“No, Maria, I wasn’t…”

“Look, you don’t have to lie to me, Liz, I know you like him, so go talk to him.” “But…”

“No buts.” Maria pulled Liz away from the counter. “Now, go talk to him,” Maria said, swatting her butt lightly with a couple of menus Maria had picked up from one of the now empty tables. Liz gave Maria a weird look and walked over to the table where Max and Michael were.

“Hey Max,” Liz said as she stood in front of the table. “Hey Liz.” Liz looked over at Michael and said, “Hey.” Michael only nodded. Liz turned back to Maria, who was singing again as she cleaned dishes, and looked at her worriedly. “You okay, Liz?” Max asked.

“I’m worried about Maria. She’s been acting really strange. She’s almost…happy. I’m afraid to ask why. Do you guys know anything?”

“No, sorry Liz,” Max said. Liz turned to Michael, who said, “Why should I know anything?”

“I don’t know. I think she may have a boyfriend,” Liz said. Michael felt fire run through his veins at the thought of Maria having a boyfriend. < No, stop it man, you gave her up. You don’t have any hold over her anymore, > Michael thought. But he couldn’t be farther from the truth. While Maria was singing, she could feel Michael’s eyes on her, staring at her and Maria smiled. She knew he still liked her, but was afraid to let anyone get close. Maria only shook her head and went about putting glasses away when all of the sudden, she got a sudden headache and her body froze up, causing her to drop the glass. The glass shattered on the floor, but Maria paid it no mind as a flood of images rushed into her head.

First was of a small village out in the middle of the countryside, yet extremely advanced. She saw to people, a tall man with light brown hair standing next to a woman with long blonde hair. Then, she saw someone kill both the man and the woman by plunging something into their hearts. She saw them drop to the ground, their blood pooling on the ground, and the man who killed them came into focus. He was tall and dark with long black hair, staring at her evilly, a malicious smile on his face, and a red aura surrounding him. Then, a voice came into her mind and said, “Meet me in front of your house.”

Then, the images were gone as soon as the voice disappeared, leaving a shaken Maria standing behind the counter. She turned around and leaned against the counter, raising a shaking hand to her temple. She looked straight ahead and found Max, Liz, and Michael looked at her worriedly. Maria opened her mouth to reassure them, but, remembering the voice, she said, “I-I have to go.” She burst out of the restaurant in a run, ignoring the three’s calls for explanations, and concentrated on getting home. As soon as Maria disappeared from sight, Liz turned back to Max and Michael and said, “What was that all about? Now I’m really worried.”