So what's your story, Wolfgang?

[Wolfgang]

Two people and a small child ran through the rain. Their clothes completely obscured their faces and skin. While the rain made it heavieir and cold, they did not dare attempt to change. They needed as much disguise as possible to avoid their predators. One of them quickly looked around before signaling the two others to enter a narrow alleyway, but did not follow to stand post. The other adult opened a lid to an industrial garbage bin. “I’m sorry, darling,” he whispered. “You will have to hide in here just for a few minutes. Mommy and daddy love you.” And he hoisted the child inside. “Wait, daddy!” Cried a small girls’ voice but he closed the lid. He didn’t have time. He quickly joined the other adult. “Let’s go.” They both ran in the shadows for several blocks until finally reaching a small, unilluminated house. They gave one knock, paused and knocked once more. The door immediately opened. The tall man inside spoke quietly, “It’s clear currently, but I may be under suspicion. It may not be as safe as it used-“before he could end the sentence, the female clothed figure gave out a loud and painful gasp. “Lior!” Cried the other as she fell to the ground, blood spewing from her mouth and clutching her stomach. “She’s in the bin.” The man whispered hastily before running away at full speed, narrowly missing a crudely shaped weapon. He couldn’t look back. He had to run as fast as possible. He had to just survive. But he didn’t get far before his leg was suddenly severed from his body and he flew onto the ground. An enormous and muscular creature approached him. “Where’s your child, Crux? You know we’ll find her eventually.” Crux began sobbing quietly, turning paler and paler. He trembled as he withdrew a large, gun-like weapon from within his clothes. The creature kicked it out if his hands before crushing his head beneath his large boot.

Wolfgang waited inside the trash bin for 2 hours before the lid suddenly flew open and she was levitated into the air. She was immediately knocked unconscious by the same creature who murdered her parents. He retrieved a syringe from inside his vest and emptied its clear contents into her veins. He then pulled out another instrument from his vest. He twisted one end until the other end glowed red. He pressed the glowing end onto the girls forearm for a few seconds before taking it away. A symbol had been burned onto her skin. “Welcome to the slave trade.”

