Hello! My name is Verchiel and I’m from Joleene Naylor’s Amaranthine series. I am filling in for Katelina because…well, I’ll get into that in a moment. But, using state of the art-mumbo-jumbo-author magic, Jo has had Katelina interview other authors’ characters. Now she is interviewing our fellow Amaranthian’s. Even better, the questions come from you, the readers! So let’s get this party started!

As I said, this is Verchiel, filling in for Katelina. You see, today’s interviewee is Patrick, who some of you might remember is sort of Kately’s ex, in a manner of speaking, and we all thought it would be a bit out there to have her interview him. Okay, not all of us. I was for it. I thought it could be really fun, but I got outvoted, so here I am.

So, please welcome Patrick who, I can safely say without spoiling the plot for anyone, is dead. Yes, this should be an interesting interview.

Verchiel: Hello Patrick, and welcome back!

Patrick: Who are you, again?

V: Let’s just say I’m the cool guy and get to the questions. Wait, you do know what’s going on, right?

P: Yeah. Jo prepped me after the resurrection ceremony, so just ask the questions.

V: Resurrection ceremony? Why didn’t I get invited? Moving on, our first question comes from Juli (with no e – hey there! *winks*) “Which vampire first approached you and your brother, and how exactly did you get involved with Claudius and his coven?”

P: Oh, that. My stupid brother, Michael, got involved with them. He’d just got out of jail for meth possession and Mom said if he wanted to live with her he had to work, so he got a part time job mowing the yard for Claudius’s big mansion. There was hardly anyone around when he was there, so he started casing the place out. He had this insane plan to try to rob them. I dunno exactly what went down, but my brother disappeared for like six months, then popped back up and was suddenly a vampire. He’s the one that got me dragged into the whole mess because he hated being Claudius’s servant and wanted out, only they wouldn’t let him out. I dunno what he thought I was gonna do about it, but I couldn’t tell him no. He was my younger brother, you know? And then we ran into Asshole *scowls*.

V: Asshole?

P: *pulls out a cigarette and lights it* Yeah, Jorick.

V: Ah, I guess you’ve heard.

P: Heard about what? That Kate’s fucking that prick? Yeah, I heard. But what the fuck ever. Next question.

V: Here’s another one from Juli, “What was your reaction when you discovered that vampires were real?”

P: I dunno. I got drunk for a few days. I mean how do you deal with the idea that there’s these blood sucking monsters and your stupid ass brother is one of them? It was just unreal. I don’t think anything felt real from that moment on.

V: With that in mind, here’s one from Donna, “Patrick, why didn’t you break off with Katelina once you were involved with vampires?”

P: I was already tangled up with them when I met her. That’s part of why we never had a real relationship, coz I kept waiting for the fucking bomb to drop. I kept thinking it was just a matter of time before Claudius turned me into one of them or killed me or something. He’d already marked me by then, too, like I was his property. I know, I shoulda walked away from her after that first night.

V: Why didn’t you?

P: I dunno. She was just so… normal. I was trapped in a fucking nightmare with Claudius and Michael and when I was with her it was like suddenly waking up and finding out all of that shit was just a bad dream and that the world really wasn’t all nighttime and blood and dead girls in fountains. And she didn’t ask any questions or demand anything, even when I disappeared for weeks. I guess she probably thought I was on some kind of drug binge or something.

V: You kind of look the part. Ahem. Sorry, you’re just the complete opposite of old’ gloomy gus. I have a hard time imagining you and Kately together. How did you meet her, anyway?

P: It was in a bar. I was hitting it hard – fuck I don’t even remember why – something to do with Claudius and that shit – and she came up and talked to me. I think she was trying to piss off her friend. She was there with that Sarah chick. It worked, and Sarah left, and somehow I ended up back at Katelina’s place. Her friend never liked me coz I wasn’t like her straight laced, rod up the ass boyfriend “Bwad”. But I’m used to that. I never fit in in that stupid town. I didn’t dress right, didn’t listen to the right music, didn’t do the right things. Fuck that. Fuck all of them.

V: You certainly have some anger issues. Is that how you and old Mr. Grumpy-Boots got to be friends?

P: *takes violent puff of cigarette* Yeah, whatever. We met him while he was out hunting – it wasn’t even two weeks since I’d found out what Michael was. I think I was still drunk. Anyway, he came off as this strong type and so a couple weeks later when Michael and I were talking about how we could get him away from Claudius, Michael thought of Jorick and since we knew he wasn’t one of Claudius’s gang we went looking for him. Ironic now that I think about it. We basically ASKED to get fucked over.

