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stories-for-all · 7 years

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Constellations: Chapter Two

A/N: Hello, and thank you for being so patient for the second chapter of this novel! I hit several bumps in the road, but I’m back and ready to release this into the world!

CHAPTER LIST

Triggers: Police, car chases, hospitals

Charlie unpacked quickly, eager to find some answers as to the reason why she was sent here by her parents, why the nurse told her she couldn’t be with her friends anymore, and most importantly, at that moment, when lunch would be.

Her sister had come here a year ago, and Charlie only got to visit her for an hour in the evenings for two whole months. She hoped she wouldn’t be here that long.

The second she walked out she saw two kids running down the hall, yelling excitedly about...something. She followed where they were going to discover that at the end of the hall was a classroom with a projector, and it was playing the title menu of a movie.

Not finding that very interesting, she walked back down the hallway until she saw a girl waving at her, blonde hair bouncing with her as she did, trying to get Charlie’s attention. And, intrigued, Charlie walked over.

“Hello! I’m Cindy! What’s your name?” the girl asked.

“Oh...I’m Charlie. It’s nice to meet you,” Charlie said, suddenly feeling very shy.

When Charlie woke up with a start in the bathroom, she briefly panicked, thinking that she had been caught and was in a hospital’s facilities. It was only when she saw the graffiti on the stall door that she felt able to calm down. She wasn’t in a hospital, she was just somewhere she happened to not recognize. “London?” she called into headspace. “Where did your stupid testosterone-fueled ideas land us now?”

There was a groan close to her and she could almost sense London rousing next to her. “I don’t know, darling, I was rather tired when I got here, I must have been half-asleep.”

The pitch in London’s voice was higher than yesterday, and Charlie thought this was as good a time as any to ask, “She day today?”

London hummed her agreement and Charlie rolled her eyes good naturedly, standing up and unlocking the stall. “Not that I don’t love you, London, but I never understood how you could just move from guy to girl and back again whenever.”

“It’s not like I can choose when it happens,” London huffed. “I’m just as bemused as you when it comes to the reason this happens.”

“It’s a mystery,” Charlie agreed with a laugh. “But it’s whatever, I suppose. I don’t think I had the time to snatch any hair dye before I left the house. Do you remember if I did?”

“I don’t believe we managed to even get in the house, this time. You saw the van out front of our place and bolted.”

Charlie groaned, running a hand through her hair. “Right. So we’re going to have to go to our stash anyway. Normally I wouldn’t mind that, but with the city as alert as it has been, it’s risky to get our emergency supplies.”

“Just be glad we learned to put it in the next town over, darling,” London sighed. “Otherwise we’d have nothing to go on at all.”

That was true. Charlie couldn’t risk going back to the city for anything. But the next city over would have heard there was a system in the area, not a description of said system. And by the time they got out, Charlie would have her hair dyed, a new pair of clothes on, and enough cash in her name to hitch a ride anywhere she wanted.

She walked out of the bathroom and squinted, looking around. It was mid-morning, if the position of the sun was anything to go on. On one hand, this complicated things. It was harder to hide from hunters in broad daylight. On the other, they probably were spread out enough by this point that if one of them found her, it would take a while for the others to come to help subdue her, giving her a window of escape.

Dimly recalling which way London came from to get to the bathrooms, Charlie intended to continue walking down the road until she got to the next town over, where her stash would be hidden, and her ticket to safety would be. That is, until she heard someone call, “Hey!” from across the parking lot.

Charlie tried to hide her jump as she looked over and saw a blonde, lanky man putting a tent in the back of his pickup truck. “Have you been hiking nearby? There were police out here earlier trying to get everyone out of the woods, word is that there’s a system hiding out here!”

A knot loosened in her chest. This man was just your average camper, someone who didn’t know who she was, or what she was. “Really?” she asked, pretending to sound intrigued. “I hadn’t heard; I’ve been on and off the trails all morning, I got a bit turned around.”

“Oh, that’s not good. Hey, do you need a ride? It’s not safe to be out here on your own with a system nearby, I’d be happy to give you a lift, if you’re heading toward Waxton?”

