The Unlocked (Charlie Hartley Series Book 1) (13 page)

“Congratulations on defeating this guy, by the way,” Hilary
said to Charlie.

“Wow, word does travel fast.” Otto said, grinning.

“Yes, now everyone in this school knows you got owned by a
girl,” Charlie joked, earning a laugh from him.

“Look at you feeling all smug.” Bradley’s voice suddenly cut
their conversation. “So fortunate for you to be paired against this pretty boy
this time around, eh?” Bradley had his hands on the back of Charlie’s chair.
His weight countered Charlie’s so that her chair angled at a point her feet
lifted off the floor.

“Oh, Bradley. Get bored with your life again? Trying to
disturb others?” Otto smiled at Bradley, but his eyes were challenging the
larger fellow.

“Well, I’m stuck with sniveling kids like you, so it gets
really boring.”

“Then you should just get out of here, Bradley,” Charlie
said.

“Oh, just because you scored well today, you think you can
handle me now?” Bradley laughed with sarcasm.  She abruptly rose from her
seat, causing Bradley, whose weight was still her chair, to fall on his butt.
Laughter rang all over the cafeteria but ceased the moment Bradley looked up.

He made a move to grab Charlie but she used her powers to
direct his hand away from her. “Oh, so you think you can beat me now, huh?”
Bradley said, making another grab at her. Otto blasted him with ice from
behind. Bradley balled his fists and swung his arm towards Otto when Charlie
stopped his fist in mid swing.

"I'll take care of him, Otto. Don't worry. It's just
another sparring round," Charlie told Otto, who gave her an incredulous
look, but the determination on her eyes made him step away.

Bradley's laugh boomed inside the cafeteria. "Alright,
little Charlie. If you think one win can make you defeat the king, then let’s
see."

"You mean defeat 'King Kong’?" Charlie said,
earning a few snickers from the audience.

Bradley's face turned red. He grabbed a chair to smash over
Charlie, but she willed it to stop. His strength overpowered hers, but the
effect was enough to slow him, giving Charlie a chance to evade. She
sidestepped and willed Bradley’s shirt to cover his face. Like a mad dog,
Bradley growled as he pulled the shirt back down.

"I'm going to kill you!" he shouted, sending his
fist towards Charlie.  Charlie narrowly dodged it, but she stumbled on her
own feet, slamming to the floor on her back. She barely caught Bradley’s fist
before it smashed her face; she rolled on the rug, clambering back to her feet.

She waved her hands, creating a force that bent Bradley's
knees forward. Bradley fell on all fours, but was quick to regain his footing.
He lifted his foot and moved to kick Charlie's stomach. Charlie created a force
to stop his kick, but the force still pushed her a few feet away and into the
wall.  Bradley stormed towards her like the bull Otto mentioned.  She
remained planted against the wall until Bradley was only a few strides away
from her. She quickly jumped out of the way, causing Bradley to crash, face
first, into the wall.

Bradley had to support himself with one hand on the wall
while the world spun around him. His eyes darted across the room in search of
the perpetrator who was laughing among the crowd. His nostrils flared, his eyes
burned with rage. When the world steadied enough for him to stand on his own,
he found Charlie and pointed at her accusingly, "You little bitch!"

A hand on his arm stopped Bradley. He turned to see Otto
with a serious look on his face. "Come on, dude. Stop it. You're not gonna
keep trying to hit a girl, are you?"

Bradley yanked his arm off and grabbed Otto by the collar.
"How about I hit you instead, Pretty Boy?"

"If it makes you feel better." Otto smiled at him,
which infuriated Bradley even further. Bradley raised his fist but an invisible
force stopped him. He saw Charlie using her powers against him again. With a
stronger force, she pushed him back against the wall. Ice crystals began to
form around Bradley's fists, gluing them to the wall. But with his strength, he
quickly shattered them and charged towards Otto and Hilary who stood
protectively in front of Charlie.

"What is this mess?" A voice shouted from across
the room. Every student turned to see Amanda standing by the cafeteria
entrance. Like Moses parting the sea, the students filed into two lines to let
Amanda through the center of the scene to Bradley, Otto, Hilary and Charlie.
The students stood with eyes on the ground. "Anyone care to explain?"

Otto offered an explanation. "Bradley was trying to
start a fight with Charlie, and she was brave enough to make him stop."

