At 11:47 PM in the bedroom of one of the London Guild's finest, a mobile rang, quite loudly.
Olivia let out a groan, muffled by her pillows. She'd told Peter that she was not out on patrol tonight, she'd told Peter that he was not going to call her when he was bored on patrol and she'd tried her best to get a decent amount of sleep for once.
Oh she was going to kill that impatient twat.
Since returning to her home in London Olivia had tried to change her attitude. Seeing the behaviour of Vladimir Dracula in Lancashire had left an impression on her. She believed that maybe, maybe vampires weren't as bad as they seemed. It had left her with a niggling feeling – the wonder that maybe Jonno's crazy idea (that she'd encouraged) would work and that vampires and slayers wouldn't always be enemies.
Peter had noticed the change in her behaviour. Conveniently resigning herself to more neutral tasks, sticking to the interrogation rooms where she could decide what kind of a person the vampire was before slaying them. Only Peter had noticed but perhaps Onika would if she was there. The younger slayer had certainly adapted a more positive attitude towards vampires in her time away.
She was moving away from the point. The point was that she wasn't taking calls beyond 10 PM.
Her hand flopped like a fish out of water on her bedside table, eventually catching the vibrating object. Blearily she shoved it to her ear.
"What?"
"Olivia! It's Jonno."
"No it's almost midnight. Why are you calling me!" That wasn't a voice she'd expected to hear. It also wasn't one she particularly wanted to hear. Jonno left awkward feelings in her stomach and had her contemplating whether vampires are good or bad. She did not want those feelings at 11:47 PM.
For a moment Jonno didn't say anything. All she could hear were his shaky breaths, crackling down the phone. Something must have happened – something serious. In the silence Olivia reached for a notepad and pen. If the Chosen One had declared war she'd write Peter a note and hurry off to Lancashire. She wouldn't leave Jonno alone to handle it.
Images of every possible disaster filled her mind… Bloody massacres, death on the streets, war, destruction, carnage-
"It's worked," Finally Jonno spoke, he sounded surprised, as if he'd never believed the news he was reporting could be possible. "Olivia we did it. There's a treaty and there hasn't been a single death in Lancashire since."
For a second it felt like she'd been dipped in icy water. Then the excitement washed in. "Really?"She asked. "Vladimir went with it?"
"Yeah, even when Evans was causing trouble." The younger slayer breathed a huge sigh of relief. "It's really happened Olive and honestly – I think you were a big part of it."
There was a warm feeling in her stomach, something she'd never felt with vampires on the brain. "Glad to be of service. How's Onika doing?" The young woman had been adamant about staying in Lancashire regardless of what had gone down and Olivia had felt worried about leaving her but despite being only nineteen Onika was far braver than she.
"Onika's great she's actually been really involved with negotiating the treaty – Mir really gets along well with her,"
"I'm glad to hear that Jonno."
"I know it's really late to call but, I just thought you might want to know about this new development as we're going to try and expand the no-kill zone. Eventually London is going to have to take it up."
"No it's fine I'm glad you called." She started scribbling a quick note to Peter. "I don't mind being woken up to hear news like this." Abandoning her bed she hurried towards the wardrobe, pulling out a quick change of clothes and a travel bag. "How are the vampires taking all this?" She put the phone on speaker and left it on the edge of the bed.
She stuffed several pairs of socks, a stake and her phone charger into the bag and began to get dressed. Jonno continued to answer her question. "Really well considering, Mir has really good control over them and when they're not being slain they are actually willing to behave,"
"And Mir doesn't have any doubts?" She snatched her purse and hurried out of the bedroom.
"None, he's kind of cut up about Erin now though and we've sort of bonded over that." Jonno suddenly realised what he was saying. "But I don't really wanna talk about that. But Mir is definitely happy – if you come over to Lancashire again some time I'm sure he'd want to speak to you."
A taxi over to the station followed by a late train to Lancashire would be costly but worth it. "I'll probably come over soon then." With a good book and a nap she'd be in the city by late tomorrow.
"That's good," Jonno said, "Onika will really want to see you. Sorry about waking you up – I hope you can get back to sleep okay."
"Oh it's fine! Worth it,"
"Goodnight,"
"You too Jonno,"
By the time the call ended Olivia was already out in the street, trying to flag down a taxi. Peter would find her note and he'd come and join her, he'd probably bring Walter and Charlie too. She needed to go back to Lancashire.
If the treaty was really happening, she wanted to be there to see it.
END