Blood, Milk & Chocolate - Part 1 (The Grimm Diaries Book 3) (4 page)

6

Although
everyone was eager to listen to Axel's theory about resurrecting Loki, they had
to wait for Shew to wash in the bathroom. She hadn't only been soaked in tears,
but also in
Cerené's
and Loki's blood from the
Dreamworld. It seemed like Shew hadn't even slept last night when Axel was
snoring and Fable was having nightmares.

As Axel
waited in the kitchen, trying to befriend Pickwick, Fable couldn't resist those
breadcrumbs at the porch again. She told Axel she was returning in a few,
enough time to let Shew wash and refresh. Axel seemed in a hurry with those
repeated missed calls and messages he received. He told her that she and Shew
had only fifteen minutes before he had to go do something important.

Fable
walked as if she were hypnotized, following the breadcrumbs. She still couldn't
explain the feeling, nor could she tell what was happening to her. She felt
comfortable in her boyish outfit, though.

She kept
walking until she reached Loki's car again. This was when she really knew why
she was here. It was Carmen. How was Fable capable of hearing the radio when it
only played in Loki's presence?

Fable
opened the door cautiously. She put in one foot slowly after the other and then
sat by the steering wheel. No radio played his time. Fable wondered if there
was a way to trigger it, but couldn't think of any. She tapped her fingers on
the wheel, giving it a prolonged thought.

"Carmen?"
she whispered reluctantly. "Can you hear me?"

Carmen
showed no sign of acknowledgment.

"If
you do hear me, please answer me," she whispered. "We need all the
help we can to get Loki back."

Carmen did
nothing.

Fable
wondered if she had imagined the radio playing a few minutes ago. She leaned
back in her seat and tapped her hands on the wheel. It took her some time to
bring herself to kick Carmen like Loki used to. She gave it a feeble kick at
first before she followed with a heavier one.

Nothing
happened.

Fable
rubbed her chin. She let out a defeated sigh then reached to open the door and
go back to Candy House.

Carmen's
motor sprang to life immediately.

It was
absurd and unexplainable. Fable sat paralyzed for a few minutes with the car
humming. She tried to talk to Carmen again, but all the car did was stop. No
more kicks brought Carmen back to life.

Fable
found herself pulling the door open and running away, back into Candy House.
She was confused, and felt an illogical scare in the pit of her heart. How was
she capable of igniting Carmen when only Loki could? She began wishing this
weird day would end so she could start a normal day tomorrow.

***

Back in
the house, Shew had changed into a dress from Fable's wardrobe. It was a bit
too tight, but the Princess didn't complain. Actually, Fable felt honored she
wore her dress.

"Nice
outfit," Shew commented on Fable's clothes, as if she had only had enough
peace of mind to notice it now.

"She
looks like a boy," Axel teased.

"She
looks badass," Shew said, winking at Fable, who blushed momentarily.

"Whatever,"
Axel said.

"So,
tell us about how to resurrect Loki," Fable said.

"Before
I do, I have to explain to you why Loki's our only hope," Axel began.
"Let's begin with the fact that although all of this is complex and
confusing, our main mission is to find the Lost Seven before the Queen, so she
can't tear out their hearts and eat Shew's, like she always wanted to."

"I
agree," Fable said. "The more I think about all the many confusing
things happening, I come back to this. Carmilla wants Shew's heart, and to get
it she needs to find the Lost Seven. The Andersen Mirror and other riddles are
subsidiary to the main problem."

"Well,
then she succeeded by knowing that Cerené is the clue to controlling the
mirror," Shew said. "At least now she is sure of one of the Lost
Seven."

"It's
the same to us," Fable said. "We also know the first of the Lost
Seven, and we have clues through the J.G. diary with Axel about the other
six."

"I
know," Shew said. "Axel showed it to me. The problem is I don't
remember any of them. All I remember is Loki was the Huntsman. I've known this
since I was trapped in the Schloss."

"Which
is somehow confusing," Axel interrupted, having managed to persuade
Pickwick to sit on his shoulder. "I mean, if you don't remember any of the
Lost Seven, how do you remember Loki?"