"Bradley." Amanda called him and he looked up.
"After what you did yesterday, here you are again? Am I going to expect
more problems out of you?"

"No, ma'am," Bradley obediently answered quietly,
not looking at her. His shaking body showed the anger he barely suppressed.

"Good," Amanda said. "Clean up this mess now.
Charlie, follow me to my office." All said, she walked away.

With the spotlight on her, Charlie’s feet felt heavy as she
followed Amanda, her brows pulled together in confusion. She saw Bradley smile
triumphantly at her despite his condition moments ago.

"Finally, they're getting rid of you," he jeered.

Along the way, she caught the sympathetic look of Hilary and
the encouraging one of Otto. Near the exit, Madison cooed, "Your
15-minutes of fame is over, Charlie. Goodbye and good riddance."

Charlie refused to believe what they said, though the
thought made her nervous. Her moment of victory quickly vanished at the
prospect of being expelled and losing her chance to meet Jeanne just because
she couldn't handle Bradley’s attitude anymore.

The walk to the headmaster's office was as quiet as it was
awkward. Charlie made sure she was only three steps away from Amanda as they
reached the top floor of the main building. Amanda opened the door, allowing
Charlie to enter first. Like most of the rooms at the institute, the
headmaster's office had floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a panoramic view
of the forest. It had a sleek modern design. A couch faced the headmaster's
desk. A mahogany coffee table sat at the center of an area rug. Amanda motioned
Charlie to sit on the couch. She complied meekly.

Circling her desk, Amanda pulled out a piece of laminated
paper from her notebook and sat beside Charlie. The assumption she was in
trouble faded when Amanda smiled at her. "Charlie, I want to show you this."

She handed the girl the laminate. It was an older photo of a
woman approximately in her twenties. Charlie studied the photo, her heart
pounding as the woman’s image began to register. From the shade of hair to the
shape of her eyes and the curve of her lips, the woman in the photo looked like
Charlie. Charlie's jaw dropped. She was staring at her future image! It was
undeniable that the woman bore a striking resemblance to her, and to her
sister. She lifted her eyes to meet Amanda's, who gave her a knowing smile.

"Who is she?" Charlie asked.

Amanda moved closer to Charlie, taking another look at the
photo. "This is Catherine Richards. She was an old friend of mine. We used
to work together. I always thought you and Jeanne looked like her. But when I
approached Jeanne about Catherine before, she was indifferent and said she
wasn’t interested. I was unsure if you would react like Jeanne, but now I see
you’re quite interested."

"Catherine." Charlie repeated the name. Her hand
moved to the locket around her neck. Catherine and Cate.

Charlie thought out loud, "Where is she now?"

Amanda's smile faded. "You see, Charlie. Catherine
wasn't just an old friend. She was a geneticist like me and she helped build
this institute. But she disappeared before the school opened and I never saw
her again. I tried to track her down for Jeanne last year, but I found out she
was already dead."

Something inside Charlie shattered in a million pieces. Her
adoptive parents had already told her about the car crash from which they had
pulled her, but listening to Amanda’s story about Catherine brought hope that
maybe her mother hadn’t been in that car and was still alive somewhere. That
hope was now dashed. "Did she die in a car accident?” Charlie asked
softly.

“Yes, how--?”

“My parents, er, my adoptive parents said they found me in a
car that had crashed along Pilgrim’s Highway,” relayed Charlie. “They pulled me
out but couldn’t get to the other passengers.”

“Oh, Charlie.” Amanda reached for the hand that wasn’t
holding the photograph. “You really are her daughter, aren’t you? I can see her
in you, the young Catherine who was my friend.  I have a feeling it was
fate that brought the two of you to the institute, the one Catherine helped
build.”

"Thank you for letting me know, Ms. Pitt," a
grateful Charlie uttered, looking down at the picture.

Amanda replied, "You’re welcome. You can keep the photo
if you wish."

Charlie nodded, slowly stood and walked towards the door.
She stopped by the threshold to say, "I really appreciate the information,
ma’am." Amanda nodded.

The training and her victory against Bradley seemed an event
from ten years ago as Charlie stared at the woman in the photo. Catherine’s
face was Charlie’s concern, for now at least. Her eyes looked kind, her smile
was warm. She wondered what Catherine was like.