V: Speaking of Jorick, here’s another one from Donna, “Why, of all vampires, did you ask Jorick to keep an eye on Katelina?”

P: Because I was a retard, that’s why! I trusted that asshole! He was like those strong silent types from all the cowboy movies my grandpa used to watch and, I dunno, I guess I just expected him to be some kind of hero.

V: *snickers* No comment. From Sydney Cordova, “If you could go back, would you have warned Katelina?”

P:  I’ve had some time to think about this and though I want to say yes, the real answer is no. I wouldn’t expect her to believe the stories without some kind of proof and there’s no way I’d have shown her any. It’s stupid but, dragging her into the world with the vampires would have defeated the purpose of being with her. She was like that little blip of sanity. If she was there in the nuthouse with me, then what? We’d both be fucking lunatics trapped in a mess. Yeah, so maybe that’s a selfish attitude, but the truth is usually selfish. It’s no worse than Asshole’s excuses.

V: Well here’s a goodie from Bonnie, “Did you ever imagine your brother would betray and kill you?”

P: Who the fuck ever thinks that? Depending on how you look at it, though, you might say I betrayed him. I’d had enough, you know? Claudius was going to kill us, the fucking vampire guild or whatever was going to send their goon squad to kill us, Troy had already been sniffing around after Kate on Claudius’s orders, it just wasn’t worth it anymore. I was going to go to Oren’s and get Arowenia and give her back. Michael showed up and was trying to stop me, then he called Asshole. I had no intention of hanging around for him to get there, too, so I tried to leave and that’s when Michael attacked me. Truth told, I don’t think he meant it. I think he was just a lot stronger than me. I dunno. Maybe it’s the way they all wanted it. I was just the noisy wheel. You note Jorick didn’t waste any time or tears.

V: Here’s another one from Donna, “Looking back, do you see the big mistake threatening to expose vamps?”

P: I think it was a big mistake ever listening to my brother. The minute he flashed those fangs I should have turned around and walked the other way. *takes a puff* Yeah, it was a mistake trying to cross Claudius. We never should have spied for Oren and Jorick, and we never should have agreed to help kidnap Arowenia. She was Claudius’s obsession. I should have known better. I should have known he’d come after us. Looking back on it, the whole plan was stupid anyway, and if I hadn’t been stoned, or drunk, or worried about Kate I would have told them all to go to hell, but Kateesha made it sound like such a good idea and Asshole was willing to go along with it….

V: You must have really valued his opinion.

P: Who? Asshole? Yeah, I looked up to him. He was kind of like that reluctant father-figure, you know? And then-

V: And then as Bonnie so eloquently put it (God, I love her for this!) “You seem to have been betrayed by everyone. Jorick betrayed your trust and fell in love with your girl and she fell in love with him right after you died, acting like you’d never existed.”

P: Yeah, exactly. How the hell can she be in love with him? I get that she moved on from me because we were never “official” or any of that shit, but a MONTH!? A fucking month later she’s falling into bed with that jerk! God, couldn’t she have waited a couple months at least and gone for someone better? I got mixed up in the shit with kidnapping Arowenia because I wanted to keep her OUT of the vampire’s world and what the hell does she do but throw herself in it! It was like all those months of effort were fucking wasted! Hell, it was like I died for nothing, you know? I spent all those months keeping secrets, sneaking around, having Asshole keep an eye on her and taking Claudius’s fucking shit and for what? So she could bang Mr. Hero and fall madly in love with him? It just pisses me off!

V: I can see that. And here’s a final question from Juli, “If you hadn’t gotten involved with Claudius and died, do you think that you and Katelina would have stayed together?”

P: *takes final drag on cigarette and stomps it out* I dunno. I dunno if we’d have even been together if I hadn’t been mixed up with them. I like to think so. I like to pretend that we woulda met somewhere else and gone out a few times and then later moved in together and done all that normal shit. And maybe I woulda cleaned up some and quit tweakin’ and drinkin’ and got a real job and maybe she woulda decided she loved me… Truth is she’d have probably kicked me out before it got to that point. But then at least she wouldn’t be with him. *spits on floor*. He better fuckin’ hope I don’t run into him in the afterlife. That’s all I’m saying.

V: And with those profound thoughts, I think we will end this interview!

Next week is Claudius, so leave your questions for him on this blog and as always thanks for stopping by!

Aside from reading about Patrick in the Amaranthine series, he also guest stars in the short story Arowenia.

Related articles

• Interview with Jorick (joleenenaylor.wordpress.com)
• Interview with Katelina (joleenenaylor.wordpress.com)
• Interview with Verchiel (joleenenaylor.wordpress.com)