

### Charlie Cradle's Wonderful Existence

### Scott J. Callaway

***~~~***

### Copyright 2013 Scott J. Callaway

### Cover Design by www.MotherSpider.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, character, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Smashwords Edition

***~~~***

For Carlie,

The heart of my favorite love story

***~~~***

### Chapter 1

"I'm sick and tired of you people calling my home!"

The outraged screaming sound that Charlie listened to coming through the other end of the phone line was nothing out of the ordinary. Every day, she called people to ask questions that the company she worked for considered _necessary_ for their research.

"How many people live in your home?"

"Do you smoke cigarettes?"

"Do you eat pickles?"

That's what Charlie looked forward to five days a week of her life.

"I'm sorry sir," said Charlie, forcing herself to keep composure. She took a deep breath, and then read from the lines on the screen that had become so familiar to her while struggling to sound as perky as possible. "I understand your frustration. However, The Pickle Jar Incorporate is reaching into the family home to conduct research to learn of what people love most about their pickles. Your opinion and cooperation is of great value to us."

"You want my opinion?" asked the man. "I don't give a damn about your pickles, so leave me to eat my dinner in peace!"

Charlie's earpiece rang as the man smashed his end of the phone line down hard. When she was first hired for the job, this would have equaled something of an insult. But after a few days of the same thing happening over and over again, she quickly learned to cast away her humanity and adopt a robotic heart. If it wasn't for the need to pay the rent and all the other essentials of life, Charlie would be far, far away from this place. But then again, even if she could get away, she wouldn't know where else to go. In the Maritime city of Riverton, New Brunswick, she qualified for very little in regards to work.

Charlie Cradle is a quirky, awkward, and less than ambitious twenty-one year old woman who likes to spend her time online gaming and reading comic books and fantasy novels, desiring nothing more but to live her simple existence. Her routine never wanders very far out of what's considered typical for her, and that's exactly how she likes it. It's not that she couldn't do other things, she tells herself, but instead of being out for a night on the town, she would rather be questing for that level one hundred and seventy-five sword so she can be a part of more guild events in her online world. Virtual sunshine was enough for her.

She looked at the time on the clock and felt like banging her head on her desk. 2:00 pm. That meant there was still three more hours of senseless questioning for the sake of pickles.

Charlie rediscovered her hatred for pickles all over again. But she did her job, because what else could she do? Her little apartment and online gaming subscription wouldn't pay for themselves.

Besides—tomorrow, a phone call would change her life.

***~~~***

It was a little past six o'clock when Charlie arrived home and her mother called. She set her bag of groceries on the table and answered the call.

_Level thirty monster incoming via cell phone,_ thought Charlie.

"Charlene!" said her mother as soon as she answered the phone. "Are you okay? You had me worried sick! What's the matter with you, not calling your mother for three days?"

Charlie sighed. "Mom, please stop calling me Charlene."

"What is it with you with that crazy name? Charlie's a boy's name. You're my baby girl."

And that's exactly why _Charlie_ is just fine _,_ she thought. The truth is that _Charlene_ was everything her mother ever wanted her to be: fashionable, giddy, and a girly-girl. Changing her name to Charlie was a way to create distance from the image her mother tried to apply to her while growing up. But she found out very quickly that was not the person she was meant to be. As people go, she liked being Charlie a lot more than Charlene. The clothes were more comfortable and it was okay to eat out of the pizza delivery box.

"I'm sorry, Mom," said Charlie. "It's just that I'm on the phone all day at work so I like to shut mine off at night."

"You know I like to have a little conversation with my baby girl every once in a while," said her mother.

As much as she hated to talk to her mother before supper, she still didn't like to hear that sad tone in her voice whenever she would _forget_ to call for a few days. "I'll try to remember for tomorrow. I promise."

"Thank you! So, you wouldn't believe who I ran into today. Eliza Von! You know? That _beauty queen_ who carries that ridiculous poodle in her purse? The way she prances around like she can get all the men in the supermarket really rubs me the wrong way!"

As the conversation went on, Charlie checked off all the topics on a checklist, in correct order, that her mother would rant about.

