Fashion Frightmare! (My Sister the Vampire)

by Sienna Mercer

‘And what would you two like?’ Norah asked, turning expectantly to Ivy and Olivia. Behind them, the line rustled as people prepared to shuffle forward.

  ‘Umm . . .’ Olivia tried to look anguished as she leaned over the glass display case set inside the counter. ‘I just cannot decide. I’ve been looking at those vegan truffles, and they look soooo amazing – but then those almond butter chews look so good, too, I think . . . I think . . . oh!’ She put her hands in her hair, tugging as if she could force herself to think. ‘I just need one more moment . . .’

  She leaned over until she was nearly pressing her nose against the glass, ignoring the huffs and groans of the crowd waiting behind her. She heard the rustle of paper as Ivy handed over the receipt to Norah.

  ‘While she’s making up her mind, can I ask: does this receipt ring any bells for you?’

  ‘Excuse me?’ Norah sounded startled. ‘I’m not sure I –’

  ‘We’re trying to figure out who dropped it,’ Ivy explained. ‘They left behind something really important, too, along with the receipt, and we want to get it back to them. But we need to figure out who we’re looking for . . .’

  ‘Well, in that case . . .’ Norah paused. ‘Let me think.’

  Olivia slid a glance up out of the corner of her eyes to see Norah frowning over the receipt.

  ‘Oh, wait!’ Suddenly, the server flashed a bright smile. ‘There’s only one regular customer of ours who always orders oatmeal with avocado, plus an extra-large serving of Vitali-Tea.’

  She passed the receipt back to Ivy and nodded firmly. ‘I know exactly who you’re looking for.’

  They all leaned forwards.

  ‘You do?’ asked Olivia, abandoning any pretence of ordering.

  A tall man pushed up next to her at the counter. ‘One extra-large Vitali-Tea to go, please.’

  Norah picked up a cup and then turned back to the girls. ‘Yes, that’s Maxie Richards,’ she said as she flipped on the Vitali-Tea machine. ‘Great kid.’ The machine whirred into life, hissing and bubbling loudly. Norah was still saying something and Olivia strained her ears to hear, ‘. . . Wednesdays after art class . . . over from Lincoln Vale . . .’

  ‘What does she look like?’ Ivy asked, over the noise.

  ‘What?’ Norah called.

  ‘Looks!’ Ivy pointed to her hair and face.

  ‘Oh! Well . . . about fifteen, I’d say . . . eyes and shoulder-length brown hair.’

  Olivia could barely hear a thing. ‘I’m sorry, what –’ She could not finish her question, because more customers were pushing forward.

  Norah shook her head. ‘Sorry, kids!’

  Realising that this was all they were going to get, they turned away from the counter.

  As they marched out of One Planet, Olivia saw Ivy fix an imaginary person with a death-squint. ‘OK, Maxie Richards with brown hair from Lincoln Vale . . . The Daring Detective Duo are going to find you!’

  Reiko made a show of clearing her throat, and Ivy looked sheepish.

  ‘I mean, the Daring Detective Trio.’

  Chapter Nine

  The next morning, Olivia stepped through the big glass doors of the Lincoln Vale and felt a sense of déja-vu. The last time she and Ivy had come here with a friend, they’d been tracking another suspicious girl through the mall, just as they were today. This time, though, they were on the trail of a thief; and instead of Sophia coming with them, they had Reiko, whose hair today was a rather “Altegular” chaos of pink and black streaks. Her trademark tennis racquet stuck up out of her backpack as she looked around with cheerful curiosity.

  I bet she wasn’t expecting this to be a part of her exchange programme! Olivia thought. But she couldn’t spare any time to worry about that. She was too busy scanning left and right, down the long, wide corridors of the upscale mall. They had figured that most Lincoln Vale teens could be found in the mall at the weekends and they hadn’t been wrong – but the place was so crowded, they felt no closer to finding Maxie Richards.

  Is Maxie short for Maxine, I wonder?

  ‘OK, we can’t just walk up and down all day.’ Ivy came to a halt, frowning. ‘We need a plan. I think we’re most likely to have success if we scope out the clothing stores.’

  Olivia nodded. ‘Well, we do know Maxie has a thing for clothing . . .’

  ‘And since this whole incident has been a fashion frightmare,’ Ivy added, ‘it makes sense that our thief girl would be the type to frequent a niche boutique or two. How about Blue Skye’s?’