Of all the dumb luck...well, she supposed the universe did owe her one or two good things...“That’s where I parked my car! Do you really not mind a stranger in your car? After all, if there’s a system around...”

“We’d be much safer together than apart,” the man said. “Hop in, I’ll give you a lift into town. What’s your name, by the way?”

“Holly. Holly Carron,” Charlie said, without missing a beat. That was an old alias, the only trace that she ever existed in anywhere other than Section Forty Two. She rarely ever went to the gym she was planning on going to once she got into town; the only thing of use there being a duffle bag in a locker where she held her stash.

“Well, then, Miss Holly, let’s ride,” the man said with a carefree grin.

Charlie smiled and walked over to the truck, getting in the passenger’s side and leaning back in the seat. She was relieved that things seemed to be going her way for once.

The man got in the driver’s side and started his truck. “Name’s Charles, by the way, but everyone calls me Chuck. Just in case, you know, you want to call me by my name.”

Charlie laughed. “Funny. I knew a Charlie when I was a kid, she was sweet.”

“Oh?” Chuck asked. “What was she like?”

Charlie looked out the front window, seeing a faint reflection and meeting her own blue-eyed gaze. “Really soft-spoken, but every word she said was kind. Wouldn’t hurt a fly. We grew up together,” she was sad at this point; not because of the story but because this was her childhood, and it was ripped away from her all too soon when she was eighteen.

“Something happen to her?” Chuck asked.

“Her Integration failed, senior year,” Charlie said, shaking her head. “She broke apart and they had to take her away. I still miss her, some days.”

“Oh,” Chuck went quiet and the truck filled with an awkward, somber silence. “...I’m sorry.”

Charlie looked up the road and paled when she saw a police checkpoint. Stupid, stupid, you should have thought of that! Of course they would keep track of the main roads!

Chuck looked at her when she shrank in her seat, then looked further up the road. He cursed. “I really didn’t need this today,” he muttered.

Charlie looked over at him. “Why are you upset?”

“I’m running on a tight schedule,” he said, scratching the back of his neck.

“You’re lying,” Charlie said, squinting at him.

Chuck glanced at her, and pulled off the road to get a good look at her. “Well, why are you upset?” he fired back.

“I asked first!” Charlie scoffed.

“I’m the one who gave you a ride from the goodness of my heart!” Chuck said.

“Doesn’t mean you have an excuse to question my private life!” Charlie said, crossing her arms.

Chuck squinted at her, and Charlie felt her heart thud in her chest once, twice, three times. “You’re the system they’re looking for,” he said softly.

“You don’t seem like the kind of person who’d be on the wrong side of the law,” Charlie noted.

“You’re not denying it.”

“No,” Charlie huffed. “I’m not.”

“Not denying it or not the system?” Chuck pressed. “Because before I charge through that police checkpoint with you and get all my BOLOs updated, I need to know who I’m doing it for.”

Charlie stared long and hard at Chuck. Then, she said, “Charlie. Charlie, London, Ross, and Charlotte.”

He nodded once with a, “That’s good enough for me.” Then he got back on the road, and floored the gas.

Charlie reached up for the grab handle as the truck sped faster and faster towards the checkpoint, until officers were waving their hands and trying to get Chuck to stop. Chuck paid them no mind and sped straight through the checkpoint, not even slowing down for the immediate left turn after the stop. Charlie squeaked in surprise and Chuck continued to speed. “I don’t suppose slowing down just a little bit is possible?” she asked, voice rising in pitch with every word.

“After going through a checkpoint like that? We’ll be lucky if they don’t immediately come after us in those patrol cars, we need every advantage we can get,” Chuck said.

Charlie screamed in alarm as he weaved onto the wrong side of the double-yellow lines to go around a car in their way. “You’re insane!” she screeched.

“Have you never run from the police in a car before?” Chuck asked, looking over at her.

“I always make sure they can’t find me unless they’re on foot, I only pay in cash, I can’t afford to take a car with me wherever I go!” Charlie yelled.

Chuck shook his head and pressed the accelerator harder. “Well, I suppose you’re in for a treat, then. Because I know how to get cars on the cheap wherever I go, and I can show you how.”

Charlie felt like she was going to hyperventilate, and was wondering why, exactly, London hadn’t intervened by this point.

