11 Flying Solo - My Sister the Vampire (15 page)

‘Hello, Olivia,’ Holly greeted her stiffly.

‘Um, hi,’ Olivia replied. Something was obviously wrong – but what? She’d climbed out of Ivy’s clothes and the stupid wig. But still, Holly seemed strained. Everything had been fine when ‘Ivy’ had left her. Was she mad that Olivia had been a no-show? ‘Um . . . how did you find this house?’ she asked. She knew she hadn’t shared Ivy’s address with Holly, so her new friend must have been doing some serious detective work.

‘Oh, you know, I asked around.’ Holly flipped her red-streaked hair over one shoulder. ‘I’m good at that sort of thing.’

‘OK . . . well, it’s great to see you, but this really isn’t a –’

‘I just wanted to return Ivy’s phone to her,’ said Holly. She wiggled Olivia’s mobile phone in front of her face. Olivia felt her eyes widen. She’d been in such a hurry to get Brendan out of Mister Smoothie that she’d forgotten to grab her phone from the table, which meant . . . ‘I had a most interesting conversation with somebody called Sophia?’ One of Holly’s eyebrows was raised. ‘Funny thing – she seemed to think she’d called
you
and not Ivy.’

Olivia’s mouth went dry.

Holly gave Olivia a tight-lipped smile. ‘I guess that you and Ivy must be so identical even your phone numbers look alike, huh?’

‘That’s right,’ said a familiar voice from behind Holly. ‘Only one digit is different. Our friends mess it up all the time.’ Olivia looked past Holly to see Ivy walking up the stone steps to her father’s mansion, rolling her darkly lined eyes. ‘Super annoying.’

Olivia’s jaw dropped.
What?
She tried to resist the urge to run up and tackle her sister. ‘Hey, Ivy,’ she said instead, trying to play it cool. ‘I didn’t expect you to be here so . . . soon.’
That was an understatement!
Olivia hadn’t known that Ivy was planning to come home at all!

Ivy was carrying a heavy rucksack slung over her back and a straw bag with an exotic-looking plant spilling out of the top in long tendrils. A dazzling ruby-and-gold necklace sparkled at her throat. Olivia made a mental note to ask Ivy where she’d got it once things had calmed down.

Ivy smiled at Holly. ‘It’s great to see you again.’
Thank goodness for vampire hearing
, thought Olivia, realising that Ivy must have picked up on the conversation while walking up the pathway. ‘I’d love to stay and chat some more, but my dad needs me inside,’ she went on, gently sliding Olivia’s phone from Holly’s outstretched hand. ‘Thanks for bringing this back.’

As Ivy disappeared inside the house, she winked at Olivia. The last thing Olivia heard was her sister calling out, ‘Dad, do we have any lavender?’

‘Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!’ Holly’s mouth was open and she looked horrified. ‘I . . . I had never seen you together and I thought that maybe you were some weirdo with a fantasy of having a twin, or worse, like, a practical joker. I didn’t mean to . . . I mean, I just thought that . . . I thought you were making fun of me!’ Holly buried her face in her hands, and when she emerged again, her eyes were glistening. ‘The only reason I came on so strong with the phone thing was that I thought you were being cruel.’ She lifted her chin and wiped smudged mascara from underneath her eyes. ‘I stand up for myself and, well . . . I was so sure I was right.’

‘It’s OK, Holly.’ Olivia patted her back. ‘I completely understand. I know someone just like that, so it’s not a big deal. I promise.’ If only Olivia could tell Holly the truth! She had only been trying to help when she’d pulled her switcheroo. But a long time ago, Ivy had broken the most important vamp rule, the First Law of the Night –
Thou shall not reveal one’s true self to an outsider
– so that the twins could be closer, and Olivia was not going to be the one to risk the secrecy of all vampire society.

Besides, she and Holly were getting along fine now.
Why rock the boat? Maybe after this we can have a clean slate together
.

She smiled at Holly. ‘Hey, I hate to run, but we’re kind of in the middle of a . . . family thing.’ Olivia chewed her lip, inwardly cringing at another kind-of-sort-of lie.
This is the last one, I swear!
She was glad to have a new friend, but if there was one thing she’d learned over the past few days, it was how important Ivy was to her.

‘Sure – of course!’ said Holly. She smiled and turned back up the path. ‘See you around. And sorry, again.’

