by Cameron Jace
“Those are really big doors,” Fable said, pushing hard with all her might, causing her body to bend over as if she was stretching in an aerobics class.
The rooms were ridiculously large, almost empty, except for an occasional bed with a nightstand, and large wooden wardrobes.
Fable welcomed each room with a happy dance of her own, tapping on the floor with a rhythmic tempo and stretching out her arms at her sides. She was excited, looking at the high ceilings as if waiting for the rain.
Since the rooms looked safe, Axel started opening more doors, feeling brave, silencing the fear inside him with the irritating sound of squeaking doors.
Axel pushed another door open and Fable dashed into the room with her dancing routine. Axel kept two forefingers crossed in the air, arching his back and examining the rooms like a bad cop with a crucifix in a B movie, the one who usually had two scenes left before he died.
“Don’t worry, Loki,” Axel said. “As long as I believe in the cross, I’m safe and protected.”
“It has to be made of wood or silver,” Fable suggested.
“If you really think it works, why didn’t you use it on her yesterday?” Loki said, walking back to the hallway.
“I was still weakened by my disbelief, but today I’m stronger,” Axel said, trying to sound old and wise, like mentors do in movies. “Ever hear the saying, ‘What doesn’t bite you makes you stronger’?”
“I want what you had for breakfast, because it must’ve been some good stuff,” Loki said. “Oh, wait. I forgot, the boogeyman ate your breakfast.”
Fable laughed; it was a snicker, almost like a sneeze.
Loki opened another room, and it was as empty as the rest. Was it possible that Snow White didn’t sleep in the castle? And why were there no mirrors anywhere? Such castles usually had mirrors, a lot of mirrors. Fairy tales were all about mirrors.
“Mirror, mirror on the wall?” Loki whispered, rubbing his fingers together as if tempting a horse with an imaginary cube of sugar in his hand. He turned back to look for a bathroom. There had to be at least one mirror in there.
“Hey,” Loki said to Axel and Fable. “Did you find any bathrooms?”
Looking out in the hallway, Loki couldn’t find Axel.
“Axel, where are you?” Loki wondered.
There was no answer; only Loki’s echoing voice.
“Fable?” he said.
There was no sign of Fable either, no sounds of clicking feet or singing to an invisible rain.
Loki swallowed hard, and pulled out his Alicorn.
“Stop playing tricks and come out now,” the loneliness of his echoing voice worried him.
What happened to them?
He hurried his pace, pushing more rooms open, merely glancing inside, and looking for them.
They weren’t here.
And not there.
“If you’re trying to pull a prank on me, it isn’t funny!” Loki said.
Three rooms away, he saw the sun bursting into the hallway which meant the room had been opened before he’d reached it. He approached it cautiously, listening to the cacophonic drumbeat of his heart. A light, too bright, was shining out of the room.
“Are you there, Axel?” Loki asked, two steps shy of the room’s entrance. The sound of his footsteps approaching added creepiness to the worrying symphony in his brain.
Loki stopped before the door, raising his stake with his back to the wall. He cocked his head–which Snow White had been twisting yesterday—trying to sneak a peek into the room.
And then, something wicked this way came.
It was a black creature, fluttering its large wings towards him, and hitting him in the head. Loki fell back in the hallway.
On his back, he took a second look at it and saw a huge crow, the size of a man, rustling its large wings, crossing over the staircase to the chandeliers, then flying away through an open window on the other side.
Loki picked up his Alicorn again and stood up, wondering if the room was full of other crows. He had to face whatever else was waiting for him in the room.
“Stupid Loki,” he mumbled. “Neither Axel or Fable should’ve come with you. This is your war. It isn’t fair if something happens to them because of you,” Loki noticed this was one of the longest mumbling episodes he’d ever had. He suspected that it meant he really cared about them.
Finally, Loki found Axel standing in the middle of the room, right in front of him. Then he saw the horror on Axel’s face. He looked paralyzed with an inanimate stare in his eyes and with an open mouth. Loki thought he looked like he was made of wax, standing with his hair as stiff as a witch’s broom, his face pale as if he’d just been bitten by a vampire. Loki stayed put, watching the goosebumps on Axel’s arms.
