Fangtastic! Read online

  Fangtastic!

  My Sister the Vampire – Book 2

  By Sienna Mercer

  Chapter 1

  Ivy Vega trudged sleepily into the breakfast room, slid into her chair, and rested her cheek on the cool stone table. She wished she was still in her coffin. Monday mornings were the worst.

  “Good morning, sleepy bones,” her father said, placing a bowl next to her head.

  “Shh,” Ivy murmured, her eyes closed. “I’m still sleeping.”

  “It’s your favorite,” her dad coaxed. “Marshmallow Platelets.”

  Ivy peered at the little white marshmallows and maroon bits bobbing in their milky sea. “Thanks,” she mumbled.

  Her father, already dressed for work in black chinos and a black pin-striped shirt with French cuffs, sipped his tea and picked up the remote control. “There is nothing better for a young person’s dull morning mind,” he said, “than dull morning television.”

  He flipped through the weather and some talk shows before settling on The Morning Star.

  “Please no,” Ivy said. “Just looking at Serena Star’s smile gives me sunburn.”

  Serena Star, WowTV’s best celebrity reporter, had impossibly bright, bleached blond hair and eyes that looked as if they’d been surgically enhanced to be permanently wide open in either adoration or shock. Lately she’d been trying to cast herself as a serious journalist on her own morning news show, The Morning Star. Just the other day, Ivy had turned the TV off in exasperation after Serena had said, “Tell me, Mr. Senator, how does it feel to have a law named after you?”

  This morning, Serena Star was standing with her back to a small crowd of people, talking into her microphone. She was wearing a tiny blue suede miniskirt under a knee-length trench coat, and the look in her wide eyes said “shock!” She was in a park or maybe a graveyard. A scruffy, black-clad teenager stood beside her—

  Ivy’s dad flipped the channel.

  “Turn back!” Ivy blurted.

  “But you said—”

  “I know. Turn back!” she repeated.

  Ivy could not believe her eyes. The boy standing next to Serena Star was none other than Garrick Stephens, one of the lamest vampires at her school. He and his bonehead friends—everyone called them the Beasts—were always pulling dumb stunts, like seeing which one of them could eat the most garlic croutons without getting seriously ill. They weren’t nearly as scary as they smelled, but they’d been annoying since forever.

  What is he doing on national TV? Ivy wondered.

  “I think that’s the local cemetery,” her dad said.

  Ivy realized he was right—this was being filmed less than five blocks from their house.

  The camera panned over to an empty grave, and Ivy’s dad turned up the volume.

  “...yesterday’s small-town funeral went horribly wrong,” Serena Star was saying off screen. “Local deceased man, Mr. Alan Koontz, was scheduled for burial here at the Franklin Grove Memorial Cemetery. As Mr. Koontz was being lowered into the ground, eyewitnesses say that his casket creaked open.” The camera zoomed in on a shiny midnight-blue coffin lying open next to the grave. “In a bizarre turn of events, out climbed an allegedly live person!” Serena continued. “Mr. Koontz’s widow immediately fainted and was rushed to Franklin Grove General Hospital for treatment.”

  Serena Star’s frowning face reappeared on the screen. “Friends of the family say that the person who emerged bore no resemblance to Mr. Koontz and was, in fact, a teenage boy.” The camera pulled back to reveal Garrick, who was licking his palm and then using it to slick back his hair.

  Ivy was frowning now, too; Garrick and his friends didn’t know the meaning of the word “discreet.” They probably couldn’t even spell it. Ever since they were little kids, Ivy had always been amazed at how close the Beasts routinely came to breaking the First Law of the Night: vampires are never supposed to reveal their true selves to an outsider.

  Thinking about that made Ivy feel uncomfortable. After all, she’d recently broken the First Law herself. She’d had no choice, though: she couldn’t possibly keep the fact that she was a vampire secret from her identical twin, Olivia, even if Olivia was human.

  She and Olivia had only discovered each other at the beginning of the school year. They’d been separated at birth and adopted by different parents, so Ivy hadn’t known that she had a twin until Olivia turned up at Franklin Grove Middle School. And it had been just as great a shock to Olivia.

  I may have broken the First Law, but at least I didn’t reveal myself to the whole world on national TV! Ivy thought.