The metallic door slid open. Two guards threw a young woman, profusely swearing at the top of her lungs, into the cell. The door slammed shut and she spat through the small barbed window in the door. She pulled her blonde hair behind her ear before flinging herself onto the straw on the floor that the slaves so commonly slept on every night, grumbling under her breath. “One day,” she said out loud, haughtily. “One, day I’ll get out of here.” She turned to her side and glared at the other, brown-haired slave who occupied the pile of straw to her right. “You could escape with me, if you even tried.” But the other slave remained silent, only staring calmly back at her frustrated neighbor. She continued, “I bet with both our brains we could outsmart those scumbags.” The other slave smiled faintly and finally spoke, “I’m sure we are as much a bag of scum as they are scumbags.” “Haw haw. Very clever,” The blonde slave replied, rolling her eyes and returning to her position on her back. “You never fight…” she whispered. She suddenly stood up. “You always do what you’re told like the rest of the slaves.” She began walking closer to the brown-haired slave. “Are you just going to be a slave for the rest of your life? Are you content with all of this? Are you just going to rot away and be nothing?” She was now just inches from the other slaves face. “We are nothing.” The slave with brown hair replied, her face like stone. The blonde slave erupted, “Why do you insist on just accepting that? Like life said this is the way it’s supposed to be? It wasn’t always like this!” She was screaming now. The brown-haired slaves’ eyes were now beginning to water before she said with a quivering voice, “Because I’m…. I’m scared.” The blonde slave began to calm down and almost looked ashamed. She went back to her straw pile and sat down. She looked at the door and to reassure the other whimpering slave, said “We all are, Wolfgang.”
It had been weeks since Wolfgang’s friend, Danika, had gone off on her. Wolfgang was in line with the other slaves for their monthly inspection. Danika was one of the first to be inspected and had passed. Wolfgang stared blankly at the door she would enter when it was her turn, but a good 50 people were in front of her. “Psst….. Wolfgang…. PSSST” Wolfgang shook her head out of the daze and turned her head toward the source. Danika was hunched beside a large crate, her hands cupped around her mouth. She gestured Wolfgang towards her. Wolfgang looked nervously at the guards by the door. It appeared they had a wary eye on everyone. She looked back at Danika and quickly shook her head. But Danika was undeterred and gestured more fervently. The door opened and the inspector shook his head at one of the guards. They both disappeared inside as the other guard began to read off another name from the list. Even though Wolfgang was horrified of doing anything out of line, she reassured herself that she would listen to whatever Danika had to say and quickly get back in line. She dashed to the crate and crouched beside Danika, her heart thumping loudly in her chest. “Follow me,” whispered Danika as she grabbed Wolfgang’s arm firmly and pulled her into another hallway. Wolfgang used all her force to try to get away from Danika, but she was much stronger than she looked. “They’re going to see you get back in line and wonder why you left in the first place.” Danika informed her as she sped down the dimly lit hallway. Wolfgang could now feel her heart beat throughout her entire body, but her resistance only seemed futile. “It’s odd” Danika continued curiously, “how there are no guards….” She suddenly stopped and opened a door. “And how it’s unlocked.” The room had shelves upon shelves of vials and syringes of clear liquid. Wolfgang was mortified beyond reason as she was pulled into the room. “Just think.” Danika was grinning mischievously “We can get another power! And then maybe we could escape!” She pulled Wolfgang further and further down the aisle. It seemed like an eternity; maybe they would be killed instead of punished this time. Danika leaned over to get a better look and picked two syringes up. “You know… since we’re already here. We might as well use one now.” She looked up at Wolfgang, “They’ll never know.” Wolfgang just wanted to get back in line. “I feel like our current powers are pretty lame.” She raised Wolfgang’s arm and positioned the needle at one of the veins. Before Wolfgang could pull away, Danika plunged the needle into her arm. Wolfgang gave a little whimper. “All done.” Danika cheered as she began injecting a needle into her own arm. Wolfgang felt nothing, no different at all. “Huh.” Said Danika. But she began walking towards the door again. “Let’s go. We can put you at the end of the line. We’re all dirty and look the same anyway.” Wolfgang followed without question; petrified. By some miracle she was back in line, without being caught. It was very strange that the room was so accessible. But Wolfgang was too relieved to wonder about such things and she was slowly getting a headache.  