Was she as kind as her eyes hinted? What were her dreams?
What did her voice sound like?

Tears welled up in Charlie's eyes. She was almost certain
that Catherine Richards was her mother, and looking at her photo caused
Charlie's chest to ache. More than likely, Amanda was right, it was fate that
brought the separated daughters to the place their mother helped build. And it
was fate working to reunite her daughters. When Charlie fell asleep that night,
her dream was of a woman humming "Amazing Grace" to her.

Exhausted and weary, Hilary dragged her feet to Charlie’s
room. Her steps were heavy and the moment she entered, Charlie knew something
was wrong.

“Hey, what’s up?” Charlie asked, looking up from her
studying.

Hilary answered by slumping down her bed and burying her
face in Charlie’s pillow.

I know the feeling all too well: down to my last ounce of
energy and fading resolve to live through the day.
Sometimes all a girl
needs is a hug, so Charlie wrapped her arms around Hilary. A gentle squeeze let
Charlie know the hug was well-received.

In a muffled voice, Hilary explained why she was down. “I’m
assigned to another field mission with Bradley, Madison and Kio. I’m so tired
of them.” Then in an almost inaudible voice, she whispered, “I’m so tired of
this.”

Doing something you no longer liked doing was excruciating,
and Charlie knew that from experience. As a kid she’d loved dancing and Sarah
took every available opportunity to enroll her in different dance classes. Hip
hop, ballet, even aerobics, Charlie loved it. After years of doing it, Charlie
woke up with an aching disgust for dance, leaving her mother devastated. As
much as Charlie loved her mother, sometimes she thought Sarah tried too hard.

The mother and daughter dialogue still reverberated in her
ear. “Not everything has to be perfect, Mom.” Sarah would shake her head, “We
at least have to try, sweetheart. We have to.”

“Charlie?” Hilary’s small voice knocked her back to reality.
“Are you alright?”

Charlie nodded. “Sorry. I just remembered something.”

“Do you want to share?”

“Nah. You’re the one who needs to rant. You don’t want to do
missions anymore?”

Hilary straightened up and drummed her fingers on her legs, just
like she did when they first met. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’ve
never felt this way before. I’m usually so excited when assigned to a mission.
I don’t know what’s changed.”

“Maybe you’re just really tired. The past few days have been
… intense,” Charlie said, remembering the encounter with Bradley.

“Maybe,” but the faraway look on Hilary’s face was proof it
was something more, something she couldn’t quite say. Hilary had moved to the
window and was looking out. Charlie joined her, putting her arm through her
friend’s. They stood like that for a few minutes, enjoying the scenery and
serene company.

The tender moment was interrupted by Amanda’s voice on the
speakers.

“Good day, students. The ANDREI Staff is happy to announce
that tomorrow, the 7th of October, will be a free day for the students. Use
your time wisely and feel free to use the school facilities, particularly the
training rooms. Thank you and have a good day.”

The announcement should have brought joy. Hilary sighed.
“You’re lucky you can sleep in tomorrow. Me? I have to go and protect the
spoiled son of some Head of State again. And you know where that got me
before.” 

Charlie patted Hilary’s back. “It’ll be over in a jiffy. You
can hang out in my room after the mission. I’m sure Brianna won’t mind.”

“Like she isn’t minding now?” Hilary replied, head turned
towards the door where Brianna stood with her arms crossed.

“I do not appreciate you inviting visitors over without my
permission,” Brianna squeaked. She had such a tiny, Minnie Mouse voice Charlie
constantly had to remind herself not to laugh.

“Oh, hi Brianna,” Charlie greeted. “I’m sorry, I didn’t
think-“

“Yes, you didn’t think.”

Charlie didn’t like how Brianna was acting but she was the
new student so she backed down and apologized. “I’m sorry, Brianna. It won’t
happen again.”

And then suddenly, like a switch being turned, Brianna broke
out in a smile. “Okay!” She said in a cheery voice. “Hi, Hilary!”

The two baffled girls watched as Brianna grabbed her books
and skipped out the hallway.

“Au revoir!” She shouted from outside. “See you later!”

A few moments of silence passed between Charlie and Hilary
before Hilary said, “Was that the fastest mood switch or what?”

