“Don’t you believe in happy endings?” Axel teased him, munching on the Sticky Sweet Bones that made crunchy sounds. They drove Loki mad.
“The only happy ending I can think of is when you finish what you’re eating,” Loki said.
“You don’t like Sticky Sweet Bones? These aren’t real by the way—although this piece looks a lot like a cat’s spine. Think of the Sticky Sweet Bones as biscuits; the idea is that the bones won’t break until you lick the sweet stuff from the surface. I don’t know how they do it, but it’s delicious,” Axel licked one and shoved it down his throat without chewing, reminding Loki of frogs. “I do believe in happy endings, and especially in a true love’s kiss that saves the day,” he said, swallowing.
Loki said nothing and watched the road. The houses on both sides disappeared into the dark as if consumed by the vale of blackness. The moon was shining full and bright, though, leading Loki to dismiss Axel’s story.
“So after we cross the Buried Moon Cemetery, we find the Black Forest on the other side?” Loki said.
“You wish it was that easy,” Axel said, putting the bag of Sweet Sticky Bones aside. He picked up his phone and started reading from the posts on the internet forum. “According to the Harum Scarum forum, Snow White resides in a mysterious castle called the Schloss.”
“The Schloss?”
“It means castle in German,” Axel said. “The Schloss is somewhere in the Black Forest. It’s said that it takes on many different shapes and changes locations. Also, that it’s been there since the beginning of time—whatever that means. No two people ever agreed on what it looks like. But the few who claim they’ve been there, say that it feels as if it’s alive. People even say it has its own soul that seduces its victims and attracts them like a moth to a flame.”
“Nonsense,” Loki shook his head. “All that gothic propaganda, as if it’s Dracula’s castle.”
“You just took the words out of my phone,” Axel said. “It says here that it is actually as scary as Dracula’s castle where he sleeps inside a coffin, wearing his cloak which is red as blood and black as night while his skin is pale as snow,” Axel winked at Loki and bit his lip, reading the last part. “Once you enter, he’ll snarl at you with his pale as snow face and feed on you.”
“Could you please skip to the important facts? How do we cross from Buried Moon Cemetery to the Black Forest?”
“The Black Forest itself is a large circular island, surrounded by the Swamp of Sorrow, a magical swamp that separates it from the town.”
“So the Black Forest is an island within an island, separated from Buried Moon Cemetery by the Swamp of Sorrow, right?”
“That’s what it says in the forum,” Axel said. “It’s told that there used to be bridges to cross the Swamp of Sorrow, but trolls ate them some time ago.”
“Trolls?”
“Yeah, you know those guys; ugly, obnoxious, dudes—sometimes big, sometimes little—who are good for nothing?”
“I’ve heard of them. So how then, do we cross the Swamp of Sorrow?”
“First, we have to go to Buried Moon Cemetery,” Axel said. “It’s the safest area to cross the Swamp of Sorrow. The guys in the forum say that no one has ever been able to cross from anywhere else. It’s also close to my house in case we need to hightail it out of the castle and hide.”
“And then what? You still didn’t tell me how to cross the Swamp of Sorrow.”
“In a canoe,” Axel said.
“Sounds good, whose canoe is it? Did teenagers put it there?”
“No,” Axel shrugged, looking worriedly at Loki, “the ferryman.”
“What ferryman?” Loki gripped the wheel.
“Skeliman, the Ferryman,” Axel said. “It’s all in here,” he pointed at his phone. “Skeliman the Ferryman is a skeleton who once served as a ferryman on the river Styx, sailing people across Hell. Somehow, he ended up guarding the Swamp of Sorrow. In order to cross the swamp, you will need to ride with him in his canoe.”
“This is getting all too silly.”
“If I were you, I’d listen to the people in the forum,” Axel said. “Half of them had someone in their family killed by your vampire princess. Besides, if you think that’s insane, you need to hear the rest of it.”
“I’m listening,” Loki sighed. This town, its inhabitants, and its stories were overly perplexing.
“It’s said that, unlike the castle, Skeliman the Ferryman doesn’t like anyone to cross over,” Axel said.
“That’s confusing,” Loki said. “If the castle seduces teens for the vampire princess to feed on, why would Skeliman do otherwise?”
“I have no idea,” Axel started munching on something. “But it gets even weirder. Skeliman is a skeleton; he doesn’t have eyes, only sockets. Therefore, he can’t see,” Axel chuckled, having relaxed now after eating. Loki wondered if that was why he was eating all the time.
“Read on,” Loki said impatiently.