Olivia closed the door, thankful that she’d somehow managed to skate by with her new friendship intact.

Inside, Olivia found Ivy kneeling by Brendan’s side with her hand on his forehead. Olivia hadn’t seen her sister look so anxious since it had been her who was sick.

‘Ivy?’ Olivia asked gently, rubbing her twin’s back.

Ivy took Olivia’s hand and got to her feet. They hugged and Olivia wished that she never had to let her sister go ever. But Ivy broke the moment. ‘I have something I need to do for Brendan in the kitchen,’ she said, casting one last glance in her boyfriend’s direction before pulling a leafy plant from her pocket. ‘Can you grab me a bowl?’

Thankful to finally be doing something useful, Olivia followed her into the kitchen, hurried over to a cabinet and pulled out a large silver mixing bowl.

Ivy sprinkled the weird plant into the bowl, then began mashing it and stirring in lavender. Charles and Olivia watched her work.

‘What is that plant?’ asked Olivia, giving the mixture a sniff.

‘That’s
Oxynamon
.’ Ivy pushed the pestle harder into the leaves.

Olivia pinched a bit between her fingers. ‘Oxy-
what
-now?’

Ivy gently slapped her hand and Olivia dropped the plant back into the bowl. ‘Before I left, I ran Brendan’s symptoms by Helga. She’s working as the Herbal Science teacher at Wallachia now. This is what she recommended.’

‘For what?’ Olivia watched as Ivy sprinkled some more of the lavender into the bowlful of
Oxynamon
.

‘Apparently, Brendan’s symptoms are classic signs of a platelet disorder. He probably got it by eating something with too many artificial preservatives. It can be really serious for a vampire.’ Ivy shook the bowl, mixing up the ingredients.

‘Of course!’ Olivia smacked her head. ‘A few days ago Brendan said he had a stomach ache after he’d eaten that Taurus Bar.’ Olivia shuddered at the memory of the bar’s foul smell. How could anyone expect to put that in their mouth and
not
get sick?

Ivy nodded. ‘That sounds like the culprit. Energy products are processed and chock-full of artificial ingredients. Brendan’s system probably couldn’t digest them all properly. He should have known better.’

Olivia whistled. ‘Who are you and what did you do with my sister?’ she teased. ‘You’re a genius!’

Charles left the room for a moment and came back holding a Taurus Bar. ‘Is this what Brendan ate, Olivia?’ he asked.

‘Yes! Where’d you get that?’

‘I checked Brendan’s jacket pockets and saw that he had a spare one. Who knows how many of these he’s been eating.’ Charles read the label. ‘It contains oxymistine.’

‘What’s that?’ asked Olivia. Brendan had made it sound as if the bar would be good for both humans and vampires.

‘It’s a chemical that gives vampires energy, the same way humans get a boost from caffeine. It should be harmless enough, but judging by Brendan’s state, there must be a lot more in these bars than the 1.4 grams stated on the label.’ He unwrapped the bar and broke a piece off, studying it in the overhead light. ‘Hmm . . . very suspicious.’

‘Don’t worry about that right now, Detective Dad.’ Ivy winked. ‘The remedy will be ready any second.’ She took another pinch of lavender and added it to the mix, wafting some of the fragrance up to her nose and sniffing.

Olivia smiled. ‘I remember how you cured me when I was in . . . Wait a minute! We still haven’t talked about why you’re back here in Franklin Grove. You’re supposed to be . . .’ She pointed outside. ‘And now you’re . . .’ Olivia pointed down at her feet. ‘But how did . . .’ She shook her head and threw her hands in the air. ‘What’s going on?!’

‘I promise I’ll explain everything.’ Ivy scooped the bowl under her arm. ‘Right after I fix up my boyfriend.’

‘Did you know?’ Olivia demanded of Charles.

His eyes crinkled at the corners. ‘I had to buy her a plane ticket, didn’t I? Ivy called me last night and said she wanted to come home. So here she is.’

Olivia stared dumbfounded at the swinging kitchen door. But it didn’t matter.
I don’t care why she’s back, so long as she is back. My life gets crazy when she’s not around!