Axel was speechless, his eyes reluctantly shifting sideways; looking as if they were someone else’s standing behind a statute of Axel in a celebrity museum. Loki got the message, and stared in the direction of Axel’s gaze.
The room was full of mobile, stand-up mirrors. They were set against each wall, and reflected the sun back inside. Each mirror reflected the other’s reflections; spooky stuff that caused the blinding brightness in the room and in the hallway. It was distracting, forcing Loki to look at everything twice to identify it. The back of his eyes hurt, as if he’d stared at the sun too long.
Still, Loki stepped inside, slowly getting used to the brightness. That was when he understood what was going on. The mirrors weren’t the reason for Axel’s fear. It was something else, simply laid on the floor in the middle of the room: a glass coffin.
Fable was kneeling down, hugging the glass coffin and gently brushing the back of her hand against the glass. She was watching the sleeping beauty of Snow White inside. Loki never imagined this scene the way he saw it right now. Aside from scared-to-death-with-chattering-teeth Axel, and haplessly romantic Fable, Loki was emotionally touched. He thought if Snow White were the old-fashioned vampire type, he’d find her in a darkened room with a bluish-brownish vibe, full of bloody curtains. She’d be next to a wooden armoire with an old rusty lock with intimidating shadows on the wall. On the other hand, if Snow White was the glass coffin princess, he’d imagined the scene before him taking place in a forest with seven dwarves mourning over her and Prince Charming, kneeling down to kiss her.
Loki nodded at Axel, reminding himself that everyone was allowed to pee in his or her pants occasionally.
The mirrors in the room were like those at a fun house. Loki could see himself from different angles, his reflection repeated and multiplied into smaller and farther versions of him inside the mirrors. He wasn’t going to complain. The mirrors were more than enough for him to bury Snow White in the Dreamworld.
He knelt down next to Fable.
“Shhh,” Fable said, “she is sleeping,” she caressed the coffin as if it were her baby. Loki decided he wouldn’t argue with her now, because he wanted to examine the coffin instead.
The glass coffin was padlocked from the inside. It was a devious trick. To stake her, Loki had to break the glass, which would be like sending her a text message: Hey baby, I’m coming to kill you. Wake up. Vampire’s reflexes were fast so he had to find a way around it.
“I wouldn’t be that sentimental if I were you,” Loki said to Fable. “If she wakes up, she’ll bite you.”
“Yeah,” Axel mastered the courage to squeak out a useless word.
“You two are horrid,” Fable whispered, which made Loki think she was also a little bit afraid of Snow White but wouldn’t admit it. “She is just a young beautiful girl. You didn’t tell me she was this beautiful.”
“Isn’t she supposed to die when exposed to sunlight?” Axel asked Loki, knowing he couldn’t win the conversation with Fable. “Or burn?” he seemed to like the idea better.
“She isn’t an ordinary vampire. That’s if she is actually just a vampire,” Loki said. “There is something different about her. Besides, not all vampires burn in the light. It might be dangerous to stay out in th
e sun for a long time, but dying is so Hollywood tabloid stuff. Those few vampires who burn in the light have charms and spells to protect them against it.”
“Don’t kill her, Loki,” Fable stared at him with moistened eyes. “She is so beautiful. I can see why her evil stepmother wanted to kill her out of jealousy. Please, Loki, please.”
Loki could easily cry now, burst into tears and throw himself against the floor, kicking with hands and feet like a two year old who shoots long-range tears out of his eyes into the air, and cries: waaaaaaaa!
But instead, he took the high road and didn’t reply.
Bringing Fable along was a bad idea. Too emotional.
Inside the coffin, Snow White had her arms crossed over her white dress like an ancient Pharaoh Princess in an eternal beauty sleep. She was only sixteen but exuded an aura of being ancient. Loki felt as if he was pulled by an invisible power from his chest toward her. It was a strange feeling he hadn’t experienced before; a feeling of belonging. His eyes scanned every inch of her body. Her whole being screamed three colors: white, red, and black. It was as if every other color in the world disappeared when he looked at her.
