Re-Vamped! (9 page)

“Karl
ended up in exile, living with his human mate. He was completely isolated from
his community and his family,” Mrs. Daniels concluded, and Ivy felt like a tiny
stone had dropped inside her stomach and hit the dark bottom.
Is that how
I’m going to end up, cast out because of my relationship with my sister?
she thought.

Mrs.
Daniels looked at her children tenderly. “I don’t know how parents could stand
to sever themselves from their own children in that way.”

A few
minutes later Mr. Daniels unobtrusively gestured to Ivy that he wanted her to
come outside to the barbecue. Ivy hurried over. Mr. Daniels was turning steaks.
He pointed with his tongs at an unappetizing brown disk in one corner. “Do you
have any idea how to cook one of these veggie burgers?” he asked in a low
voice.

Ivy
shrugged apologetically.

“The
things humans find appetizing,” Mr. Daniels murmured. “Inconceivable!” The
smoke rising around his head made his wild mane of gray hair appear even
larger.

“Olivia
and I read your research online,” Ivy said. “Do you really think it’s
impossible for a vamp and a human to have babies?”

Mr.
Daniels’s glasses flickered with the reflection of the barbecue’s flames. “That
is
exactly
why I find you and Olivia so extraordinary,” he said.
“Science is the study of empirical evidence. It is about what we can prove
physically. And the existence of twin sisters, one vampire and one human, is
nothing if not physical proof. I’m not certain
what
the two of you prove
exactly. But we shall find out!”

He
grabbed a fork from beside the barbecue and speared the veggie burger. “Imagine
this is human DNA, the fundamental building block of human life,” he said. In
his other hand, he picked up a huge steak with his tongs. “While this is
vampire DNA, the essence of our existence. My research says they are
incompatible.” He flung them both back on the barbecue, and the flames flared
wildly. “But perhaps there is something we are missing.”

He
sighed thoughtfully. “Perhaps,” he continued, “the helical structure of human
DNA can be made to intermingle with the helical structure of
our
DNA.”
He began spouting hypotheses. Ivy had no clue what he was talking about, but
the cloud of smoke around his head was getting larger.

“Marc,”
Mrs. Daniels called from the kitchen, “is something burning?”

Ivy
and Mr. Daniels looked down at the barbecue. He quickly flipped everything
over.

“I’d
like you and Olivia to come down to V-Gen,” he said. “My colleagues would be
very excited to meet you. Of course,” he went on in a low voice, “you should
probably pretend Olivia doesn’t know about vampires. Who knows how ASHH might
feel about that.”

“What’s
ASHH?” Ivy asked, waving Olivia over from where she and Brendan were playing
death tag with Bethany.

“The
Agency for the Security of Human Hybrids,” Mr. Daniels explained.

“That
sounds ominous,” Ivy remarked.

“There
have always been legends in the vampire community about the horrific results
that ensue when a human and a vampire mate,” Brendan’s father said.

“Like
how I used to have four heads?” Olivia interrupted.

Brendan’s
dad did a double take.

“She’s
joking,” Ivy clarified.

“Of
course,” Mr. Daniels said sheepishly. “In any case, it’s been a source of great
paranoia. Vampires are terribly worried that a human and a vampire will produce
some sort of monster, which might cause our existence to be revealed. For this
reason, ASHH was set up by the Vampire Round Table to investigate reports of
vampire human relationships. It’s all nonsense, of course,” he said, “but ASHH
checks into each and every tabloid headline about a deformed offspring. They’re
kept quite busy, as you might imagine.”

“Have
they ever discovered any actual hybrids?” asked Ivy.
Maybe that’s what
Olivia and I are,
she thought with a shiver.

“Not a
single one,” Mr. Daniels answered. “I personally believe ASHH isn’t worth what
it costs to run, but unfortunately I’m in the minority. And in any case they do
do
some
good work—including funding a few projects for V-Gen.” He leaned
close to the girls. “It helps that the agency’s office is in our building, but
they do tend to poke their noses into our business more than I’d like.”

“Do
you think they have files about us?” Ivy asked apprehensively. Olivia nodded
like she’d been about to ask the same question.

