Her name was Charlotte

It had snowed in September. It was typical of the Dakotas to experience the hardness of weather before most other people, to feel the winds of an approaching winter while more southern folk were still swimming in their pools. That night, however, it was uncharacteristically cold. The rain that was promised came deceptively slow, and it crystallized in the apex of the night. Few were awake to witness it with cloud-breathed wonder. It didn't last long, and the results were underwhelming.

Madison would have witnessed it. She had a hard time falling asleep at night, the perks of a rampant insomniac. A computer in her lap, she was there when the snow began to fall. It highlighted itself in the light outside her window, in tiny dots too premature to be anything be than runts, tiny outcasts pelting the ground with little hope for a long life. She saw it out of the corner of her eye, and thought her blurry-visioned lethargy was playing tricks on her. They weren't, though. It was actually snowing. She planted her feet down from her bed, walking up to the window to see for certain. It was snowing! There was a bittersweet feeling that welled up in her chest, as lions roared at her from beyond the glass, lizard-faced people screaming at her to return to her bed. It only ever snowed for her in the nighttime.

Her name was Charlotte. Madison had late classes that afternoon. She was thankful to have more late classes than most, because waking up at noon was more of a necessity when you went to sleep at 4. When Madison walked out, wearing the long-sleeved sweater she "forgot" to return to Nicola, she found this girl staring hard at the snow. She was short, and had a spry look to her, a certain energy to her grin as she traced something in the night's meager delivery. Madison had to see what was making the grin. An inconspicuous walk forward, and the girl saw. Charlotte. Her name was Charlotte.

"Hey." Before Madison knew it, she was staring too long, and jumped back as the girl looked up at her. Amber eyes looked brightly to her, and the smile didn't waver when she turned. "You like it?"

Did she like it? It was just a name. Madison gave the tracing a short glance, noticing the uniquities in the lines. They were wavy, looped,  circular. Maybe she did put effort into it. Apparently Madison was taking too long to answer the girl, because she formed a whole new question, putting a hand on her hip. She offered a...

...robotic...hand?

Madison stared at it with alarm, something she had been doing throughout the brief meeting. That was no hand, no human hand. It looked too bulky to be a glove. The girl named Charlotte grinned and grinned, giggled a cute laugh and put artificial fingers to her mouth. "Oh, sorry. Isn't it cool?" She offered it again. "Come on, it won't hurt you."

So Madison reached out to it slowly, and just as her fingers touched the metallic ones, Charlotte put a finger to her lip, from her other hand, a thoughtful expression adorning her face as her eyes trailed to the sky. "Well, it hurt that one doctor, but they were able to put his hand back together, so he didn't have to get one of these like me."

The younger girl made sure to retract her hand like a lightning bolt, and Charlotte laughed harder, going so far as to slap her knee with her natural hand. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding," she said through fits. Madison gave her a frown. She didn't really like this girl, and was already about to walk away, give her some excuse. But something...stopped her. Maybe it was her will to meet new people, to make new friends and not be such a social retard. She stayed there long enough for Charlotte to stop laughing. The android girl straightened up and cleared her throat. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't plan that, it just kinda happened." She offered the hand a third time. "Hi! I'm Charlotte. People call me Lotte, though. My sister calls me Charlie."

People called her Lotte. She was people, so Madison decided to go with that one. She didn't want to seem to formal, or infringe on a personal nickname between her and her sister. She decided to brave it, to shake the robotic hand. It felt hard and cold, like she was shaking a toaster, but when it broke away, her own hand was still intact.

"Well, are you mute? My sister is mute, I can understand sign language if you need me to do that!" The girl had already started flashing her hands around, making symbols and gestures before Madison could correct the presumption.

"No, sorry, um, I'm Madison..." Her voice was soft, and it caused Lotte to smile even harder.

"You're so cute! Are you new here?" Madison winced at this, a little put off at being called 'cute.' She was always trying to prevent herself from being pandered to, albeit unsuccessfully most of the time. She gave a small nod, and Lotte seemed unable to contain herself. She let out a squeak. "I remember my first year here! It was a while ago, it was so much fun!"

"How long have you been here now?" Madison couldn't see herself staying at the school for too long. She hated it, and her closest friend seemed bothered by her most of the time. Nicola. It meant stealing a sweater to somehow feel a sense of power over the small girl. She was a demon in her own sense, Nicola, but there was something about her that made Madison excited to see her face. It was always short lived, of course.

