10 Date with Destiny - My Sister the Vampire (4 page)

Horatio shifted his weight in the back seat, hands fidgeting. He had repeatedly asked Olivia’s dad if he could drive, but Mr Abbott wouldn’t hear a word of it. Horatio hated anyone else being the chauffeur.

He hated anyone else doing
any
 
work.

‘Don’t be silly,’ said Mr Abbott, tapping the wheel in time to the drumbeats. ‘You all are extended family. And you know what they say:
the strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home
.’ In the reflection of the rear-view mirror Ivy saw Mr Abbott’s eyebrows lift. ‘Can anyone name that quote?’

The twins looked at each other blankly.

‘Confucius,’ said Charles and Horatio in unison.

Mr Abbott nodded. ‘Impressive.’

Great
. The next thing Ivy knew, her dad would be practising yoga on the front lawn too. She leaned forwards, trying to get Olivia’s attention – someone who could share her pain – but Olivia’s chin rested on her fist as she stared intently out of the window. Ivy chewed her lip. It wasn’t like Olivia to bottle things up.
Dark and stormy is usually more
 
my
style
. The twins were becoming more and more like each other and Ivy wasn’t sure that was entirely a good thing. Olivia was supposed to be the perky one – the Yin to Ivy’s Yang.

Ivy’s phone pinged from inside her black studded bag – a text! She plunged her hands inside, digging through the mess of lipstick, movie stubs, and spare tubes of Pale Beauty, hoping it was a message from Brendan. She pulled the phone out and thumbed the touch screen.

Hope you have a safe flight! V-Love, Sophia.

Ivy’s heart sank. Not that it wasn’t a nice text; it just wasn’t the one she wanted. She clicked out of the message without responding and looked at her phone’s wallpaper screen – a picture of her and Brendan making silly faces. Brendan had his cheeks puffed out and he was scratching his head like a chimpanzee, and she had sucked her cheeks into a ridiculous fish-face.
We look so happy
. She stroked the brooch that she was wearing on her top.
I hope we’re still that happy when I get back
.

Ivy shoved the phone back into her bag, trying not to think about how
fine
 
he had seemed at the Meat and Greet. How unconcerned about the time they would be spending apart. Ivy knew Brendan well enough to understand that it was probably just his way of coping, but she couldn’t help feeling a little hurt. Of course, she had wanted him to be OK with her trip to Transylvania – but there was such a thing as being
too
 
OK with being separated from your girlfriend for a week or two. Maybe longer.

As the wheels of the car edged up to the kerb at the airport, Ivy frowned to herself. Brendan Daniels was not supposed to behave like a dumb guy from a stupid teen bunny show.

Ivy’s boyfriend was supposed to be different.

Charles shut the boot of Mr Abbott’s car. He surveyed the luggage piled on the pavement as a plane roared overhead. ‘I think that’s everything.’

‘Literally,’ Ivy muttered, her eyebrows raised.
Leave it to Olivia to pack our entire wardrobes!

Olivia smiled sheepishly. ‘Hey, a girl’s got to have options.’

Police officers were directing traffic and luggage wheels slid across the pavement with regular thuds. The terminal was a hub of activity.

Mr Abbott extended his hand to Horatio, who looked at it, blinking. Ivy stifled a giggle. Horatio’s giant hand daintily gripped Mr Abbott’s fingers and he gave them a gentle shake. Poor Horatio really did not know how to handle being treated like an equal.

‘Well then,’ Mr Abbott said. ‘I wouldn’t want you all to miss your flight.’

Olivia reached up to give her adoptive dad a long hug. ‘I’ll miss you. Take care of Mom, OK?’

Mr Abbott kissed her on top of the head. ‘Would you like me to come in with you?’ he asked.

Olivia shook her head. ‘That’s OK. Horatio can help us.’ Ivy thought she saw Horatio perk up with that comment. The Lazar family butler took the phrase ‘aim to please’ to a whole new level!

‘Right, well . . . In that case, I might just make my tai chi class.’ He started to smile, then threw his arms wide. ‘Oh, who am I kidding? Who cares about tai chi? Come here and give me a hug!’ He swooped the twins up in his arms, crushing them tight to his chest. Eventually, he pulled away, his face red. ‘I know I shouldn’t get emotional. It’s only for a week.’

‘Not to worry.’ Charles cleared his throat and shook Mr Abbott’s hand. ‘Horatio is anxious to lend a helping hand, I’m sure.’ The already massive butler straightened up – so tall, Ivy feared a plane might fly into his head. Even by vamp standards, Horatio was pretty freaky.

Mr Abbott had recovered his composure. He put his palms together as if praying and bowed. ‘In that case, I bid you,
y
ī
lù shùn f
ē
ng
.’

‘
Xiè xiè
,’ replied Horatio, bowing in return.

‘Bye, Dad!’ Olivia turned to wave one last time to Mr Abbott and then the four of them trooped through the whooshing sliding glass doors and into the airport.

‘Horatio, I didn’t know you spoke Chinese,’ Charles remarked.

