Snow White Sorrow (7 page)

Don’t trust her. She might be a demon. She just enrolled in school last week, and you know nothing about her. Are you going to make the same mistake that got you kicked out of the pearly gates?

Loki avoided Pippi until the bell of freedom rang and class was over. He had to meet up with Charmwill to report his failed attempts at killing Dork Dracula, and he wanted to discuss the weird phone call from Igor the Magnificent.

Walking the empty corridor on the last floor, which led to Charmwill’s office, the storage door opened suddenly and someone pulled him inside. Loki didn’t have time to pull out his stake, but he eased up a bit when he saw it was Pippi. She closed the door, leaving them stuck in the tight place among brooms and stinky cleaning buckets.

“Kiss me, Loki,” Pippi pulled him closer to her.

“What?” Loki panicked while detergents fell from the shelves.

“Kiss me, just like in fairy tales,” she closed her eyes, and pursed her lips, stretching them out like a duck’s beak. “Let me know if you’re the one for me.”

“Get off me, Pippi,” Loki said. She had wrapped her legs around him and he couldn’t set himself free. Looking at her, he confessed, “I don’t want to kiss you, and I don’t believe in that crap about true love’s kiss!” he said; trying to push her away, but Pippi had limbs like an octopus and they were sticking to him.

Pippi opened her eyes, disappointed with Loki. She pulled him even closer and plunged her lips onto his. Loki felt like he was struck by lightning. He’d never kissed a girl in ordinary life before—and he couldn’t remember if he had before he was banned. Even from Pippi, it felt so…so…good. Why hadn’t he tried this before? Ah, he forgot. He wasn’t allowed to.

Suddenly, Loki forgot he was a vampire hunter.
The hell with going back home, this feels so good.
This kissing thing was awesome. It didn’t really feel like true love, but it felt pleasant. He found himself giving in to Pippi and kissing her back, closing his eyes.

After she pulled away, he had a dreamy smile on his face, neglecting the stinky smell of brooms. He felt as if tiny lovebirds tweeted all around his head.

Happily, he opened his eyes, and that was when something crazy happened.

Pippi Luvbug, the quirky redhead wasn’t herself anymore. She had simply turned into a red eyed, pale skinned, vampire with fangs and yellow eyes. Something crawled under her skin, and Loki thought wherever it was looked like tiny eels.

“Welcome to hell, Loki,” she said in an awful voice that reminded him of croaking frogs again.

What have I done? I messed up again.

The storage room was too narrow, and there wasn’t enough time for Loki to reach for the stake from his backpack. He was about to get bitten by a vampire. One thing that crossed his mind was that he really didn’t want to die in school.
What an awful place to die.

Suddenly, the door sprung open and light shone through. It was Charmwill Glimmer. He pulled Loki back and staked Pippi mercilessly in the chest, almost pinning her to the wall. Shocked, her body kept wriggling for a while before she gave in and died.

“Wait for me in my office,” Charmwill said. “I will take care of the body.”

Running back to the office, Loki thought about how crazy it would look like if someone saw Charmwill killing Pippi. Maybe they would think of him as a sadistic, mad teacher who kills his students. Most of the town’s people were looking for the person who murdered their children at parties, and if anyone saw him it wouldn’t look good. Loki entered the office and waited for Charmwill. He just hoped he wouldn’t be furious with him.

“I am sorry, sir,” Loki said once Charmwill burst into the room and locked it from the inside.

“I don’t think that I taught you to spend your life apologizing,” Charmwill said as his Book of Beautiful Lies turned back into Pickwick the Parrot.

“I am Pickwick,” the parrot said to Loki. “And I am mute.”

“I’m Loki,” Loki patted Pickwick. “And I am hopeless.”

Charmwill eyed Loki for a moment, but he didn’t comment. “I assume you killed your thirty-eighth vampire yesterday,” he said.

“No, sir,” Loki lowered his head a little. “I failed.”

“And what was it this time? Did Donnie Cricketkiller kill the vampire first?” Charmwill inquired, leaning back at his desk.

“He did, eventually. But that wasn’t why I failed,” Loki shrugged. “The vampire had a squirrel taped over its heart, and I wanted to save the squirrel.”

“Saved the squirrel, huh,” Charmwill lit up his pipe, staring out his window.

