11 Flying Solo - My Sister the Vampire (10 page)

Olivia could feel her face crumpling. Then . . .
Ding, ding! Ding, ding!
Was that a bicycle bell? A figure appeared from around the corner, riding a blue vintage-style bicycle. She leaned low over her handlebars, aiming straight for the Beasts. They leaped out of the way as the girl slammed on her brakes and sent the back wheel skidding out so that the boys’ legs were nearly knocked out from under them. They scattered just in time, yelping in protest. One of them fell on the ground, limbs flailing. The others bent to help him up, dusting him down. Looking at them over the handlebars of the bike was Holly.

‘Are you crazy?’ yelled Garrick.

Holly was wearing a long, flower-power summer dress, and a camera dangled round her neck. Her hair was dyed with gorgeous bright red streaks.

‘You could have hurt someone,’ said another Beast, as Holly came to a stop next to Olivia.

Olivia furrowed her eyebrows and got up in Garrick’s face. ‘You guys are so tough until somebody stands up to you, isn’t that right?’

He stepped back, rubbing the back of his neck. ‘Whatever,’ he mumbled.

Holly tapped her camera. ‘You guys better leave or I’ll take a few more pictures of you harassing an innocent girl. How would you like that?’

Garrick’s eyes widened, and he held up his hands in surrender. ‘OK, OK. We’re going!’

Olivia knew that Garrick wouldn’t want the authorities looking at those pictures. That might lead to people snooping around, and if the vampire community wanted to maintain their secrecy, they couldn’t afford any prying. The Beasts were dumb, but they weren’t
that
dumb.

She could feel her whole body trembling as they backed away, and she loosened the silk scarf at her throat.
Thank goodness Holly turned up when she did
. Olivia hated to admit it, but she hadn’t been sure how she was going to hold it together just then.

Garrick grabbed his basketball and motioned for the other Beasts to follow, throwing a final filthy look in Olivia’s direction. They wandered off, grumbling and playfully shoving each other.

‘That’s it,’ called Holly after them. ‘Go home . . . and take a shower!’ She turned to Olivia, cupping Olivia’s elbow. ‘Are you OK?’

‘Yeah.’ She smoothed her skirt. ‘It’s not the first time I’ve had a run-in with those boys.’ But the mention of Jackson had shaken her in a way that none of the other close calls had. Olivia hugged her arms to her chest. The Beasts had actually been right about one thing: she didn’t have Jackson and she didn’t have Ivy. For the first time ever, Olivia Abbott was lonely.

Holly stared after Garrick and Co. as they walked away. ‘Does this sort of thing happen a lot in Franklin Grove?’ She dismounted her bike.

‘It’s almost like an occupational hazard,’ said Olivia, remembering again her first day at school, when Ivy had saved her from being picked on by the Beasts.

‘Come here and take a breather,’ Holly told Olivia, leading her to a bus-stop bench. They sat down together and Holly positioned her camera on her lap. She clicked the ‘ON’ button and the viewfinder lit up. ‘Want to see some of my photos?’ she asked.

‘Sure.’ Olivia nodded. Her voice sounded smaller than usual.

Holly began scrolling through the pictures stored on her camera. The first one was of a brightly painted sign that read, ‘Franklin Grove Animal Rescue.’

‘Hey, those aren’t the Beasts!’ Olivia pointed at the pictures of tail-wagging dogs. Holly giggled at a pug with drool hanging out of both sides of his mouth and a goofy, lop-sided dog grin.

‘Are you sure?’ Holly asked. ‘Because I think this one could definitely be mistaken for Garrick!’

Olivia doubled over laughing until she got a stitch and had to clutch her sides. ‘Thank goodness you were around to put those boys in their place,’ she said, wiping her eyes. Olivia had thought she was headed for a meltdown, but Holly had managed to cheer her up in no time. Maybe she wasn’t as totally alone as she’d thought . . .

Holly frowned. ‘Well, don’t worry. I’ll always back you up.’

Olivia gave Holly a hug. After feeling so lonely and abandoned today, it was nice that someone was around to support her.
I think I’m going to be seeing a lot more of this girl in future
, thought Olivia happily.