Miss good-for-nothing beauty queen – check.

The price of gas – check.

The raccoon terrorizing their garbage on their front porch – check.

And finally, her father's bowel problems – double check.

Some people would consider this a psychic ability, but for Charlie it just meant 6:15 pm.

After supper, Charlie put on her lazy clothes and got ready to get her game on. She entered her username and password, chose her Wood Elf Ranger character, and signed into her online fantasy world.

Almost immediately, she received a private message.

"Hey."

It was a friend she met online, Vinland. Of course, Vinland was only his character's name. His real name was Tom. But Charlie liked to keep things more informal, so she stuck with using their in-game names instead.

"Hey there, Vin!" said Charlie.

She liked Tom. He was a fantastic chew toy for the monsters to munch on while she peppered them with arrows from afar.

"What's up?" he asked. "You still coming to the dungeon run tonight?"

"Of course!" said Charlie. "I've been thinking about that Bow of Lesser Destruction all night. I'm going to be pouring out so much more damage once I replace my current bow."

"So you mean you'll finally be able to hit something for once?"

"Ha! Funny."

"Hey, just saying. I can't keep secretly asking Dewma to cover my armor repair costs. You're reducing me to a mere beggar."

"If you can't take the pressure, then maybe you're better off playing _My Little Pony Pinkie Pie's Party_ like a good little girl."

Charlie thought she burned him good and a smile spread across her face in anticipation of his comeback. But a couple of minutes passed without retort and she worried that maybe he was offended, even though that was unlike him.

"Sorry," replied Tom.

Charlie sighed with relief.

"Delivery guy arrived."

"That's okay," she said. "You ready?"

"Yeah, let's check with everyone else so we can get this party started."

Charlie had known Tom for about two years. They met while playing a different game during a free-for-all gun battle. The match was down to just the two of them and whoever got the next kill won the round. Charlie prowled the abandoned warehouse until she caught sight of him doing the exact same thing while searching for her. She crouched and readied her gun, waited for him to enter her line of sight, and then... direct head shot! The game was won and she squealed a big "Yes!"

A minute later, Tom sent a private message, congratulating her.

"Nice shot."

And that was the beginning of their friendship.

She liked that he was a good sport. That kind of person was almost alien to that type of game. And for the longest time Tom believed Charlie was a guy because of her username: _Charlies_Gonna_Get_Ya_. She didn't reveal to him the truth because experience told her that most gamer guys became real weird once they found out she was a woman.

"Whoa, really?!"

"No way?! That's so hot!"

"I'm adding you to my friends list."

Sure, being known as a female gamer had its benefits. People give you free passes. But that's not what Charlie's about, and it became real annoying constantly having boys hitting on her and asking what she looked like.

Once Charlie felt comfortable enough with Tom, she told him the truth. His initial reaction was a bit surprised, but he acted as if nothing had changed between them and they continued joking and playing like they always had. She appreciated that about him.

But Charlie wished that she could talk to people in person like the way she talked to Tom online. In virtual reality, she's cool and comfortable. In the real world, she's awkward and clumsy. Trying to fit in like everyone else was a task of its own. She didn't know what to talk about when engaged in conversation with other people. She wasn't interested in the same things other people are interested in and not very many people she knew liked books and online gaming. She's the type of person who lets others talk while she listens, and if they didn't carry the flow of the conversation, it was riddled with more uncomfortable silence than she preferred. However, sometimes that awkward silence was a welcomed tool to end unwanted interactions pretty quickly. But in the grand scale of things, that was a minor flaw. The important thing, she thought, was that she didn't feel like she was missing out on anything. That's the way she lived her life. No risks, no chances, just simple living on a day to day basis.

Existing.

After the dungeon run, Charlie was put out.

"No bow," she said. "I guess I'm going to have to give it another try tomorrow night."

"And I guess I'm going to have to buy a new box of Band-Aids," said Tom.

"Thanks for being tank again. You make it seem easy."

"Herding monsters, poking them with sharp and pointy things, letting them beat the crap out of me... It's what I do."

