10 Date with Destiny - My Sister the Vampire (10 page)

In the centre of the ring of vampires, the two boys, shirtless and barefoot, circled each other. They looked high-school age, around sixteen. One of them – the slightly taller one – was tying his long blond hair into a ponytail, while the other removed an expensive-looking gold watch and handed it to one of his friends standing nearby.

Ivy was finding the whole scene strange. The boys back at Franklin Grove would shout and get furious and shove each other – but these boys were calm and focused. They didn’t even look that angry. Ivy shuddered. This wouldn’t be a regular human fight. Knowing vampire skills the way Ivy did, she knew this could turn out very, very badly. Ivy tried not to imagine the damage the two boys could do to one another.

Another commotion stirred the crowd and the ring parted opposite her and Petra. Now everyone was gasping. Prince Alex stepped right into the circle with the shirtless vampires. Everyone bowed in his presence, including the two fighters. Ivy’s shoulders relaxed. Everything would be under control now. Alex would put a stop to this.

The prince wedged himself between the two boys, one palm on each of their chests. ‘It’s fortunate that I’m here today. Please state your names.’ Alex’s voice boomed across the field.

‘Carlos,’ answered the tall, blond vampire.

‘Gregor,’ said the shorter one.

‘And what is your quarrel?’

Gregor pointed at his opponent, a sneer twisting his lips. ‘Carlos accused me of dishonesty on the playing field, but he’s wrong.
I
 
took the lead fairly –’ he pushed his finger into his chest – ‘and
I
 
should not be called a cheat in front of my classmates.’

Carlos shook his head and his ponytail swept across his bare back. ‘That’s not what happened. I saw the ball touch the ground but Gregor carried on playing – he had an unfair advantage.’

‘You’re mistaken,’ Gregor insisted.

‘I am not.’ Carlos crossed his arms. Ivy rolled her eyes. They were being so polite, while still managing to act like total
cavemen
. Were they really going to fight over
this
 
? Ivy would give them each a trophy if they would just chill out!

Alex turned to the group. ‘Would the other players please step forward?’ Young vampires wearing different coloured Wallachia rugby shirts entered the circle, bowing slightly as they approached Prince Alex. ‘Now. Can anyone verify either boy’s story?’

They all shrugged. One bulky vampire with huge, muddied hands spoke up for the group. ‘It all happened too fast and we were playing the game ourselves. We didn’t get a good look.’

‘Very well,’ said Prince Alex, returning to the two quarrelling players. ‘As the highest-ranking vampire on this property, I hereby formally sanction this duel.’

What!?
 
Ivy nearly blurted out.
He can’t be serious
. Alex was supporting the boys’ decision to fight? It didn’t make sense! Ivy started to push forwards – there would be no duel if she had anything to say about it – but Petra grabbed her arm and pulled it back down to her side, giving Ivy a look that said,
Don’t even think about it
.

But why?
 
Ivy wanted to know. She didn’t want to watch a vampire fight and she couldn’t understand why anyone else would want to either. These boys could seriously hurt each other. And since when did Ivy Vega bite her tongue about anything?

‘Is this a joke?’ Ivy demanded in Petra’s ear. ‘We can’t actually be about to watch two boys fight each other, can we?’

‘Shhh!’ Petra pressed a finger to her lips. ‘It’s tradition! And I’d take this over an action movie any day. I only wish I’d known. I’d have grabbed us a box of plasmallows!’

Ivy’s stomach did a nosedive.
If I didn’t know for a fact that I have excellent hearing, I’d think I needed my ears checked
.

A younger vampire boy drew a circle with a stick around the shirtless boys, who were crouched opposite one another. Ivy squirmed beside Petra. Were they really going to go through with this ‘duel’?

Like a radio announcer, Alex began to outline the rules. ‘Each opponent must respect the rules of the duel,’ he began. ‘One: there will be three rounds. Two: in each round one vampire must try to push the other vampire out of the circle. Three: no punching or biting is allowed in the fight. Four: as referee, my word is law. My say is final. And five: if at the end of the third and final round there is no clear victor, we will return tomorrow at the same time for a rematch . . . with swords. Agreed?’

The crowd exploded into rowdy cheering as if their favourite team had just scored a goal. Vampire boys pumped their fists in the air while the girls who had stared at Ivy began a high-pitched chant: ‘Greg-or, Greg-or, Greg-or!’ The ringleader of the group lifted her palms in the air, trying to encourage more people to join in.

Gregor and Carlos bent low, fingers grazing the ground and muscles tense. Petra’s hand tightened around Ivy’s arm.
We are
 
not
in this together
, thought Ivy and she shrugged off Petra’s grip, pushing her way out of the crowd. She didn’t know where she was heading to; she just knew she didn’t want to stay here.

She stumbled out of the mass of vampires, winding up near the front gates of the school where her grandmother had dropped her off not too long ago. She had thought vampires were more advanced than bunnies. They were stronger and quicker and had super-senses, but that didn’t change the fact that they were so old-fashioned they were practically backwards! Of all the ways vampires could use their physical superiority, they chose to waste it on dumb things like this – a
duel
 
! Ivy felt sick, like she’d swallowed a whole clove of garlic.

She climbed on to a cool stone bench, pulling her knees to her chest. The students were still whooping, though at least from here Ivy could no longer see Carlos and Gregor.
It’s like the Middle Ages never ended for these people
.

