12 Stake Out - My Sister the Vampire (12 page)

It had only taken five minutes from that blog posting for Ivy’s grandparents to impose a curfew on every Franklin Grove vampire. They’d stood over Ivy at her computer as she sent the batsqueak alerting the entire community that none of them was to leave their home tonight. Even the Blood Mart was shutting up shop for the first time in its history.

When Olivia looked up from her plate, Ivy had to look away. She couldn’t make eye contact with her twin, not now. If their grandparents found out what she was planning to do tonight . . .

‘Well,’ said Charles, as Horatio appeared to clear away their plates. Sliding out the floral catalogue from underneath the table, he looked around hopefully. ‘Perhaps we could take just a few minutes to discuss . . .?’

Lillian put a hand on his arm to cut him off, looking at his parents’ weary faces. ‘I think maybe it would be best for us all to have an early night.’

‘Oh, yes,’ said the Countess. She sighed heavily, looking older than Ivy had ever seen her before. ‘This day cannot be over soon enough.’

It hasn’t even begun
, Ivy thought. But she only nodded and forced a yawn, even as anticipation buzzed through her skin. ‘I think I’ll go to bed now too.’

‘Good night,’ Olivia said. She kissed both grandparents on the cheek. ‘I’d better go home now.’

‘Wait,’ Ivy said. ‘I’ll see you to the door.’

As they walked together down the hallway, Ivy struggled to find anything to say. Talking to her twin had always been easy, but now there was too much tension simmering between them.

How had things become so complicated?

Ivy opened the front door. The sky was already darkening, the air turning chilly as night drew in. She took a deep breath. There were too many words bursting inside her, starting with,
How could you like Holly more than me
 
?
– but she knew she couldn’t let herself say any of them.

They stood together in awkward silence for a moment. Finally, Ivy gave up and simply said, ‘Be careful on your way home.’

Olivia gave her a sad smile. ‘With the curfew you guys just set up, what am I supposed to be afraid of? Vampires?’ She started to walk away down the path before Ivy could say anything.

We’ll fix this
, Ivy told herself, as she watched her twin’s figure disappear into the darkness.
As
soon as I’ve taken care of the blogger, everything will go back to normal.

Right now, though, she had to focus on her plan. Her grandparents were already gone by the time she returned to the living room, and Charles was too absorbed in showing Lillian the floral catalogue to give Ivy more than an absentminded wave goodnight.
Perfect.
Ivy hurried up to her room and climbed into two layers of leggings and a thick leather jacket. It might be summer, but Franklin Grove nights were still cold.

She counted down the hours in her bedroom, listening as the house turned still. Finally, Lillian left for the night, and even Charles and Horatio were tucked up safe and snug in their coffins. Ivy could hear the clock on her wall clicking steadily through the night until . . .

Showtime.
She lifted the lid on her coffin and climbed out. Then she slid open her bedroom window and scrambled swiftly down the wisteria plant that grew up the side of the house. She’d had plenty of practice leaping down from it without any problem, but . . . Ivy froze just as she was about to let go of the wisteria and drop down. A horrible, wet, mouldy smell infused her senses, coming from just below her.

Uh-oh. What’s that
 
?

She peered down, and her jaw dropped open.
Oh no
 
!

Horatio had mentioned doing ‘a spot of gardening’ that afternoon, to keep himself busy and useful. Unfortunately, he hadn’t bothered to mention that he’d left a huge pile of yucky compost directly beneath her bedroom window! With her vampire-strong night vision, Ivy could see the snails and worms that writhed in the pile of muck below her.

‘Yuck!’ She hung on to the wisteria with all her might, her legs flailing.
No way am I dropping into that
 
!
But how was she supposed to get down now?

Male laughter sounded in the darkness. ‘Would milady care for a hand?’

Just as Ivy was about to die of a grade-A heart attack, Brendan stepped out of the shadows.