Sometimes, Loki didn’t understand Charmwill. He wished he could read his mind. Had Charmwill become accustomed to Loki’s failure at killing vampires?

“Hmm…” Loki broke the silence. “I wanted to tell you something strange that happened to me yesterday.”

“Oh?” Charmwill still stared out the window.

“This girl, Lucy Rumpelstein, who hired me to kill the vampire, had someone from her town call me in the middle of the hunt and offer me a full year of schooling, free of charge if I kill a hundred year old vampire in their town.”

“Go on,” Charmwill puffed more smoke. It smelled really good, but Loki never dared ask what it was. “Sounds like a good job offer.”

“The thing is the vampire is a—“Loki said, “a girl.”

Pickwick flew away from Loki’s shoulder to Charmwill’s, as if it sensed Loki’s weakness.

“I just saved you from a demon girl,” Charmwill said. “She’s been sitting in class next to you for a week. She’s been playing games with you, and you couldn’t figure out that she was a vampire. You wasted a good opportunity to kill another vampire, and when she tempted you, you gave in and were about to get killed,” Charmwill spoke slowly, sounding considerate more than disappointed. Loki wanted to tell him that the kiss was really good, that he was only fifteen and shouldn’t have to be killing vampires, that he should have be having fun, but he worried Charmwill would come unglued and turn him into another Pickwick. “After all that I’ve mentioned, please explain to me how you’re considering killing another vampire girl?”

“You’re right,” Loki clasped his hands behind his back, wishing he could scream and express that he couldn’t take it anymore. “It was silly. It seems I was banned for a good reason. I do have a weakness toward demon girls—”

“—and squirrels,” Charmwill added.

“Yes, demon girls and squirrels, sir,” Loki quietly questioned how in the world liking both of those creatures could be considered a bad thing. “I just thought I’d tell you about the incident because the man also claimed the vampire’s name is…well…Snow White,” Loki rolled his eyes.

Charmwill turned to face Loki, and Pickwick’s eyes widened. “What did you just say?” Charmwill asked. “Snow White?”

“Yes. Can you believe that? He even said she was the
real
Snow White,” Loki tried to sound casual.

“What did the man say the town’s name was?”

“I am a little confused about that,” Loki waved a hand. “The man said the town’s name is Hell. Then Lucy gave me a card that said its name is Sorrow. I guess Sorrow is a smaller town in Hell or something. I know it all sounds ridiculous.”

Charmwill didn’t find any of this funny. Loki hadn’t seen him look so serious before, brushing his beard again and looking a bit dazed.

“Sit down, Loki,” Charmwill said firmly. “It’s time I tell you about something.”

“OK?” Loki sat down reluctantly. He hated when people made introductions to their speeches. It usually meant bad news.

“You know it’s your sixteenth birthday next week, and you’ve only killed thirty six vampires so far, right?” Charmwill placed his hands over the desk and leaned forward.

“Thirty seven, sir,” Loki corrected him.

“No. The one in Forks, Seattle, was resurrected. Someone dug him up from his grave, and pulled the stake out of his chest.”

Loki gritted his teeth. How was he supposed to kill vampires that were so easily resurrected? You just pull the stake out, and they came back.

“At this point, it would be foolish to pretend that you’ll kill ninety-nine vampires before next week,” Charmwill followed. “You have to know that when I unshadowed you, I only told you about the rules because the Council of Heaven wouldn’t release you unless I did.”

“I will always be grateful, sir,” Loki felt obliged to say.

“The truth is that I didn’t really care if the Council of Heaven forgave you,” Charmwill said. “I really cared about you for reasons I wish not to discuss now,” he avoided Loki’s eyes, saying the last sentence, and then looked back. “And part of my caring was that you get a second chance in life, whether here in the Ordinary World or back home. Frankly, I was hoping you’d like it here in the Ordinary World, and maybe spend the rest of your life here.”

“But, sir, I hate it here,” Loki gripped the edge of the desk. “People are mean to me, and to animals. I have a hard time making friends, and I think Minikins are—“

“Stupid, I know.”

“Besides, why would I want to be mortal when I could live forever?” Loki wondered, and Pickwick nodded for it seemed a plausible argument.

“I can understand your reasoning, Loki,” Charmwill said. “On the contrary, I like those Minikins. I find them amusing. I like their mortality, occasional stupidity, and flaws.”