Chuck made a sharp turn and they drifted into a parking lot on the edge of the woods. “Come on, out of the car!” he exclaimed, jumping out and taking off.

This man is insane, Charlie thought to herself, jumping out and following him all the same.

They ran the rest of the way into town, at which point Charlie took the lead. “With me,” she gasped, grabbing his hand and leading him to the local gym.

She flashed a smile at the man up front and with a quick explanation of how she “forgot” her membership card in her locker the last time she was here, she was let into the back. Chuck followed soon after, shaking his head. “You’re so lucky I happen to have a membership here,” he said, sighing.

“Yeah?” Charlie asked, still slightly out of breath. “Go get whatever you have here, and sneak into the women’s section, I’ll be able to help you hide from the authorities.”

“You want me. To sneak into the women’s locker room. I’m not some Peeping Tom!” Chuck exclaimed.

“Fine, then I’ll get everything from my locker and sneak into the men’s room. I know how to pass as a trans guy anyway,” Charlie said, making her way to the women’s locker room.

She grabbed her duffel bag inside, featuring everything from half a week’s worth of clothes to hair bleaching and dyeing solutions, to face putty. Then she walked to the back of the locker room to where a door was, picked the lock on it courtesy of a bobby pin she found in the duffel bag, and waltzed into the men’s section.

Chuck was in the back, changing his shirt, and he jumped when he saw her. “Don’t do that!” he exclaimed.

Charlie shrugged unsympathetically and closed the door behind her. “Come on, we’ve got to disguise ourselves, and quickly.”

“How are we gonna do that?” Chuck asked.

Charlie put down the duffel bag and opened it up, pulling out two packs of hair dye, an entire container of face putty, some fake piercings and a pair of glasses. “With a makeover, of course,” she said. “Give me two minutes to put on a binder I have in there and I’ll be right with you.”

Chuck shook his head. “This is crazy.”

“No crazier than speeding through a police checkpoint,” Charlie said sweetly as she grabbed said binder and walked away. “Now don’t go anywhere, you’re my ticket out of here.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Chuck called after her with great sarcasm.

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stories-for-all · 7 years

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Constellations: Chapter One

A/N: Hello, everyone, and thank you for noticing the beginning of my most recent novel, Constellations. This is going to be a wild ride from start to finish, and one that I sincerely hope you will enjoy.

CHAPTER LIST

TRIGGERS: Dehumanization, forced integration, dogs, hunting

Charlie was confused. “But why can’t I talk to them anymore? They’re my friends.”

The nurse sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, and Charlie started to regret asking. “Because, honey, they’re not you, not yet. And they never will be if you talk to them.”

Charlie felt like she was going to cry or be sick, one of the two. “But...but London, and...and Charlotte...what do I tell them?”

“You tell them they’re you, honey, and you tell them that until they believe it,” the nurse stated firmly. “Because when they believe it, they can integrate with you, and you can go home! Wouldn’t you like to go home?”

“I want my friends more!” Charlie protested.

The nurse shook her head. “You will learn the truth sooner or later while you’re here, Charlie, and you will see that you don’t actually need your ‘friends.’ Everyone does.”

Charlie’s eyes got hot as the nurse stood up and left Charlie to unpack. “Welcome to the Integration program!” the nurse chirped, before leaving the room.

It was raining, and for that, Charlie was glad. Sure, the mud made her bootprints easier to track, and her bright red hair fell into her face more often than not, but it threw off her scent so that the dogs couldn’t find her. And to her, the dogs were the worst problem she could possibly have; worse than muddy boot prints or tangled hair. Her foot hit another puddle as she ran, her breaths coming and going in gasps, creating little bursts of fog in the early-winter air. That’s what she got for hanging out in Section Forty Two for too long. Sure, they were much more lax about Integration testing, but the near-constant rain and the chill in the air made her rethink her idea about laying low so far north.

Not like she had much of a choice. She had gotten as close as she could to the border before people started getting fanatic about system-hunting, in hopes to find some way to get out of the country before she was killed.

“Charlie, my dear, much as I love you, this was a bad idea,” London said from behind her, more or less in her ear.

