10 Date with Destiny - My Sister the Vampire

by Sienna Mercer

  ‘That is the weirdest thing. I ran into that same guy on the road outside the palace,’ Ivy explained, staring at the shadowy figure lurking in the background of Olivia’s photo. ‘Total creepazoid, if you know what I mean. Do you think we should tell someone? I’m sure you don’t want anyone gate-crashing your big day.’

  But when Ivy turned, Tessa was gone. Vanished. What was that about? Did Tessa know the guy in the picture? No – no way that guy could know a soon-to-be-princess. Maybe Tessa had just remembered some last-minute detail she had to attend to before the big day. Ivy didn’t know the first thing about weddings, so that was entirely possible. But why would she run off without saying a word?

  This royal wedding was really beginning to mess with people’s heads!

  Chapter Eight

  So much food and so little desire to eat it! Olivia knew this rehearsal dinner for the wedding was going to be totally wasted on her. She rested her elbow on the arm of her chair and pushed her cheek into her palm. Buttery rolls, smoked-salmon roulades and miniature quiches were piled high on silver platters, but tonight, nothing could tempt her.

  She should have been enjoying the candlelit banquet, but instead she was weak and clammy. Everything felt so distant – even Ivy and her bio-dad seemed a mile off, and they were on either side of her!

  Lillian’s voice came from the other side of Charles. ‘The candelabra are just lovely. And who put together those gorgeous star-gazer arrangements?’ She sounded tinny and far away. It was like Olivia was living in a dream within a dream.

  Jet lag plus Helga’s potion – which had to be the most vile thing she’d ever put in her mouth, including a non-vegetarian sausage she’d picked up by mistake at Ivy’s house that summer – were proving to be a powerful combination. She would be OK soon – any moment now. She just needed to catch her second wind, that was all. Perhaps she could distract herself by sharing her secret theory with Ivy.

  ‘Guess what?’ she whispered, leaning over to her twin. ‘I think there’s another romance blossoming here. I’m sure Horatio has a crush on the gardener, Helga.’ Before she could go into more detail she noticed something across the room. ‘Hey. What’s with Tessa?’ she asked. The bride-to-be was staring glassy-eyed into the distance, not paying a bit of attention to any of the conversations going on around her. She seemed in even more of a funk than Olivia.

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Ivy, whose chunky black bracelets jangled as she took another helping of chocolate marshmallow platelets for dessert. ‘It’s weird. She came to our room to hide out while you were napping. One moment she was there and the next she had run out of the bedchamber without saying a word. This wedding must be really getting to her.’

  ‘Seriously? She ran out?’ Olivia remembered how Tessa had run out on her own party last night too, like she hadn’t wanted to be there. Olivia had thought it was wedding nerves, but now she knew that there was definitely something going on. The question is: what can it be?

  Prince Alex reached for Tessa’s hand, but she pulled it away to fiddle with her hair and then placed it firmly in her lap. Oh no! Had they argued? That would make the most sense, but they were usually such a happy pair. Was the wedding going to be called off? Olivia stopped herself, realising that she was letting her imagination run wild. But after everything that had happened with Jackson – not to mention her recent tumble – she didn’t feel able to judge anything any more.

  Prince Alex stood up, clinking his crystal goblet with a knife. His teeth were sparkling white as he smiled out at the dinner guests as if nothing was wrong. He wore a cream-coloured suit and a slender crimson tie. If he had lived in the States, he might have had an impressive career as a male model.

  ‘Welcome, everyone.’ He held his glass high and the room fell silent. ‘I’m going to use my bad jokes tonight, since this is a rehearsal dinner and I would much prefer to save my best material for the wedding toast tomorrow. I hope you can forgive me.’ The group chuckled. ‘As many of you know, my relationship with Tessa hasn’t always been bats and blackness.’

  ‘What does that mean?’ Olivia whispered in Ivy’s ear, confused.

  Ivy hissed back: ‘It means their relationship hasn’t always been easy-peasy.’

  ‘We kept our love secret for a long time,’ Prince Alex continued, ‘and it is only recently that we came out of the coffin.’ Alex paused for a smattering of applause and laughter. ‘But all jokes aside –’ he turned to his bride-to-be – ‘Tessa is like the Free Rose of Summer – rare and beautiful. And now that I’ve found her, I know my future.’

