11 Flying Solo - My Sister the Vampire

by Sienna Mercer

  She could feel her whole body trembling as they backed away, and she loosened the silk scarf at her throat. Thank goodness Holly turned up when she did. Olivia hated to admit it, but she hadn’t been sure how she was going to hold it together just then.

  Garrick grabbed his basketball and motioned for the other Beasts to follow, throwing a final filthy look in Olivia’s direction. They wandered off, grumbling and playfully shoving each other.

  ‘That’s it,’ called Holly after them. ‘Go home . . . and take a shower!’ She turned to Olivia, cupping Olivia’s elbow. ‘Are you OK?’

  ‘Yeah.’ She smoothed her skirt. ‘It’s not the first time I’ve had a run-in with those boys.’ But the mention of Jackson had shaken her in a way that none of the other close calls had. Olivia hugged her arms to her chest. The Beasts had actually been right about one thing: she didn’t have Jackson and she didn’t have Ivy. For the first time ever, Olivia Abbott was lonely.

  Holly stared after Garrick and Co. as they walked away. ‘Does this sort of thing happen a lot in Franklin Grove?’ She dismounted her bike.

  ‘It’s almost like an occupational hazard,’ said Olivia, remembering again her first day at school, when Ivy had saved her from being picked on by the Beasts.

  ‘Come here and take a breather,’ Holly told Olivia, leading her to a bus-stop bench. They sat down together and Holly positioned her camera on her lap. She clicked the ‘ON’ button and the viewfinder lit up. ‘Want to see some of my photos?’ she asked.

  ‘Sure.’ Olivia nodded. Her voice sounded smaller than usual.

  Holly began scrolling through the pictures stored on her camera. The first one was of a brightly painted sign that read, ‘Franklin Grove Animal Rescue.’

  ‘Hey, those aren’t the Beasts!’ Olivia pointed at the pictures of tail-wagging dogs. Holly giggled at a pug with drool hanging out of both sides of his mouth and a goofy, lop-sided dog grin.

  ‘Are you sure?’ Holly asked. ‘Because I think this one could definitely be mistaken for Garrick!’

  Olivia doubled over laughing until she got a stitch and had to clutch her sides. ‘Thank goodness you were around to put those boys in their place,’ she said, wiping her eyes. Olivia had thought she was headed for a meltdown, but Holly had managed to cheer her up in no time. Maybe she wasn’t as totally alone as she’d thought . . .

  Holly frowned. ‘Well, don’t worry. I’ll always back you up.’

  Olivia gave Holly a hug. After feeling so lonely and abandoned today, it was nice that someone was around to support her. I think I’m going to be seeing a lot more of this girl in future, thought Olivia happily.

  ‘So, how about we make good on that rain check?’ said Holly. Olivia cocked her head, confused. ‘I mean, do you want to come over to my house?’

  ‘Oh, yeah!’ Olivia jumped up. ‘Definitely.’

  ‘Far out!’ Holly exclaimed. Her unique style, Olivia figured, was going to take a little getting used to.

  They walked together, Holly alongside her bicycle, holding on to the handlebars.

  ‘Do you want to give your sister a call so that she can come along too?’ asked Holly. ‘I’d really like to meet her.’ Olivia was about to remind her that Ivy was out of the country when Holly continued. ‘It’s not like I have any music that she’d like to listen to, but we can still hang out. I mean, The Pall Bearers take some getting used to, right?’

  That was when Olivia understood – the pictures of her at the concert! Holly thought that had been Ivy, back from Transylvania.

  ‘Holly, those are just –’ Olivia started to explain, when Holly’s phone pinged. She held up one finger, checking the incoming text.

  ‘So sorry, Olivia, but I’ve really got to run.’ She waved her phone. ‘But we’ll talk later, OK? I can’t wait to meet Ivy and ask her all about Transylvania. Maybe get some cool pictures of her too.’ Holly was talking fast. ‘If I could get the low-down on Europe from her, I know it would really help me break through as a journalist. There’s a travel-writing competition with a deadline at the end of the week – entrants need to interview someone who’s explored the world. And Ivy would be so cool in photos too, if she’s just like you say she is!’

  ‘Um, yeah,’ Olivia muttered. ‘She’s totally cool. And thanks for everything – I really appreciate what you did back there.’ But Holly wasn’t listening. She’d already hopped back on her bike and was pedalling furiously in the opposite direction.

