Character Interview with Jack Mayfield of Dangerous Dreams by Aileen Harkwood.

 

Today we have a fantastic interview with Jack Mayfield from Dangerous Dreams by Aileen Harkwood. So sit back and let’s get to to know, oh and Lara.lol

 

 

Character Name: Jack Mayfield

Character Bio: Frontline agent with The Dreamrunners Society. A runner with the psychic ability to physically create a second version of himself, literally existing in two places at once. Also gifted with a special form of the talent allowing him to go where other dreamrunners can’t and find the society’s “Lost Ones,” those who don’t know they possess the latent ability to dreamrun. His parents were killed when he was twelve, and he was raised in the orphanage at The House, the society’s hidden complex high in the mid-Atlantic mountains.

Tall, muscular, with indigo eyes and panther-black hair. Old injury to one cheek from a tragedy at the beginning of his dreamrunning career. Not fond of conversation, unless he’s talking with Lara Freberg, a Lost One.

 

Interviewer: Thanks for taking the time to be with us today, Jack. And Lara, you, too. (Indicates Ms. Freberg, who is sitting beside Jack.)

Jack: (smiles uncomfortably, shifts on couch, but is silent until Lara prods him in the ribs) Right. Good to be here…I think.

Interviewer: Great. First off, could you describe yourself? What is your worst and best quality?

Jack: What is this? A job interview? (Sighs). Okay. Worst? Lara would claim I’m easily irritated and impatient. She’s wrong, of course. I have infinite patience with people who don’t see things my way. They just don’t understand how hard it is to be patient when the entire society, including hundreds of innocent kids are now in danger from The Greys.

(A questioning look from the interviewer.)

Jack: The Greys? We don’t know who they are exactly. CIA. Quazi-government. A private corporation hooked into government at high levels. We just don’t know. What we do know is that they’d like to wipe us, all of us in the Society, off the map.

Best quality? Not sure what that might be, but I guess it was good enough that Lara has agreed to be mine. No man could be luckier.

Interviewer: What is the one thing you wish other people knew about you?

Jack: I really wish people would understand how much I hate committees and bureaucracy. Because the high-ups, the people above my boss, Gavin, don’t seem to understand how vulnerable we are. We need to evacuate the house and get the children, and everyone else to safety. Today. Lara’s dream about the Greys bombing the House just a few weeks from now was very specific. We don’t have time to waste.

Lara: (interrupting) They do, Jack. Believe me. They get it.

Interviewer: What is your biggest secret something no one knows about?

Jack: Really? You expect me to spill my deepest, darkest to the world here? Now?

Lara: (interrupting again) Tell them about Jaime and Starr.

Jack: What? No. I told you. That was hard enough. Some things should be shared only with the ones you love.

Lara: (kissing Jack) You say the best things, Jack. I love you, too.

Interviewer: What are you most afraid of?

Jack: Uh-uh. No self-respecting man answers that question. Although I have to tell you I find clowns darn creepy.

Interviewer: What do you want more than anything?

Jack: I wish we could unring the bell. That the Greys didn’t know about our existence. I grew up at The House after my folks died and I couldn’t be more thankful for the love and support the society showed me. The kids there now, they are so sheltered, like I was. They don’t think they’re strange or evil or a perversion of nature. That’s the way things should be.

Interviewer: What is your relationship status?

Jack: Taken. (Looks at Lara) Very taken.

Interviewer: How would you describe your sense of fashion?

Jack: Seriously, where do you come up with these questions? I wake up. I take a shower. I put on clothes.

Interviewer: How much of a rebel are you?

Jack: Not. At all.

(Lara dissolving into laughter)

Interviewer: What do you considered to be your greatest achievement?

Jack: Finding Lara in time. When I look at her I just thank the Gods I found her before it was too late.

Interviewer: What is your idea of happiness?

Jack: Privacy. (Catching Lara frowning at him). You know, together. With you. (Addressing interviewer.) A day away from all of this, with her, anywhere with her, would be heaven.

Interviewer: What is your current state of mind? No. Never mind. I think we’ve already gleaned that from some of the other questions…Okay. Next. What is it that you most dislike? What immediately pops into your head?

Jack: Peeps.

Interviewer: Peeps?

Jack: Peeps. Those yellow, marshmallow blobs they have at Easter? Terrible.

Interviewer: What is the quality you most like in a man?

Jack: Uh…

Interviewer: What is the quality you most like in a woman?

Jack: (Reaching for and gently cradling Lara’s left hand, which is encased in a thick cast.) I’ll tell you what I admire most in a woman. A woman who cares more about others than she does herself in the face of danger. A woman who doesn’t give up. Who is built to survive. And who is hardwired to do that without bitterness, but with grace and love instead.

Interviewer: Who is your favorite hero in fiction?

Jack: Oh. That’s easy. Jean Valjean in Les Misérables.

Lara: Really? I didn’t know that about you.

Jack: Sure. He did the right thing. Even when it didn’t seem like it and it cost him.

Interviewer: Which living person do you most admire?

Jack: Like I said. She’s sitting right next to me.

Interviewer: If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be?

Jack: (pausing to think) Sorry. Can’t do just one. (Long silence. He adds nothing more.)

Interviewer: What is your motto?

Jack: You can never be too sure.

Interviewer: Oh? Of what?

Jack: Of anything. This world is a constant danger. Especially for members of the Society. Somewhere, some time, someone could have your number.

Interviewer: Well that’s certainly an sobering thought. Thank you, again, Jack. And Lara. For being here.

Jack: (not quite able to hide his relief that the interview is over). Thank you.