Читать книгу Fangs for the Memories - Sienna Mercer - Страница 9

Uh-oh. Ivy Vega slumped lower in her seat at the Meat and Greet as she heard a familiar voice nearby.

‘Of course I remembered to ask for organic milk with your coffee, Tara!’ Alex Shepard, a senior at Franklin Grove High, smiled sweetly at his date . . . but his fingers were drumming a telltale beat against their table.

That’s such a giveaway. Ivy winced. She couldn’t count how many times she’d spotted an obvious lie in the last few days. Had everyone in Franklin Grove suddenly become allergic to the truth?

Nope. Not quite everyone. Ivy relaxed as she looked back at her identical twin sister, who sat across from her in a fluffy pink sweater and silver skirt, unhappily chopping a tofu burger into tinier and tinier pieces.

‘Hey,’ Ivy said. ‘Are you actually going to eat that? Or are you just planning to turn it into crumbs for your new friend?’ She pointed at the papier-mâché skeleton that was draped over the diner bench behind Olivia, with its skull almost propped on her shoulder.

‘What?’ Olivia blinked, seemingly noticing the leftover Halloween decoration for the first time. Normally it would have grossed her out completely, but now she just sighed. ‘Shouldn’t that have been taken down by now?’

‘It has been almost a week since Halloween,’ Ivy agreed.

Olivia’s shoulders hunched. ‘I know. And tomorrow . . .’ Her green eyes filled with despair. ‘Oh, Ivy. What am I going to do?’

Ivy reached across the table to take Olivia’s hand, sympathy welling up inside her.

Tomorrow was the day that Jackson Caulfield, Hollywood megastar, was due to arrive in Franklin Grove – and since he was Olivia’s boyfriend, that would normally be a cause for celebration. But this was to be no ordinary visit . . . not after what had happened at Halloween.

Jackson had been a crucial part of the twins’ plan to chase away Gregor Gleka, TV’s infamous ‘Ghost Grabber’, from their hometown. But Jackson was too smart not to wonder why they’d been so worried about Gleka’s visit in the first place . . . He knew there was something fishy going on and had sent Olivia an email soon afterwards to ask her for an explanation. Ivy watched as her twin scrolled through Jackson’s message on her phone for, like, the nineteenth time that day. By now, even Ivy knew it by heart:

PS: I won’t ask you to do this by email, but next time I see you, I hope you’ll be ready to fill me in on all the weirdness that was going on last week. I really want to understand it. XXX

‘Do you think you can put him off again?’ Ivy asked. ‘Maybe if you say that a few of Gleka’s fans are still hanging around . . .’

‘I can’t just keep putting him off forever.’ Olivia squeezed Ivy’s hand tightly in hers. ‘But if I don’t . . .’ She dropped her voice to a whisper. ‘I’ll have to tell him the Blood Secret.’

It was the secret that Olivia herself had solemnly sworn to protect: that vampires were real and lived among humans.

And Ivy was one of them.

‘If you tell him,’ Ivy whispered back, ‘you know he’ll have to go through . . .’ She slid her glance around the busy diner and chose her words carefully. ‘. . . a certain . . . process.’

She and Olivia gave identical shudders, and Ivy knew they were both remembering the Three Tests that Olivia had been forced to go through last year – to prove that, even though she was a human, she could be trusted to keep the vampires’ secret.

‘I’m sure . . .’ Olivia paused, biting her lip. ‘I think I’m sure Jackson could handle it. But I don’t even know how to start that process.’

The papier-mâché skull shifted as someone moved further down the row of booths, until it seemed to be peering down at Olivia with hollow-eyed interest. Ivy reached out and pushed it away. ‘Look,’ she said quietly to her twin, ‘you’re going to have to take this to Dad. He’ll know what to do.’

Olivia blinked rapidly, looking close to tears. ‘He’s going to be so angry at me!’

‘Oh, Olivia.’ Ivy let go of her twin’s hand for just long enough to wriggle off her seat and hurry around the table. Sitting down next to Olivia, she wrapped one arm around her sister’s shoulders. ‘Don’t worry,’ she said. ‘You must know Dad well enough by now to know that he won’t blame you for this. He fell in love with a human, too, remember?’ She tipped her head against her human sister’s as she thought of the mom they’d never known. ‘I don’t know exactly how he’ll react when he finds out about this,’ she said honestly, ‘but no matter what, he won’t be angry. I promise.’

‘I guess . . .’ Olivia’s shoulders rose and fell. ‘But what if he demands that I stop seeing Jackson? I don’t know if I can do that.’

‘Let’s not jump ahead of ourselves,’ Ivy told her. ‘We’re just going to get some advice, for now. Right?’

‘Right.’ Olivia leaned back and closed her eyes.

Ivy’s chest clenched when she saw the look on her twin’s face. ‘You want to tell Jackson, no matter what,’ Ivy said. ‘Don’t you?’