  Olivia knew that if she were Tessa she’d be swooning at Alex’s touching words. Drawn-out awwws sounded around the dining table. In fact, the only person not showing any real emotion was Tessa. Instead, the soon-to-be-princess was staring hard at her lap. Ivy and Olivia shared a look, but either Prince Alex didn’t notice his fiancée’s expression or he was very good at hiding his feelings.

  ‘To Tessa!’ He raised the glass to his lips and took a sip.

  ‘To Tessa!’ The guests echoed.

  A moment later, the door to the Banquet Hall banged open and every head in the room swivelled to look. There was a short scuffle with a white-coated servant, and then a caped vampire with a slicked-back mullet burst into the room. Olivia recognised the intruder immediately. It was the same creepy vamp Ivy had pointed out on Olivia’s camera just before they had come down! What was he doing here at Alex and Tessa’s dinner?

  The Queen’s bodyguard appeared behind the caped vampire, shaking his head. ‘He was lurking outside, Count Lazar,’ he announced. ‘I tried to stop him, but he slipped through. I am terribly sorry.’ The caped vampire straightened his collar, smiling as if crashing a royal dinner was the most normal thing on the planet, and turned to address the twins’ father.

  ‘Hello, Karl, my old friend,’ he said. ‘It’s been a detestably long time.’

  Olivia saw the look on her bio-dad’s face and gasped. She had never seen him like this before; dark and scary. He looked like an evil vampire in a B-list horror movie. It actually gave her the chills when suddenly he snarled, ‘You!’ and leapt to his feet, his chair scooting back across the floor. The room fell silent.

  Olivia dared a glance at Ivy, but her twin sister just shrugged. This guy knows our father? Olivia thought. How?

  ‘The nerve of that man,’ whispered a tuxedoed vampire with a thick goatee.

  ‘To prance around looking like a cheap haunted-house prop! It’s ludicrous.’ A woman wearing scarlet satin gloves tossed her napkin on the table in disgust.

  Ludicrous was exactly the right word. The caped vampire wore thick eyeliner. His hair was greased back, styled into a sharp ‘V’ on his forehead. The lining of his cape was silky red and he wore pointy-toed boots that laced up to his knees. Olivia had never seen a more atrocious outfit anywhere, let alone smack bang in the middle of the Transylvanian elite!

  Charles’s body was stiff and his expression was ice cold. There was anger in his voice as he finally addressed the caped vampire. ‘A long time? It has not been nearly long enough, Vincenzo.’

  ‘Please, Karl, don’t be so dramatic. It’s ancient history.’ Olivia had no idea what ‘It’ was. Vincenzo scanned the table. ‘Is Susannah not here? She could always calm you down when your temper started flaring. You can be so –’ he waved a hand through the air – ‘impetuous!’

  Charles moved so fast that, to Olivia’s eye, he practically teleported. He lunged for Vincenzo, teeth flashing, but Count Lazar and Horatio quickly placed themselves between him and the caped vampire.

  ‘This is not the way,’ said the Count. His old eyes looked sad, contrasting sharply with his festive red smoking jacket.

  From her place at the head of the table, the Queen called, ‘Karl – Charles – listen to your father. There is a time and place for duelling, but this is not it.’

  Charles did not return to his seat. His fists clenched and unclenched at his sides. A vein pulsed at his neck. ‘You
are not going to ruin another wedding,’ he said through gritted teeth. Olivia shrank back into her seat. Her normally super-cool bio-dad looked like he was about to lose it.

  Vincenzo puffed his chest out. ‘But I never –’

  ‘No,’ bellowed Charles. ‘Not this time. Do you understand me?’

  Vincenzo’s shoulders slumped, and his cape skirted the floor. ‘But it’s my niece getting married tomorrow,’ he said. ‘I promised her father that I’d always be there for her. I took this promise seriously, even after he and I fell out.’

  Ivy and Olivia took a sharp breath at the same time. His niece? Everyone’s eyes were drawn to Tessa and guests began whispering to one another. Poor Tessa stared at the table, pink-faced.

  Nobody said a word as Vincenzo stepped closer to the table. He bowed low, flourishing his black cape around him. ‘My dear Tessa,’ he said. ‘I just want to help you celebrate your big day.’ He lifted his chin, waiting for Tessa’s response.

