5. P R E D A T O R S : Nightmares

Part I: CHAPTER VI

Xirxine International's newest interns, D'kala N'chaba and Kia Sosoto, were having the time of their lives.

The two panther Felinians had never had trouble fitting in with the outside world, as it was easy for them to conceal their true nature from others. This allowed them to do things other Havenites could only dream of doing, such as venturing about in public without fear of prejudice or inciting terror.

It also allowed them to go ice-skating at the Horst Dohm Eisstadion.

D'kala watched as Kia performed a flawless quadruple lutz-triple toe loop combination before following it up with a beautiful triple axel. "Wunderbar," he said, congratulating her with polite applause. "Perhaps you should've been a professional skater."

"Thought about it," Kia admitted as she glided past him with her hands behind her back. "Didn't care enough. Just because I'm good at something doesn't mean I wanna do it."

"Noted." D'kala skated over to her side and added, "I suppose you'd be more inclined to hockey, anyways. You know, slamming people against the boards and all that."

Kia shot him a look before grabbing his arm, spinning around, and throwing him up against the side of the rink.

D'kala hit the boards hard and had no time to recover before Kia had pinned him against them. "You mean like that?" she asked coyly.

"Something like that, yes," D'kala wheezed.

Kia laughed and kissed him. "Obviously, you aren't cut out for hockey," she said after pulling away and releasing D'kala.

"Of course not," D'kala replied cheekily. "I'm Nigerian."

"You know what that sounds like, DK?"

"What?"

"Self-racism."

D'kala grinned. "It's not racist if it's true."

-

After about twenty more minutes of skating, the couple exited the rink and found that the sun had already mostly set. They headed to the parking lot, where their employee vehicle sat.

Their path to the vehicle was impeded, however, when a pair of tall, well-built young men walked around it, revealing themselves. "Guten abend, kinder," the one on the right said, flashing a grin. "Where are you two headed on such a lovely night?"

"...Home," Kia responded after some hesitation. "Where're you two headed?"

The men shared a glance and chuckled before turning back to face the Felinians. "Just looking for a bar, frauline," the second man answered innocently. "And some cash to buy drinks."

"If you want charity, you're talking to the wrong girl," Kia growled, growing apprehensive.

"Kia." D'kala rested a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder before narrowing his catlike eyes at the men. "If you're attempting to mug us, I'd suggest you turn back before you bite off more than you can chew."

"Oh, ja?" The first man stepped forward. "Ah... you're a couple of Xirxine freaks, aren't you?" he deduced, gesturing to the van. "Heading back to your cage?"

"Ve don't need your type around here," the second man put in with a sneer. "But ve're feeling generous, ja? So give us ze money and ve'll be on our vay."