Wolfgang awoke suddenly, her head pounding. Something else wasn’t right though. She sat up quickly and called out into the darkness, “Danika!” “I’m here.” Danika replied soothingly. “Danika, I think I’m blind in one eye.” She crawled on all fours closer to Danika, it was dark and the other slaves were asleep. “And I can’t sleep.” Danika’s voice wavered slightly. Wolfgang lay down next to Danika. Even though Danika was always getting into trouble and had recently probably put their lives in danger, she was still her best friend. “Hold my hand.” Danika whispered as she reached out into the darkness. As Wolfgang grabbed it, her eyes widened for a few seconds. “Wolfgang!” She exclaimed. “When I touched you I had a vision.” Wolfgang was alarmed, “what did you see?” “I saw you…you were a little bit older. And you weren’t wearing rags or surrounded by these walls.” Wolfgang was confused but didn’t interrupt. “There were others with you and you all were running. You opened a door and there was someone on the other side. I couldn’t really see who it was but they had a prosthetic leg. You gasped and everything went black” Wolfgang didn’t know what to say and lay there silently for a minute until Danika spoke again, “I think I’m completely blind now.”
Several days had passed since Danika’s vision. Although she was completely blind for many hours, her eyesight eventually returned. But Wolfgang not only remained blind in her right eye, but could not hear with her left ear and lost all senses in her right hand.
Danika lay down on her straw after another monotonous day of work. She closed her eyes despite the fact she knew sleep wouldn’t come. “The slave with spike along his back will be gone sometime soon.” She said aloud. Wolfgang raised her eyebrow. “I brushed against him on our way back.” Danika had many visions, only after physical contact. Sometimes they came true within a day, others took longer. It could be as simple as tripping or like Wolfgang’s prediction. It had been months from their second injections, and Danika had been too exhausted for a while to attempt to fight or escape. She was starting to get accustomed to the lack of sleep now though. Wolfgang also discovered her new power, which only activated on physical contact, like Danika. She realized she could take away one of the five senses of a person, but only temporarily. “I think tomorrow I’m going to try looking around again. I need a mental map of the place if we’re going to escape.” Wolfgang didn’t respond. She still did not like the idea of getting in to trouble. “Are you coming?” Asked Danika eagerly. Wolfgang opened her mouth but no sound came out. “Oh, come on. You know you escape eventually, according to the vision, but you got to make it happen” Danika urged. “Well,” Wolfgang said uncertainly. “Maybe we’re freed or the slave trade ends?” Danika laughed. “Please!” The door slid open and a pile of hay was loosely thrown inside. An older woman, maybe in her 40’s, was pushed to the ground and the door slid shut. The woman did not stand back up but rather sat with her back against the door. Her eyes were a pale color and she gazed aimlessly into space. “What’s your story?” asked Danika casually. “My name is Asther.” She said in a distant voice. She made no indication of offering more information. “I’m Danika and this is Wolfgang.” Wolfgang had an overwhelming urge to say in almost a whisper, “I can read emotions… I’m sorry for your loss.” She had no idea what the loss was, but her first power sensed an overwhelming aura of grief from Asther. Asther closed her eyes and sat there for several minutes. Danika shot a quizzical look at Wolfgang. “I’ve had a long day and need to rest. Would you please guide me to my sleeping area?” Asther stood up and slowly began walking forward. Her arms stretched out into the air, grasping for anything. Danika stood up, understanding that Asther was blind, and helped her set up her hay that was in a disarray from being thrown. They were all silent for the rest of the night.
The next day, Danika and Wolfgang was surprised to find that Asther did not have a hard time finding her way around. She seemed to know where to go without using her hands to guide her. She wouldn’t know the color or the exact location of an object, but she never ran into people or walls. Asther didn’t talk much. She spoke even less than Wolfgang, only replying half the time she was spoken to. However one night several days after her arrival she informed Danika and Wolfgang, “I’m leaving tomorrow if you want to come.” They were confused. “What do you mean?” asked Danika, excitement rising in her voice. “If you haven’t noticed, although I’m blind, I have a great sense of direction. I can feel the whole facility as well as the presence of other people.” Danika looked as if a dream had come true. “What do we have to do?” “This is a rather small facility for slaves. The security is pretty low compared to the others. Slaves are disposable for the most part. If one is found on the street, they are either killed or returned to another slave facility. I can guide you out of here but I need to know all your powers in case they are useful.” Asther paused expectantly. “Well, Wolfgang as you already know can read emotions and temporarily take away one of the senses upon touch. I can see one vision of the future of a person upon touch.” Danika stopped abruptly. She never revealed to even Wolfgang her first power. Asther nodded her head, “Wolfgang, if by chance we are spotted by a guard you need to try to blind them.” Wolfgang was less than confident but agreed to try. We will wait until I find an opportunity, then give you the signal… perhaps a cough. I’ve been watching the guard’s routine. There is one room that little to no surveillance. We will escape there.”
Wolfgang cried, trying to be silent as possible. No matter how fortunate her circumstances, she could not help but be sad. She had successfully escaped the facility, but not without tripping an alarm.  At the last moment, Danika had been shot. As she fell to the ground, Asther had to almost drag Wolfgang on or they might never get another chance to escape. Whether Danika had died or merely been knocked unconscious, Wolfgang did not know. She did not even flinch as Wolfgang screamed her name. Months later, Asther’s sister, Pria, took them in and Wolfgang slept on the floor of the small apartment. But she had real blankets and warm food so she was more than happy to do any tasks Pria asked. They would be awake soon, so Wolfgang wiped her tears and began putting her bed things away.