Getting to Know You

Cheesy title, I know. Forgive me.

Can I just say how much I am starting to love love love character developement? Well, I am. It is so much fun to just start writing and let the characters' personalities bubble to the surface on their own.

I am so thankful to Miss Lucy for starting this blog, for without it poor François would still be sitting all alone in his swamp and I would never have found out what a card he is.




“He intrigues you, doesn’t he?” Charlotte kept her gaze forward, looking out of the conservatory window onto the grounds below. She and Amanda were watching François perform his elaborate rituals. He was an odd sight; an impeccably dressed man, fit for any fashionable urban setting, waving a smoking brand in unseen patterns while muttering incantations. It was almost comical.


“He frightens me.” Amanda was unashamed to admit this. From their first introduction to her recent meeting with his “beloved,” Amanda has felt instinctively afraid of him. He has been nothing but pleasant to her, which somehow made the feeling worse. Perhaps it was due to the all too vivid memories of the dig site, but Amanda had developed an acute fear of the unknown and the bizarre.

Charlotte made a noise like a giggle, but it was far from innocent. “Frightened? Oh, my dear, he’s a pussycat, completely harmless.”

Amanda glanced out the window in time to see François summon his pet out of the murky pool. She had seen albino alligators in zoos before, but they were nothing like Marguerite. The beast was easily sixteen feet long and, while the animals in the zoos had appeared creamy in color, Marguerite was almost green in hue. Amanda wondered about it at first, thinking it was a chemical reaction to the water in which the alligator lived. François informed her, however, that it came from being dead.

“It’s hard to make a case for him being harmless when he has that monster out there.” Amanda hugged herself against a sudden chill.

“You’re right.” Charlotte tilted her head slightly. “Maybe harmless isn’t the right word.” She paused, but the look in her eyes told Amanda it was merely for effect. “He’s too lazy to be dangerous.” Charlotte’s green eyes drifted down to her paper work. If one thing made Amanda more nervous than François and his pet zombie, it was Charlotte’s eyes. They were what Amanda’s mother used to call witch’s eyes; vivid light green eyes that held far too many secrets.

Another chill rattled down Amanda’s spine, one that visibly shook her.

“My dear, I know you’ve experienced a traumatizing event, but if you intend to stay with us you’ll have to develop a little backbone.” Charlotte gave Amanda a sidelong look through thick black lashes. “You need to be ready. You see, what you need to ask yourself is this. If creatures like François and your vampire exist, then what else is out there lurking in the periphery?”

Amanda was sure she didn’t want to know, but something told her she would soon find out.