17 Spooktacular - My Sister the Vampire (5 page)

Sighing, she set down her uneaten apple and looked out across the café at her own friends. Reiko was trying to teach Ivy how to robot dance and it wasn’t going very well. Ivy looked
stiff even by robot standards!

Olivia was so glad for Camilla’s sake that the party was going so well. Café Creative was crammed to bursting, and Olivia recognised students from both her own school and Willowton
High filling the dance floor and the tables. Her friends Finn and Amelia – or “Famelia”, as Olivia preferred to call them – were dancing together in the centre of the room.
Finn was dressed as a zombie surfer, while Amelia was her usual goth self.
I’m not sure Amelia’s even in costume,
Olivia thought.
But it hardly matters when you’re as
fabulous as she is!

Closer to the wall, Penny Taylor, the ex-goth, was looking utterly adorable in bright blue fairy wings as she laughed up at her own boyfriend, Maxie, who was dressed as a superhero. Lillian
stood near the back as a chaperone, looking elegant and fabulous in a slinky black dress, with a long white streak sprayed into her black hair.

The only empty area that Olivia could spot in the room was . . .
oh, yuck.
She grimaced as she saw Josh Dillon having way too much fun dancing with one of the zombie mannequins while
his followers cheered him on.
No wonder the other guests are trying to keep their distance!

Still, she had to give him one tiny piece of credit: he could actually waltz surprisingly well!

Thump!
The mannequin fell on top of her again, and Olivia groaned. This time, though, when she shoved it off, she found the girl opposite leaning across the table, looking straight at
Olivia and clutching a large, striking bracelet made of chunky black stones.

‘Have you seen Hope?’ the girl asked urgently.

Oh, what a perfect Southern accent!
Olivia felt a pang of excitement as she heard the other girl’s drawl.
Maybe if I help her find this Hope girl, she’ll help me with my
accent for the movie!

Olivia pushed the mannequin back into its chair with a grunt of effort. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said to the girl. ‘I don’t know anyone named Hope – but honestly, I
don’t know many people from Willowton. That must be where you go to school, right?’

Before the girl could answer, the mannequin slipped back out of its chair, heading directly towards Olivia.

Not again!
Gritting her teeth, Olivia fought it back into place, then looked back to the girl . . .

Seriously?
Olivia stared at the now-empty chair.
Talk about rude! And besides . . .
She frowned as she looked around the crowd.
How did she even get away so quickly?
It’s like she vanished into thin air!

Oh well.
She sighed and gave the mannequin a warning look as it started to slide again. ‘You might be the friendlier of my two neighbours at this table,’ she told him.
‘But I’d rather be ignored by that girl all night than pick you up again!’

A loud clap of thunder suddenly echoed through Café Creative, cutting off the pounding dance music. The lights flickered, then disappeared, turning the room dark for one pulsating moment.
Gasps and screams sounded across the café.

And then the lights flicked back on – just in time for a swarm of ghosts to come screaming through the air, swooping down low over all the party guests’ heads.

‘Ahhh!’ Olivia ducked reflexively, her heartbeat speeding up. She heard startled laughter all around, though, and it was enough to make her look twice at the ghost that had nearly
landed on her.

It’s made of gauze,
she realised,
and . . . wait. I know those curtains!
She had seen them hanging in Camilla’s living room. Now that Olivia wasn’t so taken
aback, she could even make out the elaborate wires that had swung the ghosts from the ceiling.

She started to relax . . . a moment too soon.

Something long and rubbery landed on her shoulder.

‘Auggh!’ Olivia barely even noticed she was clutching at the zombie mannequin. She didn’t care. She just needed something safe to cling on to!

Shrieks sounded throughout the room, all laughter replaced by panic.

Why, why, why wouldn’t Camilla give me a heads-up on what to expect? Then I could have prepared myself!
Olivia leaned back in her chair as massive black spiders suddenly dropped
down on to the table in front of her, moving around with scuttles so horribly realistic that she found herself scooting even closer to the mannequin, until she was nearly sitting in its lap.
Being startled every five seconds is
not
fun!

