The team behind the Vale News Network was working furiously to get ready for the big interview. What with the sheer shock value of the story, it was certainly going to be a huge one; possibly the largest of the year! And since a big interview required a big interviewer, the studio chose Lisa Lavender, their lead anchor, to conduct the interview. She was currently in her dressing room with half a dozen attendants checking everything from her makeup to her clothes.
“A little to the left Ms. Lavender,” one attendant asked as he powdered her face.
“Thank you Ian,” Lisa Lavender said. “How many viewers are we expecting?”
“The positive reaction to the hype campaign suggests at least six figures. We don’t know how many from the outlying villages will see it, but I think I heard one of the producers say they were expecting six million viewers; more if it starts trending on Basebook.”
Lisa Lavender took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Six million. We haven’t had something this big in years.” She looked to another attendant. “Viola, please go check on our guest, see that he’s alright.”
The attendant in question, a young girl with dark purple hair, stood up straight. “Yes Mam. Right away Mam.” She scurried out of the dressing room and into the pandemonium that was the main stage of VNN. Thankful that she wore flats instead of heels today, she ducked under several boom mikes being carried by sound specialists, and nimbly dodged through a horde of directors. She was about to turn the corner when a familiar voice called her name. She skidded to a stop and turned to see the producer approaching, puffing on a cigar.
“Viola, have you checked on our esteemed guest yet?” he asked sternly.
“Ms. Lavender just sent me sir. I was on my way to see him now.”
“Smart woman,” the producer muttered. “She knows a juicy story when she sees one. That whole business with the Beacon teacher kidnapping those kids was fishy. Just didn’t add up. I’ll be glad once the truth is out for the whole world to see.”
“The world does deserve to know sir,” Viola agreed. And in twelve minutes and eleven seconds, the world will know.”
The producer clapped his hand on his forehead and frantically looked at his watch. “Good lord!” He cried out, “We still need to finish setting up the soundstage! I must get going. Viola, you check up on our guest and see if there’s anything we can get for him.”
Seeing her cue, Viola took off running again. In less than a minute, she reached the ready room and skidded to a stop once more. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she knocked sharply on the door. “Mr. Grigio? Can I come in?”
A muffled affirmative came from inside the room, and she opened the door and slid inside. Compared to Lisa Lavender’s room, this one was sparsely decorated, but was small enough to make it feel well furnished. A desk with several large mirrors sat against a wall, and a door next to it led off into a private bathroom. The chair that normally sat in-front of the desk had been moved to face an open window, and Viola could see a pair of dress shoes resting on the windowsill.
“Mr. Grigio, my name is Viola. I was told to come ask if there was anything you need. We’ve got coffee and tea in the break room, and I’m sure I can find something to eat if you’re hungry.”
“No, nothing right now.”
“Are you sure sir?” Viola asked. “If you’re nervous, I can get you something stronger.”
He laughed slightly at that. “No, a stiff drink is the last thing I need right now. Thank you though.”
Viola breathed a sigh of relief. If he had wanted anything it would have meant a potentially long and stressful trip to get it, and an even more stressful trip back as she fought through hordes of people going in the opposite direction and trying to get back before he went on stage.
“Well, we go live in about nine minutes now, so if you need to use the bathroom or anything, I’d suggest going now.
“I’d better get ready then.”
Viola left the room and stepped aside as the makeup team hurried in to the room. With all her duties satisfied, Viola wormed her way through the hordes and into the soundstage. She found a good spot behind the cameras, and sat down to wait for the interview. She didn’t have to wait long. Lisa Lavender sat down on one of the plush cream couches on the stage, and her guest sat down in an identical one that faced towards her. The VNN tune played and the cameras came on, focusing on Lisa Lavender.
“Aura,” Lisa Lavender began, “It is the projection of our souls; a physical manifestation of our life energy. And as far as our top scientists are aware, all living creatures except for the Grimm can generate it. But what if, there was an exception? A boy, unable to generate an Aura, and when given a test to read his soul, came up indeterminate. And what if that boy was enrolled in Beacon, and has been there for several months? I’m here today with Mr. Andrew Grigio, father of Daniel Grigio, the boy without an Aura.”
To Be Human
Book 2
“Sometimes you gotta bleed to know
That you’re alive and have a soul”
-Twenty One Pilots, Tear in my Heart
Having finished her opening spiel, Lisa Lavender turned to Daniel’s father. For a town drunk, he had cleaned up nicely. His graying brown hair was trimmed and combed, he had clearly taken a shower, and he was wearing a nice suit. Most importantly, he wasn’t the least bit intoxicated.
“Mr. Grigio, first of all I would like to thank you for coming to VNN with this information. I have to admit though, your story seemed absolutely implausible until we had the documents you supplied checked for accuracy.”
Daniel’s father grimaced for a second as if remembering a painful memory, but quickly composed himself once more. “The pleasure is mine Mrs. Lavender. I felt it was time for me to stop hiding the truth from the world. As I believe you told me earlier, the world needed to know.”
“Yes, that brings us to the first question,” Lisa Lavender said. “When was it that you first learned that your son had no Aura?”
Although he knew the date extremely well, Daniel’s father took a moment to act like he was thinking. “Well, it would have to be about eleven, no twelve years ago now,” he said, “After his mom died, I didn’t have enough money to take Daniel to regular checkups. It wasn’t until he was five that I got him a full checkup with the doctors. That was when they were unable to find an Aura on him.”
