The Unlocked (Charlie Hartley Series Book 1) (12 page)

"Charlie," Instructor Ross called out. Charlie
stood awkwardly and made her way down the stairs. When she reached the floor,
the Instructor called her opponent. To her dismay, her sparring partner was
Bradley.

Charlie whipped her head around to find Bradley walking
towards her with a smug look on his face. "Well, well, well..." he
greeted her. Charlie bit her lip to keep her from backing out.

"Take it easy, Bradley," Instructor suggested and
Bradley nodded. When the Instructor gave them the signal to start, Charlie bent
her knees to brace herself.

Bradley lunged to punch Charlie but she sidestepped quickly.
He brought his arm forward, elbowing Charlie on the jaw. Pain shot through her.
She stumbled back, her surroundings spinning as she struggled to regain
balance. She forced herself to focus and succeeded in warding off Bradley’s
fist from hitting her by using her powers. She directed his arm to the side,
throwing him slightly off balance before he regained his footing and swung at
her again. Charlie dodged but her foot slipped and sent her reeling to the
ground.

"Stop." Instructor Ross got in between them before
Bradley could charge at her again. He asked Charlie, "Can you still get
up?"

She nodded and pulled herself up, giving the Instructor the
okay signal. "Go," Instructor announced.

Charlie didn't want to lose by just dodging his attacks and
consequently compromise her evaluation.

"You’re sure you can survive this, cupcake?"
Bradley taunted her. Charlie took a step back to check her surroundings.
Unfortunately for her, the room was cleaned out for the session. No items or
furniture were in sight. "Nervous?” Bradley mocked.

Fear is not the threat.
Charlie remembered and she
was back at her sessions with Natalia, listening to the infrasound. She
remembered how she’d pinned the guard against the wall. A smile formed on her
lips. She smiled thinly and dared Bradley, "Are you?"

Bradley smirked and changed his stance. In a split second,
he charged towards her again, and Charlie braced herself. She willed him to be
pushed away, but the force merely made him pause so he could regain his
balance.

"That all you got?" Bradley sneered as he took two
more strides and was at her throat. His arm encircled her neck and she was
pinned against his body. His muscles tightened around her neck, so she
scratched at his arm while willing him to be pushed away. But Bradley was
heavy, and his superhuman strength kept his feet planted on the ground,
resisting the force she tried to muster up. She heard the Instructor ordering
Bradley to let her go, but he defied the order. She gasped for air, trying once
more to free herself from Bradley’s grip, but he resisted. “You can’t use the
same trick on me three times, you know,” Bradley whispered in her ears.

Charlie opened her eyes and willed herself to be pushed
upward instead. She lifted off the ground, her feet kicking wildly in midair,
causing Bradley’s grip to loosen. But his arm was still around her shoulders,
and he pulled her back to him. Charlie scratched his arm, and in a desperate
attempt, bit his hand. She tasted blood as Bradley screamed and yanked her down
to the ground with more strength than he was supposed to use. One foot landed
hard on the ground in an awkward position, snapping something within. Charlie
grimaced and writhed in pain as her body hit the floor, whimpering as Bradley
moved to strike. Instructor Ross forced Bradley away from the scene
;
then gave an order for someone to take Charlie
to see the nurse.

The sterile smell of antiseptics entered her nostrils when
she awoke in the infirmary. Charlie propped herself up in the bed and peered
between the curtains to see a nurse sitting by the desk near the door. She
tried to move her leg but winced at the pain in her ankle. Charlie removed the
blanket covering her and saw the ankle brace. She remembered how her fight with
Bradley had ended, and remembered Patrice volunteering to take her to infirmary
while the training session continued.

"Sorry about yesterday," Patrice apologized on
their way earlier. “And sorry about the ankle.” Charlie couldn’t remember how
she’d responded, though she had faith enough in herself that she was sure to
have done it well.

The sun’s muted orange hues suggested it was late afternoon.
Charlie slept for a few hours and missed the rest of the training. She had no
doubt gossip about her injury would be aplenty when she returned to the
dormitory.

The knock on the door signaled a visitor. Charlie adjusted
her position to get a better view and saw Hilary and Otto enter the infirmary.
Hilary ran to her bed and hugged her tightly. Charlie winced when her leg
moved. “Oh, sorry!” Hilary exclaimed.

“Still alive and kicking?” Otto asked and patted her on the
shoulder.

“Not kicking, but I’m fine.” Charlie said with a smile. Her
friends laughed at her joke.