‘So, how about we make good on that rain check?’ said Holly. Olivia cocked her head, confused. ‘I mean, do you want to come over to my house?’

‘Oh, yeah!’ Olivia jumped up. ‘Definitely.’

‘Far out!’ Holly exclaimed. Her unique style, Olivia figured, was going to take a little getting used to.

They walked together, Holly alongside her bicycle, holding on to the handlebars.

‘Do you want to give your sister a call so that she can come along too?’ asked Holly. ‘I’d really like to meet her.’ Olivia was about to remind her that Ivy was out of the country when Holly continued. ‘It’s not like I have any music that she’d like to listen to, but we can still hang out. I mean, The Pall Bearers take some getting used to, right?’

That was when Olivia understood – the pictures of her at the concert! Holly thought that had been Ivy, back from Transylvania.

‘Holly, those are just –’ Olivia started to explain, when Holly’s phone pinged. She held up one finger, checking the incoming text.

‘So sorry, Olivia, but I’ve really got to run.’ She waved her phone. ‘But we’ll talk later, OK? I can’t wait to meet Ivy and ask her all about Transylvania. Maybe get some cool pictures of her too.’ Holly was talking fast. ‘If I could get the low-down on Europe from her, I know it would really help me break through as a journalist. There’s a travel-writing competition with a deadline at the end of the week – entrants need to interview someone who’s explored the world. And Ivy would be so cool in photos too, if she’s just like you say she is!’

‘Um, yeah,’ Olivia muttered. ‘She’s totally cool. And thanks for everything – I really appreciate what you did back there.’ But Holly wasn’t listening. She’d already hopped back on her bike and was pedalling furiously in the opposite direction.

How could Olivia thank Holly properly? She couldn’t bear the thought of telling her Ivy wasn’t around to have a photo taken of her.
But if she doesn’t get her interview, her dreams of breaking into journalism will be over before she’s written a word
.
I’d feel terrible!
At that moment, an idea started to form. A dangerously clever idea . . .

Olivia had dressed as Ivy to wangle tickets to a concert. Surely she could do the same to help her new friend’s career? If there was one thing Olivia was short on right now, it was friends. And Holly had really been there for her when she needed someone. In Olivia’s book that counted for a lot.

She remembered what it had been like at the start of her acting career. Auditioning for
The Groves
had been terrifying. It would be fine to help Holly get the pictures she needed – just one more time dressing up as Ivy.

It was the right thing to do.

Wasn’t it?

Chapter Seven

I
vy woke with a start. She’d heard something – and there it was again – the creak of a coffin lid opening. She squeezed the side of her digital watch and the screen lit up. Midnight. Ivy peered out of her coffin to see Petra slipping out of hers, quietly closing the lid so as not to wake the other girls. She watched as Petra shoved her feet into a pair of trainers sitting near the door and crept out of the room.

Ivy lay back down on the cool, velvet lining of her coffin, staring into the darkness.
Petra’s going to see Etan
.
I just know it
. Love made people do crazy things. Ivy’s eyelids were heavy. She’d had only a few hours of sleep and she wanted to let Petra go. She’d already been in a whole heap of trouble after Miss Avisrova had seen the article about ‘Ivy’ being at The Pall Bearers concert. She’d been made to clean out the cages for every bat in the school!
I’m not getting myself into any more scrapes for anyone
, Ivy thought now.
No way
.

But could she stay in this warm coffin and leave Petra to get herself into a whole heap of trouble out there?
What would Olivia do in a situation like this?
Ivy opened her eyes and gave a loud sigh. Of course, it was obvious what Olivia would do – she’d go and help Petra.

Why me? Why do I have to feel guilty about leaving a schoolgirl to go out into the dark on her own?
Ivy rubbed her eyes. She couldn’t let Petra get into trouble, and trouble was exactly what Petra was going to find if she tried to cross the Gauntlet to see her crush.

Ivy opened her coffin, crawled out and shut the lid, pushing the middle of the Wallachia crest emblazoned on the top to lock it. She slid into her black tennis shoes and threw her coat on over her T-shirt and sweatpants. Soft snoring could be heard coming from the other coffins in Ivy’s dorm room. Her room-mates were fast asleep.
Petra had better appreciate this
, she thought, as she crept out of the door after her.

