by Cameron Jace
“Shhh,” Loki shushed them both. “Don’t you two dare move. If she sees you again she’ll kill you. Let me take care of this. Did she bite you?”
“No,” the girl sobbed. “It’s like… it’s like she wanted to but held back for some reason. But I’m sure she’ll kill me if she sees me again,” the girl started screaming again, shaking with her boyfriend on the rumbling couch.
“Get a hold of your girlfriend,” Loki ordered the boy and turned around to go look for Snow White.
Loki found her gliding over the famous stairs again, looking as monstrous as when he’d first met her. Except that she was struggling in pain this time; she was struggling between giving in to Carmilla’s curse and feeding on everyone around her or fighting back. She must have sensed the nosy teenagers sneak into the Schloss when he was asleep, and couldn’t control her hunger. Then after catching them, she did her best not to bite them. Loki had to find a way to deal with her anger. He couldn’t think of a greater pain than that which she was suffering.
The notable difference about her this time was that she was holding her apple-shaped necklace, which she usually wore. It was hanging at the end of a thin string dangling from her hand, wrapped smoothly around her fingers. The necklace looked like it had some kind of liquid inside it.
“Why don’t you ever leave me be, Loki,” she said with black eyes.
“I can’t,” Loki said. “It’s not like I have control of it. Besides, you asked me to save you the first time we met, remember?” he climbed a step higher, gripping the banister tightly so he wouldn’t lose balance. It was true that everything was shaking around him, but he hoped he’d be able to sneak his way up to her without her noticing.
“I’m cursed and I need to feed. If I don’t feed now, the whale is going to sink Sorrow into the water and all will be lost,” she said.
“I know,” Loki nodded, taking another step. “You told me that your soul is bound to the island in some way.”
“But I don’t want to feed. I want to resist it,” she said. “If I resist, the island will sink and everyone on it will die. If I feed, I will fully become one of them. I’ll be letting the darkness inside surface, and I also don’t want to do that.”
“I understand. If you just let me up there, we can work this out together,” Loki said.
“No, we can’t,” she growled. “You missed a lot of things you were supposed to understand in the dream. This is why I can’t. I have to die so everyone else lives.”
“I did my best in the dream. I don’t think I missed anything. And you don’t have to die,” Loki shook his head. “You can’t die, unless in a dream, and we’re not in a dream right now.”
“You’re wrong,” Snow White said, swinging the apple necklace like a pendulum in the air. “There is a potion inside this necklace, and if I take it willingly, I can kill myself. It was given to me centuries ago in case I became stuck in a situation like this.”
“Wait,” Loki stretched out his hand and stepped up. He had to stop though when she drew the potion closer to her mouth. “You survived two centuries against all of this and want to kill yourself now?”
“Is he talking to the vampire?” Loki heard the boy on the couch asking his girlfriend. “He’s freakin’ talking to the vampire.”
“I guess it’s my destiny, Loki, to eventually succumb to the poisonous apple. I’m Snow White after all.”
“Did she say she’s Snow White?” the girl said to her boyfriend on the couch. “Has she gone cuckoo in the head?”
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Loki said, the stairs shaking wilder. He had no idea what to do to save her. All he knew was that he wanted to be near her. It wasn’t rational, but he thought he could help her if he was closer to her.
“I’ve waited for you so long, Loki,” Snow White said. “I guess we’re not meant to be. Who was I fooling? Our love is forbidden. Dhampir or not, I’m still a vampire, and you’re a vampire hunter.”
“No, it’s not like that,” Loki said. “I don’t want to be a vampire hunter anymore. I want to be with you.”
“I’m sorry but I will have to sleep forever now,” she said. “It’s the only way you, the town and its people, will live, and ease my pain.”
Snow White lifted the potion up, ready to drink it.
With a sudden surge of power, Loki jumped the steps, trying to pull the potion away. Instinctually, Snow White scratched her fingernails across the left side of Loki’s neck. It was a deep scratch, and he bled instantly. He still didn’t care. He grabbed Snow White by her shoulders as she screamed and flashed her fangs at him. She was cold as ice. Loki didn’t know if he could hold her any longer. She was like an angry child who needed a big dose of tough love to calm her down.
