by I. T. Lucas
For some reason, her mind came up with whipping and enslavement, even though she hadn’t seen anyone who looked like he or she was a slave. No one was in chains, and she hadn’t seen anyone getting a whipping either.
Except, that didn’t mean a thing. Slaves could have been kept somewhere else, and whipping might have been done away from the public eye.
It was better to run than discover what these people did to thieves.
As soon as the last stall was behind her, Wonder started running, slowly at first, then faster when she realized the four were still behind her.
Wonder was fast, her long legs eating the pavement with surprising speed. Ducking into an alley, she was sure she had lost them, but they must've cut through some other passageway, and two of them appeared in front of her. When she turned round to run the other way, the other two appeared at the mouth of the alley, blocking her way.
She crouched, instinctively getting into a fighting stance, her muscles tightly coiled and ready to launch an attack as if her body knew what to do even though her brain didn’t. When a growl started deep in her throat, startling her, she didn’t know where that came from either.
What was happening to her? Was she turning into a feral creature? Where were those responses coming from? Were they part of her nature, or a muscle memory from a life she couldn’t remember?
“Come on, girly, no need to get all hissy. We just want to play,” one of the guys said as he sauntered closer, his friend following closely behind him.
Wonder didn’t answer.
Her knowledge of their language had gotten good enough to understand basic communication and to speak a few necessary words, but not good enough to form sentences. The vocabulary needed to answer the thug was beyond her capabilities.
Instead, she bared her teeth and growled louder. On an entirely instinctive level, she was aware that the men should run from her and not the other way around. But it seemed they were too stupid to realize that they were not dealing with an ordinary human girl.
Their mistake.
Her body knew what to do as soon as the first one reached to grab her. Without having to think it through, she closed her hand around his wrist and pulled, throwing him over her shoulder with such brute force that he hit the side of a building with a thud, then slid down and never got up.
Was he dead?
She didn’t look back to check, her hearing good enough to confirm that he was out of commission.
For now.
Enraged by their friend’s fate, the other three lunged at her all at once.
As Wonder’s arms and legs punched and kicked, her fast moves soon turned into a blur. Her goal was always the same—get leverage and hurtle the assailant across the alley. In seconds, the sounds of battle were over, and four bodies were strewn about the alley’s dirty pavement.
In the silence that followed, Wonder’s own heartbeat thundered in her ears for a long moment. When it quieted enough for her to hear the others, she could discern only three aside from her own.
She had killed one of them. It was the first one she had flung against the wall. No heartbeat was coming from his direction.
Bile rising in her throat, Wonder bent over and emptied the contents of her stomach.
She was a killer, a murderer, a taker of life.
The policemen would come for her and put her in chains. When the other three awoke, they would never admit that they attacked her first, and she had no words to defend herself with.
With one last glance at her terrible handiwork, Wonder turned and ran. With no money to pay for transport, she could think of only one way to get out of the city as fast as she could—sneak onto one of those huge boats leaving the harbor.
It shouldn’t be too difficult.
As she ran through the busy streets, desperate to distance herself from what she had done, Wonder didn’t give much thought to how she was going to accomplish that.
Her haggard state was her greatest concern. A bruised woman, wearing dirty, torn clothing, could not avoid notice. But shrouding herself in her current state was above her skill level. Ignoring the looks, she kept on running until she reached the harbor.
The security was much tighter than she had expected.
Standing on the dock, she observed as the crew and passengers showed the guard some sort of a booklet before being allowed onboard.
She was in deep trouble.
In order to get in, she had to summon her most powerful shroud to conceal her bruises and the state of her clothing, not an easy feat on a good day, and nearly impossible to maintain for more than a few minutes when shaken down to her core by the events that had brought her there.
On top of that, she would have to thrall the guard to believe she had the same booklet as the other passengers.
Taking several deep breaths, Wonder imagined herself wearing nice new clothing and holding the required documentation in her hand, then got in line behind a hefty older woman dragging a large wheeled case behind her.
Poor thing needed help, but Wonder couldn't offer it. First, because she didn’t have command of the language, and secondly because she needed to focus on holding the shroud.
“Here you go, young man.” The woman handed the official her booklet together with another piece of paper. “I’m so glad your vessel is taking on passengers. I didn’t know cargo ships did that, and for such a low price too. Now I can finally visit my daughter and my grandchildren without having to go on one of those flying machines.” She shook her head. “People are not meant to fly through the sky like birds.”
The guard examined the documents and handed them back. “You are free to pass, Mrs. Rashid.”
“Thank you.” The woman folded the piece of paper, put it inside the booklet, and stuffed both in her large bag. “Good day to you.”
“Have a pleasant trip, Mrs. Rashid.”
Holding her breath, Wonder pushed her thrall at the guard and followed behind the older woman without stopping. A few tense moments went by as she expected him to order her to halt, but the call never came.
Wonder exhaled a relieved breath and kept on walking.
