Charley Chambers

by Rachel Kennedy

  ‘Came to see my gran. Is that not allowed? Are you the only one who’s entitled to visit poor old granny?’

  ‘I suggest you leave, before I do something I regret.’

  ‘Oh, and what would that be? Enlighten me.’

  Jess smirked as Charley stood stock still, everything around her beginning to shake. Old magazines and papers flew from the table, as if there was some sort of gale picking up, although none of them could feel a spot of wind. Charley didn’t move from her space on the floor, her eyes never leaving Jess.

  ‘Is this meant to impress me, Charley?’ Jess yelled over the dull, buzzing sound which was getting louder by the second.

  The furniture began violently rocking, a lamp flying into the back of Jess’s head. She winced, although for some reason it didn’t hurt.

  ‘Come on, Charley. Show me what you’ve got. Show me you aren’t as pathetic as everyone at school says. Prove that you can actually–’

  Charley lifted her hand and twisted it in a snapping motion, as if she were quickly turning a door handle. Jess’s neck bent to one side – in a way that did not look natural – and she collapsed to the ground, everything else in the room falling to the floor.

  Dorcas gasped. ‘Charlotte, what have you done?’

  ‘She’s fine, Gran. Don’t worry,’ Charley sighed, gathering all the rubbish from the living room floor.

  ‘What do you mean, don’t worry? You just snapped your sister’s neck.’

  ‘I didn’t snap her neck. I put her to sleep – temporarily. She’ll wake up in a foul mood in no time at all.’

  ‘And how did you know how to do that?’ Dorcas asked. ‘Did someone teach you?’

  Charley was silent for a moment. ‘No . . . I guess it was instinct. I just knew how to do it.’

  Dorcas put a hand to her forehead and said nothing, thinking about the events that had occurred only moments before. She’d had no idea how strong Charley’s powers were – how dangerous, if used incorrectly. She wasn’t sure what to do next. She wasn’t sure how much time she had left to help . . .

  There was a loud knock on the front door, pulling Dorcas from her worried thoughts and sending Charley hurtling towards the hallway. She wasn’t particularly in the mood for any more surprise guests.

  ‘Aiden,’ she said as she opened the door, startled to see him standing there. ‘What are you–?’

  ‘I came to see if you were okay.’

  ‘How did you know I was here?’ she asked, standing aside and gesturing for him to come in.

  ‘Lucky guess,’ he grinned, but the smile quickly disappeared when he saw Jess on the floor, lying in an incredibly awkward position. ‘Do I want to know?’

  ‘Probably not. Aiden, this is my gran. Gran, this is Aiden – my boyfriend.’

  Dorcas raised her eyebrows. ‘Nice to meet you, Aiden.’

  ‘Likewise.’

  ‘You look awfully familiar,’ Dorcas said, frowning slightly. ‘Have we met before?’

  ‘I don’t think so.’

  ‘Hmm, oh well,’ she said, brushing it off, just as a moan came from the crumpled heap of limbs on the floor.

  ‘Oh, goody,’ Charley groaned. ‘Sleeping Beauty’s waking up.’

  Jess opened her eyes and squinted at the three figures looking down at her. She felt like she’d been hit on the head with a mallet.

  ‘You in a better mood yet?’ Charley asked, giving her a hand up.

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘Em, you–’

  ‘Wait a minute, I know what happened. You did something with your freaky powers and knocked me out. You did that to me, you, you–’

  ‘Wait,’ Charley asked, eyes wide, ‘how did you–?’

  ‘Oh, come on. Don’t think I’ve grown up in the same house as you and not noticed. I’m not an idiot.’

  ‘Jess, I did it for your own good.’

  ‘My own good? Yeah, right.’

  ‘I did. If you hadn’t–’

  ‘You know what, Charley. You aren’t the be-all and end-all. You’re not that bloody special. Just because you can do some fancy party tricks doesn’t make you better than everyone else.’

  Charley went to speak but no words would come out. Aiden could see the hurt in her eyes.

  ‘Jess,’ he said calmly, ‘your sister’s only trying to help you. Give her a break.’

