The Unlocked (Charlie Hartley Series Book 1) (9 page)

"Keep counting, Charlie," Natalia advised.

“15, 16, 17," Charlie mouthed the numbers as she
focused on the three items floating above the table. She willed them to fall.
"18, 19, 20." With three soft thuds, they landed on the table.

"Stand down." Natalia's voice was authoritative.
Charlie watched the guard who had pulled a gun on her return his firearm to his
holster. Charlie realized she’d overreacted. The weapon was a Taser, not a gun.

"What just happened?" She turned to her
instructor, wiping off her tear-stained face.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault." Natalia apologized.
She held out the earphones Charlie had worn moments ago. Charlie didn't even
remember Natalia pulling them off her.

"I don't understand. I thought you didn't play
anything?"

"I lied," confessed Natalia. She reached up and
removed the headgear strapped to her student. "Charlie, please sit down
and let me explain." Charlie moved back to her seat. Her hands and knees
were still shaking from the episode, but somehow she managed to get to the
table without dropping.

"Charlie, you were listening to something earlier. I
played to you what we call an infrasound. It's a sound like the binaural beat
that also affects the brain. But an infrasound is very low frequency,
undetectable to your ears. Your brain registers it nonetheless."

Charlie gave an awkward smile. "So it's a ghost
sound."

Natalia laughed, "You can say that."

Weary and beaten, Charlie slumped against the back of her
chair. She took a few minutes to calm her nerves as Natalia went on to explain
how the infrasound induced fear in Charlie's brain, making her react the way
she did. Charlie resented being unknowingly led like that, although she
understood it was a test and she failed.

"I think that's all for today. Would you like me to
walk you to your dorm?" Natalia offered. Charlie had second thoughts about
it, but in her frayed condition, she yielded.

Walking out of the main building, Natalia suggested they
take the longer path to clear Charlie's mind. Charlie didn't feel like going
around the garden, but it was the better alternative than to let the other students
see her in her vulnerable state. She still couldn't shake off the effects of
their last experiment. Charlie wondered how all the others handled this first
stage of training.

Then she thought of Jeanne. Everyone else she asked gave her
very little information. But Charlie was still hopeful. She knew it was a
long-shot and dared herself to ask the therapist about her as they walked.
"Ms. Worthington, did you know Jeanne? Did she go through this same
process?"

There was a moment’s hesitation from the guidance counselor,
but it disappeared as soon as it had come. "I'm sorry, Charlie. I didn't
meet Jeanne."

Charlie stopped in her tracks. "Doesn't every student
go through you first?"

"Yes, but I’ve only been her a short time. I did not
handle Jeanne's stage one training."

"Oh," was all Charlie can say.

Natalia continued, "I heard rumors, though. I haven't
seen Jeanne's file, but people say you resemble her so much."

"That's why I've been trying to find out about
her." Charlie admitted, "Ever since I found out I was adopted, my
desire to meet her keeps getting stronger."

"You're adopted?" Natalia repeated. Charlie didn't
mean to disclose the information and quickly regretted it. She nodded.

Natalia walked over to one of the benches and took a seat,
motioning Charlie to follow her. "You know, I was adopted too,"
Natalia unexpectedly confessed. Wide-eyed, Charlie faced the woman. She
scrutinized her expression for any trace of deception but couldn't find any.
"I'm not just saying that to sympathize with you," added Natalia.

"Oh," Charlie said again, for lack of anything
else to say.

Natalia continued, "I also had a brother. I was adopted
by this sweet old couple, but they didn’t take my brother, who was just a
toddler back then."

Drawn to her story, Charlie interjected, "But were you
able to keep in touch with him?”

Natalia shook her head, and her sadness was apparent.
"No. When I received word about him, he was already dead."

"I'm so sorry," Charlie said. Natalia’s story
reminded her of the circumstances leading to her adoption. The ache in her
chest returned. Charlie felt fortunate she still had a chance to unite with her
lost sibling.

Natalia’s story led to a change of heart for Charlie,
convincing her to share her story. "I only found out recently my folks
aren’t my biological parents. When Hilary told me about Jeanne, I asked my
parents and they told me I was adopted. They assured me of their love and
acceptance of my twin. Finding Jeanne is my first objective."