3
Wonder
“I brought you dinner, sweetie,” Mrs. Rashid said as she entered the cabin. “They think I’m an old fat woman who eats too much.” She chuckled as she put the plate down on the table.
“Thank you. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.” Wonder sat down and lifted the utensils.
Hasina, as Mrs. Rashid insisted Wonder call her, waved a dismissive hand. “You make this voyage tolerable. I would’ve been bored out of my mind if I were all alone in this cabin with nothing to do.”
A retired English teacher, the kind lady who had taken pity on her and invited a stowaway girl to share her cabin, had also taken it upon herself to prepare Wonder for her new life in the United States of America, which was where the ship was heading.
Day by day, Wonder’s vocabulary was growing, and her use of the language was becoming more and more natural. Mrs. Rashid was very impressed with her progress. She was even teaching Wonder to read and write in the English language as well.
“I’m forever in your debt, Mrs. Rashid.”
“Pfft, it is my pleasure. And please call me Hasina, as I have asked you over and over again. You’re such a stubborn girl,” she said with a smile, letting Wonder know she wasn’t really angry at her.
“But that’s good.” She patted Wonder’s head. “Your stubbornness probably saved your life, you poor thing. I don’t know who’s the son of a donkey who beat you up, because you refuse to tell me or really can’t remember anything. I can only assume he is an abusive husband and that you had no choice but to run for your life. If you were found, God only knows what he would have done to you.”
Hasina shook her head. “Terrible things happen to women, and there is no one to help them. I was lucky to have been married to a good man, but not every woman is so fortunate. If you’re telling me the truth and you reall
y can’t remember anything, then he must’ve beaten you up quite severely. You might’ve died.”
Wonder said nothing, letting Hasina believe what she would. It was better than telling the kind lady more lies or partial truths.
Once she had enough command of the language to communicate, Wonder had told Hasina that she had woken up covered in bruises and no memory of what had happened to her, or who she was.
It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the complete truth either. If the woman knew the real reason behind Wonder’s plight, she might not have been as eager to help her. No one wanted to aid a murderer, even one who had killed in self-defense.
Wonder finished the meal and wiped the empty plate clean with a paper towel. “Thank you for the food, Hasina.”
“You’re welcome, dear. Are you full? Or would you like me to bring you more?”
Wonder was still hungry, but it was nothing new. Hunger had been her constant companion throughout the voyage. Mrs. Rashid could bring her only so much food, and it wasn’t enough, but she wasn’t going to upset the old lady by admitting it.
“I’m quite full, thank you.”
Mrs. Rashid eyed her suspiciously. “You don’t look full to me. I’ll get you some dessert. They think I’m fat anyway.” She patted her big protruding belly. “In the meantime, get some more studying done. I want you to copy chapter twelve while I'm gone.”
“Yes, Mrs. Rashid.”
The teacher utilized what tools were available to her. Television was one of them, and books from the ship’s library were another. Apparently, there was another thing named a laptop that could’ve been very useful, but Mrs. Rashid hadn’t brought hers on the voyage and couldn’t find anyone to borrow one from.
“I’ll be right back.”
After the chapter had been copied, and the delicious chocolate cake eaten, Mrs. Rashid went out to mingle with the other passengers, and Wonder settled in for another evening in front of the television.
Watching stories enacted in such a realistic way was fascinating. She'd learned a lot about the new land the ship was sailing toward. Unfortunately though, Wonder had learned nothing new about herself.
It was as if she had been born the day she had awakened in that cavern. Well, that wasn’t entirely true, just mostly.
She knew now that Alexandria was the name of a city in a country called Egypt, and that the language people spoke there was called Arabic. Some of the words in that language sounded familiar to her, which was not the case with English.
Hasina had told her that she’d never heard anyone speak Wonder’s language or anything similar to it. Wonder had a feeling that the teacher suspected her of making the language up.
Sometimes, Wonder suspected it too.
Maybe when they arrived in the United States, they could find someone who’d heard it before and could tell them in which country it was spoken.
Wonder had spent many nights fantasizing about that land.
4
Wonder
“Wonder Woman, go check the ladies’ room,” Tony said in Wonder’s earpiece. “I hear yelling all the way to my office.”
Tony liked to make fun of her adopted name, but she didn’t care. Now that she knew who Wonder Woman really was, she liked it even better.
Her new legal last name wasn’t Woman, though, it was Rush. Wonder Rush courted even more snickers than Wonder Woman, but she didn’t care about that either. She’d chosen it because it sounded a little like Mrs. Rashid’s last name. The woman was the closest to family Wonder had. She owed her so much.
“I’m on it, boss,” she said as she pushed her way through the crowded dance floor towards the back of the club.
It had been two months since she had arrived at the shores of San Francisco and six weeks since she had started working in Tony’s nightclub.
Serena, Mrs. Rashid’s daughter, had arranged everything, from Wonder’s refugee status and all the necessary documents, to the job at the club.
Initially, she’d been hired as a cleaner.
