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|---|---|
| Portrayed By | Dania Ramirez |
| Sex | Female |
| Status | Unknown Evolved |
| Ability | Poison Emission |
| Date of Birth | 11/11/1979 |
| Date of Death | N/A |
| Occupation | Fugitive |
| Family | Alejandro Herrera (twin brother) |
| Significant Other(s) | N/A |
| First Appearance | Never Going Back |
| Last Appearance | N/A |
When she cries, at night
And she doesn't think that I can hear her
She tries, to hide all the fear she feels inside
So I pray this time
I can be the man that she deserves
'Cause I die a little each time
When she cries
When She Cries, Restless Heart
Character History
Maya Herrera was born November 11th, 1979 in Santo Domingo de Guzman, the capital of the Dominican Republic. She was the younger child…by a matter of minutes, having been born just a few minutes after her fraternal twin brother Alejandro. Her childhood was normal and happy; she grew up secure if not well-off, and loved by her family and her brother. Indeed, had it not been for fate deciding to throw her a genetic wild-card, it would be likely that she would never left her home country, content simply to live out her life there.
The events of the Bomb really had no impact on Maya, at least not beyond being a terrible news story. Santo Domingo is a long way from New York, and she had no friends that were in New York at the time of the explosion. While it was on all the news programs for the first week or two afterwards, it soon faded from coverage in Santo Domingo, and it was back to life as usual.
It would be several months later…just before the public revelation of the Evolved, in fact…before Maya's life took a jarring trip off the rails from her normal, happy existence. It was during the wedding of her brother Alejandro. Maya was troubled enough by the wedding; she felt that four months was far too short a courtship for her brother. It had caused some arguments and tensions between the twins, but in the end, Maya was still there for the wedding, to support her brother. The only problem was that it wasn't that simple.
After the ceremony, Maya stumbled upon her sister-in-law, Gloria, kissing and making out with her ex-boyfriend in secret. The outraged Maya began a tirade against Gloria that was cut off all too quickly by the violent response of Gloria's ex, Gilberto. He pinned Maya up to the door and threatened her, and when she refused to cower before his threats, he began to throttle her. It was in that moment that Maya's Evolved talent manifested. Her eyes went black, black tears flowing from them, and both Gilberto and Gloria collapse. Confused, Maya catches sight of herself in a mirror, shocked and surprised by her black eyes. She fled the scene, only to find a horror scene outside; all the wedding guests lying on the ground dead, with the same black eyes. The only other survivor is Alejandro. Panicked and feeling cursed by God, Maya flees. She leaves Santo Domingo, going to Venezuela and joining a convent there, hoping that a life in service to God might be salvation for her sin.
Once again, the story doesn't end there. Alejandro is persistent, and manages to track his sister down, though it takes several months to do so. He's mistakenly convinced that Maya is behind the killings at the wedding (well, she is…just not in the way he thinks), and he turns her over to the police. Unfortunately, the stress causes Maya's power to activate again, and nearly kills the police officer. It's only while the officer is dying (and Maya is, understandably, freaking out), that Alejandro embraces his sister and proves to have the ability to in some way negate her lethal power. The policeman begins to recover, and realizing that what happened was not Maya's fault, Alejandro flees with her…but now both twins are wanted by the police.
At a loss for what to do, Alejandro thinks they should relocate and lie low. But Maya, having heard about the revelation of the Evolved in New York, thinks that may be their answer. A little research turns up Chandra Suresh's book, and she decides that if she can get to New York, she might be able to be cured by Dr. Suresh, to remove her lethal power and let her return to a normal life. After some argument with Alejandro, they agree to try and make their way to the United States…a task that will be made more difficult by the fact they are both wanted criminals now.
The trip is not a smooth one. The twins manage to negotiate with a man who drives people near to the American border. Unfortunately, the drivers decide that Maya is pretty enough to be worth some "special attention". Alejandro tries to defend his sister, and ends up pistol-whipped and unconscious for his trouble. When he wakes and catches up to them, everyone in the truck except Maya is dead, the result of her power activating again.
Though it's difficult, the twins manage to make it to the border. But crossing it is another story; difficult and dangerous. They feel out in the area, looking for people who handle border crossings, and discover someone willing to bring them across, in exchange for the very last of their money. Unfortunately, the people in question have an arrangement with John Logan, an American-based criminal and pimp, who had a business arrangement with them, and who pays them handsome commissions to find and separate attractive women so that he can continue to fill his stable for the brothel. When the arrangement is made for the crossing, both Maya and Alejandro are drugged and rendered unconscious. Both are put on a plane, and when they wake up, it's in New York, already in the hands of Logan and his men.
Logan decides to ship Alejandro off to James Muldoon for his fighting ring, and use Maya for his brothel. His own ability of biochemical manipulation helps him to both shut down Maya's power before she can use it, and to manipulate her mood to make her pliable enough to do it. She spends several months there, during which time she meets several people, though perhaps none as relevant as the few who help to save her life with the facility is burned to the ground. Maya is rescued, but in the confusion, has no clues to find Alejandro.
Now, she is in the United States. She's discovered that Chandra Suresh is dead. She has no idea where her brother is…or even if he survived the conflagration. Her power remains a threat to anyone around her should she become agitated. She has no legal paperwork, no identity, no job, and remains a fugitive from justice, wanted for murder in her home country.
Not a good time to be Maya Herrera. She can only hope and pray that God will see fit to lighten his punishment for her sins, though she fears she may be damned forever.