05 Take Two - My Sister the Vampire

by Sienna Mercer

  Jackson noticed them staring and gave a little wave to her and Sophia. What if he heard us talking about him with his super vamp hearing? Ivy thought. Hmm. I could test him.

  ‘Sophia,’ Ivy whispered as quietly as she could, keeping a close eye on Jackson. ‘I heard Jackson gets manicures.’ She was making it up, but she thought it might get a reaction if he overheard.

  ‘What are you talking about?’ Sophia asked, but Ivy was watching Jackson.

  Did he flinch? Ivy couldn’t be sure. But he kept his cool with the director, maybe he was using his acting skills to remain straight-faced?

  He continued to run through some lines with a stand-in. Ivy cursed the fact that vampires could blend in so easily – she couldn’t tell if he was or wasn’t just by looking at him. And she could hardly trail him until he went to the BloodMart – with his legions of fans, he would have iron-clad avoidance tactics.

  Sophia pushed a napkin over, with a little cartoon scribbled on it. There was an angry-looking man with a goatee shouting at a group of frightened stick figures. Ivy snorted when she saw an eager-looking stick person wearing a feathered dress.

  For the third time, the door swung open and a collective hush fell over the set. A girl a little older than Ivy paused in the doorway, looking every inch a movie star in dark jeans, an off-the-shoulder top and a large moon-shaped pendant necklace. An entourage of people with make-up, refreshments and cell phones waited nervously until she had finished surveying the room and stepped inside. Ivy saw two of the entourage breathe a sigh of relief, almost as if they’d been expecting something bad to happen.

  ‘So far so good,’ one of them whispered as they passed Ivy and Sophia’s table.

  ‘Jessica Phelps!’ Sophia whispered.

  People didn’t get more famous than Jessica and Jackson. They were at the tippy top of the A-list.

  ‘You know what this means,’ Sophia whispered. ‘We’re not just extras . . . we’re extras on the biggest movie of the year!’

  Jessica stepped in like she owned the room – and she probably could if she wanted to. She ignored everyone except for Philippe and Jackson, air-kissing them on both cheeks.

  ‘Your hair looks nice,’ Jackson said politely.

  Jessica smiled. ‘Thanks!’ She snuggled up to him like he was a teddy bear. Ivy thought she must be trying to stir up some chemistry for the camera, but Jackson just nodded and stepped away slightly.

  At least he doesn’t respond to every starlet that throws herself at him, Ivy thought approvingly.

  ‘Please, I would like you two to do a run-through before the cameras roll,’ Philippe instructed.

  ‘I was just going to suggest that,’ Jessica replied.

  Jackson and Jessica sat at the fake booth and began to do their lines.

  Sophia showed Ivy another napkin. This one had the goateed stick figure and a female stick figure with swirly hair wrestling to control a camera, while a third stick figure lounged back on a chair and watched. The figure with the long hair had Jessica’s necklace and the figure lounging in a chair had an ‘I Heart Olivia’ tattoo on his bicep. Ivy couldn’t help it; she burst out laughing in the middle of the rehearsal.

  Everyone stopped and stared.

  Jessica gasped.

  Philippe turned a bright pink. ‘What is this?’ he demanded, pointing at them. ‘Lillian! What has happened to my silent background artists? These are not silent!’

  Lillian came over, caught sight of Sophia’s cartoon, stifled a smile and crumpled it behind her back. ‘I’m so sorry, Philippe. I hadn’t cued them that you were rehearsing.’ Ivy felt awful for getting Lillian in trouble.

  ‘No more of that, merci!’ Philippe said. ‘We work!’

  Lillian nodded seriously but then turned away and rolled her eyes. She gave Sophia a wink to show she wasn’t mad.

  Jessica shot an annoyed glance right at Ivy. ‘No, we do not work.’

  ‘Pardon?’ said Philippe. Behind him, two of the film crew exchanged a glance, as if to say: Here we go again!

  Jessica sniffed. ‘I can’t work under these conditions. I have been dragged to this dump of a town where it’s cold and I can’t get a decent cup of coffee. Then, I suffer through three terrible hairdressers. And you can’t even afford good extras. Well, you can now, because I quit!’

  Everyone gasped and Jackson looked shocked.

  ‘You c-c-cannot,’ Philippe spluttered.

  ‘Clause 38, subsection C: unreasonable conditions,’ Jessica retorted.

