17 Spooktacular - My Sister the Vampire by Sienna Mercer Read Free Book Online Page A

worried about who will come
in
to Franklin
Grove if word of this ghost gets out. If tourists start flooding in to investigate, the locals will have a very compelling reason to start looking closer. And if
that
happens . .
.’

    When Ivy boarded the school bus ten minutes later, her head was swimming with all the older vamps’ dire warnings and with Albert’s tale of woe. She slid into the
seat behind Brendan, with Olivia close behind her . . . then let out a huff of frustration.
    ‘What’s up?’ Brendan turned around, looping his arm over the top of the seat to grin down at her. ‘C’mon, Vega. It’s too early to be grumpy.’
    ‘Not in our house.’ Ivy tried to ignore the clawing sensation in her stomach, but at that very moment it gave a great grumble. ‘Oh! I was so busy with the Conference of Doom, I
completely forgot to grab any breakfast!’ She slumped lower in her seat. ‘Now I’m starving!’
    ‘Here.’ Brendan rummaged through his ragged black backpack and pulled out a snack-sized box of Marshmallow Platelets. ‘It’s not exactly a hearty meal, but at least it
might keep you from getting too crabby. And that’s good for all of us.’ Winking, he passed the box to her.
    ‘You’re a life-saver!’ Ivy ripped the box open.
    ‘So how was the Conference of Doom?’ asked Brendan curiously. ‘My dad seemed pretty worried when he left for your house this morning.’
    Ivy groaned and quickly filled him in on what had happened.
    ‘This is the worst part of being a . . . being one of us,’ she whispered to Brendan and Olivia once she’d finished. ‘You know, if anyone else at school knew about vamps,
they’d probably think it’d be super-cool to have our abilities and everything else – but that’s because they don’t know just how much
stress
it all comes
with!’ She shook her head in disbelief. ‘We’re only fourteen. Just think: when we’re older, we’re not only going to have all these same crazy worries, but we’re
going to be expected to, like,
do things
about them!’
    Olivia grinned and gave her a nudge. ‘Aren’t you forgetting? Doing things about things is kind of our . . .
thing
!’
    Despite herself, Ivy laughed. ‘Good point, sis.’
    Brendan reached over to cup his hand around her face, stroking her cheek gently with his thumb. ‘How many mysteries have you solved so far, Ivy Holmes?’
    ‘OK, OK.’ Still laughing, Ivy scooped out a handful of Marshmallow Platelets and bit down happily. ‘We’ll do something about this one, too, if we can . . . just as soon
as we think of a good way to approach it.’
    Brendan shrugged, snagging a Marshmallow Platelet. His voice muffled, he said, ‘You know, it felt more like a poltergeist than a ghost to me.’
    ‘Aagh!’ Olivia jumped up and grabbed him by the shoulders. ‘Will everyone please stop saying that word? Otherwise
I’ll
have to turn into a you-know-what and
haunt you both!’
    Ivy laughed so hard that she accidentally spat out her Marshmallow Platelets. ‘Look out,’ she finally gasped to Brendan. ‘Or it’ll be the Mystery of the Perky Pink
Poltergeist next!’
    Olivia cringed. ‘What did I
just
say?’

    After school Olivia followed her sister down the street towards the Franklin Grove Museum.
    ‘We need to start at the beginning,’ Ivy was saying. ‘Whether it was an actual ghost, or there’s some rational explanation, I’m sure that we’ll find a real
clue at Café Creative!’
    ‘A clue, hmm?’ Olivia gave her a gently chiding look. ‘You do remember you’re not wearing the deerstalker any more, right?’
    ‘I know. Don’t you miss it?’ Ivy heaved a mock sigh as she pushed open the big front door of the museum. ‘I kind of liked that hat, actually. Now if only I could find a
black one, with bat-shaped ear flaps. I could be Goth Holmes! The latest style!’
    Olivia closed her lips firmly, but she couldn’t completely hold back a giggle as she imagined it. ‘Now that’s an