Her skin was pale, the color of a peaceful dove; the color of snowflakes on beautiful winter nights, lighting up the dark. Those snowflakes that urge you to tip your head back and enjoy their tiny splashes against your face; the kind of snow that makes you want to build a snow castle or a snowman and stick a carrot in its face, gifting it with a new nose. The color of her skin was hypnotizing. Yes, it was pale, yet it flowered with blooming youth. Loki hated when he found himself thinking of her that way, knowing that her beauty was only a mask of the great darkness in her.
She had red-manicured fingernails, and Loki wondered if it was the blood of her victims. He couldn’t help but notice a faint red glow on her cheeks as if there were two small red apples shining through from underneath. Then there was that red ribbon in her hair, making her look innocent. It was one of the few things that didn’t change about her when she changed into a vampire.
That damn red ribbon! That damn innocent feel about her. It makes it hard to plunge the Alicorn into her heart.
She had a red apple tucked between her hand and her chest. She was gripping it tightly as if it had sentimental meaning.
Snow White’s hair was smooth, tumbling down her shoulders as if it had been combed every day, handled with the finest natural oils, reminding Loki of ocean tides in a moonlit night. It had the power of sending you to a shore with a loving or drowning you between its tangled arms.
How did she clean up all the blood? How does she look so goddess-like?
Watching her sleep was euphoric. Loki thought he’d forget about the Mona Lisa, or the Seven Wonders of the World, or even how every child pictured Sleeping Beauty in her sleep. Snow White’s beauty, in normal form, was a serenely beautiful sight. She had that beauty Loki never saw on the cover of magazines. It was pure, not artificially hiding behind plastic surgeries and plastered colors on her face. She didn’t need it. Loki even noticed Snow White’s cheeks were a bit chubby, but her beauty wasn’t something you could fully comprehend with the eyes. It was that feeling he had in his tummy. He thought that this was why the evil stepmother never asked the mirror: Who was the most beautiful of all. Instead, she asked: Who was the fairest of them all.
The exact word Loki thought described the girl in the coffin now: Fairest.
Loki shook his head, trying to wake himself from this trance.
What’s wrong with you, Loki? She’s playing you, and you should not be tempted to end your quest. Evil looks so good sometimes.
“She spared your life yesterday,” Fable reminded Loki, sewing cobwebs of guilt into his being. “She must’ve done it for a reason. Why do you insist on killing her?”
Fable’s words were cutting through Loki’s half-angel soul. He stood there silently, unable to make the next move.
“You’re not falling in love with her? Are you?” Axel said. “You saw what she did yesterday.”
“I’m not falling in love with her, you hear me?” Loki grabbed Axel from his shirt and said with a firm voice. “I’m not falling for a demon girl again. You understand.”
This time Axel didn’t say anything—he didn’t even understand what he meant by falling for a demon girl again. Loki scared him more than ever now. Even Loki noticed the anger that welled up inside of him was ridiculous, as if he suddenly had no control of his actions. He finally let go of Axel.
What’s happening to me? How can I be so villainous?
“Wooh, I don’t want to get you angry at me again,” Axel said. “That’s more like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Next time, please warn me before you turn into the Incredible Hulk.”
Loki fidgeted a little, unable to take his eyes off Snow White. He had his fortune cookie in his grip. Again, it was the only object he trusted whenever he didn’t know what to decide in this world—especially when Charmwill Glimmer wasn’t nearby.
“What should I do?” he asked it, almost sweating. Then, gritting his teeth with closed eyes, he crushed the fortune cookie in his grip.
When he opened his eyes, he read the small paper with the answer. It simply said:
Kill her.
Loki let out a sigh. Something didn’t feel right wanting killing the vampire princess, but Loki had no choice but to trust the fortune cookie. It had always helped him, and had gotten him so far.
“You’re talking to a fortune cookie?” Axel asked while Fable didn’t even comprehend what just happened.