  Olivia shuddered. ‘I don’t know . . . The last time we went, Blue Skye tried to get mall security to arrest us!’

  ‘Whoa!’ Reiko bounced on the tips of her tennis shoes. ‘Exactly what kind of trouble did you two get up to? And what kind of store is it, anyway?’

  ‘Oh, just New Age clothes.’ Ivy shrugged. ‘Lots of incense. You know, typical.’

  ‘But the owner is not typical at all!’ Olivia grimaced. ‘I mean, she’s very laid back about most things . . . but when it comes to customers “just browsing”, she morphs from “Blue Skye” into “Red Skye”!’ She shook her head vigorously, backing away from Ivy. ‘Seriously, we had to run for our lives last time we visited.’

  ‘I’m not thrilled to go back there, either,’ Ivy agreed. ‘But just think about it: if Maxie has such a liking for pashminas, doesn’t it make sense that she would shop at Blue Skye’s?’

  ‘Ugh.’ Olivia groaned, dropping her head in defeat. ‘I hate it when you make sense . . . about something I really don’t want to do!’

  But her steps only dragged a little bit as she followed her twin towards Blue Skye’s shop. Today, the display window was draped with gauzy fabrics, and a curtain of colourful beads hung in the doorway. Taking a deep breath, Olivia ducked through the curtain, tiny beads jangling and bumping against her skin on all sides.

  She winced at the loud tinkling of the wind chimes that were hung all over the place. Olivia found it almost impossible to move without making them jingle. She tripped and fell straight into a huge one. Ivy and Reiko both clasped their hands to their ears and moaned. It was too much for their super vamp hearing to take!

  Mouthing ‘Sorry!’, Olivia straightened up, forced herself to breathe deeply and took a good look around the shop.

  There was only one other customer inside – a long-haired boy about their age who was browsing through a colourful collection of scarves, pashminas, saris and sarongs on the opposite wall. He fingered one purple-and-yellow cotton sarong with a thoughtful look on his face. Usually, in a shop like this, Olivia would only have expected to see boys waiting impatiently for their girlfriends, or simply looking lost, but this boy actually seemed to know what he was doing.

  Too bad. Olivia sighed and turned away. If he’d actually needed help, he might have distracted the attention of Blue Skye. Speaking of whom . . .

  ‘Welcome, friends!’ Blue Skye’s voice boomed out just behind Olivia, making her jump. ‘Have we met before?’

  ‘Um . . .?’ Olivia flashed a desperate glance at her sister.

  Ivy removed one hand from her ear and pointed wordlessly behind Olivia. Slowly, reluctantly, Olivia turned to face the shop owner.

  Ohhh. So that’s why she didn’t recognise us!

  Blue Skye was an unmistakable figure, clothed in gauzy, rippling layers of bright blue, green, and yellow silk from the top of her head to her gold-painted toenails. But what Olivia noticed most of all was the thin, black silk scarf wrapped around her eyes.

  ‘I’m so sorry!’ Olivia said. ‘Did we wake you up from a nap?’ She wouldn’t have expected most shop owners to go to sleep in the middle of the daytime, in their own shops, but Blue Skye was not ‘most shop owners’.

  ‘You’re asking about my little blindfold, aren’t you?’ Blue Skye chuckled indulgently as she patted the silk over her eyes. ‘No, I have simply reached a higher level of experience. That thing which we call “sight”? That only gets in the way of really seeing the world around us!’ Her voice roll
ed out with all the intensity of a politician campaigning for votes. ‘When we open our eyes, we become blind to the truth beyond our vision!’

  Reiko looked fascinated. ‘But . . . don’t you walk into things – like, all the time?’

  ‘Pfft.’ Blue Skye waved the question away with one sweep of her arm. ‘My goal is to improve my true vision. What does it matter if I suffer a few boring bumps and bruises along the way? Honestly, the physical is so overrated.’

  Ivy cleared her throat. ‘Uh . . . it might not be that overrated . . .’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Blue Skye swung around, turning to face Ivy’s direction. ‘Do you dare dispute my vision, visitor?’

  ‘Well . . .’ Ivy coughed. ‘It’s just, I can see quite a few empty hangers and racks around the store.’ She shrugged. ‘I think someone may have taken advantage of your experiment, Blue Skye. You’ve been robbed!’