Hilary hopped on her bed and announced, “We heard what
happened and didn’t want to be at the cafeteria when Bradley starts bragging
about it.”

Charlie rolled her eyes, “Let him, I don’t care.”

"Heard from Kio that he played dirty," Otto said
with a frown on his face.

"If by dirty you mean trying to choke me to death, then
yes." Charlie told them.  Hilary's lips formed a big O of surprise
that turned into a contemptuous pout. Charlie shook her head, "Do you guys
know why that guy hates me? I mean, he's a bully but he seems to bear a grudge
against me personally. What did I do?"

Two pairs of uncertain eyes met Charlie's. Both Otto and
Hilary were not sure of what to say. Hilary opined, "You see, Bradley was
really jealous Jeanne was so quickly promoted while he got stuck here with us.
Obviously, you remind him of her, and you seem to be in the good graces of Ms.
Pitt, which adds to his displeasure. I think he secretly suspects you're Jeanne
in disguise, so he wants to put you down."

Charlie gave a nervous laugh. "He thinks I'm Jeanne?
But you know what my power is. I've shown it a lot of times already, and it's
not the same as Jeanne's, right?" She watched Otto and Hilary give each
other perplexed looks before Otto moved over to sit on the other side of
Charlie’s bed.

"Well, Bradley is just being stupid. He'll come up with
anything against anyone he thinks is a threat to him. I mean, he even got
Madison on his side to protect his own interests."

"Madison?" Charlie repeated. "What does she
have to do with it?"

Otto shrugged, "She's not really as bad as you think
she is, not until Bradley got her wrapped around his finger. Madison has
potential. She's a mimic, so she can use everyone's power. I think Bradley
keeps her on his leash so she won't overcome him too."

Listening to Otto’s description of Madison formed an odd
feeling in the pit of Charlie’s stomach. Whether it was because she disagreed
with him or it was something else, Charlie didn’t want to conclude.

"I don't know, Madison has always been a pain,"
murmured Hilary. "Also, Madison and Jeanne didn't really get along
well."

This intrigued Charlie deeply. What was Jeanne really like?
Would she even accept Charlie with open arms if they met? A lump formed in
Charlie's throat and swallowing became difficult.

Hilary changed the subject. "Oh, right. You know Jeanne
isn't the only one who got sent to the advanced training center."

“Oh? Who are the other ones?"

"Just one. Aaron, he had the power of
intangibility," revealed Hilary. At Charlie’s questioning look, Hilary
clarified, "It means he can make himself physically untouchable, like a
ghost
."

"He was in our batch, and he was really nice. Bradley
treated him badly too. He was small, like me, but he was agile and it really
pissed Bradley off when he couldn’t get a grip on Aaron," Otto chuckled.
“Aaron sure had a way of having fun with his powers.”

Charlie asked, "So only Jeanne and Aaron have been sent
there?"

Hilary nodded, "I guess you can say they're really
gifted."

"When were they sent there?" Charlie asked, and
Hilary's eyes furrowed. "What?"

"When were they transferred to the advance training
center?" Charlie repeated. Hilary and Otto exchanged looks once more.

"Was it last year?" Hilary asked Otto.

"I think so." Otto answered her.

There was something odd about their statements, or really
the way they said them. The way they looked at each other made Charlie think
they couldn't remember details. Charlie asked one more thing, "What's in the
Advanced Training Center anyway? Our training here is already hard to begin
with."

"We've never been there," Otto simply said.
"So we don't really know."

The face of the blonde nurse appeared at the curtain.
"Visiting hour is over, kids. You better head on to the cafeteria for
dinner."

Hilary hopped down from the bed while Otto gave Charlie
another pat on the back. Charlie was about to stand from the bed as well, but
the nurse stopped her. "Charlie, you must stay for the night. We'll get
you dinner from the cafeteria later."

Charlie's brows met in protest. "I just have a sprain,
it's nothing serious."

"But you mustn't move that ankle anytime soon,
sweetie," the nurse told her. Charlie was about to argue she had the brace
to reinforce her ankle, but the nurse was already leading her friends out. Otto
waved and Hilary blew Charlie a good night kiss before they disappeared from
her sight. Charlie slumped back on the bed, frustrated at how a sprained ankle
held her captive in a patient's bed.