She shook her head and smiled, then typed, "I'll talk to you tomorrow night."

"See you then."

Charlie signed out of the game and got ready for bed. Tomorrow was another big day of harassing people's dinner hour with important questions about pickles.

As she slept, she had the strangest dream. In her dream, she stood in an empty room with no windows and no doors. Everything was painted white so that every imperfection on the walls was clearly visible and easily distinguished. Ultimately, it was bland and not very exciting. Then she noticed the table in the center of the room, which she thought she should have noticed immediately, thinking it must have appeared out of thin air. She approached the table, and sitting on a plate in the middle was a sandwich. Because of the dream, she couldn't tell exactly what kind of sandwich it was, but what was important was that she knew that it was a sandwich. So she stood in the middle of the unexciting, empty white room and looked at the only thing that portrayed any color. The sandwich.

Then Charlie woke up.

She looked at her clock and it displayed 4:27 am. It was still way too early to get up, so she went back to sleep. She thought about the dream she'd just had and how strange it was, but she decided it was unimportant and soon forgot about it. By morning, other more exciting dreams replaced the important one.

### Chapter 2

"Good morning, Charlie!"

Lisette, the nice, pretty girl who made her coffee every morning at the local book & cafe shop, named _Anna's Place_ , cheerfully greeted Charlie as she walked in. Lisette was always perky, no matter what the weather was like or whatever time she was working. She was a beautiful, glass half-full kind of lady – everything Charlie felt that she herself wasn't. But although Lisette's constant smiling and her _it's a great day to be alive!_ attitude sometimes got under her skin, Charlie couldn't help but genuinely like her.

"Good morning, Lisette," said Charlie, approaching the counter.

"It's another beautiful morning!" Lisette said with a smile. "What will you have today? Oh, I know! Why don't you try our new spiced pumpkin café mocha? It's a nice way to warm you up on these cool autumn days, don't you think?"

"No thanks," said Charlie, outwardly unmoved by Lisette's effort to slap a big bright dose of sunshine to the start of her morning. "I'll get the usual: a regular coffee with one cream and two sugars."

"Oh," Lisette pouted. "Don't you get tired of always getting the same thing? Why not try something different for a change? Spice your life up just a little?"

"I don't know. Sounds a bit dangerous."

"Dangerous?" asked Lisette, appearing puzzled, and her happy-go-lucky demeanor slowly melting away to grim concern. "I don't understand..."

"Do you sell zucchini flavored coffee here?" asked Charlie.

"Is there even such a thing?"

"Then there's the problem."

"What does that have to do with spiced pumpkin cafe mocha?"

"Simple," said Charlie, dead serious. "What if today, of all days, I decide to break my routine and indulge in something out of the ordinary, just this once, and _actually like_ it? What happens then? Because what happens if the world is attacked by a mutated breed of bacteria, hell-bent on consuming every last pumpkin on Earth? Once there are no more pumpkins left to create spiced pumpkin coffee, where will you turn? By that point I'll be completely hooked and will need an appropriate replacement that comes from the pumpkin family tree."

"And zucchinis are related to pumpkins?" asked Lisette, beginning to feel awkward and unsure about Charlie's mental state of affairs.

"Part of the squash family, yes. And if there's no such thing as zucchini-flavored coffee, then I better stick to the regular to avoid addiction and possible mental breakdown if ever the bacteria decided to attack."

Both women stared at each other for a moment, until Lisette caught the faintest hint of a smile hiding on Charlie's lips, causing the light bulb in her mind to click on and making her grin. "What if the bacteria attack the coffee beans instead?"

"Touché," said Charlie, now allowing her restrained smile to take full form.

Lisette laughed loudly. "I totally thought you were serious!"

Charlie smiled and watched Lisette brew her coffee. The smell was something she liked to inhale as deeply as she could, letting the fragrance tickle her senses for as long as possible. Perhaps her obsession with the aroma made Lisette's constant happy-go-lucky mood more tolerable?

"One delicious cream coffee with a smile!" said Lisette, handing over her coffee.