In the chilly corridor, Ivy thought she heard a rustling noise behind her, but when she whipped round, no one was there. That was strange. Her vampire hearing never usually failed her.

She carried on down the hallway, slipped the bolt back on a large ornate door and gently closed it behind her.

Outside, Ivy hugged herself, rubbing her arms. At night, the grounds of Wallachia Academy were the most eerie thing she had ever seen. The whole place looked like a graveyard on Halloween. The stone façade of the school building glowed ghostly pale in the moonlight. The trimmed hedges looked alive in the night breeze. Every creak of a branch and crunch of leaves sounded threatening.

Ivy tried to tune her hearing to focus on Petra. She could hear Petra’s trainers sinking into the soft grass and soil. She picked up her pace. Yep – judging from the direction of her footsteps, Petra was definitely headed for the spooky, booby-trapped forest that divided the girls’ and boys’ dorms.

Ivy hurried over, not caring whether she was heard or not. She found Petra at the edge of the wood, staring at a narrow passageway that began between two birch trees.

‘Are you nuts?’ Ivy hissed.

‘No, I’m in love.’ Petra clasped her hands together. ‘My whole heart aches. Do you know what that feels like?’

‘Of course I know what that feels like. My own boyfriend is all the way back in America, which, let me remind you, is much further away than the other side of a forest.’

Petra flapped her hand, batting aside Ivy’s comment. She was holding an envelope, which Ivy was sure contained another drawing or sappy poem. ‘If you really loved him, you would never have left.’

‘What?!’ Ivy didn’t know whether to laugh or scream.
Vampires and their ridiculous ideas of romance!
Maybe it was a good thing they weren’t fully integrated into society – they’d set the world back three hundred years. Ivy took a deep breath. ‘This isn’t going to solve anything,’ she told Petra. ‘You’re only going to get caught in one of the booby traps, a teacher is going to have to rescue you, and you’ll be in an epic amount of trouble. What would that accomplish?’

Petra pressed the back of her hand to her forehead in true dramatic fashion. ‘You don’t understand. I have to prove myself to Etan!’ She charged into the woods.

‘Wait!’ Ivy barrelled in after her.

The forest was pitch black. Even with vampire sight, Ivy could barely see through it. She could only just make out the dim figure of Petra running ahead. They hadn’t got ten metres in when Petra tripped over a hidden wire. She stumbled forwards, landing in the dirt. The wire triggered a wasps’ nest, which swung down from a tree on a rope. Ivy tackled Petra, pulling her off to the side just as the nest smashed into another tree trunk. Buzzing filled the air. But before they could run, the ground gave way beneath them. Ivy scrambled back, pulling Petra with her.

The forest floor opened up into a pit. Ivy peered over the edge. There were no spikes, like in medieval movies, but instead a foul-smelling pool of black goo gurgled inside.

Petra was swatting frantically at the wasps flying above her.

‘Be careful!’ Ivy flung one arm over her head, using the other to push Petra to safety a few paces down the path. ‘Well, this has been fun,’ she said, coming to a stop. ‘But let’s go back now.’

Petra brandished the envelope, now crumpled and dirty from their narrow escapes. ‘Absolutely not. I have to get this to Etan! You go back. You don’t have to come with me.’ She turned and continued down the path.

Ivy huffed. This girl was getting on her last nerve! But even though Ivy wanted to strangle her, she couldn’t let Petra bumble through this deadly obstacle course alone. She trotted after her friend, careful to watch where she stepped. Petra was taking ‘boy crazy’ to a brand new level. Ivy wondered if she would do the same for Brendan.
Probably
. . .
but I definitely wouldn’t admit that to him!

She caught up with Petra, who looked at her in surprise, then smiled.

‘OK, I’ll admit it,’ she said, ‘I’m glad you’re here.’

They started up a gradual incline. The tree limbs groaned in the wind and Ivy held Petra’s hand to keep her from freaking out. Suddenly, there was a sharp twang, and Ivy shoved Petra sideways, out of the path. She was just about to dive out of the way herself when a snapping rope coiled round her ankles, lifting her feet out from under her and dragging her high up into the trees. The blood rushed to her head. She’d been caught!