There wasn’t much else an uneducated woman like her could do. If not for her unusual strength, Wonder would have still been mopping the club’s floors and scrubbing its toilets instead of acting as its only female bouncer.
It had taken one major brawl between a bunch of drunken college girls for the owner to realize Wonder’s unique capabilities. As the male bouncers had stood watching, helpless to do anything since they couldn’t touch the women, Wonder had untangled the mess in seconds.
Tony, being the wise businessman that he was, had realized that a woman who was as strong as a man was a perfect solution for when ladies got rowdy. Well, Wonder was probably stronger than the human male bouncers, but she wasn’t about to correct the misconception.
Frankly, she would have preferred to keep on cleaning.
Even though it got disgusting at times, especially when she had to wipe up vomit off the floors and clean the mess people left in the bathrooms, it was peaceful work that she was good at. Transforming a space from dirty to sparkling clean provided a sense of satisfaction and immediate gratification that breaking up fights and throwing out drunkards did not.
Not for her, anyway.
Acting aggressive and pretending to look threatening went against Wonder’s gentle nature. Even though it seemed like she was a natural born fighter, Wonder hated violence in any shape or form.
The upside was better pay.
“You lying bitch! You told Rachel I hooked up with her boyfriend and now she is telling everyone that I’m a colossal slut!”
As Wonder took a deep breath and pushed the ladies’ bathroom door open, the one who was shouting lifted her hand and slapped the other girl’s face.
Shocked, the girl cupped her injured cheek. “You’re crazy! I’ve never said anything like that!” She lunged at the offender, grabbing her hair.
It was Wonder’s cue to step in.
“Break it up, girls!” she said, catching the hair-grabber’s wrist and holding it firmly. “Let go!”
“She started it!” the grabber whined. “She slapped me!”
“Let go, or I’m throwing both of you out. You have two seconds to disengage.”
Hissing, the grabber released the other’s hair and took a step back. “Throw her out. I did nothing wrong. The bitch is crazy.”
Wonder pushed herself in between the combatants, forcing them apart. “Calm down. I’m giving you one minute to fix yourselves up and then you can either behave and go back to the club or leave and resume your fight outside. But if I hear one more shout from either of you, I’m going to remove you from the premises and get you banned from ever coming back.”
The last threat finally did the job.
“Fine,” the slapper said and walked out.
“How am I going to go out there like this?” The Grabber pointed at her red cheek.
“Would you like me to bring you some ice?” Wonder offered.
“Oh, so suddenly you’re nice to me?”
“I’m just doing my job. Do you want the ice or not?”
The grabber sighed. “Yeah, I guess. Sorry for yelling at you. It’s not your fault that bitch is insane.”
“Apology accepted. I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Thank you.” The grabber turned to the mirror and reached inside her purse to pull out a tube of cosmetic concealer.
Human girls used a lot of products on their faces, but the only one Wonder had tried to date was a black pencil to outline her green eyes. She still wasn’t sure whether it made her look better or worse. Not that it mattered. The only reason she used it at all was to make herself look a little older.
A bouncer who looked younger than twenty didn’t project the necessary authority or inspire compliance.
Wonder wished she knew how old she really was, but that information was lost with the rest of her memories, and it didn’t seem as if any of them were coming back.
In fact, she was starting to doubt what little she thought she knew
about herself. Was she really immortal?
It was hard to argue with her body’s rapid regeneration from injuries, or with her ability to influence the minds of others, but maybe she was just a human freak?
After all, not only had she not encountered any other immortals, but it seemed no one knew of their existence. From what she had learned, gods and immortals were considered mythical creatures and not real living breathing people.
Perhaps she had dreamt it up while unconscious?
A disturbing possibility since being an immortal was the only sense of self she possessed.
5
Wonder
“Hey, Wonder, mind walking me to my car?” Natasha asked. “Since those murders started, I’m afraid to walk from the front door to the parking lot. I’m freaking out all the way until I’m locked inside my car.”
“No problem. Let me just tell Tony I’m stepping out for a few moments.”
“He was the one who suggested I ask you. He said none of us should go out by ourselves at the end of our shifts, but Tina, who is supposed to be my partner, is not ready to go yet and I have to get home pronto. My two-year-old is complaining of an earache.”
Funny that Tony hadn’t suggested Wonder partner up with anyone at the end of her shift. Apparently, bouncers were excluded.
“Let’s go.” She patted her holster.
The recent wave of murders had prompted Tony to give all of the club’s bouncers Taser guns and send them to a class on how to use them. According to the newspapers, the murders all occurred in the vicinity of clubs and bars, which was basically every other building on both sides of the street that Club Nirvana was on. Thankfully, none of the murders had happened nearby, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t. In an area that was packed with clubs, pubs, restaurants, and bars it was highly probable.
The Taser gun was a good weapon, mainly because it wasn’t lethal when handled properly, and also because of its range. There was no need to get close to the attacker. The main disadvantage was that it was good for only one shot.