"I haven't been here in two years, to tell you the truth," Lotte said sweetly. "I returned...two days ago. I'm a guardian now, mhm!" She seemed rather proud of herself. Madison wasn't even fully sure as to what a guardian was, but gave her a kind smile in return. "That's cool." It was hard for her to keep up with this Lotte girl.

The tracing had been beside a bench, and Lotte dusted the small layer of frost that lay atop it. She collapsed with a satisfied hmph, and brushed off a spot for Madison to join her. The younger girl suppressed a sigh. She was stuck now, and had to sit through this. Her class of the day was not until dinner time. She'd make a point to pretend it was earlier, and hope that Lotte didn't offer to walk her to it.

"Did you see the snow falling last night?" the girl asked, looking up at the gray sky, a freezeframe of a winter's dome. She stretched, and continued her story without waiting for Madison to answer. "I come from Phoenix, you see. In Phoenix, it doesn't snow; it's simple as that. So when I come up here, and it starts snowing in September, I am not going to squander the opportunity to make some angels." She gave Madison a mischievous grin. She really was cute. Madison internally shook her head for being so weird, and smiled along with her. It was a contagious smile, the kind that poisoned you with a sense of fun. It rushed through your body and relaxed your muscles, and Madison was suddenly not so keen on leaving.

"Yeah, I was up when it happened." Her voice was silent, directed at her feet, the boots that dug circles into the dirt. Charlotte blinked, but didn't point out her introversion. Instead, she tsk'd at what she said, sitting up and back down in a brief instant. She gave Madison a disappointed pout.

"You were up and you didn't want to go out there? What are you from, Canada or something?" she thrusted a robo-finger at Madison's nose. "I wasn't the only one out there, you know. There were people having a dinky little snowball fight, it was pretty pathetic." That pout was really short-lived. "Aaah, I missed this school. You really should have went out there, Maddie."

Madison hated when people called her 'Maddie.' She hated explaining her power more. She did really want to go out there, but she just...couldn't. It was always dark when it snowed for her. "It was cold..."

"So what? I hate the cold, but I didn't even bring a jacket out there."

"I was barefoot..."

"Shoes, Maddie, shoes exist. They're the things you're wearing right now." Lotte made sure to point for emphasis.

Madison looked down. She didn't really want to be painted boring by this person. It wasn't her fault. Through a hesitated sigh, she practically spoke into her collar: "It was my power."

"Your power?" It seemed to peak Lotte's interest, much to Madison's dismay. She leaned in, shoulder brushing against the younger girl. The smoke from Lotte's mouth made plumes in front of Madison's emerald eyes. "What do you mean? If you don't mind me asking!" The last part was rushed, running after her initial sentence as fast as conceivable. At least she was considerate. Madison gave her an uncertain look, wondering how long she'd make the story, before speaking.

"I...can't go out at night, you see. Dark places, too, there are...hallucination...things, they're very scary, they kill me if I go out of light. They all want to get out, you see, and they...kill me to do it..." Madison braced herself for a gasp, a sincere look of awe or sympathy. But Lotte didn't give this. Madison peeked over to the girl's face, and her expression was ponderous. After a few moments, she spoke.

"I think I can fix that."

"Huh?"

"Madison." She used her full name. "A gift is never...not a gift. An old professor once told me that, any gift that seems unfortunate is only unfortunate because you are looking at it wrong." The girl smiled, seemingly happy to be sounding so smart. "A gift would have died out if it was not beneficial to the user. Your gift has not died out. You must be looking at it wrong."

Looking at it wrong? Madison pulled her legs together, thinking about this. It was definitely exciting, being able to find a positive way to use her gift. But how would that be possible? In what way could having killer hallucinations be beneficial? She had been training for about a week, had been learning to use a sword and getting stronger in the hopes of defending against her gift. Could she really find a way to use it?

Lotte snapped, and Madison's heart exploded into anxious anticipation. What did she reach? The older girl stood up from the bench, facing Madison triumphantly. "Maddie, I think I can help you! I think I'll become your teacher!" She diverged from seriousness pretty quickly. "Like those Chinese karate movies! Ooh, I'll be your sensei!"

