SARAH: We’re happy to do it. We appreciate everything the network does for us.
ROLAND: Why do you always get roped into doing the interviews? You’re a Second. Shouldn’t you be guarding Richart?
SHELDON: Richart’s been… busy lately and I’ve had some extra time on my hands, so I volunteered. Besides, I think Chris is hoping some of your experience will rub off on me.
ROLAND: Good luck with that.
SHELDON: [scowls] Okay, let’s get this going. Sarah, everyone in the Immortal Guardians world—immortal, gifted one, and human alike—is wondering… what the hell do you see in Roland? What—if anything—is it that you like the most about him?
SARAH: It’s a toss-up between his sense of humor and his warm, loving nature.
SHELDON: [stares] No, seriously. What do you like about him?
SARAH: [laughs] I just told you: his sense of humor and—
SHELDON: Yeah. His warm, loving nature. First, what sense of humor?
SARAH: Roland makes me laugh all the time.
ROLAND: [wraps an arm around her shoulders] Not as often as you make me laugh.
SHELDON: Well, all the rest of us just get scowls. [points at Roland] Like that one.
SARAH: [looks up and catches Roland’s scowl] I think he’s cute when he scowls.
ROLAND: You’re killing it, honey.
SHELDON: I’m not buying the warm, loving nature thing either. Roland is the most antisocial immortal on the planet.
SARAH: People only say that because they don’t know him.
SHELDON: Right. Because he’s the most antisocial immortal on the planet.
ROLAND: Shall we move on?
SHELDON: Fine. I’ll just say the attraction is a mystery. Now, Bastien has introduced a pretty radical idea that could forever change the Immortal Guardians’ game plan. What do you think about it?
ROLAND: I think he’s full of—[grunts when Sarah elbows him] What? Seth should have executed him when everyone demanded it.
SARAH: I’m new to this and even I know that no one demands things of Seth.
ROLAND: They shouldn’t have to demand it. Bastien raised an army of vampires he pitted against the Immortal Guardians. And if that weren’t enough, he killed an immortal. He should suffer the consequences.
SARAH: Well, there were extenuating circumstances, honey.
ROLAND: According to Bastien.
SARAH: You’re never going to like him, are you?
ROLAND: Hell no. He gave you a concussion.
SARAH: I’m not too thrilled about him trying to kill you either, but I assume Seth and David know best.
SHELDON: While we’re on the subject of Bastien, what do you think about him spending so much time with Dr. Lipton lately?
ROLAND: The mortal doctor who works with the vampires who surrendered?
SHELDON: Yes.
SARAH: We met Melanie after that first big battle with the vampire king.
ROLAND: Right.
SARAH: I really admire her courage. Working with vampires, who could suffer a psychotic break at any moment and harm her, so she can gain a better understanding of the virus takes a lot of guts. I’m sure Bastien admires her, too.
SHELDON: [mutters] That isn’t all he admires.
SARAH: [shares a look with Roland] Are you saying…? He isn’t just visiting the vampires? He’s going to see her?
SHELDON: [looks around furtively] Yes, but you didn’t hear it from me.
ROLAND: [frowns] Someone should warn her so she can keep her distance.
SHELDON: Dude, I don’t think she wants to keep her distance.
SARAH: [eyebrows rise] The attraction is mutual?
SHELDON: Definitely. [jumps when his cell phone rings] Just a sec. Hello?… Hey, man… Uh-huh… Okay. I’m on my way. [ends the call] Richart needs me to take care of something. I gotta book. Thanks for the interview though. And do me a favor: don’t mention the Bastien and Melanie thing to anyone. He’ll kill me if he finds out I told you.
SARAH: [laughs]
SHELDON: No, seriously. He’ll kill me.
SARAH: Oh.
SHELDON: Have a good night. [leaves]
SARAH: [looks up at her husband] This could get interesting.
October 2012
Phantom Shadows Blog Tour
CHRIS: So.
MELANIE: So?
CHRIS: Awkward.
MELANIE: [smiles] You see me all the time at work. Things aren’t awkward there.
CHRIS: We aren’t alone at work.
MELANIE: So?
CHRIS: So… you know. There’s the whole… I-want-the-man-you-love-dead thing hanging between us now with no buffers.
MELANIE: [laughs] Your desire to kill Bastien or at least see him executed by Seth or David doesn’t bother me as long as you don’t act upon it. Shall we begin the interview?
CHRIS: [smiles] I do like you, Melanie, despite your taste in men.
MELANIE: That’s why you hired me.
CHRIS: Actually, I hired you for that brain of yours. I knew if anyone could help us gain a better understanding of the virus that infects vampires and immortals and find either a treatment or cure for it, it would be you.
MELANIE: [grimaces] No pressure, right?
CHRIS: [laughs] Right. So let’s do this. A lot of changes have taken place in the Immortal Guardians’ world and—by extension—at the network.
MELANIE: Big changes.
CHRIS: I’ve never asked but have always wondered… what was your initial reaction to my asking if you would be willing to work hands-on with the vampires who surrendered during Bastien’s uprising? You played it very cool when I explained I’d be moving them in across the hall from your office and wanted you to work one-on-one with them, so I couldn’t gauge your true feelings on the notion.
MELANIE: Well, needless to say, I was shocked. There had never been a vampire on the premises before that night. And I had never encountered one face-to-face.
CHRIS: I don’t think anyone at the network had, apart from me. Few had ever encountered an immortal either, for that matter.
MELANIE: True. And like the other network employees, I had heard rumors of how vicious and violent and brutal vampires could be. But you told me these were still young, infected only months earlier in the case of Joe. A little longer with Cliff and Vince. So I hoped they would still be lucid or at least would have more lucid moments than they would psychotic breaks. [shrugs] It was an amazing opportunity.
CHRIS: I don’t think Dr. Whetsman or some of the others would describe it that way.
MELANIE: [laughs] I believe he said you were off your rocker.
CHRIS: Not to my face, he didn’t.
MELANIE: He wouldn’t dare.
CHRIS: Were you afraid the first time you met the vampires?
MELANIE: Absolutely. But this was the first time a chance like this had ever come along. Vampires voluntarily aiding us in our research? Letting us run tests, do MRIs, document the progression of the brain damage and the madness? For the first time, we have real hope that we may someday be able to slow the damage the virus causes in humans or even halt it altogether.
CHRIS: I can see you’re passionate about this.
MELANIE: I am. The vampires who live here at network headquarters aren’t lab rats. They aren’t study subjects. They aren’t monsters. They’re my friends.
CHRIS: Friends against whom you have to constantly be on guard in case they attack you and try to kill you.
MELANIE: I can’t blame them for something they can’t control. I’ve seen how hard they fight it and the remorse that claims them in their lucid moments. [swallows] I don’t want to lose another one. Not to the madness and not to…