No. Ivy shook that thought away. Olivia would never betray Ivy and their bio-dad – not to mention their other friends. She waited and waited, her foot jiggling.
I can’t take it any more !
‘Right, that’s it. I’m taking things into my own hands,’ Ivy announced, and took the netbook from her twin. ‘If any fool can post a ridiculous tip about flushing out vampires, so can I.’
‘Uh-oh!’ Olivia gasped. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Making that blogger’s day.’ Ivy grinned as she set up an instant message session with the blogger, via a link in the blog’s sidebar. ‘Let’s see, I’ll call myself . . . how about Van Helsing? Or Dracula-Hunter?’
‘How about “insane”?’ Olivia suggested.
Then both girls jumped as the screen beeped. The blogger had responded to Ivy’s message.
Excitement shot through Ivy’s veins as she hunched over the netbook. ‘Franklin Grove isn’t the first town I’ve visited with vampires,’ she typed. ‘But I’ve already found out something astonishing about the local vampire community.’
The blogger’s response was immediate: ‘Share your info, Dracula-Hunter !’
‘Sis . . .’ Olivia began warningly.
Ivy ignored her. ‘It’s too private to share online,’ she typed. ‘But if you meet me at the Franklin Grove graveyard tonight, I’ll tell you everything in person.’
‘Ivy!’ Olivia yelped.
The blogger had already responded: ‘I’ll see you there at midnight.’
Ivy glanced across the mall at Holly. She was smiling, as though she had just learned a new secret. Bingo. Ivy closed down the instant messenger, feeling smug. Across the mall, she glimpsed Holly standing up from her computer. ‘Am I good, or what?’ she asked Olivia. If this doesn’t flush Holly out, nothing will.
‘You can’t do that!’ Olivia shook her head frantically, although she had no idea Ivy had just set a date with Holly. ‘Ivy, you could be putting yourself in serious danger. This person really does not like vampires, remember?’
‘Who do you think this person is?’ Ivy challenged.
Olivia’s glance fell to the floor, and Ivy grimaced. All right, then. I’ll have to do it the hard way.
She folded her arms. ‘This blogger’s nothing more than a bully, and I’m tired of letting her – or him – intimidate everyone in town. I want to flush this person out – whoever it is.’
‘But for all you know, the blogger could actually try to hurt you. Didn’t you read some of those tips?’
‘Do you really think –’ Ivy snorted, but she stopped herself just in time. She’d been about to ask Olivia if she really thought Holly was capable of hurting her. But it was clear that Olivia wasn’t ready to admit the truth about the blogger’s identity. Ivy would just have to put Holly in the picture once and for all – tonight in the Franklin Grove graveyard! ‘I’m not about to let some bunny with a blog hurt me. No, I’m going to meet her – or him – tonight, no matter what. Are you in or out?’
Olivia shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, Ivy, but no way am I in. It’s just too dangerous.’
‘Oh, come on,’ Ivy began. ‘If we have a real chance of exposing the blogger, what does a bit of danger matter?’
Olivia swallowed hard. ‘I’m sorry, Ivy. It’s not worth it.’
‘Not worth it?’ Ivy got stiffly to her feet, shaking out her baggy black sweatpants. ‘Don’t you even care that the entire vampire community is at risk? Or is that just one more thing that changed for you while I was gone?’
‘Ivy . . .’ Olivia began, looking down at her hands.
‘Forget it,’ Ivy said. Hurt clogged her throat as she stepped away from the table. ‘Obviously you’ve changed too.’
As she stalked past on her way out of the mall, her furious glare landed on Holly, who was leaving the Internet café. That girl !
Ivy had always loved Olivia’s good and open nature. But now it felt as though her sister’s willingness to believe the best of people had brought a genuinely dangerous person into the vampire community’s path.
She pushed her way through the crowd of VITs and finally burst through the front door of the mall, sucking in deep breaths of non-garlic-tainted air.
Focus, she told herself. Her stomach might be roiling with hurt and anger and confusion, but she knew one thing for sure.
She couldn’t throw any accusations or theories around until she had absolute proof that she was right, and the only way to get that proof was to attend tonight’s meeting in the graveyard – no matter how dangerous it might be. Her relationship with Olivia – the most important in her life – might just depend on it.
An hour later, Olivia sat alone at the Meat and Greet, feeling not just lonely but exposed in her booth by the window. For once, the restaurant was almost completely empty. The only other customers there were a few regular humans, who looked baffled by the deserted booths surrounding them. Olivia knew the local vamps were staying away because of the blog. Too many pale-faced people in a meat-lover’s restaurant – wearing dark clothes and eating very rare burgers – would definitely look suspicious. But she felt bad for the staff here, who looked nervous and unsettled by the sudden lack of business.
But then, Olivia thought, when haven’t I felt bad lately ? In fact, she realised that right now she felt completely miserable. Not only was the atmosphere in Franklin Grove crackling with tension, but she and Ivy hadn’t stopped bickering ever since Ivy had returned from Transylvania.