It was the day before Halloween and they were on their way to the Vega house for the traditional vampire celebration of Moonrise. Olivia was pretty sure her sister was just trying to gross her out. Well, joke’s on you, twin. I’m not icked out by vampy things. Well, not as much as I used to be . . .
She got out of the bus, and had to lurch backwards again to avoid bumping into Ivy, who had come to a sudden dead halt on the street.
‘Oh no,’ Ivy moaned, ‘look who’s heading straight for us!’
Reiko swung around. ‘Who?’
As Olivia looked past the exchange student, she had to muffle a sigh of her own. Reiko might not recognise the pretty, preppy girl walking towards them – but for Olivia, the sight was all too familiar. ‘It’s Charlotte Brown,’ she told Reiko. ‘From our old middle school.’ And this is the worst possible time to meet her! Olivia hoped that Charlotte wouldn’t get nosy about what was in Ivy’s box. If there really is something super vampy in there, we can’t let Charlotte see it! Olivia might not bat an eyelid at vampy things these days, but Charlotte definitely would!
And they couldn’t risk Charlotte seeing anything that would make her suspicious. That would break the most important rule in the vampire world – that no non-vamps, or “bunnies” as they were known, could ever be allowed to discover that vampires really existed. As far as Olivia was aware, she was the only bunny in the world to know about the vamps, and only because she happened to be the identical twin sister of one!
‘Hey, guys!’ Charlotte beamed as she walked towards them. ‘How are you? Looking forward to the party tomorrow?’
‘Of course!’ Olivia said brightly, still not used to the fact that the formerly mean head cheerleader was now one of the friendliest people she knew. ‘We can’t wait. We just know Camilla’s going to give Café Creative the best Haunted House party ever!’
Charlotte gave a squeal of excitement as she clapped her hands together. ‘Has Camilla given you any clues about what she’s planned for it? She won’t tell me anything!’
‘You know Camilla . . .’ Olivia shrugged, smiling.
Olivia’s best friend, Camilla Edmunson, had taken charge of planning the first-ever Halloween party at Café Creative, the joint café and creative centre at the Franklin Grove Museum. And Camilla always went all-out on every project.
‘She’s keeping the details secret,’ Olivia said, ‘but everyone’s talking about it. I’m sure it’s going to be fabulous.’
‘Of course it will! The school play she directed last year was really . . . memorable.’
Olivia’s felt her cheeks flush, even as a smile tugged at her lips. It was certainly memorable for me. She’d had her first kiss onstage in Romezog and Julietron. Even better, it had been with her amazing movie-star boyfriend, Jackson Caulfield.
Charlotte was frowning, though, as she leaned forwards, dropping her voice to a whisper. ‘To be honest, I’m just worried that the party might get too scary for me. Some of the rumours I’ve heard . . . well, do you think they’re true? Would Camilla really create remote-controlled zombies?’
‘Cool!’ said Reiko, perking up.
‘No!’ said Ivy, rolling her eyes. ‘Camilla’s sure to give us all a few scares tomorrow, but she’s not Doctor Frankenstein.’
‘Whew.’ Charlotte smiled and stepped back.
Reiko slumped. ‘Too bad. Do you think there’ll at least be a Frankenstein at the party, though?’
Ivy raised one eyebrow. ‘Frankenstein’s monster, you mean? Because you know, Frankenstein himself was –’
‘I don’t want to hear about it!’ Charlotte said firmly. ‘I’m already starting to feel S-I-A!’
Did anyone else understand that? Olivia turned to Ivy and Reiko, but they both shook their heads.
‘S-I-what?’ said Olivia.
Charlotte smiled proudly. ‘I made it up myself,’ she explained. ‘Scared-In-Advance. Get it?’
‘Um . . . OK,’ Olivia mumbled. Somehow, I doubt that is going to catch on any time soon.
Ivy coughed, starting to edge away. ‘You know, we really need to hurry home, so . . .’
‘Oh, sure, of course!’ Charlotte bounced on her toes. ‘But I’m just curious – what’s in that box?’
Uh-oh, Olivia thought, desperately trying to think of a way of distracting Charlotte. But before she could, her twin sister piped up.
‘Well actually, it’s the reason we need to hurry. Really hurry,’ Ivy said, ‘because it’s my Biology homework . . .’ She raised the cardboard box and nodded meaningfully at the thin trail of red that was starting to trickle out of one bottom corner. ‘. . . and it could start getting really smelly, really soon. Trust me, you do not want to be here when that happens!’
‘Eughh!’ Charlotte lurched backwards, staring at the bright red droplets. ‘Is that . . . blood?’
Ivy stepped closer, cracking open the lid of the box as she lifted it towards Charlotte’s face. ‘Do you want to see it before I finish dissecting it?’
‘No!’ Charlotte stumbled back, staring in horror at the leaking red ooze. ‘Actually, I . . . I think I’ll just . . . see you guys at the party tomorrow! Bye!’ She swallowed visibly, her face turning a sickly green as she spun around and hurried away. ‘I am so glad I don’t go to Franklin Grove High,’ they heard her mumble. ‘At least at my school, the homework is hygienic!’
Reiko clapped one hand to her mouth, barely muffling her laughter. Olivia waited until Charlotte was definitely out of hearing range before she turned to her twin, eyebrows raised. ‘OK,’ she said. ‘You didn’t actually bring a dissection as a Moonrise present for our dad . . . did you?’
‘Sadly, no,’ Ivy mocked disappointment. ‘This was an assignment for Home Ec., not Biology. But I have to warn you, it’s actually even scarier-looking than a dissection. There’s no way I could have let Charlotte get a peek at it. See?’ She lifted the lid of the box.
Olivia peered in – and giggled. Inside was the most lopsided mess of a cake she’d ever seen. Red jam was oozing everywhere.
Reiko lowered her hand and finally let her laughter tumble out. ‘I think you need to put that cake out of its misery!’
Ivy shrugged. ‘So I’m not the best baker in my family. Luckily, Dad is. Let’s go celebrate Moonrise!’
Closing the lid of the cake box, she hurried up the steep hill to the Vegas’ house, with Reiko close behind. Olivia followed, waiting for tension to fill her chest, for tingles of dread to flood her belly at the prospect of what their dad had planned for Moonrise.
Ivy opened the front door, which creaked loudly and ominously, and still Olivia waited for the moment she would feel officially creeped out. But it didn’t come.
Am
