The Shadow (Camren) [ON HIATUS]

Chapter One

It all started when I was twelve.

I could feel my body changing, and when I say changing, I don't mean puberty. Oh no, I was far away from puberty when I was twelve. I was just a small skinny latina gaining enough strength to lift a car as easily as one lifts a cereal bowl, and a truck as easily as one lifts a wood chair. When I noticed these changes, my parents did as well. They knew strange things were happening to people everywhere so they immediately took me to see a friend of my father's in Central City. You see, my father works at the police department as a detective, so he knows a lot of important people in a lot of places. I remember this friend telling my parents, Alejandro and Sinuhe, that they could take care of me in his facility, and they'd teach me to control my so called powers. He called me a "meta-human", and it somehow made me think I was special. My father, being the sensitive stubborn he is, didn't let me stay there. His friend told him to take care of me and don't ever let anyone take advantage of my abilities. And he did his best to protect me, but there's only so much one can do in a city like Gotham.

When I was thirteen, almost fourteen, there were rumors spreading around about a bat vigilante going out at night and hurting criminals. My father said the chief of the police department, Commissioner Gordon, put out a task force to arrest said vigilante. I didn't think he was the bad guy, but I didn't say anything that night. Next day, everything changed. Some know him as the Head of the Demon. He abducted me when I was walking home from school and took me somewhere in Asia called Nanda Parbat, a fortress hidden under the Hindu Kush mountain. I learned that he has a legion of followers all around the world, killers trained to protect the Head and his heirs. He told me I was precious, that nobody but him would understand my powers, that nobody would know how to use it properly. He told me I wasn't a prisoner, but I also wasn't able to leave that place. So my training begun. And I trained nonstop until I was eighteen, never once leaving the hidden citadel. I actually grew to like my training routine. After five years of hardcore training, the Head sent me on my first mission. He wanted me to kill someone important somewhere in China, and I didn't fail him. And I also didn't fail him on the next sixty-eight missions he sent me after the first one. Some people were just as strong as me, some were stronger, and some were just regular people with armies of guards with weapons. After sixty-nine completed missions you sort of forget how many people you have killed, but you never once forget how it felt to take the life of each one of them. If you do, the countless scars all over your body will make a good job at reminding you of the lives you took, and the stories they tell.

When I turned twenty-one I went through the initiation - that's what they call the ritual every Assassin goes through when they path ends and they're finally recognized as Shadow warriors. For exactly ten days I was kept tied up in a empty room and the only person who would come in was the same member of the Shadow. They'd beat me up until I was barely conscious, and then draw a different symbol either on my stomach, my back, or my legs using a knife, each one with a different meaning - they'd make sure I never forget the meanings. On the tenth day, the Head was the one to walk through the door. He marked me with the symbol of the League of Shadows on my back, only this time using hot iron instead of a knife. On the eleventh day, I completed the ritual with my blood, sentencing myself to serve beside the League of Assassins for the rest of my life. And that was the night I left. I had to kill many brothers in order to escape the citadel, and those were the deaths that hurt the most, for I knew each one of them went through the same torture I did.

After about fifteen days walking, hiding and more killing, I was finally able to find someone to take me home. A cargo ship was leaving heading towards Central City and I was able to hide inside one of the containers. Once I got there I realized how the world had changed. There were posters and billboards and even a statue of someone known as "The Flash". I came to realize that he was a meta-human that dressed up in a red suit to fight against criminals. Typical. After that, I realized how many meta-humans were out in the world, either fighting criminals or being criminals. And there were also aliens. Back in the citadel I heard a rumor about aliens flying around the globe with unbelievable strength, impenetrable skin and fire vision. I obviously thought it was bullshit but I could not be more wrong. I heard people talking about at least three different aliens while walking around, but there are probably a lot more than that. I realized there were too many strange things and strange people around the world, and that I would catch up to it eventually. I waited for the night to fall so I could steal some vehicle without drawing any attention towards me, and when I saw a Harley Davidson motorcycle in an empty parking lot, helmet and all, I thought the tables were finally turning and the luck was finally on my side. I managed to hotwire it, and immediately started to drive towards my hometown.