Re-Vamped! (8 page)

This
is so fun!
Olivia
thought, carefully walking to the chaise in her specially selected, superhigh
heels.

“Olivia,”
Kong’s deep voice boomed from behind his camera, “I want you to make a face
like you are blowing the biggest bubble gum bubble ever.” Olivia puffed up her
cheeks and widened her eyes. “Bigger!” Kong commanded. “Bigger!” Olivia felt
like her face was going to pop off.

“Now,
Ivy, pretend to pop your sister’s bubble,” Kong instructed.

“Yessss!”
Olivia heard Georgia hiss approvingly as Kong’s flash started popping.

After
a few minutes, Georgia clapped her hands briskly. “The camera looooves you,”
she said. “Time for the next outfit!” and whisked them away to change.

Next,
Olivia and Ivy put on matching tight satin dresses, except Olivia’s was white
while Ivy’s was black. The dresses had this really cool thing happening, like
they were being peeled back layer by layer as they rose up the body, from tons
of fabric on the bottom to just a thin layer on top. Ivy looked gorgeous.
I
guess since we’re identical twins,
Olivia realized happily,
that means I
look gorgeous, too!

Georgia
led them to an alcove off the front hall, where there was a grand piano. “Could
there be a more perfect backdrop?” she enthused. “The caption will read: ‘Ivy
and Olivia, ebony and ivory, make music together!’ ” Sophia directed Ivy to sit
at the keyboard, while Kong had Olivia take off her shoes and sit on top of the
piano.

Kong
told Olivia to pose like a lounge singer, while Ivy pretended to play the
piano. They finished with both girls standing atop the piano, holding their
high-heeled shoes in their hands and shouting the words to “I Wear My
Sunglasses at Night.” Georgia and her crew looked ecstatic.

Then
Olivia changed into a luxurious burgundy satin ball gown, while Ivy slipped
into a dark green one that trailed onto the stone floor, and they posed next to
one of the balusters at the bottom of the main staircase. Olivia felt just like
a character in the Count Vira novels she loved so much.

Kong
handed the camera to Sophia to let her take some pictures.

“More
drama! More passion!” Sophia called enthusiastically.

Ivy
stood beside Olivia on the bottom stair, one hand on the balustrade and the
other on her hip, while Olivia tried to accentuate her cheekbones for the
camera.

After
Sophia gave the camera back, Olivia saw her whispering in Kong’s ear. Then Kong
waved Georgia over and Sophia continued whispering to the two of them. Kong’s
bald head bobbed enthusiastically on his enormous shoulders.

“Young
lady,” Olivia heard Georgia say at last, “when you are of working age, you will
call me.” Then she turned away. “Kitty!” she called, “I want every drop of
makeup off these girls.”

Once
their faces were completely clean, Kitty told Olivia and Ivy to follow her to
the guest bathroom on the second floor. Olivia thought it was so they could
change again, but when she got there, Kong and Sophia were setting up lights.

Sophia
came over. “This is going to be killer,” she said. She gestured to a tall,
ornate oval mirror that leaned up against one wall. “We’re going to shoot you
so you’re looking at yourselves in the mirror. Except you won’t be able to see
the camera in the shot.”

“You
can do that?” Ivy wondered.

“I
read about it in a book,” Sophia said under her breath. “We have to get the
angle exactly right.”

A few
minutes later, Olivia and Ivy were posing next to each other, Olivia in a
simple white shift dress and Ivy in a simple black one. Olivia stared at the
reflection of herself and her sister.Their skin tones were different, of
course, and their eye color, but otherwise they looked, well . . .
identical
.
“Olivia?” Ivy murmured.

“Yeah?”
said Olivia, trying not to break the pose which Kong had just carefully
orchestrated.

“I
think I see my reflection,” Ivy whispered, “and it’s you!”

A
little girl with long black hair and black whiskers drawn on her face opened
the door to Brendan’s house and shrieked at the top of her lungs, “IVY’S
SISTER’S HERE!!!” Then she grabbed Olivia’s hand and pulled her inside. “Want
to see my room?”

“Um,”
Olivia said, glancing around. “Is Brendan home?”