“If
they don’t already,” Brendan’s father said, “I expect they soon will. But don’t
worry,” he added upon seeing Ivy and Olivia’s reaction. “Since you two being
twins has become so public, ASHH wouldn’t dare kidnap you for study.”

Somehow,
thought Ivy,
that doesn’t make
me feel better.

“Um,
Mr. Daniels?” Olivia said, gesturing to the barbecue.

Mr.
Daniels quickly picked up Olivia’s veggie burger—now charred and smoking—and
dangled it in the air with his tongs. “Do you think this is done?”

Olivia’s
mom was planning to pick Olivia up from Ivy’s house later, so the sisters
decided to walk there from Brendan’s. Most of the way, Olivia and Ivy didn’t
say much. Olivia was lost in her thoughts about what it would be like to have
vampire parents. The Daniels were the first vamp grown-ups she’d spent time
with. In some ways, they were just like normal parents. In others, they seemed
much more . . . knowing.

As
they climbed the long driveway, lined with bare trees, Ivy clicked her tongue
thoughtfully.

“What
are you thinking about?” asked Olivia.

“ASHH,”
Ivy answered. “About how maybe
they’re
the reason there’s no record of
my adoption. They could have covered it up.”

“Why
would they?”

“Maybe
they were trying to bury my connection to a human sister,” Ivy said, unlocking
the front door. “For all we know, they orchestrated our split from the very
beginning.”

The
thought sent a chill through Olivia. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the
dim lighting in Ivy’s front hall, but her sister was already heading for the
living room. Olivia hurried to catch up.

As
they passed through the living room archway, Ivy stopped in her tracks, and
Olivia walked right into her back. Over her sister’s shoulder, Olivia could see
the back of a black-suited specter standing in the middle of the living room.
It’s
ASHH!
Olivia thought.

The
man turned and looked at the girls sternly.

“Hi,
Dad,” said Ivy.

Ivy’s
father just stood there. He didn’t even say hi. Finally, Ivy said, “Olivia,
this is my father.” Olivia bounced over. “It’s so great to finally meet you!”
she said, but Ivy could see that her father’s jaw was clenched. He forced
himself to smile and, avoiding Olivia’s eyes, shook her hand once before
withdrawing. It was like he didn’t even want to touch her.

Ivy’s
blood started to simmer.
 I can’t believe he’s being so prejudiced!
she
thought.

They
all stared at one another until finally Ivy couldn’t take it anymore. “Is it
okay if Olivia and I use the computer?” she asked.

“No,”
her father dismissed. “I need it for work.”

“It
won’t be for long,” Ivy argued. “Olivia has to go home soon anyway.”

“I
have a great deal of preparing to do before we move, Ivy,” he said abruptly.

Ivy’s
vision suddenly blurred. “I don’t care about the move!” she shouted. “I care
about Olivia. I care about my sister—unlike
you
!”

Her
father’s face changed, and his eyes flickered toward Olivia for the first time.
“Ivy—” he began.

“I
care about my
real
parents!” Ivy screamed. Stricken, her father
staggered backward, steadying himself against the edge of the couch.

“Sorry
to bother you,” Olivia said sadly to Mr. Vega as Ivy grabbed her hand and
stalked out.

The
next day at lunch, Ivy saw her sister approaching across the cafeteria and
dried her eyes with her napkin. She’d just been unloading on Sophia and Brendan
about her fight with her father.

“How
are you?” Olivia asked gently.

Ivy
shrugged. “I’d be better if my dad wasn’t so narrow-minded.” She moved her bag
so Olivia could sit down.

“I
don’t understand,” Sophia said. “Charles Vega has always been the vamp dad
everyone wanted.” Brendan nodded in agreement.

“Come
on,” Ivy said with an eye roll. “He never liked humans.”

“Remember
when he decorated that human lady’s house in LA?” Sophia said. “That didn’t
seem to put his wings in a flap.”

“That
was just a client,” Ivy said, shaking her head. “Anyway,” she said, deciding to
change the subject, “I looked on the VVV last night to see if I could access
ASHH files.”

