by Cameron Jace
“She wouldn’t be if our mother hadn’t been.”
“Your mother is a witch?”
“Was, she and dad died when I was like three. I don’t really remember them.”
“Oh. Sorry about that.”
“Don’t sorry me. They’re the ones who’re dead. You should be sorry for them. My dad was a woodcutter. Mom was a witch; at least that’s what I was told. All I know is that she was a lousy witch. Isn’t it funny that my mom failed at being an evil witch? Maybe that’s why the Bullyvards pick on me so much. I mean if you’re going to be a witch, then be a freakin’ kick-ass spell casting, ingenious witch. What happened to raw, evil, villainous role models?”
“You wish your mother was evil?”
“Why not? She could’ve taught me what to do with Ulfric Moonclaw when I see him again,” Axel made a claw of his right hand and made a goofy evil face. “I mean, listen to his name, Moonclaw. It oozes with evil. He should worship his parents.”
“Don’t you think it’s bizarre you hate the guy but like his name?”
“Not at all; I like your name, too, by the way. Loki Blackstar. It sounds like a fictional hero’s name, but I still like it.”
Flawed logic aside, it was still hard to think of a villain with the last name Crumblewood, or even a hero for that matter.
“So who takes care of you and your sister?” Loki slumped back on the comfy, big red couch. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt comfortable with the company of a teen he’d just met. It was a strange feeling, but a good one.
Man, this couch feels so much better than Carmen’s backseat.
“We have a foster parent who picked us up two years ago from the Orphanage of Sorrow,” Axel said. Loki thought this explained why Axel and Fable didn’t have friends. “Her name is Mircalla. Strange name, I know, but she is a fantastic woman. She pays for everything and takes care of us although she doesn’t spend much time with us. She’s kind of like our fairy godmother, and she is awesome.”
“Why she isn’t here now?”
“She visits every week or so. She has other orphans to take care of all around the world, so we practically have the house to ourselves.”
“Interesting,” Loki thought Mircalla reminded him of the way Charmwill took care of him, only Charmwill never paid the bill or bought him a house. “I would love to meet her,” Loki said, although he didn’t mean it. By the time Mircalla came to visit again, he should have killed the vampire princess and left.
“She’ll be back in a couple of days, which means we’ll have to clean the house before that.”
Loki thought he clicked with Axel and Fable because they were orphans like him. Aside from his lost memories, Loki hadn’t had the chance to even know his father’s name, and his mother refused to tell him. All he knew from Charmwill was that he was a great Dreamhunter who’d been shadowed after falling in love with his mother who gave birth to Loki.
Loki touched his pocket where he kept the Dreamhunter’s notebook. He hadn’t had time to read it to figure out how he’d kill Snow White in her dreams. He planned to stake her first, and take her somewhere safe where he could learn the process of killing a demon in her sleep. That was if he managed to get over his fear of demons girls. Loki suddenly realized he was wasting time. He needed Axel to tell him about the obstacles he had to pass to get to the castle.
“I’m logging into the Snow White forum, Harum Scarum, so we can acquire all the info we need,” Axel brought his laptop over to where Loki sat. He picked up Bitsy, the silent tarantula, from the floor and threw him at the window. The spider stuck on the glass without complaint as if it were a big hairy magnet. “Useless dead spider,” Axel mumbled. “If only Fable didn’t love you so much.”
“What about this forum?” Loki asked.
“I know you won’t believe me, but teens are secretly infatuated with the Snow White vampire princess,” Axel said. “Here, you’ll find all the secrets, speculations, and conspiracy theories about Snow White, and what really happened to her.”
“Assuming she is the real Snow White,” Loki rolled his eyes.
“Well, that’s what the boys and girls say,” Axel said. “On this forum, you’ll find the names of the teens she killed, those who’ve tried to visit the castle recently, and those who claim they have seen her and came back. They are liars by the way.”
“Why?”
“Didn’t I tell you back in school that whoever lays eyes on her, never lives long enough to tell about it,” Axel faked an evil laugh. “Mua, ha, ha.”
“So enough with all that; get the info we need and let’s go to the Black Forest.”