Charlie sighed in relief, like a heavy object was lifted off
her chest. It felt odd opening up to someone she’d just met hours ago, but
unloading her story to Natalia made her feel better.

“That’s good,” Natalia said in her gentle voice. “You
shouldn’t let your chance to be with your family slip away.” Natalia stood up
and smoothed her hair behind her ear. "Thank you, Charlie. You should go
back now; rest before facing your schoolmates at dinner. I’ll see you tomorrow.
We’ll use the Simulation Room where there are no guards to interrupt our exercises."
And with that, Natalia bid Charlie goodbye and headed back to the main
building.

Charlie watched the woman walk away. Who would understand
the burden Natalia carried underneath with her admirable poise and confidence?

The next day, Natalia introduced the Simulation Room to
Charlie. It was completely sound-proof with its white jagged walls. The silence
disturbed Charlie in more ways than the infrasound exposure did, creating in
her enough tension that she did not need the fear-inducing sounds anymore.
I
am definitely more at ease here knowing Ms. Worthington is with me
, thought
Charlie.

She spent three days with Natalia in the quiet room, mostly
to practice her telekinesis while being exposed to certain distractions, and a
few times to expose her to binaural beats and infrasound. Natalia warned how
the therapy could affect her brain adversely when overexposed. Nonetheless,
Charlie still noticed the few times Natalia asked if she was trying to block
the sound waves. Charlie didn’t think much of the comments, and just focused on
the exercises.

On the third room in the Simulation Room, Natalia whispered
to her from behind, "Steady now."

Charlie didn’t look up, her eyes glued to the thin needle
standing atop the table on its sharp tip. The needle jerked slightly, but
Charlie maintained focus, biting her lip as she did so. Slowly, she got used to
the exercises, as well as the headgear Natalia made sure she always wore during
their training.

“4, 3, 2, 1.” Natalia announced. “Well done, Charlie. You
can stop now.”

Charlie released her breath while the needle tinkled as it
landed on the table.

Natalia walked around the table and took her seat in front
of Charlie before swiftly encoding her notes. Then she opened the same box and
took out the Bluetooth earpiece. “Are you ready?” She asked Charlie.

Charlie took a deep breath and said, “Yes.”

“Fear is only an emotion, not a threat,” Natalia reminded
Charlie as she pressed the keyboard and began the test.

Inside the soundproof room, the effects of the therapy
heightened for Charlie but she held her head high and took on the challenges.
Charlie expressed concerned for Natalia in the event of another episode without
the protection of the guards, but Natalia maintained her confidence in Charlie.
The student squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the effects to begin. Her fists
were balled on her lap and her jaw was set. Seconds passed before she opened
her eyes to meet Natalia’s confused look. She pressed on her laptop once more,
and asked, “What happened?”

“What happened?” Charlie repeated.

An odd look showed on the woman’s face. Natalia checked her
laptop, then her watch, and asked, “Were you trying to fight it again,
Charlie?”

She shrugged, “I’m not sure.”

“Huh.” Natalie said. She leaned against the table and stared
into Charlie’s eyes in a way that made the younger one curious. Finally,
Natalia leaned back, reminding Charlie not to fight the test. Then she pressed
the laptop again.

Fight it?
Charlie wondered. Charlie was skeptical
about fighting something so powerful that directly affected her brain. She
closed her eyes and relaxed her extremities. For a few moments, she found
solace inside her own mind. Charlie forced all thoughts out of her mind, by
letting the word “Black” fill it. Soon, she felt the cold spread from her
fingers up towards her arm. The sensation made her wrist twitch. Her chest
tightened, her heart stammered loudly. Her mind went blank but fear pervaded
her being. She inhaled steadily, but heaved each time she exhaled.

There is no threat.
Charlie opened her eyes and saw
the needle shaking violently against the table. Charlie shut her eyes and
forced herself to focus.
There is no threat.
She opened her eyes again
and willed the needle to stand. It hovered over the table, quivering as she coerced
it to move to an upright position. Her cheeks were cold, her eyes stung.

Natalia watched her, unmoving despite the risk. Getting a
better look at her watch, Natalia lifted her wrist and began to count silently.

