‘Onward!’ everyone responded.
As they walked, they talked about the presents they’d gotten from their family – no one else was lucky enough to get an elusive Kevin Greene, but Olivia loved the pink, sparkly earmuffs her parents had bought her that matched her old scarf and glove set. They were keeping her ears toasty warm in the cold.
‘What did you get Ivy, Brendan?’ Camilla asked.
Brendan and Ivy shared a look.
Ivy explained, ‘He gave me a season ticket to the movie theatre, a year-long subscription to Vamp! magazine and a bus pass.’
Olivia realised that everything Brendan had given Ivy were things that needed a permanent address in Franklin Grove. ‘How romantic!’
‘There isn’t anything romantic about a bus pass,’ Sophia declared.
‘Yes, there is,’ Ivy and Brendan said quietly to each other.
‘Cheese!’ Sophia complained. ‘This registers cheese factor 10!’
Ivy just smiled and Olivia wished for the second time that day that she’d be as lucky in love.
‘I’ve never heard of Vamp! magazine,’ Camilla said as they came to the end of the street. Camilla didn’t have any idea about the vampires in Franklin Grove, and it had to stay that way.
‘Oh, we’re almost there!’ Olivia chirped, changing the subject quickly.
‘And I can’t wait for a ketchup-smothered chunky burger,’ Brendan declared. ‘With fries.’
But as they turned the corner to the diner, Ivy suddenly threw her arms out. ‘What is that?’
Olivia couldn’t see anything unusual. The diner had the same piñatas and disco balls hanging from meat hooks in the windows, the same sandwich board outside boasting the best burgers in town. ‘Um . . . it’s the Meat & Greet?’
‘No,’ Ivy said, frowning her forehead into a V. ‘It’s not. Look!’ She pointed to the sign above the door.
Sophia and Brendan gasped. Then, Olivia realised that not only was the restaurant completely empty, the neon sign no longer read ‘Meat & Greet'. It was ‘Meet & Greet’ with two ‘e’s!
‘What is it with “e”s today?’ Brendan asked.
‘What does it mean?’ Ivy said, clearly worried.
This could mean trouble, Olivia thought. Had it become a regular diner? If it had, where would the vamps eat out now? Or had someone exposed their secret?
Camilla jumped up and down, her blonde curls bouncing. ‘I know! We’ve entered an alternate universe; the aliens who created it have obviously gotten some things wrong.’ Camilla was a huge sci-fi fan.
Olivia couldn’t decide which was worse: an alien invasion or the existence of vampires being exposed. She was one of the few humans who knew the big secret and had taken a vow never to break the Laws of the Night, the very first being: Don’t Tell Anyone About Vampires EVER!
Ivy started walking faster towards the diner, with everyone hurrying to keep up.
Ivy stopped at the diner’s door to read a sign explaining that the Meat & Greet – with the ‘a’ – would be closed for a week.
‘Phew,’ Ivy said. ‘I was about to stake somebody.’
Camilla was still suspicious. ‘But why is the sign different?’
A rumbling noise filled the air. The five friends listened, huddled on the step in front of the diner’s door. The cold wind picked up and whipped Olivia’s hair in front of her face. It was the noise of an engine, a great big engine – or maybe lots of engines.
A convoy of trucks trundled down the road towards them. ‘Harker Films’ was emblazoned on each one.
‘It’s not aliens,’ said Camilla, clearly disappointed.
‘No,’ Sophia replied, her eyes shining as the trucks turned into the diner’s parking lot. ‘It’s Hollywood!’ She rubbed her hands with glee.