The Unlocked (Charlie Hartley Series Book 1) (10 page)

She tugged at Hilary’s arm, “Come on, let’s go.”

But Hilary didn’t budge. Her lips pursed as she watched
Bradley attempt to break loose from the invisible bear trap. Charlie pulled on Hilary
so hard that the girl lost her balance. “Let’s go,” Charlie repeated. This
time, Hilary let Charlie take her away from the scene.

“Cowards!” They heard Bradley shout over as they shut the
doors behind them.

“Why did you stop me? I could have taken him down. There’s a
reason I’m at the top of our class, you know,” Hilary chastised Charlie as they
made their way to the dormitory.

“I know you can, but you didn’t have to,” Charlie said.

“Didn’t he make you angry?” Hilary asked.

“He did,” Charlie admitted. “And I’ll tell you I wanted to
knock both his and Madison’s heads together. But sometimes it’s better to
ignore things and not let anger take control.”

Hilary eyed Charlie quizzically. She sighed. “You’re really
not like Jeanne. She would have led the attack if she were here.” Hilary
grinned at her, and it set off Charlie’s interest in her twin’s personality yet
again. “Anyway, congratulations again, Charlie. You’re one step closer to her.”

One step closer, Charlie assured herself, a smile creeping
up her face.

After the heated events of yesterday, Charlie couldn't help
but think of home. Carl constantly reminded her to be the better person when it
came to misunderstandings. Charlie had been bullied in middle school but never
once told on her detractors, not because she feared retaliation, but because
she genuinely believed people could change. And if people changed without any
coercion or force, they became better people.

Charlie lay on her back, staring at the solitary bulb in her
room and pondering what her mother would do. Sarah was compassionate and would
never hurt anyone, regardless of the situation. But when it came to Charlie,
Sarah’s sweet demeanor became that of a mother tiger. All claws.

"You tell me if someone hurts you, okay?" Sarah
would say. Charlie would nod in agreement, but her mother needed more
convincing. "I need you to promise." Charlie raised her right hand
and vowed to always tell her mother everything.

Now all she wanted was to cut up some vegetables while her
mother prepared stew, singing their hearts out and hearing Carl groan from the
living room; anything that would allow her to feel at home again.

There was a knock on Charlie's door. It was the guy from the
cafeteria who she thought was cute. He stood by her door bearing gifts and a
comforting smile.

"You weren’t at breakfast today. I thought you'd be
hungry by now so I brought you these." On his hands was a tray with rice,
meat of an unknown origin, a banana, and a carton of milk.

Charlie was awed by the gesture. She smiled back, in spite
of all her recent troubles. "Thank you so much." Her words hung in
the air as she resisted saying his name. “What’s your name again?” she muttered
sheepishly, pretending not to know.

"No worries and the name is Otto, at your service. No
pun intended," he replied. He executed a small salute and turned to leave,
then looked at Charlie again. "Don't let it get to you."

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked.

"Unexpected things happen. Don't sweat it."

"I’ll try. It takes some getting used to."

Otto moved to hug her but patted Charlie's shoulder instead.
"You'll pull through. Don't worry."

Just as Charlie closed the door behind her there was another
knock. Thinking it was Otto again, she prepared her smile and turned the knob.

"Did you forg- Oh." It wasn't Otto at the door. It
was Bradley.

"Miss A wants you in her office now," Bradley
declared.

"Did she say why?"

"No. Just go to her office," an annoyed Bradley
replied. Without another word, he walked away.

Stomach in knots, Charlie prepared for the worst. Amanda
must have found out that Hilary's outburst was because of me, she thought. I
hope Hilary's not in trouble. On her way down, she knocked on Hilary’s door to
check on her but no one answered. Charlie assumed her friend might still be
resting so she hurried on to Amanda’s office.

When Amanda opened the door, Charlie immediately blurted
out: "It's not Hilary's fault. It was mine and I'm sorry."

Amanda looked surprised. "I don't understand. What are
you talking about, Charlie?"

Now it was Charlie turn to be surprised but she pushed on.
"About yesterday, I swear Hilary was just defending me, it was my fault.
Not hers. Please don't punish her, punish me instead."

"I still do not comprehend, Charlie," Amanda said.

"Isn't that why you called me to your office?"

Amanda ushered Charlie in. "No. But now I'm intrigued.
What happened yesterday?"

"Just a simple hormonal outburst. You know how teens
can be," a voice came from behind Charlie. She turned and found Ms.
Worthington. She continued: "Nothing to be worried about, Ms. Pitt."

