Ashley looked at her again, and smiled, his expression lightening considerably now.

"Yes!" he said enthusiastically.

Then, before Anya could really have the chance to touch it, herself, Ashley grabbed Lindsay's pack, as well as his own, and hoisted them both onto his back, one on each shoulder.

"I'll take these in and set them by the stairs." he told her.

"Lindsay can take them upstairs."

Ashley smiled at her when she said that.

"All right." he said, eagerly heading inside. As he did, she saw a bit of a spring to his step, and she could tell that what he had witnessed was not something that was going to weigh down on him too much.

He seemed like the sort that would bounce back from a LOT.

For the next 4 months or so, the three of them lived peacefully and happily together. The boys had gone out camping, as usual, and while Lindsay remained blissfully ignorant of what went on while they were gone, Ashley had definitely come to terms with it, and had obviously not told Lindsay. He figured that he didn't need to know. Raph had even shown up a few times and they had properly met him... and while Anya knew that Raph didn't exactly get along with kids the greatest, he seemed to be just fine in interacting with Ashley and Lindsay.

Though she guessed the fact that they were victims of Vanessa, and they were her adopted boys, caused him to have slightly more patience and compassion for them, and with them.

However, his visits were only about once a month... which was why it was weird that he had appeared in the home suddenly, not a week and a half after a previous visit, late in the evening.

He looked around frantically, before calling out, his voice a little on the panicked side.

"Anya!"

"..." he was silent as he saw that he was being led to the forest that was there, before cursing lightly. He had no idea what to make of this, but he didn't like it. At all. But he had little choice now.

So, he just shook his head.

"Great." he said.

"Anya!" he then called out, though he tried to be a little more quiet now, for some reason.

"Anya, you around!?" he asked, as he started to look around for her.

'...am I too late...?' he then thought worriedly.

Raphael looked over towards her, and he saw that she was covered in blood. Normally he would be a little more intelligent and wise about this, but with what was going through his mind, he was jumping to conclusions.

"Damn it." he cursed.

"Did they already get here?" he asked her.

"Are the boys all right?" he then asked further, before noticing that she seemed more... confused, than anything else.

"Wait..." he mumbled. "Who's... or what... blood is that?" he inquired.

"...a bear." Raph responded, before shaking his head.

"Right, not the time." he said.

"Anya, there's a travelling group of... performers." he told her. "Dancers, musicians, some fortune tellers, a small band, and they're travelling from town to town." he said further.

"...but they're not performers. It's a ruse. A disguise." he continued.

"They're hunters. Specifically, demon hunters and exorcists." he warned. "They're going from town to town, destroying spirits and demons. And they're NOT to be taken lightly." he went on.

"They have relics to aid them."

Raphael was surprised to hear the celestial curses, but he shook his head to get him back to reality.

"They'll be here in 2 days." he told her.

"Maybe sooner if they pick up their pace." he went on.

"So you should have time to collect SOME things, but... Anya, I'd suggest leaving as soon as possible." he said.

"They don't know you're here... but they WILL. As soon as they start fiddling with their instruments, your presence will be a pillar of darkness for them."

Raph nodded in response.

"Of course." he said.

"I know what you need to take with you when you need to bail on a place, I know what you don't care about, and I know where to take your special possessions where they'll be safe, until you find a new place." he told her.

"And you know I'm quick." he went on.

"By the time you get back to the house, your travel bags will have been packed, and I'll spend the rest of the time getting your important things away from this place."

Lindsay and Ashley were confused, to say the least, and they seemed a little concerned by her urgency. But they knew better than to argue. So, they did as she said, and packed their bags as quickly as possible.

"...why?" Ashley then asked.

"What's going on?" he asked her.

"I would like to know that as well." Lindsay agreed.

"Are we in danger or something?" he inquired.

The boys paused for a moment.

"...so... so we have to leave... because of US?" Ashley asked. "If we weren't here, then you wouldn't have to leave?" he asked further.

"I think it's less that, more... we have to leave, as opposed to fight." Lindsay responded. "She said she can take them on, herself, if we weren't here." he told him. "However, even if she were to fight them, and defeat them, the odds are all-but-certain, that she would still need to leave the town, considering what would happen in the ensuing conflict." he reasoned.

"So it's because of US that, instead of fighting them and then fleeing, we are simply fleeing." he stated.

"...oh." Ash mumbled.

"Unless I read that wrong?" Lindsay then asked Anya.

The boys quickly finished up packing, looked at each other, and then dashed to where they were beside her, on either side.

"What do we do about the house?" Ashley asked.

"And everything inside it?" he asked further.

"Sadly, I doubt we'll be able to do anything for them." Lindsay sighed. "Considering just how hurried she is, I get the feeling we may already be on borrowed time." he lamented.

"..." Ashley was silent, obviously not liking hearing that.