  How could Olivia thank Holly properly? She couldn’t bear the thought of telling her Ivy wasn’t around to have a photo taken of her. But if she doesn’t get her interview, her dreams of breaking into journalism will be over before she’s written a word. I’d feel terrible! At that moment, an idea started to form. A dangerously clever idea . . .

  Olivia had dressed as Ivy to wangle tickets to a concert. Surely she could do the same to help her new friend’s career? If there was one thing Olivia was short on right now, it was friends. And Holly had really been there for her when she needed someone. In Olivia’s book that counted for a lot.

  She remembered what it had been like at the start of her acting career. Auditioning for The Groves had been terrifying. It would be fine to help Holly get the pictures she needed – just one more time dressing up as Ivy.

  It was the right thing to do.

  Wasn’t it?

  Chapter Seven

  Ivy woke with a start. She’d heard something – and there it was again – the creak of a coffin lid opening. She squeezed the side of her digital watch and the screen lit up. Midnight. Ivy peered out of her coffin to see Petra slipping out of hers, quietly closing the lid so as not to wake the other girls. She watched as Petra shoved her feet into a pair of trainers sitting near the door and crept out of the room.

  Ivy lay back down on the cool, velvet lining of her coffin, staring into the darkness. Petra’s going to see Etan. I just know it. Love made people do crazy things. Ivy’s eyelids were heavy. She’d had only a few hours of sleep and she wanted to let Petra go. She’d already been in a whole heap of trouble after Miss Avisrova had seen the article about ‘Ivy’ being at The Pall Bearers concert. She’d been made to clean out the cages for every bat in the school! I’m not getting myself into any more scrapes for anyone, Ivy thought now. No way.

  But could she stay in this warm coffin and leave Petra to get herself into a whole heap of trouble out there? What would Olivia do in a situation like this? Ivy opened her eyes and gave a loud sigh. Of course, it was obvious what Olivia would do – she’d go and help Petra.

  Why me? Why do I have to feel guilty about leaving a schoolgirl to go out into the dark on her own? Ivy rubbed her eyes. She couldn’t let Petra get into trouble, and trouble was exactly what Petra was going to find if she tried to cross the Gauntlet to see her crush.

  Ivy opened her coffin, crawled out and shut the lid, pushing the middle of the Wallachia crest emblazoned on the top to lock it. She slid into her black tennis shoes and threw her coat on over her T-shirt and sweatpants. Soft snoring could be heard coming from the other coffins in Ivy’s dorm room. Her room-mates were fast asleep. Petra had better appreciate this, she thought, as she crept out of the door after her.

  In the chilly corridor, Ivy thought she heard a rustling noise behind her, but when she whipped round, no one was there. That was strange. Her vampire hearing never usually failed her.

  She carried on down the hallway, slipped the bolt back on a large ornate door and gently closed it behind her.

  Outside, Ivy hugged herself, rubbing her arms. At night, the grounds of Wallachia Academy were the most eerie thing she had ever seen. The whole place looked like a graveyard on Halloween. The stone façade of the school building glowed ghostly pale in the moonlight. The trimmed hedges looked alive in the night breeze. Every creak of a branch and crunch of leaves sounded threatening.

  Ivy tried to tune her hearing to focus on Petra. She could hear Petra’s trainers sinking into the soft grass and soil. She picked up her pac
e. Yep – judging from the direction of her footsteps, Petra was definitely headed for the spooky, booby-trapped forest that divided the girls’ and boys’ dorms.

  Ivy hurried over, not caring whether she was heard or not. She found Petra at the edge of the wood, staring at a narrow passageway that began between two birch trees.

  ‘Are you nuts?’ Ivy hissed.

  ‘No, I’m in love.’ Petra clasped her hands together. ‘My whole heart aches. Do you know what that feels like?’

  ‘Of course I know what that feels like. My own boyfriend is all the way back in America, which, let me remind you, is much further away than the other side of a forest.’

  Petra flapped her hand, batting aside Ivy’s comment. She was holding an envelope, which Ivy was sure contained another drawing or sappy poem. ‘If you really loved him, you would never have left.’