“Easy, Loki, if we eat, wash, and rest for a while, we’ll be ready to go out a little before midnight. That’s when the boys and girls go there.”
“Why do we have to wait until midnight?”
“Because she’s a vampire, and wouldn’t come out in the sun? Gosh. What kind of vampire hunter are you?”
Loki tapped his fingers impatiently, not commenting about Axel still wanting to eat again. If Axel were a demon, he’d have eaten him and Fable already.
“But first,” Axel flopped back on the couch next to Loki, licking jelly off his fingers. “We kill us some Zombies,” he said with a fiendish grin.
“Kill Zombies?” Loki wondered, noticing Bitsy had disappeared from the window, leaving a web with one word written into it behind. It read: ‘dork’, probably addressing Axel.
Axel turned on the TV and started a game. Hordes of ugly Zombies walked toward them on the screen. Axel threw a wireless controller into Loki’s lap. “No one leaves Candy House without brain-blasting some Zombies. It’ll be a good adrenalin rush before killing your princess.”
Loki sighed, picked up the device, and started hitting buttons. It was much easier killing zombies than killing vampires in real life. The game controller was more of a magic weapon that did the job easily. Loki wondered if his Alicorn would turn out to as effective, and help him kill the pale princess.
8
Buried Moon Cemetery
A little before midnight, Loki drove with Axel toward the Black Forest. Axel insisted on stopping at The Belly and the Beast, which he described as the best hangout for teens in Sorrow.
“Seriously? Do you really feel like eating again?” Loki sighed, parking in front of the venue.
Cute girls on rollerblades, wearing short skirts, served customers who sat in their cars outside The Belly and the Beast. Axel didn’t want to eat inside because there was a chance they’d run into the Bullyvards. Loki didn’t mind the drive in and dine method as long as it was fast; he wasn’t here to schmooze and make friends.
The Belly and the Beast’s neon logo sign blinked pink then blue, pink, then blue, right above the entrance’s glass door. The logo featured a princess screaming for help from inside the belly of a beast who was munching on a triple-layered saucy sandwich and a pickle. Loki determined the beast looked like a fatter, scarier version of Axel.
“Tonight, we’re killing Snow White, the most vicious vampire in town,” Axel said, faking an evil grin. “I need something to munch on to ease my fears,” he flashed a tiny cross at Loki.
“Just make it fast, please. And you can forget about that cross. They don’t work,” Loki tapped the wheel.
“What do you mean they don’t work? My backpack is stuffed with crosses, holy water, and garlic. I even brought a Harry Potter wand, in case the princess needs a little ‘avada kedavra.’ I suppose you’re going to tell me they don’t work either.”
“Garlic? That’s why it stinks in here,” Loki looked away, tapping the wheel. “Sorry Carmen.”
Carmen shook a little, and winked the windshield once. Axel didn’t comment.
“You call garlic ‘stinky’?” Axel leaned forward, still flashing his cross, sniffing Loki. “Maybe you’re a vampire, Loki Blackstar. That’s why you can’t take the smell of garlic.”
“Would you back off, please,” Loki pushed Axel, noticing a cute
girl on rollerblades winking at him from outside.
Although Axel’s window was open, the girl approached Loki with a wide smile on her lips, knocking on his window.
“That’s why I munch,” Axel muttered, staring at her. “It’s my substitute for the sex I will never have.”
Loki rolled down his window.
“So what can I get you, handsome?” the girl on rollerblades asked Loki.
“You have Sticky Sweet Bones?” Axel interrupted, turning his head awkwardly and leaning down a little to look at her.
“Yup,” she said, still looking at Loki whose only interest in her was to make sure she wasn’t a demon. “You want your bones Caramel-flavored or Hazelnut?”
“You are awesome-flavored, sweetheart,” Axel thought to himself.
“Yep,” she sighed, eyes on Loki whose hand slipped down to his Alicorn.
“Bring me two bags of Sticky Sweet Bones, please, plus a pack of Tragic Beans,” Axel said.
“Yummy, Tragic Beans” the girl blinked at Loki. “Don’t you think two packs are too much? They’ll make you cry.”
