POV may be a little wierd in this chapter. ;) It turned out way longer than I intended it to be.

Anyways, enjoy :3

[Beauty Meets the Beast]

Darkness...

That was all Eva could see as she drifted through the void of nothingness.

She couldn't tell how long this had been continuing nor did she care where she was or why this was happening. Just as long as the pain was gone, nothing else mattered...

After what seemed like an eternity, there was a sudden flash of light...and an echoing voice...

"Did you think of a name for our daughter?"

It sounded familiar...Yes, it was definitely her mother. Confusion filled her wonder: Was she in a dream?

"Eva..." replied a voice. It was male, but for some reason, it sounded strange and unrecognizable. She could barely see the two dark figures, one taller than the other, standing over her cradle in a bright room.

Cradle?

Before Eva could focus her thoughts, she felt something beside her stir. She turned her head and met the icy blue stare of a baby. There was tickle in her brain as she looked up at the small dangling shapes above her. Slowly, they began to move.

"Yes...that's the perfect name." continued the taller figure,"It's a human name, but it suits her. She'll represent the symbol of a new life and the union of both of our species."

"But...what about our son? No wait..." Clair's voice was filled with uncertainty and sadness, "Perhaps...they could name him...it's for the best after all...he would be able to live a normal life..."

There was a heavy sob, "No...I just can't...what mother would keep one child and abandon the other?"

The tall dark figure embraced the smaller one. "It's a difficult decision...but where we'll go, he cannot come. Our daughter is different, she'll be able to adapt...You cannot stay here either, I know what has afflicted you and I know where to find the cure." The voice almost trailed off, "However, there is something I must do before I have a chance to take the two of you with me..."

The tall figure then reached out a hand and brushed Eva gently on the cheek. "And I promise with all my heart...to return."

Eva felt an overwhelming want to touch the warmth and stretched out her small fingers to the source...only to hit a barrier...

No...it felt like...glass?

Eva's eyes suddenly flew open as she felt the warm liquid around her drain. The tips of her fingers were touching the tank.

So it was a dream after all. But why did it feel so real?

She then spotted the blood on the observation control window and immediately knew something was wrong. Exactly how long had she been unconscious?

The woman frantically glanced around the room. It was empty. Too empty.

Where the hell did everyone go?

Even as questions were flooding nonstop into her fuzzy mind, she was certain about one thing: she had to escape.

According to Isaac, the tank was made to prevent even the strongest human on earth from breaking free.

...Or so he said.

It didn't stop the woman from pummeling at the thick glass, which to her surprise, cracked and shattered. With trembling fingers, she ripped off the needles on her and carefully avoided the sharp borders of the broken glass as she climbed out. Her muscles twitched when she wobbled towards the table that had her belongings. Before reaching the trays, however, her legs decided to give in and the woman hit her head on the corner of the table as she collapsed to the ground.

An irritated groan escaped from her numb lips.

Perhaps this was a mistake. Her body was still numb and rigid. There was no way she could go anywhere in her current condition.

Eva clenched her fist. Giving up wasn't what she had in mind.

Mustering whatever strength she had left, Eva struggled to get up and attempted to balance herself while clutching onto the edge of the table. It wasn't nearly as bad as she thought. If she could stand, she could probably walk. Just as Eva really looked closely at the large trays through her cloudy vision, she noticed it was empty, except for her locket.

"Great." she grumbled as she clasped the chain around her neck. Her shirt and pants were missing.

On the bright side, she was at least in her bra and underwear. Had she been naked, it would've troubled her more. It seemed having no clothes was the least of her problems. The entrance of the testing area refused to budge as Eva tried to open it. What she needed was a keycard and to her disappointment, there were none in sight.

The woman sighed. If the metal door won't open, then she would just have to use brute force. Without a second thought, she yanked at a pipe from the wall. Again, the newfound strength amazed her as the metal tube easily came off. She was sure it was tightly nailed to the wall.

Raising the pipe, Eva swung and crushed the access device. It gave off a few sparks and began to smoke, but the entrance remained locked.

"Right," said Eva dryly, "like smashing things would solve anything."

As she stood staring at the stubborn door, she noticed her braid was still dripping wet. She decided to untie it and let the long dark layered hair fall over her shoulders. Something suddenly caught her attention. There was a large vent near the ceiling above the entrance. Eva tried to concentrate her thoughts on the lid, but the sharp sting that came from her temples broke her mental effort. It was more intense than she had ever felt before.

Eva bit her lip. Isaac had lied. After all these years, he never even considered removing the rods despite what he had promised 12 years ago. She had long learned to control her ability and had doubted the man for quite a while. Just what else was he lying about?

It took several minutes before the woman concluded that the best option was to climb up the pipes. She ripped off the covering and disappeared into the opening.

A pair of cloaked eyes above in the observation window had been watching her the entire time...

Eva crawled through the tight space until she saw another cover and decided to drop down. The blinking lights from above made her dizziness worse. In order to steady herself, she placed her hand on the wall as she walked down the wide white corridor.

When she turned the left corner, she nearly lost her footing. In front of her was huge gap. Whatever caused it seemed to have started from the floor above. She looked behind her. The other path was blocked off by fallen debris. There was no other option. This was the only route left. If she wanted to escape, she would have to jump.

But was that even possible? The distance to the other side seemed so far away. Just one mistake and she would be tumbling down into a dark abyss...

"Shit." Eva appeared to be extremely troubled as she balled her fist and peered into the gap.

Across from her, Shadow crossed his cloaked arms over his chest as he observed the human. The woman had walked as close to the fallen debris as possible and then turned.

The predator clicked his mandibles. Surely, this human wouldn't be foolish enough to...

