Chapter 3

Most of the time, Alex Russo didn't care if other people were angry with her. Actually, when "other people" was her older brother, she thoroughly enjoyed it. But furious Harper had barely spoken to her since the constellation incident two nights ago. And the silence was driving Alex crazy.

"Come on, Harper!" Alex whined as she stomped around the small loft kitchen, following her best friend. Harper ignored the annoyed wizard while she made herself lunch. "It's not like I meant for Zeke to see me use magic!" Alex insisted. "And so he's a little obsessed with the paintbrush! He'll get over that when he never sees it again!" Her hands on her hips, she said, "You know what, you're just really overreacting to something that's not even a big deal. I should be mad at you!"

To emphasize her point, Alex whirled around so her back was to Harper and crossed her arms. When there was no response for almost half a minute, Alex discreetly glanced over her shoulder. Her salad made, Harper had put down on the coffee table, then picked up the remote to turn on the television.

Pushed to her limit, Alex stomped over to the living area and grabbed the remote from Harper's hand. "Why are you so mad at me when I didn't even do anything?"

Finally, Harper slowly stood up to face Alex, then with pure, cool anger in her voice, explained, "Alex, I told you that Zeke and I were going outside, right before you and Mason went up to the roof. You just didn't care because you wanted to do the spell. You can be so selfish, and sometimes, other people suffer because of it."

Though her face was hot with shame, Alex tried to defend herself. "That's not true, Harper! I didn't even hear what you said because I was waiting for Mason!"

"So you didn't even listen to me! Yeah, that's better!" Harper retorted as the anger started to heat up. "Even if you had heard me...Alex, that was such a reckless use of magic! You can't do that in a big city like this! You're lucky your little light show didn't end up on the news! What were you thinking?"

While she'd been feeling guilty up until that point, Harper's reprimand really did get under her skin. "Please, even I'm not that stupid! When wizards cast spells on stars like I did, cloaking magic makes it so only people standing around the wizard can see it. And I was thinking that I wanted to do something nice for my boyfriend! You're not my parent - you're not supposed to treat me like a child!"

"Then grow up!" Harper spat. Alex actually stepped back, surprised that such harsh sentiment had come from her best friend. Not taking any note of this, Harper continued, "Do you think I like keeping your secret from my boyfriend? It kills me inside every time I have to explain away something weird! In fact, the only reason I can stand it at all is because he'd probably have a meltdown if he did find out!" She shook her head. "Fortunately for you, Zeke is easily traumatized."

Then Alex understood. Harper was stressed out over keeping the secret from Zeke, probably since Zeke had seen Mason transform. But in Alex's opinion that didn't give Harper the right to yell at her that way. "I get it, okay? It was hard for me to keep the secret when I had a mortal boyfriend too. But you just have to deal! I did, and I was the one with magic!"

"Alex, that's not the point!" Harper insisted. "Since Mason got back, you've been even more careless and irresponsible than you usually are! You've been skipping every one of your magic lessons, and missing shifts at the restaurant. Plus we've barely seen you because you're always with Mason. I'm worried about you, and I worry about what will happen when school starts in less than two weeks."

Even though Harper's words held only concern, Alex's temper spiked again. She'd heard the same lecture from her parents recently, now this. She was sick of Harper siding with her parents. A real best friend should be thrilled that Alex was finally happy and in love, not bringing her down with issues that, in Alex's opinion, didn't matter. "Stop being my parent!" Alex shouted. "I already have two. I don't need another one! If you really were my best friend, you'd understand that!"

Hurt crossed Harper's expression, but she didn't shout back. Her voice stayed normal speaking level. "I do understand, but since your parents aren't getting through to you, I thought maybe you'd register what was happening if you heard it from me." Harper looked down, but not before Alex saw that her eyes were watery. "I guess you don't care that I miss you."

"I do care, and I wish we could hang out more," Alex said with strained calm, through plenty of fury below the surface. "But I've missed Mason so much. And I plan to spend every second I can with him."