  The Queen glanced from Vincenzo to Tessa and then back to Vincenzo. Olivia thought the Queen looked as if she had just noticed a strand of hair floating in her soup.

  Tessa’s eyes sparkled with tears. ‘There isn’t going to be a big day,’ she said, her voice quaking. ‘At least not as long as you’re around. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must go.’ She pushed back from the table and everyone stood up as a mark of respect. Alex tried to reach for her, but she brushed him aside.

  ‘I’m sorry, Alex,’ she said. ‘I just need to be alone.’

  Olivia heard a loud rip and saw that Tessa’s luxurious golden gown had got caught under the chair, tearing a large hole in the train. Tessa held the torn fabric limply in her hand and a single sob broke from her lips before she rushed for the door.

  ‘Tessa, wait!’ Prince Alex called after her. He seemed at a loss to know what to do – chase his bride or deal with the unwanted intruder.

  Does this mean the wedding is off? Olivia wondered. How awful!

  But then she discovered she had more pressing concerns – like why the floor of the Banquet Hall was rising up to meet her and why she was seeing doubles of Ivy! She toppled over just as blackness covered her vision.

  One moment Olivia was standing next to her, and the next Ivy saw her begin to crumple to the floor. In an instant, Ivy shot her hands out and caught her sister’s limp body just before she fell flat on her face.

  ‘Olivia!’ she cried. Ivy’s heart thudded in her chest and it felt like she couldn’t get a breath of air into her lungs. ‘Olivia, Olivia! What’s going on?’ Ivy cradled her sister’s sagging body. Olivia’s eyes were wide and blank and her mouth hung open like a guppy fish. ‘Can somebody please help me?’ she asked, frantic.

  Much to her surprise, instead of coming to her aid, Ivy saw Horatio sprint out of the room. Could he really be that squeamish when her sister needed help?

  Her dad and Lillian rushed to her side. Lillian pressed the back of her hand to Olivia’s forehead. ‘She’s burning up,’ she said. ‘Do you think she’s come down with something? We should get her up to your bedchamber.’ She hooked one of Olivia’s arms over her shoulders and let Ivy support her on the other side.

  Vincenzo’s face hovered over Ivy. ‘I can be of service,’ he said.

  But Charles shot him a death-stare that Ivy would have had to practise for years to master. ‘I can take care of my daughter, thank you very much.’ His voice was icy. ‘Maybe you should worry about your niece . . . or, better yet, you can help by disappearing altogether. You ruined one wedding years ago – please don’t spoil a second one now.’

  Vincenzo’s mouth worked to form words. ‘But . . . It wasn’t . . . It wasn’t my fault. You cannot besmirch my name like this. I have my honour to think of!’ He flung his cloak over one shoulder and began to march from the room, as though he had decided something. Then he stopped dead at the sight of Prince Alex, whose piercing eyes seemed to dare him to say another word.

  Alex grabbed Vincenzo’s elbow and pulled him further away from the crowd surrounding Olivia. ‘I don’t know who you are, but you are clearly not welcome in this home.’

  ‘Don’t worry, my liege.’ The last word dripped with sarcasm. ‘I am already going.’

  ‘I’ve had enough of this,’ Charles muttered, overhearing the confrontation. With one glance back, the twins’ father scooped up Olivia and carried her out of the room, Ivy and Lillian close behind.

  Ivy tried to keep her breathing under control. Please let Olivia be OK . . .

  Ivy sat cross-legged on the floor beside Olivia, who was spread out like a corpse on the floor. Lillian had taken Charles back downstairs, to find a cool drink for Olivia. Ivy held her sister’s cold, sweaty hand and kept repeating: She’s going to be fine, she’s going to be fine, she’s going to be fine, like one of Mr Abbott’s Zen mantras. Ivy realised that she and her twin had been using the word ‘fine’ a lot in the past few days – usually at times when they were very definitely not fine.

  She tried to shake the thought from her head. Olivia was probably just run down from the flight – or suffering from some kind of allergy. No biggie. Ivy nearly choked as she mentally borrowed one of her sister’s phrases.

  Olivia would be fixed up in no time. This was Transylvania, home of the vampires, they were supposed to be advanced in medicine. They’ll have something special to help her . . .

  Right?

