The Interview

By Joseph Sultana

Evan Gramer, author and journalist, is hired by a popular magazine to conduct an interview with a certain Mr Molserat. After a peculiar introduction, Gramer starts to learn that the interviewee is a reticent person who enjoys keeping secrets. As the interview continues, tension starts to mount between them, where one tries to discover more by forcing difficult questions, and the other gives out bizarre, yet possible, information.

 

How far is the journalist willing to go to get to the truth?

 

Are the interviewee's claims genuine or exaggerated lies?

 

Will this remain a simple interview or become an interrogation?

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joseph Sultana
• Release date: Dec 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223824787

Book preview

Copyright © 2023 Joseph Sultana

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced

or used in any manner without the prior written permission

of the copyright owner, except for the use of brief quotations

in a book review.

To request permission, contact the publisher

at [e-mail].

Paperback: 9798870595245

First paperback edition March 2020

Second paperback edition December 2023

First paperback edition: 9789995716578

Second paperback edition: 9798870595245

Cover art by Miblart.com

For more details please visit:

Vision+

Joseph Sultana – Storyteller

1.

Dusk was already falling when I ventured outside. 

After punching my destination address into the GPS, I powered up the engine and started my drive.

My name is Evan Gramer, and when it comes to writing, you can call me a jack-of-all-trades. While I’m an author, I also have the role of editor for those who hire my services. Once a month, I also conduct interviews, which are published in the popular magazine, The Voice. 

And it’s the latter that put me directly in the spotlight.

To start with, my interviews are not to be considered your usual, run-of-the-mill interview. No, they are poignant and meant to be juicy for our hungry readers. I don’t think everyone believes all that I write in my interviews, but the feedback is always positive, and, at the end of the day, with money also rolling in, that’s all that matters.

I haven’t always been in charge of giving interviews. Before being handed the role, this monthly publication had been entrusted to my ex-colleague, whose unfortunate tendency to interview forgettable individuals had done nothing to improve the magazine’s reading audience. Our supervisors soon put their foot down with a different approach: one my colleague felt he couldn’t accept. Which is how I came into the picture...

I remembered it clearly, they had been straight to the point.

We want you to interview peculiar people, said Lloyd Sinclair, editor-in-chief, amiably. 

Peculiar in what way? I remember asking him curiously.

We need people who are a little … odd. People that keep readers thinking or mulling over what they’ve said …

He saw me lower my eyelids.

I feel you’re missing something?

No, not at all. I shook my head. I totally understand what you mean. To tell you the truth, I’m intrigued. I can start immediately. I only ask if you already have somebody good enough to spill the beans first?

Lloyd immediately handed me a lengthy list of names. 

I gave it a quick glimpse.

I suppose these are anonymous names?

Lloyd nodded.

What kind of cases are related to them? Just to get an idea.

These are cases involving abuse, that at first glance seem condemnable, but they are not bad enough to break the law.

To put it in a subtle way, should we call them unofficial criminals?

You can put it that way. Others just happened to be involved in cases that have remained unexplained.

Unexplained?

You know … unsolved cases.

Are we talking about ghosts?

Quite possibly on that path, confirmed Lloyd.

I wrinkled my lips.

Is there a problem?

Well, in all honesty, I find the subject of the paranormal ridiculous.

The people you’re going to meet have something rather interesting to tell. Trust me when I tell you that you won’t be wasting your time.

I saw him smiling, an enigmatic smile.

I nodded, and that was that.

About an hour into my journey, darkness had descended over the surroundings. According to the weather forecast, a heavy storm was approaching. The cold outside was severe and from time to time I was expecting the first drops of rain. 

The songs from my phone’s playlist hardly served as an apt backdrop; I had played it repeatedly for over a year and it was in dire need of an update. 

If the velocity I was making was anything to go by, I had another hour to arrive at my destination.

A signal on my GPS warned me of an upcoming right turn.

Turning over onto a side road, I got off the highway.

I glanced at my surroundings - already feeling that I had stepped into a new world. 

2.

For the following hour, I drove through an area that I did not recognize. I had driven along this highway regularly, but I had never been to these parts. A myriad of different roads sprang out from either side of the highway, leading to God only knew where. As if by magic, I saw clusters of towns give way to standalone houses, and finally, it was open countryside. 

The whole area was pitch black. You could easily kill and bury an entire town without anyone lifting an eyebrow. 

While I didn’t necessarily need it, I was hoping to find a gas station at some point to buy some snacks for my way back. The car didn’t require any fuel at the moment.

Nothing.

Absolute zero.

Horror stories do evolve from such places. 

I kept the music on to kill the silence. Not that I particularly enjoyed noise; in fact, my work usually demanded a lot of quiet as I needed to concentrate.

But this almost unnatural silence was unsettling.

A while later I finally approached my destination. The GPS had made its best effort, but, since the signal was so bad, I had to navigate the last few miles under my own steam, thanks to a small light that flickered on a nearby hill.

It was the only light within miles of darkness. 

My drive started to ascend as the road became serpentine. As the car’s headlights cut through the thick layer of darkness, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, as if the eyes of nameless - and shapeless - creatures were watching me from behind the trees. 

It was like being in a fairy tale where the lack of humans made nature more magical, alive, and, most possibly, very dangerous.

The thought made me smile…

I’ve got quite the imagination, I know.

A break in the trees revealed a towering gate leading to a majestic mansion. Since I have visited countless mansions in my life, even at night, I wasn’t in the least impressed by the great building. And, while I certainly understood why some people could have felt unnerved by the towering building, I felt something quite different: envy.

Its owner must be filthy rich.

Decorated with thin branches springing out from nearby bushes, the gates looked old - almost ancient. A lamppost - as weather-beaten as the gates themselves - was the source of the flickering light.

Just a tiny speck of light.

But when you consider the density of darkness out here even a small burning wick can appear bright. 

I was on the point