In the dimly lit infirmary, Charlie fell into a deep sleep.
The dream started dark and cold. She felt cold air blowing on her hair from
above, and she was lying still. She tried to move, but couldn't; not even her
eyes would open. Fear entered her mind though she tried to suppress it.
Gradually, she opened her eyelids and light filtered through her vision. She
blinked, one, two, three times before her vision cleared. She was in a white,
small room, a fluorescent light glowing over her head. Her eyes darted
everywhere, taking in images of a door as white as the room’s walls and a tiny
window. Voices echoed beyond the door and eerie silhouettes moved in front of
the window. The door clicked open, and a figure entered. But Charlie’s vision
blurred once more, preventing her from seeing her visitor’s face.

Limping to the dormitory, Charlie met pity, apathy, or
mockery from her fellow students. None of them was to her liking. But she
trudged on, refusing to appear weak. With effort and determination, she reached
the second floor and made her way to her room when Madison and Bradley appeared
around the corner.

"Oh, my. Bradley, what did you do to her?" Madison
exclaimed, acting concerned as her eyes focused on the Charlie’s braced ankle.
Charlie wanted to avoid them, but Madison walked up to her and grabbed her on
the shoulder. "Come on, Brad. You must take responsibility for helping out
the handicapped here." Madison flashed Charlie a smile that made her look
like a young Cruella DeVille. Charlie pulled her arm from her grasp.

She reached for the keys in her pocket, but as she was about
to enter the key in the hole, it struggled free from her grip and floated right
into Madison's hands. "Charlie, sweetie, don't be like that. Brad just
wants to apologize for his bad behavior yesterday." Madison looked at her
boyfriend over her shoulder, who scoffed.

"Apologize?" Bradley repeated.

"Yes, apologize to Charlie, dear," Madison told
him.

"Alright." Bradley clasped his hands together and
told Charlie, "I'm sorry for being stronger than you, Charlie." He
laughed at her and Madison chimed in.

Charlie grabbed back her key, quickly, unlocked it and
slammed the door on them.

The nurse had ordered her to rest and take things easy for a
day. But doing so because of a sprained ankle was tantamount to subjecting
herself to more taunting. So Charlie had ignored the warning and jumped out of
infirmary bed, wincing from the pain as her foot hit the floor. The painkillers
weren’t enough. Too bad there wasn't a student around with the power to heal.

Charlie relished the comfort of her bed after spending the
night at the infirmary. Another odd dream from last night bothered her, but
that was easy to banish from her thoughts. Facing a major setback in her
performance was her main issue. She pulled her bedside table open. There lay
the locket engraved with her original name. She mouthed the name. Cate.

What would her life have been like if she led it as Cate?
Perhaps she wouldn't have been separated from Jeanne. Perhaps she would also be
at the ACT with her sister and not dealing with the wrath of Bradley and
Madison. Charlie buried her face in her pillow, forcing her what-if thoughts
away. There was no point pondering; the past was the past. But today offered
the chance to excel and achieve her goal of joining Jeanne at ACT.

After her humiliating defeat against Bradley, she needed to
redeem herself. Charlie forced herself off the bed to the shower. She hid the
brace under a thick sock and rubber shoes and made her way to the training
room.

“Charlie?” Instructor Ross greeted her. “I thought the nurse
advised you to take a day’s rest.”

“I’m alright, Sir,” she claimed. “It was just a sprained
ankle. Nothing I can’t handle.”

Instructor Ross eyed her quizzically, doubting her claim.
But he moved away and said, “If you think you’re ok, then I’ll give you one
shot.” Charlie beamed with delight, and joined the formation of students.

“Alright!” Instructor Ross’s voice boomed to get everyone’s
attention. “Yesterday was a pitiful day. All of you performed poorly against
the contenders. Now, I did say that I wasn’t expecting all of you to win, but I
did expect to see you having a fighting chance!” The tension amongst the
students filled the air.

Charlie inconspicuously looked at the others and noticed she
wasn’t the only one who had sustained an injury. A fresh bruise marked Ted’s
cheeks and Patrice had a torn lip. “But I expect that at the very least, you
learned something from yesterday’s experience. Can I look forward to
improvements on your performances today, ladies and gentlemen?”

“Yes, sir!” The students answered like soldiers.

“Very good! We’ll be doing the same routine as yesterday.
Given Bradley’s conduct during the session with Charlie, I decided to cross him
off the list for today.” Charlie let out a breath. At least she wouldn’t have
to face him again. As if on cue, three guys entered from the door. Kio and
Vladimir were expected, but the new addition made Charlie raise an eyebrow.