  ‘Because of coffee?’ Philippe shouted, turning even pinker. ‘I will sue!’

  Jessica turned on her shiny Heather Carter heel. ‘My lawyers are much more expensive than yours.’

  Her entourage scurried after her and a deathly silence filled the diner.

  Charlotte hissed from the next booth over, ‘Great job at wrecking everything.’

  Ivy felt her mouth turn dry.

  Had she and Sophia just ruined the entire film?

  Chapter Six

  ‘What do you mean, shut down?’ Olivia asked Ivy. Her sister was coming down the steps from the diner into the parking lot, pulling on a warm coat.

  ‘I mean shut down – no female lead equals no filming,’ Ivy replied.

  Sophia nodded and shivered. Or shivered and nodded. It was so cold out that Olivia couldn’t tell which.

  It had barely been half an hour since she’d had the fruit cup with Jackson. Since she hadn’t found Ivy, she had decided to make her way to the diner to watch some scenes. But when she’d arrived, everyone was hurrying away.

  ‘What happened?’ Olivia asked. The girls stood off to the side as other crew members and actors milled around.

  ‘Jessica quit the movie,’ Ivy said.

  ‘Never to return,’ Sophia added.

  Olivia sneaked a peek through the diner windows and saw Jackson listening to his manager, who was shouting at someone sitting in a chair labelled ‘Director'. Jackson looked really annoyed.

  ‘Does this mean the movie is over?’ Olivia wondered. ‘Will Ja– everyone be leaving town?’

  ‘It might be for the best . . .’ Ivy said. Something across the parking lot had caught her attention. She craned her neck for a better look and then hurried over to the barriers.

  Olivia looked over and realised she was heading towards Brendan and his seven-year-old sister Bethany, who were waving at them from outside the barriers.

  As the girls approached, Bethany blurted out, ‘Did you get to meet Jackson?’ She looked adorable in her black puffy jacket and denim skirt with black leggings.

  ‘Hey, Brendan,’ Ivy said. ‘Hi, Bethany. Isn’t Jackson a bit bunny for you?’

  ‘Duh, Jackson is above all labels,’ Bethany replied, flipping her long black hair. ‘So did you meet him? Did you?’

  Olivia smiled. ‘I got to have lunch with him.’

  ‘Eeee!’ Bethany squealed, causing several people to jump. ‘Are you two going to be on TV together?’ she asked more quietly.

  Olivia laughed. ‘I don’t think so.’

  ‘What was he like?’ Bethany wanted to know.

  ‘Pretty normal,’ Olivia said, remembering their Count Vira conversation.

  ‘Sounds like you’ve been having fun,’ Brendan said. ‘But what about breakfast?’

  Right on cue, Ivy’s stomach let out a gurgle that a bog monster would envy. ‘I completely forgot. You went to the Juice Bar!’

  ‘And came right back here, waiting all day for my beautiful girlfriend with a now gravely cold Breakfast Bun.’ Brendan tried to look hurt, but his face was twitching into a smile, even as Ivy was apologising.

  ‘I’m just kidding.’ Brendan took a squashed wrapped sandwich from his bag and waggled it in the air. ‘When I couldn’t find you in the crowd, I went home to get Bethany and may have enjoyed the latest episode of Night of the Deadly Dead in the warm.’

  Ivy was almost drooling over the sandwich. Olivia laughed as Ivy leaned over the barrier, planted a quick kiss on Br
endan’s cheek and grabbed the packet from his hand. She devoured the bun in three big bites.

  Sophia raised one eyebrow. ‘Thanks for sharing.’

  ‘Oops,’ Ivy said, her mouth full of bacon and red sauce.

  ‘You can have my Count Cocoa Chew.’ Bethany held out a candy bar to Sophia, but pulled it away as soon as Sophia reached for it. ‘If you get me inside.’

  Olivia felt bad. ‘But the movie has . . . uh . . . paused for a minute. They’ve asked everyone to leave.’

  ‘OK, then,’ Bethany said. ‘Just promise to try to get me something that Jackson has touched.’

  ‘I promise,’ Sophia replied, ‘to get Olivia to do it for me.’

  Bethany narrowed her eyes, looking from Sophia to Olivia. ‘OK, deal.’ She handed it over to Sophia.

  ‘How about we –’ Brendan began.

  ‘Now,’ Bethany interrupted. ‘Tell me everything!’