She wished
so much
that Ivy was here instead of halfway across the room doing the robot!

A wave of nervous but excited chatter swept across the room as the party finally resumed, the dance music blasting back over the loudspeakers. Olivia focused on taking deep breaths, trying to
force her heartbeat to return to normal.

It’s all over. It’s all o–

‘Aahh!’ Despite herself, she let out one last shriek as a hand landed on her arm.

‘Hey, it’s only me!’ Grinning, Ivy slid into the seat across from her. ‘But you’d better look out . . .’ She pointed to the mannequin that Olivia was
clutching. ‘The last thing you want is for the paparazzi to see this. Jackson’s fans will turn on you in an instant if they think you’re cheating on him with Zombie
Zach!’

Olivia flushed with embarrassment as she realised just how tightly snuggled up she was to the disgusting mannequin. ‘Eww!’ she cried, and gave it a hard shove.

Zombie Zach landed unceremoniously on the ground, his legs and arms sprawled crookedly against the floor.

‘Aw.’ Ivy clucked her tongue. ‘Come on, buddy. Just because you got dumped, you don’t have to look so sad! I’d dance with you.’

‘Like Josh was doing?’ Grimacing, Olivia looked out over the crowd. ‘At least I can’t see him any more.’

Ivy snorted. ‘His whole gang probably fled in terror when Camilla’s show started up. Typical boys!’ She took a large bite of candy apple and gave Olivia a pleading look.
‘Please come with me on a tour of the room? Let’s see all of the amazing effects that our brilliant friend put together!’

Olivia feigned confusion. ‘So, you don’t want to do the robot with Reiko any more?’

Ivy scooped her magnifying glass out of her pocket, extending it to Olivia. ‘Guess I’m not the only detective in the family! Come on – before Kumiko’s batteries have
recharged!’

‘Well, OK then, Miss Holmes. Let’s go!’ Despite herself, Olivia laughed and got up with Ivy.

Sidestepping dancing couples and zombies with their rotting arms outstretched, Olivia followed her twin around the edges of the dance floor, passing witches and wizards, orcs and elves, and
three Katnisses from
The Hunger Games.
‘There really are a lot of great costumes here,’ she said as she passed a perfect Peeta. ‘I like that one over th–
ahh!’ She sucked in a breath as a blurred shape flitted past her. ‘What was that?’

‘What?’ Ivy turned around, laughing. ‘Are you imagining things now? Halloween really
has
spooked you!’

‘I didn’t imagine it, I swear! It was so fast, it looked like a ghost, or . . .’ Olivia’s voice cut off into a squeak as the shape blurred past her again, this time
moving in the opposite direction.

‘Hmm.’ Ivy’s eyes narrowed as she tracked the blurred figure with her gaze. ‘OK, you’re not imagining this one. But trust me, that’s no ghost . . . and you
have nothing to worry about.’

‘Huh?’ Olivia blinked.

But before she could ask her twin for an explanation, the shape whizzed towards them again, superhumanly fast . . . then came to a sudden halt at the table.

Olivia let out a sigh of relief as the figure pulled up his black ninja hood, revealing the smiling face of Ivy’s boyfriend, Brendan Daniels. No wonder he’d been superhumanly fast
– he had been using his vamp super-speed!

Ivy wasn’t smiling, though. ‘What were you thinking?’ she hissed to her boyfriend. ‘I know it’s Halloween and you’re dressed like a ninja, but that
doesn’t mean you have to
act
like one. You can’t let anyone see you using your powers!’

Brendan gave her a cheeky grin. ‘I’ve got it covered, trust me. My cousin Maya’s here, and she’s dressed like a ninja, too. If any bunnies happen to see one of us cover
too much ground too quickly, we can just explain it away by pointing out that there are two of us. Genius, huh?’

Ivy rolled her eyes even as she reached out to take his hand. ‘Yes, fine, but you should still be
careful.
’

‘Oof!’ Brendan winced and pulled his hand free. ‘You’re giving me super-strong hand squeezes now? OK, you’ve made your point!’ Laughing, he gave her a
mock-salute. ‘But right now, the Ninja of Doom has more people to scare and more justice to serve.
Beware the Ninja!
’ Cackling, he pulled his hood up and dived back into the
crowd.

