“Seriously? Do you really feel like eating again?” Loki sighed, parking in front of the venue.
Cute girls on rollerblades, wearing short skirts, served customers who sat in their cars outside The Belly and the Beast. Axel didn’t want to eat inside because there was a chance they’d run into the Bullyvards. Loki didn’t mind the drive in and dine method as long as it was fast; he wasn’t here to schmooze and make friends.
The Belly and the Beast’s neon logo sign blinked pink then blue, pink, then blue, right above the entrance’s glass door. The logo featured a princess screaming for help from inside the belly of a beast who was munching on a triple-layered saucy sandwich and a pickle. Loki determined the beast looked like a fatter, scarier version of Axel.
“Tonight, we’re killing Snow White, the most vicious vampire in town,” Axel said, faking an evil grin. “I need something to munch on to ease my fears,” he flashed a tiny cross at Loki.
“Just make it fast, please. And you can forget about that cross. They don’t work,” Loki tapped the wheel.
“What do you mean they don’t work? My backpack is stuffed with crosses, holy water, and garlic. I even brought a Harry Potter wand, in case the princess needs a little ‘avada kedavra.’ I suppose you’re going to tell me they don’t work either.”
“Garlic? That’s why it stinks in here,” Loki looked away, tapping the wheel. “Sorry Carmen.”
Carmen shook a little, and winked the windshield once. Axel didn’t comment.
“You call garlic ‘stinky’?” Axel leaned forward, still flashing his cross, sniffing Loki. “Maybe you’re a vampire, Loki Blackstar. That’s why you can’t take the smell of garlic.”
“Would you back off, please,” Loki pushed Axel, noticing a cute girl on rollerblades winking at him from outside.
Although Axel’s window was open, the girl approached Loki with a wide smile on her lips, knocking on his window.
“That’s why I munch,” Axel muttered, staring at her. “It’s my substitute for the sex I will never have.”
Loki rolled down his window.
“So what can I get you, handsome?” the girl on rollerblades asked Loki.
“You have Sticky Sweet Bones?” Axel interrupted, turning his head awkwardly and leaning down a little to look at her.
“Yup,” she said, still looking at Loki whose only interest in her was to make sure she wasn’t a demon. “You want your bones Caramel-flavored or Hazelnut?”
“You are awesome-flavored, sweetheart,” Axel thought to himself.
“Yep,” she sighed, eyes on Loki whose hand slipped down to his Alicorn.
“Bring me two bags of Sticky Sweet Bones, please, plus a pack of Tragic Beans,” Axel said.
“Yummy, Tragic Beans” the girl blinked at Loki. “Don’t you think two packs are too much? They’ll make you cry.”
Loki looked anxiously at Axel.
“Tragic Beans make you cry like when you peel an onion,” Axel explained. “But they make you feel funny at the same time. Could we get some Nervous Sausages, the chili flavored ones, for my handsome friend here,” Axel patted Loki’s chest, talking to the girl. “He is kinda shy with girls.”
“Aw, a shy guy, just my type,” the girl said as something flashed in her eyes briefly. Loki wasn’t sure if he’d just imagined it, but he gripped his Alicorn tighter. He thought the girl was cute.
Pippi Luvbug was cute, too. Remember?
“Okey dokey, then,” the girl said, rolling away. Loki let out a long breath, grateful that she was gone, or he might have staked her right here at the drive in.
What is wrong with this town? Is this girl a demon, or am I just getting paranoid?
A couple of minutes later, the girl came rolling back with Axel’s food. Loki reminded Axel that they weren’t there for a picnic, and eagerly drove away.
It was pointless telling Axel about the girl, or he would have spent the rest of the night freaking out. Loki needed Axel to be comfortable enough to lead the way to the mysterious castle.
“So how far is it to the Black Forest?” Loki said as he held on tightly to the steering wheel.
“We’re heading to Buried Moon Cemetery, first. It’s at the Southern entrance to the Black Forest,” Axel stretched an arm out of the window in a na?ve attempt at trying to stop the wind with the palm of his hand.
“Buried Moon Cemetery?”
“Rumor has it that the moon was buried there in ancient times,” Axel explained. “It’s a mysterious but interesting story that claims the moon was actually a girl. An Evil Queen captured the moon with the help of a wolf called Managarm who was obsessed with it, and hunted it every night with a flying carriage. Then, when he finally caught the moon, the queen buried the moon in this cemetery, and the world went dark for a while. Demons roamed the moonless nights until—“
“—a Prince Charming kissed her awake and brought her back from the grave,” Loki speculated.