As Mr Vega mixed some very special cocktails, the doorbell rang. Ivy took off her apron, gave her hands a quick wash, and smoothed down her boring sweatpants. Let’s hope I never have to wear these again after today !
Olivia was waiting for her in the hallway, her eyes bright with nervous anticipation. Together, the twins opened the door.
‘Hey,’ Brendan said.
Thank goodness, he was looking more like his normal self again, not so dangerously thin as he’d looked even a few days before. Ivy’s shoulders slumped in relief. Before she could say a word, though, he hurried into the house, looking nervously over his shoulder. He slammed the door behind himself as quickly as if he were trying to escape pursuit.
‘What’s going on out there?’ he said. ‘Did you know there’s a whole crowd of people outside your house? I had to shove my way through just to get here.’
‘Really?’ Ivy darted to the window, closely followed by Olivia. At the end of the driveway people were milling around, trying to look as casual as if they just happened to be hanging out . . . but there was no way that such a massive crowd would ever have gathered on the Vegas’ quiet street on a normal afternoon.
‘Wait,’ Olivia said. ‘I recognise that man – I saw him at the mall on the day of the book launch.’
Ivy followed her sister’s gaze to a blond man in a long trench coat. She shuddered. ‘I remember him. He was wearing a garlic necklace.’ She pointed. ‘And there’s that girl who was taking photos at the mall. Look – she’s taking a photo of the house down the street right now!’ Ivy gave Olivia a mischievous grin. ‘Should I lean out and wave to let her know she’s got the wrong address?’
‘No!’ Olivia yanked Ivy back and twitched the curtains shut. She couldn’t hide her grin, but her tone was stern. ‘You know the plan.’
‘I know,’ Ivy said, grinning back at her. ‘Let’s go find out how all those people knew to come here.’
Together with Brendan, the twins settled in front of Ivy’s computer. Ivy opened the vampire-hunting blog and frowned. ‘No update,’ she said. ‘So how did they find out?’
‘Try BirdChirp,’ Olivia said.
‘I beg your pardon?’ Ivy let out a scornful huff of air.
Brendan said, ‘Um, Olivia . . . do you have any idea how much more advanced batsqueaks are? They’re so much faster than the human version.’
Olivia rolled her eyes. ‘I’m talking about checking the blogger’s BirdChirp account, you guys, not switching to BirdChirp yourselves. Come on. It may not be as cool as the batsqueaks you guys use, but it’s as close as humans come. Plus, there’s a link from the blog to a BirdChirp account. See? It’s worth a try.’
‘OK, if you really want . . .’ Shrugging, Ivy clicked the link from the vampire-hunting blog to its BirdChirp account (FrnklinGrvVamps). Then she stiffened. ‘A-ha!’
‘What blood-sucking excitement might be happening on Undertaker Hill at 3 p.m. today? Just wait and see . . .’
The chirp had been posted six hours ago – just after they’d left Holly’s house.
Another chirp followed it, posted just an hour ago.
‘Have you set your stopwatches, vampire hunters? Only one hour to go . . .’
‘Well, it looks like Holly’s taken the bait,’ Ivy said.
‘Yeah, I guess so,’ Olivia said. Ivy hated to see how downcast her sister looked. Misery shone in Olivia’s eyes, but her expression was resigned. ‘Don’t worry, Ivy. I’m not arguing any more. The evidence is pretty damning.’
Ivy wanted to reach out and hug her. It’s finally hit home. The girl she trusted is behind all this.
The doorbell rang again.
‘Well.’ Olivia stood up, smoothing down the glittering pink minidress she’d put on for the party. She smiled as brightly as the Hollywood star that she should have been by now, if only her first big film role hadn’t been delayed. ‘We’d better get started.’
As they left Ivy’s bedroom, they heard Mr Vega open the front door. ‘Holly! It’s so nice to see you here again.’ He led her into the living room, where the Count and Countess were waiting, wearing their most garish pink-and-orange checked outfits and their stiffest expressions. ‘May I introduce you to my parents? Mom, Dad, this is Holly, one of Olivia’s best friends. Isn’t it nice to have her here with us today?’
The Count shook Holly’s hand, his expression tight. The Countess nodded. Her smile looked as if it had been glued on to her face by force – and was about to slip right off.
‘Um . . . hi,’ Holly said. As she turned to Ivy, Olivia and Brendan, she looked sheepish.
The adults moved discreetly to a different part of the room – which, Ivy knew, wouldn’t stop them from listening to everything with their vampire super-hearing. But it was time for Ivy and Olivia to take over.
‘Holly!’ Ivy smiled broadly. ‘Hey, did you have to squeeze past that crowd in the street?’