  Something crashed at the other side of the shop. Olivia spun around to see the boy at the other side of the store looking as shocked as if Ivy had poked him with a stick. The clothing rack behind him had been knocked backwards – he must have jumped when he’d heard her words. He pointedly replaced the sarong he’d been holding and backed away with his empty hands held high.

  Oops! Olivia gave an apologetic smile – clearly, he’d thought Ivy was accusing him of the clothing thefts! He only ducked his head in response to her smile, though, turning around so fast he nearly tripped over his own feet. He then speed-walked the rest of the way out of the shop, sending the curtain of beads jangling with his exit.

  ‘Oh, nonsense.’ Blue Skye let out such a massive snort, the gauzy silk hood around her head ruffled in its breeze. ‘That’s the problem with our culture nowadays – this inhibiting belief that everything has to cost something.’

  ‘Er . . .?’ Ivy looked at the price tags on the clothes hanging near her. ‘We are in a store –’

  ‘Ah, but money cannot buy you time, can it? Or peace, or love?’ Blue Skye shook her head, her tone weary. ‘Trust me, young one: the sooner we all realise that, the happier we will be.’

  This is getting us nowhere! Olivia’s breath whistled out through her gritted teeth in a noise that was half-growl and half-sigh. A grigh!

  At the sound, Blue Skye swung around to face Olivia. With her blindfolded eyes, the movement looked strangely eerie, especially when she sniffed loudly, as if following a scent. ‘I can sense – oh yes – I have seekers in my shop today. Seekers who need my help!’

  ‘Well . . .’ Olivia blinked, slightly taken aback. ‘I guess you could say that.’

  ‘Of course. My inner vision grows strong.’ Smiling serenely, Blue Skye placed both be-ringed hands on her chest. ‘I will provide all the help that I possibly can. Come!’ She swept around and headed purposefully for the counter, neatly side-stepping all the clothes-racks in her path.

  Olivia watched with reluctant awe as Blue Skye cut a clear path through the cluttered shop, bypassing clothing racks, jewellery displays and glass cabinets, despite her blindfold. Maybe she is developing inner vision after all!

  Ivy didn’t stop to watch. Instead, she hurried after Blue Skye, frowning intently. ‘Do you know all your regular customers?’

  ‘Ohhh . . .’ Blue Skye shrugged, sending her gauzy layers shifting all around her like an ocean in a storm. ‘Can any person truly know another person, in their heart of hearts?’

  Olivia could feel another grigh building up inside her. She had to slam her mouth shut to keep it in . . .

  For once, Ivy seemed to be keeping her cool. ‘I take your point,’ she said calmly, ‘but we’re looking for someone – someone who may need our help – and we’re running out of ideas for how to find them.’

  Otherwise, we certainly wouldn’t have come here! Olivia added silently. But she kept her mouth shut as she watched Blue Skye’s face smooth out in pleasure.

  ‘You have come to the right place, seekers,’ the shop owner announced. She set the palms of her hands together and cocked her hooded and blindfolded head to one side, waiting with unnerving poise. ‘Tell me.’

  ‘OK.’ Ivy leaned across the counter. ‘We have reason to believe that Maxie might shop here.’

  ‘Maxie?’ Blue Skye’s lips curved into a smile. ‘Are you talking about Maxie Richards, by any chance?’

  ‘Yes!’ Olivia couldn’t help the squeak of delight that escaped her lips.

  Ivy leaned towards Blue Skye. ‘Can you give us an idea of who it is we’re looking for? All we know so far is that Maxie has shoulder-length brown hair.’

  ‘I have no idea what Maxie looks like,’ Blue Skye answered.

  ‘What?’ Olivia’s mouth dropped open.

  Ivy shook her head. ‘You just said you know Maxie Richards. So how can you not know what Maxie looks like?’

  ‘Perfectly easily,’ Blue Skye said. ‘You see, Maxie has only started shopping here in the last couple of weeks or so, and in that time . . .’ She let out a low, purring hum of satisfaction and pointed to her blindfold. ‘I have not laid eyes on a single person. And, I have to say, if all you care about is frivolous, shallow physical detail, I don’t know how much help I can be.’

  Olivia clapped her hands to her head. You can say that again! She had always believed in compassion and tolerance – but, while it was great that Blue Skye was trying to mellow out and believe in the goodness underneath other people’s surfaces, Olivia wondered how sensible such an approach was when it led to her getting robbed . . . and being no help at all in the twins’ Pashmina Panic?

