Going Wild (12 page)

“N
o way!” Charlie said, planting her feet in the doorway of the shed and blocking Maria and Mac from getting past her. “Tell me what you're planning or I am out of here. I mean it.”

“Tell her, Maria,” Mac said. “She's right. She's not our test subject.”

Charlie was glad to have Mac backing her up, but then she did a double take. “Your test subject?”

“Bad choice of words,” Mac said. “What I meant was that you're not a chimera. You're a person, so you decide things about your own . . . self. About your own powers. Whatever we're calling them.”

“You're totally right,” Maria said sheepishly. “I'm sorry. I was just thinking that since it'll take some time to crack the code, maybe we could learn more, you know? Test your abilities. See how fast you can run, how much you can lift. Stuff like that. And who knows—maybe we'll accidentally figure out how to control the powers, too.”

Charlie narrowed her eyes. “That's it?”

“Yep. That's all I had in mind. I mean, aren't you curious to find out?”

Maria was pretty convincing. It
would
be cool to know how fast she could run. “I guess so,” said Charlie. “Yeah.” She stepped through the doorway, and the three started walking toward school. “But I don't know if we'll be able to get it to do anything,” she added. “The bracelet doesn't work all the time. Sometimes it doesn't do anything for hours.”

Mac looked up from his cell phone. “What do you mean?”

“I mean it gives me powers sometimes and not others. I tried running fast the other night, and I couldn't get it to work. It's like . . . like a lightbulb that's not screwed in all the way, you know? Sometimes it's on, sometimes it flickers and goes off. . . .” It wasn't the best way to describe it, but it was the only thing Charlie could think of.

“So . . . do you think there's a short circuit in the bracelet or something?” Mac wondered. “Some sort of glitch?”

“I don't know. Maybe.”

“Hmm.” Mac lifted Charlie's arm once more and pushed a few buttons on the bracelet, but the message continued scrolling as before. He shook his head, puzzled, and gave up—for the moment, at least.

At the field, Maria had Charlie stand at the boundary line behind one goal, ready to run as fast as she could to midfield, which was
forty yards away. Mac stood prepared to film the run on his phone so he could be absolutely precise with calculating speed. He wasn't looking for Charlie's average speed over the forty yards—he wanted her top speed. Once he broke down the footage and analyzed it, he'd be able to pinpoint the exact number.

“Ready over here,” Mac said. He started recording.

Maria looked at Charlie. “Ready?”

Charlie nodded.

“Go!” Maria said.

Charlie sprinted over the grass as fast as she could go. She crossed the line and slowed down, breathing hard, then circled back to where Mac stood.

“Well?” she asked.

Mac watched the replay and did some quick calculations in his head. “Well, you run a decent forty-yard dash, but you're not breaking any records.”

“So you're saying it didn't work.”

Mac smiled patronizingly. “I'm going to go with no. Try again.”

“That's what I thought.” Charlie walked back to where Maria stood and got ready to run.

Maria waited for Charlie to signal that she was ready and shouted, “Go!”

Charlie dug her feet into the ground and pushed off, putting everything she had into the sprint. But when she crossed the line,
she knew instinctively that her running power just wasn't there.

“Meeting!” she called between breaths, and Maria came running over.

“Are you still running normally?” Maria asked, though it was clear from her face that she could tell it was just average.

“Yeah. And I'm not sure how long I want to do this. It's great conditioning and all, but I already had my workout today.”

“I hear you,” Mac said. “But I'm not sure what to do. I mean, can you give us any hints? What happens when you
do
have the strength or speed? Do you feel different? Did you shake your wrist a certain way or push the buttons or . . .” He trailed off, trying to think of anything that could possibly trigger the device.

“It gets warm when it's working,” Charlie said. She clasped her other hand over the bracelet and moved the bracelet up her arm. It was cold.

“Well, that's something,” Mac said, typing notes into his phone.

“I don't always notice it, though. Not right away, anyway. I guess I'm usually distracted when it happens.”

“Distracted,” Maria repeated, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “Hmm. Let's talk through all the times when the bracelet actually gave you powers. When was the first one?”

“I'm not positive, but I think the first time something felt a little off was when I rushed to my seat in first period a few days ago after the late bell rang, and I sent my desk skidding into the
aisle. Do you remember that, Mac?”