He bowed slightly, with a faint smile. ‘There is a lot you do not know about me, Master Karl. Now if you’ll excuse me . . .’ He took Ivy and Olivia’s duffel bags. ‘I want to make myself useful at last.’

All around them, passengers were bustling about, dragging suitcases and sprinting to gates. Ticket personnel were calling for the next person in line. Departure and arrival times scrolled down the monitors. Ivy’s chest squeezed as she saw a young couple kissing goodbye at the entrance to the security line. She would have felt much better if Brendan had given her one last kiss before she’d left, but it was too late now. She would have to wait until she got back – whenever that was.

She trailed behind her father. ‘The Lazar family, checking in,’ Ivy heard him say at the ticket desk, but she was hardly paying attention. Olivia handed her a boarding pass with her name stamped on it. The check-in, the walk through the giant metal detectors at security, the approach to the terminal – they all passed in one muffled blur as if everything was happening at a distance.

‘Ivy?’ Lillian tapped her shoulder, her gold-and-blue eyes searching Ivy’s face. ‘Are you looking forward to the trip?’

Whoa, where did Lillian come from?
 
Ivy hadn’t even noticed her joining up with them at the gate.

Ivy blinked and channelled her best Olivia impression. ‘Absolutely!’ she replied, a peppy smile plastered on her lips.

Actually, Ivy
was
 
pleased that Lillian was coming along as her father’s date. She and Olivia agreed that the two vamps made a perfect pair. Plus, Lillian always let Ivy borrow her most on-trend vamp make-up. As a Hollywood insider, Lillian had Midnight Marauder eyeshadow
months
 
before it was out in the shops!

‘Is everything OK?’ Lillian leaned on the armrest of one of the grey plastic chairs in Departures. She wore a deep-plum tunic over black leggings. Her fashionable flats tapped the floor. Olivia was on the other side of her, flipping through a tabloid magazine.
Which is not that sensible if she’s trying to avoid thinking about the J-word
, Ivy thought.

Ivy straightened up. ‘Sure, yeah, I’m fine. Everything’s totally fine.’ She sounded like Olivia! The truth was that Ivy’s head felt fuzzy and she couldn’t seem to focus on what was going on in the airport. The only thing she
was
 
aware of was the object in the pocket of her jeans – her cell phone.

Her
very silent
 
cell phone.

Then, as if Ivy had psychic powers, she felt a tingle against her leg.
Please be Brendan, please be Brendan
. She wriggled her phone out from her pocket.

‘Brendan?’ she asked, breathless.

Her boyfriend’s slow, warm voice came over the line. ‘Hey! I was worried I’d miss you! I was in the mall and couldn’t get phone reception. I’ve come outside to call.’

At last, a real smile stretched across Ivy’s lips, so wide it hurt her cheeks. ‘Thank you,’ she said, wishing she could wrap him in a hug. ‘Save a spot at the Meat and Greet for me?’

‘You bet. Have a safe flight. And, Ivy? I didn’t get a chance to say it yesterday:
I’ll miss you too.
’

Ivy hung up the phone and stashed it in her hand luggage. She really did have the perfect boyfriend.

Over the intercom a woman called, ‘Boarding all rows for flight seven zero three to Transylvania. All rows, boarding now.’

‘Eek!’ Olivia squealed. ‘That’s us!’ She looped her arm through Ivy’s. ‘You have your ticket?’

Ivy waved it in reply. The flight attendant scanned her ticket and before she knew it she was stepping on to the plush Transylvania Air jumbo jet, with its crimson aisles and red velour seats. Ivy made her way towards their seats in first class.
7B . . . 7B . . .
 
There it was. She tossed her bag on to her empty aisle seat.
B for Brendan.
 
He’d done everything he could to make her feel good about this trip. One day there’d be a seat on a plane bringing her back to him. But for now . . .
Translyvania here I come!
 
she thought, clicking the seatbelt shut over her hips.
You’d better be ready for me!

F
irst class or not, Olivia was thrilled to be off the flight. She was so jet-lagged her arms and legs felt as if they were encased in concrete. It seemed like every other in-flight film had starred the J-word. Olivia hadn’t known he’d
made
 
that many movies.
The universe must be out to get me – or, at least, the airline is!

And to make matters worse, she had ended up watching some horror flick called
Fangs At Dusk
 
just to avoid anything that would remind her of
him
, but that movie had been totally scary, and now she kept expecting blood-sucking vampires to jump out at her at any moment!
Don’t be ridiculous
, Olivia told herself. None of the vamps she knew would ever do silly things like that.
Ivy would probably eat a whole loaf of garlic bread before wearing a cape!

Olivia turned her attention back to Horatio. He was behind the wheel of the luxury Cadillac he’d left in long-term parking at the Transylvanian airport. His chauffeur’s cap was back on his head and Olivia could see a big grin stretching across his face. She guessed Horatio was happy to be home in more ways than one. He was way more comfortable when he was taking care of people.

In fact, Olivia thought, maybe the butler was a little
too
 
much in his comfort zone, because they were going so fast on the windy country roads that it felt like they might fly off at any moment. It was worst for Olivia: she was sitting in the front passenger seat, while her bio-dad and Lillian were in the back with Ivy.