11 Flying Solo - My Sister the Vampire (14 page)

‘Only the bravest souls and most resourceful minds can successfully navigate the Wallachia forest and the Gauntlet that has been created within. Those few who do make their way through are awarded this priceless relic; a treasure of great importance to the history of our kind. The necklace is a symbol of your physical and mental prowess. To receive the ruby necklace of Count Gregario is a huge honour. Only two other former students have ever been awarded it – and you have met them both.’

Ivy gasped. ‘Is one of them my dad?’

Avisrova nodded. ‘Yes, Charles is one of them.’

Ivy racked her brain. Which other vampires did she know who could have completed the Gauntlet? Avisrova stayed quiet at her desk. Then the answer came to Ivy. ‘You?’ she whispered, not quite sure she could believe what she was saying. ‘You’re the other one?’

A wistful smile passed over her teacher’s lips. ‘Karl and I – well, Charles and I – we found each other in the forest, both trying to get to the other side. Karl was going one way, and I the other. When we stumbled across each other we swapped tips about terrain. We both made it through, with the other’s help. I’m not sure either of us could have finished like you did, alone.’

Ivy tried to picture her Etiquette teacher dodging tripwires and swinging through trees. Was this the same woman who had been harping on about the correct arm position for ballroom dancing only one day earlier? Ivy felt her whole attitude towards Miss Avisrova shift.

‘But . . . but . . . You’ve been so furious at me for breaking rules!’ Ivy spluttered. ‘And you did the same?’

The Etiquette teacher cocked her head to one side. ‘Furious? Or impressed? I never said anything you were doing was wrong. I said “Bravo!” and gave you a round of applause. Does that sound like disapproval to you?’

‘But your tone of voice . . . It was so mean!’ Ivy protested. She found she’d got to her feet.

Her teacher shrugged. ‘A lifetime of teaching at the Academy makes it difficult for me to . . . soften my manner. I apologise. I don’t want every pupil knowing what challenges lie at the heart of Wallachia. So few are capable of meeting them, I don’t want my girls to be disappointed. But you . . . I knew you’d be different – that you’d have spirit.’

Ivy could just imagine what Brendan would have to say to that: ‘Oh yes, Ivy has spirit all right.’ She wondered what her boyfriend was doing right now, and felt a wave of homesickness.

‘Love isn’t invincible,’ Miss Avisrova continued. It was like she could read Ivy’s thoughts. Or was she really thinking about Charles Vega? ‘Love is sometimes fragile.’

‘I know that much,’ Ivy said. ‘My sister, Olivia, was crazy about her boyfriend. She had the perfect Hollywood romance. Seriously, it was like Cinderella. But the distance between them . . .’ Ivy’s voice trailed off. She knew that if she kept talking, she would start to wonder what the future held for her and Brendan. Ivy was crazy about her boyfriend, but they had an ocean between them and no private plane like Jackson to take them back and forth! ‘So anyway, um . . . well, thanks,’ she finished, snatching up her bunch of
Oxynamon
and dropping the ruby necklace into the pocket of her skirt.

Her hand was on the doorknob when she heard Avisrova say, ‘We first locked eyes on the polo field.’ The teacher had pulled an ancient photo album from her desk drawer and was flicking through the pages.

Ivy exhaled, returning to her seat.
Yuck
, she did not want to hear about her dad’s former love life! Olivia would be so much more into this gooey-gooey love story stuff. But how could Ivy leave Avisrova all alone with her memories?
I’ll just stay a little bit
, she thought, stroking the red jewel she’d been given with one finger. She couldn’t help feeling proud of her achievements in the forest – and Avisrova had given her the credit she’d deserved. The least she could do was listen to her teacher’s story . . .

An hour later, Ivy sat in her open coffin with her laptop on her knees. Her stomach was growling. Avisrova’s reminiscences had gone on forever, and when she’d finally finished telling Ivy about the time she and Charles had won the Academy three-legged race together, Ivy had sprinted vampire-fast to the Wallachia canteen, only to find that the staff had already cleared supper and the chairs were propped upside down on top of the tables.

Luckily I didn’t miss much, anyway
. Meatloaf with blood-infused ketchup and plasma-filled dinner rolls wasn’t exactly one of her favourite meals.

Ivy rubbed her feet on the soft red velour lining of her coffin. Why wasn’t anyone signed on to the Lonely Echo program? She refreshed her list of friends in the sidebar, but no familiar names popped up with the little green ‘available’ sign. Ivy trawled the Vorld Vide Veb, checking up on some of her favourite blogs: Vintage Vampire and Transylvania Teen.

After she’d learned all she could about celebrity producer Harker’s latest film release,
Setting Sun
, along with the entire cast’s makeup secrets, Ivy returned to the Lonely Echo program. It was weird for
all
her friends to be missing and, to make matters worse, her inbox was like a ghost town. Something big had to be happening in Franklin Grove. That could be the only explanation – something big that Ivy knew nothing about.
But what?

Her chest throbbed. She’d been fighting this feeling off as long as she could, but she had to come clean with herself. The truth was that Ivy felt disconnected being so far from home. Without Olivia it was like half of her was missing, and without Brendan she felt like part of her heart was on the other side of the globe.

It wasn’t simple homesickness, or that she thought the school was snooty –
although it totally is
. This place just wasn’t ‘her’. Ivy Vega didn’t wear cable-knit cardigans, she wasn’t afraid to talk to boys and she didn’t eat hamburgers with a baroque-style knife and fork.

