Livia saw a crowd of armed men at her door. Apparently, today would not be her day off.
"Good morning to all. I'm glad you care about me, but it's all right," the doctor sounded confident "It's not exactly a Darkstalker, but a vampire hunter who's here."
There was a tumult. She continued:
"Yesterday night the vampire who is tormenting us tried to attack me, and this hunter saved my life. He intends to destroy him."
People were noisy again until Donovan came out, then there was absolute silence. People stared at the hunter followed by a little girl.
"I won't leave until Demitri is destroyed," Donovan said calmly to the crowd, but even so, some men pointed their guns at him. Livia stood in front of them.
"Can't you listen? He's here to help!"
"How can we know?" A man shouted.
Livia was ready to answer when an agonizing scream interrupted her.
"Demons! Run!" A young man shouted before he was torn apart by a winged demon.
A terrible uproar broke out. How on Earth could demoniac creatures attack at daylight?
"Everyone inside!" The mayor yelled as he ran.
"Take Anita and everyone you can from here," Donovan warned Livia. He remained unshakable.
Livia gathered Anita and other people and took them inside her office, beside her house. She drew a magic circle of salt around them.
"Stay calm and stay inside it!"
Livia and all of them were panicking. Anita was the only one who was quiet. She wished she'd be with Donovan.
Armed soldiers arrived to fight against a hundred of undead and demoniac Darkstalkers, they had a golden aura that seemed to protect them. The monsters drew up and roared. Donovan remained centered on his meditation. Suddenly his sword flew and beheaded several monsters. The creatures advanced furiously while men attacked them shooting.
The others inside tried to be as quiet as possible while they heard the scariest sounds coming outside. Livia was pacing around, thinking about the wounded she could not help. She opened a slit of the curtain and saw Donovan surrounded by a dozen demons. The darkstalkers outnumbered humans. The hunter fought with fire and ice, literally. Elemental beings came out of his sword and destroyed the undead. He noticed the humans had a new strategy: groups from 7-10 men gathered to shot one undead at a time. Donovan heard a female voice shouting "steady, fire!" and when he turned around, he saw Livia armed with a sword, dismembering demons and undead. Her fighting style was messy but effective. When she saw Donovan she winked and smiled.
"I told you to stay inside!" Donovan shouted.
"And let you have all the fun- aaaaaaahhhhh" A winged demon raised Livia and carried her away.
"Let me go, bastard!" Livia called it of all sorts of names until she had the "brilliant" idea of piercing the creature's belly. Its insides fell on her and then she started to fall.
Livia closed her eyes and felt a huge thud followed by the wind against her face. When she opened her eyes again, she was on Donovan's arms. He held her while he surfed in the air on his broadsword. Livia held on his neck and faced him, too afraid to look down.
"You're a stubborn woman, Livia" He scolded but Livia just buried her face on his neck and took a deep breath. The hunter felt her heart was a drum. Soon, they landed.
"I need you to take the others away and protect yourselves, fast," Donovan put her on the floor carefully, Livia thanked him and ran. How could that woman be pretty even covered in blood and guts?
After people drew back, Donovan allowed the demons to get closer. Then, he plunged his sword into the floor saying words in an ancient language. There was a great explosion followed by a graveyard silence.
Livia and the soldiers got up slowly. The creatures were burned and dead. When people looked at the horizon, they saw Donovan walking unharmed. People screamed joyfully as they left their houses. Anita ran to Donovan and Livia did the same shortly after, covering his face with kisses while he remained still. People carried them in celebration.
Later, Donovan braided Anita's hair while the city authorities apologized, thanked, and welcomed him in the city. Thanks to everyone's efforts that was not a massacre and most people would recover well.
Livia was attending at the hospital when a nurse came to her. Difficult labor. Despite being a skillful surgeon, births always caused Livia to be nervous. And everything seemed wrong with Mrs. Ardeal and her baby. She was too weak and there was no other solution than an emergency cesarean section. The survival chances were few. Livia left to get her scalpel and came back, so worried that she could not see the little Anita coming inside the room.
