EDITED CHAPTER!!! I needed to explain more stuff. Reread if you wish (and if you read the first chapter... this one explains a lot more)

Well, this story came about from a very long fascination with strange creatures of all types. I've had this idea swirling around in my head for quite a while now, and have finally gotten around to writing it. Though, if it doesn't get many reviews, I won't continue it at all. I just won't have the inspiration to.

Oh, and Disclaimer: I don't own anything relating to Predator/Aliens. I'm just using the idea. The characters, however, are my own, so please, no stealing of them. Thank you for reading


It was a cold winter night, of a kind where the wind chilled anything that came in contact with its biting tendrils and snow flit serenely through the bare-branched trees. The sky was clear for the most part, with only a few heavy snow clouds obscuring the brilliant stars above. In the darkness, a small pair of yellow eyes watched, curious, from the street.

The creature's lithe form slunk into the soft light filtering down from the street lamps. It was a normal housecat, one that, though it had a warm, loving home with a comfortable place beside the fire, still felt the call of the night. That was why it was here, exploring and stalking mice in the deserted alleyways, instead of sleeping in the loving arms of it's family.

As it reached the corner of the street it paused, lifting one delicate, white-socked paw and scrubbed it with its rough tongue, massaging the warmth back into the cold limb. It stopped suddenly, shook itself, and trotted onward. It could groom later, right now, an interesting scent had reached its keen nostrils.

The cat reached another alley, and, hissing at a small, mangy tom that sprang away as soon as it saw the larger cat, made its way down. The snowdrifts piled beside the walls of the buildings hindered its stride slightly, but the cat wouldn't give up. It had nothing better to do, for it could already scent that there were no mice in this area of the city. There was only its curiosity, and the strange, unidentified smell.

The black furred form slipped casually into an open window, something rare on such a cold night, and into a deserted bakery. With a sneeze, the cat jumped down upon an old, musty box, then onto the floor. The thing it was looking for was here, it was certain.

The cat wandered down the stairs, and past a ruined door that had been left slightly ajar. Finally, it saw what the smell was coming from. The cat slowed, taking in the large, oblong thing that seemed to be anchored to the floor by some sort of hardened, waxy substance. The feline sniffed it lightly, and sneezed again. The thing, whatever it was, was alive, that much it knew.

Without warning, the top of the object began to open out like some sort of sick flower. The cat hissed, all of its fur standing on end as it backed towards the door. Something was moving inside the object, something that smelled dangerous.

The cat hissed again for good measure, tensing to spring away, but it suddenly found itself bound by some sort of rope, with it's sight obscured by a spider-like creature that clung to it's face. Then, there was a prick at the base of its neck, and it knew no more.


"Hey, look," said a young girl of about thirteen, bending down to pick up the ragged cat that had arrived at their door, "Diskette came back."

"That's good, dear," said the preoccupied voice of the girl's mother from the kitchen, "Get him cleaned up before you let him down, though. We don't need a trail of snow through the house."

"Kay," said the girl, walking up the stairs of the warm and well-furnished home with the purring black cat snuggled in her arms.


From the very first, I was aware.

As soon as I had developed enough to understand what was happening, I could see through my host's eyes, feel through its skin. I could hear its thoughts and know its feelings. Only now do I know how rare that is for my kind, to know and see without being.

In this way, I came to learn.

My host did not understand much of the human's actions, though what it did understand intrigued me. I had never known the concepts of warmth or emotion; in fact the entire basis of my species is set within the parameter of hunger and survival. In this unique way, this strange opportunity to acquire a new perspective presented itself to me.

I was different, though I did not know it at the time.

As I watched the everyday life of this creature in which I lived, I soon came to know the rudimentary language of both feline and human. I knew, by the understanding of my host, what the word 'no' meant. I also leaned the words 'food' and 'outside' in this way.

When my host, which I soon leaned to refer to as 'Diskette', interacted with other felines, I leaned their language as well. Though the cats had no spoken word, their entire world revolved around body language and contests of strength. Diskette participated in many of these contests with other cats, often winning but occasionally losing and limping home top be taken care of by the girl.

The girl… an enigma that I could never quite solve…


"Hey, Diskette," crooned the girl, stroking the soft black fur on the cat's arching back, "You're such a pretty boy, aren't you?"