She had thought it would be cool to connect with her vampy roots, but the school’s rules were so strict she hadn’t had any time to spend with her grandparents at all.
And what roots are more important than my own family tree?

What was the point? Ivy leaned her head back in the coffin. She hadn’t even made any real friends.

Footsteps charged into her room. Ivan started flapping wildly and Ivy nearly leaped out of her coffin.

‘Ivy? Ivy?’ Petra was breathless.

‘Over here.’ Ivy waved.

Petra had a rucksack slung over one shoulder. She took it off, grabbed the bottom of it and shook it out violently. Plastic food-containers of all shapes and sizes spilled out on to their floor. Petra kneeled on the ground and started to sort them. ‘I didn’t know what you liked!’ she said, distractedly. She seemed flustered by the array of sandwiches, cakes, entrées and pastries. ‘So I just grabbed everything I could.’

Ivy laughed. ‘Aren’t you going to get in trouble?’

‘Are you kidding me?’ Petra handed Ivy a slice of chocolate cake and a fork. ‘After what you did for me, I owe you everything. You, Ivy Vega, are the bravest, most selfless girl I know. You made it through the Gauntlet! I bow to you!’ Petra made a grand gesture of performing exaggerated bows as if worshipping Ivy.

Ivy felt her face get hot. ‘OK, enough, enough!’ she giggled. ‘I get it. You’re totally welcome.’

Petra sat back on her heels. ‘Etan sent me a love letter! A beautiful love letter! Here, let me read it for you.’ Petra coughed twice, unfolding a wrinkled letter. ‘A-hem,’ she began to read:

My loveliest flower, Petra,

My heart yearns for the time when we can be close.

You are the sharp point to my fang. The wind beneath my bat wings. The tombstone in my crypt. I love you.

Forever and always yours,

Etan.

Petra hugged the paper, swaying back and forth. ‘Can you believe that? Isn’t that just the most romantic thing you’ve ever heard?’

Gag me
, thought Ivy, thankful that her mouth was so full of cake that she couldn’t speak. The letter was
way
too over the top for Ivy’s taste. But in matters of the heart, to each her own.

‘I know, I was speechless too,’ said Petra, placing her hand on Ivy’s shoulder. ‘But he loves me! It’s official – he really loves me back! And none of this would have happened if you hadn’t finished the Gauntlet.’

Ivy hugged her. ‘Thanks for thinking of me. I thought I was going to die of hunger!’

‘No problem.’ Petra beamed. ‘Now excuse me . . .’ She waggled her eyebrows. ‘But I just have to go and frame this!’

She hurried out of the room, flourishing her love letter above her head. Ivy watched her leave. Petra was turning out to be a much better friend than Ivy had first imagined. It seemed like she didn’t just want to use Ivy as a cover – she really was grateful to her.
Maybe this place isn’t so bad after all
.

Ivy climbed back into her coffin. She was just about to shut her laptop down when she heard the ping of the Lonely Echo.
Finally!

She clicked the screen and saw a pale, washed-out Olivia. ‘Ivy,’ she said. ‘I’m so glad I caught up with you.’ Something in the tone of her voice tied Ivy’s stomach in knots. ‘I’ve got some news.’

Chapter Ten

O
livia was going to need a week’s worth of Beautilicious under-eye treatment cream to get these bags to go away. Bending closer to the mirror, she prodded the two dark circles. Then she pulled away and looked around the room. Nobody else looked any better.

She was curled up in an armchair at her bio-dad’s house. Brendan was asleep and drooling on the silk couch. His parents were snoring on a cramped loveseat.

They’d been up all night. Olivia’s first instinct had been to take Brendan to the hospital right away, but she’d suddenly remembered that no way could she bring her sister’s boyfriend to a bunny hospital. That might expose the vampire secret.

Instead, Olivia had succeeded in getting Brendan to the Vegas’ house, after which Charles had inspected him and confirmed her worst fears: Brendan was seriously ill. He’d insisted Brendan stay there since the Vegas’ home was bigger and everyone would be more comfortable. Plus, he had a well-stocked vampire medicine cabinet – not that it seemed to be doing any good.

Brendan had been passed out for hours. The only sign of life was a slight twitch in his fingers. Of course, his complexion always looked corpse-like to Olivia. That much hadn’t changed. But seeing him lying there so helpless? Olivia thought even Ivy would have felt scared at that moment. She’d told her sister as much as she had dared over the Internet: how Brendan seemed to be ill but they were all taking care of him. She hadn’t told Ivy quite
how
ill, though.
What can she do in Transylvania anyway?

Olivia smelled bacon frying and waffles cooking. Charles was in the kitchen making breakfast, but she doubted that anyone had much of an appetite. She clutched her stomach and rocked in the chair. She was worried sick about Brendan – literally!

The worst part for Olivia was that she had noticed things being wrong for days – the grey patches of skin, the feverishness, the fast talking – but she hadn’t managed to put two and two together until yesterday. Now she felt awful for not asking questions earlier. She watched Brendan sleeping. Even though she knew it was silly, she crossed her fingers, squeezed her eyes shut, and made a wish.
Please let him be OK!

She tried to cheer herself up – nobody else had guessed what was wrong with him, so how could she, a mere bunny, have realised that he had a vampire illness? She may be related to vampires by blood, but vamp biology was
way
beyond her area of expertise.

The doorbell rang, the classical organ music sounding sombre from the big hallway.

‘Olivia, can you get that?’ Charles popped out of the kitchen holding a greasy spatula.

‘Coming!’ Olivia ran to the door and opened it to see Holly standing there with her hands on her hips.