“His
room’s boring.” The little girl sighed, rolling her eyes. “Come on!” she said,
dragging Olivia toward the stairs.

“What’s
your name?” Olivia asked.

“I’m
Bethany,” the little girl declared. “And I’m seven, but I’m utterly mature.”

Bethany
pushed open a door that had a DO

NOT
EXPOSE TO SUNLIGHT sign on it. “So you’re a cheerleader?” Bethany asked. Olivia
nodded. “I think cheerleaders suck. Look!” she said, kneeling down in front of
a black dollhouse. She reached into a tiny bathroom and produced a Barbie doll
that had red pom-poms glued to her hands. “Do you like her? She lives in the
bathtub.”

Olivia
laughed, taking off her jacket. “Does she know any cheers?”

Bethany
nodded and made the doll hop around on the floor. “Two, four, six, eight. The
bunny hop is really great!”

Olivia
made the sound of a roaring crowd.

Bethany
giggled. Then she said, “Will you come play with me after Ivy moves away?”

Olivia
felt an ache deep in her heart. She nodded silently.

Bethany
smiled gratefully, even though her eyes were on her doll, which she was making
do somersaults. “I’m going to miss Ivy,” she said quietly.

“Me,
too,” whispered Olivia.

“Here
you are,” a familiar voice announced. Olivia looked up to see Ivy standing in
the doorway. “Everyone’s waiting to meet you in the kitchen,” Ivy told her.
“Hey, Bethany,” she said, “want to do the spider?”

“Yeah!”
Bethany shrieked. She ran up to Ivy, then turned around, put her hands on the
ground, and flipped her legs up into the air. Ivy caught them and steered the
little girl down the stairs like a wheelbarrow as Olivia followed.

“Did
Olivia tell you that we’re going to be in
Vamp
?” Ivy said to the soles
of Bethany’s feet.

“You
are not!” Bethany lifted one hand off the ground and twisted around to look up
at them.

“We
are,” Olivia confirmed. “Maybe we’ll autograph a copy for you.”

Bethany
squealed and spun back around.

When
they entered the kitchen, a middle-aged man with crazy gray hair and round
glasses hurried across the room. “You must be Olivia,” he said excitedly. His
gaze flicked from Olivia to Ivy. For a moment, Mr. Daniels seemed completely
lost in his own thoughts. Brendan came up and gave Olivia a hug.

Brendan’s
father leaned forward and peered into Olivia’s ear. “Inconceivable!” he
murmured.

“Dad?”
Brendan said in an embarrassed voice, and Mr. Daniels snapped out of it.

“Oh,
yes!” Brendan’s father blurted. “I mean, yes, inconceivable how much you and
Ivy look alike.” He took off his glasses and polished them with his shirt. “Not
that it’s amazing for twins to look alike. Just that you’re so different.” He
laughed uncomfortably. “But not
too
different. Oh, dear,” he finished,
suddenly shutting himself up and putting his glasses back on.

Olivia
could tell Mr. Daniels was trying desperately not to give anything vampish
away, but she just nodded like she had no idea what he was fussing about.

A
woman wearing a gray pin-striped blouse tucked into black slacks gave Olivia a
warm smile. “What my husband is trying to say is that it’s a pleasure to meet
you,” she said, coming over to give Olivia a peck on the cheek. “I’m Brendan’s
mom.” She handed her husband some long tongs. “We’re cooking on the barbecue
grill outside,” she explained. “But, don’t worry, we’re eating indoors.”

A few
minutes later, Mr. Daniels, now wearing an apron and clutching the barbecue
tongs, stopped next to where Olivia and Ivy were sitting at the kitchen table.
“So, Olivia,” he said, clearly trying to sound casual, “what are your favorite
foods?”

“Tofu,”
she answered.

“Ew!”
cried Bethany from where she and Brendan were playing with toy elephants on the
floor.

“Inconceivable,”
Mr. Daniels muttered again. His eyes focused on her shoulder. “Hmmm,” he said,
unconsciously reaching down and plucking a loose strand of hair from Olivia’s
shirt.

Just
then, Mrs. Daniels came over with some pink lemonade. While Olivia was taking
the glass, she saw Mr. Daniels carefully put the hair into his shirt pocket.

