“Sounds magnificent,” Loki said. “So could you open it then?”
“I could, but there’s a slight problem,” Igor said. “The gate doesn’t lead straight to Sorrow. It leads to the Missing Mile, which then leads to Sorrow.”
“The Missing Mile?” Loki wondered. “Interesting name, is there a reason for it?”
“Many, actually,” Igor said. “One of them is that it is really a Missing Mile that few people know about,” Igor snickered again. “Another reason is that everyone who finds the Missing Mile usually goes missing.”
“Are you saying that in order to enter Sorrow, I have to cross the Missing Mile, which sounds like it’s impossible to cross?”
“Not impossible, only dangerous,” Igor lifted a finger in the air. His hand was crooked enough that Loki wasn’t sure if it was a forefinger, middle finger, or even a thumb. “The only way to cross the Missing Mile is to ride the Train of Consequences,” Igor pointed his cane at the gate like a magician showing kids into a candy store. A tray of flashy lights shone behind the gate which had just opened on its own. Spirals of green smoke foamed from under a sparkling train. It looked like a huge piece of diamond. The scene with the creepy man, gate and the train with its flashy lights and green smoke reminded Loki of a ridiculous Broadway show he’d seen on TV.
The whale’s mouth was actually a train station. The train’s windows were all foggy, and Loki wondered if there were any passengers inside.
“The Train of Consequences,” Loki rubbed his chin.
“If I were you, I’d get on the train right away before you change your mind,” Igor said. “The Train of Consequences runs with the power of your intentions, and I’m getting a hesitant vibe about yours.”
“Are you saying that its fuel is my desire to go farther?” Although Loki was annoyed by Igor, he found the idea of the train interesting.
Igor nodded.
“So what happens if my intentions weaken halfway to Sorrow?” Loki asked.
“The train slows down or even stops,” Igor said. “And trust me when I tell you that you don’t want to be stuck in the Missing Mile.”
“What about my Cadillac? How will it cross over with me?”
“Do you have to have your Cadillac with you?”
“We’re kinda dating,” Loki patted Carmen’s roof gently.
“There is a ramp you can use at the end of the train. You can drive it in with the rest of the cargo.”
“Sounds good,” Loki said. He got in his Cadillac and drove through the gate then up the ramp at the end of the train, and parked Carmen inside.
Entering the train, he saw it was empty inside. It had an eighteenth century vibe to it; dim lighting, brown color motifs, and old decorations. Loki walked the aisle to take a seat, noticing that he couldn’t see outside because of the condensing fog on the windows. He didn’t bother wiping one off; all he wanted was for the train to depart from this freaky sideshow and take him to Sorrow.
Igor appeared again inside the train.
Standing closer now, Loki saw that Igor was blind. He used his cane to find his way through the aisle. Loki took a better look at him and saw that he had three eyes; two were in the normal places and one in the middle of his forehead. Igor had been blessed with a third eye, one more eye than most people, but cursed because they were all blind, which made him worse off than most people. Loki didn’t want to comment. Charmwill had told him that Sorrow was a special place, but he’d never mentioned anything about it being like a freak show.
“Tickets please,” Igor said to Loki.
“What tickets? You didn’t say anything about tickets. Didn’t you say the train moves forward with the power of intention?”
“Yes, I did, but I never said that it was free. Have you ever taken a ride without paying a price?” Igor said. “Everything in Sorrow comes with a price.”
“Tell me about it,” Loki said, remembering how he’d struggled paying for his schooling, and the price he’d paid for falling in love with a demon girl. The problem was that Loki was penniless—he was counting on the town’s council, or Lucy, giving him a down payment.
“I see you don’t have money,” Igor said, and his three blind eyes twinkled.
“You see right,” Loki nodded.
“That’s fine,” Igor said. “The price of the Train of Consequences isn’t paid with green bills and silver coins.”
“It isn’t? You have some other currency?”
“You pay with consequences,” Igor said. “It’s the Train of Consequences. Isn’t it?”
Loki said nothing. Things were getting weirder and weirder.
“You just have to agree that by riding the train, you will accept the consequences that’ll follow,” Igor explained proudly.
With all this nuttiness, everything Igor said rang a bell. Eventually, Loki will have to the pay the consequences of entering Sorrow. Either he would succeed in killing the vampire princess and go home, or fail and stay here.
“I accept,” Loki nodded.