Olivia skedaddled, and she wasted no time doing so.
After suffering a nasty concussion, courtesy of Erin, Jonno was confined to the guild's hospital wing for the next twelve hours – by the time he was out, the slayer had left and it was almost impossible to get her on the phone.
"Jonno." Was the grunt he received when he finally got through the London Guild's secretary.
"You left in a hurry." And she'd taken some of the other slayers with her, both Peter and Walter had left when Olivia left leaving only Onika.
"You know why I left – this gig is too weird for me." She paused for a moment and then added reluctantly. "As much as we slayers say that the vampires can't change, can't stop killing, I sometimes think it's the other way around."
"You're being super vague." Jonno's fingers drummed nervously on his stake. He could tell they were on the verge of something, just as they were two years before when Sethius was cackling and Vlad kneeled in front of their tent and asked if they would help him. So much had changed… "Are you saying you want me to try and ally with the vampires?"
The other slayer sighed. "I don' know but the longer I stayed in Lancashire the more I was questioning what we do and what the vampires are like. That vampire, the boy, he was sincere and the female vampire was your friend." He wasn't too sure about Erin; she had slammed his head into the wall hard enough to land him in hospital.
"You do remember that both of those vampires just escaped, released the other vampires and injuried both of us…?"
"But they didn't kill us! You know they could have. Ugh." She stopped and the phone line crackled with her breaths. "Why am I on the side of the vampires? I'll just tell you what I think now: I think that if anyone has a chance at peace – you do. You have a connection to both of those vampires that none of the rest of us have or understand."
Neither of them spoke for a moment. Jonno frowned. There was too much between Mir and him to ever patch things up, surely?
"Olivia-"
"Please don't Jonno, I've told you my piece. And don't call again. This business is hurting my head enough as it is."
"-Olivia-"
"Good luck and goodbye."
"-Olivia!" The line went dead and Jonno was left clutching a silent phone.
Mir exited the central room and into one of the back corridors, breathing deeply. Things had been so much easier in his mind. But now, actually re-entering the fold, accepting the responsibility of Chosen One again and trying to decide what to do about the slayers weighed on his conscience. There was still so much rage and fury that he associated with the guild and all they'd done to him. It was hard to believe that he was really trying to do this.
It was that blonde slayer, what she'd said about attempting peace again. Mir laughed quietly to himself; of course it was a blonde slayer that would yet again change his mind about slayers. As if on cue, the other blonde ex-slayer Erin, wandered into the hall he was in.
"What do you think of this?" Mir asked her. It would've been nice to have some support when making this decision but she'd been acting strange, sour all of a sudden. He could feel it in their kisses and in her sharp statements and even her thoughts seemed cold.
"I don't really care about the slayers." Internally Mir scowled, yet another brick wall from Erin. Something had happened between them but he had no idea what.
"Yeah but you care about food, and this changes how we feed."
She shrugged. "I'll work around it." Her head lolled around to look at him as she settled against the wall. The way she looked at him gave him the distinct feeling of being evaluated. There was nothing particular in her expression but there was a strange light in her eyes, as if she was looking at him properly for the first time.
He leaned towards her, allowing her to choose whether to kiss him. There was a delay, and that evaluating look crossed her face but then she filled the gap pressing her lips roughly to his. The delicacy and purity they'd had between them previously was gone and Erin had become fervent, attacking him with kisses containing angry passion and physical attraction.
Mir appreciated her attention either way he got it, he just wondered what had changed.
They pulled apart when the door creaked again and Phaelyss slipped inside.
The vampire shot Erin a look, not unlike the ones she'd been shooting Mir, and she retreated out the door he came through, shoving him as she left.
Mir raised an eyebrow as Erin vanished out of view. "You don't like her, do you?"
Phaelyss twitched. "I don't have to. She's not the Grand High Vampire." He glanced around, checking if anyone was near the corridor and then turned sharply back to Mir. "Do you know what you're doing?"
"Would I have done it otherwise?"
"I don't know." The vampire's eyes narrowed. "But this isn't smart. You're sounding like the person you were before. And I didn't betray Valtov to have you screw things up again."
The air shifted as Mir gave him his full attention. "I don't like what you're suggestingPhaelyss." One decision didn't make him Vlad again. He doubted he could ever be the semi-carefree vampire, not with all the trauma he'd suffered and certainly not with the attention of the entire vampire race upon him. "You don't like my proposal?"
His eyes glittered red in warning. Phaelyss had been a traitor once and Mir was watching him closely.
"No," He said. "I didn't. But honestly, I don't need to. But I'm warning you now-"
"Threatening me, you mean?"
"No I mean warning; I'm not the only one watching you and they'll react worse than me if they think you're just going to pull the same rubbish on us."
Mir nodded. "Noted." He headed towards the door. Erin's kiss had left a craving in him and he wanted to know was wrong with her.
Phaelyss' voice stopped him. "You may be the Chosen One, Dracula, but we don't follow blindly."
"Got it."
"Jonno!" Onika sprinted down the corridor to catch up with him. "You alright? I heard what happened with you, Olive and the vamps." She leapt in step with him, stopping so sharply that her curly ponytail smacked the slayer in the face. She took in the darkening patches of his face and winced. "Ooh. Those look nasty,"
He gingerly pressed a hand to his cheek. "They feel pretty mean too." They rounded a corner and Onika followed Jonno to his intended location: the training room. "I thought you would've gone back to London with Olivia."
"Why would I want to leave?" She shot him a wry grin, "With all the crazy that is going on down here I should get my popcorn. You guys are truly doing something impossible here and I want to watch it all go down."
Something about Onika's excitement puzzled Jonno and he frowned. "Did something happen? Because I don't see us doing anything impossible."
She looked at him dumbly for a moment. "Oh yeah!" The slayer snatched his arm and pulled him around to look at the notice board. "You were in hospital so you didn't hear: the vamps put out a no-kill, no-turn order in this city."
"And you heard this from Merf?" Merf wasn't a slayer, per say, Merf was a middle man between vampires and other creatures. He also acted as a political spy for the slayers for a large monthly sum.
"Yeah – less than 24 hours after they escape they put forward the new policy." She beamed at him. "Whatever you and Olive said to the vamps musta' worked."
"Yeah..." Jonno said numbly. "Must have."
This was massive. Mir wasn't crazy, or he was, depending how you looked at it. Jonno hadn't put stock in what he'd been saying to Olivia; he'd believed that the vampire was too far gone, but he'd done it.
He'd done it again, and started to patch the gap between vampires and humans.
Onika was still smiling at him as the realisation washed over his face. "It's amazing isn't it. The thought that we might actually stop fighting." She pointed at the board. "I signed us up to patrol the most common bite-sites tonight so we can see if the order actually works."
The first time Jonno and Vlad had set up the treaty they'd both been children. Vlad was barely a vampire, understanding so little of the world he belonged to and how to win over his own people and Jonno was angry and confused, looking at the vampire and trying to see someone who killed his dad. He'd only ever seen the boy from Stokely in Vlad. And now it was full circle. Both of them were aged by their experiences and dripping with blood but they'd started again, another attempt at peace.
Finally he managed to smile. He turned to Onika and pulled her into a hug. "It's really happening," He breathed into her hair. "I think we might actually do it."