Olivia
perked up. “And?”

“I
couldn’t,” Ivy revealed. “If we want to find out anything, we’re going to have
to go to the ASHH office ourselves.”

“Do
you think we can ask for our files just like that?” Olivia wondered.

“I
wasn’t thinking of asking,” Ivy replied with a mischievous smile. “I was
thinking of sneaking in and digging around.”

Brendan
spit a gulp of cranberry juice back into his cup.

“Bad
Ivy,” Sophia said, shaking her finger teasingly. “Bad, bad Ivy!”

Olivia
leaned forward. “Could we actually do that?” she asked in a low voice.

“Brendan’s
dad invited us to the V-Gen offices,” Ivy said, “and they’re in the same
building. So we already have an excuse to get in and out of the compound. All
we need is a distraction,” she said, putting her arm around Brendan and
squeezing his shoulder, “so we can get in and out of the ASHH offices without
anyone noticing.”

Brendan
frowned. “Is ‘distraction’ a code word for ‘boyfriend’?”

Ivy
grinned. “Maybe.”

“This’ll
be interesting,” Brendan assented with a playful roll of his eyes.

“How
about this afternoon after school?” Ivy proposed with a conspiratorial glance
toward Olivia.

“There’s
no better time than the present,” Olivia agreed, and Brendan nodded.

“What
about me?” Sophia interjected. “What can I do?”

“Somebody
has to stay behind to tell our story,” Ivy told her, “in case we end up being
abducted.”

“You’re
joking, right?” said Sophia.

A
chill flashed over Ivy. “I hope so,” she said. After school, Olivia, Ivy, and
Brendan caught a bus to Brendan’s father’s office complex across town. Brendan
had called his dad to let him know they were coming, while Olivia had called
her mom and explained that she was doing a research project with Ivy—which was
totally true. As for Ivy, she wasn’t talking to her father, so she didn’t tell
him anything.

Eventually,
the three of them were the only passengers left on the bus, and all Olivia
could see from the window was one gray office building after another, against
the wintry gray sky. Arriving at the end of a cul-de-sac, the driver called,
“Last stop, Pentagram Court.”

Jumping
down off the bus, Olivia found herself staring up at a hulking black glass
building, glistening in the afternoon sun like a dark jewel. It was surrounded
by a security gate, and the bus had let them off right in front of a
guardhouse.

“Can I
help you?” a pale security officer inquired.

“We’re
here to see Marc Daniels at V-Gen,” Brendan announced.

Olivia
glanced up and spotted a security camera sitting atop the gate, aimed right at
her. She shifted uncomfortably as the camera looked her up and down with a
whir, from her pink corduroy jacket down to her cheerleading sneakers. “No
civilians allowed,” the guard said stonily.

“He’s
expecting
all
of us,” Brendan replied firmly.

The
security guard looked unconvinced. “Names?”

“Brendan,
Ivy, and Olivia,” Brendan answered.

The guard
disappeared into his booth. Olivia could see him through the window talking on
the phone. After he hung up, he slid the glass open and handed down three guest
passes. As they put them around their necks, the gate clanked and slid open.

Inside
the enormous black marble lobby, Mr. Daniels was waiting in his white lab coat.
“Ivy, Olivia!” he said warmly, shaking their hands and giving Brendan a quick
hug. “I’m so glad you came so soon!”

As
they all waited for the elevator, Ivy nudged Olivia’s arm and silently nodded
toward the building directory that was hanging on the wall. Olivia’s eyes
immediately zeroed in on what her sister was looking at:

ASHH
2A

V-GEN
2C
Brendan’s dad’s lab and ASHH are on the same floor!
thought Olivia.
Perfect!

When
the elevator doors opened onto the second floor, Ivy, Olivia, and Brendan
followed Mr. Daniels to the left, but Olivia used the opportunity to steal a
backward glance. There, at the opposite end of the hall past a tall potted
plant was a dark wall with ASHH on it in enormous, luminous letters. Beside the
letters was a door, and beside the door stood the tallest security guard Olivia
had ever seen, fiddling distractedly with a walkie-talkie.