  As Ivy explained all about the set, with Sophia butting in and correcting her on the details, Olivia saw Brendan’s face falter a little. She hoped he wasn’t feeling left out with all the movie excitement. Maybe there would be a way to get him on set tomorrow – that is, if the set was still there tomorrow.

  That night, Ivy sat in front of Olivia’s computer and clicked on the moon icon to get to the usual all-black screen with three big Gothic letters:

  VVV

  ‘Good thing they let you have a chip,’ Ivy said as she clicked the Vs seven times in the precise pattern that would bring up the password prompt. ‘I’d never last two nights in a row without being able to get on to the Vorld Vide Veb.’

  Olivia was in her pink pyjamas, sorting through her closet trying to find something to wear for tomorrow. ‘I couldn’t figure out what was happening when that guy showed up at our house, pretending to be a computer repair man.’

  Since her official initiation by the Vampire Round Table, Olivia had been granted all the privileges of the vampire world, including access to the super-secret Vorld Vide Veb, which required a special computer chip to even get to the home page.

  ‘It didn’t help that he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sandals with socks,’ Olivia went on as Ivy tapped in her user name and password. ‘He didn’t look a thing like a vamp.’

  ‘It just goes to show that you never can tell,’ said Ivy, wondering if Olivia would take the hint. Think Jackson! Ivy wanted to shout but Sophia was right. She needed proof.

  A riddle popped up and Ivy read it aloud. ‘What happens when a vampire gets a cold?’

  ‘Ooh, I know that one,’ Olivia said. ‘Lots of coffin.’

  ‘Ha, ha.’ Ivy typed it in and the MOONLIGHT search screen appeared with its tag line ‘Illuminate the darkness,’ underneath the entry box.

  As soon as Ivy had heard Olivia describe Jackson as ‘normal’ she’d known Olivia was interested in him, so she had decided to do a little research. If he was on the VVV then Ivy could accidentally leave it up on the screen for her sister to discover. It would be so much easier if Olivia found out for herself that Jackson is anything but normal, Ivy thought as she typed in ‘Jackson Caulfield vampire.’

  Ivy scanned the screen but the search results didn’t list any hints of his possible vampness – only sites like ‘Top 50 Bite-able Humans', which put Jackson at number four, and ‘Vampires for Jackson for President'.

  But just because there was nothing on the VVV, it didn’t mean he wasn’t a vampire. Lots of movie-star vamps kept it a secret to avoid being typecast as moody brooders by the vamp powers-that-be in Hollywood.

  ‘What do you think of this for me to wear tomorrow?’ Olivia held up a green ribbed sweater dress and wide green belt. ‘It might be my last chance to see Jackson, so I want to look nice.’

  ‘I’m not sure Jackson is your type,’ Ivy said, ‘but the belt looks great.’

  ‘Do you mean the way-too-good-looking-and-famous-to-ever-actually-consider-me type?’ Olivia sighed and sat down on her bed.

  ‘No!’ Ivy didn’t want her sister thinking Jackson was out of her league. ‘He’s way into you.’

  ‘You think so?’ Olivia’s voice went up an octave.

  ‘It’s just he might not be as perfect as you think,’ Ivy said, shutting down the VVV and standing up to make her ‘bed’ for the night.

  ‘He’s definitely not perfect,’ Olivia said. ‘At lunch today, he went all carnivorous on me. I totally expected him to be a veggie, like me, but he had a burger you would have been proud of.’

  Carnivorous? Ivy’s stomach lurched. That could count as evidence. ‘Does that mean you don’t want to see him any more?’ If Olivia was going to give him up anyway, then Ivy could stop her investigations.

  ‘I’d love to keep hanging out with him, as long as it’s not at lunchtime.’

  Ivy sighed. She was going to have to get proof – and that meant going back to the movie set tomorrow and facing whatever consequences there might be for Jessica’s outburst. She was clearing the dressing table when there was a knock at the door.

  Ivy whirled around as Olivia said, ‘Come in,’ and Mrs Abbott appeared, carrying a tray of warm milk, some crackers and a bottle of pink digestion liquid. Good thing it hadn’t been a minute later, or they would have had a tough time explaining why Olivia’s dressing table was on its back.

  ‘You said your tummy was bothering you.’ Mrs Abbott put the tray down on the edge of the bed.

  The tummy ache plan from this morning had worked like a charm, and Ivy had already wolfed down the roast-beef sandwich they’d bought on the way home – mmm.

