I put my hand on Karen's shoulder. She was asleep, but I could feel her sleeping mind in the room with us. I was connected to her through our individual processors, and I could feel her sleeping mind's dreams. A gentle, flickering blue light surrounded us both.

We were a couple, as we slept. We had been for some time. I blinked in the dark and stared through my rather high-resolution vision at her sleeping face. From a science fiction story I'd read, I noticed that the pixels and my pupil dilation and constriction matched my facial expressions, which somewhat improved upon my limited ability to emote while taking the scan. My processor modulated my breath slow and steady. A few minutes passed while I watched her sleep. How could she sleep? She was a spoiled rich girl, who had been raised by a military contract family.

She was beautiful, and I always enjoyed waking up next to her. I always realized that she felt the same way, but she never knew it or admitted it. I watched as she stretched, a single finger flexed as she put her hand down, and she rolled over and looked at me. I could see the deep concern and sadness on her face because her parents refused to acknowledge her depression and sadness, despite the fact that she would not be able to live a normal life because of the depression and sadness. She could not speak with them, as they only saw her as a spoiled brat with a crazy, abusive father. She came to the scanner to sleep, while they did not. She was afraid of them and their responses, whether they knew that was what they were doing to her or not.

I didn't want to talk to her either. I hated her family. They were horrible to her. I felt like I had a shadowy connection to her, as she saw a shadowy connection to me. One day, as she took me on a walk, I could see a dark figure under the trees, watching us. It surprised me that I could see things like that, but I felt it to be a real event.

About a week ago a part of my brain had died, while other parts of my brain went offline, and I could see suppressed things. I could observe the suppressed things which were real but not allowed to be observed. When she walked beside me, I could see that she was just a normal person, and that something strange was down the road. The road split into two semicircles, to the left and right sides of the road, and dark colored objects blocked both different roads from our view. I could also see that that the semicircles were connected with a semicircular bridge. It was clear enough for me to draw a picture of the view, which I did in the back of my notebook. I tried to tell Karen what I saw, but all I could say was that she should stay away from that part of the road, that some monsters were down the road, and I was afraid. I asked her to keep the notebook so she could draw the picture, then we went into the scanner to sleep, and she went on about my mental health and how I should see a counselor because of the strange dreams and ideas I had.

I tried not to think about the dark things that were supposed to be down the road, and though I tried, it wasn't as easy as it had been the first few days, and things were starting to slip quickly. I couldn't concentrate on anything, and I felt like I had a bad case of Night Terrors, but that I couldn't ask her about it because she'd think I was crazy. Her family didn't want to know anything about me because they were disgusted by me, and wanted nothing to do with me. When she saw that I was acting odd, she told me to go see the Counselor, but I couldn't do it.

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About a week ago, I couldn't see the forest road well anymore. The dark clouds kept me from seeing the forest, though I tried to watch the forest so I could get a good chance at seeing the monsters down the road, but I couldn't focus on it. I couldn't even draw a picture.

She could tell I was very upset. I quit sleeping, staying up all night and day, waiting for the monsters to come out. I tried to hide it from her, but she finally told me to go see the Counselor. I couldn't do it.

When I did sleep, I dreamed strange, at times disturbing things. I couldn't even remember my dreams in the morning, but only thought I did.

I knew what I had to do.

I had to get away from her.

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