“It helps me make up my mind when I can’t decide where to go, or what’s wrong and what’s right,” Loki explained.
“Who are you, Loki Blackstar?” Fable asked with big, disbelieving eyes.
“Just a boy trying to find a place I can call home,” he mumbled, and it was obvious that he wasn’t going to elaborate.
“Good,” Axel adjusted his shirt—and prestige. “Now, I know we need to get you home before you go ballistic on us like your vampire princess did on the teens yesterday.”
“The coffin is locked—” Loki explained, not commenting on Axel’s remark.
“Good for us,” Axel said.
“From the inside,” Loki continued.
“Not good for us.”
Loki rummaged through the items in his bag, and pulled out a small hammer and handed it to Axel. “You will have to break the glass with this hammer.”
“Why me?” Axel backed up a little, staring at the hammer as if it were a poisonous snake.
“That, or you’ll have to stake her yourself while I break the glass. Pick your poison,” Loki said.
Axel shook his head, kicking the floor in frustration. “I guess cracking the glass open is like messing things up, which I am good at,” he took the hammer. “You don’t happen to have some gum in that bag of yours, do you?”
Loki shot him an incredulous stare.
“What? I just need something to chew on so I can relax. Out of the way, Fable. Do you always have to stand in my way?”
“You’re evil, Loki!” Fable stood up. “Why did you even come to this town? We were all happy before you came.”
Loki shrugged. Fable was definitely a weak spot.
Fable ran into Loki and started hitting him in the chest. Loki didn’t react to her sweet anger. The way her head ended up buried in his chest, and the smell of her pure soul on his skin, made him truly vulnerable to her. Loki and Axel had just shattered all she loved about her childhood princess in a matter of hours.
“I have to do this, Fable,” Loki said. “She’s a demon. Besides, I’m only staking her. I promise you that if I find a reason not to kill her when I enter her dream, I will let her live.”
“As if you can kill her,” Axel mumbled.
“You promise, Loki?” Fable looked up to him, literally and emotionally.
“I promise,” Loki said, eyes closed, and running his hand through her hair. He lied to her, only to calm her down, and he was ashamed about i
t. How was it possible for a half-angel to lie? Wasn’t he supposed to be the good guy?
Loki wanted to tell Fable that it wasn’t his fault that the world was full of vampires, or that it was his job to kill them, or that Snow White turned out to be a demon. Hell, Snow White wasn’t supposed to be real in the first place. Even with all those fairy tales Charmwill had told him, Loki never believed the idea that they were true.
“Could we get this over with?” Axel groaned. He parted his legs and stood over the coffin, holding the hammer up high with both hands, ready to break it open. He looked eager to break something. Loki thought he’d have to talk to him about the downside of repeatedly playing those Zombie games; they were causing him to be violent.
Looking at Fable and Axel, Loki still wondered why they acted like they were twelve. He felt like a sixteen-year-old who was a father and an older brother at the same time.
That’s the last thing I need, to have to care for someone else.
Loki patted Fable on the shoulder, after kissing her on the forehead. He knelt down next to the coffin, ready with his Alicorn.
“Pass the Magic Dust to Fable,” Loki told Axel. “In case I can’t stake her, you will have to throw it all in Snow White’s face,” he told Fable. “It will keep her unconscious for a while. If that happens, you should escape with Axel, and run as far as you can. I will handle the rest.”
“Why didn’t you use it yesterday,” Axel wondered.
“I was so paralyzed I couldn’t even think about it,” Loki said.
I’m not really telling Axel the truth, which is that I suck when it comes to demon girls.
“Are you with me, Fable?” Loki said.
Fable nodded, brushing her tears away, adding one last unnecessary sob at the end.
“Fable,” Loki stressed, gazing into her eyes. “Don’t do anything stupid. If you use the Magic Dust against us, we’re all going to become vampires-ever-after.”
She smiled with approval. “Then why don’t you use the magic dust on her now instead of the stake?” she asked.
“According to the Dreamhunter’s notebook, to enter her dream, I have to stake her in the heart while she is awake. If I stab her while she is asleep, I can’t enter her dream.”