“And what exactly went through your head when this happened?” Lisa asked.
“Well, I was concerned of course. What was a father supposed to feel when his only son has a condition like this one? I was terrified about what could happen to Daniel. That is why I discussed things with the doctors, and convinced them to hand all the evidence concerning my son’s condition over to myself.”
“That does raise a point though, Mr. Grigio,” Lisa Lavender said with a slight frown. What exactly lead you to commit such an illegal act? Surely you must have feared for the wellbeing of your child, should you be arrested.”
Daniel’s father went to stroke the scruff of a beard he usually had, only to find it wasn’t there. “Umm, it’s kind of complicated, so please bear with me while I try.”
“Of course.”
“I can’t really explain what came over me when I hid the documents. Something about my son’s predicament caused me to go through with it, even if it meant me going to jail.”
“So you would say your parental instinct to protect Daniel is what drove you to do it?” Lisa Lavender offered.
Daniel’s father’s head nodded vigorously. “Yeah. I can’t think of a better word, so let’s go with that.”
“So then why would you let him leave his home with you and enroll at Beacon to train as a Huntsman?” Lisa Lavender asked with a sudden intensely. “Wouldn’t a school for fighting monsters and training to use your Aura for combat be the last place you would want him to be?”
A flash of anger flew across Daniel’s father’s face as his brow furrowed in concentration. Lisa Lavender was trying to pin what had happened to Daniel on his poor parenting. Well, that wasn’t going to happen. He cleared his throat slightly, and countered her accusation. “I had made it perfectly clear to Daniel that something like becoming a Huntsman was out of the question for someone with his condition. Instead of listening to me, he instead chose disobey my direct request, and steal several hundred lien from me along with several weapons, and leave for Beacon in the middle of the night. I didn’t hear from him again until I got a phone call saying he was in the hospital!”
“That must have been quite the shock for you, hearing nothing for weeks before your son finally shows up in a hospital in critical condition.”
“Without a doubt Lisa. But the doctors told me that by then he was stable and was expected to make a full recovery. When I next saw him, I was more concerned about getting him back home before something else happened to him. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.”
Lisa Lavender’s eyebrows shot up at this. She had not been made aware of this beforehand. “You mean he resisted you taking him back?”
“Very much so,” Daniel’s father agreed, “He wanted to stay at Beacon and continue this mission of his that was doomed from the start. I tried to get him to come home so we could discuss it in the safety of our house. But I was, convinced by his teammate, who had also been injured and was recovering in a bed next to Daniel, that my son needed rest to recover from the injuries he sustained during his captivity. He’s now back at Beacon studying. I’ve tried to submit paperwork to remove him from the academy, but none of my requests are making it through,” he added with a hint of anger.
Lisa Lavender repositioned herself and looked at her notes. “Well, I’ve only got a few more questions for you before we go for break. Thank you once again for agreeing to this interview.”
“As I said Lisa, the pleasure is all mine,” he answered as he tried to fight down the anger at his son that was beginning to seep out.
“Well Mr. Grigio, despite your disagreements with your son continuing to study at Beacon, what are your thoughts about his current progress? We asked his teachers about Daniel when we did a piece about Daniel’s kidnapping and subsequent rescue. We understand he is doing well for, someone with his condition.”
Daniel’s father growled with irritation. They had gotten to the part he had been looking forward to the least. “The boy has gotten lucky. He’s got a team to assist him in battle, and I believe there’s another team he’s befriended. I bet at least his team knows about his condition and they assist him so he doesn’t fail. I believe that is the only reason he has survived for so long.”
Lisa Lavender shifted nervously on her couch as Daniel’s father became increasingly angrier and angrier. “Thank you for your, passionate appraisal of the situation Mr. Grigio. One final question before we go to break. Now that his secret it out to the world, do you believe that your requests to have Daniel returned to your custody will be successful?”
“I doubt it,” Daniel’s father said dismissively. “I stopped sending them last week.”
Despite the rule of keeping silent, those watching couldn’t help but murmur at this. They had not expected this change of events.
Lisa Lavender herself was having trouble keeping it together. “But, but don’t you still believe your son should return home with you where he could be kept safe?”
Daniel’s father laughed without humor at that. “Daniel has made it clear to me that he believes himself to be ready to face what the world on his own. If he feels he’s ready to make those decisions? He can make them. I’ll be waiting for him to realize the mistake he’s made.”
Never had Lisa Lavender ever been so grateful to see the producer signal her to wrap it up, as they were going on break. She straightened herself up and looked directly at Mr. Grigio. “That’s a very interesting decision to make Mr. Gigio, I hope it pays out for you.” Before he could say anything else, she turned to look at the camera. “We’ll be right back folks when we continue our discussion with Mr. Grigio about his son, the boy without an Aur-”
Daniel turned off his tablet and sat down on his bed, trying to process what had just happened. Did, did his father just give a live interview where he told the world Daniel’s secret?
Sensing his friend’s distress, Lewis, who had been tuning his guitar while Daniel watched something on his tablet with his earbuds in, looked at his friend with concern. “You okay there man?” he asked.
Daniel honestly could not find words to describe how not okay he was.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
