12 Stake Out - My Sister the Vampire (2 page)

‘I just wanted to do something really special to welcome you back from Transylvania,’ said Brendan. Then he smiled. ‘I kinda missed you, you know.’

‘Me too,’ Ivy said, her throat suddenly tight.

She’d gone to Wallachia Academy to keep her grandparents happy and have a ‘proper’ vampire education, but it hadn’t taken long for her to realise that it had been a big mistake. Her uber-traditional grandparents might never understand, but Ivy knew that a boarding school thousands of miles from her twin and her boyfriend could never be the right place for her.

She wanted to tell Brendan this, but she knew she was skating on the thin ice of Lake Mushy. Quickly, she unwrapped a macaroon. As Brendan watched, grinning, she took a big bite. Her teeth caught on something cold and sharp.

‘Ow!’ She spat whatever it was out on to a napkin – then stared. It was a bat-shaped ring. Brendan had hidden it in the macaroon! The writing inscribed across its wings read:
I’m batty for you
.

‘Oh, ouch,’ Ivy groaned. She couldn’t help wincing, even as she saw her boyfriend’s grin widen. ‘Since when are you so pun-ny?’

He shrugged. ‘I guess something came over me while you were gone.’

Ivy rolled her eyes. ‘Like a fungus?’

‘Or a pun-gus.’ Brendan smirked shamelessly.

‘Hmm.’ She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Tell me the truth. Were you really sick? Or was it just a bad case of a-
pun
-dicitis?’

Brendan snorted. ‘If it was, it must have been contagious.’

Ivy shook her head. ‘That’s it,’ she said, in between giggles. ‘I’m stopping now before the contagion spreads any further.’

‘Just don’t go away again,’ Brendan said, placing an arm around her shoulders. ‘Then we should all stay safe.’

‘Got it.’ Ivy slipped the ring on the ring finger of her right hand. A perfect fit.

Brendan bumped shoulders with her. ‘I know,’ he said, ‘you don’t like loads of mush and romance.’

‘To say the least,’ Ivy said firmly. Still, she couldn’t help stroking one finger over the little face of the bat on her ring. She looked up into Brendan’s eyes and found him grinning at her.

‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘I thought your return home was important enough to mark, but from now on –’ Brendan crossed his heart – ‘I promise, you’re going to be totally ignored and overlooked. Just the way you like it.’

‘You better,’ said Ivy, biting the insides of her cheeks to keep a dumb smile off her face. ‘I have something for you too.’

Nearby, Camilla jumped up, breaking into the Great Pastry Debate. ‘Come on, guys! Split into two groups, and pretend those sticks over there are swords. I need to figure out the choreography for my fight scene! Ivy, are you two on-board?’

‘Not this time.’ Ivy waved Camilla off. As the others took up formations under Camilla’s direction, laughing and fencing with the sticks they’d picked up from the grass, Ivy and Brendan scooted to a more sheltered spot. As soon as they were safely out of cupcake range – and, she hoped, out of sight as well – Ivy reached into her black rucksack and pulled out the gift she’d felt almost too embarrassed to bring along. She didn’t want any observers for this one.

‘
The Dead Travel Fast
 
?’ Brendan said. Now he was the one gaping in amazement. ‘This is my favourite book!’

‘I know that, dummy.’ Ivy rolled her eyes as she dropped it in his lap, glad she had her back turned to the others. ‘Do you think I would have got it otherwise? It’s a first edition copy.’

‘A first edition, huh?’ Brendan raised his eyebrows in mock outrage. ‘Ivy Vega, you are a total fraud. You may pretend to be tough, but inside you are as soft as Holly’s cupcakes.’

‘Whatever!’ Ivy groaned. But she didn’t resist when he pulled her into a quick hug.

Wow
. Olivia hid a grin as she quickly looked away from Ivy and Brendan.
I’ve never seen Ivy so loved-up
 
!
Usually her sister put on such a front of carelessness; sometimes it could be hard even for Olivia to guess at her feelings. Right now, though, Ivy and Brendan were smiling into each other’s faces with pure delight.