  ‘What?!’ Ivy didn’t know whether to laugh or scream. Vampires and their ridiculous ideas of romance! Maybe it was a good thing they weren’t fully integrated into society – they’d set the world back three hundred years. Ivy took a deep breath. ‘This isn’t going to solve anything,’ she told Petra. ‘You’re only going to get caught in one of the booby traps, a teacher is going to have to rescue you, and you’ll be in an epic amount of trouble. What would that accomplish?’

  Petra pressed the back of her hand to her forehead in true dramatic fashion. ‘You don’t understand. I have to prove myself to Etan!’ She charged into the woods.

  ‘Wait!’ Ivy barrelled in after her.

  The forest was pitch black. Even with vampire sight, Ivy could barely see through it. She could only just make out the dim figure of Petra running ahead. They hadn’t got ten metres in when Petra tripped over a hidden wire. She stumbled forwards, landing in the dirt. The wire triggered a wasps’ nest, which swung down from a tree on a rope. Ivy tackled Petra, pulling her off to the side just as the nest smashed into another tree trunk. Buzzing filled the air. But before they could run, the ground gave way beneath them. Ivy scrambled back, pulling Petra with her.

  The forest floor opened up into a pit. Ivy peered over the edge. There were no spikes, like in medieval movies, but instead a foul-smelling pool of black goo gurgled inside.

  Petra was swatting frantically at the wasps flying above her.

  ‘Be careful!’ Ivy flung one arm over her head, using the other to push Petra to safety a few paces down the path. ‘Well, this has been fun,’ she said, coming to a stop. ‘But let’s go back now.’

  Petra brandished the envelope, now crumpled and dirty from their narrow escapes. ‘Absolutely not. I have to get this to Etan! You go back. You don’t have to come with me.’ She turned and continued down the path.

  Ivy huffed. This girl was getting on her last nerve! But even though Ivy wanted to strangle her, she couldn’t let Petra bumble through this deadly obstacle course alone. She trotted after her friend, careful to watch where she stepped. Petra was taking ‘boy crazy’ to a brand new level. Ivy wondered if she would do the same for Brendan. Probably . . . but I definitely wouldn’t admit that to him!

  She caught up with Petra, who looked at her in surprise, then smiled.

  ‘OK, I’ll admit it,’ she said, ‘I’m glad you’re here.’

  They started up a gradual incline. The tree limbs groaned in the wind and Ivy held Petra’s hand to keep her from freaking out. Suddenly, there was a sharp twang, and Ivy shoved Petra sideways, out of the path. She was just about to dive out of the way herself when a snapping rope coiled round her ankles, lifting her feet out from under her and dragging her high up into the trees. The blood rushed to her head. She’d been caught!

  ‘Help me,’ she whispered, but Petra was frozen.

  Ivy listened. A bat darted through the air, skimming past their noses. Then slow, confident footsteps crunched towards them. She knew who it was even before she heard the figure speak.

  ‘Well, well,’ said Miss Avisrova, as she approached Petra.

  ‘S-s-sorry,’ said Petra, bowing her head. ‘I-I-I don’t know what I was thinking.’

  Ivy stared down at the severe parting in Miss Avisrova’s hair. Their teacher curled her fingers around the back of Petra’s neck. ‘You will accompany me back to the girls’ dormitory immediately.’ She started to guide Petra down the path.

  Petra looked upwards. ‘Miss, there’s someone else up –’

  Avisrova cut her off and repeated herself, more forcefully this time. ‘You will accompany me back to the girls’ dormitory. Immediately.’

  ‘But –’

  ‘But nothing,’ Avisrova snapped. ‘I don’t know what you are talking about. Honestly. A girl on her own in the Gauntlet at night . . . No girl from this academy could possibly make it through the Gauntlet.’

  Petra’s mouth worked, but no words came out. Ivy couldn’t believe it. Avisrova had to know that someone else was in the forest. She was a vampire, with vampire senses, and she had caught Petra red-handed. No, Miss Avisrova was choosing to let Ivy dangle alone in the Gauntlet.

  Petra glanced back anxiously at Ivy, as she was led away. She shrugged and Ivy’s chest heaved with fury. Her eyes narrowed. Ivy knew Avisrova wanted her to call for help, but too bad. That evil teacher was going to be sorely disappointed, because no way was Ivy Vega giving her that satisfaction.