  Serena Star looked squarely at the camera. “I, Serena Star, now bring you an exclusive interview with the thirteen-year-old boy who was almost buried alive. I think you’ll agree it’s a story that’s truly . . . INDEADIBLE!” A graphic with the word “INDEADIBLE!” materialized on the screen over Garrick’s head, and Ivy rolled her eyes. Serena was always making up lame words for her on-screen headlines.

  “Awesome!” Garrick Stephens grinned.

  Ivy’s head ached. How in the underworld, she thought, are we going to cover up a vampire popping out of a coffin in the middle of a funeral?

  “Mr. Stephens.” Serena Star turned to face her subject. “How do you feel?”

  “I feel great!” Garrick said.

  “Amazing!” Serena commented, with a slight frown. She had clearly been expecting Garrick to be upset. “How long were you in that coffin?”

  “Like seven, eight hours.”

  “That must have been very unsettling,” Serena Star prompted sympathetically.

  “Only when those pallbearer guys carried it around and woke me up,” Garrick said, shooting a peeved look off camera.

  “Are you saying you were asleep in there?” asked Serena Star, her wide eyes widening even further.

  “Yeah,” Garrick answered. “I slept like I was dead.”

  Ivy winced as Serena Star shook her head in disbelief. “You almost sound like you enjoyed yourself.”

  Garrick shrugged.

  “Mr. Stephens,” Serena Star said, a hint of disapproval in her voice, “what kind of person sleeps in a coffin?”

  “It wasn’t my idea.” Garrick shrugged.

  “Oh?” said Serena Star. “Whose idea was it?”

  Garrick was about to answer, but then he seemed to think better of it. He crossed his arms. “I don’t want to get them into trouble.”

  “Are you saying the people who did this to you are friends of yours?” Serena Star asked.

  “Totally,” Garrick replied, grinning.

  “You mean—”

  “We’re the kings of Franklin Grove Middle School!” Garrick cried, mugging wildly. “Yo, Kyle, Ricky, Dylan! I’m on TV!”

  What an utter dork! thought Ivy.

  “What exactly did your friends have in mind?” Serena Star probed.

  “They dared me to climb in,” Garrick explained, his eyes glinting mischievously. “That’s why I did it.”

  Ivy could tell Garrick was lying from the smug look on his face. He was just pretending it was a dare to avoid revealing any vampire secrets—like the fact that they slept in coffins. Still, it was a pretty lame alibi, especially because he kept going on about how it was “the best sleep” of his life.

  “The Interna 3 is the sweetest coffin ever,” he gushed, grabbing the microphone. “When they say ‘rest in peace,’ they mean it!”

  “Mr. Stephens, please,” Serena interrupted. “That still doesn’t explain how you ended up at Mr. Koontz’s funeral.”

  “Oh, right. My friends just sort of thought it would be funny to leave me in there—thanks a lot guys!” Garrick winked. “Then the funeral home got the coffins mixed up. Did you know the Interna 3 is the best-selling coffin in America?”

  Serena Star yanked the microphone away. “Are we to believe that this was really just an innocent student prank?” she said to Garrick, who shrugged again.

  “Or,” she continued, turning slowly to the camera, “is there something more sinister at work?”

  Uh-oh. Ivy thought. Serena Star smells blood. “Clearly, a gruesome obsession with death,” Serena went on as the camera zoomed in for a close-up of her shocked face, “nearly cost this misguided young misfit his life!”

  “Who are you calling misguided?” Garrick’s voice whined off-screen.

  “And he isn’t alone,” Serena said, ignoring Garrick. “One look around this sleepy town reveals a dark obsession consuming the minds of its children.” The live feed cut briefly to footage of the mall, showing a group of Goth sixth-graders.

  “Are the youth of America next?” Serena asked ominously, as she reappeared on-screen. Then she frowned with determination. “I, Serena Star, will not rest until I find out the evil truth behind what’s happening here.”

  Oh no, Ivy thought. She’s going to say that line of hers.

  “Because the Star of truth must shine!” Serena Star declared dramatically, pumping her microphone in the air. It really was the worst journalistic sign-off Ivy had ever heard. “This is Serena Star. Wake up, America!”

