Éclectique

Hi everybody. Just got back from dinner. We went to visit a family friend who was in town from Holland -- Nina. She's a Malaysian but her husband is Dutch. Food was brought by everybody. Hehe. There was a lot of food. My family brought Domino's, Feisal & Nadia (another family friend) brought KFC & Nina, our gracious hostess had ordered McDonald's. Oh shoot. I forgot about the McFlurry she bought. Oops. Sorry Nina. Anyway, going to her house is always fun. Her son, Johan is very interactive. Nice kid. Problem is, he tends to speak Dutch so we're all enjoying hearing him speak the few phrases that he knows. He's really grown from the last time I saw him. It's been a year or so, I think. Feisal & Nadia are -- somewhat -- newlyweds so they brought along their photo albums and we had a lot of good laughs over the pictures and old stories. My brother played on Nina's piano/keyboard a bit. He's quite good. Considering he doesn't study music outs...

"But why is he after me? And I need to know more about my powers mom. You said there are limits so what are they? And is there some kind of code I must abide by or something?" Maya asked; wanting to know more. "Tomorrow, Maya, I promise. First, all of us need to get some sleep," and Jonathan showed Aaron and Maya to their respective sleeping quarters. To Maya’s relief, she had her sleeping quarter all to herself. After a long, hot shower, she climbed into bed and tried to go to sleep. She spent most of the night tossing on her bed, unable to make much sense out of what she was just told. Why was this vampire after her? What were the limits her mom had told her about? In the end, Maya fell into a fitful sleep. It felt as though Maya had just put her head down when she was awakened. Opening her eyes, she saw Anna staring over her; her black hair falling over Maya’s face. "Wake up, Maya. We need to get you some new clothes. So that Jean’s men won’t recognize you. ...

"Luther, Anna, follow us," spoke Jonathan and they headed towards the sleeping quarters while Maya and Aaron headed towards the teleconference room. It was a cozy room. It had an oval table with eight chairs; four chairs on either side. One of the walls for the room was replaced with several glass panes. Two adjacent panes doubled as doors. Maya sat down facing the glass panes. Aaron merely stood in one of the corners. This made Maya feel guilty. As though she had been the cause of all this and she didn't even know what it is that she had caused. Aaron’s cold demeanor only made her feel worse. Soon Samantha and Jonathan stepped in and took their seats across from Maya. Only then did Aaron settle in beside Maya. "Maya, do you know what happened tonight?" started Jonathan. "I know what happened but I don’t know why it happened. Why are we here? Why are we hiding? How long has this been here? Who were the people at the dance? Why did Aaron rush me out of the s...

As the song ended, and everyone started to applaud, Maya noticed something shift in Aaron’s eyes. And suddenly he threw her on the floor and jumped over her. As she struggled, the windows blew out and she realized Aaron was protecting her. As all the glass showered down, Maya could hear everyone screaming and running. She felt herself being heaved up and lead out of the school building To Maya’s surprise, Aaron’s car was in front of the school, not in the parking lot where they had parked. Then the doors opened and she heard two voices. One of them was very gruff; a man’s. The other wasn’t gruff and a little higher pitched; a girl’s. Aaron indicated for Maya to climb in the back seat while he climbed in the front passenger seat. The moment, the door was closed, Maya was thrown back as whoever the driver was; he or she had slammed on the gas, hard. Sitting beside her was one of the two girls from Aaron’s table. She was quite pretty; with wavy jet black hair. She was dressed in a pastel ...

To Maya’s surprise, Sara was right. The next day, Samantha and Maya stayed at home, Jonathan came over. They spent the day together playing board games and basically having a good time. It felt good to be a family again. Maya wondered why her parents had divorced. They seemed so happy together. At 6, Maya started to get ready. By 7:45 she was ready and went downstairs. "Wow Maya. Every guy there is going to dump their girl right there on the spot," commented her dad. At 8 sharp, the doorbell rang. Jonathan opened the door. Aaron was dressed in a black Armani all black tuxedo with an apple red satin tie. It was a very simple outfit but seemed to accentuate Aaron’s physique. "Evening, sir; I’m here to bring Maya to the dance?" greeted Aaron. "Evening, you must be Aaron. Nice wheels. Charger?" enquired Jonathan, noticing Aaron’s car. "Yes, sir," chuckled Aaron. "Oh, he IS dashing," whispered Samantha into her daughter’s ear,” "Mom,...

The next day, a boy approached Maya right after History, while she was packing up. Maya was about to shrug him off when she realized it was one of the boys from the table she was gawking at. Looking at him, she felt her heart suddenly beat erratically. Those eyes, they seemed luminescent somehow. “Hi. You must be, Maya. I’m Aaron. I was wondering if you would come with me to the fall dance,” “I’d love to but um... I don’t have anything to wear,” confessed Maya, blushing furiously. “That can be fixed. So it’s a yes?” “Yeah,” Maya sighed breathlessly. As he left, Maya had to struggle to stop herself from hyperventilating. After she took her seat at the cafeteria, Sara suddenly spoke to her. "I heard you need a dress for the dance. I was thinking why don’t we go tomorrow? I need one too" "How did you know I was looking for a dress?" although Maya suspected she already knew. "Aaron told you, didn't he?" blurted Maya. "I still can’t believe he invited ...

Maya and Jonathan pulled into a used car lot. Jonathan's truck told Maya her dad was coming 5 minutes before it arrived. She swore not to get anything that loud. While Maya started to look through, her dad had a quick word with the owner. Soon she was beside Maya. "Your dad tells me you're looking for your first car. Can I suggest a white '83 Mitsubishi Colt? Its a solid car. Being a Japanese car, its also easy on the gas. It isn't what you'd call powerful but its a great city slicker," "Mind if I take a look?" "Not at all. Right this way," While Jonathan drove to work, Maya drove back home in her newly acquired Colt. On impulse, Maya decided to drive by the school. It was the last day of the Summer break so she might as well take a peek. The school complex was very nice. Double story, red brick and a rather spacious parking lot for the students. The next morning, Maya was awakened by an alarm clock. Her mom must've put it there to ...

She was in her mom's car; a black 2006 Dodge Avenger. It was a pretty standard sedan. Nothing fancy. It was also in serious need of a wash. They were moving upstate from Blacksburg to Camden. She was staring blankly out the window as they were driving; thinking about her new life in Camden. Her mom's colleague was driving the U-Haul truck behind them. "You OK, Maya?" she heard her mom ask, waking her from her trance. "Yeah, I'm fine, mom," replied Maya McKenzie. Samantha McKenzie had adamantly decided moving upstate with her daughter after she intervened in an argument between Maya and Jason; Maya's now ex-boyfriend. They were moving into a nice little house on the outskirts of town. Camden was chosen so that she could open up her own legal practice to keep an eye out on Maya. Besides that, her ex-husband; Jonathan, lived down the road so he could help keep an eye on her as well. Jonathan had offered Samantha and Maya to move in with him but they dec...