Interview with the Vampire Gabriel

In book 3 of the Guardian Witch series I introduced the vampire Gabriel as a continuing character but have not yet added him to our list of character interviews. When the request came from the Riverdale High School News to interview the new Second-in-Command of Andreas's vampire court, I thought it would be a good opportunity to share it with you.

Here is how the interview went . . .

Ari walked into Andreas's office at Club Dintero with a teenage girl with curly red hair, wearing  blue jeans and carrying a notebook and pen. Gabriel, Andreas's second-in-command, was waiting for them as prearranged. Andreas had made himself scarce so Gabriel could use the office to be interviewed for the Riverdale High School paper as the new vampire in town.

Ari introduced them and hid a smile at Molly's reaction to her first sight of the gorgeous blond hunk that Gabriel was. It looked like Molly was doomed to have a crush. As soon as the young woman was settled, Ari left, promising she be back in a while to see how the interview had progressed. Gabriel was totally trustworthy, but she left the office door standing wide open for his peace of mind as much as anyone else's.

Gabriel: It's very nice to meet you, Molly. I didn't know I was going to be interviewed by such a charming young woman. We can start whenever you're ready.

 Molly (shyly smiling): Thanks. (She takes a deep breath.) I know you're a vampire, but who were you before you were Gabriel?

Gabriel: Edmund Fitzhugh. I was considered somewhat of a dandy in my era—the Regency Period in England, early 1800s—a little particular about my dress and grooming but rarely serious about anything. I spent a lot of my youth attending hunting parties and going to balls.

Molly: Wow, do you miss all that?

Gabriel (smiling at her): Sometimes, but not that often anymore.

Molly: Do you think the author portrayed you accurately in the Guardian Witch books?

Gabriel: I think there are things about me she doesn't know yet, but yes, she's figured out my basic personality.

Molly: What makes you happy?

Gabriel: Well, love, I'm happy when I'm free to do as I please without too much responsibility. I love to play hooky.

Molly (giggles): Other than becoming a vampire, which I guess was pretty important, what's the second most important thing that ever happened to you?

Gabriel: Finding Prince Andreas. He's like the brother I never had. He values our friendship but never expects more of me than I'm willing to do. He accepts me as I am. That's a rare thing to find.

Molly: Are you afraid of anything?

Gabriel: Of course. Everybody's afraid of something. There are seven really bad vampires in Germany who scare me. Sometimes girls scare me too. (He winks at her.)

Molly (blushes): Do you have any hobbies?

Gabriel: I don't, but I have a cat that I named Edmund. As a boy I collected frogs and put them in the decorative fish pond at my grandfathers. As a young man, I guess you could say I collected horses.

Molly: Name five items in your pockets.

Gabriel: I'm not sure I have five things on me. Let's look. (He reached in a jeans' pocket and pulls out a cell phone and lays it on the table, digs through his other pockets and finds a credit card, a handful of change and a small comb.) That's it. Nothing very exciting.

Ari (stopping in the doorway): Don't mind me. I just wanted to see how you were doing.

Molly: We're doing good. I only have a few more questions. Maybe you can help with a couple of them. (She looks at Gabriel) What one word best describes you?

Gabriel: Friendly

Ari (chucking): From whose perspective? Women describe him as charming! The men not so much.

Molly (blushes again): How do your enemies see you?

Gabriel (wide-eyed with mock innocence): Moi? What enemies? I'm not sure anyone takes me seriously.

Molly: How private of a person are you?

Gabriel: Not very. I'm pretty outgoing, although I never kiss and tell, love. (He grins.)

(Ari rolls her eyes at his outrageously flirting.)

Molly (ducks her head and blushes yet again:) One last question, how do you envision your future?

Gabriel: Well, it looks like I'm going to be around for a while, being a vampire and all, so I plan to fully enjoy myself. And stay out of trouble—if that's possible hanging around with Andreas and Ari. Trouble seems to find these two.

Ari ushered the teenager back to her mother. From the look on Molly's face, the smart, witty, blond Adonis, who masqueraded as a vampire playboy, had made another conquest. Luckily for everyone, her mother would return her safely to the suburbs, far away from the vampire world in Olde Town.