As Ivy’s father drove up their driveway, Ivy glanced at the clock on the dashboard: 7:05 P.M. I hope people have actually shown up, she thought nervously. And I hope my dad won’t be mad at me for inviting so many people to our house!
Once they’d parked, her father went around and opened the trunk, which was filled with shopping bags. “Well,” he said, “I should think you now have everything you need for Europe.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Ivy said. He looped his arms with shopping bags and climbed the front steps. Ivy hurried in front of him and said, “I’ll get it.”
She slowly opened the door for him, and he walked into the darkened foyer ahead of her. Suddenly, Ivy saw him tense, like something was wrong. “Ivy,” he said quickly, “is there something—”
“SURPRISE!” a chorus of voices shouted from the darkness, and Ivy’s dad was so startled he dropped all her bags.
The lights came on, revealing that the front foyer and first flight of the grand staircase were filled with guests. Olivia was perched on the end of one of the balustrades, with a party hat on her head.
Ivy’s father was speechless. He sputtered and stuttered, but couldn’t get anything out. Finally he turned around in shock. “Did you know this was happening?” he asked Ivy.
“It was my idea.” Ivy smiled. Her dad’s eyes softened, but before he could say anything else, the crowd descended on him, slapping his back and shaking his hand.
Ivy scanned the room. It seemed like every vampire in Franklin Grove had shown up—and then some! There was Mr. Grosvenor from the museum and Vincent the butcher and Dr. Pane Lee, their dentist. Georgia Huntingdon from Vamp had flown in specially for the occasion. Alice Bantam was there, wearing what looked like galoshes and a yellow and gray plastic bag. Even Miss Everling had made it! Ivy spotted Brendan, standing with his parents and Bethany on the other side of the room, and she waved to him. He gave her a big, proud thumbs-up. In return, she blew him a kiss. He caught it right on the neck.
Suddenly the crowd started calling, “Speech! Speech!” and Ivy joined in.
“Yes, yes,” her father said, raising his hands in the air. “Keep your fangs in.”
Everybody laughed.
“I would like to begin by thanking my beautiful daughter Ivy for planning this.” The room burst into applause, and Ivy couldn’t help beaming. “And I would like to thank all of you for coming,” her father continued. “But more than that, I would like to thank each and every one of you for welcoming me from the day I arrived in this town. Franklin Grove will always be my home. And I will always think of you, all of you, as my family.” His voice choked up. “It breaks my heart to leave you.”
People said, “Aw,” and cheered.
“Enjoy the party!” her father called.
Ivy noticed that, over on the balustrade, Olivia was clapping but her mouth was trembling between a smile and a frown.
Chapter 10
Olivia saw her sister making her way toward her through the crowd of guests. She hopped down from her perch and met her halfway. They shared a hug.
“The house looks drop-dead,” Ivy told her.
“I have to talk to you,” Olivia said seriously. She was about to go on, but she noticed their dad approaching. He came up behind Ivy and gave her a hug.
“I know how hard it has been for you to accept this move,” Mr. Vega said. “It makes me all the more grateful that you went to all this trouble.”
“Olivia helped, too,” Ivy said. “I couldn’t have done it without her.”
Mr. Vega took a tentative step toward Olivia. He took a deep breath and abruptly threw his arms around her. “Thank you, Olivia,” he said.
“Not so tight,” Olivia squeaked.
Her father released her at once. “Have I hurt you?” he asked in a panic.
“I’m fine,” she assured him. He’s so worried about harming me, she thought tenderly.
“Charles!” Georgia Huntingdon waved from where she was chatting with Mr. Grosvenor on a chaise longue in the corner. Their father smiled at the girls, his eyes sparkling, before heading off to mingle with more of his guests.
Olivia took her sister’s hand and led her through the crowd to the alcove off the front hall with the grand piano. Luckily, it was deserted.
“I found something while I was setting up,” Olivia whispered to her sister. “Our father’s journal from right after we were born.”
Ivy’s black-lined eyes searched Olivia’s face. “And?”
“And our mother died giving birth to us,” Olivia said. She could feel her heart beating in her chest.
Ivy squinted, like she was trying to see through a dense fog.
“Our dad thought that her body couldn’t cope with having vampire blood inside her,” Olivia explained.
Ivy’s knees buckled slightly, and she collapsed on the piano bench. She looked confused, but she didn’t say anything.
“That’s why he wanted to separate us,” Olivia went on. “He thought the same thing would happen to me if I hung around vampires. He was worried I’d fall in love with one or something. I guess he still is. That’s why he feels you should both move away.”
“But that makes no sense.” Ivy shook her head. “It’s not as if you’re getting a blood transfusion. We just want to be sisters. We just want to go to school together.”
“I know that,” Olivia said. “But he’s the one we have to convince.”
Ivy stood up, her eyes clear. “Let’s do it now,” she said. “I can’t pretend to be having fun when all this has come up from the grave.”