Sure enough, Charlie looked into her cup before placing the lid over it and a face made out of whipped cream smiled up at her. _I'm delicious!_ it seemed to declare, mocking Lisette's cheerful tone.

"Thanks Lisette," said Charlie. "You've given my coffee a soul and now I get to feel guilty drinking it into oblivion."

Lisette laughed again as Charlie left the shop, waving her farewell.

As Charlie stepped outside, she brought her cup to her lips and breathed in deeply of both the scents of her drink and those of the early morning city. A slight breeze brought the scents of the bakers and flower shop from down the street, carrying the fresh smell of newly baked bread and of autumn flowers. Sensations like these made her wish she got out more.

The next half an hour consisted of Charlie riding a bus to work, cramming into a tiny elevator with eight other people, while at the same time trying not to choke on the cologne that the man standing next must have poured over himself that morning, and finally logging into her computer and setting up her headset for another fabulous day of pickle questionnaires and getting yelled at. She looked into her cup one last time before taking the last drink. She imagined that the smiley face was now nothing more than a swirly mess of white and brown chaos, its voice sounding similar to a toothless drunk expressing his unhappiness about the rum being gone. Then, with one last gulp, she relieved the coffee of its misery.

"Trust me," she told it, "I'd rather be digested than being where I'm sitting now."

She pushed the enter button to confirm she was ready to work, and so began the drudgery. "Hello," she said, putting on her best Lisette voice. "Could I speak to Mr. Chapman, please?"

A couple of hours passed and Charlie's soul was beginning to feel dangerously similar to how her coffee must have felt with its dying slurp. There was still an hour more before she was allowed to go on her first break, and so she once again dialed out a new number, not knowing that this phone call was going to go much differently than what she expected.

"Hello," said Charlie as the person on the other end picked up, "would I be able to speak with Mr. Morris please?"

"Yes, speaking."

"How are you doing today, Mr. Morris?" asked Charlie, but not giving him enough time to answer before entering into her next segment. "Doing well, I hope. My name is Charlie. Mr. Morris, the reason I am calling is because The Pickle Jar Incorporate is reaching into the family home to conduct research to learn of what people most love about their pickles. If you wouldn't mind lending us a few minutes of your time, your feedback would greatly benefit our findings."

"Hmm," was all that Mr. Morris responded.

Charlie waited, as she expected him to either reply with a yes, continued by ten minutes of senseless questioning, or listen to him yell at her about how he had better things to do. However, his response was neither.

"Well," said Mr. Morris, "before I agree to answer your questionnaire, I would like to ask you your opinion about something first. After that, I'll decide if I want to be part of your research or not."

This was a surprise. Charlie's never been the one answering questions while trying to question others before. She expected that this was probably some sort of prank and was going to deny his request and hang up. But something in the back of her mind told her not to and so she went along with.

"Um, sure," said Charlie. "I shouldn't be doing this. It's a little unconventional... but why not? Ask away."

"Terrific!" exclaimed Mr. Morris. "So, a couple of days ago I was playing an online game with a friend, when suddenly I got a hunger attack. I told him I would be right back and went into the kitchen to make myself a sandwich. You still with me?"

"Yes. Sandwich. Got it."

"I put together one of my favorites. Ham and cheese with Dijon mustard. I really like the kick that Dijon stuff adds to a sandwich, you know? Well, when I got back to gaming my friend asked me what I was eating. I told him: a ham and cheese sandwich with mustard. And do you know what he said to me?"

"No, sir. I don't."

"YUCK!"

Mr. Morris went silent for a moment while he probably expected Charlie to reply, but she didn't know how to react. Was she supposed to be as offended as he was? The safest thing she could think of saying was "Oh."

That set Mr. Morris straight back into his story.

"I mean the nerve of the guy! Am I right? So I yelled at him and said 'YOU NEVER EVEN ASKED WHAT KIND OF MUSTARD I WAS USING!' I was so angry that I logged out of the game and ate my sandwich alone."

_Is this for real?_ Charlie asked herself.