“Meet Otto. Power: Ice and cold manipulation,” Instructor
Ross announced. Otto spotted Charlie in the crowd and grinned at her. After
Instructor Ross clarified the rules, the trainees were sent to the mezzanine to
observe. First to spar on the floor was Jian and Otto. “To our audience
upstairs, I don’t want you to just sit back and enjoy the fight. Watch
carefully, learn, try to think what you would have done if you were in Jian’s
position,” reminded Instructor Ross before giving the go signal to Otto and
Jian.

Watching Jian use his power on someone else was quite a
show. The illusionist plunged his opponent in a different reality and the
victim had to fight through the illusion. Charlie watched as Otto began to see
things they couldn’t. Jian used this opportunity to attack his opponent; he
charged towards Otto. He landed a kick on Otto’s leg, making the latter stumble
back. But it wasn’t enough to subdue him. Otto threw a punch in the air,
missing Jian by only a few inches. Jian sidestepped and thrust his fist into
Otto’s side, just under the ribs. Wincing, Otto smiled and grabbed onto Jian’s
hand. Jian pulled away immediately, but icicles formed around his wrist,
creating a spiked bracelet. Otto closed his eyes and lifted his palm in a
general direction. The ice around Jian’s wrist grew spikes that kept on
growing. Jian tried to break the ice, but his many attempts were futile.
Slowly, the ice crawled up his arm and began to cover his torso. “Okay, I
give!” Jian announced, and Otto was released from his illusions. Instructor
Ross declared Otto the winner and the two lads shook hands good-naturedly.

The next few battles weren’t as exciting as Otto and Jian’s.
Most did little to utilize their powers for combat, and some showed little
control at all. Instructor Ross was disappointed by their lack of improvement.
The last called was Charlie, and as she expected, she was assigned with Otto,
because fate likes to play that way.

She smiled at Otto when she reached the floor and he held
out a hand to her. “How’s the foot, Cinderella?”

Charlie took his hand and laughed, “It’s fine, and don’t
call me that.”

Otto smiled and asked, “Tell me the truth, would you rather
have me take it easy on you or not?”

Charlie punched him on the shoulder. “Don’t you dare.”

When Instructor gave the go signal, Charlie and Otto took their
positions. Otto still had a smile on his face as he sized her up. For a moment,
they remained like that and Charlie felt the pressure. Initiating the first
attack, she willed Otto’s left leg to unbuckle. Otto felt the force and bent
his knees, but it wasn’t enough to make him stumble. “Nice try,” he told her.

Charlie charged towards him but with a wave of Otto’s hand,
the floor turned cold and Charlie slipped as if on ice. She flinched at the
pain on her injured ankle. She reached around and willed Otto to fall to the
floor.

Charlie scrambled to her feet and pinned Otto on the ground
with her powers. “Not yet,” he said, and swung his leg to hit her uninjured
one, causing Charlie to lose her balance and her grip on him. Charlie landed on
all fours as Otto rose and lifted Charlie to her feet, locking her with his
arms under her armpits.

“You’re not using your powers creatively, Charlie,” he
whispered, his breath smelling of peppermint. “You know you can do more than
just pull and pin people on the ground, right?”

Charlie stomped at his feet, making him release her with an
"Ouch!"

“Was that creative enough?” she said grinning.

“Yes, but you didn’t use your powers,” said Otto. “There are
different ways to skin a cat, Charlie. Look around. Be creative!”

“Enough talking!” Instructor Ross scolded them. Charlie
looked around as Otto had told her. The floor was empty, all equipment
including tables and chairs were moved away. What could she use? Then, a glint
of light caught Charlie’s eyes. Something from Otto’s belt was reflecting the
light. It was the key to his dormitory room. Charlie’s smile widened. Her eyes
scrutinized Otto's attire and her own. There were things around she could use.

“Today, please!” Ross’s voice boomed again and Charlie used
this as her cue to charge at Otto. But instead of running directly towards him,
she willed Otto’s shirt collar to be pulled over his face. Blinded by the
shirt, Otto crashed on the frozen floor he had created when Charlie swung her
leg around. She pinned him with her hands, but Otto twisted his waist, pushing
Charlie off him and flipping her over to land on the ground, thus changing
their positions.

“You’re learning,” commended Otto.

“Yup,” Charlie confirmed as Otto was lifted off her,
floating inches above her in the air. She rolled out of the way before
releasing Otto. He hit the ground with a soft thud. "Umph!"