Snow White snapped and sent Loki flying through the air like she had with Big Bad. Loki soared high into the air, lucky to grab the diamond chandelier before he dropped two floors and crashed onto the furniture below.
“Loki in the sky with diamonds,” he mumbled to himself as he swung like a monkey from a tree.
“Leave me alone, Loki,” Snow White used her powers and swung the chandelier harder. Loki lost his grip and fell onto the couch with the boy and his girlfriend.
“She’s mad,” the girl held Loki by his shirt, shaking him out of panic. “She will kill us all.”
“Seriously,” Loki grinned at her boyfriend. “When are you going to get a grip on your girlfriend?”
Loki stepped off the couch, walking back wanting another go at Snow White. He flashed his Alicorn at her, saying, ‘Ora Pedora.’
The Alicorn’s snake spiraled in the air as he was about to whip it at Snow White. “You know I like you and all,” Loki said to Snow White. “But I think you need a little spanking.”
Snow White snarled at him and pulled her potion closer. With a crack of the whip, the snake curled up in the air, and pulled the potion from Snow White. Snow White dropped the potion.
Snow White glided through the air and tried to grasp the potion, but the snake caught up to her, grabbed it with its mouth and clamped down on it, careful not to break the bottle. Snow White couldn’t take it back. She became so enraged and screamed in such a high-pitched voice that windows crashed down from their frames.
“Gotcha!” Loki said with a big smile on his face.
Snow White spread her hands again, using her powers. Loki found himself losing his Alicorn to her invisible power, which caused another cut on his hand.
“You know this love-hate relationship isn’t going to work, right?” Loki said.
“I’m going to kill you,” she said, darkness filling her eyes. Her reaction scared Loki this time, but he decided to fight her—and for her—until the end. He didn’t hold her strong enough and she slipped through his hands. This time he wasn’t going to let go of her. He gathered himself again and ran up the stairs one more time. Loki did it fast, without thinking, and ended up grabbing her again. He slapped her hard on the face. It was out of fear. He was hoping she’d turn back to the normal girl he loved. As her head recoiled he saw the marks his fingers left on her pale cheek. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled.
Tangled and struggling together, it was obvious that only one of them was going to live. Either the princess was going to kill him and feed on him or he’d stake her and put her to sleep again. But Loki didn’t want to stake her. He wanted to find a solution. He wanted a cure for her curse. The cure Carmilla dared him to find.
They both rolled down the stairs, Loki refusing to give up on her. He didn’t know what he was going to do. It was like hanging onto a tiger who was about to slash him into pieces.
Finally, they hit the floor, Snow White landing on top of Loki.
She craned her head up, ready to sink her teeth into his neck. With all his might, Loki rolled her over. He was on top again. Even then, he knew he only had a fraction of a second before she used her powers and rolled him back again and killed him. She was angrier than he’d ever seen her. She wasn’t in control of herself, and the whale was
about to sink the island.
Loki felt electricity shoot through his body. It was a shocking chill running through his veins.
On impulse, he pushed her head back to the floor and forced his lips onto her hers and kissed her.
Time stopped.
Amazingly, Loki felt her body ease and soften. It even got warmer, miraculously buzzing back to life. Loki pressed his lips harder against hers, his eyes closed. He felt like she was sucking his life energy out of him. He didn’t mind, even if he’d be a hundred years older when he opened his eyes again—as long as they grew old together, he was fine with it.
It was an enchanting feeling, very different from kissing Pippi Luvbug. Every breath Snow White took was Loki’s now. Who’d have thought that the boy who didn’t believe in a true love’s kiss would find the cure in a true love’s kiss?
He’d saved her, and saved the town, too.
Loki felt her chest rise up to his like two tides in the ocean meeting up, wrapping their waves around each other and finally finding the way back to shore. He pulled back, out of breath, and opened his eyes.
