“I‘m the new dude, I don’t know many students yet,” Loki shrugged his shoulders, ignoring Axel pulling at his sleeves.
“I’m going to punish whoever did that to my friends,” Ulfric said. Then he did something that struck Loki as odd. Ulfric titled his head up and yelled, ‘Awooo!’
It was only seconds before others replied back, ‘Awooo!” Loki assumed this was the rest of the Bullyvards’ pack as Ulfric hurried toward them.
“Easy, Ulfric,” Lucy pleaded after him. “He’s reckless when he gets mad,” Lucy said proudly. “And I love it.”
But Loki wasn’t there. He’d already sped away in his Cadillac, Axel still trying to bury himself under the passenger seat.
Closer to main street, Loki gazed in the rear view mirror and saw Ulfric Moonclaw chasing him on foot. He’d figured out it was him who fought Big Bad and Paw Paw.
Ulfric eventually gave up, swearing and panting in the middle of the parking lot. Loki couldn’t hear what Ulfric was saying, but he assumed that he promised he’d soon teach Loki and Axel a lesson they would not forget.
Loki quietly speculated how much money he’d have made if he had a dollar for every time he looked in the rear view mirror and saw someone trying to chase him down.
“If you really want me to give you a ride home, you’ll have to tell me how you know my name.” Loki said while driving.
“Harum Scarum,” Axel said. “It’s an online forum. It’s devoted to everything about the vampire princess. Someone mentioned that you’d be the next vampire hunter coming to town.”
“What’s with this obsession with the princess?”
“No one’s ever killed her,” Axel said. “I am a member in the forum, proud member in fact; I’m only twenty seven posts away from being an admin. I can help you since you’re new to town.”
“Like I said, I roll alone.”
“Come on,” Axel said. “You need an assistant. I bet you don’t even know how to get to the castle, or about all the obstacles you’ll have to overcome to get there.”
“I can handle myself.”
“Yeah, it showed when the earth was shaking and you were the only one scared in the parking lot. I saw you.”
“You know what shook the earth in the parking lot?” Loki was curious.
“See?” Axel grinned. “You need me,” he pointed proudly to himself.
Loki let out a short sigh. He didn’t think there would be any harm using the help of someone who knows the town well. He was running out of time anyway.
“OK,” Loki said. “You could show me the way to the castle, but that’ll be it.”
“Awesome!” Axel wanted to high five Loki, but Loki let him down.
“So what’s shaking the earth in Sorrow?” Loki asked.
“The whale,” Axel answered. “This island is built on the back of a whale, and sometimes it shakes a little after having a big meal.”
“That’s outrageous,” Loki said with disbelief. “Not at all,” Axel said. “I know they lied to you at school and called it an earthquake. Trust me, it’s a whale.”
7
Candy House
“Come on in!” Axel ushered Loki through the door. It was a lonely house atop the highest hill in Sorrow, a perfect spot to observe the rest of the street-curving town. “If you ever get lost, trying to get here,” Axel explained, “ask for the Candy House on Breadcrumb Street. It’s practically the last house separating the town from the woods beyond that leads to the water surrounding Sorrow.”
Loki assumed Axel meant the Missing Mile, but he doubted Axel knew about it or the Train of Consequences. He had a feeling the things he’d experienced entering the town were tailored for him somehow; and he remembered Igor telling him that only those who entered Sorrow for the first time rode the Train of Consequences. Still, Loki didn’t desire knowing more about all of this weirdness, as long as he was on the right track in his mission. Instead, he occupied himself with watching Axel’s mysterious house.
Candy House was a peculiar piece of wicked art. It was constructed of wood and stone, and it had a sod-roof that curved like a magic carpet with two layers of green grass over chocolate-brown mud. Loki thought the house could easily go unnoticed because of how it was dug into the hillside. Only the irregularly-shaped, huge windows with hazel sticks suggested someone lived inside. It looked like a crafted woodcutter with chainsaws, hammers, and chisels built it. It was a perfect, primitive hiding place between the edge of town and the beginning of the labyrinthine woodland behind it.
“Nice house,” Loki said, and took a step back to get a wider view.