He turned the corner unaware of the pair of eyes following his every move from the top of a nearby building. He turned and looked behind as he increased his pace to a march and hurried along the dreary back alley. Ducking into the nearest doorway he checked up and down the alleyway again.

"Someone's following me", he thought. "I can feel it".

He took a deep breath, sighing, and continued deep into the alley. This feeling didn't scare him, it just sent off a little alarm signal inside his head, something to be weary of. Lucas Church was a holy avenger, a modern day vigilante, punishing those who would otherwise never be brought to justice. And he was good at it. There were some murmurings between the unsavoury inhabitants of Shadowglen that an avenger was in the city. These murmurings were rife around the seedy underbelly. Other than this, no one knew of Lucas' existence or of his nightly patrols ... or so he thought.

He arrived at his usual perch, his waiting spot at the heart of where all the back alleyways crossed paths, where all the "business" took place. It was in the shadows of this doorway where he was crouched that his mother had come to her untimely death and just metres from where his father and uncle had come to theirs. It was where he felt closest to them; where he drew strength and found purpose so that others would not feel the agony that he had suffered.

He quietly sighed, another quiet night. Out of nowhere something jumped in front of him. It was a girl. He jumped to his feet and got himself into an attack position.

A wide grin came across her face as he gasped and growled, "What are you doing, trying to get yourself killed? It isn't safe around here."

She giggled a high pitch laugh as she turned around, walking arms outstretched like she was walking on a tightrope. "Dangerous? Hardly. You haven't spotted anyone around here in how many weeks now?" She turned back towards him with that wide smile reappearing across her face.

"... Except maybe for me, that is."

Lucas, looking displeased, thought to himself, "I knew someone was following me."

Lucas relaxed slightly as he looked over at her and was immediately taken aback by her solemn face. She had been all smiles since she appeared a few minutes ago.

She looked down at her feet and said, "I know this is serious. And I'm really not some giggly schoolgirl, I... I just wanted you to trust me. To not attack me the second you saw me." She paused for a second before looking up at Lucas and continued on with what she was saying, "I want to help you."

Lucas was unsure what expression had come across his face, he felt furious but somehow, despite this, the girl came and stood beside him in the shadows and then crouched down.

"I'm Kristen", she said softly up at him.

"Lucas", he replied. Without putting up a fight, a fight he sensed he'd lose, he, too, crouched down and stared off into the dark night once again.

And then there was silence again.

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