“Yeah, I know, London!” Charlie snapped. “You don’t think being chased through the rain is a sign of that?!”

London, to his credit, backed off. Charlie shook her head and continued running. She couldn’t hear the people chasing her anymore, but she had lasted this long on the run by never assuming that she was safe. When her lungs burned too much to continue running (or even walking), for very long, she looked around where she was, please to find she was in the middle of the woods. Prime spot for hiding from dogs. She ran straight towards the nearest tree she could find, lunging for the lowest branch and pulling herself up. Time to climb and lay low for the night. This was hardly the first time she had done something like this.

Her body moved relatively easily on muscle memory, ignoring the screaming pain in her legs whenever she moved. She found a suitable branch about twenty feet off the ground and sat back, waiting for the group chasing her to pass her by.

While watching the ground, she did an internal inspection. London was hovering nearby, watching her even as he paced. Ross was curled up in an armchair near front. Charlotte, as usual, was somewhere deeper in the Inner World, unaware of the terrible situation they had found themselves in. Charlie sighed silently in relief. Whenever Charlotte was close to front in danger, she usually wound up fronting by herself, giving away their position.

The barking of dogs came closer and Charlie felt her blood run cold. There was no way she could come back here for years, if she could ever come back at all. Shame, she rather enjoyed Section Forty Two. Not enough to keep anything important back at her place, and certainly not enough to die here, but there was something about it that put her at ease.

Not anymore, she thought bitterly.

Looking around, she noticed that some tree branches crossed into other trees in the area, much like a catwalk, and London started nagging her to front. “Please, Charlie, darling, if you let me take control just long enough to walk a few trees over, the dogs will lose where we are and we’ll be so much safer. And you know that I’m not afraid of heights, while you have been known to get vertigo.”

Charlie growled in the back of her throat. London had a point. She shook her head and grumbled, “Leave me co-conscious, and preferably in a tree we can climb down from without serious injury.”

“Your wish is my command, darling,” London purred, before gently prying Charlie from the controls and taking front for himself.

London stood on the tree branch and stretched. Those dogs were too close for comfort and too close for staying in one spot for long. While the rain hid their scent, the humans leading the dogs could find their boot prints and walk straight to this tree.

Humming under his breath, he inched further and further down the limb, holding a second branch in his hands in case he slipped, and moved to a tree directly in front of where they had been. Looking around, he found another limb that looked sturdy about five feet down from where he was and to the left, and he climbed to the closest tree branch on his current tree to make the walk easier. His heart nearly leaped into his throat when his foot slid on the wet bark, but hanging onto that second branch saved him a fifteen-foot fall. He regained his footing and walked a little more slowly to the next tree.

His legs felt like they were on fire, and were they in a safer position he would have tutted and asked Charlie what she had done to the body. As it was, all he could do was wince and silently continue his walking and climbing. He moved one final tree away before he decided his legs had enough and merely pulled himself up into the highest branches that would support him.

Hanging his head, he huffed his red hair away from his eyes. Charlie had been growing it out from a pixie cut for months now, and it was just around their shoulders, dyed an unnatural crimson. They’d have to dye their hair again soon, preferably before they settled into another town.

Ross complained from the seat he was curled up in. “Do we have to dye our hair again? Being a redhead was bad enough, why do we have to bleach it blonde or turn it purple or whatever other crap you and Charlie plan for?”

London shushed him as he heard the dogs getting closer. Of course, only anyone in the system could hear each of them speak if they weren’t fronting, but the others speaking in the middle of danger held a psychological factor that London couldn’t explain.

The dogs came into view a few seconds before the humans holding their leads. They were too long for the humans to want anything except for the dogs to hurt London and the others, and it made his blood boil. How dare they have such disregard for a human life--! But sadly, that appeared to be the normal around here when it came to systems.

The dogs continued forward until they found the tree that Charlie had climbed and pawed at it, barking. The humans caught up, looked up, and swore to each other. “Spread out! It can’t have gotten far!” one of the older women said.

A younger man swayed from foot to foot. “Don’t you mean ‘she’?”

Even from this distance, London could feel the hostility radiating from the woman. “Things like that aren’t people, Gabe,” she snarled. “They’re just real good at pretending to be.”