Madison was alarmed at the proposition. Though she wasn't sure what they were, she knew they were strong. Would she really be taught to use her gift by a guardian?

"Listen, Maddie." The younger girl stood, and her shoulders were immediately gripped. She forced herself to look into Lotte's eyes as she spoke, as they were solemn. "I know what you are feeling. I had...an unbeneficial gift myself. I actually was in a mental hospital these last few years, I...--" she removed her robotic hand from Madison's shoulder for the sake of showcasing it. "--I cut this off."

Cutting her own hand off? Madison could only imagine what had driven her to do that. That was, until she remembered the time on the rooftop, where she would have killed herself had Nicola not come by. Gifts were dangerous, they could make you do terrible things. The younger girl understood completely.

"I fixed that gift, Maddie," Lotte said with earnest. "I fixed the gift by altering it, by looking at it differently and facing it head-on. You can do it, I know you can, and I will help you." Serious time was over, and she offered a hand for a high-five. "Come by the Soccer Field at sunset. I'll bring light, I promise."

Despite assuring that there would be light, the idea of being out in the field when the sun was saying its farewells scared her to no end. Her heart beat rapidly, and her mouth became dry. Lotte's eyes kept on her's, though. Madison remembered her mother, her father, the times in her life where she hid from the darkness, put off making friends because she was too scared to be stuck somewhere in the dark. She was tired of that. She saw the determination in Lotte's eyes, heard the extents of what she had to go through, and knew she could trust her. After a moment's hesitation, Madison did it. She slapped her palm into Lotte's.


Madison had skipped class that day. There was a nervous energy in her, a flutter of moths that made it impossible for her to think about anything but that night. She had returned to her room, had locked herself in and browsed the Internet for something in particular. On the academy's webpage, she inquired further about Charlotte the Guardian.

Charlotte Redwaltz. The page had bios on each Guardian, how to contact them and what they looked like. That cute, beaming face was hard to miss. It was younger, however, lesser in quality than the others. It was older. Maybe this was taken before Lotte's troubles in the hospital.

Madison rested the laptop on her feet, and she read. The short bio included her gift, something with spirits. It was very vague. 'She deals with the spiritual world, handling ghosts.' It was almost as if the school itself did not know what her gift was.

That was all there was on Charlotte Redwaltz. Google gave little results, only an image of her in a soccer uniform from what seemed to be middle school. There was little different about her. She still had that same beaming smile. There was something more innocent, more simple about this one, though. It was hard to put a finger on it.

Lotte was a spec on the field when Madison rushed over. She was fast paced, the sky already dark, seeing the lanterns that Lotte had acquired. It was too in the open. There were already hallucinations forming. She arrived at brisk speeds, and massaged her arms. Despite her coat, it was rather cold. The wind whipped over the field with little obstruction.

"Glad you could make it!" Lotte seemed warmed by her excitement. She hugged papers to her chest, shouting over the howling breeze that beat against them. "I've figured it out, Maddie, I figured it out!"

"What do you mean!?"

"I looked at your file, Maddie, I read about your power, and I know how you can fix it!" Amber eyes flicked to the open field, as if she could see what Madison could see. "Those things out there, Maddie, they are not obstacles! They are not threats! Maddie, you fool, they are yours!"

Hers? In what way were those monstrosities hers? Madison gave her a cock of the head, holding her arms tightly. She was angry and scared. Why did she agree to do this? This girl was obviously crazy.

"What do you mean?"

"Maddie!" She gave a little laugh. "Don't you see! These things exist because you created them! You are not obstructing them from life, you are their life! You have to show them this!"

"How do I do that?"

"How do you tame a dog? How do you warn off a bear?" Lotte threw her arms up. "You show them you're the alpha, Madison! You have to go out there and tell them you are the leader!"

This was ridiculous! Lotte wanted her to face those things, the dozens of grotesque beasts that haunted the field? No, nu uh, she was insane. Madison looked down, and walked to the edge of the light.

"Let me go..."

"Maddie--"

"Let me go!" Madison whipped around, and pointed a finger at Charlotte's face. The older girl jumped back as she spoke. "All you've been doing is speaking crazy talk! You're fucking insane! This is not going to work! I am stuck with this! Let me go!"