Snow White’s blue eyes came back, shining with a ray of gold connecting their souls.
“I like a girl who knows when to kiss and when to kill,” Loki told her.
She smiled, and he leaned down to kiss her again. No more forcing now. It was smooth like destiny, because it was meant to be.
“He’s kissing the vampire,” the boy said to the girl. “Gross.”
“Shut up,” the girl said. “She’s so gorgeous. It’s a true love’s kiss. You wouldn’t understand,” the girl captured the moment with her phone’s camera. “Who’d have thought a true love’s kiss takes place in a haunted castle with walls spattered with blood?” she said.
“Buzz off,” Loki told them, annoyed by them spoiling the moment.
“Is that it, the cure for Carmilla’s curse?” Snow White said with glittering stars filling her eyes. “A kiss? All my suffering ends with a single kiss?”
“Not any kiss,” Loki mused. “A Loki Blackstar kiss.”
“I don’t feel like I need to feed anymore. Can you believe this? All I needed was a kiss?” she sighed. “You’re really slow, Loki. You know that, right?”
“I know,” he nodded. “I should’ve kissed you the first night I saw you.”
Mr. Squirrel and Nine came running up to them. Mr. Squirrel wiggled his nose and clapped his hands. Loki knew they weren’t going to talk in front of Snow White. They only talked to him when he was alone. Or maybe he only imagined them talking to him. In any case, he loved them dearly.
He looked back at Snow White and brushed a lock of her hair back. “It’s always the kiss,” he said. “Charmwill tried to tell that to me many times, but I was too blind to see. I can’t believe I’ve wasted sixteen years of my life without you.”
28
The Dreamhunter
When the daylight laid its caring eyes gently upon the Schloss, Loki’s phone beeped. It was a message from Lucy:
Comin’ for breakfast? Axel and Fable want to introduce you to their foster mother. She’s really cool.
Loki messaged back with a ‘yes.’
He asked Snow White to join him but she didn’t feel like going. She was tired from all that had happened, and Loki discovered she didn’t feel like she was going to be able to meet people easily. It turned out that spending one hundred years in a castle made her a little introverted. Now that she was saved and cured, she didn’t know how to face the world. Regular people and real life was sometimes tougher and scarier than demons and monsters.
Loki tried to explain to her that she’d love Axel and Fable—especially Fable—but she seemed to prefer being alone for a while. She didn’t mind him visiting his friends who’d helped him a great deal to save her. She had also wanted to search the Schloss for lost manuscripts, pictures, or anything that could help her begin her journey as a Dhampir. She hadn’t been cured to live a normal life. She was the chosen one, and soon she’d be battling the Queen of Sorrow’s demons and vampires.
“I won’t be long,” Loki kissed her. “I might bring them back with me, and then I think you have a lot to explain to me. We both know that saving you is only the start of something bigger.”
Snow White nodded agreeably, but reluctantly. She still had that look in her eyes that said she couldn’t tell him everything for some reason.
“Loki,” Snow White summoned him back, standing at the castle’s threshold.
“Yes?” he turned around.
“I’m afraid this is all a dream,” she said as a morning breeze passed through her hair.
“It’s not,” Loki said licking his lips. “If you don’t believe me, ask your lips.”
“But we fell in love in a dream,” she laughed as Pickwick landed on her shoulder. Loki had ordered him to stay with her until he came back.
“And it came true,” he spread his arms. “What more can I ask for?”
Loki walked back through the forest and then drove his car to the Candy House. He bought flowers on the way so he’d make an impression. Now that Charmwill had died, Loki thought a woman like Mircalla, Axel and Fable’s foster mother, would hopefully be someone they could all look up to and reply on for help. The Crumblewoods had been telling him great things about the woman who took care of them.
On his way, The Pumpkin Warriors played ‘Eye of the Tiger’ on the radio. Loki tried convincing them that it wasn’t the appropriate song for the occasion, but they didn’t listen. His phone rang before he reached the Candy House. It was Lucy.
“I’m on my way,” Loki said after picking up.
