17 Spooktacular - My Sister the Vampire (10 page)

‘I have no idea! But I have a really strong feeling.’ Camilla let out a muffled grunt of frustration. ‘I know it sounds crazy. But, who knows? Maybe when I’m actually
standing on the grounds where Patience Calhoun once lived, I’ll
experience
something.’

Uh-oh
. The last thing any of the Franklin Grove vamps needed was for Camilla to have a face-to-face meeting with a ghost – especially if she was armed with a camera. ‘I
really think . . .’ Olivia began.

‘Sorry, I’ve gotta go. I’ll let you know later how it went!’ The phone clicked off as Camilla hung up.

Drat.
Stomping her foot, Olivia typed in a quick, warning text message to Ivy. Then she started to run, cursing her beloved kitten-heeled ankle boots.

She had to head Camilla off before her friend could get to know Patience Calhoun any better!

Olivia caught up with Camilla just before both girls reached the front gate of the park, running from opposite directions.

‘Whew!’ Olivia grabbed hold of the gate’s iron bars and lifted one aching foot to ease the burn. ‘I’m so glad I found you.’

‘You came!’ Camilla flopped against the other side of the gate, panting. ‘I couldn’t . . . wait to get here . . . and get started. But . . .’ She beamed at Olivia
as she straightened. ‘I’m so glad you decided to join me! Thank you for not thinking I’m crazy!’

‘Trust me.’ Breathing hard, Olivia set her sore foot back on the ground.
Next time, I’m definitely putting on running shoes before any high-speed chases!
Still, she
managed to summon up a weak smile for her best friend. ‘I might be sceptical about ghosts, but I would never think you’re crazy.’

‘Well, you might be the only one who doesn’t.’ Camilla shrugged philosophically. ‘It comes with the territory. When you’ve got a good imagination, people tend not
to take you seriously.’

‘
I
do.’ Olivia squeezed her friend’s arm. ‘I just have to ask, though . . . is there any way I can talk you out of this? Because I’d
so
much
rather take you over to Mister Smoothie to hang out and talk about something else . . . or head back to your house to watch rom-coms all afternoon.’

For a moment, Camilla looked wistful. Then she lifted her chin, her expression turning stern. ‘I can’t,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry, but I really will go crazy if I
don’t find out everything I can.’

‘OK.’ Olivia sighed. She knew her friend well enough to realise there was no point arguing with her any more. ‘In that case, I’ll come with you.’

Camilla flashed her a smile. ‘You’re the best.’

Olivia’s return smile felt more than a little strained.
This doesn’t count as lying . . . does it?
She really did want to support her friend. But for the sake of every vamp
in town she
also
wanted to make sure that Camilla didn’t find out too much.

Camilla pulled out her phone as she stepped through the gate. Her eyes darted around the wide field, which was still covered in a thin layer of dew that sparkled in the sunlight. ‘OK,
I’ve downloaded an old map from the Internet, so we should be able to locate the site where the Calhoun house once stood. This way!’

She pointed ahead, and the girls followed the map past the skateboard ramps and the picnic tables, towards the wooded area on the Lincoln Vale side of the park. The air was crisp and cold, but
the sun was bright. Olivia spotted kids from her school doing tricks on the ramps, while young children and their parents, bundled up in layers, filled the playground area. It was easy to forget,
as they walked across the park, that they weren’t just enjoying the fresh air on a pretty November day . . .

. . . until Olivia glimpsed a girl in a red, Victorian-style dress in the trees just ahead of them.

Oh, no!
Her heart-rate suddenly doubled. But by the time she’d blinked and looked again, the flash of bright colour was gone.

‘Did you see that?’ Camilla was breathing in quick pants as she hurried into the woods. ‘I can’t believe it!’

‘I . . . didn’t see anything,’ Olivia lied. She grabbed Camilla’s arm. ‘Maybe we should –’

‘I have to get closer!’ Camilla pulled free and crept forwards between the trees, her footsteps crunching against fallen twigs and old leaves.

‘I really don’t think this is a good idea!’ Olivia said. ‘And besides, wait! . . . I think we misread the map. Look, the house is back that way!’ She pointed
towards the playground, far behind them.

‘Maybe so,’ Camilla whispered, ‘but that flash I saw was up ahead.’

‘Camilla, please! I just . . . I have a really bad feeling about this.
Please
come back.’

Camilla stopped, resting one hand on the closest tree as she lowered her head for a moment. When she turned back to look at Olivia, her face was full of regret. ‘I’m sorry,’
she said. ‘But I can’t stop now. I’ve got to figure out the truth!’

‘But . . .’ Olivia began.

It was too late. Camilla was already hurrying deeper into the woods, leaving Olivia behind.

This would be so much easier if Ivy and the others were here!
Olivia looked over her shoulder, through the first few rows of trees to the park beyond, but there was no sign of her
sister or any of their friends. Either Ivy hadn’t gotten her text message, or she was confident that Olivia could handle this by herself.

Olivia wasn’t so sure about that. But Camilla was already hidden in the dense forest ahead, and she couldn’t let her best friend run into trouble on her own.

Biting her lip to hold back a whimper, she followed, catching up just as Camilla let out a gasp.

‘There!’

The back of a red hoop skirt vanished behind a tree far ahead.

‘Come on!’ Camilla hissed. ‘But don’t let it see us!’

Together, the two girls raced from tree to tree, staying covered, as they followed the girl in the Victorian dress. She was moving fast, lunging between tree trunks, and Olivia only caught
occasional glimpses of her speeding through the trees, carrying an elegant white parasol over her head. Camilla had whipped out her cell phone and was trying to aim its camera at the figure.