Ivy stared through the wrought-iron gate with its regal Wallachia crest. If this was the way young vampires were expected to behave at the Academy, Ivy wasn’t sure she could ever be proud to wear it.

Ivy’s head snapped up at the sound of a door opening behind her. Three teachers in long professorial robes sprinted out in the direction of the fight. The first of them – a thin, pointy-nosed teacher – noticed Ivy sitting on the bench. She skidded to a stop. ‘Come on!’ she said. ‘The duel might be over at any moment. You certainly don’t want to be the only one to miss it, now do you?’

Actually I do
, she wanted to tell them. Ivy couldn’t believe it. Had she entered a parallel universe? She pinched herself to be sure she wasn’t dreaming. But when she blinked and saw that she was still seated in the middle of the pristine grounds, Ivy decided to smile and wave the teachers on. After all, challenging centuries of convention was a bit too much to take on during a simple school visit.

Even for Ivy Vega.

O
livia may not have had any vamp powers, but she had competed in the state cheerleading competition three times, and that meant she had a few special skills of her own. She stared up at the impossibly high oak tree. Its branches stretched over the Lazar family grounds. It was the perfect spot to scout for locations for shots of the wedding reception . . . just so long as she didn’t look down.

Olivia straddled the tree trunk and inched her way up until she reached one of the solid lower branches. From there, she caught hold of the next limb up, moving from bough to bough like she was climbing a rickety ladder. When she reached a branch near the top of the tree, she hiked her leg over and leaned her back against the knotted trunk.

Her feet dangled as she lifted the viewfinder to study the landscape. The first half of the wedding reception was to be held outside, beneath the sparkling Transylvania stars, before the guests went back into the ballroom to dance the night away. The whole day was going to be a fairytale come true – only this fairytale came with vampires. The tables had been draped with garlands of pink-and-cream flowers. A silk awning billowed over the table where Tessa and Alex would sit for the wedding dinner, and a band was setting up to one side, their gilt chairs decorated with huge cream satin bows.
I’m so glad Lucia changed her plans
, she thought.
All it took was a nudge in the right direction
.

Olivia snapped a few test shots, double-checking the digital screen after each one to see which angles were working best. She scooted further out along the branch, but then it dawned on her:
I’ll hardly be able to climb up here in the fabulous gown I’ll be wearing!
 
Not that she’d ever tested it, but Olivia didn’t think pink chiffon and rough tree bark would go together very well.

The branch swayed beneath her and she dug all ten fingernails into the tree until the bough stopped moving. Panting, Olivia smacked herself on the forehead. What was wrong with her lately? Was she so desperate to avoid thinking about Jackson that she would risk life and limb climbing a stupid tree? She needed to get it together. She clutched the trunk and lowered herself on to a branch below.

Crack!

Olivia felt rotting bark crumble beneath her feet, and she slipped down. She managed to grasp a sturdier branch above her, clutching it with her fingertips. Her feet swished wildly through thin air. She looked up at the branch she was holding for dear life.

Don’t panic
,
Olivia
.
Do not panic
. She squeezed her eyes shut. Too late – she was totally panicking. Her arms started to shake and her fingers were aching with the strain of holding on.
I could really use a dose of that super-strength about now!
 
Where was her sister when she needed her? Olivia tried to adjust her grip, but her hand slipped and her stomach virtually jumped into her mouth. Down she plummeted.

‘Heeeeeeeelp!
Ooof!
’

She landed in a clumsy heap on the ground, cradling her camera to her chest.
How utterly great
, she thought.
I try to stay busy and I wind up nearly killing myself!
 
Olivia stretched her arms and then her legs, flexing her wrists and ankles. She’d had enough practice tumbling from the top of a cheer pyramid to manage not to break any bones. At least she could be thankful for that, and the camera was still in one piece.

Something in the grass prickled her shins, and Olivia scooted back. She looked down at the spot where she had landed. She was up to her ankles in exotic plants with green, ivy-like vines and furry white blossoms. Almost instantly, her skin started to itch. She leaned down to scratch, but the itching was getting worse by the second. She straightened up to get out of reach of the devilish plants, but then she noticed that she was bang in the middle of a crop; there was another metre’s worth of plants between her and the clear grass.

It was time for Olivia’s cheerleader skills again. She took two steps back, squared her shoulders and catapulted herself into the air, performing a perfect somersault before landing free and clear of the plant beds.

As she dusted off her clothes, Helga the Greenhouse Lady appeared at her side. ‘My dear, are you all right? I saw you fall into the . . . into the . . . Oh, no!’ She was staring at the crushed bed of plants at the base of the tree.

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to damage them. It was an accid–’

But before Olivia could finish, Helga grabbed her round the waist and slung her over her shoulder! ‘I don’t care what you’ve done to the plants, it’s what the plants have done to you!’ she gasped.

‘Wha– what’s going on?’ Olivia cried as the woman broke into a run. Her body jiggled painfully against the gardener’s collar bone. Helga was racing back to the greenhouse with her as cargo! All she could do was watch the scenery go by as if in fast-forward. Helga pushed through a glass door, which grazed Olivia’s hair as it slammed shut behind them.

‘Don’t worry, don’t worry,’ Helga muttered under her breath, setting Olivia down on a metal table covered with various garden tools and bags of loose soil. ‘I have just the thing for you.’

For me?