  Jess turned her head towards him, her red lips forming a smile. ‘Well hello, Mr Cunningham. Don’t you look fine today?’

  ‘Oh, for God’s sake,’ Charley sighed.

  ‘Cunningham? I knew I recognised you,’ Dorcas said suddenly, something finally clicking. ‘Fergus and Tabitha’s son?’

  ‘Yeah, you know them?’ Aiden asked, sounding worried. He didn’t like talking about his parents. He especially didn’t want to talk about them with Charley’s grandmother.

  Dorcas shrugged. ‘Vaguely.’ There was a long pause. ‘You look like him, your father.’

  ‘People say that a lot.’

  ‘You look like her, too. Your mother I mean.’

  Aiden shook his head. ‘Not really.’

  ‘Maybe not now,’ Dorcas said, ‘but when she was younger.’

  The four of them stood, awkwardly, neither one quite sure what to say. Jess smirked at her sister and then began batting her eyelids furiously at Aiden, who didn’t seem to notice anyone or anything but Charley. Charley stood with her arms crossed, glaring at Jess. She wanted to knock her out again, this time with her fists. Dorcas looked at the three of them in turn: Charley, her sensible granddaughter, or so she’d thought; Jess, her young, naïve, mischievous granddaughter, and Aiden, the son of a woman who had changed Dorcas’s life completely.

  ‘Charley,’ Dorcas said, smiling, ‘take Jess home. I’m terribly worn out now. I’d like to go for a lie down.’

  ‘But, Gran, the house . . . the kitchen. I’ll stay and clean up, make you something to eat . . .’

  ‘There’s really no need, darling.’

  ‘I insist. You’ve had a rough–’

  ‘Charlotte,’ she said softly, ‘I’d really rather be alone. I can take care of myself.’

  ‘But–’

  ‘I promise, I’ll be just fine. You’re right, it’s been a rough day. I just need some peace and quiet.’

  ‘Take the hint, Charley,’ Jess scoffed, ‘she doesn’t want you here.’

  ‘You watch your tongue, young lady,’ Dorcas said harshly. ‘I’ve had quite enough of your cheek. Go home and at least try to behave yourself.’

  Jess rolled her eyes and stormed towards the door, embarrassed at being told off in front of Aiden.

  ‘Are you sure you’ll be okay, Gran? I hate leaving you like this.’

  ‘I’ll be just fine, Charley. Now, scram. Aiden, it was lovely to meet you. Look after her. God knows, she needs it.’

  Jess trudged along the street, her face like thunder as she pulled her hair from its bands. She reached the public bathrooms and went inside, immediately catching her reflection in one of the oblong mirrors that sat above the sinks.

  Who is that?

  She went to one of the sinks and turned on the tap, cupping her hands underneath it and splashing handfuls of cold water on to her face. She grabbed some tissue paper and started to scrub: her cheeks, her eyes, her lips, until the makeup was gone, leaving her pale skin red and sore. Tears began to roll down her cheeks, stinging as they made contact with the broken skin.

  Who am I?

  The salty tears mixed with the cold tap water as Jess continued to soak her face, the coolness refreshing yet painful.

  Everything hurt. She didn’t know what was happening to her. She wasn’t sure who she was anymore.

  She knew the things she was doing were wrong and she hated the way she was acting, the way she was treating the people she car
ed about. But she couldn’t help it. She couldn’t control her actions any more than Charley could control her powers.

  ‘Help,’ she murmured as she sank down to the floor. ‘Someone help me, please.’

  ‘So talk me through this,’ Aiden said as he heaved himself on to the roof.

  ‘Talk you through what?’

  ‘What you’re about to do here.’

  Aiden crossed his arms while Charley let hers relax, dropping them to her sides and closing her eyes. She inhaled the air around her; crisp, fresh, yet musky, as though it wasn’t pure. As if it wasn’t completely clean.

  She opened her eyes and looked down at the car park, rubbish and debris scattered across the length of it. She took a breath and the rubbish rose – cans, crisp packets, old cardboard boxes – hovering a few inches from the ground. The swings that they’d been on only a few hours before began to sway, back and forth.