"It's
all about the timeline," Fable offered. "Most of the things that
happened before she split her heart, Shew can remember. She must have met the
Lost Seven after that. Right, Shew?"

Before
Shew could answer, Axel said, "Then how didn't Shew remember Cerené?"

Shew
looked puzzled. She seemed to try to squeeze her memory for explanations, but
she looked like she had none. Fable wondered if Shew felt the same mild split
of personality she had experienced today. "I'm not sure," Shew said,
looking embarrassed that she was of no help with the matter. "Some things
I do know, and some things I don't know. I have no idea how."

"Know
or remember?" Axel grimaced.

"What
is that supposed to mean?" Fable was annoyed with Axel again.

"He
is right," Shew told Fable. "There are things I only know and don't
remember."

"What?"
Fable didn't understand this.

"For
instance, I remember vividly some scene with Loki being the Huntsman,"
Shew explained. "But I don't remember how we fell in love."

"Now,
that's not helping at all." Axel's grimace was still fixed. Fable saw that
he didn't like this statement at all. So far, Axel's research and theories had
been mostly accurate. "Then how do you know you love him?" he said,
asking the same question on Fable's mind.

Shew
lowered her head for a moment and laced her fingers. She knew the answer, Fable
was sure of that. She was just embarrassed to say it. "I just know,"
she finally said.

7

"You
just know?" Axel's shoulders tensed. Pickwick fluttered away.

"Why
is that important, Axel?" Fable said, knowing Shew could falter under the
pressure right now. "He did send her a 'save me' message, didn't he? And
she met him in the World Between Dreams, where they were lovers sitting in the
poppy fields."

"That's
not the point," Axel said. "Do you know how many missed details we
don't know about when she doesn't remember? Can you imagine how crucial it is
to know how the cold-blooded Huntsman fell in love with Shew?" Axel
clenched a fist and bit on it with his teeth.

"You're
overreacting," Fable said. "Besides, what does all of this have to do
with what you were about to tell us?"

Axel
closed his eyes and took in a lot of air as he released his fist. He opened
them again and said, "Okay. I was overreacting. Now, here is what I
know…"

"Make
it short."

"I
will," he said, looking at his phone again. Fable wondered where he needed
to go so badly. It wasn't like he had a girlfriend or something. "So here
it is, as brief as I can: Charmwill's True Name is of no use at the moment. Although
I'm dying to know how he is Wilhelm Grimm, we don't know where Charmwill's body
is, nor do we know of a spell to bring him back."

"I
agree," Shew said. "What about Cerené? Shouldn't I be looking for her
in Murano?"

"No,"
Axel said firmly. "Because you don't know what she looks like now, or if
she is really in Murano. I don't think we can afford to go to Murano."
Axel stopped for a moment, as if he had been hit with a snowball. "Come to
think of it, I don't think any of the residents of Sorrow ever left Sorrow."

"So
what are you suggesting?" Fable asked. She didn't want to think about the
fact that maybe no one in Sorrow ever left, and that Loki was the only
outsider. But Lucy had left it, hadn't she? "Tell us something useful."

"Like
I said, the main purpose is to find the Lost Seven," Axel explained.
"Each of them has his own story and own puzzle we will need to solve when
we meet them. The purpose is to gather them and find the appropriate spell so
they return Shew's heart to her before Carmilla gets her forked snake tongue
into it."

"So?"

"So,
to do any of that we still need a Dreamhunter," Axel said. "Like it
or not, this adventure takes place mostly in the Dreamworld. Without a
Dreamhunter, we can't do anything."

"That's
why the priority is to try to resurrect Loki," Fable said. "He is the
only Dreamhunter we know."

"But
Loki is dead." Shew was about to cry again. "Those who are killed in
dreams never wake up. That's the whole point of Loki's job."

"No,
Shew. You got that wrong," Axel said. "Loki's job is to kill
vampires
in their dreams. Even if the same rules apply to humans and Dreamhunters, I
have a solution."

"You
said that before!" Fable said impatiently.

"I
know." Axel pouted. "The solution is all here." He pulled out
J.G.'s diary.

