Switched by Sienna Mercer Page B

Finally,
she picked one. “Are all Goths vampires?”
    “In
Franklin Grove? Not all but most,” Ivy told her.
    “What
about everybody else?”
    “Bunnies,
like you,” Ivy answered matter-offactly.
    “Are
you immortal?” Olivia asked.
    “That’s
a tough one.” Ivy put Olivia’s bag down. “Not really. But I might get to see
the day people live on Mars.”
    “What
can kill you?” Olivia wanted to know.
    “What
can kill you ?” Ivy countered. “Listen, Olivia, vampires are people, too.”
    Olivia
nodded. “I know. Like you’re a lobster and I’m a crab,” she said automatically.
“But we’re both crustaceans.”
    “No,” Ivy said. “I didn’t
say we were seafood .I said we were people . With hearts and souls
and everything. We’re into life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness just
like everyone else. We don’t even talk about it among ourselves that much. It’s
like you being a vegetarian. That’s not such an enormous deal, right?”
    “Right,”
Olivia admitted. Totally. No biggie. “Thanks, Ivy.” Olivia scrunched up
her nose. “I guess this vampire thing does take some getting used to.”
    Ivy
assumed a vacant look. “Really?” she squealed in her cheerleader voice.
    Even
though she knew she had nothing to fear, the hair on the back of Olivia’s neck
stood on end the moment she and Sophia came in sight of the towering FoodMart
sign. Sophia was talking excitedly about the ball as they walked, but Ivy’s
words were the only ones Olivia could hear: “I go to BloodMart like everyone
else. There’s one in the basement of FoodMart.”
    Olivia
imagined a huge, dim underground crypt, filled with enormous vats of swirling
red liquid. Spigots dripped gruesomely, and bloodsoaked napkins littered the
floor. Before she knew it, she and Sophia were walking through the store doors
and it was too late to flee.
    As
they walked down aisle nine, questions flooded Olivia’s mind. How much blood
would be needed to satisfy every vampire in Franklin Grove? How many vampires
were there in Franklin Grove, anyway? Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands?
    She
and Sophia came upon the same noseringed stock boy with the midnight stubble.
    Maybe
that wasn’t cranberry juice he was stacking after all! Olivia thought. Her heart raced. He
must be a vampire since he opens the door.What if he can smell my fear? She
put her hand to her neck and started hyperventilating.
    Sophia
gave her a weird look. “You’re breathing like a horse,” she said. Then she
turned to the stock boy and said, “Pumpernickel.” He obediently unlocked the
staff door, and Olivia scurried past him, trying to avoid eye contact.
    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