Olivia opened her eyes and sat forwards again. ‘I really do.’ She picked up her fork as if she were finally going to eat, only to let it drop to the table straight away. ‘But Ivy, even if Jackson can get his head around the Blood Secret . . . do you think he’d ever forgive me for lying to him about it for almost a year?’ She looked miserable. ‘He might break up with me.’

‘Because you’re being loyal to your family?’ Ivy scowled. ‘If he can’t understand why you kept our secret, then he’s not right for you.’

And that’s no lie, Ivy thought.

Half an hour later Olivia was standing with Ivy outside their bio-dad’s house on Undertaker Hill, shivering in the cold November wind. But it wasn’t only the snow-kissed air that was sending chills through her. The big mansion at the top of Undertaker Hill had never seemed so big, so ominous, and so downright scary before.

Come on, Olivia coached herself. This is no time to be a coward!

Ivy put a reassuring arm around her. ‘It’s going to be OK. I promise.’

‘Right.’ Olivia took a deep breath. I can do this!

Squaring her shoulders, she followed Ivy through the front door and down the strangely quiet front hallway. All that Olivia could hear were the creaks and sighs of the old house’s walls, with no one in sight, until Ivy pushed open the door to the kitchen.

‘Hi, guys!’ Their stepmom stood at the kitchen counter, smiling cheerfully as she lifted one hand to wave at the twins . . . with red, gooey liquid dripping from her fingers.

‘Oh, ew . . . gross!’ Olivia’s head spun as she stumbled to a halt. ‘Is that blood? ’

‘What?’ Lillian blinked, then looked down at her crimson hands. ‘Oh!’ She laughed and grabbed a paper towel to wipe off her fingers. ‘Don’t worry! I’m just making raspberry jam. I’ve been trying out cake recipes for the big charity bake sale at Café Creative. Remember? You guys promised to give me your opinions today.’

‘Oh . . . sure! Of course.’ Olivia tried to sound like her usual perky self, even though she was feeling so sick with nerves that she got a little queasy at the thought of scarfing down any sugary treats – especially blood-coloured ones! But a promise was a promise, so she forced herself to nod, even as she braced herself for something that she wanted even less. ‘Is . . . is Dad around?’

‘I’m right here.’ Charles spoke just behind her, and Olivia jumped. He stood in the kitchen doorway, looking as elegant and formal as usual in a well-tailored black suit and tie. But as she spun around to face him, his eyebrows lowered into a concerned frown. ‘Olivia, what’s wrong?’

‘I . . .’ She swallowed hard. She knew she had to tell him the truth. She knew it! But now that the moment had actually come her chest felt so tight she didn’t know how she could ever squeeze out the words.

Charles nodded gravely, his eyes fixed on her face. ‘I can see that there’s something you need to talk about.’

What is it, sweetheart?’ Lillian’s voice was warm.

‘I think . . .’ Olivia forced out a thin whisper. ‘I think, maybe, you two should sit down for this.’

‘All right.’ Charles nodded to Ivy, who was hovering by the kitchen door and looking worried. ‘I can tell that this is serious.’ He sat down next to Lillian at the breakfast bar and patted the tall chair beside him for Olivia. Obediently, she sat down . . . but when she opened her mouth, nothing came out.

I can’t do it. Shivers rippled up and down her body as she looked at her bio-dad’s expectant face.

It had taken her so long to finally meet him – and even longer to really get to know him. Now that she did, his opinion, and his respect, had come to mean so much to her. How was he going to feel when he found out that she wanted to reveal his most important secret to a human outsider?

And what would he think of her?

‘Olivia.’ Charles gave her a slight smile, as if saying that whatever she wanted to tell him was going to be fine.

Ivy stepped up behind her and set her hand on Olivia’s arm. Lillian’s expression was full of concern.

Surrounded by her vamp family, Olivia closed her eyes and nodded to herself. Time to tell them everything. ‘So, you know how freaked out the whole vamp community got when Gregor Gleka came to town?’

‘Mm-hmm.’ Charles nodded, his expression unreadable.

Olivia waited hopefully . . . but he didn’t speak again. Why can’t he just figure it out from that? she thought miserably. It would be so much easier if he just put the pieces together so she didn’t have to say it out loud . . .

But if he had figured it out, he didn’t give it away with so much as a blink, so she forced herself onwards. ‘And . . . you know how we got Jackson to come in and distract everyone?’

‘Yes.’ Charles nodded again. ‘He used his “Chatter” account, too, didn’t he?’

Behind Olivia, Ivy gave a muffled snort. ‘You mean “Twitte”, Dad.’

Charles shrugged. ‘Whatever you call it,’ he said, ‘Jackson spreading the word about Gleka’s “hoax” certainly helped convince the world that there was nothing of supernatural interest in Franklin Grove – no ghosts, and no vampires. He did us a huge favour, without even knowing it.’

‘Well . . .’ Olivia gripped the counter of the breakfast bar with both hands. ‘He may have helped us to fool everyone else . . . but he’s finally figured out for himself that there is something very strange about this town . . .’ Her voice rose to a near-squeak: ‘And he wants to know what it is!’