"How
so?"

"It
turns out you can resurrect someone who was killed in the Dreamworld if three
conditions apply," Axel said.

"Really?"
Shew tiptoed.

"Yes,
really. But I'm warning you, some of the conditions are really weird."

"I
don't care," Shew said. "Whatever it takes to resurrect Loki."

"The
first one is easy. It demands you know of Loki's True Name," Axel said.
"Which we do."

"The
second?" Shew asked.

"This
is really weird," Axel said. "If the deceased has been killed by his
True Love in the Dreamworld." Axel scratched his head.

"That
is weird," Fable said. "It's as if it's common for lovers to kill
each other."

"Well,
this J.G. says it's common," Axel said. "Because usually when two
lovers enter the Dreamworld, they face the same things Loki and Shew faced in
the last dream…"

"Only
one of them can come back," Fable said absently, remembering this horrible
purple ring orbiting the Dream Temple last time. "So most lovers entering
the Dreamworld actually end up killing each other. That's weird."

"What's
the third?" Shew asked eagerly.

"Before
we get into the third," Axel said, "you must understand that J.G.
insisted the two lovers be in True Love." He was facing Shew. "True,
unconditional love!"

"That's
why you were asking," Shew said. "Believe me, Axel"—she
rested her hand on her heart again—"we are in love. True Love. I
know it and can feel it in my heart. You might not understand how strong the
feeling is."

"I
had a few rendezvous." Axel glared at her hand on her heart then shrugged.
"Anyway, J.G. says True Love is called Adage in the Dreamworld."

"Adage?"
Shew looked as if she had heard this word before.

"
Adage
is unconditional love that knows not of boundaries or setback, nor of time,
place, or race,
"
Axel read.
"
No one can explain what Adage is. Lovers usually refer to an
eminent feeling they can't explain themselves. However, they claim it resides
in their heart, not metaphorically but physically.
"

Fable didn't
comment. She still didn't get that True Love thing. She thought it was clichéd.

"That's
what I said exactly." Shew blushed.

Axel
looked at his own heart and seemed to only think it was stuffed with food.

"So
what's the third condition?" Shew asked.

"The
Fleece," Axel said. "If I had a dollar every time someone told me
about Loki's Fleece…"

"How
are we supposed to get it?" Shew said.

"Carmilla
has it," Fable said. "Maybe we should man up and go get it from her."
That was her manly side talking again. She actually preferred the cuddly and
hugging side.

"No,
that's not how to get Loki's Fleece," Axel said, closing J.G.'s diary.
"I know who will help us get Loki's Fleece back." He reached for
Loki's pack of cigarettes left on the kitchen table—Fable had been trying
to avoid it all day, as she had been craving it too, but she really had
something against smoking. Axel flicked a match and lit the cigarette.
Shew and Fable were puzzled by this
. "Are you prepared
for help?" Axel said, holding the cigarette. "Because I will just
leave you once it arrives."

"Leave
us?" Shew said.

"Someone
has been texting him all day," Fable said. "I think he has a
girlfriend or something."

"Pickwick!"
Axel summoned the parrot he had just befriended. Pickwick came, landing on
Axel's shoulder. "I will take him with me for a small ride, if you don't
mind," he told the girls.

"Do
whatever you want." Fable sighed. "Just tell us what you're planning
to do with this cigarette."

"I
will summon the one person who can help us," Axel said, and took a drag.
He coughed instantly.

"Summon?"
Shew asked. "What do you mean?"

Before
Axel collapsed from coughing, as he had never smoked before, the house shook
again. This time, it wasn't the Whale of Sorrow. Smoke swirled all around and
all of them started to cough. A few moments later, it began to clear, and
something began to show in the middle of the room. Shew and Fable held to each
other, as if they were staring at some ghost. It took Fable a while to realize
whom she was staring at,
that shape of a woman with a craned
neck and a deformed body, looking like
a zombie.

As Axel
fled the house with Pickwick on his shoulder, Fable slid away from Shew's grip
and stepped forward, staring at the summoned ghost with welcoming arms.
"Babushka! You're back!"