”But I don’t, sir,” Loki said. “I want to go back home. I know they don’t like me there because I made a mistake that I don’t remember, but I’ll do anything to get them to forgive me.”

“Anything?” Charmwill leaned forward.

“Anything, sir,” Loki stressed. “If not for the sake of going home, then to know who my dad is, what I did wrong, and who that girl I fell in love with was. How do you expect me to move forward when I don’t know my past?”

“As your guardian, it’s my duty to teach you and help you fulfill the destiny you choose,” Charmwill leaned back in his chair. “And now that you’ve decided, you should know that everything the man on the phone told you is true,” Charmwill stopped Loki from interrupting so he could explain further. “There is a sixteen year old vampire called Snow White. She is a troubled girl with a mysterious past, who lives in a castle in a town called Sorrow. It’s more of an island than town, and it can only be reached by passing through another town called Hell.”

“So there is actually a town called Hell?” Loki wondered.

“There are many towns called Hell in America. You can easily spot them on the map,” Charmwill said. “There is Hell in Michigan, in the Cayman Islands, in Cleveland, Ohio, in California, in Arizona, and in Kentucky. All of these towns serve as portals to the island of Sorrow—its residents like to call it a town, but it’s actually an island. The vampire Snow White lives in that town. We’re talking about things few people know about.”

“But Lucy looked like an ordinary Minikin,” Loki considered.

“Sorrow is a special place with special secrets,” Charmwill interrupted him. “You shouldn’t bother yourself knowing much about people like Lucy.”

“So what should I bother with, sir?”

Charmwill stared directly into Loki’s eyes, “That killing Snow White is worth ninety-nine vampires in the eyes of the Council of Heaven,” he said.

“What?” Loki snapped.

“Like I said, if you kill this Snow White vampire in Sorrow, you will be forgiven and allowed to go home.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that a year ago?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Charmwill raised an eyebrow. “You’re scared of girls, Loki. How did you expect me to tell you about her a year ago? I thought you might either like this Ordinary World or kill ninety-nine vampires, or even overcome your fear of monster girls. You didn’t do any of that. Now, you’re left with the only chance to fulfill your destiny.”

“By killing the kind of vampire I am scared of the most,” Loki shrugged his shoulders.

“Nothing comes easy. If you want to go back, you will need to face your fears this time. Going to Sorrow will be your greatest challenge because it will not only tell you who you are, but what you are capable of, and that’s the most important to me,” Charmwill took a casual drag from his pipe.

“So all I have to do is go to Sorrow through a portal in a town called Hell, kill Snow White and it will be over?”

Charmwill nodded.

“I will have to face my fears,” Loki said to himself. “But what if I kill her and someone pulls the stake out later like the dude in Forks? I am afraid they’ll ban me again,” he replied eagerly.

“That’s why you will need this,” Charmwill handed him a thick, but small notebook.

Loki picked it up. It was old with yellowish pages and hundreds of hand-written drawings and instructions. He flipped through it once without reading anything specifically. The notebook’s title read: The Dreamhunter’s Guide.

“Dreamhunter?” Loki said.

“You wanted to know about your past, and one of the things you didn’t know about was that you were a Dreamhunter like your father, a very good one, too.”

“I am? And what does a Dreamhunter do? I didn’t know my father was one, too,” Loki was excited.

“A Dreamhunter is the only hunter that has the ability to kill Demortals, which is the name we call a certain kind of immortal demon including vampires. Demortal demons don’t die, no matter how many times you stake them. Like the vampire in Forks, once you pull the stake out of them they will come to life again. However, only a skilled Dreamhunter can get rid of them,” Charmwill leaned forward again.

“How so?”

“A Dreamhunter stakes a vampire in their dreams while they’re asleep so they can never wake up again. The Demortal’s mind can’t comprehend the idea of being killed in their dreams and it paralyzes their brains and they can’t wake up again in the real world.”

“Even when someone pulls the stake out?” Loki had to ask again.

Charmwill nodded. “The only way to kill the vampire girl in Sorrow is to kill her in her dreams, which is practically not killing her, but putting her to sleep forever, which is good enough.”

“Is that why they were looking for me?” Loki wondered. “Lucy said there was some kind of prophecy about only one person being able to kill the vampire.”

“I don’t know about that, but I know that if you learn what it’s in this notebook, you can do it,” Charmwill said.