“Yeah, actually, I do,” Mac said slowly. He tilted his head, thinking. “I mean, those desks are heavy. Something like that might happen with a big kid. So it surprised me. Of course I forgot all about it five seconds later.”

Charlie nodded. “The first major thing I remember happening was during soccer tryouts,” she said. “Not during warm-ups or even in my first round on the field in the scrimmage, though, because I started out pretty sluggish, and I was kind of jittery and anxious. The ball went sailing my way. I trapped it and started dribbling at a normal speed, I think.” She tapped her chin. “Nothing much happened until after Coach subbed me out.”

“So when did an ability kick in?” Mac asked.

Charlie thought back to the scrimmage. “A little while after I went back in to play. I dribbled a bit, and then saw the opposition coming at me from all sides. I remember getting that scared thrill I get when I have a challenge and the defense is chasing me. You know what I'm talking about?”

“Not really,” said Mac, but Maria nodded.

“And . . . I don't know,” Charlie continued, “it just happened. I started flying across the field, and I left the defense behind.”

“In a big way,” Maria added.

“Was the bracelet warm?” asked Mac.

“I—I don't remember. I suppose so.”

“It was a really impressive run,” Maria added. “And later in
the game—was it the same? You got the ball, and it just clicked sometime after that?”

“When I was surrounded by defense, yeah. I had to get out of there or be trampled—that's about when it happened, I guess.”

“Hmm,” Mac said, typing furiously. Then he raised an eyebrow. “What about strength? Maria told me you picked up an entire bed by yourself. How would you even know to try that?”

“I didn't pick it up myself,” said Charlie. “I was helping Kelly move it. I had the headboard side, and we were carrying it backstage, and then she got distracted and just dropped her end without any warning and ran out to see some high school guy.”

“And it didn't fall to the ground?” Mac asked.

“Right, it didn't. I just held it like it was no big deal, and then I realized that I was holding an entire bed by myself, and I started freaking out. That's when I dropped it.”

“And you ran to the bathroom?” asked Maria.

“Yes.”

“Superspeed run?” Mac asked. “Or normal?”

“I don't know. I was really freaking out.”

“And you tore the bathroom apart,” Mac said, still typing.

“Not the
whole
bathroom.”

“Right. Part of the bathroom.” Mac looked at Charlie, fingers hovering over the keys, waiting for her to go on.

“Aren't you going to change that in your notes?” Charlie asked him. “I don't want anybody thinking I wrecked the entire bathroom.”

“Nobody's going to even see this, remember? I'm sworn to secrecy,” Mac said.

Charlie put her hands on her hips and stared.

Mac stared back at her, and then reluctantly changed it in his notes. “Fine,” he said. “What else?”

“My alarm went off, and I broke my phone screen just by touching it.”

Maria studied Charlie intently. “Did the alarm surprise you? Or were you sort of awake already?”

“It scared the heck out of me,” Charlie said, remembering. “The volume was on full blast. And the bracelet got warm then, I remember.” She thought through all the instances, trying to find a common theme. Mac and Maria were silent, doing the same thing.

After a minute Maria held her finger in the air, closed her eyes, opened them again, and said, “I've got it.”

Charlie and Mac looked expectantly at her.

“Well?” Charlie prompted.

Maria lifted her chin. “Necessity,” she said. “And fear, in a way. Like with animals. The chimera thing.”

“Um, what?” Charlie asked. “You lost me.”

“Sorry,” Maria said, laughing. “I mean, when the device somehow senses you are in trouble, or in danger, it activates and gives you the powers you
need
to deal with the situation.”

“Aha,” Mac said, nodding at Maria. “I get it. Like when Charlie was being surrounded by the other team in the scrimmage—she
needed to get out of there, like an animal that feels trapped. Fear stimulates necessity. So the bracelet sensed Charlie's change in adrenaline or whatever and gave her the ability to flee—the power of speed kicked in.”

“Exactly,” said Maria. “And Kelly dropping her end of the bed gave Charlie an immediate sense of urgency to stop the bed from falling. Her strength turned on so she could keep holding it.”

Charlie looked skeptical. “That makes sense for those instances, but what about the bathroom? Are you saying I had an urgent need to rip out that sink?”

“No,” Maria said, growing excited, “but the ability was already activated from the bed incident, and you didn't know to be careful until it turned off. And it probably doesn't turn off until your body's natural indicators tell the bracelet that you are safe. Like your heart rate and pulse going back to resting levels.”