"So, what I want to ask you," continued Mr. Morris, "is what do you think I should do? Should I a) never speak to him again or b) did I maybe overreact a little and forgive him?"

_A little?_ thought Charlie. _That's an understatement._ Then she took a moment to gather herself before responding. Because how do you respond to a story like that over the phone at work? She needed this man's cooperation to be able to keep her job. She definitely didn't want to answer option _A_ because she thought he was insane. But if she answered the latter than what if he got angry with her anyway?

Charlie decided to go the safe route and said, "I'm sorry sir, I don't know what I would do."

"You know," said Mr. Morris, "I am _passionate_ about my sandwich-making ability. You know why? Because I make a damn good sandwich! I used to cook for a living, you see, and when I have friends over _I_ make the food. They _love_ my food. I live for it. It's my passion. So, Ms. Telemarketer, I asked your opinion because if you had a passion for something as great as I do for sandwiches then you would understand where I'm coming from. _Do_ you have any passions?"

Charlie was speechless. For one thing, she couldn't believe she was being questioned like this, especially about something so personal. Usually _she_ did all the questioning. But she still tried to think of something she was passionate about anyway.

Gaming? Sure, she could say that, but once she thought about it, it wasn't something she was necessarily passionate about. Passion is a strong word. She played video games because there was nothing else to do. She needed it to help fill the void that took up most of her waking hours.

Mr. Morris took Charlie's silence as a no. "Life is meaningless if you've got nothing to live for."

Charlie had never been told that so bluntly before.

"That's your problem Charlie," he said. "You need something to be passionate about – something that's going to take you to the edge of the earth and back again. Something that is going to sear itself into your mind so deep that it's the first thing you think about in the morning and the last thing you think about at night. But anyway, seeing as how I can't get your opinion, then I'm afraid I can't be part of this survey of yours. So best of luck to you on all of your pickle endeavors."

And with that, Mr. Morris hung up.

For a moment, Charlie sat flabbergasted at her desk. To be honest, she was a little offended. Who was he to tell her that she had nothing to live for? That she lived a passionless existence? She was sure there were many things that made her life worth living.

But as she thought about it, there was nothing of major significance that popped into her mind. There was her family and friends of course, but even then, she didn't see or talk to them nearly as much as she should. For years she lived her life as simple as possible: sleep, eat, work, gaming, and repeat.

_Am I really that pathetic?_ she asked herself.

She guessed that maybe she was. Although she didn't want to believe it was true because she was happy. At least, she thought so. Was she happy living her perfectly boring life, working a perfectly detestable job and never leaving her apartment if she didn't have to? As she thought about it, a hint of sadness crept into her heart.

Perhaps it was time to try new things.

It was time to find something to be passionate about.

***~~~***

Charlie's first attempt at living a more adventurous life was spiraling downward fast. She wasn't completely certain, but perhaps the Japanese art of swordplay was a bit out of her league.

That morning while eating breakfast, Charlie tried in vain to figure out what exciting thing she should do first. But every bite of her toast only rewarded her with more empty thoughts. She had no idea of what she should do! She never left her apartment unless it was necessary, so she rarely exposed herself to different activities other than playing video games. Therefore, once again, that's exactly where she found herself – questing in her online reality.

The more she shot her virtual bow and took down bandits with her pixelated sword, the more frustrating it became to know that she was soul-bound to her online world. Every cut of her blade and puncture of arrows succeeded in only adding to the chasm of emptiness that had become her life.

That's when it came to her.

As far as she was concerned, she was a master of combat; at least, through the skills of her video game character. So why not try to apply that skill to real life? Who knew what could happen? She could read the headlines already:

"Vigilante gone wild!"

"Samurai Master saves the day!"

"The Blade continues slashing costs to bring you everyday low prices!"

Once she thought about it, learning to wield a real sword made perfect sense.

That was until she nearly impaled her instructor.

It was her first session and everyone was supposed to use a practice sword to begin with. But during a short break, Charlie quietly slipped away to inspect a sharper, more deadly-looking blade. She was driven purely by curiosity to handle the sword. But once she held it in her hands and felt a rush of excitement wash over her to be actually wielding a real weapon, she lost all self-control and took a few practice swings for the fun of it.

