Fashion Frightmare! (My Sister the Vampire) by Sienna Mercer Page A

help.’
    ‘Of course.’ Blue Skye lowered her chin in a regal nod. ‘You may always come back to this shop, seekers, when you desire a brush with true inner vision . . . or, of course,
when what you desire is a really lovely piece of clothing, designed especially for the inner you.’
    ‘Thank you,’ Olivia mumbled. She knew she didn’t sound enthusiastic, but right now, it was the very best that she could do, with yet another grigh building inside her.
    ‘What are we going to do?’ she whispered to Ivy as they started out of the store.
    Ivy didn’t bother to whisper back. ‘I don’t know,’ she said glumly. ‘Short of asking every customer in the mall, I have no idea how we’re going to find her
now.’
    ‘Oh, you won’t.’ Blue Skye’s voice boomed through the store. ‘Trust me, seekers. You won’t find her.’
    ‘Huh?’ Ivy’s voice finally took on an edge as she swung back towards the blindfolded shopkeeper. ‘
Why
won’t we find her? Oh, let me guess. Because
we’re not –’ She crooked her fingers into air-quotes that Blue Skye had no chance of seeing –‘“looking in the right space”? Or because our “open eyes
are really locked shut”?’
    Uh-oh.
Olivia braced herself.
I think the Skye is about to turn Red!
    But Blue Skye’s lips curled an extra half-inch higher in their smile as she leaned forward, her hood dropping lower over her forehead. ‘No, my dears,’ she murmured gently.
‘Because there is no “her” to find. Didn’t you realise? Maxie Richards is a boy!’
    Olivia clutched at Ivy’s arm. They stared at each other in sudden, wild surprise.
    Why didn’t it ever even occur to me that ‘Maxie’ could be a boy?
Olivia wondered.
But if he is . . .
    ‘Actually . . .’ Blue Skye tilted her head back to sniff the air. ‘I think I recognise his scent – oh, yes. Patchouli oil and lavender. Unmistakable.’ She lowered
her chin to her chest. ‘Yes, he was here not long ago. But, how odd. He usually says hello.’
    ‘I know why he didn’t this time,’ Ivy said grimly.
    ‘Of course,’ Olivia breathed. The boy who’d been there when they’d first arrived, the one who’d browsed so purposefully through the sarongs, who looked like he knew
exactly what he was doing . . .
That
was Maxie!
    And he’d left like a startled cat the moment Ivy had mentioned the subject of
thefts
.
    ‘He can’t have got too far away,’ said Reiko. She was already bouncing on her toes, warming up for action. ‘He might still be in the mall!’
    ‘Let’s go!’ Ivy lunged for the exit.

    I can say one thing about trips to Blue Skye’s shop
, Ivy thought as she ducked through the curtain of beads.
They’re always memorable!
    Ivy had to force herself to take deep, calming breaths as she thought through her strategy. If she wanted to, she could race through the whole mall in a blur, but that would risk exposing the
vampire secret – a gamble she would never take.
If only vamps could make themselves invisible!
    Instead, she led Olivia and Reiko to the escalator that led up to the mezzanine level. ‘Come on. What we need is a raised platform to stand on, so we can get the best view of the whole
mall.’
    ‘Makes sense.’ Olivia nodded firmly as the escalator lifted them up, while Reiko scanned the scene around them with wide-eyed interest.
    Ivy counted down seconds until they reached the top. ‘Finally!’ She lunged forwards to look over the glass banister at the shifting crowds beneath them. All she needed now was . .
.
    Wait a minute.
She frowned. ‘Can either of you two remember, clearly, what the guy in Blue Skye’s store looked like?’ As much as Ivy tried, all she could envision was
his black shirt – something that half the boys
and
girls downstairs were wearing. ‘I was so sure Maxie was a girl, I didn’t even take a second look at him when he was in
the shop.’
    ‘Me neither,’ Reiko said.
    ‘Um . . .’ Making a rueful face, Olivia shrugged. ‘I