Yay! It's my very first Predator fiction. Don't laugh; just be honest in your reviews.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, except for those I've invented.

Prologue

Have your ever felt like you didn't belong anywhere? I have. For the most part of my life I've been pondering about my place in all of this. You could say, poetically, that I'm a lonely soul who searches for the road that I'm destined to walk on. It is during these recent years I've been thinking of the possibility that maybe, just maybe, the answer is written amongst the stars instead of on this fragile earth I was originally born on. Inexplicable? hardly. Melancholic? You decide.

People have always found me a bit strange. One reason might be that I'm too complicated for their simple minds. Why theorize and wonder when you can live in the moment? Another possibility is that I've never been that social. People just don't want to spend time with someone who just withdraws to one's own corner and sits staring at a pile of blocks for hours. But I haven't always been that way. One time I was a happy and vivid child that loved to run in the sunshine and let the grass tickle beneath my feet. They were the first years of my life. Those I barely remember. If it's because I was so young then or that I quite simply just repressed them because of painful memories that followed, I don't know. I can however with great certainty tell you that if it were possible, I would have stayed there for ever and never leave that safe bright place...

Sometimes unexpected things happen. The truth is that there's very little we can do to prepare ourselves for what will come. We just have to accept reality and fight through any obstacles that are placed before us. The only pity is when children have to handle such situations. Kim Winter was only four years old when she got to taste the bitterness of death. Alone and forgotten, but not quite unaware of what had happened in her surroundings. Adults often believe that children don't understand, but Kim understood far too well when her parents didn't show up after the play, a cold Friday evening.

Kim doesn't remember her parents, apart from faint echoes of their voices and some characteristics. However she does remember how much she loved them. They were her whole world, everything she knew. Mr. and Mrs. Winter weren't that kind people that were out partying every night. No, they'd rather spend their free time by the fireplace with a bottle of wine and a good company. But one day they were invited to go and se "The Phantom of the Opera". An old classmate to Mr. Winter hade assured the slightly hesitated couple that they just had to experience such a classic. Anyway, you don't say "no" to two free tickets. Besides, neither of them had been out since their daughter was born. The mother was of course a bit worried about leaving her only child at home, but a good friend of the family hade promised to baby-sit. Just before leaving, Mrs. Winter kissed her daughter tenderly on the cheek. "Now you behave, Kimmie. Daddy and I'll be back before you even notice that we'd left." Then, with a smile on her lips she disappeared, leaving the little girl standing quietly in the hall. Kim never cried when she was left like that, but something in her said that they shouldn't have left the house that night. It's strange how our tiny voices are so right sometimes. With her forehead pressed against the cold window and her breath forming steam on the pane, the girl waited for hours on the return of the two people she loved most in the world. But they never came. Even before the police informed that Mr. and Mrs. Winter had been in a terrible car accident, Kim knew that they were dead.

Without any other living relatives, Kim was taken care of by the social services. Within short, she moved in with two perfect foster parents; Anya and Thomas Neeson. Admittedly they were young and inexperienced, but they loved children and were furthermore brought up with discipline. That's why they were considered excellent candidates, because they knew exactly how a child was to be handled so it didn't grow up to be a respect less monster. When it came to Kim, they had nothing be afraid of. She was very well-mannered and used to not always get what she wanted. Anya loved her new daughter from the moment she met the little black-haired girl. For Thomas it took a little longer to get used to her, but he was never disagreeable or anything like that. At first everything seemed to be normal and Kim adapted very quickly. Still, the family was turned upside-down when Thomas was swiftly and without any warning transferred to another department within the company. This new job happened to be in Central America.

The death of her parents and the rapid change shook Kim deeply. From that day forth, she began pulling farther and farther away from the rest of the world. However, this only happened in periods, or at least that was the case in the beginning. As time flew by she slid deeper into her own world. She searched for comfort elsewhere than from her new parents. Anya and Thomas didn't know what to do. Maybe it would be enough if they'd take her to the park so she could spend time with other kids in her own age. They were miserably mistaken. Kim showed no interest in playing with others in the sandbox. She just sat for herself under a tree or swung gently back and forth. Nothing changed when Anya was forced to drop the girl of at a day-care when a job opportunity came along.

Kim became extremely depressed, although sometimes she didn't even notice her own sorrow. She was confused and there was no one who understood her. One day a secret dream was born in her heart and the dream never died; She waited day and night for someone, anyone, that would come a take her away to another place. It was perhaps a ridiculous thought, but Kim never quite felt at home here on Earth. There were no restrictions for her imagination. She knew that somewhere out there in the universe there was another form of life. She had no clue for what it was. Something was about to happen. Someone was coming...

By the way. The first text in italics, it's not my own life story. It's a kind of a um...note. It's true meaning will be revealed later in the story.