‘Ohhh.’ Ivy tipped her face against the cool wooden slats of the house, her heart thudding with relief. ‘I have never, ever been so glad to see you!’ She looked him up and down. ‘Though . . . your outfit? Not so much. What are they? Old-man trousers?’

‘I thought you might be happy I’m here.’ Brendan was shaking with laughter as he put his hands around her waist and swung her to the ground, several inches away from the compost heap. ‘And they’re chinos, actually. I guess no one mentioned the special new garden decoration to you?’

‘Gaaah.’ Ivy shuddered as she looked at what she’d nearly fallen into. ‘Seriously, though, Brendan. What
are
you doing here?’

‘I’m here to be your backup.’ Brendan looped one arm around her shoulder. ‘Even professional investigative reporters bring photographers with them, don’t they? Olivia told me about your plan, so I’m here to make sure you stay safe.’

‘Olivia told you?’ Ivy grimaced. ‘I can’t believe she –’

‘Oh, c’mon.’ Brendan squeezed her shoulder teasingly. ‘Are you actually telling me you didn’t want me here to save you from the mean old compost heap?’

‘Of course I did.’ Relaxing, Ivy gave him a quick hug. ‘You’re my hero. Thank you so much for coming – and for not trying to talk me out of this.’

‘Are you kidding?’ Brendan shrugged. ‘I know you, Ivy. I’m not about to waste my breath. Plus, I want to expose this blogger just as much as you do.’

‘Let’s do it.’

Lacing her fingers through his, Ivy led the way to the graveyard, feeling lighter than she had all day.
I have to admit, I’m glad he’s here. I should say thank
you to Olivia tomorrow
, she told herself. Her twin had been thoughtful enough to give Ivy exactly the help she needed – even though she must have been worried that Ivy would be mad at her for interfering.

And maybe when Ivy thanked Olivia for her help, it would finally sort out all the weird awkwardness between them.

Walking through Franklin Grove felt like exploring a completely different town from the one Ivy had known for so long. There were no dark-clothed vampires nodding at her companionably or heading towards the Blood Mart. Instead, they walked through near-empty streets. The only people Ivy and Brendan passed were occasional groups of bunnies, who obviously had no idea that anything was wrong.

Brendan let out a muffled snort as they passed one group of five bunnies wearing identical T-shirts. Lost in her own thoughts, Ivy hadn’t paid any attention to them, but after her boyfriend’s reaction, she took a look . . . and had to restrain herself from gasping out loud.

Hunt out the Franklin Grove vampires
 
!

‘It’s a joke,’ Brendan whispered into Ivy’s ear as she stiffened with outrage. ‘Look, they’re all laughing. They think the blog’s funny, that’s all.’

‘Right. Hilarious,’ Ivy muttered. ‘I can’t stop laughing.’ Her hands clenched into fists.

If all those happy bunnies had any idea how many vampires were hiding at home – scared – tonight, while they all laughed about that blog . . .

‘They’re looking this way,’ Brendan hissed.

Ivy forced a smile as the group members waved and pointed at their shirts. She even managed to follow Brendan’s lead and give a hollow laugh at the slogan. But she was still shaking with frustration and anger when they turned off the street a minute later to walk through the tall, spike-tipped iron gates of Franklin Grove’s graveyard.

Tombs and headstones loomed in the darkness, while the night wind sighed around them, whispering through Ivy’s hair. An owl hooted in the distance, and there were scuttling noises in the undergrowth. As they moved forwards, a twig snapped under Brendan’s feet and Ivy almost jumped out of her skin.

Gritting her teeth, she stomped between the graves.
I’m a vampire, not a bunny – I will not be creeped out by this place
 
!

Gesturing to Brendan, she pressed herself against the side of an old stone tomb the size of a small hut. It was more than big enough to shield them from the sight of anyone arriving.

‘Good idea,’ Brendan whispered, as he took his place behind her. ‘Let’s hope the blogger doesn’t take too long to show up.’