She guessed the instructor must have really liked his beard if he had banned her from his dojo.

Charlie stood outside once again, staring into the endless sky, feeling like there was no place for her within the entire universe. She was nothing more than forced out gas that life burped up while forgetting its manners. At that moment, she felt certain she was destined to live a meaningless life.

"In my opinion, the beard had to go anyway."

Charlie snapped out of her depressive state and noticed a man standing on the curb next to her. He was tall, with dark hair, fair skin, and a smile that instantly made her insides do a somersault. At first, she was so taken by his appearance that she forgot to reply and simply stared. The man laughed and smiled some more.

"Who cares about whatever lost honor you've shamed him with?" said the stranger. "If you ask me, you did him a favor."

Charlie choked out a sound that was half gargle and half moan, coming nowhere close to sounding like the hello she intended it to be. But once again, the man simply smiled back at her.

"I'm Rowan," he said.

### Chapter 3

Charlie dodged and rolled as flaming arrows whistled past her ears, she skidded and leaped as runaway boulders threatened to crush her, and danced and weaved out of the reach of slashing daggers, only to be defeated by the intonation of a spell.

"Are you all right?" asked Rowan, his electric words pulsating through the airwaves to incapacitate her.

It was no use. His charmspeak was so powerful that it literally rendered her vocal abilities useless. The more she struggled against its crushing weight, the more she sounded like a wounded animal helplessly caught in a trap. She fought against the rigidity that engulfed her body as both she and the handsome stranger stared at each other, desperately trying to escape the trance she had fallen prey to. Finally, as the man's eyebrows knit into concern, she broke free of her state and blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.

"My name's Charlie Cradle and I hate pickles."

_I hate pickles_ , she thought, her face turning a bright shade of red, _smooth_.

"I hope you don't hate pickles as much as you do that guy's beard," said Rowan, smiling, "because then I'd have to feel bad for the little fellas."

Shoving her mittened hands deeps into her coat pockets, Charlie sank her head into her shoulders, turned, and walked away, her shoes hastily scuffing the cool concrete sidewalk. She had never felt more embarrassed in all her life. In her mind, the situation was completely unsalvageable, and she made herself look like an absolute idiot. Walking away was the only solution.

"Hey, wait up!" said Rowan, running after her. "Where are you going?"

Lowering her head even further, Charlie picked up her pace and walked faster, trying to distance herself as much as possible from her embarrassment.

"I was only teasing about the pickle thing," he said. "I actually hate pickles too. They're magnets for bad breath."

"Could you please go away and quit torturing me?" asked Charlie, pitifully.

"Come on. That wasn't so bad. Look, I've already learned two important things about you: your name and your hatred for pickles. I'd say we're off to a good start."

Finally, Charlie stopped and turned to face him. "Seriously, you're not funny," Rowan recoiled, but still maintained a smile. She continued, "We both know I looked like an idiot back there, so why don't you just leave me alone so I can go hide in a cave?"

"Whoa, easy now. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"Yeah, well, I'm not exactly graceful with words."

"And I can't play bass clarinet, so I guess that makes us just about even."

Charlie narrowed her eyes and shook her head, trying to get an understanding of this guy. No one has shown such interest in her before unless they were up to no good. "What do you want with me?"

Rowan smiled, unaffected by her obvious attempt to push him away. "Is it so wrong to want to get to know a cute girl?"

Following his response, during that one single moment, the world did a pirouette and Charlie struggled to keep from relapsing into stupefaction. Here stood a gorgeous male, with his short dark hair perfectly highlighting bright and dashing eyes, with a smile that literally sparkled when caught in a certain light. And he said she was cute. _Her._

"I'm a woman. Not a girl," said Charlie, immediately inwardly cringing at her now second pathetic response, and secretly praying for any god willing to listen to take pity on her and end her excruciating social misery.

"Duly noted," said Rowan.

