But there were other tips too close to the truth to be ignored.
Olivia’s voice was a bare thread of a whisper as she read the worst out loud: ‘Mix garlic paste in your ice-cream and make everyone sundaes – your vampire enemy will faint!’
‘Ouch.’ Ivy swallowed hard. ‘At least they’re not all spot-on. Check out this one – See who looks most ridiculous wearing fake tan – sure to be a vampire ! Honestly.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘There sure are some idiots out there.’
‘They’re not all idiots,’ Olivia said, scrolling down the list of suggestions. She was looking almost as pale as Ivy now. ‘Some of these could really work.’
‘Maybe,’ said Ivy, ‘but Holly has done us a favour by leading us here. Just look – the vampire-blogger wants all these tips for an exposé they’re planning tonight. This means the blogger is in Franklin Grove mall right this minute.’
‘Really?’ Olivia’s mouth dropped open. ‘How do you know that?’
Ivy couldn’t stop herself from grinning as she pointed at the corner of the screen. ‘Look here, silly.’
‘Oh.’ Olivia flushed. ‘A “Where Am I?” app . . .’
‘ . . . Showing us all exactly where they are on an interactive map,’ Ivy finished with satisfaction. ‘And the blogger is in the mall right now!’
Sitting back, Ivy watched as Olivia took a deep breath, staring at the screen with a horrified expression. Finally, Ivy thought. Was the penny dropping for Olivia? The blogger was in the mall and Holly was online – how much more obvious could it be?
As the silence stretched out, Ivy frowned. If Olivia had finally caught on, why wasn’t she saying anything? She couldn’t actually be trying to protect Holly, could she? A chill crept through Ivy at the thought. Would Olivia really choose this girl over the safety of her own family?
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.