“That’s not why I’m calling you,” she said. “I’ve been thinking about the story you told us all last night.”
“And?”
“I don’t buy that Carmilla is evil. Something’s wrong,” she explained. “I mean after all she did, running away with the man she loved, giving him her blood, sacrificing everything for her daughter, how could she turn into this evil monster so easily? It just doesn’t make sense.”
“You don’t understand, Lucy,” Loki said. “You haven’t seen the Queen of Sorrow. You wouldn’t stand a minute before her. She’ll kill you, cook you, and eat you alive. She killed Charmwill and I’m going to avenge him one day, so don’t go on trying to make me think she’s not evil. Talking about her right now already makes me uncomfortable—why do you even care?”
“Because she’s the only one that interests me in your story,” Lucy said.
Knowing Lucy, Loki could understand why Lucy was infatuated with the powerful Queen. He didn’t expect her to sympathize with Snow White at all. To Lucy, the Queen was an idol who controlled her own life, took what she wanted and did it her way.
“Lucy,” Loki said. “I’ve been through a lot. Let’s talk about this later. I’m almost home.”
“You better be here soon. Axel says that he found something about Carmilla in (the) history books from Bedtime Stoories.”
“How so?” Loki’s eyes twitched.
“It turns out that the oldest female vampire mentioned in those so called vampire novels is named Carmilla.”
“Did Axel say that?” Loki said. Most of Axel’s research turned out to be right before so I have no reason to doubt him.
“Yes. Carmilla Karnstein,” Lucy empathized.
Loki almost lost the wheel for a moment.
“Her tale is called, ‘Carmilla’ and it was written in 1872,” Lucy said. “It’s partially a novel but with a lot of history references.”
“What does that mean?”
“How should I know,” Lucy said. She sounded in love with Carmilla. “I haven’t understood most of the things you said about fairy tale characters being real, but if they are, why wouldn’t Carmilla be this woman mentioned in the book. Maybe the author of this book was trying to tell the world something about her.
Loki’s head ached again. Now that Charmwill was dead, he had no one to ask about such things. But he rem
embered that he had Pickwick. Maybe that’s why Charmwill asked him to take care of the invaluable bird. Was it the right decision to leave the parrot with Snow White? Loki didn’t know. But no worries, he was only having breakfast with his friends and their foster mother, and then he’d drive back to Snow White and get Pickwick. Maybe Snow White knew something about the novel.
“Listen, Lucy,” Loki said. “We’re not going to talk about any of this in front of Axel and Fable’s foster mom. Once we have our little introduction, we’ll all head back to the Schloss and find out what’s going on.”
“Deal,” Lucy said. “I am so fascinated with the Queen. I can’t wait to find out more about her story.”
Loki parked his car in front of Axel’s house. The smell of food baking in the morning was enchanting. Mircalla must have been a great cook because he doubted Fable cooked this good.
“Loki,” Fable came running out of the house and jumped in his arms. Loki held her up with her feet in the air. “Tell me all about it,” she whispered in his ear. “Was it romantic?”
“In spite of a little blood, poison, and a whale about sinking Sorrow, I’d say it was romantic.”
“So the whale shaking the island yesterday, that was you and Snow White?” she said. “You have to tell me everything.”
“Easy with my sis, dude,” Axel barked at Loki, standing with folded hands, leaning against the doorframe. He let out an unsure smile.
“Who’s the squirrel?” Lucy pushed Axel away as she came out to the front porch.
Loki looked at the squirrel following him, this time without Nine, the cat. “He’s nuts,” Loki waved his hand. “Don’t bother with him,” he was teasing it.
The squirrel ran directly at Lucy and climbed her legs up to her neck, then sat on her shoulder. Lucy fidgeted and cursed and tried to push it away.
“Someone’s in love at first sight,” Loki said, entering the house with Axel and Fable.
Fable showed Loki the way to the dining table, which looked so lovely and family-like. The house had been cleaned and filled with roses. This Mircalla was such a neat woman. Loki thought she should stay with the Crumblewoods all year.