This time, her stomps were real as she went out to the hallway. She needed to meet Mason for lunch.

When Teddy woke up that morning, she almost believed that finding a cousin who looked exactly like her had been an odd dream brought on by so much family research. But then, after she logged onto Facebook, there was a message from Alucard's account, and friend requests from both Alucard and Cindy. Though she felt silly about it, she clicked the pictures of Juliet again to make sure they were as identical as Teddy had thought they were the night before.

Yup, still identical.

Her heartbeat fast with excitement, she clicked on the message.

Dear Teddy,

Cindy and I received quite a shock when we saw your picture. While it is difficult to speak with someone who looks so much like our beloved daughter, we are eager to make ties with your family. You see, Cindy and I are on our own now, so we are delighted that you have reached out to us. I nfact, we will be in the States next week, and now plan to stop in your area, which we saw on your profile. We do have many stories to share about our common ancestor, and look forward to sharing them with you.

Sincerely

Alucard and Cindy van Heusen

"Wait...what?"

Teddy stared at the screen for a good minute while she processed what just happened. She had only sent the messages hoping for some colorful anecdotes she could add to her projects, since it also required a formal essay. Now it seemed she'd added a couple more relatives to her already-abundant extended family. And they would be coming all the way from Transylvania to see her within the next week. Did they think they were staying at her house? Her mom would not be happy about playing host to strangers on such short notice.

But the van Heusens had already made plans to visit, and Teddy wasn't sure how she could politely ask them to stay at a hotel when they were coming a long way just to visit her.

Well, there was only one thing to do.

"Mom!"

Moments later, Amy was in Teddy's doorway, dressed in scrubs. "What is it, Teddy? I leave for work in a few minutes!" Amy worked as a nurse in the town's hospital, so her schedule often changed daily.

Unfortunately this meant Teddy didn't have much time to tell her incredible story. She took a deep breath, then answered, "For my project I found that Juliet van Heusen is Dad's ancestor then I fount out two van Heusens on Facebook and they had a daughter that could've been my twin so I messaged them and now I think they're staying with us when they're in the States next week."

Amy just gave her a blank stare and repeated, "What is it, Teddy?"

"I'm serious, look!" Teddy insisted as she brought up the picture of Juliet she'd left open.

Skeptical, Amy still went over to Teddy's computer. "Oh wow! She does look like you, that's so weird!" She then narrowed her eyes at her daughter. "They're not staying here."

"But - "

No buts, Teddy! You have to be kidding if you think we're ready to have guests!" Amy retorted. "The house is a mess, and in case you haven't noticed, I've been taking more shifts at the hospital this summer. You and PJ or Ivy can meet up with them in a public place if you want, but they're not staying here."

Her arms crossed in a childish poit, even though it was the expected response, Teddy snapped, "So what am I supposed to tell them when they come all the way from Transylvania?"

"Transylvania? What are they, vampires?" Amy joked. At Teddy's unamused look, she said, "Look, just tell them that your mean old mom is being like, totally unfair and said they can't stay. I don't care if they are relatives, we don't know them. And we have enough extended family we never see as it is."

Before Teddy could argue, a bloop sounded from the Facebook page. Amy glanced at it, curious. "What was that?"

"I have a message," Teddy explained. Her fake pout vanished while she eagerly clicked it open with the thought it was probably from Justin. Sure enough... "It's from Juliet's ex-boyfriend."

As she looked at the message, Amy said, "Oh, he's yummy! Why'd you email him? Thinking of dumping Spencer?"

"Mom!" Teddy exclaimed, totally embarrassed. She then explained that it seemed something had happened to Juliet, especially after the message from Alucard, so she'd emailed Justin for back up. "I guess I didn't need to contact him after all, now that I know the van Heusens want to help."