Amanda looked unconvinced but let it pass. "Ms.
Worthington, what brings you to my office?"

"I was just about to give you the results of my
evaluation. I'd like you to review them," she answered.

"Thank you. Please leave them on my desk and be on your
way. Charlie and I have something to talk about."

She did as he was told but smiled warmly at Charlie before
leaving.

Amanda didn't waste time. "Charlie, I brought you here
because your parents left you a message."

Charlie face brightened. "Oh my goodness, thank
you!"

Amanda extended her hand to give her a mobile phone.
"We don't allow cellphones inside the premises, at least for students.
However, I gave them my personal number in case of an emergency. They left you
a voicemail and asked me to relay it to you."

Worried now that something was wrong, Charlie placed the
phone against her ear and listened. Sarah's voice, ingrained in her memory,
brought a smile to Charlie’s face.

“Hi, Princess. It's Mom. I hope you're doing okay there. I
know you'll do well in school. What worries me is how you're dealing with the
other kids. I don't know how they are. Are they nice to you?”

Mom must be a mind reader
, Charlie thought.

“What about your sister? Have you met her? I love you,
Charlie. Your father loves you, too. We love you very much. We're looking
forward to your return, Princess.”

Charlie recalled resenting her mother treating her like a
twelve-year old. Now she found solace in it. Hearing her mother’s voice wrapped
her in a blanket of comfort. That her parents loved her very much helped her
keep going. Charlie didn't know it would be this disheartening trying to find
her sister. However, the thought of working harder at ANDREI motivated her to
reach Jeanne’s level and be with her.

Charlie handed the phone back to Amanda. "Thank you
very much, Ms. Pitt. Thank you."

Amanda nodded. "You're welcome, Charlie. You may now
leave my office. I will inform you when your parents leave you another
message."

Charlie left the Headmaster's Office with a skip in her step
and a happy smile on her face. The call from her mother was exactly the
motivation she needed.

Buckling down to work, Charlie headed to the library. She
had yet to prepare for the Skills Assessment Test tomorrow. Hilary told her
repeatedly it wouldn’t affect her grades or her chances of being considered for
the Advanced Training Center, but Charlie didn’t want to take any chances.
Mental agility first; she’d worry about the rest later.

In the library, she bumped into Brianna.

"Oh hi!" Brianna said a little too quickly; it
sounded like "ohay" to Charlie.

"Hello," Charlie said with a nod. 

She headed to the back of the library to get the peace and
quiet to study better, but when she turned, Brianna was right behind her.

“Hey, Brianna. Is there anything I can help you with?”

“I wanted to say sorry for what I said in class. I didn’t
mean to offend you. I seem to talk too much for my own good,” Brianna smiled
goofily and Charlie found it endearing. It reminded her of her younger cousin’s
playfulness.

“No worries,” Charlie said, whipping around to head to her
destination.

“I like you, Charlie!” Brianna half-shouted, half-whispered.
“You’re nice.”

Charlie looked back to mouth a “thank you” before going her
way.

When she got to the Philosophy and Religion section of the
library, Charlie knew she had picked just the right spot to study. However, as
she was cruising between the aisles, she caught a glimpse of someone sitting in
the far corner. Thinking it was just her imagination since the entire library
seemed deserted, she kept going until someone gasped.

“You’re back?” A girl with long dark curls appeared out of
nowhere.

“I’m sorry?” Charlie kept forgetting some students had met
her sister.

“Since when? Where did you go? What did they make you do?”
The girl was asking questions that Charlie didn’t know the answers to.

“I… I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Jeanne! Did they wipe out your memory, too?”

Oh, she thinks I’m Jeanne,
Charlie thought. “I’m sorry,
but I’m not Jeanne. My name is Charlie. I’m her sister.” She smiled.

Without warning, the girl grabbed her hand and closed her
eyes. When she opened them again, the look on her face was utter bafflement.

“So you’re really not Jeanne, because Jeanne didn’t have any
parents,” the girl said.

Charlie pulled her hand away. “How did you know that?”

“I saw that your parents left you a message. Ms. Amanda
called you to her office to listen to it.”

Charlie took a step back. “Did someone tell you that?"

“Gosh, no. News doesn’t travel fast to the girl who keeps to
herself in the Philosophy section of the library. You just came from there
before coming here.”

“Then how did you…”

“Don’t act so surprised. You’re at ANDREI, I’m sure you know
people here are the realizations of your imagination. I can see people’s
history when I touch them. Sometimes, it’s something from their very distant
past, sometimes from just a few minutes ago. In your case, your very recent
one. It’s called Psychometry.”