It must be true love
, Olivia thought.
Of course, true love is easy. Not like me and Jackson, with all the distance and
. . .

‘Excellent!’ Camilla said, and waved for everyone to set down their ‘swords’. ‘That’ll definitely work on-screen.’

Olivia hid a smile. That was Camilla – she might have spent the last half hour in a world of her own, caught up by the new movie idea in her head, but now that she was wide awake, she was back in full director-mode. Olivia didn’t mind being bossed about a bit to make her friend happy, though. Camilla had been partly responsible for Olivia meeting her ex-boyfriend, Jackson, when they’d got jobs on a film set in Franklin Grove.

Jackson . . .
Don’t think about him
 
!

‘Let’s play Frisbee!’ Olivia called, looking for any distraction she could find.

As the group arranged themselves to play the new game, she caught Ivy’s eye and the two of them smiled.
Ivy’s back where she belongs
, Olivia thought.
Camilla’s in boss-mode. Brendan’s healthy
.
Everything’s back to normal
.

Almost
. . .

‘Catch!’ Brendan called, as he threw the Frisbee. It arced over Holly’s head. The new girl jumped into the air, but she missed it by at least three metres. The Frisbee landed just short of the park gates, and Holly’s shoulders slumped.

Olivia shook her head.
That’s a really short throw, for Brendan
 
!
Normally, Brendan would have been able to throw that Frisbee
way
out of the park with his vampire super-strength. Not that any of them could let on about this in front of Holly – vampire secrets needed to stay just that. Olivia was lucky to be in on the secret, but she had to keep it, just like the vampires did.

Some of the group couldn’t resist a bit of teasing, though. ‘Not back up to your usual strength yet, Brendan?’ Ivy teased.

‘Maybe you need a bit more rest, huh?’ their friend Sophia added, laughing as Brendan flushed.

Holly’s voice cut through all the teasing: ‘What are you guys talking about?’

Uh-oh
, Olivia thought. She turned and saw her new friend staring at the rest of them as if they were speaking gibberish.

‘That went really fast and really far,’ Holly said, looking over her shoulder. ‘How could he ever throw further than
that
 
?’

‘Oh, that was just . . .’ Olivia said, her words falling away into a long, drawn-out ‘uuhhhh’ sound, ‘ . . . an inside joke!’

Holly smiled uncertainly back at her. ‘Oh, OK. Um, yeah, funny . . . I’ll just go get the Frisbee.’

Guilt tightened Olivia’s chest as Holly walked away, the embroidered flowers on her jeans glinting in the sunlight. Olivia knew all too well what it was like to feel an outsider in Franklin Grove. The last thing she wanted was to make her new friend feel that way.

As she turned back to the others, she saw the vampires in their group – Ivy, Brendan and Sophia – exchanging warning glances. The First Law of the Night said their existence must never be revealed to outsiders. Holly wasn’t like Camilla, who’d lived around vampires for years and no longer noticed or questioned the fact that her classmates could run super-fast. Holly was new to Franklin Grove. She was a true outsider.

And she was smart.

As Holly picked up the Frisbee, Ivy walked quickly over to Olivia. Something sparkled on her hand, catching Olivia’s attention.

‘Oh, wow. Ivy, did Brendan just give you a –’

‘Why did you invite her along?’ Ivy interrupted. ‘I thought we were supposed to be relaxing with the gang today. Now I have to be super-cautious so that
Holly
doesn’t guess anything. One little bit of teasing and she’s already starting in with the awkward questions.’

Olivia suddenly didn’t feel like complimenting her sister on her gift any more. ‘You know, Ivy, you didn’t have to tease Brendan in front of her . . .’

‘I just wanted to have a bit of fun with my boyfriend!’ Ivy protested. ‘Is that off-limits now, with her around?’

‘Oh, come on!’ Olivia crossed her arms over her pale pink minidress, her guilt turning into irritation. ‘I’m not going to just dump Holly now that you’re back. She was really supportive when you were away. You should try to be nice to her.’

‘I don’t mind being nice,’ Ivy said. ‘But I’ve only just come home. Can’t I take one day to relax and be myself?’

