15 Secrets and Spies - My Sister the Vampire (2 page)

‘Well . . .’ Lillian’s face lit up with interest. She leaned forward, as if to respond . . .

. . . But Ivy spoke before she could, looking straight at Charles. ‘Now that we’re all here and settled down, could you
please
tell us your “big
news”?’

Olivia frowned as she saw her stepmom sink back, looking deflated at the interruption, but Ivy didn’t seem to notice. She was already turning to Olivia and the Abbotts to explain:

‘He’s been teasing us with this “upcoming announcement” for the last three days!’

‘Ohhh, that’s right.’ Olivia nodded. ‘You sent me that text yesterday saying he had big news, but you never told me what it was.’

‘That’s because he won’t tell anybody!’ Ivy growled.

‘Until now.’ Charles grinned. ‘If I may have a drumroll, please . . .’

Brendan made drumming noises on the coffee table with his fingertips, and everyone laughed, gathering close to listen.

Charles cleared his throat. ‘Several years ago, I hosted an exhibit of rare, Eastern European fashions at the Franklin Grove museum. It was quite popular at the time, and apparently some
people haven’t forgotten it . . . so I’ve now been asked to curate and host another exhibit, on artefacts from the same region!’

‘Wow.’ Ivy shared a wide-eyed look with Olivia. ‘That
is
big news!’

‘Congratulations, darling,’ Lillian said, and turned to kiss him on the cheek.

‘Yes, what an honour,’ Mrs Abbott said warmly.

‘Good for you, Charles.’ Mr Abbott beamed. When he took a deep breath, Olivia rolled her eyes as Ivy grinned at her. Another one of Mr Abbott’s
deep
quotes was coming.
‘“What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: Our life is the creation of our mind.”’

‘Er . . . yes. Thank you.’ Charles bowed to the room at large.

Olivia was still fixated on what he’d said first, though. ‘You hosted a
fashion
exhibit? I wish I’d been living in Franklin Grove back then to see it!’

‘Really?’ Charles raised his eyebrows. ‘Lots of those dresses are still on display.’

‘What?’ Olivia sat bolt-upright. ‘There are vintage fashions on display in Franklin Grove . . . And no one told
me
?’

Laughing, Ivy nudged her. ‘Did you even know there was a museum in this town?’

‘That’s not the point,’ Olivia said, with a mock scowl for her twin.

‘Better yet,’ Charles added, ‘I’ve also been asked to come up with interior designs for the museum’s South Wing.’

‘The South Wing?’ Mr Abbott frowned. ‘What’s in there now?’

‘Nothing,’ Charles said. ‘It has been closed for years, but they’re thinking of re-opening it if my exhibit is successful. So, I’m pulling out all the stops.
I’ve arranged for the loan of several priceless historical artefacts to be shipped over specially from Transylvania.’

‘My goodness.’ Mrs Abbott shook her head in wonder. ‘How on earth did you manage that?’

‘Well, I had some help.’ Charles smiled. ‘My parents, the Count and Countess Lazar, pulled a few . . .
delicate
strings.’

Olivia grinned at her sister. Sometimes it was cool having Transylvanian royalty for family.

Brendan’s phone rang again. This time, Olivia noticed a definite flash of irritation cross his face, but instead of silencing the phone, he stood up.

‘Sorry,’ he muttered. He was holding the phone slightly away from his body, as if it were a bomb that might go off. ‘I’d better take this.’

The adults barely even seemed to notice.

‘You must tell us all about your plans!’ Mrs Abbott said to Charles. ‘What is your theme going to be?’

But Olivia stopped listening to the adults as Brendan disappeared from the room. Her frown deepened as she heard the front door open and close.

Wait a minute.
Why would Brendan bother to go all the way out of the house to take a phone call . . .? Was he trying to make certain he would not be heard, even by the vampires with
super-hearing?

Even
Ivy
?

She saw her twin frowning at the closed door, obviously disturbed.