Although Lotte looked taken aback, although the hurt on her face was evident, she didn't pick up the lantern. She didn't walk away. Instead, she stepped forward, and she hugged Madison. And like the dumbass she was, Madison took it and cried.

It was not fair. This girl had walked up into her life in one day, had busted forward with her snow and her hand and her bullshit. She didn't ask for this. What gave her the right to give her this hope? Despite thinking this, despite wanting to beat her fists on Lotte, she didn't. She hugged her back.

Maybe it was good to believe in hope. Maybe she was only hopeful because she knew it was true.

Madison wiped her eyes, most of her tears finding themselves on Lotte's coat. She didn't seem to mind. She grinned down at Madison as they parted, giving her a friendly pat on the back. The younger girl felt guilty. Maybe she was speaking the truth. Maybe this was the answer.

Would she give up, go home, and live the rest of her life hiding? Or would she go out in the snow when it fell at midnight? Lotte was packing up the lantern, preparing to move back with kind murmurs of "I understand," and "Maybe later," until Madison piped up.

"I'll do it."

Lotte froze, and spun around to face Madison. The teary girl gave her a smile, sniffing and running a finger over her nose. And Lotte smiled too.


"What I need you to do, is walk out there." There was a game plan in place, something that Lotte had spent hours thinking about. She laid out papers, messily scribbled plans, i's dotted with hearts, trying to hold them down against the wild winds. They had something to work with. "If at any time, you feel absolutely unsafe, like it isn't working or they are scaring you too much, run back. Run back as fast as you can, and that'll be the end of it.

Madison agreed to this. She knew she could very much die that night, but she knew she could die every night. She was finally taking the reigns on her life. She could die knowing she was at peace with the possibility, a notion that had forced her onto that rooftop a fortnight ago.

And then, she turned. It was like all the wind had ceased, like the world had gone silent. She looked into the darkness. Twisted faces, scribbled figures twisting in the night, all faced her. She was in a barrier, them unable to reach her. And with a shaky breath, her heartbeat a clock counting the final seconds of her life, she began to walk. She left the barrier, and everything ran at her.

The field was big, the bounding of the hallucinations long. They moved haphazardly, teleporting a doodling across the green, but she kept walking. Her face was a sketch of courage, a mock display of bravery. She kept her chest up, her head high, and she stopped a few yards from the barrier of light. She looked out into the horde, dozens of creatures rushing to kill her, and she extended her arms. She thought of her mother, D'angelo, and Nicola. She thought long about Nicola. Her smell lingered sweetly on the vest she wore, a vest she stole.

The creatures got closer, and closer, and closer, and when their claws ans knives and faces met her face, her arms, her body, they...stopped. The creatures froze in front of her, looking at her with crystal eyes, rolling back and forth and all around in observation. They watched her, watched her extended arms, the look on her face as she glared at them. And when they began to move again, she shouted.

"Hey!"

It was loud, loud enough to make some of them move backwards. They stared at her. She continued.

"Hey, hey hey, HEY!"

They were a circle, all watching her, waiting and doing nothing. A leopard-bodied woman watched her. Beside her, her mother. Madison flinched. The hallucinations moved a step in, all at once, and she regained her composure.

"Hey!" They all did not move a single appendage once more. Madison imagined what Lotte was seeing. It was probably a whole lot of nothing. After enough time passed by, Madison began to slowly lower her arms. The crowd of hallucinations seemed to move and growl and spit at this, but no one moved. Madison glared hard at them.

"You. are. MINE!"

And she began walking. They all stared at her, many growling and nipping at her, but none of them attacked. None of them walked up to her. They began peeling back, one by one, as she made her way further into the darkness. All but her mother. She walked up to the hallucination of her mother, and it didn't move. Madison didn't stop. In one, angry gesture, as they two met, Madison thrusted her fist forward. Her mother shattered like glass.

She walked all the way to the light, where the field met domes of circular lampglow. No matter how far she went, nothing attacked her. They threatened her, snarling and showing themselves as dangerous, but they actually didn't attack her. Before she knew it, she was home, in her dorm, away from the dark and away from all those things. And it was then that she trembled, that she collapsed in the lobby and held herself in terror. People looked at her, but she didn't care. Oh my God, what just happened. Oh my God, did she just do that!?

And the corners of her mouth slowly rose with her hopes, hopes that had once been seen as ridiculous, had once been seen as false.

She did, didn't she?