She snapped her mouth shut, bracing for her bio-dad’s reaction.

‘Hmm.’ Charles traded a long glance with Lillian. When he finally turned back to Olivia, his voice was quiet and controlled. ‘You don’t want to lie to him any more, do you?’

‘No,’ Olivia admitted. ‘I really don’t. But . . .’ Her fingers tightened around the counter. If only she could read his expression! She couldn’t even tell whether he was angry or not. ‘More than anything else,’ she went on, ‘I really, really don’t want to put you guys at risk! I just don’t know what to do.’

‘You’ll need to think long and hard about telling Jackson the truth,’ Charles told her. ‘Even I don’t know what the rules are about a human revealing the Blood Secret to another human. When I married your mother, Susannah and I went into hiding rather than try to go through the Three Tests ourselves. But that’s not an option for you.’

‘No,’ Olivia agreed softly. As the lead actress in one of the biggest upcoming movies in the world – and the girlfriend of Hollywood’s biggest teen movie star – invisibility was not an option for her.

Charles drummed his fingers on the breakfast bar, lips pursed as he thought things through. ‘I’ll do some research into the matter,’ he said. ‘But now, I believe we have no choice but to bring this to the attention of the Vampire Round Table. I can’t tell you what they’ll say about it, because I’ve never been in this situation before.’

‘But they did let you guys tell me the truth,’ Olivia said hopefully.

‘Yes, but you were told the secret by your vampire sister and father,’ Lillian said gently. ‘This time it would be a human vouching for Jackson, not a vampire.’

‘And . . .’ Charles winced. ‘. . . I’m afraid they won’t like that at all.’

His expression turned grim as he looked back at Olivia. ‘Even if you are granted permission, you know that Jackson will still have to undergo the Three Tests required of non-vampires, to prove to the Vampire Round Table that he can be trusted.’

‘And if he fails,’ Lillian added softly, ‘he’ll have his memory erased. You do understand that, don’t you?’

How could I not? Olivia asked herself, remembering the threat of the memory-erasing concoction ‘offered’ by the Round Table. It had looked so much like a strawberry smoothie that, ever since, she had always been a little bit wary whenever she ordered one in Mister Smoothie’s.

Charles leaned forwards, the most seriously serious look on his face. ‘All traces of you, and even of Franklin Grove, will be deleted from his memory. That means, as far as Jackson is concerned, you will never have been a couple at all.’

Olivia’s stomach clenched. Everything she and Jackson had shared over the last year flashed through her mind. The kisses, the fun, the adventure, the warmth . . .

Even just working together on the two movies they’d made had been some of the best times of her entire . . . ‘Wait!’ she said. ‘Can the vampires really erase The Groves and Eternal Sunset from existence?’ She shook her head in confusion. ‘Would they have to erase the memories of everyone who saw them, too? That’s, like, millions of people! What are they going to do, confiscate all the DVDs of The Groves and then dump them?’

‘Um . . .’ Ivy began.

But Olivia was too panicked to slow down. ‘I can’t believe it!’ she said. ‘Not only could the vamps completely erase my relationship, they could also damage the whole environment !’ She gestured so wildly, she nearly fell off the chair. ‘Who knew that me having a boyfriend could hurt the whole world ?’

‘Olivia!’ Ivy’s hands grabbed her arms, breaking through her daze. ‘Calm down! You’re having a panic attack!’

Oops. Olivia forced herself to take a deep breath as she saw the wide-eyed way her whole vamp family was staring at her.

‘Sorry,’ she mumbled. ‘I guess I . . . kind of freaked out, didn’t I?’

‘That’s OK,’ Lillian said. ‘We understand. Just try to relax.’

‘But you’re right about the problem presented by your movies,’ Charles said, staring at the wall as if thinking hard. ‘I admit, I hadn’t thought about that part. Perhaps we’d better reach out to the VRT and ask all of these questions before we even begin to think about how to present any of this to Jackson.’ He looked back to Olivia, still seriously serious. ‘At the moment, all we can do is keep the VRT fully informed . . . for everyone’s sake.’

‘Right.’ Olivia should have been worried by her father’s straight face and grave tone, but she was actually starting to calm down. If Charles and Lillian weren’t freaking out, then there was no reason for her to. She slipped off her stool. ‘We’ll play this by the book and we’ll totally fix everything,’ she said. Then she shrugged. ‘Just as soon as we figure out exactly what we’re going to do.’

‘Yes.’ Rising to his feet, Charles wrapped his arms around Olivia in a warm and uncharacteristic hug. ‘Everything’s going to be fine.’ His breath ruffled her hair. ‘You’ve done the right thing in being honest, and I’m proud of you.’

‘Thanks, Dad.’ Olivia felt her muscles start to relax as she leaned into his hug . . . but then she looked over his shoulder and saw the concerned expression on Lillian’s face.

Of course, she realised. I may be playing by the vampires’ rules . . . but that still doesn’t mean that Jackson is safe.