12 Stake Out - My Sister the Vampire (10 page)

She headed back into the mall to find Ivy waiting for her in the bookstore. Ivy glanced at the phone in her hand.

‘Problems?’ she asked.

She probably thinks it’s another call from Jackson
, Olivia thought.

‘Oh, it’s nothing, really. I texted Holly to let her know her favourite author is in the mall but she thinks she’s too shy to come and see him.’

Ivy rolled her eyes. ‘Whatever. Come on, let’s do some more clue hunting.’

But as they walked through the aisles of the crowded bookstore, Olivia caught sight of a corner of a hippy flower appliqué on a pair of jeans. Was that . . . could that be
Holly
 
?

Suddenly, there was the flash of a camera. She turned towards the source and spotted Holly in the corner of the bookstore photographing S. K. Reardon and all the VITs waiting to have their books signed.

But she said she was too shy to come down
 
!
Olivia stared, trying to understand. The text had only been sent a few minutes ago, and it had definitely made it seem like Holly was still at home – but here she was! No way could she have made the trip to the mall in the past few minutes.
Why would she lie to me
 
?

As she watched, S. K. spotted Holly. His mouth dropped open. Then he pushed his chair back and headed straight towards her.

Oh, wow
, Olivia thought.
Holly will be thrilled
 
!
Her favourite author had recognised her.
She must have been to his signings before
.

Holly looked anything
but
thrilled, though. Her eyes widened, then she ducked her head and edged away. She wasn’t fast enough to avoid the author. As he reached her, she started talking fast. Olivia couldn’t catch any of the words, but Holly’s expression was pleading.

S. K., on the other hand, looked furious. As he lectured her, his voice rose until Olivia could hear him from across the store:

‘You can’t do this! You’re making things up!’ He was almost shouting.

‘Well, so do you!’ Holly cried back. Then she seemed to catch herself, glancing nervously over her shoulder.

Olivia ducked out of sight, pulling Ivy with her. The expression on her sister’s face was grim. ‘Can you believe that?’ Ivy asked, nodding towards Holly.

Olivia gulped.
This is not how today was supposed to go
. Her new friend was fibbing to her, Olivia and Ivy were hiding . . . and her twin’s growing mistrust of Holly had just hardened into stone.

Worse yet, for the very first time, Olivia found herself wondering whether there was any small chance that Ivy might actually be right about her new friend.

No
, she told herself.
There has to be an explanation
 
!

But as she watched Holly storm out of the bookstore, straight into the neighbouring Internet café, she couldn’t think of a single explanation that would work.

Chapter Seven

‘P
erfect.’ Ivy nudged Olivia in the ribs as they watched Holly settle down at a computer terminal. Almost immediately, Holly started typing furiously – almost as if she were updating something. Could it be . . .
a blog
 
? ‘She’s on her own now. Let’s go ask her what she’s up to.’
And see exactly what she’s typing
 
!
Ivy thought to herself.

But her twin looked utterly miserable. ‘We can’t,’ Olivia said. ‘Didn’t you see how upset she was? I think we should give her some space. When she’s ready, she might tell us what happened. I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation.’

Olivia looked as though she was about to burst into tears. Ivy could tell that she knew Holly was behaving strangely, but that she couldn’t bear to admit it. But all of a sudden, Holly was looking like a serious candidate for their mystery blogger.

I can’t believe I’ve been so slow
. Ivy dared a glance at her sister.
But I can’t tell Olivia. Not yet
. Her twin had been so impressed by Holly. Now she looked so disappointed, just because Holly had told her one lie. Ivy could only imagine how badly Olivia would react to the suggestion that Holly might actually be the blogger who’d caused the vampires so much trouble. It could turn into the biggest fight they’d ever had.

No, Ivy would need real proof before she let Olivia even suspect what she was thinking. In the meantime, though . . .
Olivia is smart
, Ivy thought.
All I have to do is encourage her to follow the clues that she’s been ignoring. She’ll figure out the rest of it herself – and then we won’t have to fight about it
 
!

‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘We shouldn’t bother Holly right now. Do you have your netbook on you? There might be some fun things to look at soon. You know, if Holly has photos to share.’

‘Oh! That’s a good idea.’ Olivia practically glowed with relief. ‘I bet Holly’s uploading her snaps of the book-signing right now! She’s always putting up her photos on some social networking site.’ She sat down on a bench and unzipped her shoulder bag. ‘If we take a good look at her pictures, we might find some clues to the mystery blogger. There might be a stranger lurking in the background of a shot, or something like that!’

Ivy had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes. How could Olivia be so determined to miss the obvious?

She plopped down on the bench beside Olivia. ‘What is going on?’ she groaned dramatically. ‘Why are so many people convinced that book was inspired by real vampires here in Franklin Grove?’

‘It is strange,’ Olivia agreed. ‘You guys have lived in secret all these years without attracting any trouble.’

‘So what could have gone wrong?’ Ivy said. ‘What could have
changed
 
?’

She looked meaningfully at her sister, willing her to think it through . . . to ask herself who the newest person in town was, the one whose arrival had just
happened
to coincide with the blog.

But Olivia was busy sliding her netbook out of her bag. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘Let’s go sit in a café. It’ll be easier to work on a table.’

Ivy followed, biting back her frustration. It wasn’t until they’d ordered their drinks and sat down that Olivia finally answered her question.

‘I don’t know,’ she said, and shrugged, her large eyes clear and innocent. ‘I have no idea what could have changed. It’s a mystery.’

Oh, come on
 
!
The truth was right there in front of Olivia’s face, but she was refusing to see it.

‘Here it is,’ Olivia said brightly, leaning over her netbook. ‘Holly’s social networking profile.’

