05 Take Two - My Sister the Vampire (15 page)

‘It’s good to have you back,’ Brendan said as he and Ivy walked down aisle nine at FoodMart, towards the secret entrance to the BloodMart. ‘Air hockey isn’t as much fun by myself.’

Ivy’s black woolly beanie hat was pulled down over her ears and felt warm and cosy – no more sundresses in winter for her.

‘It has been a crazy past few days,’ Ivy admitted. Staying with Olivia was awesome but she was desperate for some real food. Her dad was coming back tonight, but she couldn’t wait that long. Brendan had promised her a box of Count Cocoa Chew bars, as long as he could eat one right away. ‘It’s almost like the movie was an alien invasion.’

Brendan shook his head. ‘Aliens wouldn’t have lured you away from me with silver bangles and promises of fame and fortune.’

‘Beetroot,’ Ivy said, poking her tongue out at her boyfriend. They were at the STAFF ONLY door and that was the new password. George unlocked the door and they headed down the quiet, dark stairwell.

‘I think my days as an extra are over,’ Ivy said. ‘Especially if Olivia gets the part. They wouldn’t want her double hovering in the background.’

‘When does she find out?’ Brendan wanted to know.

‘Sometime today,’ Ivy said. ‘Probably after her big conversation with Jackson.’ Olivia’s plan to call off their date was completely kooky, but Ivy didn’t want to interfere any more in her sister’s love life.

Ivy checked her watch – Olivia would be
meeting Jackson any moment now.

She pushed open the door and made straight for the candy aisle but stopped so suddenly that Brendan bumped into the back of her.

Browsing through the chocolate bars was a blonde bombshell wearing super-high heels and being fawned over by an entourage.

‘It’s . . . it’s . . . Jessica Phelps!’ Ivy stuttered, taking a step back and knocking into a display of Marshmallow Platelets that were on sale. ‘What is she doing here?’ Jessica had stormed off the movie set a few days ago and it wasn’t like Franklin Grove was on the celebrity circuit.

‘Beating us to the last of the Count Cocoa Chews?’ Brendan said, with a longing glance down the candy aisle.

Jessica caught sight of Ivy staring and sighed. Then put on a huge fake smile. ‘Hi, there! Do you want my autograph?’

Ivy was so confused. Why would Jessica be in the BloodMart?

Jessica’s high heels clicked on the glossy floor as she came over, standing a little too close to Brendan for Ivy’s liking. ‘If you don’t have a pen, don’t worry!’ She pulled a pen covered in rhinestones out of her big beige bag and scrawled her name across a box of Puffy Plasma Cookies. ‘There you go!’

Ivy didn’t even like Puffy Plasmas but she took the box so that she could ask, ‘What brings you back to Franklin Grove? Didn’t you quit the movie?’

Jessica tossed her hair, making Brendan duck to avoid getting whacked. ‘There was a huge poll in
Celeb Weekly
and it turns out my fans would love to see J-Squared – that’s me and Jackson – together on screen. Isn’t that to die for? So I’m taking my part back. No more of that publicity
stunt silliness trying to find some amateur.’

‘Uh, yeah,’ Ivy mumbled. ‘Killer.’

Poor Olivia
, Ivy thought.
That means even if Philippe picks her, she won’t get the part.

It took a second to register, but then Ivy realised: if Jessica was in the BloodMart, that meant . . . she was . . . a vampire!

Ivy’s head started to spin.
Does that mean . . .?

Fake tan wasn’t entirely conclusive. And the J-02 could stand for Jessica, not Jackson. Ivy remembered the bowl of red candies in Jessica’s trailer and the fake tan in the drawer.

Maybe Jackson really was near-sighted.

‘Ivy, are you all right? You’re turning pink.’ Brendan put a hand on her shoulder.

‘Uh, hey,’ Ivy said to Jessica.

The movie star put one hand on her hip, and it was clear that Ivy had already worn out her welcome. ‘Is J-Squared a match made
in the graveyard?’

‘You mean, is Jackson a creature of the night?’ Jessica laughed like Ivy had just suggested she take a supporting role. ‘Of course not!’

‘No. Of course not. Who would think such a thing?’ Ivy mumbled. ‘Thanks.’

She pulled Brendan into the cereal aisle.

‘Should I take you home?’ Brendan was looking worried, so Ivy had to explain.

‘I’ve done a stupid, stupid thing.’ She shook the autographed box of Plasma Puffs with every word. ‘Jessica is the vampire, not Jackson,’ she said. ‘And that means Olivia doesn’t have to break it off with him.’ There could be a silver lining to this cloud of doom. ‘I’ve got to tell her.’ But then the image of Olivia waiting for Jackson flashed into her mind. ‘Oh no.’

‘You’re turning pink again,’ Brendan said.

Ivy knew that any moment now, Olivia was
going to make a big speech to Jackson about why they couldn’t be together – because he was a vampire. But since he wasn’t, it meant that Olivia was about to break the First Law of the Night! There were a tomb-load of reasons Ivy had to stop her.

‘Come on,’ Ivy said, shoving the Puffs in with the Marshmallow Platelets and charging full speed up the stairwell.

‘But what about my Count Cocoa Chew?’ Brendan called after her.

‘If you help me get to Olivia, you can have all the Count Cocoa Chews you like!’

Olivia was perched on the edge of a low stone table in the oldest cemetery in Franklin Grove waiting for Jackson. Even though it was daylight, and Olivia knew that vampires didn’t jump out of the shadows and bite people any more, she
didn’t want to wait by herself for any longer than she had to.