Since Amy had read the message while her daughter spoke, she pointed to the message in surprise. "Good thing you did, though! 'Dear Teddy, whatever you do, do nottalk to or meet up with the van Heusens! I loved their daughter, but her parents are awful people who will take everything you've got. They're professional con artists. Don't believe a word they say. Chances are they're already figuring out how how to get money from you. Please, I beg you, just forget about the van Heusens.'" Amy paused. "Well, you're not meeting them now. No way."

Teddy whirled around to glare at her mother. After all she went through for this project, she was not going to let one little, probably biased note stand in her way now. "Mom, come on!" It's Juliet's ex-boyfriend, of course he's not going to be especially happy with them right now!"

"But you don't know the van Heusens either! For all you know, they could be con artists!" Amy pointed out.

Reluctantly, Teddy realized her mother was right. Maybe she'd been quick to trust the van Heusens because of how much she needed information from them. "Fine, how about this. I still meet up with them, but either you or Dad go with me."

After a few seconds' consideration, Amy nodded. "I'll have to ask your father about it, but that sounds good to me. Thank you for understanding." She glanced at the time on the computer, then kissed the top of Teddy's head. "I gotta go. PJ just left for work, so you're on babysitting duty. Gabe's downstairs reading his book, and Charlie's with him." At Teddy's surprised expression, Amy laughed. "I saw the DVD cover. Make sure he reads."

"Got it, Mom," Teddy said with a chuckle as her mother left. Then she typed up a reply to Justin's message:

Dear Justin,

Thanks for the warning, but I'm still going to meet up with the van Heusens, who said they're going to be in the States next week. I think they can really help me. Don't worry, I'll bring a parent with me, and we'll be careful.

Thanks again,

Teddy

"She replied!"

In his excitement, he jumped up and pointed at the screen. "It's from Teddy!"

"Teddy...such odd girls' names in this century," Cindy van Heusen remarked as she went to read the message along with her husband. "So her mother said we will have to get a hotel room, but Teddy and her parents would love to meet us." The vampiress paused. "Rather rude, don't you think? We're traveling from so far away, and she won't even provide room and board."

That wasn't the point of the message, but Alucard forced down an impatient retort. Instead, he replied, "My sweet Cynthia, none of that will matter when this Duncan family is part of our coven, and our daughter is returned to her former glory." They kept ancient Juliet in the spare room of their underground lair, where she lay slowly dying ever since the werewolf fight. Except when she went to check on the wizard for her birthday - that journey had taken most of energy she'd had left.

"Well, I was just saying. Why are you always so dramatic?" Cindy retorted. She then ignored her him and went back to preparing for their long flight. Since they could only fly at night, and needed to find somewhere to stay each morning, ir would take them about a week to reach the Duncans where they were in America.

Alucard let out an exaggerated sigh. How could he not be passionate when he spoke of such an important occasion? Of course snarky Cindy wouldn't see it that way. So he let it go and asked, "Is the elixir packed?"

"Doing so now, dear." Cindy held up a large vial full of a dark red liquid, but it was thinner than mortal blood. After Juliet's werewolf scratch, they'd spent months searching for an evil wizard who would make it for them. Finally they'd found one, and when they first saw Teddy's picture, bought the ready-made potion from the wizard in the black market.

When he caught sight of the cure for his daughter's condition, Alucard instantly dismissed his wife's complaint and went for the full, theatrical rant. "Wonderful! At first, after that monstrous werewolf turned our daughter into an old cone, I thought we would never find a mortal body perfect enough to host our dear Juliet's soul. Imagine my joy when I laid my eyes on this Teddy Duncan's photograph! Right away I knew she was the key to saving our daughter's soul from turning to ask along with her body." He ran over to bored Cindy and grabbed the vial from her. "But this! This marvelous elixir will knock that unfortunate mortal's soul into the afterlife, then absorb Juliet's soul into the empty vessel. Teddy Duncan will be no more, but our daughter will be reborn!"

Cindy just raised an eyebrow. "You done?"

Upset that his moving speech had no effect on her, Alucard grumbled, "Yes, dear," and handed her back the vial.

Dramatic villainy got no respect anymore.