So this story had a bit of a break while I finished off Soulless – I haven't abandoned it.
When Erin contacted him next, explaining how she believed she'd won Vlad over Jonno felt it was time to revisit the warehouse.
Steam rose from second hand iron pipes as molten liquid was pumped via new hydraulic pistons through the system and Jonno coughed, wincing at the oily scent clogging his nostrils. The Colonel had informed him that the machine was complete and had encouraged the slayer to head over so Evans could personally show him around. The employees building it were from outside sources and had no idea what they were actually building but nonetheless they still fondly named the metal beast 'Tialfeag' after the elements it was built of. Jonno had left school after his father died so he wasn't too sure on what the elements were but he was positive iron was one of them.
It was extremely impressive. The warehouse wasn't too big and the centre was taken up by a solid titanium bed with argentalium restraints and a cell circling it. The table was welded to the bars. Two metres out from the cell (out of arms reach) was a square group of windows with a metal door. They had made no sacrifices.
It wasn't a trap alone however – it was containment. Why the Guild wanted to contain rather than kill Jonno had no clue. Perhaps they felt it necessary to study Vlad before slaying him.
Unfortunately Jonno's exploring was cut short when he heard his superior.
"Jonno!" Evans approached the slayer with a false yet jovial attitude. It occurred to the Van Helsing that he may not be trusted completely as it was obvious this project had long been in the works before he joined the party. "So how do you like this?" He slid an arm around Jonno's shoulder and gestured at the machine. The slayer twitched slightly.
"It- It's huge, but I don't know why we need to contain Vlad." He shrugged the unwanted arm off. "Why not just kill him?"
The Colonel gave a chuckle. "Vampire politics," at Jonno's confused frown he expounded. "Vampires can't choose a new leader until the original one dies but if we cripple their current one then they'll still have to follow him."
The slayer nodded. "Cripple? How does this machine do that?"
His superior tapped his nose and winked. "You'll see when we complete the process; you'll have a front seat view."
The thought of destroying a vampire rather than simply killing briefly poked at Jonno's conscience but the slayer shook it off – he wasn't about to become the mascot for vampire rights.
###
Miss McCauley snatched Mr Count from his study the second he sauntered in there. "Vlad's stopped going to his sessions with Adele."
A scowl formed on his face very briefly before it was swallowed by a false smile. "Then perhaps he no longer needs them."
The teacher sighed, reminded of Mr Count's tendency to ignore his children. She shifted the papers on her desk before presenting one in front of Vlad's father. "He does still need them – he stopped going to them because Adele found the issue."
"And that issue is…?" Alex stared at the Count while her fingers tapped on the desk. She swallowed at his expectant look.
"I can't tell you." A triumphant look streaked across his features and the teacher expanded on what she'd said. "Adele has a rule that she never speaks about her students or the topics they discuss but I need you to convince Vlad to go back."
Mr Count leaned forwards. "And pray tell, why?"
The head teacher frowned. "Things will only get worse if nothing is done about it," she almost wanted to get hold of their mother and see if that could help things but she doubted it: in her experience with a parent like Magda Westenra it was a shock that Ingrid and Vlad hadn't turned out far worse. "Vlad needs to get past this."
She didn't want to watch him drown again and considering whom she suspected the problem might be she was concerned that the water was rising faster than he could handle.
Mr Count pursed his lips. "Vladimir can take care of himself but you dear…" He leant forward and brushed a strand of hair from her face.
"Stop!" Instantly the hand withdrew as if it had been burned. "Your 'crush' that you have should not come before your son!" Her eyebrows narrowed viciously. "I don't know what you think I have you in here for but it is not an excuse for you to act on feelings you shouldn't have!"
"Shouldn't Vlad come first?" She asked imploringly.
"Why does Vlad always come first?" Erin scowled playfully at the Van Helsing whilst scratching a nail on the warehouse wall. It left silver lines in its wake. "It's always 'does Vlad suspect you?' 'What's his weakness?' – you could say hello every once in a while."
Jonno frowned in response. "You don't care about that."
"No, I don't." The vampiress shrugged "but I thought humans were meant to."
A small 'hmph' escaped the slayer and he bitterly said "not when the person they're talking to isn't human." He looked at her. "Or a person for that matter."
She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Just tell me what I need to do."
And so Jonno did.
###
Vlad was analysing what Adele had said to him when Erin meandered in. The vampiress' expression was slightly calculative and probably should've sparked worry but it was the typical image of most vampires, especially when living with Ingrid.
She made herself comfortable next to him as he gave a nod in acknowledgement and nosily looked at what he was doing. She squinted at the half-completed science sheet and the chicken scratches that were meant to be his writing. He frowned at her but she ignored him and continued reading his work.
"It's meant to be up thrust and gravity there." She snatched his pen and crossed out his wrong answers. Vlad then watched in confusion as she proceeded to correct the majority of his work.
His eyebrows furrowed and he took the pen back with a tentative "thanks…"
The vampiress shrugged in a noncommittal gesture of 'no problem'.
They fell into an awkward silence which lasted mere minutes due to Vlad's curiosity peaking. "So what did you- uh want?"
Erin's scarlet lips twitched as her eyes, pale green but blank inside, bored into his. Fear twinged in the pit of his stomach, natural instincts and his growing powers warning him of the danger of this one girl.
Then she spoke and his feelings for her made him forget the tension in his stomach.
"Do you….ugh-I- I don't know how to ask this but," Her eyes lingered on the floor briefly before shooting back up to the sapphire of the Chosen One. "Do you want to go on a date?" He blinked, taken aback by the suggestion. "I mean-" She smiled weakly. "We never actually went on a successful date-ever." Vlad continued to frown and blink. "And if you're starting to forgive me then… this could –maybe- start to fix things between us."
He wanted to say yes. He so wanted to say yes but his stomach was gnawing away at his insides so instead he asked "how do I know I can trust you?"