I wake in the middle of the night

Panting

My throat raw from screaming at things not half remembered.

Dark, dark, dark

My dreams are all dark

Drowned in shadow, drenched in fear

Fear of what, I don't know.

But I do know this:

Something's going to happen

Something's coming.

. . . And it's coming soon . . .

¤ ¤ - ¤ ¤

Thursday morning T.K. thought Kari seemed even worse than usual. He had just about made up his mind to tell Tai, promise or no promise, but the older boy had already left for his classes before T.K. found a chance to talk to him alone. Annoyed with himself for his own carelessness, he left a message on Tai's D-terminal, telling himself that he was probably just imagining things.

But he decided to keep a close eye on Kari anyway.

However, he'd forgotten that basketball practice was starting today, and there was no way his coach would let his 'star player'—as the coach insisted on calling him—miss their first practice. Frustrated, T.K. left another message on Tai's D-terminal, and he labeled this one 'urgent.' If I play especially well at practice today, Coach might let me leave a little early.

But not, as it turned out, early enough.

¤ ¤ - ¤ ¤

After school Kari walked home by herself, almost in a daze. It had been days since she had slept well, and her whole body ached with the strain of her tense muscles. I don't know how much longer I can hold out . . . Once she finally reached her apartment, she leaned against the doorframe for a moment to gather what strength she had--it had taken considerably more effort than usual to open the front door--then she tiredly went inside.

"Tai?" she called weakly. No answer. He's still at school, she remembered.

"Matt?" He had band practice, getting ready for tomorrow night, and a big paper to write besides. He would be at the library until late that night.

"T.K.?" He had basketball practice, and he couldn't get out of it. He had told her that she could stay at school and watch, but she was just so tired . . .

"Gatomon?" Her voice was now a bare whisper. Slowly, slowly she made her way to Tai's room and looked in. Just as she had suspected, her partner was there in the upper bunk, sleeping soundly. I won't wake her.

Too weary to try to make it to her own room, she staggered into her brother's room, slowly sitting in the chair in front of Tai's computer. She stared at the blank, glowing screen for a time; then, gradually, looking almost as if she moved against her will, she pulled out her D-terminal and started it up. Her breath suddenly caught in her throat as she scrolled through her mail: she had 100 new messages, each with the same subject heading: TO THE CHILD OF LIGHT.

A feeling of surrealism came over her as she opened one and read it:

Child of Light

We can see every move you make. Do not try anything so foolish as running--I assure you that any escape attempts will prove futile.

Long have our eyes been on you. You have great potential.

Therefore, we offer you a choice: you or him.

If you agree to come to us willingly, without a fight, we will spare your pathetic little friend and leave him in peace . . . and in one piece.

--Kari shivered at the morbid implications of those words--

Come ALONE or your nightmares will become reality.

Consider our offer carefully, Child of Light . . .

What the rest of the message said she never knew; her hands were trembling so violently that her D-Terminal slipped from her hands, falling to floor with a clatter, and she couldn't bring herself to pick it up again. Hugging herself tightly, she tried to control her body's violent shaking, drawing in a shuddering breath and forcing herself to think calmly. Closing her eyes, she went over her choices, and all their possible outcomes. She weighed, she considered, and when she opened her eyes, determination shone strongly in their brown depths.

Her trembling all but ceased, she rose to her feet and slipped from Tai's room to her own, taking care so as not to wake Gatomon, who was still snoozing on Tai's bed. Closing the door to her room, she sat down at her computer, her nimble fingers dancing over the keyboard, and soon the Digiport was ready. She looked back towards Tai's room sadly. Sorry I can't bring you with me, Gatomon, she thought, but I have to do this alone . . . It's for T.K. . . . but I'll leave a note . . . She scrawled a few sentences on a scrap of paper and placed it by the computer.

Slowly she pulled out her D-3. Her face set and determined, she stood ramrod straight, held it out towards the computer screen, and cried, "Digiport, open!"

"Kari!" Tai burst through the door just in time to see a brilliant white light engulf his sister. He shielded his eyes from the brightness, and when the light had faded, he noticed the note beside the computer's now-darkened screen. With trembling fingers he picked up the paper and read:

Dear Tai or Gatomon or whoever finds this note,

I'm not doing this for me--I wish someone else could be the hero this time. But don't worry about me, Tai. I'll be fine.

If you read the e-mails on my D-terminal, you will understand why I have to do this alone. If you really want to help me, please don't come after me. You'll only make the situation worse.

Love,

Kari

P.S. Tai, if I don't make it back . . . will you tell T.K. that I love him?

"What is it, Tai?" Gatomon yawned sleepily, rubbing her eyes with a paw.

Tai didn't reply at first; he was too busy searching for Kari's D-Terminal. He finally found it on the floor in his room, looking as if it had been dropped, perhaps even thrown.

"Tai?" Gatomon began again. "What—?"

"I'm not sure," Tai said, flipping her D-terminal open and scrolling through e-mails. "But I'm gonna find out."

¤ ¤ - ¤ ¤

Matt was dozing over a large reference book in the library when the call came. It was Tai, and he was almost hysterical, a state Matt had never seen (or, in this case, heard) him in. Tai's words poured out in a flood, coming so rapidly that Matt didn't catch most of what he said the first time around.

"Okay," he said, banishing the last clinging cobwebs of drowsiness from his mind, and giving a scowling librarian an apologetic smile. "One more time, a little more slowly. What happened?"

"It's Kari!" Tai's voice was strained, nearly cracking in his concern. "She's gone to face some crazy evil digimon without Gatomon, and she says she doesn't need any help!"

¤ ¤ - ¤ ¤

A/N: Grr....the formatting on this site irritates this one greatly...