‘Exactly,’ Olivia laughed, finally daring to wrap one arm around her sister’s waist. ‘I’m sure there’s a perfectly normal explanation for what’s going on. We’re just having trouble thinking of it right now, that’s all.’
‘Well . . .’ Sighing, Ivy started to lean into Olivia’s embrace. Then she suddenly stiffened.
Olivia followed her sister’s furious gaze and saw – Uh-oh – Maya the new girl walking briskly down the street in front of the school, heading in the direction of Lincoln Vale.
Ivy started forwards.
‘Hang on.’ Sophia’s own eyes narrowed as she pulled Ivy back. ‘Before you go chasing after her . . . do you see what’s up ahead?’ She pointed at a sign a block ahead of Maya, so far away that Olivia could barely make it out. Neither of the two vampires seemed to have any difficulty reading the far-off words, though. ‘That’s where Franklin Grove becomes Lincoln Vale – the point where we are no longer in our hometown.’ Sophia emphasised the last words solemnly, crossing her arms. ‘Do you remember all the misadventures we’ve already had in Lincoln Vale this month?’
Ivy grimaced, stepping away from Olivia. ‘How could I forget? Skate park disasters . . . the mall where you got that skater-girl haircut –’
‘Which turned out surprisingly well,’ Sophia pointed out, fluffing her black-and-blonde hair.
‘It’s true,’ Olivia reassured her. ‘You look really striking.’
But Ivy’s face was grimmer than ever as she glared after Maya. ‘If you guys are too scared to go to Lincoln Vale, it’s fine,’ she said. ‘I’ll just go it alone.’
‘Ivy . . .’ Olivia began.
Her twin jerked around to scowl at her. ‘Look, this isn’t just a potential disaster with my boyfriend. It’s also the most mysterious, well, mystery I’ve been able to investigate in ages! I can’t back down now!’
Olivia gently placed a hand on Ivy’s shoulder. ‘This isn’t “investigating”,’ she said. ‘You’re thinking about stalking a stranger. That’s pretty much “spying”.’
‘Cool,’ Sophia said, then gasped as she realised she wasn’t helping.
Ivy didn’t seem to notice. ‘If I have to spy, I will spy,’ she insisted. ‘I need to get to the bottom of this.’
Olivia sighed. There was no talking to Ivy when she was in this mood, but maybe if Olivia went along she could keep things from escalating too badly. She gave her twin’s shoulder a squeeze. ‘Of course I won’t let you go it alone. We’ll be spies together, investigating the Curious Case of the Not-a-Student!’
‘More like, the Bafflement of the Boyfriend Brendan,’ Ivy grumbled. But her lips twitched into half a smile. ‘So, you guys are in?’
Olivia linked arms with her twin. ‘If you’re determined to do something crazy then we’ll be crazy with you. Just like always!’
But even as the three girls formed a chain of linked arms, Olivia had to admit to herself that it felt more than a little bit weird to march down the street, away from Franklin Grove . . . And away from their school bus, which was now leaving the bus stop.
Sophia groaned. ‘It’s going to take us ages to walk home from Lincoln Vale.’
‘I don’t care if I have to walk for hours.’ Ivy’s stony gaze was fixed on Maya’s distant figure. ‘There’s something garlicky going on here, and I need to find out what it is.’
‘Um . . . Ivy?’ Olivia began tentatively. ‘Have you considered asking Brendan directly? It might be easier –’
‘– than stalking Maya, or whatever her real name is, down the street,’ Sophia finished for her. ‘And have you even considered how we’re going to explain to our parents why we didn’t come home on the school bus today?’
But Ivy didn’t answer. Instead, pulling free of the other two girls’ arms, she sped up, passing the ‘Welcome to Lincoln Vale’ sign without a moment’s hesitation.
Olivia shared a worried look with Sophia. She could see the same fear in her friend’s eyes that she felt herself. If Ivy caught up with Maya in this mood, the results could be disastrous.
I can’t let that happen. Taking a deep breath, Olivia hurried to catch up with her twin.
Together, they turned a corner and stepped into a small cul-de-sac of large white houses. Every car parked in a driveway was gleamingly clean and new, and the pets in the fenced front yards all looked like very well-behaved purebreds.
‘This place is too perfect,’ Sophia muttered.
‘Pick up the pace!’ Ivy hissed. She pointed ahead to where Maya was slipping through a narrow walkway between two houses. ‘We can’t lose her now.’
Sophia followed Ivy, while Olivia hurried after them.
Funny how none of the dogs have been barking, Olivia realised, as she looked at all the pets staring as they passed. Most of the dogs hunkered down submissively as Ivy and Sophia walked by.
‘I guess they know vampires when they see them,’ she mumbled to Ivy and Sophia. Huh. There was something about that realisation that niggled at her . . . but she didn’t have time to puzzle it out now. It was everything she could do just to keep up with the two vampires ahead of her. The walkway emerged on to a vast town square, dominated at the far end by the massive, glass-walled Lincoln Vale Mall. As Olivia watched, Maya walked straight through the wide front doors.
Squaring her shoulders, Ivy headed for the mall.