“Enough Fable,” Axel interrupted. “Go back to your room to study. Loki and I have business to take care of. Besides, I ate all the Pookies this morning,” Axel played older brother then headed to the refrigerator, ate chips from a bag that looked like they were two days old, and gulped from an open can on the way. He opened the refrigerator, pulled out a plate of red jelly and placed it on the counter. The jelly shook nervously on the plate. “Don’t be afraid. I’m not going to hurt you,” he talked to it, reaching for a spoon. “I’m just going to eat you. Yum, Yum.”
Loki exchanged looks with Fable. She seemed like she wanted to scream and pull her pigtails out. Somehow, this was enough to prove to Loki that the house wasn’t made of candy, or Axel would’ve eaten it long ago.
“Do we have any Coffincakes left?” Axel asked Fable with a mouthful of jelly.
“Coffincakes?” Loki wondered.
“Yeah, those little coffin-shaped cakes that you can open and eat the carrot-corpse inside then eat the cake, I mean, the coffin as dessert,” Axel explained. “You never heard about them? Where are you from, man? They’re just like Coffinmuffins.”
It was official; food in Sorrow was wickedly peculiar, insanely eccentric and bordered on madness.
“Can’t you ever stop eating?” Fable growled at Axel. “You ate all my food.”
“Because you ate my Sticky Cinnamon Frogs yesterday,” Axel fired back, swallowing. “Besides, all you ever eat is bread.”
“I don’t eat bread all the time. I use it to find my way back from when I go to the market and back. Don’t worry about Axel eating everything,” Fable said to Loki, picking up her book of spells. “I have apples in my room, if you feel hungry; Bad Apples, Mad Apples, and Poisoned Apples.”
“They’re not really poisoned apples, or?”
“Of course not,” Fable laughed. It was a mesmerizing laugh; the laugh of a girl who rarely left the house or faced the dangers of life. Still, Loki adored her perkiness. “You just faint for a couple of minutes after eating them. It’s like taking a nap after a heavy meal. Everyone loves Poison Apples in Sorrow,” she elaborated.
Loki saw a small spider crawling on Fable’s shoulder. When he tried to swoosh it away, she stopped him.
“Don’t hurt him. It’s Itsy,” she patted it as it tickled her neck.
“I told you my sister is a wannabe witch. What I didn’t tell you is that she is also very weird,” Axel laughed.
“And this is Bitsy,” Fable pointed at a motionless tarantula, lying on the floor next to the couch.
“He looks—“Loki said.
“Dead—“Axel suggested, thrilled at making fun of his sister.
“No, he isn’t,” Fable explained to Loki. “He is just depressed. He broke up with his girlfriend.”
“He’s depressed because you charmed him with the wrong mood-lifter spell last week,” Axel said, throwing the spoon into the sink. “Now seriously, go back to your room. Let the big boys do their work, and don’t forget to do my homework, too.”
“I don’t want to go to my room, and you’re not dad, you know,” Fable insisted, hugging the heavy book to her chest. “Can I please join you in whatever you’re doing? I’m bored,” she said, adjusting her glasses.
“No you can’t,” Axel insisted. “Girls should listen to their big brothers, be polite and not ask too many questions.”
“That’s a bit sexist,” Loki tried to interrupt.
“Shhh,” Axel eyed Loki. “Don’t talk about sex in front of my little sister.”
“Axel,” Fable barked, “you’re the dumbest brother in the world,” she mumbled something else and waved goodbye to Loki who felt for her, and then went back to her room.
“So how come she is into magic?” Loki asked Axel.
“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.