Loki looked anxiously at Axel.
“Tragic Beans make you cry like when you peel an onion,” Axel explained. “But they make you feel funny at the same time. Could we get some Nervous Sausages, the chili flavored ones, for my handsome friend here,” Axel patted Loki’s chest, talking to the girl. “He is kinda shy with girls.”
“Aw, a shy guy, just my type,” the girl said as something flashed in her eyes briefly. Loki wasn’t sure if he’d just imagined it, but he gripped his Alicorn tighter. He thought the girl was cute.
Pippi Luvbug was cute, too. Remember?
“Okey dokey, then,” the girl said, rolling away. Loki let out a long breath, grateful that she was gone, or he might have staked her right here at the drive in.
What is wrong with this town? Is this girl a demon, or am I just getting paranoid?
A couple of minutes later, the girl came rolling back with Axel’s food. Loki reminded Axel that they weren’t there for a picnic, and eagerly drove away.
It was pointless telling Axel about the girl, or he would have spent the rest of the night freaking out. Loki needed Axel to be comfortable enough to lead the way to the mysterious castle.
“So how far is it to the Black Forest?” Loki said as he held on tightly to the steering wheel.
“We’re heading to Buried Moon Cemetery, first. It’s at the Southern entrance to the Black Forest,” Axel stretched an arm out of the window in a naïve attempt at trying to stop the wind with the palm of his hand.
“Buried Moon Cemetery?”
“Rumor has it that the moon was buried there in ancient times,” Axel explained. “It’s a mysterious but interesting story that claims the moon was actually a girl. An Evil Queen captured the moon with the help of a wolf called Managarm who was obsessed with it, and hunted it every night with a flying carriage. Then, when he finally caught the moon, the queen buried the moon in this cemetery, and the world went dark for a while. Demons roamed the moonless nights until—“
“—a Prince Charming kissed her awake and brought her back from the grave,” Loki speculated.
“Don’t you believe in happy endings?” Axel teased him, munching on the Sticky Sweet Bones that made crunchy sounds. They drove Loki mad.
“The only happy ending I can think of is when you finish what you’re eating,” Loki said.
“You don’t like Sticky Sweet Bones? These aren’t real by the way—although this piece looks a lot like a cat’s spine. Think of the Sticky Sweet Bones as biscuits; the idea is that the bones won’t break until you lick the sweet stuff from the surface. I don’t know how they do it, but it’s delicious,” Axel licked one and shoved it down his throat without chewing, reminding Loki of frogs. “I do believe in happy endings, and especially in a true love’s kiss that saves the day,” he said, swallowing.
Loki said nothing and watched the road. The houses on both sides disappeared into the dark as if consumed by the vale of blackness. The moon was shining full and bright, though, leading Loki to dismiss Axel’s story.
“So after we cross the Buried Moon Cemetery, we find the Black Forest on the other side?” Loki said.
“You wish it was that easy,” Axel said, putting the bag of Sweet Sticky Bones aside. He picked up his phone and started reading from the posts on the internet forum. “According to the Harum Scarum forum, Snow White resides in a mysterious castle called the Schloss.”
“The Schloss?”
“It means castle in German,” Axel said. “The Schloss is somewhere in the Black Forest. It’s said that it takes on many different shapes and changes locations. Also, that it’s been there since the beginning of time—whatever that means. No two people ever agreed on what it looks like. But the few who claim they’ve been there, say that it feels as if it’s alive. People even say it has its own soul that seduces its victims and attracts them like a moth to a flame.”
“Nonsense,” Loki shook his head. “All that gothic propaganda, as if it’s Dracula’s castle.”
“You just took the words out of my phone,” Axel said. “It says here that it is actually as scary as Dracula’s castle where he sleeps inside a coffin, wearing his cloak which is red as blood and black as night while his skin is pale as snow,” Axel winked at Loki and bit his lip, reading the last part. “Once you enter, he’ll snarl at you with his pale as snow face and feed on you.”
“Could you please skip to the important facts? How do we cross from Buried Moon Cemetery to the Black Forest?”
“The Black Forest itself is a large circular island, surrounded by the Swamp of Sorrow, a magical swamp that separates it from the town.”