Eva ran...and leapt. Her legs felt like springs as they left the ground. Within a millisecond in midair, she realized she was going to miss her intended landing spot...by an inch. As she fell, an invisible clawed hand suddenly caught her arm and lifted her away from the opening. When her feet touched the floor, the adrenaline rushing through her body made her heart pound like crazy.

There was a crackling sound and a 7'5" tall masked humanoid materialized before her. The woman took note of his various weapons and started stepping back until her back hit the wall.

"W-," The words she wanted to say became stuck in her throat.

Shadow tilted his head and inspected the human. Now this was interesting. Not only did this woman display an abnormal amount of strength in the dome-like room, but she also had guts and leapt far beyond what would be possible for her kind.

Behind the bio-mask, the predator continued examining her. One of his vision modes picked up something peculiar. He had never seen a human with natural purple eyes before.

As Eva felt him eyeing her body, she remembered just how much skin she was revealing due to the lack of clothing. Her face suddenly went beet red. The flustered woman raised her hand to touch her cheek and began to actually notice the predator's physical attributes: his golden ringed jet black dreadlocks, olive-khaki skin, the string of trophies over his massive chest, and overall masculine build. She silently cursed herself and shyly looked away.

What was wrong with her? Since when did she find a total brute looking stranger to be...captivating? The very idea made her face grow even redder.

Shadow found her reaction to be quite amusing. The woman heard an audible clicking noise and a sound that seemed like...laughter? Was he actually laughing?

She nervously turned her head to the right and noticed a handgun lying nearby on the floor. It was covered in strange slimy goo. She slowly inched towards it. Maybe if she could just reach it...

The predator suddenly reached out his arm and slammed his clawed hand against the wall right next to Eva's head, startling her. He was so busy trying to stop her that he didn't notice a black bony tail whipped out of the hole and lashed at him. He growled in frustration as he lost balance. For the first time in his life, he had allowed himself to be distracted by a human.

Shadow corrected himself. For the first time in his life, he found himself attracted to a human female.

A large xenomorph leapt out and pounced at Shadow. While the predator battled the creature, his mask got knocked off. Eva tried to get away when a second xenomorph climbed out and attacked her. She dodged backwards and lost her footing. Her back slammed to the ground. As she hastily scooted away, the xenomorph turned its glossy eyeless black head towards her and hissed. Extending its sharp tail, it jumped. Eva rolled away just in time before the tail could touch her. Had she been a second slower, it would've impaled her. Without thinking, she quickly reached for the handgun and opened fire on the hideous creature above her.

Big mistake.

Although the bullets injured the xenomorph, its gooey yellowish green blood dripped on her right hand and forearm, melting the gun in the process. The woman yelped in pain as the acidic substance burned her. Shadow immediately snapped his head toward her, seized the xenomorph by the tail, and smashed it toward the one he was fighting. Both creatures were flung over to the other side of the gap. He then fired his plasma caster at the xenomorphs and killed them before they had a chance to leap over. The predator then rushed over to the woman. What he saw intrigued him and he grabbed her arm to take a closer look.

The acid should've eaten through her flesh, but instead, there was just a swollen red rash. Shadow found this to be utterly fascinating. Eva, however, was shocked as she studied his facial features.

She had been saved by this...monster?

Shadow noticed her expression. Without warning, he suddenly roared and flared his mandibles at her. To his surprise, the woman didn't even flinch. In fact, she was now curiously looking into his golden yellow eyes...and then glared at him.

Eva tried to free her arm from his firm grip. It seemed he was far stronger than her. Shadow let go and walked back to pick up his fallen bio-mask. When he put it on, he could tell it was malfunctioning. He took it off and decided to carry it instead. Before the woman could open her mouth to say something, the predator activated his cloaking device.

Well at least he didn't kill her she thought. Still, she couldn't get the image of him out of her head. Before turning the new corner of the hall, she looked back over her shoulder, hoping to catch a glimpse of the predator...but she saw nothing...

Eva had managed to get all the way up to B-56 without a single encounter of xenomorphs. Along the way, she had picked up another slime covered handgun. The underground facility was getting too creepy. Not only were there no one alive in sight, but there were also gooey substances and pits all over the place. The dead bodies that she had passed by all had a hole in their chest, as if something had bursted out of them. Every room seemed messy. It was clear that everyone was in a hurry to leave. Signs of struggle were obviously present and there were abandoned weapons everywhere. In her heart, Eva knew that she had been left behind.

But what of her friends? Had something ill befallen them too? She couldn't bear the thought of it. Shaking her head, she dismissed the depressing feelings and continued to walk through the ghostly halls...

Unknown to the woman, Shadow had been silently following her. He had been pondering to himself the whole time. The more he wondered about this mysterious human female, the more he wanted her as his mate. This deeply troubled him. He came from a long line of royal ancestry and was educated with the importance of keeping the bloodline pure. Ever since he was a youngling, he and his siblings had been taught that the hunt itself was the only goal of a hunter. No other desires shall obstruct the thrill of the hunt. That was the rule along with the code of honor.

In the Yautja society, taking a human for a mate was just absurd. Having a relationship or marriage with another species was strictly forbidden. To do so would result in the punishment of losing one's ranking and honor, being marked as a bad blood, or worse, death. The death penalty did not apply to just his species, but to each and every other humanoid extraterrestrials out there.

Nevertheless, Shadow found himself enchanted and enthralled by the woman's beauty and strength. His heart fluttered at the very notion of it.

The predator's thoughts were interrupted when he saw the human abruptly stop and turn towards a metal door.

Eva was certain that she heard a moan of pain coming from behind the entrance. A goo covered keycard was lying on the floor. It was clear that whoever the owner was tried to open the door...but failed. She picked it up and hesitantly swiped the card across the access device.

As the door opened, Eva froze and her eyes widened in horror.

To be continued...