‘You
are
in the middle of a public park,’ Olivia said, as a jogger ran past them, and a pair of dogs barked madly from the other end of the field. ‘You guys couldn’t show off your super-skills that much here anyway.’

‘But – oh, never mind. Here she comes.’ Ivy went back to her place in the park, her scowl just as black as her
Shadowtown
T-shirt and combat trousers.

Brendan threw Olivia a questioning glance. She shook her head as if to say all was good, which it was – the twins never truly fell out. Olivia wasn’t sure they were capable!

The group carried on playing, but the atmosphere had definitely changed. When Holly threw the Frisbee to Sophia, Sophia made a hopelessly pathetic attempt to run for it and then gave up, mournfully shaking her head. Even a human could have run faster than that. Olivia saw Ivy grimace at Sophia’s play, but even Ivy knew the rules. When Brendan threw her the Frisbee overhand, she barely even tried to reach for it. And when Camilla yelled that she had to be getting home soon, all the vampires in the group slumped with obvious relief.

‘Oh, do we have to stop?’ Holly said. She was panting with effort, the sleeves of her peasant-style blouse rolled up above her elbows, but she waved the Frisbee enticingly. ‘Come on, we were just getting warmed up!’

‘Sorry,’ said Sophia, collapsing gracefully to the ground. ‘I’m, erm . . . winded.’

‘Yeah.’ Ivy dropped to the ground, groaning. ‘I couldn’t take any more exercise.’

‘Well, OK then.’ Holly sighed and set down the Frisbee.

Thank goodness
, Olivia thought, as they all sank back down on to the picnic blanket and the grass around it.
Now we can be normal again. And maybe
, she thought, as she saw Holly give Ivy a hopeful smile,
Ivy and Holly can finally have a real conversation
.

Olivia knew Ivy would like Holly if she only gave her a chance. After all, the first time Olivia and Holly had met, Holly had reminded her of her sister! They were both so strong and smart, and both completely determined to launch their writing careers. While Ivy wanted to be an investigative journalist, Holly wanted to become a travel journalist. In fact, Holly had been really keen to interview Ivy about her time in Transylvania. It was almost as though Holly had Ivy on a pedestal!

And now all Ivy can do is ignore her
, Olivia thought. Wrapped up in Brendan, Ivy hadn’t even noticed Holly’s smile, much less returned it.

Maybe once a real conversation started, though, they would finally connect.

‘That was just like a scene in that hot new vampire book,
Bare Throats at Sunset
, wasn’t it?’ Holly said, as she knelt back down on the picnic blanket. ‘You know, when all the friends play a game of touch football, just before one of them –’ she lowered her voice dramatically – ‘succumbs to the vampire’s bite!’

‘Oh my gosh, you’re totally right!’ Camilla exclaimed. She had been lying down, but now she popped up again, her blonde curls springing in all directions. ‘Do you remember that book, Ivy? It’s the one I found through that cult reading group I joined – it picks out books no one else has ever heard of. It would make a fantastic movie!’

‘No way,’ Ivy groaned. ‘I hated that book! Seriously, there’s a
reason
that one hasn’t hit the bestseller charts. No way would I pay good money for a cinema ticket for any film based on it. I have some taste.’

Olivia winced as she saw Holly’s smile drop into a slight scowl. Holly pointed at the
Shadowtown
T-shirt Ivy was wearing. ‘Oh yeah? Would you call
that
show high-quality storytelling?’

Uh-oh
, Olivia thought. Everybody knew that
Shadowtown
was hilariously terrible, with its hundreds of amnesia storylines and secret vampire babies. But Ivy was an utterly devoted fan anyway.

Olivia watched the struggle on her twin’s face. ‘Well, it’s . . . I mean, I just . . . I don’t like following the crowd. Is that OK?’

‘Sure,’ Holly said, smoothly. ‘I’m just curious about what other people like reading. We obviously have very . . .
different
tastes.’ She tried to smile, but Olivia could see it was an effort.

Poor Holly
, she thought.
All she was doing was trying to have a conversation about films and books
 
!