“So the Black Forest is an island within an island, separated from Buried Moon Cemetery by the Swamp of Sorrow, right?”
“That’s what it says in the forum,” Axel said. “It’s told that there used to be bridges to cross the Swamp of Sorrow, but trolls ate them some time ago.”
“Trolls?”
“Yeah, you know those guys; ugly, obnoxious, dudes—sometimes big, sometimes little—who are good for nothing?”
“I’ve heard of them. So how then, do we cross the Swamp of Sorrow?”
“First, we have to go to Buried Moon Cemetery,” Axel said. “It’s the safest area to cross the Swamp of Sorrow. The guys in the forum say that no one has ever been able to cross from anywhere else. It’s also close to my house in case we need to hightail it out of the castle and hide.”
“And then what? You still didn’t tell me how to cross the Swamp of Sorrow.”
“In a canoe,” Axel said.
“Sounds good, whose canoe is it? Did teenagers put it there?”
“No,” Axel shrugged, looking worriedly at Loki, “the ferryman.”
“What ferryman?” Loki gripped the wheel.
“Skeliman, the Ferryman,” Axel said. “It’s all in here,” he pointed at his phone. “Skeliman the Ferryman is a skeleton who once served as a ferryman on the river Styx, sailing people across Hell. Somehow, he ended up guarding the Swamp of Sorrow. In order to cross the swamp, you will need to ride with him in his canoe.”
“This is getting all too silly.”
“If I were you, I’d listen to the people in the forum,” Axel said. “Half of them had someone in their family killed by your vampire princess. Besides, if you think that’s insane, you need to hear the rest of it.”
“I’m listening,” Loki sighed. This town, its inhabitants, and its stories were overly perplexing.
“It’s said that, unlike the castle, Skeliman the Ferryman doesn’t like anyone to cross over,” Axel said.
“That’s confusing,” Loki said. “If the castle seduces teens for the vampire princess to feed on, why would Skeliman do otherwise?”
“I have no idea,” Axel started munching on something. “But it gets even weirder. Skeliman is a skeleton; he doesn’t have eyes, only sockets. Therefore, he can’t see,” Axel chuc
kled, having relaxed now after eating. Loki wondered if that was why he was eating all the time.
“Read on,” Loki said impatiently.
“It’s advised to take advantage of Skeliman’s blindness and get on his canoe, but only if you can hold your breath most of the ride.”
“Why should we do that?” Loki said.
“Skeliman can recognize the living by their breath. Usually, his passengers are dead, and he is alright with that.”
“But that doesn’t make sense,” Loki said. “How did all the other teenagers cross the Swamp of Sorrow?”
“This brings us to the other option,” Axel said, scrolling down his phone’s screen. “According to a post by another contributor in the forum, some teens figured a way around it. They’ve invented a secret way to cross without the ferryman detecting them. It’s a secret, so the only way to find out is to wait for some of the teenagers and follow them to see how they do it.”
“I don’t have time for this. What if we don’t find teens trying to cross over tonight?”
“I think we will. Boys and girls try to enter the Black Forest every night. They come to have fun, drink, party, and fool around. The cemetery adds to the drama and scare they’re looking for.”
Loki let out a long breath, looking into the dark of the road ahead. Now that they were close to the cemetery, the weather turned chilly. Loki refrained from asking Axel about the weather, because he knew Axel wouldn’t stop babbling and he needed him to focus. He kept silent, and caught a glimpse of Axel munching on the Sweet Sticky Bones out of the corner of his eyes. The closer Loki drove to the cemetery, the slower Axel munched, and the bigger his pupils turned.
“Do you fear the dark, Loki?” Axel broke the silence, staring at the road as if waiting for something to pop out from the ditch.
“At the dark too long stare and you’ll end up seeing what isn’t there,” Loki replied.
“Wise words, Yoda, wise words,” Axel nodded hypnotically then snapped out of it. “We’re almost there,” he said, pointing at grey tombstones, appearing out of the mist like spirits welcoming them from their graves. Behind it, Loki could only see silhouettes of dark upon silhouettes of darker.