  Horatio hurried in with an older woman, carrying a black medical kit that would have looked sinister to Ivy if she weren’t relying on it to make her sister better. So that was why Horatio had rushed out of the room – to get help! By the way the two of them stood close together, Ivy guessed this must be Helga, the gardener Olivia had been telling her about – the one Horatio had a crush on.

  Helga looked from Olivia to Ivy, shaking her head and clucking her tongue. ‘Now I see what the problem is.’ She kneeled down next to Olivia’s frail body, wringing her hands. ‘I had no idea that Miss Olivia was human!’

  Are you kidding? Ivy thought. What vamp would be caught dead wearing pink from head to toe and shimmery eyeshadow? She didn’t say any of this to Helga, though. Right now, she needed the herbologist to focus on fixing her twin.

  ‘How could I not realise?’ Helga’s lips were pressed into a thin line. ‘It’s just that I saw her doing a spectacular somersault and it seemed so quick and agile, I thought that she must be a vampire.’

  ‘What somersault?’ Ivy asked. She hadn’t heard a word about any impromptu acrobatics and, besides, they were a bit far removed from Olivia’s cheerleading practice for that sort of thing.

  ‘The one after she fell out of the tree. I think she was trying not to squish any of my plants.’ Helga shook her head. ‘But all I cared about was that she was all right.’

  Falling out of a tree? Performing somersaults? Apparently Olivia’s day had been more eventful than she’d let on. Ivy smiled weakly. ‘That’s my sister for you.’

  ‘So when she got the allergic reaction to the Bloodbite Nettles, I gave her medicine meant for vampires instead of humans. That’s why she passed out.’

  ‘Oh no!’ Ivy felt a stab of worry. ‘That sounds serious. Can you help her?’ She knew that any remedy meant for a vampire was probably three times weaker than one intended for humans, because vampires had faster, stronger immune systems. Olivia would have felt OK for a while, but then her symptoms would have come back – much stronger.

  ‘You have to help her!’ Ivy wanted to reach out and shake Helga, but the gardener was already busy pulling instruments out of her big black bag. She lined up different shaped bottles and bags of herbs on the floor. A bitter smell wafted up from the mix of Helga’s ingredients. ‘Oh yes.’ Helga furrowed her brow and pressed her hand to Olivia’s forehead. ‘It can be fixed. I’m going to need some help doing it, that’s all. And Horatio has already helped carry in my bag for me.’ Her eyes flicked up to Horatio, who seemed to glow at the mention of his name.

  ‘Count me in,’ said Ivy, giving her sist
er’s hand a squeeze. But Olivia was still out cold. Her fingers lay limp and lifeless in Ivy’s grip.

  Helga handed Ivy a small kettle and a warming plate. ‘First, we’ll need to create a hot poultice to apply to the site of the infection.’ She pointed to Olivia’s legs, which were red and bumpy. Ivy hadn’t noticed that in the dim candlelight downstairs! Ouch!

  Ivy used her closed coffin as a workstation, following Helga’s directions to mix sagebrush, crushed rose thorn and orchid petals with a spoonful of pine-tree sap. She stirred it, letting it warm on the hot plate. Then, as Helga instructed, she brushed the ointment on to a bandage that Helga pressed against Olivia’s legs.

  ‘I’m impressed.’ Helga nodded approvingly at Ivy’s work. ‘Have you done this before?’

  Ivy shook her head as she helped secure the compress, careful to control her super-strength so that she wouldn’t hurt her sister. ‘No, I don’t know anything about vampire medicine.’

  ‘Even more impressive. You have natural instincts. You could be a vampire healer one day.’ Helga sniffed one of the medicine bottles before putting it away.

  Horatio took a slight step forwards, leaning over Helga’s shoulder to check their progress. ‘Anything I can do?’ he asked.

  Helga waved him back. ‘Not yet, not yet.’ There was no room for a Frankenstein’s monster-sized vampire in the mix; there was barely enough for Helga and Ivy.

  Ivy helped the herbologist replace the caps on a set of silver bottles. ‘I didn’t know there even were vampire healers.’

  ‘I didn’t either.’ Helga passed Ivy a pestle and mortar and something that looked like catnip. ‘Until I found my calling at Wallachia.’

  Ivy stopped crushing the catnip. ‘You went to Wallachia?’