A high pitch sound pierced Charlie’s ears, seemingly from
the back of her mind. Images danced around in her head, and she dreaded hurting
Natalia should she fail to concentrate.
There is no threat.
She kept
reminding herself to focus on keeping the needle steady atop the table. Charlie
barely heard Natalia start the countdown. A stabbing pain pierced her head, but
she bit her lip harder trying to ignore it. “10… 9… 8… 7…” Natalia’s words were
a blur. “6… 5… 4… 3…” Just a bit more, Charlie encouraged herself. “2… 1.”

Much like the controlled test, the needle fell on the table
as Charlie regained her breathing. This time, she inhaled and exhaled slowly,
holding on to the table’s edge for stable support.

“Congratulations, Charlie. You passed Stage One,” Natalia
proudly announced. Charlie gave her an exasperated smile, looking up at the
woman who helped her overcome the traumatic tests.

I passed!
A new hope brewed inside her.

“Thank you, Ms. Worthington!” Charlie lifted herself up.

Natalia embraced her tightly. “Charlie, please call me
Natalia.”

“I’m not sure if it’s okay for a student to call her
instructor by her first name.”

“Well, I promise not to reprimand you about that. I’m not
that much older than you anyway,” Natalia winked at her and Charlie giggled.
“From now on, I will not be handling you during your trainings. But if you need
a sounding board or a listening ear, you can always come to me.”

“Thank you, Natalia,” Charlie bid the woman goodbye and ran
out of the building to meet Hilary and tell her the good news.

Dinner with the students guaranteed noise with clinking
utensils on plates and chatter bouncing off the cafeteria walls. Charlie tried
to shut out the cacophony while she searched for Hilary in the crowd. The
smaller girl waved at Charlie to join her at the table.

“So, how was it?” Hilary asked.

“I passed!” Charlie exclaimed a little louder than she
intended.

Hilary stood on her toes to reach up and give her a hug.
“Congratulations, Charlie! I knew you could do it!”

Another voice interjected in their celebration, “About
time.”

The two turned from their seats to see Madison eyeing them
from the neighboring table. The blonde guy who lifted the table with two
fingers on Charlie’s first day had his arm rested at the back of Madison’s
chair. She gave Charlie a false sympathetic look. “Sweetheart, the Skills
Assessment Test is in two days and you just passed your first test. Tsk. Tsk.
Tsk.”

Charlie’s cheeks reddened. With the difficulties she
encountered with Stage One, she’d completely forgotten about the Skills
Assessment Test. Realizing she only had two more days to prepare, the chances
of gaining a high mark seemed markedly low.

Addressing Charlie, the blonde boy spoke this time, “Talked
to the guards earlier, by the way.” Hilary whispered to Charlie that his name
was Bradley. His deep voice boomed over the other males in the cafeteria. “You
actually panicked at the sight of a Taser? Did you think it was a gun with flat
square bullets?” He laughed as Madison joined him.

Charlie intended to ignore Bradley and avoid a confrontation
or scene, but Hilary had something else in mind. Fire erupted from Bradley's
plate, causing the two blondes to jerk back in panic. Madison looked around,
then held her hand over the plate. Frost erupted from her palm and extinguished
the flame. But this didn’t stop Bradley from lashing out in anger. He marched
towards Hilary with fists balled up, yelling at her, “You just ruined my
dinner!”

Students shuffled away from the commotion, keeping a safe
distance but stayed to watch the fight.

“Well, you ruined our celebration first. Serves you right!”
Hilary rose from her seat, ready to face Bradley head on. The latter charged at
her like a bull going after the red flag. A spark emitted from the hem of
Bradley’s shirt that caused flames to erupt. Perturbed rather than afraid,
Bradley slapped a hand on the flames to snuff it out, but ended up pulling the
shirt over his head. He stomped on his shirt repeatedly until the fire died
down. He glared at Hilary, and clad only in his undershirt that revealed his
bulging muscled arms and chest, Bradley looked like the beast he was. “You’re
gonna pay for that!” He charged towards the two but Charlie halted him.

Frozen by Charlie’s mind, Bradley struggled to lift his foot
from the floor. “Let me go, you freak!” he ordered Charlie, but she ignored
him.