  Sighing, Ivy stepped back from the counter. ‘Thanks anyway,’ she said to Blue Skye. ‘We appreciate the help.’

  ‘Of course.’ Blue Skye lowered her chin in a regal nod. ‘You may always come back to this shop, seekers, when you desire a brush with true inner vision . . . or, of course, when what you desire is a really lovely piece of clothing, designed especially for the inner you.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Olivia mumbled. She knew she didn’t sound enthusiastic, but right now, it was the very best that she could do, with yet another grigh building inside her.

  ‘What are we going to do?’ she whispered to Ivy as they started out of the store.

  Ivy didn’t bother to whisper back. ‘I don’t know,’ she said glumly. ‘Short of asking every customer in the mall, I have no idea how we’re going to find her now.’

  ‘Oh, you won’t.’ Blue Skye’s voice boomed through the store. ‘Trust me, seekers. You won’t find her.’

  ‘Huh?’ Ivy’s voice finally took on an edge as she swung back towards the blindfolded shopkeeper. ‘Why won’t we find her? Oh, let me guess. Because we’re not –’ She crooked her fingers into air-quotes that Blue Skye had no chance of seeing –‘“looking in the right space”? Or because our “open eyes are really locked shut”?’

  Uh-oh. Olivia braced herself. I think the Skye is about to turn Red!

  But Blue Skye’s lips curled an extra half-inch higher in their smile as she leaned forward, her hood dropping lower over her forehead. ‘No, my dears,’ she murmured gently. ‘Because there is no “her” to find. Didn’t you realise? Maxie Richards is a boy!’

  Olivia clutched at Ivy’s arm. They stared at each other in sudden, wild surprise.

  Why didn’t it ever even occur to me that ‘Maxie’ could be a boy? Olivia wondered. But if he is . . .

  ‘Actually . . .’ Blue Skye tilted her head back to sniff the air. ‘I think I recognise his scent – oh, yes. Patchouli oil and lavender. Unmistakable.’ She lowered her chin to her chest. ‘Yes, he was here not long ago. But, how odd. He usually says hello.’

  ‘I know why he didn’t this time,’ Ivy said grimly.

  ‘Of course,’ Olivia breathed. The boy who’d been there when they’d first arrived, the one who’d browsed so purposefully through the sarongs, who looked like he knew exactly what he was doing . . . That was Maxie!

  And he’d left like a startled cat the moment Ivy had mentioned the subject of thefts.

&
nbsp; ‘He can’t have got too far away,’ said Reiko. She was already bouncing on her toes, warming up for action. ‘He might still be in the mall!’

  ‘Let’s go!’ Ivy lunged for the exit.

  I can say one thing about trips to Blue Skye’s shop, Ivy thought as she ducked through the curtain of beads. They’re always memorable!

  Ivy had to force herself to take deep, calming breaths as she thought through her strategy. If she wanted to, she could race through the whole mall in a blur, but that would risk exposing the vampire secret – a gamble she would never take. If only vamps could make themselves invisible!

  Instead, she led Olivia and Reiko to the escalator that led up to the mezzanine level. ‘Come on. What we need is a raised platform to stand on, so we can get the best view of the whole mall.’

  ‘Makes sense.’ Olivia nodded firmly as the escalator lifted them up, while Reiko scanned the scene around them with wide-eyed interest.

  Ivy counted down seconds until they reached the top. ‘Finally!’ She lunged forwards to look over the glass banister at the shifting crowds beneath them. All she needed now was . . .

  Wait a minute. She frowned. ‘Can either of you two remember, clearly, what the guy in Blue Skye’s store looked like?’ As much as Ivy tried, all she could envision was his black shirt – something that half the boys and girls downstairs were wearing. ‘I was so sure Maxie was a girl, I didn’t even take a second look at him when he was in the shop.’

  ‘Me neither,’ Reiko said.

  ‘Um . . .’ Making a rueful face, Olivia shrugged. ‘I think . . . he might have been wearing blue jeans? Or black?’

  ‘Great.’ Ivy slumped against the banister. ‘That really narrows it down.’

  ‘Sorry.’ Olivia winced.

  ‘Don’t be.’ Ivy sighed. ‘It’s not your fault. But . . . aagh! Our best lead just slipped through our fingers. He was right in front of us – and we still can’t find him!’ She dropped her head on to her forearms. ‘Some investigator I am!’

  ‘Hey.’ Olivia patted her shoulder. ‘Don’t you think you’re forgetting something?’