The two stared at each other for a long time, neither one saying a word. Each of them had their own thoughts.

Why did he save me? Anita wondered. What did he have to gain?

I wonder why those people wanted to hurt this girl. Donovan thought to himself. They were obviously frightened of her, but why would somebody be afraid of a child?

He looked deeply into her eyes. He saw something, something familiar. She looked so sad, yet she didn't seem like she was going to cry. It was as if pain was a natural part of her life. He had been like that before: no hope, no compassion, and no direction in life. He was sure that the cause was the same.

"Darkstalkers..." He muttered.

Anita was surprised to hear the word. How did he know about the Darkstalkers?

It was then that she remembered the man that Tim had talked about. Was this him? It obviously wasn't a normal human, if he was human at all. He was able to make that lightning bolt strike his sword, and he wasn't even hurt by it! He definitely wasn't human. She also felt something from Donovan. She could feel how his spirit was mixed with a soul of a Darkstalker and of a human.

He was like her.

What about Darkstalkers? She mentally asked him.

Donovan was a bit surprised to hear the voice in his head, but not too much. He had seen and heard stranger things. It was very unusual for most people to be telepathic though, especially a child.

"You've seen them, haven't you?" He asked her.

Have you?

"Yes, many times."

So have I. I see them almost everywhere.

"Are you afraid of them?" Donovan asked her with a serious look on his face.

Why should I be? She said to both herself and him. They never hurt me, just the humans that I'm around.

Humans? Donovan had never heard that term being used by another person being to describe someone.

Donovan closed his eyes and furrowed his brow. "It's not your fault that those people died."

Of course it is. I make them come.

Donovan's eyes flashed open. "You can call Darkstalkers?"

Anita could tell that Donovan was a little hostile at what she had said. She wasn't actually afraid of him, but she could sense that he wasn't too fond of Darkstalkers. She decided to choose her next words carefully.

That's what I was told. I was told that the Darkstalkers come because I'm around. I must have something to do with it.

Donovan's eyes became softer, but his tone stayed firm. "Whoever told you that is lying. Darkstalkers aren't called; they kill because they are driven by their own evil souls. They corrupt and murder innocent people, just like they're trying to lure you into thinking that way. It was obviously a dark one who told you that you were the cause of the killings."

Humph. Anita thought to herself. That was a good guess. This man certainly knows a lot about Darkstalkers. He's definitely been around some of them, but he doesn't seem to like them at all. What has he been through? His emotions are so hard to sense, but I need to find out more. Maybe I should... keep track of him. Tim said so many nice things about him. Maybe it's worth it to find out what he's really like.

Donovan could see that Anita was deep in thought, probably over his words. From what he could tell, she had had a few encounters with Darkstalkers. They would certainly come again. He knew that Darkstalkers didn't give up following their prey until they were satisfied. That meant that, wherever she went, people were in danger of a Darkstalker attack. He couldn't let them hurt this little girl anymore, or the people she was around. If he could destroy the source of the Darkstalkers, they wouldn't follow her anymore and she wouldn't be a problem.

Then the idea came to him. If Darkstalkers actually followed this girl, then that meant that she was somehow strongly connected to Mikai. She could be his answer to the Darkstalker attacks. She might lead him right to the demon realm. He couldn't just follow her around, that would probably be pointless. It would definitely be best to take her along with him. She wouldn't draw Darkstalkers to other people with no one to stop them, and he would also be closer to controlling or maybe even destroying an important link to the flow of Darkstalkers on the earth. He couldn't pass this up.

Both of them were still considering their options when they heard the sound of someone running. Donovan turned towards the open front door of the church just in time to see a man rush by. He recognized him immediately; it was the boss man! Without a backward glance, Donovan sped out of the church and gave chase. He wouldn't lose him this time!

The boss man had no idea that anyone was following him. Only one thought was in his head at the moment: get out of this town. He did not want to have to face that guy with the big sword. For one thing, he didn't have his gun; it was lost in the explosion. Also, he was pretty sure that this guy wasn't too happy about being held at gunpoint. He didn't plan to die today. The boss man kept running.

Meanwhile, Anita was trying to follow Donovan's path. When he ran out, she had made up her mind to follow him. Unfortunately, Donovan had gotten a head start, and Anita was a lot slower than he was. He couldn't go too fast though, his surroundings were a little narrow and there were lots of back alleys. He couldn't afford to miss the boss man if he had ducked into one of the alleys.

After running through the main part of the town, the boss man had made it to the outskirts of town. The main road laid a little distance away, and a small truck was parked there. It was his ticket to freedom.

Whenever they made a shipment, the boss man made a point of sending another truck or two a little while after the first one had gone. In fact, his men were required to follow every shipment's path. He was very lucky that this truck recognized him and stopped.

The driver of the truck got out to welcome his boss, but he was confused as to why he seemed so upset.

"Quick!" The boss man said to him as he ran up to the truck. "There's someone looking for me! Let's go!"

The driver immediately reached under his seat and pulled out a handgun. He motioned for the boss man to get inside of the truck.

