Release Date: May 31st
Today, I'll be interviewing two characters from my book, “Welcome to Sortilege Falls.” This feels a little weird for me. It's not everyday your creations come to life and answer your questions. I'm so nervous. What if they don't behave? Better get this over with.
Grape, Liam, would you like to introduce yourselves?
Grape: Hi! My name's Grape. I wish I had a nickname but it's pretty hard to shorten Grape. My family just moved to what I thought was going to be a cute little town in Missouri, but it totally isn't. Not at all.
Liam: Hello, Miss Heily. It is a pleasure to meet you.
Wow, Liam! Your accent is so much crisper in real life. Were you born in Eastern Europe?
Liam: I was born far away, that is most accurate.
That didn't really answer my question but I guess that's okay. Moving on. I want to let Mikky's readers get to know you guys. What are some of your hobbies?
Grape: I love watching movies. Acting's kind of my thing and I really like to watch others perform so I can pick up techniques. Especially anything with Lance Irving. He plays my favorite character, Stone Huntington, Teen PI. I want to be cast on that show so bad!
Liam: Well, my busy schedule does not leave much time for hobbies. I am a nurse and a club owner. The club is more of a coffee house really. I also have a community to watch over.
Grape: Yeah, a community of creepers.
Now, now, we promised no fighting.
Liam: Who is fighting? Grape is, as usual, just a bit sour.
Grape: I never heard that one before.
Try not to strain a muscle rolling your eyes, Grape. Let's move on. How old are you?
Grape: Sixteen. Finally! Getting my license was huge for me. Not that my mom lets me drive that often. She's a doctor and she sees a lot of car wreck victims. So...not much driving for me.
Liam: I am far older than I look.
Grape: Can you give it a rest with the Dracula thing for a bit? It's embarrassing.
Dracula?
Grape: Can't you tell by the way he's dressed that he wants to be a vampire?
I just thought he came from a funeral.
Liam: No, I do usually wear a lot of black. It goes well with my pale skin.
Grape: So would a tan. Maybe you should try a tan.
Getting a little heated in here. Let's keep rolling, huh? If you could spend the day with any one person, who would it be?
Liam: I had to leave someone behind when I moved to Sortilege Falls, someone very close to me. I would spend the day with her, and every day after if I could.
Weird how you answered that and didn't really answer at the same time.
Liam: Details are for friends, my dear. Generalities are for everyone else.
What about you, Grape?
Grape: My dad. Definitely my dad. He passed away a few years ago. I think that's why Mom wanted to move, to be somewhere new. My dad and I were really close. He gave me my name. I miss him. A lot. My mom and brother do, too. It would be nice to see him again.
I'm sorry to hear about your father.
Grape: Thanks.
I tell you what, let's lighten the mood. What is your favorite thing about living in Sortilege Falls?
Liam: The safety, of course. Where I come from, there is much violence. War is constant and unforgiving. Here is peace.
Grape: Wow, I was going to say the mall is okay. I feel a little silly now. We didn't have much war in Virginia. I mean, I've only lived here a few days and I don't have much to go on. There are a lot of gnomes, though. I mean, why does everyone have garden gnomes on their front lawn, and back lawn, and side lawn? They're practically everywhere you look.
Kind of a gnome infestation, huh?
Grape: I don't know. Sometimes I could swear I've seen them breathing. That's crazy, I know. I guess there are just so many of them that you start seeing things.
I'm just going to pretend like that didn't happen. Describe your first meeting.
Grape: Ugh. Well, originally, I saw him talking to a kid outside of my high school during lunch. I thought that was weird because this guy is way too old to hang out with high school kids. I mean waaaaaaaaay too old. But we didn't really meet then.
Liam: No, but I do remember seeing you.
Grape: I know, you practically stared me down.
Liam: I was sizing you up.
Grape: Whatever. Mr. Undead here and I met when I went to his “club” which is not really in town, by the way. It's more on the outskirts, in the woods, near nothing. This is the weirdest thing about Liam, and trust me, everything about this guy is weird, he has a throne in the club. Like an honest-to-goodness throne. Who owns a throne?
Liam: I bought it at a yard sale.
Grape: What?
Liam: People have expectations. I do not wish to disappoint. It is an image thing. Silly really. I feel much more comfortable on the floor but comfort does not a business make.
Grape: Yeah, well, when I went to his club we had a bit of a discussion but Liam shot down my questions pretty quickly.
Liam: You were asking me questions I could not answer in front of people, much like this interview. Secrecy is a must.
So, I take it sparks didn't fly?
Grape: Ewwww. Gross. He's like a million years old. I'm in high school, you do know that, right?
Of course I do.
Liam: Grape Merriweather is right. Love between us would be inappropriate, for many reasons. I also prefer older women. Her mother, on the other hand, is quite stunning.
Grape: Hey!
Liam: I am just stating the obvious.
Okay, let's try to cool this off before an actual fight breaks out. Favorite color? That seems tame enough.
Grape: I hate to admit it but it's purple. In no way should it be, but it is. Purple. Crap. I really wish my name wasn't Grape.