Ivy sat on the edge of the sofa, holding Brendan’s hand. She couldn’t believe how feverish he’d been before, but his skin was much cooler now. Ivy took in his marble face and the dark shaggy hair that brushed his cheek as he slept. The dimple on his chin was just as cute as she’d remembered it, though she wouldn’t admit that to anyone in a million years. Ivy was so glad to see him she could hardly understand how she’d managed to say goodbye in the first place.

It would be a few hours before he woke up, which was fine because she still had a lot to wrap her jet-lagged brain around. Fortunately, his parents had crashed out in a bedroom, so she didn’t have to worry about making polite conversation with anyone. ‘So you’re sure you’re OK?’ she asked Olivia, who was sitting cross-legged on the oriental rug with their dad.

Charles had brought in three steaming mugs full of rich hot chocolate. He blew across the tops of the cups to cool them down.

‘Yes!’ Olivia repeated. ‘I told you, the break-up really was mutual. Jackson . . .’ Olivia paused when she mentioned his name. ‘Jackson is a good guy. We’ll still be friends. And I know one thing: we made his thousands of adoring fans happy!’

Leave it to Olivia to find the positive spin
. ‘But I wasn’t here to –’ Ivy protested.

‘I survived,’ Olivia reassured her. ‘And besides, what we should be focused on is Dad’s big day! Remember the whole wedding thing?’

‘It’s not just my big day.’ Charles patted Olivia on the head. ‘It will be a big day for all of us. We’re getting a new Vega.’ He jiggled open the thin drawer in the coffee table and pulled out a magazine called
Vampire Bride
, flipping it open to a page on which a slender female vampire was riding a camel next to the pyramids in a form-fitting wedding dress. ‘Now, what do you think of this, Ivy?’

‘I think, “Hooray, more wedding planning”,’ Ivy joked. ‘My favourite.’

Olivia tossed a throw pillow at her.

‘Hey, watch it! I’m only kidding!’ It was true. Ivy was thrilled her dad was getting married to Lillian. Her whole life, she had worried that her father would never find someone he loved as much as the twins’ mother. But somehow it seemed that ever since she’d found Olivia, her family just kept getting bigger and better.

Ivy’s cheeks weren’t used to all this smiling, but she couldn’t stop, even when her face started to hurt. How did she ever think she could live anywhere other than Franklin Grove? She looked from her dad to Olivia to Brendan.
This is where I belong
.

Charles handed her a cup of hot chocolate. ‘You know, there might be some serious questions asked by people at the Academy about your departure.’ He took a swig from his own mug. ‘And I’m fairly certain your grandparents are going to be upset. It was their dream that you attend Wallachia.’

‘I know,’ said Ivy, pulling her knees to her chest. ‘But it wasn’t
my
dream.’

Charles nodded thoughtfully. ‘And I’m extremely proud of you for giving the school a fair shot, but making your own mind up about it.’

‘I met one of your old classmates, Dad.’ Ivy watched Charles carefully to gauge his reaction. ‘Alexandra Avisrova?’ Even now Ivy could barely say the name without shuddering.

‘Ah, yes,’ said Charles. His face was smooth, serene yet thoughtful. ‘Alexandra. She was a . . . a good friend of mine from school, yes. We no longer keep in touch.’

Ivy wanted to press him for more details, but she sensed that her father wasn’t going to provide any. That was probably the kindest thing for poor, rigid Miss Avisrova, so she changed the subject. ‘And my grandparents? Will they be disappointed in me?’ That had been her biggest fear about her decision to leave Wallachia.

‘Your grandparents will understand,’ said Charles. ‘They only want what is best for you.’

‘Absolutely,’ said Olivia, scooping up a big spoonful of mini marshmallows and plopping them in her cup. ‘And anyway, it looks like the Academy has already served its purpose.’

‘What do you mean?’ Ivy asked.

‘I mean, look how well you’ve taken to vampire medicine! I can see it now: Ivy Vega, Vampire Doc. Oh!’ Olivia clapped. ‘That would make an awesome TV medical drama.’

Charles and Ivy laughed. ‘OK, but I’ll probably stick with “Ivy Vega, Franklin Grove Student”, for now.’

‘That’s a relief,’ said Olivia, and grinned.

Charles raised his mug. ‘To family,’ he said. Ivy leaned in and they all clinked cups. At this, Brendan’s eyelashes fluttered.

‘Ivy?’ he mumbled. ‘Is Ivy in Transylvania?’ Brendan blinked against the light.