‘Why,’ Olivia panted, ‘is she running so fast?’

‘Who knows?’ Camilla’s voice was shaking with exhilaration. ‘But I can’t wait to find out! I wish I’d brought a better camera. Just think: in a couple of
minutes, I might be interviewing a real ghost!’

That would be a disaster!
Olivia thought. But she had to focus on her running now, so she wouldn’t slam into any branches on the way.

Finally, the girl ahead of them came to a stop.

Holding her breath, Olivia crept forwards, moving her boots as gently as she could through the twig- and leaf-covered grass. At her side, Camilla’s face was bright pink, and her hands
shook as she raised her cell phone, camera at the ready.

Olivia took a deep breath.
OK, this is it. Am I ready for another ghost encounter?

Maybe if she offered to hold Camilla’s camera for the interview, she could accidentally “forget” to turn it on, and then . . .

The ghost girl kicked the tree in front of her, hard.

Whoa.
Olivia’s eyebrows flew up as she saw the tree shudder under the blow.
I never heard of a ghost doing that!

She traded a wide-eyed look with Camilla. Both girls ducked quickly behind the closest clump of bushes . . .

And the ghost turned around, ripping off its bonnet and tossing it on to the ground. ‘I hate this,’ growled a familiar male voice.

That’s no ghost!
Olivia realised.

It was Garrick.

She clapped her hand over her mouth to hold back a peal of laughter. The former Head Beast of Franklin Grove Middle School looked utterly miserable in his elaborate dress, with white gloves
reaching up his sturdy arms and a wide hooped skirt billowing out around him.

He glared up at the sky. ‘Why do
I
have to wear the dress?’

Olivia followed his gaze . . . and gulped as she spotted Josh and his cronies perched up in the trees overhead, smirking down at their friend.

‘Aw, c’mon, Garrick,’ Josh called back. ‘You look cute!’

The rest of the greasy gang erupted into mocking laughter, and Garrick’s face turned brick-red. ‘I’m done,’ he snarled, and stuck the parasol point-down into the ground.
‘This plan is stupid!’

‘Too late.’ Josh’s voice was suddenly harsh, his face forbidding, as he glared down at the former Beast. ‘You agreed to this, just like all the rest of us. How else are
we supposed to stir up some interest? This town is filling up with nosy people. All we have to do is let a few of them spot you, and they’ll start talking.
Then
we can talk Gregor
into coming into town to catch a glimpse of “Patience”!’

‘I know,’ Garrick muttered, ‘but . . .’

‘Don’t you want to be on TV?’ Josh crossed his arms. ‘Don’t be a baby, Garrick. All you have to do is wear a dress and run around a little, and we’ll all be
famous. Just think – Gregor might even let you hang out with him and his crew! Isn’t that worth a little inconvenience?’

Garrick’s shoulders slumped. As he mumbled his agreement, Camilla’s elbow poked into Olivia’s side.

‘Let’s get out of here,’ Camilla whispered.

Olivia nodded gratefully.
Far, far away, before they notice us!

The girls crept back through the trees as quietly as they could. When they finally stepped out on to the field, though, Camilla started to laugh uncontrollably. ‘I can’t believe
it!’ she said. ‘Of all the possibilities I considered, I
never
thought those jerks could have made the whole thing up. When I think of all the time I’ve wasted over the
last few days, researching a ghost who doesn’t exist . . .!’

Olivia forced a smile. ‘So you don’t think there’s such a thing as ghosts any more?’

Camilla threw up her hands. ‘I admit it. I was completely fooled!
Eesh
, how embarrassing. I still don’t know how those idiots pulled off that stunt, but now that I know it
was just a prank, I can finally stop worrying about it and get back to my
real
work, just like I should have been doing all along.’

‘Right,’ Olivia said. ‘Why don’t you tell me about your new movie idea?’

But as they crossed the park and Camilla grew more and more relaxed, chattering on and on about the next movie she was planning to make, and about all the new and different camera angles that
she would use for it, Olivia’s smile slipped away.

The problem was, Olivia was one hundred per cent certain that the boys’ prank had only started
after
the Halloween party. All it seemed like the greasy gang were doing now was
exploiting what had already happened to get themselves on TV. But if she and Ivy didn’t think of a solution before the famous Gregor was lured into town, Josh and Garrick’s silly prank
was going to turn into a mega-disaster for every vamp in Franklin Grove.

Olivia stifled a moan of frustration.
I can’t believe that bunch of bozos turned out to be so smart!
If nothing else, Josh and the others knew a lot more local history than she
would have expected. Even Ivy hadn’t heard of the Calhoun twins’ story until this week!

Maybe the adult vamps can sort it out? They must be able to stop this somehow.

‘Look.’ Camilla nudged her, interrupting her gloomy thoughts. ‘At least we’re not the only gullible ones.’

Nearby, two groups of unfamiliar adults were hurrying across the field towards the woods, their phones and tablets open to show the same map that Camilla had used to find the grounds of the
Calhouns’ house.

‘I think it’s this way!’ one man called.

Another one gasped and pointed as a figure flickered between the trees. ‘I saw something moving!’

Together, the two groups lunged into the woods.

Olivia sighed. ‘It looks like Garrick’s going running in his costume again.’

‘What do you think?’ Camilla said. ‘Will it go viral by the end of the day? Or by the end of the hour?’

Olivia only groaned.

T
hat night, Ivy stared at the forest of paper laid out on the kitchen table in front of her and blew air out through her lips.
This is going to
take forever!
Olivia had brought everything that Camilla had collected for her investigation – print-outs of old articles, photos, obscure blog posts and Camilla’s own scribbled
notes and theories – all of which she had promised her friend she would throw away.