Olivia tucked her hand into her sister’s arm as Ivy watched him go, a mixture of affection and exasperation on her face.

‘Some vamps do take advantage of Halloween,’ Ivy said. ‘I guess it’s the one day of the year when we’re not the strangest people in the room.’

Olivia grinned and nudged her. ‘Come on, admit it. You totally thought that was cute.’

‘I know!’ Ivy groaned. ‘It’s terrible!’ Shaking her head, she started walking again, arm-in-arm with Olivia. ‘I just wish I didn’t have vamp hearing
tonight.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because I can hear greasy Josh and his band out in the hallway,’ Ivy said glumly, ‘and they’re definitely plotting some kind of stunt. I just can’t tell exactly
what . . .’

A sudden wave of piercing cold swept through the room. Ivy stopped speaking and Olivia shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself. Goosebumps popped out all over her skin. Gasps and murmurs ran
through the crowd.

Shivering, Olivia tucked herself closer to her sister . . . just as an eerie wind rushed over their heads, trailing a high, unearthly sound almost like a wail:

‘
Aaahhhhhhh!
’

All the doors and windows of the café suddenly flew open with a bang, curtains billowing in the October chill.

Whoa.
All the air seemed to suck itself out of the room, leaving Olivia breathless, as she waited with the rest of the guests for the big reveal.

What was about to step through those open doors? And how had Camilla managed that incredible effect?

But the doorway was completely empty . . . and a moment later, the doors and windows slammed shut again, all at once.

‘Oooohhhhh!’ The crowd let out a joint sigh of wonder . . . and fear.

Nervous giggles broke out along with gasps and excited chatter. But a moment later, applause rang through the room as the air suddenly turned warm again.

‘Wow.’ Even Olivia joined in the applause, clapping just as enthusiastically as her twin. ‘Camilla really outdid herself with that one.’

Ivy nodded, beaming. ‘The sound that that wind made was so
creepy
!’

‘It actually wailed,’ Olivia said. ‘Just like . . .’ Her hands shot up with surprise as she remembered: ‘Just like that silly horoscope of Reiko’s. Remember
what it said? “The wailing winds of memory”, or something like that.’

Ivy snorted. ‘I’d already forgotten that silly thing.’

Olivia smiled at her twin’s grumpy rejoinder, but inwardly, she wondered.
Did the horoscope
actually
predict our future?

As the guests began to file out, Olivia went in hunt of Camilla, along with Ivy and Reiko, to give her the congratulations she deserved. When they found her, she was surrounded by a group of
admirers, while Lillian smiled proudly in the background at her young protégé. Dressed as a Parisian film director, complete with clipboard and sunglasses, Camilla beamed at them all,
her blonde curls springing out from underneath her beret.

‘Did you really like it?’

‘It was awesome!’ Reiko said, bouncing on her toes with excitement. ‘The best Halloween party ever!’

‘It really was amazing,’ Olivia said. ‘Especially that last effect, with the wind and the doors and windows. How did you pull
that
off?’

‘A true artist never gives away her secrets, Olivia. Surely
you
know that!’

Olivia frowned at her friend – Camilla had half-turned when she spoke, as if she was addressing the guests filing out of Café Creative, rather than her.

Hmm.
Olivia frowned.
Is Camilla hiding something?

But it wasn’t until the rest of the crowd had dispersed and the four girls were the only ones left in the café that Camilla’s bright smile finally slipped. She turned back and
fixed Olivia with a stare that was not freaked out as much as it was confused.

‘What’s wrong?’ Olivia asked.

Moaning, Camilla slumped into an abandoned chair and buried her face in her hands. ‘That last effect totally freaked me out,’ she groaned. ‘Because the truth is, it had nothing
to do with me!’

Olivia felt goosebumps rising along her arms. ‘But if you didn’t do it . . . who
did
?’