Charlie couldn't help but notice that he was still smiling even after her constant awkwardness, except that this time his smile wasn't just playful and teasing, but genuine and understanding. Somehow the change in his smile made her feel different and okay. Like this was the way their initial encounter should have felt like. In some strange way, she felt like her previous mess-ups were necessary to achieving this specific moment they now shared.

If only she weren't so bashful.

In an attempt to furthermore reduce her anxiety, she joked and asked, "ASL?"

"ASL?" said Rowan, confused.

"It's internet speech," said Charlie, laughing nervously while trying not to appear it. "It means age/sex/location. I meant it as a joke, but it's sort of lame really. I get asked that question just about on a daily basis."

"So you're a creature of the internet?"

"Mostly for gaming," she admitted.

Here it comes, she thought, the ever so often deal breaker. It was a gamble, but she only had a split second to decide whether or not to divulge that secret, especially to a guy who just called her cute, and she let it all out there. Being known as a gamer either brought legions of crazed geeks to her doorstep, wagging their tails and slobbering like infants, or made normal, got-their-stuff-together men shy away like it meant they would never have dinner cooked for them once married. Considering how attractive Rowan was, she could have kept this a secret for as long as she could. But who was she kidding? By how she dressed and the way she talked, it wouldn't have taken long for him to put things into perspective. Bookworm and gamer geek. That was her in a nutshell.

"I can't say I've ever been into online gaming..." said Rowan.

Yep. This was the end, thought Charlie. Any moment now, he'll be backing away slowly and looking for the nearest getaway.

"But I'm a sucker for LOLcats," he continued.

Charlie stared at him in stunned disbelief. Where was the finale? The familiar desperate escape?

"You like LOLcats?" she asked.

"You say it like I'm some kind of nerd," said Rowan, laughing.

"No! That's not how I meant it at all! I think they're hilarious."

"Who would have ever thought putting funny captions to cat pictures could make a person cry laughing?"

"I know, right? But thank God for whoever came up with the idea, or else I wouldn't know how to spend Wednesday nights."

"It's great to meet someone who appreciates funny cat pictures as much as I do."

For a moment during their exchange of smiles, Rowan and Charlie locked eyes and a strange warmth spread through her veins.

"Maybe we could hang out sometime and laugh at some together?" he asked.

The warmth Charlie felt flowing through her veins suddenly ignited into sparks of astonishment and disbelief. Had he just asked her out on a date? At least, if looking at LOLcat pictures together counted as one, then maybe. She had never actually had a guy ask her out in person before. And again, not for the first time in her life, she embarrassed herself.

"You mean like a LOLcat date?" she said, once again inwardly cringing at her choice of words and lack of charm.

"If that's what you'd like to call it, then yeah," said Rowan. "A LOLcat date. What do you say? I think it'd be a lot of fun."

"Um, sure," said Charlie, still slightly stunned and confused as to why he would be asking _her_ , of all people, out on a date. The man was gorgeous! "Yeah, of course! But how will we get a hold of each other?"

Charlie wasn't sure how he did it, perhaps it was a sleight of hand, but Rowan quickly snapped the fingers on his right hand and a small white card appeared out of thin air. She was impressed! She had always been fond of magic and had tried practicing simple card tricks but never got the knack for it. However he managed to conveniently snap that card into existence was neat, and it made her smile.

Rowan returned the smile and handed her the card. It was a blank and white, with nothing on either side except for a small name and email address printed into the center:

Rowan Astaire

the_wandering_wizard@live.com

Considering the small act of magic she just witnessed, along with the unusual email address, Charlie wondered if perhaps he was a magician. If that were true, then perhaps he had a few other tricks in his repertoire.

Charlie accepted the card and placed it in her purse.

"Email me when you've got some free time," said Rowan.

"All right, I'll do that," said Charlie. "Thanks."

"I hope to hear from you soon."

Then one last time during that day, they both shared another smile together and then parted ways.

On her walk home, Charlie thought about how she had failed at her first attempt at living a more exciting life. Learning to wield dangerous weapons may not have been the best idea after all. But once she gave it some thought, had she really failed in the end? She was carrying a handsome man's email address in her purse, _who_ , she might add, gave it to her under his own free will. Even if a bit of anxiety had been thrown into the mix, something exciting most definitely happened that day.