Olivia didn’t have time to dwell on her questions, though, as Lillian’s smartphone beeped an alert. Stiffening, Lillian stepped back from the other adults and sat down on an armchair
near the couch to type a response.

For once, the elegant film-maker looked . . . tired.

Hmm.
Olivia looked hard at Lillian for the first time since she’d arrived. It wasn’t just her stepmom’s eyes that showed the strain. For the first time that Olivia
could remember, Lillian’s glossy, dark hair looked . . . messy.

I didn’t know Lillian’s hair was even
capable
of being messy!

As Lillian hunched her shoulders over her phone, a pearl earring shone in one ear . . . but the other ear was blank.
Did she actually forget to put her other earring in?
Olivia
frowned.

Then she realised the worst symptom of all: Lillian’s flowing sweater was a deep, dark purple . . . but her slimline trousers were green.

Olivia sucked in a gasp.
Her colours are clashing
. . .
Something is definitely wrong here.
And she knew she had to consult her twin about it.

Olivia leaned in to whisper into Ivy’s ear . . .

WHAP!

Her beehive hair slammed into Ivy’s face.

‘For darkness’ sake!’ Laughing, Ivy scooted away, her eyes narrowing as she wagged a finger in a mock-warning. ‘If I take one more hit, I might just cut your hair
myself!’

‘Sorry!’ Smiling, Olivia put up one hand in reassurance. ‘I promise I’ll take care of it as soon as I can.’ She lowered her voice as she turned to look behind her.
‘All I was trying to do was ask you . . .’

Wait a minute.

On the other side of the living room, Charles was still regaling her adoptive parents with his grand plans for the exhibit . . . but there was no sign of Lillian anywhere. She’d slipped
away.

Brendan wasn’t the only one acting oddly tonight!

Olivia jumped off the couch and headed for the door, her sparkly pink kitten-heel shoes clacking against the polished hardwood floor. The moment that she was out of the living room, she spotted
Lillian in the kitchen, sitting at the breakfast counter with her head lowered over her smartphone.
She’s still typing that message
, Olivia realised.
How long can this
be?

‘Lillian?’ she asked. ‘Are you OK?’

Lillian’s phone landed on the breakfast counter with a thud. ‘Wha–? Olivia!’ She pressed one hand against her chest. ‘I didn’t hear you come in.’

‘Really?’ Olivia stared at her stepmother. ‘But . . .’ She stopped herself before she could say anything that might embarrass Lillian.

But seriously, Lillian had vampire hearing –
nobody
should have been able to sneak up on her, especially not a human stepdaughter in heels!

How distracted is she?
Olivia wondered.
And how serious is this conversation?

Taking a deep breath, Lillian plastered an obviously fake smile on her face. ‘Sorry – you asked me if anything was wrong, didn’t you?’ Her eyes widened, looking haunted.
‘I’m fine. Everything’s fine. Nothing to worry about at all.’

‘Um . . . are you sure?’ Sighing, Olivia pointed to her stepmother’s left ear.

Lillian absently lifted a slim hand to her earring-less ear. ‘Well, earrings are hardly important, right?’ She let out a dry half-laugh that didn’t sound amused. ‘I doubt
Charles will mind me looking less than perfect.’

Then her gaze dropped back down to the phone, and her face tightened. In a whisper, she added, ‘ . . . If he even notices.’

Olivia stared at her stepmom.
Did she really just say that?

Charles and Lillian had been married for less than two months. They couldn’t be having problems already, could they?

Lillian glanced back up. ‘Oh, just look at your face!’ She clucked as she stood up and swept towards Olivia. ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have let you worry.
Everything’s fine! Really.’ She wrapped her arms around Olivia in a warm hug. ‘In fact,’ she added, ‘I will show you just
how
fine everything is.’

Nodding firmly, she gave Olivia one last squeeze and then marched out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Olivia was left alone in the middle of the kitchen, feeling distinctly
un-
reassured.

First, Brendan had taken that secretive phone call. Now Lillian was acting a little bit out of character.

