YEAR OF THE VAMPIRE 11

Chapter 11

Music from: Beware the Quiet Ones

Ivy and Lornie's plan to be partnered up for the climate study section of science class didn't go as planned.

Ivy drew Dred . . . for a wind study.

"Offshore Wind Assessment for Atlantic Ocean Using Satellite Data and WRF Modeling?" She had nearly screamed the title at Lornie. "What kind of insane teacher has freshmen do this sort of project?"

"Sorry," Lornie had offered meekly. She had been paired with Camille, and had drawn Solar Panels and Applied Offgrid Designs. "It does look like a lot of work. At least we have until February for research."

Ivy had little hope in passing the social responsibility part of Earth Science that year. "Mr. Van Dreisdeck hates me."

"Van Dreisdeck hates all freshmen."

Ivy spent the rest of the day of classes moping.

She doubted Dred would know anything more about offshore wind trends than she did, and so nearly leaped at the chance to not begin work on it. She would think about it tomorrow. Or after Thanksgiving.

This time they entered Brylinden Hall by the front entrance, and Ivy felt like she was being swallowed by the mammoth house. She passed under the wide entryway as Dred opened one side of the double-doors and stepped aside on the raised steps leading to the ballroom.

"It's huge," she said, gawking at the room spreading out to meet them.

"Yeah," he said. "Pain in the ass to clean, too."

The door echoed closed behind them. Ivy looked around at the ballroom. It was nearly round, with the staircase curving down from the back center. A few tall doors and entryways emptied into the room, some allowing the afternoon sunshine to peek in, others dim. Only a few chairs in the far right curved to face a large stone fireplace were present, giving the bare, wooden parquet flooring a nearly endless appearance from this angle. Above them, the five-tiered crystal chandelier hung, unlit, its strands of cut prisms dangling.

"You don't use it much?" Ivy followed him as he headed across the wooden floor.

"Not much. It used to have a sort of informal entryway before you got to it, from the front, but they took it down after the fire."

She stepped quicker when she lagged behind. "What fire?"

He shot her a hasty look, then grinned. "I don't know much about it, Ivy. Long before I got here. Like, decades ago."

"Oh."

He led them to the kitchen via a long hall positioned behind the staircase. It was newer than the previous old kitchen Ivy had seen before, with updated brushed brass, chrome, and stainless steel appliances. The tile flooring, however, appeared older, showing some scorch marks near the back door that led out to the side of the garden. She could see the patio from this angle.

She automatically went there and stood before the tall, wide window that looked out over the patio. All the statues were standing around the patio, all facing inward, motionless. She could see a bit of movement in the grassy area beyond the patio, near the outermost statue, but couldn't discern what it was. She didn't hear a lawnmower running.

"Oh! And who is this?" a man's flighty voice queried.

Ivy spun around, eyes locking on Dred.

He stood at the three-door refrigerator, one side open, and closed it as the man's voice rang out. With the door shut, the man was fully revealed from behind it.

He was tall, lanky, with a jaunty tilt to his head and posture that made his light blue silk shirt and tan cloth pants seem effeminate. He studied Ivy with pale blue eyes, his wavy, shoulder-length hair an almost ash blond. He smiled at her, then glanced to Dred, flicking his wrist with a sweeping movement at the boy.

Dred groaned and opened the refrigerator door again, eclipsing the man from his view. "Hey, 'Vandis."

"E-vandis," the man said precisely, stepping around the door to see him. "Evandis." He turned back to Ivy. "And who is this lovely young lady?" He made the few steps to her, smiling warmly. He bowed and offered his hand, palm up. "I am Evandis. And you?"

Ivy slowly raised her hand. "Ivy."

"From school." Dred closed the door and set two colas on the marble counter. "Ivy, Evandis. Evandis, Ivy."

Evandis took Ivy's hand in a light touch, bent closer, and kissed the tips of her fingers. "Charmed, my dear."

She slowly pulled her hand back, trying not to giggle. "Hi. Me, too."

He straightened and looked from her to Dred. "Ah, a study date."

"It's not a date!" Dred nearly sputtered. He snapped open the sodas, reddening beneath his collar. "Got it, dandy-man?"

Ivy frowned. "Dred . . ."

"He is." Dred took the long way around the square wooden table that sat center in the kitchen. He offered Ivy a soda and nodded. "Let's go."

Ivy glowered at him, then offered Evandis a quick smile. "Nice to meet you."

He was looking at Dred. "Don't do anything ungentlemanly, young man."

"Mind your own business," Dred grumbled, tugging Ivy with him.

By the time they were climbing the staircase, Ivy had nearly shaken her soda into an overflow. She slowed climbing. "Who is he? Family?"

"Evandis? Yeah."

She frowned at his back, steadily stepping up. "You have a lot of family here."

"Yeah. Not much left . . . in Canada anymore."

They got to the top and started down the long hallway of doors. A few side tables lined the walls, each with a bouquet of flowers in a jewel-tone glass vase. The flowers were autumn arrangements, mostly daisies and sunflowers.

"Is Evandis related to Mandrake and Jovan?"

Dred nearly stopped, turning to her at the fourth door. "You remember them?"

She nodded. "Yes, from the other night. And what's up with those statues, the ones that were moving?"

He stared at her for a long moment. "Uh, it's a trick Evandis does. Makes them look like they're moving. Does a lot of historical stuff. Like Roman. Likes Erté, too. I think that's an old fashion designer."

The name rang a distant bell in Ivy's memory. "I think Erté is an artist."

"Same thing." He slowly nodded. "Yeah, but they're distant cousins," he said in reply to her question. He turned and walked on, glancing over his shoulder to see she was still there. "It's an old family home."

She looked far up at the tall walls, passing beneath hanging lantern-style ceiling lights of wrought iron.

He stopped short of the second to the last door. "Uh, I kinda didn't think we'd be . . . I gotta clean up my room real quick, Ivy." He grinned as she looked skeptically at him. "I thought we'd go to the library today, so it's a mess." He opened the door, emitting a loud creak of hinges. "Can you wait right here for a sec?" He pushed her to an alcove sunk into the wall near the corner of hallway and patted the back of the cushioned window seat there. "Let me clean up, 'kay?"

She sat down with a bounce, staring up at him, steadying her cola before it sloshed out. "That bad?"

He nodded solemnly.

"All right," she said, licking the few drops of soda that had jostled out onto her thumb. "Guess I'll wait here, Dred."

He watched her for a moment, then grinned and turned and left. "Right back, Ivy!"

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