  Aiden could feel the wind altering around him, as if it was changing direction somehow. The harsh breeze picked up, making him stumble backwards.

  Charley took another deep breath as the swings swung faster, the rubbish rose higher and the wind got stronger. The leaves that lay underneath the bare trees blew towards her, circling her as they reached the rooftop.

  Aiden couldn’t believe what he was seeing. She looked magnificent, engulfed in autumn leaves, her hands now outstretched towards the sky. The wind whistled and Aiden could have sworn that he could see colours. All around Charley were shades of blue, pink, orange and green, like tiny lights emanating from inside of her.

  She’s . . . glowing, he thought to himself. And she was.

  She pushed her weight on to her toes, feeling as though she could float away.

  But all of a sudden, the peace was shattered as Charley let out an ear-splitting shriek. She pressed her palms to her temples as she fell to the ground, as did everything else she’d been controlling. She started to shake, her legs flailing as her body convulsed in uncontrollable spasms.

  ‘Chambers!’ Aiden yelled, and he was at her side in seconds.

  ‘Make it stop!’ Charley screamed, searing pain coursing through her body.

  ‘I . . . I can’t. Chambers, you need to tell me what’s wrong.’

  ‘A woman. She’s . . . oh, God. Aiden it hurts!’

  Aiden began to panic as he tried to stop her from thrashing around. How was he supposed to help her when he didn’t know what was wrong?

  But just as quickly as it had come on, it stopped, and Charley’s body went limp in his arms.

  ‘Chambers?’ he said gently, cradling her head. ‘Chambers!’

  ‘Hmm?’ she moaned, opening her eyes, and he let out a sigh of relief.

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘Abbie . . .’

  He frowned and said, ‘What about her?’

  ‘I saw her. Here . . . Aiden, Abbie didn’t fall. I saw it all. She was pushed.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I saw what happened . . .’

  ‘Like a vision?’

  ‘I guess so, yeah. It was like I was standing there watching it. Abbie was sitting, alone, and then suddenly there was someone behind her. A woman . . . she pushed her.’

  ‘Who was it? Did you see her face?’

  ‘No, I couldn’t make it out. It was just a blur.’

  ‘So who has it in for Abbie then?’

  ‘Maybe this wasn’t about Abbie,’ Charley said, getting to her feet with Aiden’s help.

  ‘You think this was aimed at you?’

  ‘I don’t know. But with everything that’s happened

  . . .’ Charley sighed. ‘Maybe I’m being stupid.’

  ‘You’re not being stupid, Chambers.’

  ‘What do we do now?’ Charley asked quietly.

  ‘We need to find out who this woman is, and fast, before she targets anyone else.’

  Marcus lay in bed, his left arm twitching every few minutes, stirring him slightly from his doze. Beads of sweat ran down his forehead and his eyebrows crinkled as he let out a distressed whimper. It wasn’t even dark yet, but the blinding headache Marcus had developed over the course of the day had left him wanting to do nothing but curl up in bed, hide himself away and forget about everything . . . everyone.

  Everyone except her.

  His eyelids fluttered and he mumbled something, the dream he was having drawing him in, further and further, until there was nothing else. Just him, just Bud. And blackness.

  ‘Where did you come from?’ Marcus asked, as he looked at her standing only a few feet away.

  ‘Same place I always come from,’ she said sombrely.

  ‘No, it doesn’t normally start like this.’

  Bud laughed, but nothing was funny. She stopped laughing and her childish expression disappeared almost instantly; her soft features became hard, her mouth a thin line and her eyes dark.

  ‘You have to stop this, Marcus.’

  ‘Stop what?’

  ‘You know what.’

  ‘This isn’t right,’ Marcus breathed, ‘this isn’t how it’s supposed to be.’

  ‘You’re forgetting me,’ Bud whispered.

  ‘No, never. I could never forget you.’

  ‘Then you should know this isn’t right. You should remember what kind of person I am,’ – she hesitated – ‘what kind of person I was.’

  Bud started twisting her fingers, and Marcus could hear each one of them snapping consecutively.

  ‘Don’t do that, Bud.’

  ‘You need to stop this before it’s too late.’