‘If that stupid blogger keeps me waiting . . .’ Ivy began. Then she saw a hooded figure arrive at the other end of the graveyard, and she had to bite back a yelp.

Oops.
She grimaced, glad that Brendan couldn’t see her face.
I guess this place
has
creeped me out a bit after all
.

Creepy atmosphere or not, Ivy wasn’t letting any dumb bunny blogger scare her. Craning her neck to keep the hooded figure in her line of vision, she watched carefully as the blogger walked between the graves. Moving from gravestone to family tomb, the figure’s face and body were shrouded in darkness. Ivy realised she was holding her breath. Then the person stepped beneath the glow of a streetlight beyond the graveyard’s fence and . . .

Oh no, this is as bad as garlic bread for breakfast.
Ivy’s stomach did a parachute drop as she recognised the face inside the sweatshirt hood and the appliquéd jeans.
Olivia is going to be so upset; I wish I hadn’t been right after all.

She swallowed hard. All day, she’d been excited at the thought of exposing the blogger, and thrilled to have followed the clues to Holly’s secret. Now that Ivy saw the other girl on her own in the graveyard in the dead of night, reality hit with a thud. Olivia was going to be crushed . . . and, despite everything, Ivy felt a sudden stab of pity and concern.

Holly had no idea who she was really meeting tonight. For all she knew, she could have put herself in serious danger by coming here.
She must be really desperate. Why is she doing this
 
?

And, even more importantly, how was Ivy going to break this to her sister? What if Olivia didn’t even believe her – or thought she was just overreacting, out of a dislike of the new girl? Ivy shared a worried glance with Brendan . . . and realised exactly what she needed.

Proof
 
!
Reaching into the pocket of her leather jacket, Ivy whipped out her camera. As she started to raise it, though, she hesitated, torn once again by pity.
Holly must be really unhappy, if she has to go to all this trouble and danger just to be noticed . . .

But I have to do this
.
It’s what I came for
 
!
Ivy took a deep, steadying breath. She owed this to the vampire community, to her grandparents . . . and even to Olivia.
She has to know the truth about her friend
.

Gritting her teeth in determination, Ivy snapped three photos in a row – but the sound of the shutter broke the silence in the cemetery.

Holly swirled around. ‘Who’s there? Come out and show yourselves!’

Drat
. No way did Ivy want to confront Holly now, before she’d even had a chance to talk to Olivia about it. She and Brendan both froze, hoping to stay unnoticed.

Footsteps approached. Ivy took a deep breath.

Brendan tapped her shoulder and pointed at a wide crack in the wall of the tomb, leading into deeper darkness. Swallowing down revulsion, Ivy nodded. Together, they squeezed inside the crack. Something soft and slimy squelched around Ivy’s legs, and she shuddered.
It’s just a pile of old, dead
leaves
, she told herself, but that didn’t help much, especially when she imagined what kind of creatures might be crawling or wriggling around in those leaves, just like in the compost heap back home. Cobwebs tangled against her cheeks and shoulders.
At least I’m only ruining a stupid bunny
outfit
, Ivy thought.

She held her breath as Holly did a circuit of the tomb. Holly’s footsteps paused just centimetres from the crack, and Ivy started to feel light-headed with lack of air. Then the footsteps finally retreated. Ivy let out all her held breath in a whoosh.

‘Ewww!’ She climbed out as fast as she could, dusting herself off.

Brendan followed her, slapping cobwebs off his clothes and kicking his feet against the stone tomb to dislodge slimy leaves. Despite everything, he was grinning widely when he met Ivy’s eyes. ‘You did it,’ he said, ‘and you’ve got absolute proof! May I escort you home now, Madam Detective?’

Ivy bumped shoulders with him. ‘Yeah. Let’s go home,’ she said.

He reached out to take her hand as they walked through the empty streets of Franklin Grove a few minutes later. ‘Why aren’t you more excited? You cracked the case. The blogger can be outed and she’ll stop this crazy hunt of hers. The whole vampire community is going to be safe, because of you.’