Charlie didn’t know what to say.

“I’m Vanessa,” the girl said finally. Charlie thought twice
about extending her hand. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to do it again,” she
guaranteed. They shook hands.

“What are you doing here? It’s usually just me and Brianna.”

“I have SAT tomorrow,” Charlie answered, double checking the
schedule on the paper she was given.

“Oh, it’s your turn this time.” Vanessa thought out loud.
“You’re in the wrong place. They’re not going to ask you about theories.”

“But I thought…”

“Don’t waste your time here. Come with me.” Vanessa stood
up. “You’ll thank me later.”

Charlie followed Vanessa to one of the Training Rooms that
said Mental and Psychic Endurance.

“What are we doing here?”

“This is what students do for practice. In this room, you’re
not allowed to use psychic abilities.” She stepped inside and Charlie did, too.
“Right now, we’re both normal people. The SAT gauges your other skills aside
from your special skill, the one that brought you here. Which reminds me, what
can you do?”

“I’m telekinetic,” replied Charlie.

“Wow, that’s new. Alright, I’m going to give you a bunch of
puzzles and you have to solve it within the time limit I set. Understood?”
Charlie nodded and for the next hour, Charlie solved riddles that Vanessa set
out for her.

“You’re good at this!” Vanessa said, smiling wide.

“Thanks,” Charlie replied bashfully.

“Now off to the next part. Are you physically fit? Turn
around for me,” Vanessa said. Charlie turned slowly and she could feel Vanessa’s
eyes studying her. “You’re not flabby, which is good. But you need to gain some
weight. You’re too thin.”

Charlie felt self-conscious at her assessment and frowned.
“I’ve already gained three pounds.”

“Since when, fourth grade?” Vanessa teased. “There’s going
to be an obstacle course, but it’s not your normal physically-draining type.
It’s also mentally draining since you have to be creative.”

“Creative?”

“You don’t just jump over some fences. You jump over a
20-foot fence.”

“How is that even possible?!”

“They give you materials. But you have to figure out how to
use them. As for now, I can only help you with the physical part. Now drop down
and give me fifty!”

In her panic, Charlie complied and did fifty push-ups within
minutes. After a few exercises, Vanessa finally told Charlie it was time to
rest.

“The final part of the exam involves the use of your power.
The test depends on your ability, but we never really talked about what we did
after the SAT. My test involved a weird-looking shale rock. Turns out it was a
300 million-year old Horseshoe Crab fossil,” Vanessa narrated. “You’re gonna
have to prepare for that on your own, but rest for a few hours. Using your
powers can drain your energy like a vacuum so you don’t want to exert yourself
too much, especially after training.”

“Thank you so much for helping me, Vanessa,” Charlie said,
grateful to get aid from someone else aside from Hilary.

“Don’t mention it.” Vanessa stared at her. “It’s incredible
that you look exactly like her, only a lot more mild-mannered and neat.”

“I’ve never met my sister. Amanda said I could once I get
into the ATC.”

“You need to go the extra mile and more, then. Only two
people in the history of ANDREI were able to get into the ATC: your sister and
Aaron. Your sister was promoted even before we entered the school, and Aaron, I
forgot his last name, was promoted a few weeks into the training.”

“How did they get promoted?”

“I don’t know exactly, but we went through some tests that-”
Vanessa stopped mid-sentence and stared blankly at her. It reminded Charlie of
what happened to Hilary the other day.

“Vanessa, are you okay?”

Just like Hilary, within seconds Vanessa seemed to regain
consciousness. She shook her head. “I’m tired. We should go back to the dorm.
What room are you in?”

“208,” Charlie replied, wondering if Vanessa even knew what
had happened to her.

“Ah, I see. You reside with the nerdy newbie. How’s that
working out for you?”

"Okay so far."

Vanessa chuckled. "That’s what they all say at
first."

"I'll walk you to your room," Charlie offered and
Vanessa agreed.

When they arrived at 304, Vanessa waved goodbye. “Good
night, Charlie. Sweet dreams and don’t let the bedbugs get you in your sleep!”

 “Good night, Vanessa.” Upon seeing Vanessa’s door
closed, Charlie hurried to her own room
and
she
succumbed to the call of her soft, comfortable bed. Sleep had always been her
weakness, and she willingly surrendered herself to Dream Land.

Charlie opened her eyes to a bright white light. At first
she thought it was Madison again, playing another trick. Panic already surged
through her veins. She attempted to get up only to find herself strapped to her
bed… No, this wasn’t her bed. It had metal sidebars. She screamed but no sound
came from her mouth.