Abby was woken up by frantic pounding on the door. She was up, dressed, and opening the door in the wink of an eye.  Being supernaturally fast had its perks. She opened the door and saw Demitri standing there in his pyjamas.  He was clutching Tomo tp his chest.  Tommo was visibly shaking and had wound up so tight into a ball he looked like a fluffy hedgehog.

Without a word, Abby took the two of them into her arms.

"What's happening?" Laura said as she open her door.  She was holding on to Liz who didn't want to move when Laura got up.

"Everyone, into my apartment."

The three people and two cats entered the apartment.  They sat on the new rugs.

Demitri placed Tomo in the center.  Tomo just curled up tighter.  Liz looked uncertain, then wriggled to be let down.  Laura set her down gently.  Liz went over to Tomo and started to wash him with steady rhythmic strokes.  The three humans were mesmerized by this calming action.  Everything was silent except for the soft licking. Tomo eventually relaxed and started to purr unevenly.  He tried to get up, but Liz put her paw on his head and held him still.

Abby was the first to speak.

"Can you tell us what happened?"

"Something was in my closet last night. Tomo took one stiff and got super scared. He wouldn't tell me what was wrong."

"What do you mean by 'tell you'  what was wrong.  Does Tomo talk to you?" Abby asked, trying to keep her excitement in check.  It was always exciting dicover someone else's powers.

"He didn't used to.  No with words.  But now I hear the words in my head."

"Can you talk to Liz?"

"I'll try."  Demitri turned and brought his head down to her level. "Hello Liz, thank you for helping Tomo."

* he's just been scared badly. he will be ok. i know scared *

"She says he'll be ok."

"I guess he can talk to cats."

"Did this start after the lunar eclipse?"  Laura asked.

Demitri thought back.  "I think so.  I could sort of understand them before.  Now it is just like talking to them normally."

"Will you ask him what happened?" Laura reached forward and put her hand on Liz's back.  She was very proud of her cat.  Liz stopped grooming Tomo and accepted the petting.

"Tomo what did you smell in the closet?"

* it was the boogeyman *

"He says it was the boogeyman. Was it like the boogeyman in stories?"

* it was the boogeyman *  Tomo was going cataonic again.

Abby put her arm around Demetri's shoulders.  "I've never met a boogeyman.  I always thought they were just kids being scared of the dark."

Laura turned her eyes back into her skull and looked up "Boogeyman" in the wikipedia.

         "The bogeyman, also boogeyman, boogyman, or bogyman, is a ghost-like monster that children often believe is real."

"Boogeymen appear inseveral cultures," Laura went on, "Mostly as a frightening creature that punishes children for bad behavior.  It lives in shadows and takes the form of the thing the child fears most."

"My mother always told me the bau-bau would come and get me."

"Anything that can help us destroy it?"

* the boogeyman can't be destroyed.  it is made out of the fears of kittens and children *

"Liz says it can't be hurt. It is made out of fear."

"But why is Tomo being so much affected?"

* tomo is still young, but i also feel that it is because this boogeyman is different.  i can smell the boogeyman on his fur.  i should not be able to do that *

"Liz says that Tomo is scared because he's a kitten.  But this boogeyman is weird and smells *

Laura wondered at this translation.  She thought that Demitri had missed something in the translation.

"What does the boogeyman smell like?"

* adrenalin - sweat - tension - all the smells that fear give off *

"It smells like fear."

"So we have a creature that is made out of fear.  How do you defeat fear?"