Donovan was a little behind the boss man, but not much. He was running down a path towards the city outskirts. He could see a truck from where he was, but it didn't seem to be moving. As he got closer, he could see somebody standing next to the truck. He couldn't make them out very clearly, but it seemed to be a man, and he was facing Donovan's direction.

Suddenly, Donovan heard a gunshot. He heard it ricochet off of the ground close to him. He soon heard several other shots, but he wasn't going to stand around waiting to get hit. He ducked into an alley between two houses as soon as other shots were fired.

"Dang it!" The driver had wasted four shots in his round of six, and that was the only one he had. He had better make use of these last two shots.

It was about then that Anita came into view. She was running as fast as she could to keep up, but she had lost track of Donovan. She was looking in every place she passed, but there was no sign of him.

Where did he go? She wondered.

She was surprised when somebody grabbed her arm and pulled her into an alley, but she was a little relieved when she saw that it was Donovan.

"What are you doing?" Donovan asked her with a grave tone. “Somebody's trying to shoot at me and they might have hit you. You have to be careful!"

Donovan looked at Anita, holding her doll tightly with both arms and looking at the ground. He felt so much pity for her. "It's not your fault." He said soothingly. "I shouldn't have left you behind."

Donovan knew that they couldn't stay in the alley for long. They had to get out. He picked her up and held her in his left arm. "Hold on."

He knew that it was very risky to try to escape, but, since the man had missed earlier, Donovan was hoping that he was a bad shot.

The driver was surprised to see Donovan trying to make a break for it, but he quickly regained his composure and fired.

Donovan, when he heard the shot, dived to the left, caught himself with his right hand, pushed off, and continued running towards the truck. He heard the gun fire again and dived to the right.

The driver was panicking; he had missed with his last two shots and the guy was still run towards them. He hurried into the driver's seat and started up the truck.

Donovan was in a bit of pain. His right arm had been grazed by the last shot and it was his only free arm at the moment. He'd been hurt worse by a lucky Darkstalker or two, so this wasn't too bad. At least Anita wasn't hurt. She didn't even seem bothered one bit that she was just shot at; she just held her doll in her arms, and stared straight ahead.

The truck's engine roared to life. Donovan didn't have much time. He sped up and tried to catch the truck before it drove off. He jumped at a handle sticking out from the back of the truck and grabbed it just as the truck started moving.

The truck picked up speed quickly. Donovan was holding on to the handle and he stood on a small platform sticking out from the back, probably used for loading. His plan was to stay with the truck until it brought him to the boss of the Society of the Underworld. He just had to hold on for awhile.

Donovan...

Donovan was thinking so hard about what he was going to do; he almost didn't hear Anita call him. He turned his head towards the little girl, still in his arms.

Donovan, there's something wrong. I feel it.

"What?"

Something's near. Something... dark.

Donovan became alert. He immediately figured that she was talking about Darkstalkers. He wasn't going to leave Darkstalkers to roam about freely. He couldn't just drop Fei Long's mission either. What was he going to do?

It didn't take more than a few seconds for Donovan to decide. He let go of the handle and quickly pulled out Dhylec. He slashed the left back tire to slow the truck down and, holding Anita firmly, jumped off onto a grassy hillside. He landed hard on both feet, but he wasn't hurt. His arm hurt a little from the strain he put on it, but he could bear it. He put away Dhylec and set Anita down on the ground.

"Which way do we go?"

Anita stared into the distance. She sighed heavily, and pointed towards the sun, which was setting. Donovan started walking in that direction and Anita followed him silently.

Later, when it had gotten darker, Donovan and Anita sat next to each other around a fire. The watched silently as it crackled and snapped.

"It seems that we are going to be with each other for a long time." He said to her, still watching the burning flames. "We should get to know one another better. My name is Donovan Baine, a hunter of Darkstalkers. What is your name?"

Anita agreed with Donovan about the fact that they would be together for awhile, and she didn't like traveling with strangers. Well, actually, she didn't like traveling with anybody, but it would be easier if they knew each other. Anita. Anita Raman.

Donovan nodded his head. He didn't expect to get anymore from her. "You should rest. We've had a busy day. I'll stay awake and keep watch. If there are Darkstalkers around, I'll take care of them."

Anita still didn't trust Donovan too much, even though he had saved her twice today from harm. She didn't feel comfortable sleeping around someone she didn't know too well. She thought that it was best to stay though. Besides, he was interesting to watch. She was a little curious about his past too. Maybe he'd say something later. Anyway, she wasn't going to sleep.

So the two both stayed awake for most of the night. They knew that they were close to some sort of danger, but neither was really afraid. It was as if there was a certain comfort in the company of each other.

Anita finally fell asleep at a late hour, and Donovan was getting tired as well. He held Dhylec close to him and said some silent words. He laid it on the fire, and it went out in a little flash.

He put Dhylec into its sheath, which he had taken off, and placed it next to him for easy reach. Then he slept, looking forward to the day ahead.