“I’d like to say yes but then I’d have to live with the
consequences,” Charlie joked. She’d never really spoke at length to Brianna
since she’d moved into the dorm. Her roommate always had her nose deep in books
or her eyes transfixed blankly outside. It seemed rude to strike up a
conversation. Charlie tried a couple of times, but Brianna answered mostly in
monosyllables. “I met her in Ms. Everest’s class and she was right.”

“What do you mean?” Hilary asked.

“On my first day here she told me something was going to
happen… Something bad. The event with Madison and the other with Bradley are
evidence she predicted accurately.”

“Oh come on, you’re the new kid. Of course something
distasteful is bound to happen to you, given we have assholes in the building.”

“But she has precognition, right?”

“Yeah, and she’s also Unlocked. She might get things right,
but I bet half her predictions are deduced. She’s been here for a month; she
has yet to prove herself.” Hilary was sharp in addressing the younger kids.

“You don’t like juniors a lot, do you?”

Hilary shrugged. “I don’t like immaturity. I didn’t have the
luxury of childhood. I was forced to grow up quickly, or else risk my
survival.”

It was the first time Hilary spoke sharply about her past,
so Charlie chose to change the subject to food, a good choice, as it turned
out.

“Let’s go and get some snacks at the cafeteria,” Charlie
initiated.

Her friend brightened up. “Good idea!”

Munching on an apple, Charlie inquired about the mission in
between bites. “So, what’s the field mission like?”

“They assign us where to go and who to know, but the
specifics are usually kept from us. Only Mr. Cray knows most of the time.”

“What kind of missions do you get exactly?”

“Babysitting important folks, acquiring a stolen government
document, protecting the American people,” she said the last part with Amanda’s
tone. “You know, the whole shebang.”

“Is it okay if I tag along?” Charlie asked, a bulb lighting
up in her head.

“I don’t know. They don’t usually allow Unlocked students to
join in missions. But no one has ever asked before. You can try asking Mr.
Cray.”

Charlie made a small salute. “Aye aye, captain!”

The sun was still up but Hilary opted to retire early.
Charlie escorted her back to the room and they parted, Hilary saying,
“Hopefully I get over this funk tomorrow.” Before she closed the door, she
faced Charlie. "You know, if you were Jeanne, you'd probably be cooking up
a plan to sneak out and join us tomorrow."

Charlie could only smile. Hilary may be pyrokinetic, but she
could definitely pass as a mind reader too. With time on her hands, Charlie
proceeded to Mr. Cray’s office. When no one responded after several knocks,
Charlie turned her back to walk away. Then Marvolo popped his head out of the
half opened door.

“Well, well. Consider me thankful to you for not breaking
down my door,” he joked.

Charlie went red in embarrassment. “That was one time, Sir.
I promise not to do it again.”

Marvolo laughed. “Don’t mind me, I was only joking. No need
to be all self-conscious. Come in.”

Marvolo reminded Charlie of her Uncle Jeff. There was
something warm about her uncle that the ten-year old Charlie happily ran into
his arms, burying herself in his chest and to snuggle. That was before he died
of leukemia. An unmistakable pain erupted in Charlie’s chest. Bouts of
homesickness had attacked her the past few days, but she somehow shrugged them
off. She seated herself in front of Marvolo’s table.

“What can I do for you, Charlie?” he said with a smile on
his face. He was a terror instructor but after school hours, Marvolo revealed
the soft spot he had for the students.

“I was wondering if I could go with the Awakened on their
field mission.”

Accustomed to rote and repetition, Marvolo initially took
the request with a grain of salt. “What did you really come here for, Charlie?”

Charlie was baffled. “To inquire about the mission, Sir.”

In the history of the school, Marvolo never encountered an
Unlocked who wanted to be part of the field missions. Sure, the kids looked
forward to a mission, at times losing sleep the night before their first trip,
but no one asked to jump the training process, even as an observer.

“Charlie, I know you’ve been an exemplary student so far,
but we can’t circumvent the rules. You're not ready for a field mission yet.
Sometimes it takes more than a year to be prepared.”

Charlie nodded, but at the back of her head a plan was
already materializing. “I understand, Sir. Thank you.” She stood up and headed
for the door.