“It's like when you move cats across the country and when you let them loose they bolt and hide behind the stove in your new house for a whole day until they feel safe,” Charlie murmured.

“Yes, like that!” said Maria.

“And,” Mac said, “maybe the bracelet went into overdrive because you freaked out about it—so it didn't know to turn off when you started destroying the whole bathroom.”

“Part of the bathroom.”

Mac just looked at her. “Okay, look. You broke a toilet seat, a stall door, pulled the sink from the wall and then smashed it. . . .
I'm just saying that's a heck of a lot of destruction to call it ‘part' of the bathroom.”

“There were two sinks and two stalls I left completely untouched!” Charlie said.

“Plus the water damage . . . ,” Mac went on.

“Guys!” Maria said. “Drop it. Focus.”

Charlie scowled. It was one-third of the bathroom at most, and Kelly had told Maria that the custodian had turned off the water right away, so she doubted there was any damage from that. But she dropped it. “So what about my cracked screen?”

Mac shrugged. “Easy. The alarm flipped the switch that time. It startled you from a sound sleep, and
bam
, the strength was there, even though you didn't need it or want it.”

It was all making sense. If Charlie could keep these triggers in mind, she'd be able to be more careful when they happened in the future. But there was something else on her mind, too. She shook her arm in frustration. “Why won't it come off now?”

Mac pursed his lips. “When was the first time you tried to take the bracelet off and it wouldn't unlatch?”

“In the bathroom.”

“When the powers were activated?” he asked.

“I guess.”

“Had you ever tried taking it off when it was activated before?”

Charlie thought back. “I don't think so. I've only ever taken
it off when it was cold.”

“Maybe doing that triggered a permanent lock or something as a defense mechanism.”

Maria sat up. “Ahh, defense mode,” she said, nodding. “The bracelet must have gone into lockdown—it detected that someone was trying to remove the bracelet when you clearly needed it to fight off the evil toilet and sink.”

“Very funny,” said Charlie. But that explanation made sense. “So why won't it open now that I don't have any powers activated?”

“Because you need to enter the secret code to tell it that you're safe and all is good?” guessed Maria.

“Either that, or it's a glitch,” said Mac.

“Oh. Well, either way, that stinks.” They stood in silence for a moment. Then Charlie shrugged. “So, now what?” she asked, idly walking along the halfway line as she gathered her thoughts. “I'm not being chased. I have no need to run. So we can't test it.”

When neither of them responded, Charlie looked up. “Guys?”

Suddenly, from behind, Maria grabbed Charlie and screamed in her ear.

Charlie gasped. “What did you do that for?”

“Run!” Maria shouted. “Mac! Video! Now!”

Charlie ran. Maria chased after her.

Charlie left her in the dust.

“R
ough estimate,” Mac said, staring at his phone and then at Charlie in disbelief, “is seventy miles per hour. I have a feeling I know which animal that matches.”

Charlie blinked. “Seventy? Are you sure?”

“It's right around there,” he said, picking up his iPad.

“That's insane,” Charlie said.

Maria whooped. “It's incredible!”

“I'll have to do all the calculations to get an exact number. But meanwhile . . .” Mac worked on the tablet for a moment, then he looked up, shaking his head a little in disbelief. “Yup, my suspicions were correct. Congratulations,” he said. “You're tied with the cheetah as the world's fastest animal. Er—
land
animal, anyway, according to this,” he added. “You're nowhere near the speed of a peregrine falcon. But unless you can fly, that hardly matters. Wait.” He looked at her dubiously. “
Can
you fly?”

Charlie looked stunned. “Fly? Um, no, I don't think so. Did you say . . . ?”

“As fast as a cheetah?” Maria stared at Charlie, and then started jumping up and down and hugging her. “That's as fast as the speed
limit on the highway! This is so awesome!” she cried. “Wow!”

“I can't believe it,” Charlie said. It was scary and exciting at the same time.

“You're totally sick,” Mac said with a huge grin.

“Charlie Wilde, you are officially the coolest person I know,” Maria declared, beaming. She flung her arm around Charlie's shoulders. Charlie's laughter rang out.

Mac's enormous grin faded. “Wow, okay,” he said quietly. “Thanks a lot.” He turned and scanned the horizon like he was looking for something.

