Fangtastic! by Sienna Mercer Page A

you have to go!”
    Brendan
whispered, “You mean your dad doesn’t even know?”
    Ivy
practically pushed her tottering, one-shoed sister up the stairs. When they
reached the landing, Ivy hoisted the window open and helped Olivia tumble out
through it. She slammed the window just in time to turn and see her father
descending toward her.
    “Hi,
Dad,” she said, trying not to sound out of breath.
    “Hello,
Ivy,” her father replied.
    “I
was, uh, just coming up to tell you that Brendan and I are going out,” Ivy told
him.
    Ivy’s
dad glanced past her to the bottom of the stairs. Brendan gave him a friendly
wave.
    “What
a coincidence!” Ivy’s dad said, and for a split second Ivy thought he knew
something. “I am also leaving, to go and inspect Mrs. Wendell’s new curtains.”
    “Great,”
said Ivy nervously. “We’ll follow you out.”
    Her
father peered into Ivy’s eyes suspiciously. “Ivy,” he said as Ivy’s heart beat
like a drum, “have you finished your homework?”
    Ivy
blinked. “Almost.”
    “Then
you’d best be back by eight thirty to finish it up,” her father said. “Shall I
pick you up something for dinner?”
    “No
thanks, Dad. We’ll grab a bite,” Ivy said.
    Ivy and
Brendan exchanged nervous looks as they followed her father back up the stairs,
through the house, and out the front door. Then Ivy’s dad kissed her on the
forehead and got into his black convertible.
    “That
was close,” said Brendan as they watched the car head off down the driveway.
    Then
Ivy grabbed Brendan’s hand and led him around the side of the house. They found
Olivia, looking slightly disheveled from having scrambled out the window,
staring up at a tall bush.
    “Ivy,
what is my shoe doing up there?” she asked, pointing to the mule, which was
lodged on a branch near the top of the bush, like a pink bat.
    As she
followed Brendan, Ivy, and Sophia into the oldest graveyard in Franklin Grove,
Olivia glanced over her shoulder. She was still a little paranoid that Toby
Decker might be following them, even though Brendan had done reconnaissance
before they left Ivy’s backyard. Brendan had said Toby wasn’t lurking anywhere
nearby, and they’d all agreed he must have finally given up and gone home.
    Relax! she thought to herself, slurping
her strawberry and mango smoothie. As she gingerly stepped over a fallen tombstone,
she was really glad they’d been able to get her other shoe down from that bush.
    Deep
in the center of the cemetery, her friends stopped in front of a low, ancient
stone building that looked like it was sinking into the ground. A series of
three arches supported by ivy-entwined pillars made an awning. Beneath the
center arch, Olivia could dimly make out a hulking stone door with tarnished
bronze gargoyles on either side. In the middle of the door was an ornate square
plate carved right into the stone, inscribed with a single word: DANIELS. The
letters almost seemed to glow.
    “Ready
for the underworld?” Brendan asked Olivia, who nodded nervously.
    “Wait
until you see the inside,” Ivy whispered. Brendan ducked under the awning and
turned
    one of
the claws of the gargoyle on the right. There was a series of dull clicks and
thuds, and suddenly the enormous door slid open. With a grin over his shoulder,
Brendan stepped into the darkness inside.
    Sophia
followed right behind him, and Ivy went next.
    Suddenly,
Olivia realized her heart was thrashing like a pom-pom. She wanted to walk into
the darkness, she really did, but somehow it was just too creepy .
    Ivy’s
head reappeared. She flashed Olivia a devilish grin, grabbed her hand, and
pulled her inside.
    Ivy
led her through the pitch blackness and down a flight of uneven steps. Suddenly
Olivia heard the strike of a match, and a tiny flame illuminated the darkness.
She saw that they were in some sort of antechamber, and it was enormous. It almost seemed impossible that such a big place could fit inside the
structure she’d seen