She hoped Jackson would understand what she was trying to say by meeting here – she wanted him to understand that she wasn’t freaked out by him being a vampire. It just meant things couldn’t move forward between them.

A dark figure caught her eye, moving from one tree to the next on the other side of the graveyard.

The figure came nearer and Olivia could see that whoever it was was trying not to be seen.

She slipped off the table, darted behind a statue of an angel and crouched down.
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea
, she thought. Anyone could be wandering around this graveyard!

Then the person stepped out of the shadow. ‘Harker Films’ was written in big bold letters across his jacket. Jackson. He was in his
security-guard disguise again.

He was looking right at the table where she’d been sitting. ‘Olivia?’ he called.

He must have seen her waiting there and now was wondering why she’d disappeared. ‘Sorry I’m late. I thought I had some paparazzi following me, so I did a couple of extra loops.’

Olivia felt like a goof ball as she straightened up and stepped out from behind the statue. ‘I, uh, was just doing a little weeding.’

Jackson smiled and came over. ‘You’ll have a tough time doing this whole place by hand.’

‘Oh, no. I just, uh . . .’ Olivia didn’t want her nerves to take over. She didn’t want to say anything stupid. And now that he was here, looking at her with his beautiful blue eyes, she didn’t really want to break it off either. But it was for the best.

‘I’m teasing,’ Jackson said, taking off his hat
and looking around with a wry grin. ‘This isn’t exactly what I had in mind for our first date, but the place definitely has atmosphere.’

‘I just wanted to show you that I wasn’t scared,’ Olivia said.

‘OK,’ Jackson replied, but she wasn’t sure he completely understood her point. He leaned against the table next to her. ‘Look, I’ve got something to tell you and I’m pretty sure you’re not going to like it.’

Olivia’s heart went out to him. He was biting his lip and looked pretty worried about what he was going to say. She wanted to spare him the stress. ‘I already know.’

‘You know?’ Jackson looked shocked.

If he hadn’t read the
Vamp!
magazine article about Olivia and Ivy, then of course it would take him by surprise that a human could be in on the vampire secret. ‘Yes, and it doesn’t bother me.’

‘I don’t know how you know, but why doesn’t it bother you? It would bother me,’ Jackson replied.

‘Don’t say that,’ Olivia said. She didn’t want him to be unhappy about who he was. ‘There’s nothing wrong with being yourself.’

‘Myself?’ Jackson said. ‘I don’t have any control over it.’

‘Of course not,’ Olivia said, thinking of her and Ivy’s history. ‘You can’t choose who you are.’

Jackson looked totally confused. ‘Are we talking about the same thing?’

It must be hard for any vampire to expose the secret, after living their whole lives upholding the First Law. Olivia decided that if she just laid it all out and said the ‘v’ word herself, it would prove she knew and then she could tell Jackson what she brought him here to say.

She took one of his gloved hands in her mittens and took a deep breath.

‘Jackson,’ she said. ‘Listen to me . . .’

Chapter Eleven

‘H
ello!’ A familiar voice interrupted her. ‘Yoo-hoo! Hi, guys!’ Olivia saw Ivy trampling through the grass towards them, waving like crazy.

‘Has she had too many sugary drinks?’ Jackson asked.

‘Good question,’ Olivia replied cautiously.

‘Hi!’ Ivy called as she neared.

Brendan, bringing up the rear, looked as baffled as Olivia felt.

‘Hey, Olivia,’ Ivy said, totally out of breath and red-faced. ‘Oh, hi, Jackson.’

‘Hi,’ Jackson replied, but he didn’t take his eyes off Olivia.

Ivy plonked herself in between Olivia and Jackson. ‘What are you guys up to?’

Olivia searched Ivy’s face for a sign. Why was her sister acting so super-cheerful? Ivy knew why she’d brought Jackson here but she was acting like it was the most normal thing in the world to hang out in a graveyard.
Which
, Olivia supposed,
for Ivy it is.

‘Just talking,’ Olivia said, trying to put
Go away
into her voice.

‘Jackson, this is Brendan,’ Ivy said. ‘Brendan, this is Jackson.’ When the two guys were saying their hellos, Ivy knocked Olivia on the arm to get her attention and mouthed, ‘NOT A VAMPIRE!’

Did Ivy just say what I think she just said?

Ivy made rabbit ears with her fingers and was making hopping motions when Jackson turned
back. Ivy quickly dropped her hand.

Rabbit. Bunny.
Suddenly Olivia realised what Ivy was trying to say. Jackson was NOT a vampire!

‘What do you think of our cemetery, Jackson?’ Ivy said.

Not a vampire, not a vampire!
kept running through Olivia’s mind. That meant that she didn’t have to break it off with him. She wanted to bounce around among the graves with happiness, until she realised that it meant she’d brought him to the oddest place for their first date.

‘It’s very nice,’ Jackson replied.

He must think I’m insane
, Olivia thought.

‘I just wanted us to have a quick look at some of the sights of the city,’ Olivia said. ‘But maybe now we should go somewhere warmer.’

The foursome walked down the stone path towards the street.

‘What about the stuff we were talking about?’ Jackson asked her quietly so Ivy and Brendan couldn’t hear.

‘Uh . . .’ Olivia started.
If he isn’t a vampire
, Olivia realised,
then he had something entirely different to tell me.
Olivia gulped.
And I’m not going to like it.