In Charlie's Arms

36 • Answers

Charlie remained unconscious for two hours after he was unceremoniously tossed into the room. After moving him to lie on the couch, most of the others left after Bea told them to give him space, but November and Seraphina sat right by his side.

"So what's with the words on y'all's shirts?" Sera asked after a long stretch of silence.

November pulled her eyes away from the Disney movie playing on the television in the corner of the room. "They named us after the names of our projects," she replied. "Alpha said it's the phonetic alphabet, our names."

"So Charlie isn't his real name?" Sera asked, casting a long glance at the sleeping man she sat next to, her arms folded on the cushion next to his head.

November shook her head. "No. He doesn't remember his real name, he was taken too young. None of us really remember our names, just Alpha, really. Ian McCain, he said it was. He was taken when he was five, so he remembers a good bit of the real world." She sighed, her eyes going back to the television. "The rest of us only get to experience some of the real world through the T.V."

McCain, Sera thought. So that's where Charlie got his last name from.

"How old were you when you were taken?" Sera asked.

"I was a newborn," November said sadly. "Sometimes I'm actually glad that I don't remember anything—that I don't remember the parents I was taken from. Other times I wish I was older, so I could've at least gotten to have some normal memories, y'know?"

Sera felt her heart sink. She thought of her own parents, her happy upbringing, suddenly cherishing it more than she ever had.

When would she get to see her family? Was she stuck here forever?

The questions nagged at her, causing dread to pool in her stomach. She quickly shook the thoughts off before they could cause anymore damage.

"It's not that bad, really," November continued. "Through all of this, I wouldn't have met everyone. And, who knows? My parents could've been mean or something. I like to think of this as a blessing and a curse, though I wouldn't mind getting out of here." She smiled, looking down at her hands as she fiddled with them. "I'd like to go to high school. I'd like to get my driver's license. Experience my first kiss. Have a boyfriend." She looked to Sera, quirking an eyebrow. "Is Charlie your boyfriend?"

Sera blushed, pressing her lips together as she avoided the girl's gaze. "Uh, no," she said quickly. "We're just friends."

November didn't look convinced. "Really? Because you seem to be pretty smitten."

"I . . . we . . ." Sera gave up, not sure what to tell the girl. "So he has super strength, right?" She tried to switch the subject.

November let her, nodding. "Yeah, and heightened hearing."

"Like you?"

She nodded again. "Yeah. Charlie told me that when he was younger, they discovered that he naturally had good hearing and decided to experiment and see if they could make it better. Obviously it proved successful, and they got the idea to start a project that heightened all senses. That's how project November was born." She looked to Charlie, her lips slightly turning upward at the corners. "That's how we became so close. We were together a lot because of all the experiments."

Experiments. The word rattled about in Sera's brain. They're all experiments. Captured when they were babies and experimented on.

It was all too much to wrap her head around.

"I'm so sorry," Sera acted on the urge to apologize again. "If I would've known my uncle was doing all of this, I've would've tried to help."

"Oh, Seraphina," November said, placing a hand on Sera's elbow, "really, don't be sorry. You played no part in this. And, although it's a controversial topic down here, your uncle isn't all that bad. Actually, he's the nicest out of all the men."