I
bet he’s going to test my DNA,
Olivia thought, slightly weirded out.
But I guess one hair won’t hurt.

Mr.
Daniels ventured outside to cook, leaving the door open so he could still join
in the conversation.

“So
tell me,” Mrs. Daniels said to Ivy and Olivia, “what was it like when you two
first met?”

“Surreal,”
Olivia and Ivy both said at once.

Mrs.
Daniels nodded like she understood. She exchanged glances with her husband.
“You must have wanted to share all your secrets with each other right away.”

Ivy
shot Olivia a paranoid look, clearly worried that the Daniels were onto them.
Olivia studied Brendan’s parents’ faces: Mrs. Daniels looked so sympathetic,
and Mr. Daniels seemed so eager.
They want to talk openly,
Olivia
thought,
just as badly as we do.
She looked at Ivy hopefully, but her
sister responded with a brisk shake of her head.

Bethany
suddenly came over to the sisters, twirling like a top. “I can’t
believe
you’re going to be in
Vamp
magazine,” she shrieked, “with all the most
famous vampires in the world!”

Mrs.
Daniels breathed in sharply, and outside, Mr. Daniels’s barbecue tongs
clattered to the patio. Ivy looked completely panicked and Bethany suddenly
froze, mid-swoon, realizing what she’d done.

“Oops,”
she squeaked.

“You
didn’t really mean vampires,” Mrs. Daniels said hurriedly, “did you, dear? That
was just your little game.”

“Q-quite
an imagination,” Mr. Daniels stammered, coming inside.

All at
once, tears began pouring out of Bethany’s eyes, making her whiskers run. “Am I
going to be condemned?” she bawled.

Mrs.
Daniels bent down to comfort her as everyone averted their eyes. Olivia felt
terrible
.
Bethany was clearly going to be scarred for life if Olivia didn’t let her off
the hook. She crept up and took the little girl’s hand.

“There
aren’t any vampires, I swear!” Bethany sobbed, shaking her head wildly at
Olivia, her face soaked with tears.

“Bethany,
it’s okay,” Olivia responded kindly. “I already knew.”

We’re
staked!
Ivy
thought, her stomach sinking as she waited for horror to spread across the
faces of Brendan’s parents. Instead, Mr. and Mrs. Daniels exchanged knowing
looks, and Mr. Daniels bent down before his daughter.

“My
nightingale,” he said, “you must never, never talk about vampires.” He glanced
toward Olivia. “Especially when there is anyone around that you’re not
absolutely sure is one of us. Do you understand?”

Bethany
nodded and wiped her nose on her sleeve.

Mr.
and Mrs. Daniels turned to Ivy.

Brendan’s
parents are going to hate me forever!
she thought. “I didn’t mean to break the First Law,” she blurted.

“Of
course you didn’t,” Mrs. Daniels said. “But how could you not have? Olivia’s
your twin sister, after all.”

Brendan
came up behind Ivy and gave her shoulder a supportive squeeze.

“This
is an exceptional case,” Mr. Daniels agreed.

Ivy
felt relief spreading over her. It was like walking out of hot sun into cool
shade.

“Remember
the last time a human was told, Marc?” said Mrs. Daniels.

“I
thought I was like the only one ever,” Olivia said nervously.

“It is
very rare,” Mr. Daniels admitted, “but a handful of humans have learned the
Blood Secret.”

“Of
course, there was a time when anyone who discovered the existence of vampires
was killed,” Mrs. Daniels said. Ivy noticed her sister turn white. “But things
are different now.”

“What
happened the last time?” Ivy inquired.

“His
name was Karl Lazar,” Mr. Daniels said, stroking his chin. “The story made
quite a scandal in the black papers, because he was the son of a vampire count.
And Karl didn’t just break the First Law. He broke the Second Law, too.”

“Falling
in love with a human,” Mrs. Daniels clarified.
That’s what must have
happened with our parents,
Ivy thought.

“Yuck!”
little Bethany exclaimed.

“So
what happened to him?” Ivy asked uneasily.

“The
Lazar clan was strongly separationist,” Mr. Daniels said. “It was the worst of
all possible situations.” Ivy thought of her father, and how he refused to meet
Olivia.