Charlie and Maria didn't notice him as they talked excitedly about the amazing speed and all the things Charlie could do with it.

“But we have to figure out a different way to activate the powers,” Charlie said. “You probably won't be able to sneak up on me and scare me like that again—I'll be expecting it, so it won't work.”

“Yeah, I figured that,” Maria said. “Plus, I can't go around doing that in front of people. But I was thinking about whenever I watch a scary movie or bring up certain memories. They can be strong enough to get my heart racing. Does that ever happen to you?”

“I guess,” Charlie said. “I'm kind of a lightweight, though. A scary Goosebumps book can mess me up, especially if I read it in the dark. Oh—and one time I saw a bad car crash—” She stopped
abruptly. The horrible image of that crash was so intensely etched in Charlie's mind that she knew she'd never forget it.

Maria nodded. “Exactly. So if you feel like testing the strength ability next, maybe you could picture the crash while you're trying to pick up something heavy. See if that turns on the strength power.”

“I don't know,” Charlie said, doubt in her voice. She didn't like the idea of reimagining the accident. It made her stomach hurt whenever she did. But this was in the name of science. Besides, now that she knew how fast she could run, she was really curious about how much she could lift. “I guess I could try it.”

“Awesome.” Maria looked around for Mac. “Now we need to find something big.” She rolled her eyes when she saw Mac sulking. “What are you doing?”

Mac turned and looked at the girls. He jerked his head to one side and pointed toward the small, flat-roofed athletic building that was under construction. There was no one working on it today. Beyond the building was a line of Dumpsters.

“Let's see if Super Chuck can lift one of those,” Mac said.

“A Dumpster?” asked Maria. “Good idea. She probably can't destroy that. Come on.” She and Mac started toward them.

Charlie wrinkled her nose. “That's disgusting.” But curiosity outweighed the gross factor, and she trailed along.

When she got to the nearest Dumpster, Mac was circling it, figuring out the best angle for his video recording.

“You've totally got this,” Maria said, trying to pump her up.

Charlie looked it over and stood at the front of it, intending to get a grip on its sides. But it was too wide for her arms, so instead she grabbed the long, horizontal bar that ran along the front of it. “How about I see if I can just lift this side of it,” she said.

“You can do it!” Maria chanted. “Mac, you got the camera going?”

“Check,” Mac said. “Go ahead anytime.”

Charlie nodded, wiped her hands on her pants, and gripped the horizontal bar like a weightlifter. She tried not to breathe through her nose—the rotten stench was pretty awful.

Closing her eyes, Charlie went back to that awful day in her mind when she was nine years old. She and her mom had been driving home from the dentist. Charlie had been reading a book in the backseat when Charlie's mom hit the brakes harder than usual and said a swear word that Charlie had never heard her mother say before.

Charlie had looked up. It was almost like the crash happened in slow motion right in front of them. A green car had swerved, its tires squealing, and a blue car smashed into the side of it and flipped through the air like it was a toy.

“Hang on!” Charlie's mother had yelled as their tires squealed and Charlie was thrown forward against her seat belt. In front of them, the green car hit a third vehicle. Charlie's mom pulled safely off to the side of the road as the green car finally came to a stop.

“Are you okay, sweetie?” Charlie's mom had asked her, looking over her shoulder as she dialed 911.

Charlie had nodded, even though she felt sick.

“I'm going to see if anybody is hurt,” Charlie's mom had said. “Stay in the car. Keep your seat belt on.” Her commands had been firm and very serious, which somehow made the situation even scarier.

“I will,” said Charlie in a small voice.

The emergency operator answered the call, and Charlie's mom went into doctor mode, speaking clearly and calmly while reaching for her emergency kit and plopping it on her lap. She reached back and gave Charlie's knee a gentle squeeze, then smiled reassuringly as she spoke. Turning to look out her window to make sure no unsuspecting drivers were barreling toward her, she took her bag and slipped out of the car.

Charlie hadn't wanted to watch, but she did anyway. The green car was like a crumpled sheet of tinfoil with smoke rising from it. The blue car sat upside down in the median. The third car, a black one, was off the road in the ditch. Then she heard the sound of someone yelling and crying.

As Charlie remembered, she felt her chest constrict. She pushed up on the bar as hard as she could, straining to lift the enormous metal container.

After a moment she opened one eye to see what happened.

The Dumpster hadn't moved an inch.