About Michelle Arguiz
Background
About 7 years ago, when Michelle was 13, she and her parents moved from New Mexico to New Hampshire and settled in Romney.
Before that her greatgrandparents from her mother's side came from Mexico as immigrants. In New Mexico, she and her family led a pretty great and enjoyable life, family being almost the most important thing to her.
One night when she was out late playing outside of the house in her neighbourhood she saw a most peculiar thing; a red-eyed creature stalking a stray dog from behind some bushes. Inquisitive as she was at the time, she didn't scream or run away, only up until the creature struck the dog with its mouth and kept it still with its paws or claws. Then it looked directly at her as she tried to stifle a scream. Before she knew it, she had run into the house and locked the door, yelling for her parents to keep out the strange creature.
But when they looked outside, nothing was to be seen. Her old grandma who stayed with them only said one word after hearing her story: Chupacabra!
Superstitious as her family was, they didn't want to stay much longer in that neighbourhood. As soon as her father found work elsewhere they moved to Romney.
At Romney, her father found a job as a carpenter and part-time mechanic in the surrounding area and towns. Her mother also works a job as a Spanish teacher in the evenings, so her grandma is usually the one that makes dinner and greets her when she comes home from college.
She holds her grandma in high esteem, listening to all the old stories she tells and also because of the strange but intriguing set of tarot cards she uses. When she had a bad nightmare, usually about the glowing red eyes that followed her, her grandma would be there beside her bed, waking her up and calming her down. To her suggestion, Michelle took up arts and crafts as an outlet, making beautiful things to forget about the 'demons' troubling her in her sleep. Sometimes, alas for her, the 'demons' come forth in her drawings, her scribbles and paintings, she doesn't even know she is drawing them until she is distracted by something or someone.
Easy-going and sociable, Michelle is quite popular. Though not a cheerleader or sporting-type she is quite the looker and head-turner. Though she holds back her fears about the red-eyed creature and seems a little closed from time to time, people asking about it too much might get a bad and fierce reaction.
Aspirations
Her grandma is still keeping the art of making charms and protective amulets alive and Michelle wants to work on her own special one together with her.
She is in need of a job herself and would like to get a job in the local arts café and coffee shop. She has been there multiple times and the atmosphere is really good.
Long-term: She admires other artwork and would love for her own work to be part of those that others look up to. She'd like to have a drawing or painting up for display either in the art café or in a gallery.
Worst thing she has ever done She has once stolen a moneytin meant for charity from the local church to buy art supplies. She couldn't get anything good to paper after it.
Worst thing she could imagine herself doing
She can be quite fierce, but that is also what scares her in herself. She knows she could scratch someone's eyes out if it meant to save herself.
Worst thing she can imagine someone else doing
Keep hitting someone who is already out of a fight just out of spite or rage and taking it too far.
Things she has forgotten
The thing that her grandma has called a Chupacabra is often depictd as a dog-like being or devil. However what Michelle has pushed back into her mind, was that the figure was more humanoid in shape than she now remembers. And fast, very fast. The scratching and grinding sound its claws made on the door and porch that fateful night, her father shouting, her mother sheltering her from the noise and her grandma screaming Spanish protective charms and incantations. And after that the silence... and the restless sleep.
The most traumatic thing that has happened
After her grandma explained to her how the tarot cards worked, Michelle gave it a try herself. The first attempt was all fun and games, but the second one predicted a troubling future. A good friend or family member would encounter an obstacle that spelt Death. Her grandma tried to ensure her that nothing was going to happen and eventually she believed it. But then her mother died on her way back from teaching the evening Spanish class after losing the control of the wheel and crashing into a wall. After that Michelle didn't dare to touch the cards again, although she might have the gift as well according to her grandma.
How she knows Ricky Thompson
Ricky was a good friend of Michelle's, he was one of the first to welcome her to Romney when she arrived as he lived in the same street but several houses further down the road. The two of them have hit it off quite well and he was one of the few she trusted with what she had seen once before in New Mexico. The two of them have never really dated as romantic interests, but they were close as friends and did a lot of stuff together, like grabbing coffee, talking through the night, go to museums. He was quite interested in Michelle's family and their customs, especially the same old stories that Michelle loved from her grandma. His disappearance promptly resulted in Michelle's dreaming about the red-eyed creature again, something that has only quite recently stopped.