  A commercial came on, and Ivy’s dad shut off the TV. “You must promise me,” he said, “that if you are ever on television, you will make a better impression than that boy Garrick Stephens.”

  “It’s not funny, Dad,” Ivy said. “If Serena Star starts seriously investigating Goths in Franklin Grove, you know what she might find. What if she scoops the existence of vampires? None of us will ever be safe again!”

  Her father put down his tea. “Ivy,
” he said, “we are talking about a woman best known for her special exposé on the footwear of the rich and famous! I very much doubt she’s capable of finding any real proof. Besides, the moment there’s a new bit of Hollywood gossip, Serena Star will forget all about Franklin Grove.”

  Ivy sighed. “I hope you’re right,” she said, standing up to take her empty bowl into the kitchen, “because if not, it’s going to be really hard to get Marshmallow Platelets around here.”

  As they pulled up in front of Franklin Grove Middle School on Monday morning, Olivia Abbott was applying her pink lipstick in the visor mirror when she heard her mother gasp. Olivia flipped up the visor to see the front steps of the school packed with people and a string of TV news vans lining the curb.

  “Wow!” said Olivia. Her mother double-parked and started to get out of the car.

  Olivia grabbed her mom’s arm. “Where are you going?”

  “I want to see what all the commotion’s about,” her mother replied.

  Olivia shook her head. “You can’t come with me into school.”

  “Why not?” her mother asked.

  “Because I’m in eighth grade,” Olivia explained.

  Olivia’s mom smiled and shook her head. “Well, okay,” she said with a sigh.

  “It’s not you,” Olivia assured her. “It’s all mothers. It’s like a rule. I’ll call you.” And, with that, Olivia pecked her mom on the cheek, climbed out of the car, and squeezed between two news vans.

  She started up the steps, trying not to trip on any of the TV crews’ electrical cords as she weaved through the people. Scanning the reporter-studded crowd, she spotted a flash of soft blond curls up ahead. “Camilla!” she called.

  Camilla Edmunson turned and waved. When Olivia joined her, Camilla said, “Can you believe this?”

  “What’s going on?” asked Olivia.

  “Everyone’s trying to get on TV,” Camilla answered. Nearby, Olivia saw Kyle Glass, one of the group of boys everyone called the Beasts, holding up two fingers to look like bunny ears behind an unsuspecting reporter’s head. The cameraman was waving frantically in an attempt to shoo him away.

  Olivia frowned. “Uh, did I miss a memo?”

  “You mean you haven’t heard?” Camilla asked incredulously. “Garrick Stephens popped out of a coffin in the middle of someone’s funeral yesterday. It was like when the villain Zolten escaped by hiding in a cryopod.”

  Olivia assumed her friend was referring to one of the sci-fi books she loved. Olivia herself had always been more into vampire fiction. In fact, when she’d moved to Franklin Grove, she’d thought that vampires were only fiction.

  Boy, had she been wrong. She still got dizzy when she stopped to think about the fact that Franklin Grove was teeming with living, breathing, blood-sipping vampires. Most of them, Garrick and his friends excluded, were really nice.

  None of the other humans in Franklin Grove had any inkling that their town was like Vamp Central, because that was the Number One Biggest Rule of Vampiredom: no telling. So popping out of a coffin during a funeral was probably off-limits.

  The only reason Olivia knew about the vampires was because of Ivy Vega, who she’d met on her first day at Franklin Grove Middle School. Olivia was pure cheerleader and Ivy was überGoth, so at first they had seemed as different as black licorice and cotton candy. But it hadn’t taken long for Olivia and Ivy to realize that they looked exactly alike.

  In fact—and this is where, Olivia thought, it gets really mind-blowing—they were identical twins. Identical that is, except for one thing: Ivy was a vampire!

  “Anyway,” Camilla was saying, “the whole of America is now fascinated by Franklin Grove, and the media—especially Serena Star—is trying to turn Garrick into this huge story about the decline of America’s youth.”

  “No way.” Olivia’s jaw dropped. “Serena Star from WowTV? She’s totally famous!”

  Camilla nodded, but she clearly wasn’t as impressed. “She thinks we’re all hiding some terrible secret.”