A steady, thrumming purr answered her.

"Yes, you are," she said, smiling. She put her arms around the cat and lifted him up, carrying him up the stairs from their place in the living room, "Come on, kitty, we can listen to music."

The thrumming intensified.


I loved music.

It was something that called to me, somehow. I could never get enough of those sweet, hallow sounds that haunted me and sent messages that, though I couldn't understand most of the words, conveyed itself to me in a way that even today I do not understand.

Whenever the girl… her name, I think, was Scarlet, put on music, I could not help but shiver with pleasure of hearing the sounds. This, admittedly, caused some discomfort with my host, but I found that I could not stop myself. I had to go along with the music; it was hypnotizing to me.

I made up for it, though, by staying perfectly still any other time. My host enjoyed music, as well, and I feel that, near the end, he could sense my presence just as I had been able to sense his. I could see it in his mind, and we developed some sort of understanding, without words.

I would live; he would die. And it would be soon, very soon, for I grew more with each passing hour.


"Okay, Diskette, I'll let you out!" said the girl with a laugh, opening the door to let the black, white-socked cat streak out the door.

She watched him go with some confusion, wondering what had gotten into the cat today. He had been acting strangely all day, bouncing around the house, hissing at small noises and such. Perhaps he needed to get out… She hoped it wouldn't be long. She loved that cat very much.


I knew… knew that I could no longer stay hidden within the host body. Already I was larger than I should have been, larger than most host bodies would have taken, but the cat was, in a way, a teacher to me. I had to give it the best remainder of life possible.

My incubation was long, much longer than I had intended. If I had known then what I know now, I would have been worried. My species does not usually take so long to grow. I should have emerged within the first few days, but I hadn't…

But his death would be very hurtful to the family… In a way, I thought of them as my family, too. I had lived with them for over a week, and in that time had somehow grown attached to the ideals of what I understood to be warmth, emotion… perhaps even love.

I was different.

I prodded my host to run, run to where it wouldn't be found. I needed to emerge, but I wasn't going to stay with the family. I did not want to kill them, or have them kill me. I knew enough from my time spent that something as strange as I knew myself to be would not be welcomed among humankind.

My host entered a deserted alleyway, hissing shortly at an old, mangy brown cat crouched behind a garbage bin. I saw from its memories that it had been in this place before… when it had not been infested. The thought was intriguing, but I did not have time to dwell on it. Already my limbs were twitching uncontrollably.

My host yowled, collapsing on the dusty floor of the cellar. Suddenly, I screamed as well, for somehow I could feel the pain that I was causing the host myself. I could not stop emerging, however intense that pain became. I was emerging, and, as my host finally died, my link with it died as well, and the pain faded away.

I was free, though weak. I needed food to sustain me…

But I was blind.

I froze, staying still as I puzzled out this new development. I had never been away from sight since I had first been aware. I could hear, yes. My hearing was a hundredfold that of my host, but I had no real idea of how to get around. If I did not, I would die, die when I had barely begun to even live.

I growled in despair.

Suddenly, a picture formed in my mind. Gray, fleeting, and pulsing, it made me screech lightly in surprise. A clearer picture established itself, fading away a few moments after it had formed.

Slowly, I came to realize what these pictures meant. My host had often sat with the girl when she had been doing something called 'homework', and she had often spoke to us about different topics she was working on. One of these topics had been on something called 'echolocation'. Seeing with sound.

I was seeing by reflecting sound waves.

With newfound strength, I growled and clicked, exploring the room that I had emerged in.

And my 'eyes' fell upon my host's body. It was still faintly warm, and I could smell that it still contained much of the nutrients that had sustained me during my incubation. I crawled toward it warily, tentatively reaching out with my second maw and nibbling on a foot. Then, with a hunger that I hadn't realized was so great, I reared back and snapped forward, engulfing the body whole and swallowing.

It was good, very good. Perhaps later, I would find another.

For now, fatigue was wearing on me. I had spent much of my stored energy ripping from my host, and that, coupled with my recent meal, had made sleep my first priority.

With a soft, growling yawn that showed me more of my surroundings, I approached an old, empty barrel. The inside was dusty, and I saw a few grains of some substance that I had no knowledge of, but it would do. I slept, and my dreams comforted me.