Anita watched everything with her little numb eyes and touched the woman's belly.
"Anita! You can't…"
Livia was bewildered. An intense silver glow left Anita's hands and followed to the woman. Anita's braids floated and her eyes sparkled. Everything happened so fast, soon the baby was born naturally, surprising everyone. Livia examined baby and mother, they seemed fine as they never had any complication. Livia then removed Anita of the room. She didn't know what to ask first.
"Anita… what did you do?"
"The baby was at the wrong side…"
Livia was more bewildered than before. How could she know?
"Sometimes I see things people can't see. I don't know why" Anita answered as if she could read Livia's thoughts.
Livia took a deep breath. How a little girl could have such a huge power? She decided to stop asking, some things had no explanation at all. Livia crouched down and faced Anita.
"You did something really good. Thank you."
"I'm tired."
Livia took Anita to one of the resident rooms and put her to sleep.
"Rest here. If you need anything just call me."
Anita nodded and Livia went to the laboratory. She examined a demon's hand, taking samples of it to her microscope. She wanted to know why they were walking on sunlight. That "aura" seemed strangely familiar. Someone knocked and opened the door.
"Excuse me, have you seen Anita?" Donovan asked her.
"Yes, she's sleeping in the next room. She used her powers to help to deliver a baby. Unbelievable."
"She must be exhausted. What are you doing?" Donovan stared at the darkstalker's hand.
"Trying to discover how they walked on sunlight. I've never seen such a thing."
"Neither did I," Donovan looked into the lab and opened a closet. He found blood samples. "What is this?"
"That's vampire's blood. My family spent years searching for a cure for its influence. Mostly my grandfather. They never got anything. The vampiric cells always absorbed the good ones."
"That's corrupted blood, it should be destroyed," Donovan said with disgust. He seemed so dark that Livia regretted what she said. She removed her protection equipment and reached him.
"My father gave up on it and I never really was interested. I don't even know why they're here anymore." She tried to distract him. "Well, it's not evening yet. How about a drink? On me, since you saved me again." She touched his hands seductively and smiled but Donovan deviated from her touch.
"You should stop risking yourself."
He said coldly and Livia felt rejected.
"I got it. I'm sorry" Livia threw the darkstalker's hand away and took off her gloves. She hated to be a lonely woman as people said.
"I guess I'm going to stay here. You and Anita can stay home." She knocked the keys at the table and tried to leave but Donovan held the door.
"Wait, Livia… Don't think like this. You aroused my interest the moment I saw you, but I can't, don't you see? I'm a half-vampire, a monster able to kill without distinction. I have the bad cells and they try to absorb me every single day. If I lose control I… I want to protect you, not just from Demitri but from myself too."
When Donovan finished telling his story, his eyes were watered. Livia never imagined how that dhampir was tormented by guilt.
"Donovan, I'm so sorry," She caressed his face and looked in his eyes "It must be terrible but I know you're still a good man. You take care of Anita as a father and you've saved countless lives, including mine. You're still human and it's not fair to keep punishing yourself like this."
"I can't forget it," Donovan buried his face in her chest and cried. She caressed his hair and tried to comfort him.
After he pulled himself together, Livia tried to kiss his face friendly, but to her surprise, Donovan turned and kissed her lips. She kissed him back. They both sighed together in that warm embrace. The hunter fondled her gently, for he feared to hurt her. Livia melted as she wondered how a man so tough could be so sweet. Suddenly the door opened and they stopped immediately. Anita was there.
"It's getting dark," The girl said as she placed her doll against her chest.
"Yes, I'll take you both home if you want to. Then I'll track Demitri."
Donovan and Livia tried to act natural as they walked back to Livia's place. The girls were too tired to follow him, besides they seemed to get along well.