  Olivia’s heart skipped a beat. “Like what?”

  “Who knows?” said Camilla. “It’s not like she’s going to find anything. Franklin Grove is probably the most normal town in America.”

  Olivia smiled uncomfortably. Camilla didn’t have a clue.

  I’d better find Ivy, Olivia thought, and see what she has to say about all this! “Wanna go in?” she asked.

  She and Camilla skirted the crowd on their way to the front doors of the school. Suddenly, Olivia heard a familiar high-pitched voice call out her name. She tried to ignore it and keep walking, but the voice shrieked even louder: “OLIVIA!”

  Olivia winced and told Camilla to go on without her. Then she reluctantly turned to see Charlotte Brown, her cheerleading captain, gesturing for Olivia to join her in a circle of cameras.

  Ever since Olivia had made the squad a few weeks ago, it was as if Charlotte had forgotten that she’d tried to sabotage Olivia at tryouts. In fact, Charlotte and her friends Katie and Allison all treated Olivia like she was their BFF. At least it keeps the squad cheering as a team, Olivia thought as she made her way over.

  “Tell them, Olivia!” Charlotte said, grabbing her arm and pulling her in front of the cameras. “You know—what it’s like as a new student here. How frightening it is with all the bad influences.”

  Olivia scrunched her nose. A camera flashed. “I, uh, don’t really—”

  A reporter in a rumpled suit stuck a microphone in front of Olivia’s face. “Have you ever slept in a coffin?”

  “No,” Olivia said incredulously.

  A woman holding a tape recorder asked, “Are you familiar with a street gang known as the Beasts?”

  Olivia shook her head. “I wouldn’t exactly call them—”

  A short, determined-looking woman in a tight, bright-orange suit muscled in between the others, her blond hair shining in the sun. Olivia gasped; it was Serena Star herself! She looked much shorter than she did on TV.

  “Have you ever,” Serena Star said, thrusting her microphone under Olivia’s chin, “felt threatened by everyone around you wearing black?”

  What a silly question! thought Olivia. “Since when is there anything wrong with wearing black?” she asked.

  Charlotte leaped in front of her. “Yes, Ms. Star, I totally have!” she cried, clearly overexcited to be talking to a celebrity reporter like Serena. “Once,” she said, flipping her hair dramatically, “I was in the girls’ bathroom, re-applying gloss, when two Goth girls came in. They were dressed from head to toe in black rags, and their nails were covered in black nail polish. And guess what they did. They growled at me!”

  “Growled at you?” Serena Star repeated.

  “Uh-huh.” Charlotte nodded seriously. “I was so scared I ran out without even doing my mascara!”

  “So you think it’s a problem,” Serena Star pressed, “that so many Franklin Grove students are obsessed with darkness?”

  “Totally!” Charlotte agreed. “Black is so last season.” She gestured toward Serena Star’s turquoise stiletto heels. “I absolutely love your shoes, by the way. Are they from Hollywood?”

  Olivia seized the opportunity to slip away, racing up the steps and through the school’s front doors. She had to talk to her twin about what was going on outside.

  From down the hall, she spotted Ivy standing by her locker with her new boyfriend, Brendan Daniels. Even Brendan had yet to notice that she and Ivy looked alike. “See you later, okay?” Olivia heard Brendan say.

  Ivy twirled the emerald ring on the chain around her neck. “Okay,” she cooed. Her sister was so smitten. Olivia thought it was super cute.

  As she waited for Ivy and Brendan to finish their good-byes, Olivia played with the ring on her finger. It was actually their matching emerald rings that had helped Ivy and Olivia recognize each other. The rings were all either of them had from their birth parents.

  Brendan walked by with a friendly “Hey, Olivia!” and Olivia scooted up to her sister.

  “Let me guess,” Olivia began. “You still haven’t told him about us.”

  “I swear I’ve tried,” Ivy answered, pulling off a sheer black sweater to reveal a gray baby T-shirt with an illustration of Edgar Allan Poe’s face on it. “But it never seems like the right moment to say, ‘Hey, by the way, I have a twin sister I never knew about’.”

  “Eventually,” said Olivia, “we’re going to have to tell everyone, including our parents.”