  Ivy snapped out of the happy memory to say, ‘That’s so nice of you, Mrs Abbott.’ Moms really were awesome.

  ‘I just want to make sure you get a good night’s sleep.’ Mrs Abbott gave both girls a hug and wished them sweet dreams. ‘Olivia, honey, be considerate to our guest and give Ivy the comfy bed tonight.’

  Once the door was shut, the sisters burst out giggling.

  When they’d recovered, Olivia looked at Ivy and pointed to the bottle of antacid. ‘I am not drinking that for you.’

  Olivia flashed her badge at the security guard.

  ‘Hey, where can I get one of those?’ shouted a teen girl from the crowd as Olivia, Ivy, Sophia and Camilla walked through the barriers on to the movie set.

  ‘I want one, too!’ called a little girl with a balloon.

  Olivia wished she could help. Ivy and Sophia’s extras passes were still valid from yesterday, but only her top-level VIP pass allowed her to bring someone in – and it was only one person.

  ‘Sorry!’ Olivia called behind her.

  As they walked around the parking lot, Olivia could see that the buzz had drained away from the production since yesterday. There were barely any people milling around and anyone who was, looked worried.

  ‘Is this how it’s supposed to be?’ whispered Camilla, pulling down the hood on her ‘Watch the Skies’ hoodie.

  ‘Not at all,’ Ivy replied.

  ‘There she is.’ A snide voice came through the open door of a trailer and Charlotte, followed by a group of extras, stepped out into the cold. ‘That zombie girl is the one who ruined the movie for everyone.’ Charlotte was pointing right at Ivy.

  Ivy glared back at Charlotte.

  Olivia had a flashback to a district cheerleading competition at her old school two years ago where two squads had got their ponytails in a twist over an accusation of a stolen stunt.

  ‘It wasn’t anybody’s fault,’ Olivia began, stepping between the two groups. ‘The movie is on hold because Jessica wanted to quit.’

  ‘But if it wasn’t for your freakish sister –’ Charlotte tossed her hair – ‘we would all be getting our big chance to break in.’

  ‘Break into the discount store?’ Ivy asked.

  Charlotte narrowed her eyes. ‘No, you ghoul! To Hollywood, California – where people have skin tone?’

  ‘Hey,’ Camilla said to Ivy, pointing across the parking lot. ‘Isn’t that Steven Spielberg?’
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br />   While Charlotte and her crew all strained to see, Camilla hooked her arm through Ivy’s and pulled her in the opposite direction. Olivia caught on to what she was doing, grabbed Sophia and followed.

  ‘Losers!’ Charlotte shouted after them, once she’d realised they were making their escape.

  ‘If Charlotte ever becomes a celebrity,’ Sophia said, looking back over her shoulder, ‘I’m moving to Mars.’

  ‘Can I fly the ship?’ Camilla asked.

  Charlotte being mean didn’t matter, but what she’d said made Olivia’s heart sink. ‘Do you think it really is all over?’

  Ivy linked her arm in Olivia’s, so they were walking as a foursome. ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Olivia!’

  Someone ahead of them was waving frantically. It was Jackson. Her heart did a little cheer of its own.

  ‘I’ve great news,’ he said when the group had gotten closer. He scooped Olivia up in a hug.

  Oh my goodness! Olivia thought, stunned but thrilled.

  ‘Come with me!’ He grabbed her hand and led them back through the parking lot. ‘This is so exciting,’ he said. ‘And I definitely want you to be a part of it.’

  He was tugging her along with such excitement that she felt swept off her feet. She glanced back at her sister to give her an excited grin, but Ivy had a strange look on her face.

  What is Jackson talking about? Olivia wanted to know. When they reached the main entrance, Jackson gave her a wink and dropped her hand. He grabbed a megaphone from one of the security guards and hopped up on one of the wide pillars.

  ‘Hello, Franklin Grove!’

  The response from the crowd was a mix of squeals, cameras flashing and returned hellos. The movie’s crew and other extras were gathering around as well. Something big was about to happen.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Camilla asked.

  Olivia could only shrug and continue to stare up at the world-famous movie star who wanted her to do something that involved a loudspeaker announcement to an entire crowd of his fans.

  ‘If you haven’t heard, I’m filming a romantic comedy.’

  More shrieking and Olivia saw one girl faint.