  ‘I don’t like this!’ Marcus yelled. ‘This isn’t how it’s supposed to be.’

  He reached out towards her, and when his hand touched her arm, her smooth, warm skin, he gasped.

  ‘No . . .’

  ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘I’m not meant to be able to touch you. I can never reach you. That’s how it always is.’

  ‘Poor Marcus, he isn’t well today,’ Bud said, and she giggled.

  ‘Where am I?’

  ‘You know where you are.’

  ‘I don’t. I don’t know anything right now. Everything is wrong.’

  ‘It’s not too late, Marcus. You can fix what you’ve done. You don’t have to go through with it . . .’

  ‘Please try to understand,’ Marcus panted, sinking down to his knees. ‘It’s for you, all of it is.’

  ‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘Please make things better.’

  ‘I’m trying, squirt.’

  ‘No, you’re not. I have to go now.’

  ‘Where are you going? I’m not finished yet–’

  ‘Do the right thing.’ She began backing away, her bare feet skimming along the nothingness beneath her. ‘And Marcus . . .’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Stop her.’

  ‘Stop who?’

  ‘She’s doing very bad things. You need to make her stop.’

  ‘But I don’t know what you’re . . .’

  He never got time to finish. All of a sudden, his eyes were open and he was sitting upright in his bed, the light outside finally beginning to dim.

  He looked at the clock, then at his watch and frowned. Both said 11:47. It wasn’t quite dark outside and there was no way it was nearly midnight.

  His memory stirred, a pain driving into his chest.

  He flung the watch to the floor and pulled the covers up to his chin, willing the throbbing in his head to disappear.

  ‘Are you sure this is a good idea?’ Charley asked as Aiden gripped her hand and pulled her up the front steps. ‘Your mum really didn’t seem to like me the last time we met. In fact, she seemed to dislike me. A lot. I’m tempted to use the word hate.’

  ‘Cool it, Chambers. I’ll deal with my mother. You just focus on being your usual . . . chipper self.’

  Charley frowned. ‘You hesitated. Why
did you hesitate?’

  Aiden laughed and let his hands rest on her shoulders. ‘Calm down. You don’t need to worry about her, she’s just very . . . old-fashioned. And family orientated. She doesn’t like what she doesn’t know. Or understand . . .’

  ‘Understand?’

  ‘Trust me, it’s nothing to worry about. All the women in my family are a little unhinged.’

  ‘That’s comforting,’ Charley murmured as he opened the door, standing aside to let her in. He followed her and kicked off his shoes, Charley doing the same out of politeness.

  ‘I don’t think they’re home,’ Aiden said, turning on the lights in the hall.

  ‘What a shame.’

  ‘Mum, Dad? Hello?’ he called. ‘Nope, it’s your lucky day.’

  Aiden pulled Charley towards him, tilting her head and kissing her softly.

  This never gets old, Charley thought, wrapping her fingers around his neck, but she was pulled from her bliss by a noise from the sitting room: a faint giggle followed by the clink of glass on glass.

  ‘I thought no one was home,’ Charley whispered.

  ‘So did I.’ Aiden started towards the sitting room, which was in darkness, and picked up a large metal poker from the umbrella stand by the sideboard.

  ‘Why is that in your hall?’ Charley asked, raising an eyebrow at the sizeable weapon.

  ‘For situations like this.’ He took another step closer so that he was nearly at the door. ‘Who’s there?’

  ‘Why do you need a weapon anyway? Can’t you just zap them to death? Or poof them into a cloud of smoke or something.’

  ‘Chambers, please.’

  Charley sighed and held her finger to her lips, her way of promising to be quiet.

  Aiden reached round the corner and found the light, switching it on as he just about jumped into the room.

  ‘Right, get the hell out my . . .’ Aiden stopped, spotting a pretty blonde girl sitting cross-legged in his mother’s hideous chair. ‘Quinn?’

  ‘Hey, little cuz, long time no see.’ The girl leapt from the chair and flung herself into Aiden’s arms, her furry grey sweater nearly smothering him.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ he smiled, relieved he didn’t have to beat anyone up with a poker and chuffed to pieces to see his big cousin.