I’ve only been gone for a week
, Olivia thought.
What’s been going on here without me?

Olivia’s bio-dad stepped in behind her, whistling a tune that sounded as if it could have come from the Victorian era . . . which, in his case, was absolutely possible. He broke off as
Olivia turned to face him, though, and smiled at her. ‘Oh, good! You’re here – you can help me carry cakes and drinks in for the others.’ He pulled down glasses from the top
shelf of the cabinet and handed them to Olivia. ‘You’ve been missing all the fun out there! I’ve been describing the entire exhibit to everyone – room by room, in
minute
detail.’

‘It sounds great,’ Olivia said sincerely. She wondered if her bio-dad knew that not
everyone
was in the living room with him, but he looked so excited about his work, she
hesitated to bother him with questions. ‘I’ll be right behind you,’ she told him.

‘Good, good.’ Charles turned to head down the hallway, but as he walked away he called back, ‘Would you mind bringing in some cheese?’

‘No problem!’ Olivia opened the refrigerator, leaned down to open the cheese drawer . . .

. . . And her towering beehive hairdo swept straight across one refrigerator shelf, sending food and Tupperware boxes crashing to the kitchen floor.

Olivia groaned.

Ivy’s right. As soon as I get home, I have to do something about this
ridiculous
hairstyle!

‘I
f you really think you can miss weeks of school with no consequences, simply because of your little “acting” career . . .!’

Hearing Olivia be verbally attacked by the mean guidance counsellor, without being able to step in and help, felt like torture to Ivy.

Come on, Olivia
, she urged silently as she passed back and forth outside the closed office door.
Stand up to her!

Ms Milligan the guidance counsellor was feared all through Franklin Grove High for her vicious lectures. Now it was Olivia’s turn to speak, though.

‘I have been taking time off school for my acting work, it’s true,’ Olivia was saying in a calm, confident voice. ‘But I’ve also made sure to get all the reading
and homework done for all of my classes. You can check with my teachers, if you like, but they’ve told me they’re happy with my work.’

‘Hmm.’ Ms Milligan’s voice sounded sour, as if that were the
last
thing she wanted to hear.

Take that, Milligan!
Ivy cheered silently, feeling very proud of her twin.

But Olivia wasn’t finished yet. ‘I can absolutely promise that I will not fall behind,’ she continued. ‘And remember, this is just until I finish this movie. As soon as
Eternal Sunset
wraps, I’m going to put my acting ambitions on hold until I’ve finished my education.’

‘Very commendable,’ Ms Milligan muttered, sounding like she’d bitten into a rotten egg.

It really is
, Ivy thought. She wished she could reach through the door to give her sister a hug.

For any young actress, a choice between a normal life and Hollywood stardom would be huge . . . and it had to have been even harder for Olivia since her boyfriend, Jackson Caulfield, just
happened to be a megastar, who would continue to travel the world shooting blockbuster movies without her. Ivy didn’t know if she would have had the strength to make the same decision in
Olivia’s place . . .

But she was
very
glad not to be losing her sister again so soon after being reunited with her – and so soon after they’d both finally managed to settle into their new
school!

I’m so relieved Olivia is genuinely happy with her decision
, Ivy thought.
Otherwise, I’d have to call myself really selfish right now!

As she turned on her heel to pace back down the hall in front of the office, her gaze landed on an unfamiliar girl hovering nearby, covertly watching everything.

Wait a minute.
Coming to a halt, Ivy blinked.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen that girl before.

People didn’t
usually
start new schools in October. But this girl looked the same age as Ivy . . . and one of the few advantages of Ivy’s brief, and highly unwanted, stint
as Ms Popularity in her new school was that she knew every student, especially those in her own grade.

At one point or another, they almost all sucked up to me
, she thought, cringing at the memories.
Thank darkness that’s all settled down now!

But she definitely did not recognise this girl. And, even more oddly, Ivy couldn’t figure out what social group the girl belonged to.