The dark staircase creaked with every step. Olivia thought she heard laughter, then creatures scurrying in the walls, then the sound of liquid running ominously in pipes. She was scared of tripping and tumbling down the stairs, but she was even more scared of placing a hand on the wall to steady herself. What if it was damp? At last they reached the narrow hallway at the bottom. Olivia trailed farther and farther behind, terror making Ivy’s boots feel even heavier than usual. She passed the first mysterious unmarked door. It was huge and made of dark, brushed metal. It also had a slot to look through so that those inside could see who was outside wanting to come in. The shutter over the slot was closed, but Olivia could hear talking and laughing from a crowd inside.
BloodMart! Olivia thought. On the other side of that door, vampires are thirstily drinking BLOOD! She lurched forward, feeling sick. She put her hands on her knees. Ivy’s black fishnet stockings crawled like spiders beneath her fingers.
“Will you come on?” Sophia called from up ahead.
Olivia thought if she tried to stand up again right now she’d puke.
Sophia’s footsteps came closer. “Ivy, relax,” she said. “I know you have cold feet about being head of decorations, but it’s just a meeting. Besides, you’re already doing a killer job.”
Then she grabbed Olivia’s hand and dragged her to the door at the end of the hall.
The vampires were waiting within: Vera, with her startling shock of white hair, Raymond, with his fiendishly bald head, Anise, as gaunt and hollow eyed as an ex-lover of Count Vira. The Beasts, looking more bloodthirsty and beastly than ever.
Melissa, with her officious manner and disarmingly chunky glasses, offered Olivia some punch. Olivia declined. “Oatmeal raisin cookie?” Melissa tried. Olivia shook her head like a zombie.
Now all the vampires were taking their places around the sacrificial slab of a table.
“May the Secret be cloaked in darkness,” Melissa intoned solemnly.
“And never see light of day,” came the response. Olivia collapsed into her seat.
“Okay, people,” Melissa began, flipping through her notes. “First item on the agenda is decorations. Ivy?”
Olivia couldn’t speak. All the vampires were looking at her with their contact-lens-covered eyes.
“Ivy?” Melissa said again.
Sophia pinched her hard, and Olivia jumped. She reached into Ivy’s black velvet messenger bag and pulled out her white All Hallows’ Ball— Decorations folder.
The papers rustled in Olivia’s trembling hand. “Take one and pass them on,” she whispered.
Olivia stumbled through her presentation. She’d organized her ideas into two categories: “Big Things,” which included stuff like the centerpieces—fake tombstones featuring celebrity vampires’ names, surrounded by bouquets of white lilies—and “Little Things,” which included random stuff like rubber spiders, bats, cobwebs, flaming torches, and so on.
Even through her haze, Olivia could tell that the committee, in its Goth way, was pleased. Almost against her will, she started feeling better.
Oh, my gosh, she thought nervously, I might actually make it through this meeting without losing my mind, being bitten by a vampire, or driving a stake through anyone’s heart!
She’d saved the best idea for last: a bunch of old vampire movie posters she’d found on eBay.
“That sucks!” Anise declared, and everyone nodded. Olivia smiled in spite of herself.
One of the Beasts cleared his throat. “I have an idea,” he said, a devilish grin spreading across his face.
Olivia’s pulse quickened.
He held up a long, pale finger. “A decoration that’s cheap and plentiful.”
“Let’s hear it,” Melissa invited reluctantly.
“Something better than posters.” The Beast leered at Olivia. “How about we round up a bunch of dead bunnies from the morgue and line the walls with them?”
The other Beasts burst into laughter.
Olivia’s stomach churned.
Melissa seethed. “You guys are disgusting!”
Raymond balled up his list and chucked it at the boy.
I have to get out of here! Olivia thought. She leaped up from her chair, blurted, “Sorry” to Sophia, and bolted out of the room.
She raced down the narrow hallway, its walls closing in around her. On the stairs, she tripped and skinned her knee, but she just scrambled to her feet and kept running.
She burst out through the doors of FoodMart and finally slowed to a stop. She leaned against the outside of the building, taking deep breaths of fresh air.
A few seconds later, Olivia heard someone coming up behind her. She spun around, ready to fight for her life, but it was just Sophia.
“What’s wrong with you?” Ivy’s friend asked. Olivia didn’t answer. She was breathing too hard.
Sophia shook her head and said, “You’ve been acting strange all afternoon. It’s one thing for Ivy Vega to be out of her element at social functions, but my best friend has never in her life fled from a room.” She stepped closer and peered into Olivia’s eyes.
Olivia looked away.
Sophia said, “What’s going on?”
“Nothing!” Olivia gulped.
“What is going on?” Sophia repeated more forcefully.
“Everything’s totally fine!” Olivia squealed hysterically.
Sophia narrowed her eyes.
I just said “totally,” thought Olivia.
“Did you just say ‘totally’?” demanded Sophia.
Olivia sank down on the curb. It was obvious that Sophia knew something weird was going on. She was going to have to confess. “I’m not Ivy,” she muttered in defeat.