London felt pure rage flow through him like lava, but Charlie kept him from climbing down and giving that woman a piece of his mind. It wasn’t safe, she was telling him, and as much as he hated it, she was right.

He settled into the tree trunk as best he could, watching the people fan out to continue the search but not looking up in their endeavors. At this point, all he could do was hold his breath and pray that they wouldn’t. If he moved, they’d see that he was more than a little bit bigger than any animal in these woods and they’d probably shoot him.

Without any warning, his thoughts went back to his family. His little brother, his older sister, his parents. He wondered how they were, and immediately chastised himself for the thought. They don’t care about you, he thought vehemently. They cared about who they thought you were. The second they knew the truth, they turned against you.

Still, he missed them. He didn’t even have a photograph to remind him of what they looked like. Anything that could reveal who he was meant he could be caught for what he was. A system. One body with four different people, four different individuals in one mind.

Shaking his head free of those depressing thoughts, lest he sigh and give away his position, he watched the ground below. They had brought out flashlights, finally, the daylight long gone from behind the clouds. The light scattered across the ground, large, sweeping strokes intent on revealing everything in its path. He was suddenly very glad the body couldn’t go any farther and they took to the trees. There was no way he could outrun the scope of those flashlights.

His eyelids were growing heavy despite the adrenaline still pumping through his body. It was leaving fast, leaving only the desire to sleep in its wake. But he had to stay awake, just a while longer. If he didn’t, he could miss them doubling back, or deciding to look up.

He sat forward on the branch, thinking to himself, Don’t fall asleep, London, don’t fall asleep, not yet! You haven’t earned your rest until you know they’re off your trail for good!

The mantra did little but make him feel more exhausted for the effort. Surely five minutes wouldn’t hurt...?

No! No, five minutes could be deadly! There was no way he could sleep right now! Not until the search was over for the night!

He stayed awake to watch the lights fade into the distance. He stayed awake to some of them returning, backtracking their steps in the hopes they had missed something. He stayed awake until he heard one of the people behind the nearby lights shout, “Missus Edwards says that we’re not gonna find it tonight! Head home, come back in the morning! We won’t let it get away by leaving for a few hours!”

At this point, he was too tired to even find rage at being called an “it”. He watched the lights fade away, listened until he couldn’t even imagine the bark of the dogs. Then, he carefully felt his way down the tree trunk, planted his feet on the ground, and started to walk.

Walking was good at keeping you awake. Kept the blood pumping, especially when it was in the middle of the night and you couldn’t risk a flashlight, so you had to listen very closely to hear campers or bears.

He had practiced running in the dark in these woods before, when Charlie had first considered hiding nearby. So he knew how to feel out gnarled tree roots, random holes in the ground, and slopes, be them uphill or downhill.

Once he was sure he was alone, he started humming to himself. He didn’t know what the song was, but it was on the radio recently and he didn’t hate it. It had pep, it had a good strong bass, and that was all he really needed to like something nowadays. He couldn’t be particularly picky.

After a while, he could hear a gentle roaring coming from his right. He turned toward it, and listened closer. It was...car engines, if he was hearing right. It didn’t take much consideration to go towards it. He got as close as ten feet from the road before he stopped moving towards it and started walking parallel to it. He hummed Auld Lang Syne as he walked, and pretended he was dancing with an invisible partner as he did it, keeping his eyes open for a rest stop, or even a restroom. He could hide out at either for the night, he was desperate enough. But he really didn’t think sleeping out in the open was a good idea.

It took longer than he would have liked, but he did come across a parking lot with a restroom nearby. “Bless,” he breathed, running forward before stopping at the entrance of the bathroom. Which one did he go in? Sure, he was feeling masculine, but Charlie would most likely be the first awake tomorrow, and he didn’t want to scare the living daylights out of her by passing out in the men’s room.

He reluctantly walked into the women’s room, the dim fluorescent lights causing him to squint as if it were midday. He went into the stall that looked the least disgusting, locked it, and sat down leaning against the wall directly next to the toilet, making it look like he could have been throwing up and then passed out. When he felt remotely comfortable, he closed his eyes, and allowed himself to drift into an uneasy and light sleep.

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