold.

When I looked up I saw a large dog with sleek white fur. I noticed a change in my surroundings and looked around.

I was on the outskirt of a dead forest, and there really was a blizzard. The snow covered the trees and the ground in thick layers, and the plants that had survived the cold stood out oddly from the rest of the wood. The trees seemed to surround me in a circle of darkness.

I heard a low sniff and looked back at the dog.

It was then that I realized that it wasn't a dog, but a large white wolf. It stared at me with strong, golden eyes. I was mesmerized by it. It was a beautiful color of white and the undercoat was a darker color, maybe black.

It stood in the snow, almost blending in. The icy barrage had ceased and the snow lightly and delicately fell to the ground. It landed on the wolf's fur, dusting its already white back.

It shook the snow off its body and barked at me. I blinked. I was a gentle bark, and it looked over its shoulder, then back at me, as if it was telling me to follow it.

Normally, it would be a rather dumbass thing to do to follow a wolf, for they may be heading to their den, near their pups, or near a supply of food or water that they were guarding; but I was compelled to follow none the less.

It led me through the large groves of trees and deeper into the woods. It jumped rots, rocks, and small ditches in the ground. I followed its movement and found my self to be quite flexible and quick in doing so. The wolf sped up slightly, making me jog to keep up. That was when I realized that I was jogging….My leg was healed, and my ribs and hip were better as well. I didn't stop to speculate however. This was just a dream after all.

I ducked the low branches and jumped the brush, following the wolf's every graceful movement.

I felt exhilarated. I had never felt anything like this before. I felt as though I was really, truly, free. Free like this wolf that led me deeper still into the darkness. It's figure was easy to see, the snow still clung to its shining coat and made it very visible in the darkness of the woods.

I saw a bright light from up ahead, it blinded me momentarily as we reached the edge of the forest. I opened my eyes, but before I could register what I saw, everything went white.

---

I opened my eyes sat up. I noticed then that my cell phone was ringing. I quickly picked it up and answered it.

"Yeah?" I said.

"T.K. I need to talk to you." said Kari urgently on the other line.

Please review and tell me how it is so far!