Liam: I know you expect me to say black, everyone does. But it's actually yellow. I look quite handsome in yellow. It is a shame that I rarely get to wear it.
How do you feel about the Models getting sick?
Grape: It's awful. Mandy, she's the only one who's been really friendly, is starting to get stomach aches. That means that she might only be days from dying. We've hung out a few times and I've been over to her house to watch movies. Her life isn't as easy as you would think. I mean, her mom decorated their entire house in pictures of Mandy. How weird is that? And the kids at school follow her around like puppy dogs. They've broken into the stall in the bathroom when she's, you know, peeing just to get a look at her. But despite that, she's a really good person. She stopped a group of Models from picking on me. It's just awful to watch anyone suffer, especially people you care about.
Liam: It is unfortunate, as is all suffering. The Models are paying for the mistakes of others.
Grape: There, see that? Right there? That's the most helpful he gets. You can tell he knows something, but he won't say it.
Liam: We do not reveal our secrets in public. That is how we ensure they remain secrets.
Grape: Really? How am I supposed to find a cure when this is what I run into?
Liam: Perhaps there is no cure. Perhaps there is no help.
Grape: You are such a downer.
Liam: Hmmm? Most people seem to like me.
Grape: Well, I guess I'm not most people.
Liam: You are very correct.
Well, I'd love to say this was a pleasure but, yeah, you guys have made it kind of awkward. I was hoping we could build a bridge here but I guess that won't be happening.
Grape: Sure, we can build a bridge. And then we can push Liam off of it.
Liam: So much hostility in someone so young. I do not understand it.
Grape: I don't even think his accent's real.
Okay, time to get these guys safely back in their book. We don't need a war on your blog. Thanks Mikky for having us over! I promise next time, I'll bring some characters who behave.
Stale air filled the club. The smell was so old, so ancient, that it distracted her for a few moments from the man sitting on a throne in the middle of the room. Even in the dim light, she recognized Graeson’s vampire-wannabe friend. It seemed as if he recognized Grape as well, judging by the pointy-toothed grin he gave her. His tailored black suit and red tie made him look even more like a member of the bloodthirsty undead. Stretched out in front of the throne lay a woman wearing a green bikini beneath a sheer body stocking. Her silky red hair lay splayed out around her. The woman glanced at Graeson and then sealed her gaze on Grape.
“Graeson, you brought a friend,” the vampire said in his clipped accent.
The door shut behind them, sealing out the sunshine. Dull yellow and blue light bathed the room. Candles and strings of Christmas lights provided most of the illumination in the club—that, and the faint glow of the vamp’s skin.
The few patrons in the room looked up from their board game to inspect the newcomers. They sat tucked away in a booth in the far corner. Mugs of steaming coffee were the only things on the table that Grape recognized. She wasn’t sure what their costumes were about, but she noticed that none of them were dressed like vampires, though one did seem to be wearing a werewolf mask.
“Role playing,” the vamp said, catching the direction of Grape’s gaze. “It is a specialty here, no?”
“I can see that,” Grape said, glancing from him to Graeson, the only two people in the room dressed in costumes that were suitable for real life as well. The woman on the floor could have worn hers to the beach, she guessed, but it didn’t look appropriate for an afternoon out.
“Would you like something to drink?" the vamp asked. “Or to eat? This one, I’m sure has a great appetite.” He nodded his head to Grape as he spoke.
“I’m not hungry. What do you mean about my appetite?” How the hell could he know she ate all the time?
“I meant no harm. You are a teenager. Teenagers eat constantly.”
“I’ll have some wine," Graeson said, not looking up from the woman at the vamp’s feet.
“Dear, get our guests some wine.”
The woman stretched out her lanky body. She stood in one elegant motion. Her red hair trailed down her back to the tops of her buttocks. There was no sign of the white cream that Graeson wore, but her skin was deadly pale nonetheless.
“That’s my ex-girlfriend,” Graeson whispered to Grape as the woman walked away.
“No way.” She couldn’t imagine a world where that woman and Graeson dated.
“So, Grape Merriweather has decided to speak to me again,” the vamp said, his eyes twinkling.
“Not on purpose,” Grape said, her voice flat. She didn’t feel nearly as nervous as she had the day before in the hospital, but that was mostly because it was hard to be intimidated by a man when just behind him sat a boy in troll makeup arguing that the spell he’d used should have vanquished the wood nymph to his right.
“You know her?” Graeson asked his friend.
“We have been acquainted,” the vamp said. “Grape is such an unusual name.”
“My name isn’t the most unusual thing in this room.”
Graeson glanced quizzically from the man on the throne to Grape. “Liam, when did you meet Grape?”
“Liam?” Grape tried hard to keep herself from chuckling. “Like the actor?”
“I was Liam first,” the vamp said. “Many, many years before this so-called actor.
Libby Heily began writing after spending years as an obsessive reader. Nothing was safe from her eyes – she tore through books, magazines, cereal boxes, and shampoo bottles with equal enthusiasm. Libby's written plays, screenplays, flash fiction, short stories, and novels. When not spending time in made up places with invisible friends, she enjoys running, hiking and performing improv in Raleigh, NC.
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