The Unlocked (Charlie Hartley Series Book 1)

by Stonebridge, J. D.

  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.

  Marvol
o 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.

  Carefully closing the double doors of the truck, Charlie ran as quietly as she could to the nearest hiding place she could find. She squeezed between a thicket of trees and watched as Marvolo shook the hands of a man in a crisp suit. To her horror, the man opened the passenger seat and opened the briefcase. Holding one of the fingers like it was not part of a human body, he turned to his right where one of the safe boxes was held by one of the armed men.

  Upon scanning the fingerprint, the safe unlocked and opened to reveal a stock of vials full of white powder.

  She remembered a lesson in grouchy Mr. Beane’s AP Science about biological weapons. One of the things that caught her attention then was a photo of white powder that resembled talc or salt. The label on the vials said Bacillus anthracis. She recognized the name as a biological weapon that causes Anthrax, a potentially life-threatening disease.

  "Let's go!" Marvolo commanded like a military officer. Charlie watched as the students each carried a safe box to the van. "Hurry up!"

  Suddenly, she felt antsy. She couldn't quite explain the feeling, but it felt like her feet were being magnetized by an invisible pull. It could be her instincts kicking in, telling her to go back to ANDREI, or her danger senses activating because of the realization that what her fellow students had on hand may or may not be a biological weapon. However, the pull she felt wasn't towards the direction of the school. Charlie's feet dragged her to an inconspicuous alley, badly lit despite the sun shining brightly.

  At the end of the alley was a man’s shadow. A normal person would back off, but Charlie moved forward until her last step brought her a foot away from the unidentified man. He stepped into the light and the softness of his expression kept Charlie's fears at bay.

  "Who are you?" Her question was misplaced but Charlie asked anyway.

  "You don't beat around the bush, do you? Joshua Thompson, former Laboratory Head at GEN Laboratory," the man replied. Upon mentioning the laboratory’s name, the warning bells in Charlie's head rang all at once. Everything in her screamed "Run!" but she remained glued in place. The next thing he said was the clincher. It made her stay. "You're Charlie, the new student."

  Silence engulfed their rancid surroundings as Joshua stared at Charlie for a while. He shrugged. "Pardon me for staring. It's just that... You look a lot like a former colleague. She's no longer working for GEN Laboratory, but you resemble her. Like a carbon copy," he almost gushed.

  When Charlie didn't say anything, Joshua continued. “There's something different about you. The students at ANDREI don't usually respond to my calls."

  Charlie found her voice again. "What calls?"

  "I forgot to mention. I'm like you. I have the ability of Beacon Emission and can draw people towards me. That's why even if every bone in your body screams for you to get away, you stay in place."

  At this point, Charlie was terrified. If this man can truly do what he claimed, and it was becoming increasingly apparent that he could, what could stop him from killing Charlie on the spot?

  "I've never actually encountered a student like you so this is untapped territory for me." He noticed her body stiffen. "Don't do that. You'll get cramps. Besides, it doesn’t serve any purpose."

  "Please let me go," Charlie pleaded, her voice cracking.

  "No, no, you don't understand. I'm not here to hurt you. On the contrary, I'm here to save you."

  Why would he want to save me?

  "ANDREI is not what you think it is," Joshua said. Charlie shook her head violently. Her vocal chords seemed to have vanished so all she could do to protest was shake her head. She felt ridiculous. He kept going. "Just hear me out, okay? I'll let you go, just listen to me."

  Her violent head-bobbing stopped.

  "We started out as good people. The initiative to build the institute was noble, if you can even call making weapons out of orphans noble. We wanted to catapult the United States to the forefront of human armory for global security."

  Charlie managed a squeak, "But we already have an army."

  "Not army; an armory. It was a scientific breakthrough! Magic and empirical evidence rolled into one! It was supposed to be a creation that would change the course of humanity." There was a change in the man's expression. "We didn't even want the world to know at first. It was too powerful to be put in the wrong hands and we simply couldn't take that risk."

  To humor the man into letting her go, she prodded in a whisper. "What happened?"

  "Saraphina happened."

  "Who's Saraphina?"

  A horn blaring in the distance followed by a shrill scream cut through the awkward conversation. Charlie recognized that voice. Hilary.

  "Please let me go. Please. I'm begging you," Charlie pleaded, still unable to command her body to move.

  Joshua laughed bitterly. "If something happens to your friend, her blood is on your hands."

  That sent a chill down Charlie's spine. "Excuse me?"

  "You think you saved her when you stopped what you thought was a bullet? You didn't! You just put her right back in the hands of an evil mastermind!" There was a crazed expression in his face and Charlie, beneath her solid and bold exterior, shuddered inside.

  "What are you talking about?" Fear, anxiety and confusion made her overly emotional, especially knowing her friend was in potential trouble and she was helpless because this lunatic kept her captive.

  Joshua continued. "I’m talking about Amanda! Are you dense? If you can respond to my beacon emissions, I'm ninety-nine percent certain you are not under her mind control. Still, you choose to be blind and stupid!"

  Charlie shook her head while looking at the ground, confusion manifesting in her being. "I don't understand."

  When Joshua spoke again, it was in a much calmer and softer voice. "Wake up, Charlie. You may be more powerful than you know. But if you remain blinded by comfort and familiarity, you will never find out the truth."

  Charlie was inconsolable at this point. She had never gone through anything like this before; living a sheltered life back at Milford and immersed in a strange new life at ANDREI for the last few months taught her one thing: she was not ready for the big bad world
.

  Am I facing the big bad wolf now, with no knowledge of self-defense? And then it dawned on her: she was telekinetic!

  In her confusion, she’d conveniently forgot about her powers. Reinvigorated, she flung Joshua against the wall. He slumped down on the ground. He lifted his hand to stroke the back of his head. She was free from Joshua’s emission. However, Charlie's bravado faded when she realized she’d hurt someone. She saw this as her chance to run to Hilary’s aid, but the undefined pull kept her there.

  "Was that really necessary?" he mumbled.

  "I-I can do it again," Charlie stammered, ruining the intended threat.

  Joshua shook his hands in front of Charlie. She lifted Joshua off the ground. He yelled, "Stop, stop!" Charlie pushed on until he blurted, "I know about your sister!" She dropped him butt-first, the last word jolting her into sobriety.

  "Don't believe Amanda when she says your sister is in some government facility. Jeanne and you reside under the same roof, Charlie. Unlike you, however, she is under Amanda’s control. You need to find her and get her out of there."

  "Why would Amanda take a special interest in my sister? Why would she lie to me?"

  "Because you and Jeanne are the only natural-born super humans. She didn't know Jeanne had a twin, but now that you're here she hit another jackpot."

  "Do you expect me to believe that? There's an entire school full of them!"

  "Your classmates are simply Unlocked. They were injected with a serum called Unlocker that I helped create. There were four of us. Amanda, Catherine Richards and John Weaver." Charlie recognized the Catherine Richards name, the woman Amanda identified in the laminated photo. Joshua kept going, "We were all injected. Amanda got hive mind, but she can only control those who are like her. That's why she wanted to create other Unlocked and manage ANDREI: to make her own private army."

  Charlie felt like ice-cold water had been poured on her. She remembered both Hilary and Brianna stopping mid-sentence, becoming almost comatose for a few seconds. What he claimed could explain the students’ robot-like attitude she observed in school. She backed away from Joshua, no longer feeling the pull that brought her there.