Charlie got up and pulled the chain locket over her head.
She used her powers to make it whiz around Otto. While he was distracted,
Charlie slammed her shoulder into his chest, making him stagger back. She
grabbed the locket and was ready to charge at him again, but her feet wouldn’t
take off from the ground. She looked down to see ice forming around her rubber
shoes. Otto’s mischievous grin taunted her. Charlie pulled on her leg, but
winced again when pain shot up her ankle. She studied the icicles and made a
stab motion with her hand. A gap formed in the ice and she pulled it outward,
shattering it completely. The cold numbed her ankle, allowing her to run towards
Otto again. Otto changed into a defensive stance, but Charlie stopped midway
and willed Otto’s shoes to be pulled sideways. Otto hit the ground again and
slid away until one of his shoes gave in and came off his foot.

“That’s enough,” Ross declared. “Please retrieve your shoe,
Otto.”

Charlie pulled herself up from the floor while Otto fixed
his shoes. “Well done, Charlie,” Otto said.

“Thanks.” She smiled at him before making her way up the
stairs. In the mezzanine, Jian and Julian congratulated her as she entered.
Charlie felt a new light shining in her heart, a new hope.

When Instructor Ross came in, he announced the scores.
Charlie was thrilled to come out on top, and she had Otto to thank for. The
students were released late that afternoon, but Charlie stayed behind to check
on her sprained ankle. The skin was still bruised, but the pain had subsided.
She heard footsteps ascending the stairs. Otto appeared. “Hey, what are you
still doing here?”

“Just checking.” Charlie said, putting the wrap back around
her foot. Otto sat and lifted her leg up. He rested her leg on his lap and
examined her ankle more closely. “Hey, what are you doing?” protested Charlie.

“You told me your injury was fine and you still fought me
even when your ankle looks like this. For all I know, I might have made it
worse,” said Otto.

“But you didn’t. It’s kinda healing already,” assured
Charlie, but Otto continued bandaging her foot. She smiled at him, “By the way,
thanks. I couldn’t have done that without you.”

“Well, of course you couldn’t. Otherwise, you would just be
fighting an imaginary opponent,” Otto joked.

“Like what Jian did to you?” she snickered.

“For your information, he made me fight a dragon! And it was
huge!” Otto exclaimed.

“Oh, and so you were punching a dragon?” Charlie
asked.  He finished wrapping the bandage and slowly placed her foot back
on the ground.

“I had no weapon. What do you want me to do?” He defended
himself.

Charlie laughed while lacing her shoe. “Come on, let’s go
grab some dinner,” she said, but Otto pretended to ignore her. “What, you’re
giving me the cold shoulder?” Charlie asked, and as soon as she said it, snow
started to form on Otto’s shoulder. “Now that’s just lame!” Charlie swept the
snow off, laughing loudly.

“You had it coming.” He laughed with her, watching her.

“Come on, stop fooling around and help the girl up. We have
to get dinner,” Charlie said. 

Otto kneeled with his back to her. “Giddy-yup, princess.”

Charlie laughed again. “As if I’d let you carry me all the
way there!” She smacked him on the back and pulled herself up.

The two headed to the cafeteria, joking and laughing as they
did. Eventually, the topic gravitated to the training. “Honestly though,
Charlie, you need to learn how to use your powers creatively. Strength isn’t the
only key to winning over an opponent. You need to strategize and find ways to
stay on top of your opponent. And you have to learn that every opponent has a
weakness. There’s always a chink in the armor,” he advised.

“Really? What’s your Achilles heel?” Charlie asked.

Otto waved the question off, “Come on, like I’d make it too
easy for you.”

“Alright, what’s Bradley’s?” Charlie asked him and his face
lit up.

“That’s easy. If you haven’t noticed, Bradley has a temper.
Get him angry, and he’ll charge at you like a blind bull.”

“A blind bull can still knock the wind out of you,” Charlie
pointed out.

“But they’re easier to evade,” Otto added, and Charlie
agreed.

The two reached the cafeteria and headed to the serving counter
together with wide smiles. “Wanna sit with us today?” Charlie offered and Otto
agreed with enthusiasm.

On their way to meet Hilary, Charlie caught a glimpse of
Madison, who dagger looks their way. Her eyes glared in anger and envy,
something Charlie was already getting used to.

“So, I see we have a new member of the lonely circle.”
Hilary greeted them when they reached the table. Otto laughed at her remark,
but Charlie saw the teasing look Hilary gave her.