The throne room was silent. Mir had settled on a crimson sofa and was drawing patterns in the velvet. The Count, a motionless statue of black cloak perched on his throne with a magazine. Both Erin and Ingrid had retreated to their respective rooms after the hunt but Mir wanted to spend some time around his nonchalant father. He'd deal with Erin and her indecision later.
As the silence drew out the air became thick with mutual curiosity. He remained quiet. After a decent stress-relieving meal and a breath of Ingrid's manipulation Mir realised his aggressive tactic with his estranged family did him no favours. Chey was right, he was too damn impulsive. This would stop until he knew where he stood with this house of vampires.
Count Dracula twitched regally in the corner of Mir's eye. Peering at him and the fact he seemed to be doing nothing at all. He could sense the question coming.
"How much do you remember?"
Mir snickered. "Not one for small talk are you?" He ran a hand over the surface of the sofa erasing a lazily drawn pistol. "And the answer is nothing. If this place was my home… The memories I had here are gone."
The patriarch said nothing and turned the page of his magazine. A red headline reading CHOSEN ONE DEAD briefly caught Mir's eye. He dropped his head and began scribbling on the sofa arm again.
Count Dracula shifted. "You shouldn't trust the half fang."
He shook his head. "Ingrid said that too." It would've been nice if they were a little less vague. "But it's not like either of you have given me reason to trust you."
This world he'd stepped back into was world of half truths and rotating distrust. No one wanted to give too much away, but everyone wanted him to believe them. It left him confused and wondering; where did he fit?
"I am your father," The elder vampire said as if it mattered. "And you are my son." He watched Mir expectantly, earning a laugh from the youth.
"What difference does that make?"
Once again, lurking in Vlad's room like a secret lover, Erin eased Mr Cuddles from the back of the shelf.
The bear's glossy eyes bored into her, seeing nothing. He smelled of Vlad, his aftershave, failed dreams and unrelenting hope. Not like Mir. Mir smelled like bitterness, all attitude and ice. Bristling like a cornered animal.
As if on cue the man of her thoughts slipped into the room. "Erin." He spoke her name as if it was precious, like how he said Cheyenne's name, Jonno's name and Russ'. "What are you doing here?"
His eyes lowered, arctic blue coming to rest on the stuffed animal clutched in her hands.
Erin pinched Mr Cuddle's ears. "After what Ingrid said… I thought you might want ah…"
"An explanation?" Mir smiled. The vampire shivered. She wondered why all her confidence and control had abandoned her. "I know why you haven't told me everything. And I know why you stop yourself talking to me."
He looked into her. A glance of his eyes enough to electrify their bond again.
She shuddered away from him. It was too much – too enticing and too repelling. He wore Vlad's face but he carried Mir's frozen heart.
Just meeting eyes with him was too much. It made her feel like she was too big for her body. All anger and fear and pain and loathing and loving trapped inside. It made her feel like the entire ocean was inside of her.
"Why have I?" Her voice was almost weak. She doubted he could truly understand. It was too big for her. It was certainly too big for Mir.
He shrugged as if he knew what she was thinking. Maybe he did. "I know you're torn Erin. I know you want to kill me. And I know you want to love me."
The floorboards creaked as Mir edged forward. Erin didn't and then they were nose-to-nose. She remembered being this close to him before. "You. Repel. Me." The hurt that accompanied the memory startled her, because she hadn't thought she'd cared. "I..." The words died in her throat.
Mir wrapped his strong arms around her, and she let him. "I'll make it easy for you." He muttered into her ear, his lips brushing the tender skin."No more stalling. No more half answers. No more deceit." His comforting arms suddenly became uncomfortably tight. "You make the decision now, and you mean it. Or I kill you."
She struggled, she really did. But Mir was in control, he was stronger and his touch exhausted her. She lurched away just enough to look him in the eyes and see that he meant it. He looked deadly, almost angry and maybe hurt.
"I..." She trailed off again, burying herself in his death grip. "I don't want to."
Mir pulled her head up, curling a hand around chin. "You have to."
Jonno flexed his fingers. A stab of acute pain shot through his hand. Blinking away tears he took the white bandage and wrapped it around his crimson knuckles, all the while watching the tiny red rivets stream down his arm.
His shattered reflection looked at him. The shards of mirror littered the floor. He'd have to replace it. Again.
He supposed it could've been worse. Last time he'd broken a mirror it had been at HQ, something he couldn't hide from.
His mobile lay discarded across the room, the screen flashing as he received multiple text messages from the guild. Jonno doubted that answering them would bring him any relief. He was too conflicted for this.
Yet again he was left at a crossroads. He could either out Vlad to the guild and suffer the consequences or wait until the guild found out on their own and be branded a traitor.
"Oh hell..." The slayer sighed. If only it could be black and white again. The plain old 'vamps are bad, slayers good' mentality that had kept him both sane and guilt-free. Now he lived in a world of moral dilemmas and the sick coil of guilt in one's stomach.
His phone bleeped again causing Jonno's internal monlogue to stutter. He. Couldn't. Do. Anything. He couldn't condemn Vlad again, not just because his conscience couldn't stand the blow but because he didn't even know it he could kill Vlad and he couldn't hide from the guild because they were the only people who'd take him - the only people in the world who could possibly understand his experiences.
He got unsteadily to his feet and picked his way out of the bathroom, trying to avoid getting any of the glass splinters in his bare feet. Beside the door was his phone resting on the table and he picked it up.
*4 new messages* Three of them were from his mobile provider, the fourth and most recent however was from HQ.
HQ - You didn't check in from patrol last night, are you safe and unharmed?
Jonno typed a quick response.
JVH - Had a bad run in with a vamp but otherwise unharmed.
The slayer thought about Ingrid and her threat. He was uninjured and physical fine but the mental draw was dragging him down and with the world he lived in and the people he knew – he didn't think he'd ever be safe.