“Please use the knob,” Marvolo joked, but inside he feared
that the girl’s potential frustration would lead to another door replacement.
Of all the kids he had handled, it was Charlie who made him most nervous.
Before, it was only Bradley he felt uncomfortable with. Madison was easily
restrained when no superhuman was around.  Charlie was different. She was
nice and didn’t seem to have a bad bone in her body when unprovoked. Otherwise,
though, her power had the potential to cause a lot of damage.

Meanwhile, Charlie recalled all the detective movies she’d
spent hours watching back in Milford. Living in a small town with few
establishments had its downsides, one being most permanently bonding with the
television and couch. She didn't socialize even if she was well-liked by the
majority of the students in her high school. She preferred spending her days at
home, watching Criminal Minds or NCIS with religious fervor. Now it’s time to
unleash my stealth and sneak out of the ANDREI premises.

The task proved all too easy. For a top-secret government
operation, ANDREI was pretty lax when it came to keeping tabs on their
students.

Charlie observed the cameras using her peripheral vision.
Staring at them would undoubtedly draw unwanted attention to herself. Charlie
tried to move a camera to make it face the other side. When the machine did as
she commanded, she whispered a silent “Yes!” shooting her fist in the air. With
a few sleights of her hand, Charlie was able to circumvent security by
manipulating the rest of the security cameras she passed on her way out by
turning them away from her.

The flurry of activity at GEN Laboratories made her
virtually invisible. When she got out, it was only a matter of hitching the
right ride. Before long, Charlie was already en route to the mission, trailing
the GEN Laboratory van from a safe distance. The ordinary looking truck she
flagged for a free ride was driven by an old man. He didn't say anything except
when Charlie climbed into the passenger seat. "Just tell me where to go,
miss."

"Please follow the van," Charlie requested. She
liked that he didn't ask why or who the passengers in the van were. He probably
assumed that Charlie was a scientist working for the lab, given the white
uniform she was wearing and the sticker on the van that said in plain letters
Genetic Engineering and Neuroscience Laboratories. She had read somewhere that
health professionals or those engaged in scientific research were revered by
the people in Kit Carson, so she played this to her advantage.

Excitement coursing through her veins, Charlie didn't give a
second thought to the risk she was taking. Back in high school, she had been
afraid to break the rules. For some reason, ANDREI activated a part of Charlie
that had remained dormant in the years she spent with Carl and Sarah. Maybe it
was the newfound freedom of being away from her parents or that she felt older
and more mature with the knowledge of what she could do and a little idea of
how to control it.

Charlie felt safe knowing she could use her powers to
protect herself. In a way, she felt unreasonably invincible.

When she saw the students exit the van, she shook the hand
of the elderly driver, thanked and waved him goodbye. He simply nodded to her
when she disembarked in the same manner he had when she’d gotten in.

Marvolo gathered the students and pointed at a large piece
of paper. Charlie couldn't decipher what he was saying from the bushes where
she hid, but saw the students nodding. Soon they walked towards an abandoned
building. Outside the building were parked a carrier truck with peeling
red-orange paint and a black Mercedes-Benz. When Marvolo and the students
disappeared inside, Charlie peered through the car’s windows. She saw nothing
as the windows were heavily tinted.

With a few tries, Charlie was able to open the locks without
triggering an alarm. Inside the passenger's seat was a briefcase that Charlie
easily opened, thanks again to her telekinesis. Before cracking it open, the
thought she had in her head was: Who's not ready for a field mission now, huh,
Marvolo?

Upon seeing the contents of the briefcase, Charlie wanted to
swallow every thought; rather, she never wanted to swallow anything ever.

Inside were three Zip locked bags containing detached human
fingers.

Charlie almost dropped the bag but remembered that she was
supposed to be back at the school and not in the field. She tried to return
everything the way she found them. However, curiosity ate her, so Charlie
sneaked into the carrier truck too. She found white safe boxes piled high to
the truck's ceiling. They didn't look like the ordinary kind one purchases at a
furniture store. No, this looked like something clinical. It didn't have one of
those dials or keypads either.

On it was a word of caution: "Highly unstable. Handle
with care." Pressing the only button she found on one of the boxes, a flat
screen lit up and a prompt appeared.

Please place your finger for scanning.

Then she remembered what she saw packed in airtight plastic
bags inside the briefcase. When she made the connection, she ran outside the
truck and retched. Charlie heard metal clanking, signaling that whatever
transpired inside was done and the participants would soon head outside.