DEN Character Interview: Todd and Troy Dugan
“Dude! Ever hear of stealth?”
– Todd Dugan
Hello. The official book launch for my new thriller, Den, will be Tuesday October 25th, a week before Halloween. It involves a college girl named Amy Raven who takes a job at Gameland, a refurbished amusement park, only to discover she’s trapped in a twisted game in which she’s being hunted by various predators who are competing to win her as their prize. To prepare for it, I’m hosting a series of interviews with some of the book’s primary characters. Tonight we’re interviewing two of the staff at Gameland, twin brothers Todd and Troy Dugan.
(The Dugan twins enter from behind the curtain and take their seats across from me. They’re both lean and athletic, with shaved heads and leather hide vests. Todd has a Chinese dragon tattoo on his right bicep. Each one sports a longbow and a quiver that contains about a dozen arrows. Todd, the one in front, keeps a wary eye on me as he sits, while Troy smiles broadly beneath his blond moustache.)
Welcome, gentlemen.
(Todd gives a curt nod.)
Troy: What up, dude?
RAD: So you’re both working at Gameland, which used to be the most famous theme park in West Dennison, Illinois, until it was shut down seven years ago. Now that it’s about to re-open its doors, I’m sure a lot of people will have high expectations.
(The boys shrug.)
Troy: Yeah, I guess so.
RAD: You think people will get their money’s worth at the new park?
Todd: Sure.
RAD: I understand Gameland is mostly the same as it was before, but some rides have been updated. There’s also a new towering ride called the Sky Drive, that’s supposed to rival not only Gameland’s rides, but any ride at any national theme park. But nothing’s been revealed about what it does. What kind of surprises do you have in store?
Troy: (laughs) Surprises? You don’t know the half of it, man!
Todd: (edging forward in his seat) He means, yeah. Gameland’s got some dope rides. People will love it.
RAD: Do you perform some kind of archery show?
Todd: No. We run a couple of game stands, float between them.
RAD: So what are the bows for?
Todd: Hunting. When we’re not working the park. That’s all.
RAD: What do you hunt?
Troy: (smiles at Todd) Wouldn’t you like to know, man.
Todd: Dude. Shut up.
RAD: How good are the two of you at shooting?
Todd: Good enough. We get the job done.
RAD: Where’d you learn to hunt?
Troy: Our dad taught us, back in Wisconsin. Before he got drunker than usual and rammed his truck straight into the brick wall of the bar he liked to visit. That ironic or what, man? (Troy continues to smile, showing no bitterness or grief.)
RAD: I’m sorry to hear that.
Troy: (waving it off) Bound to happen sooner or later. Mom locked him out so many nights for being wasted. She kind of shut down after the funeral, drew into herself. We kept up the hunting on our own. Plenty of rabbits and squirrels to shoot for practice. Had Mom cook ‘em up for dinner. Long as we brought something home to eat, she never worried much what we were doing, you know? Which worked out fine for us.
Todd: Just answer the question, dude. Nothing else. All he asked is where we learned to hunt.
RAD: What’s the biggest thing you’ve ever hunted?
Troy: (grins at Todd) Ask us after next weekend, man.
Todd: (leans into Troy, gritting his teeth) Listen, idiot! You know those times where you need to stop talking? This is one of them. Shut. Up.
Troy: (lowering his voice, annoyed) – What’s your problem, man? We’re just talking.
Todd: (whispering in a harsh tone) Wake up, brainless! Don’t you know what this is? He’s probably got this whole office wired. Anything you say can and will be held against you. Got it?
Troy: (turns to me and shrugs) I bagged a wolf once. That’s probably the biggest.
RAD: That’s impressive. Were wolves a big problem back home?
Troy: Nah, they don’t hassle us much. Wolves scare off easy. Easier to deal with animals than people sometimes, know what I mean?
RAD: How so?
Troy: Animals are simple. They just want the basics, food, shelter, mating. But people – especially chicks, man – they get into your head and try to mess with you.
RAD: Okay.
Troy: Some high school girls tried to mess with us a few years back. Real stuck up. Walking by our house, calling us country bumpkins, all that crap. Marcia Jean and Cindy.
Todd: He doesn’t need to know anybody’s names.
Troy: They really thought they were something. Some girls just know they’re hot and think they can talk to you any way they want, you know?
Todd: That don’t matter. The point is, some people mess with you. That’s it.
Troy: But they ain’t gonna mess with us no more, are they, dude?
Todd: Seriously. Shut. Up.
RAD: So do you guys have girlfriends back home?
Troy: (grins at Todd) Depends on how you look at it, man.
Todd: (ignoring him) No. We don’t.
RAD: Are you looking?
Troy: Yeah, sure, man. Might do some serious looking next weekend.
Todd: (standing) All right, we’re done here. We need to get back to the park.
Troy: For what, man?
Todd: To keep you from talking too much.
RAD: Before you go, I have one more quest –.
Todd: We’re done.
(Todd secures his longbow over his shoulder and marches out. Troy smiles, shrugs, then rises to follow his brother out.)
RAD: I’m sorry we couldn’t talk longer, but I want to thank the Dugans for visiting with us today. Sounds like there’s a lot going on at Gameland and hopefully more secrets will be revealed after the big event they hinted at for next weekend. W
atch for our next character interview soon, to find out more. Meanwhile, you can register for the Double Feature Book Launch Bash here!
#DenThriller