‘Let’s see.’ Ivy leaned over her twin’s shoulder.

Sure enough, Holly had been uploading photos on her profile page, along with lots of plugs for the book-signing.

‘Look!’ Olivia gasped. ‘Even Holly’s heard about the blog – she’s linked her captions to it! The vampire hunter – whoever it is – must be going viral.’

Ivy raised her eyebrows and tried to trade a look with Olivia, but her twin didn’t meet her gaze.

Biting her lip, Olivia clicked through the link to the blog without a word.

‘Oh no,’ Ivy moaned. ‘What a nightmare!’

Now the blogger was asking for tips to flush out vampires! Worse yet, people all over the world had responded with their suggestions. Some of them were ridiculous . . .

‘Rope a giant wooden cross to your car roof,’
Ivy read out loud in disbelief,
‘and vampires will dive for cover
 
!
Are these people serious?’

But there were other tips too close to the truth to be ignored.

Olivia’s voice was a bare thread of a whisper as she read the worst out loud:
‘Mix garlic paste in your ice-cream and make everyone sundaes – your vampire enemy will faint!’

‘Ouch.’ Ivy swallowed hard. ‘At least they’re not all spot-on. Check out this one –
See who looks most ridiculous wearing fake tan – sure to be a vampire
 
!
Honestly.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘There sure are some idiots out there.’

‘They’re not all idiots,’ Olivia said, scrolling down the list of suggestions. She was looking almost as pale as Ivy now. ‘Some of these could really work.’

‘Maybe,’ said Ivy, ‘but Holly has done us a favour by leading us here. Just look – the vampire-blogger wants all these tips for an exposé they’re planning tonight. This means the blogger is in Franklin Grove mall
right this minute
.’

‘Really?’ Olivia’s mouth dropped open. ‘How do you know that?’

Ivy couldn’t stop herself from grinning as she pointed at the corner of the screen. ‘Look here, silly.’

‘Oh.’ Olivia flushed. ‘A “Where Am I?” app . . .’

‘ . . . Showing us all exactly where they are on an interactive map,’ Ivy finished with satisfaction. ‘And the blogger is in the mall right now!’

Sitting back, Ivy watched as Olivia took a deep breath, staring at the screen with a horrified expression.
Finally
, Ivy thought. Was the penny dropping for Olivia? The blogger was in the mall and Holly was online – how much more obvious could it be?

As the silence stretched out, Ivy frowned. If Olivia had finally caught on, why wasn’t she saying anything? She couldn’t actually be trying to
protect
Holly, could she? A chill crept through Ivy at the thought. Would Olivia really choose this girl over the safety of her own family?

No
. Ivy shook that thought away. Olivia would never betray Ivy and their bio-dad – not to mention their other friends. She waited and waited, her foot jiggling.

I can’t take it any more
 
!

‘Right, that’s it. I’m taking things into my own hands,’ Ivy announced, and took the netbook from her twin. ‘If any fool can post a ridiculous tip about flushing out vampires, so can I.’

‘Uh-oh!’ Olivia gasped. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Making that blogger’s day.’ Ivy grinned as she set up an instant message session with the blogger, via a link in the blog’s sidebar. ‘Let’s see, I’ll call myself . . . how about Van Helsing? Or Dracula-Hunter?’

‘How about “insane”?’ Olivia suggested.

Then both girls jumped as the screen beeped. The blogger had responded to Ivy’s message.

Excitement shot through Ivy’s veins as she hunched over the netbook. ‘
Franklin Grove isn’t the first town I’ve visited with vampires
,’ she typed. ‘
But I’ve already found out something astonishing about the local vampire community
.’

The blogger’s response was immediate: ‘
Share your info, Dracula-Hunter
 
!
’

‘Sis . . .’ Olivia began warningly.

Ivy ignored her. ‘
It’s too private to share online
,’ she typed. ‘
But if you meet me at the Franklin Grove graveyard tonight, I’ll tell you everything in person
.’

‘Ivy!’ Olivia yelped.

The blogger had already responded: ‘
I’ll see you there at midnight
.’

Ivy glanced across the mall at Holly. She was smiling, as though she had just learned a new secret. Bingo. Ivy closed down the instant messenger, feeling smug. Across the mall, she glimpsed Holly standing up from her computer. ‘Am I good, or what?’ she asked Olivia.
If this doesn’t flush Holly out, nothing will
.

‘You can’t do that!’ Olivia shook her head frantically, although she had no idea Ivy had just set a date with Holly. ‘Ivy, you could be putting yourself in serious danger. This person really does
not
like vampires, remember?’

‘Who do you think this person is?’ Ivy challenged.

Olivia’s glance fell to the floor, and Ivy grimaced.
All right, then. I’ll have to do it the hard way
.

She folded her arms. ‘This blogger’s nothing more than a bully, and I’m tired of letting her – or him – intimidate everyone in town. I want to flush this person out – whoever it is.’

‘But for all you know, the blogger could actually try to
hurt
you. Didn’t you read some of those tips?’

‘Do you really think –’ Ivy snorted, but she stopped herself just in time. She’d been about to ask Olivia if she really thought Holly was capable of hurting her. But it was clear that Olivia wasn’t ready to admit the truth about the blogger’s identity. Ivy would just have to put Holly in the picture once and for all – tonight in the Franklin Grove graveyard! ‘I’m not about to let some bunny with a blog hurt me. No, I’m going to meet her – or him – tonight, no matter what. Are you in or out?’

Olivia shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, Ivy, but no way am I in. It’s just too dangerous.’

‘Oh, come on,’ Ivy began. ‘If we have a real chance of exposing the blogger, what does a bit of danger matter?’