  No girl can make it through the Gauntlet, huh? Ivy’s blood boiled. Was that what Avisrova thought? Well, apparently Miss Avisrova did not know the first thing about Ivy.

  As soon as her teacher was out of sight and earshot, Ivy began swinging back and forth like a pendulum. Her muscles strained and the cord around her ankles cut into her skin. It took a few minutes, but finally she got enough momentum and grabbed hold of the rope.

  Take this, Avisrova. Ivy’s arms trembled as she held herself right side up. She ripped into the rope with her teeth, gnawing at the threads with her newly grown fangs until she heard a snap. Moments later, she landed on the ground with a loud kerthump.

  She lay on her back, waiting for agonising pain to shoot up one of her limbs, but . . . nothing. Tentatively, she felt the ground beneath her and lifted up a fistful of soft, brown leaves. She sat up and looked around her. Woah! How lucky am I? Ivy had landed in a pile of foliage that had broken her fall. The leaves were gathered in a neat circle, almost as though someone had arranged them there.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Ivy noticed Petra’s envelope. It was half covered in dirt. She picked it up and dusted it off. Whatever it was, Petra must have worked pretty hard on it to go to this much trouble just to make a delivery. That meant she would definitely want it back.

  Ivy checked to make sure nothing had fallen out of her own pockets while she’d been dangling by her feet. She was about to follow Petra and Avisrova out of the woods when she paused and looked back over her shoulder. She could only imagine the hidden grass snakes, the hairy spiders and, of course, the tripwires which lay in the forest beyond. She remembered the story about the girl whose hair turned white on entering the Gauntlet. What had she seen? But another thought wormed its way up Ivy’s brain . . . Could I complete the obstacle course? That would prove a point to Avisrova and to the entire school. Ivy shouldn’t let silly ghost stories put her off! If one student was able to emerge on the other side of the Gauntlet, Wallachia Academy might drag itself into the twenty-first century. Maybe.

  ‘I mean, the whole Gauntlet thing is ridiculous,’ Ivy said out loud, trying to talk herself into being brave. ‘I need to show this school how stuffy and old-fashioned things like this are – and prove that it doesn’t even work!’ If a girl like Ivy could get across . . . perhaps the school would give up on keeping the boys and girls apart and Petra might even get to talk to – instead of stare at – her beloved Etan.

  Ivy knew the plan was reckless, but wasn’t that what she was known for at Wallachia? That was it – her mind was made up. The only real question left was how to conquer the Gauntlet successfully. She thought back to Helga’s advice in the classroom. What wa
s it she’d said? ‘Knowledge and strength are a person’s most important assets.’ Ivy had some knowledge of plants and she could dig deep for the strength she needed. I can do this! But what first? OK, how to avoid those booby-trap tripwires on the ground . . .?

  Ivy walked over to one of the largest trees in the forest. Without hesitating, she reached for the lowest branch and pulled herself up until she was straddling it. She clambered higher, using the sturdier limbs as a makeshift ladder. Luckily the forest was dense and the trees so close together that she could move from one to the other, making her way through the forest without touching the ground. Carefully, she grabbed hold of a long branch from one of the trees nearby, then swung herself to the neighboring trunk, as if she were a pirate boarding an enemy ship.

  Ivy hopped and jumped from one tree to the other, panting with the exertion. This was worse than Physical Education back in Franklin Grove! But after a while, she reached the edge of the woods, just as the sun was beginning to peek out over the horizon. Ivy watched as oranges, pinks and yellows spilled out over the clouds. She had to admit, Transylvania did have one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world.

  The morning glow curled around the trunks, illuminating several patches of the Oxynamon plant Helga had shown them in class. Ivy had never seen it grow like this in the human world. Here in the forest it looked as though it were growing out of the tree and wrapping itself round the bark. She tore off two bunches. If anyone saw her, she could say she had been doing some extra credit work for Herbal Science. She stuffed it in her pocket, took out Petra’s envelope and jumped down from the last tree.

  I did it! She had to stop herself from squealing. That would definitely not suit the cool-girl Ivy persona she was trying to build. But here she was on the other side of the Gauntlet, standing in the shadow of the boys’ dormitory. Stone walls, high-rising turrets . . . It looked just the same as the girls’ dorms to Ivy. What’s the big deal, exactly? She leaned her head to the side, to view it from another angle. Vampires and their ideas of romance – it would never make sense to her.