### Chapter 4

"Omg! Are you frigging kidding me?!"

Charlie's fingers flew across the keyboard in a blaze of fury as she typed to verbally lay waste to a ninja looter in-game.

"You totally saw me going for that chest!" said Charlie. "What's your deal, man?"

"No u weren't," said the dwarf bandit.

"Yes I was, you thief! Didn't you see me killing those three ghosts guarding it? I wasn't clearing this cave for the fun of it."

"lolololol noob," laughed the fiend, who then disappeared before Charlie's eyes using the _vanish_ skill respectively given to the bandit class.

"Oh, nice. You're a real class act, you piece of $&%#!"

Charlie hoped his mature language filter in his chat settings was switched off so he could see exactly which very not nice word she had called him. She fought the temptation of losing herself into a nerd rage and tried reminding herself that in the end it was just a game.

But curses! She hadn't spent the last twenty minutes single-handedly clearing a dangerous cave just to have some little kid, chances were, sneak up from behind and snatch her loot! So, removing her headphones and logging out of the game, she pushed in her keyboard and walked away from her computer to stand in front of the window of her apartment to look outside.

_What to do..._ thought Charlie.

Three days ago, since she had planned on seeking excitement for her life, Charlie had asked for a few days off from work, to which her boss, who liked to be referred to as Mr. Director, a self-proclaimed title that made him feel more important than he actually was, hummed and hawed in consideration of her request, listing off several inconsistencies in their surveys. When things looked like they weren't going to go her way, she brought up how she had never missed a day since she had been hired. Mr. Director finally gave in, being sure that she noted just how big of a favor he was doing her and that hopefully the pickle surveys wouldn't take too much of a blow with her absence. She knew that he was just ranting for the sake of ranting, but nonetheless she praised him for it anyway. Anything was better than standing around smelling the sick odor of liquor off his breath. She wondered if drinking was the only way he could tolerate his job. But now that she had a few days off, she had no idea what else to do.

Looking down from her apartment window, Charlie watched as people milled about on their lunch break and treated themselves to whatever cravings they experienced. She found that living in an apartment which was perched above so many take-out restaurants to be convenient during times she was too lazy to cook, but on days like today they were more like sinister temptations since she wouldn't be able to afford it due to taking a few days off work. Money was always tight, living from paycheck to paycheck. She knew she was going to have to sacrifice some things that week if she were going to search for excitement. But looking at a kid holding a jumbo size slice of pizza made her stomach regret it. If only the bandit class _vanish_ ability was translatable into real life, she thought, and she weighed the ethical significance of _just this once_ ninja-looting that little boy's pizza.

Charlie tore her eyes away from the streets below before she risked compromising her moral compass.

After the events of the day before, specifically the incident relating to chopping a man's beard off with a sword, Charlie didn't have the motivation to seek other excitement that day. So what was there to do? She was really beginning to doubt her decision of taking time off work to pursue such a crazy idea. Now that she thought about it, she couldn't believe she let some guy's crazy tirade about his sandwich get to her that bad. Because, who was she kidding? She wasn't prepared to go skydiving just to seek a thrill. And honestly, there wasn't a whole lot that she could think of doing that was easy and accessible enough for her to pick up on a whim.

Skateboarding? She'd read a lot about how it's considered an extreme sport and that the tricks were often difficult and dangerous. Pulling off gnarly tricks would definitely be awesome. But, considering that she had a hard enough time trying to jump over small puddles without slipping face first into them, it didn't build her resume in a positive light. Check that idea off the list.

Deep sea fishing? Who wouldn't think the thought of wrestling with a swordfish to be epic? But on the other hand, she knew the moment something caught the line, she'd be torn out of her seat and thrown out of the boat like a minister tearing the devil off of his immaculate daughter before he defiled her innocence. Check that idea off the list because drowning at sea didn't exactly sound like a fun time.

Exotic dancing?

Yep. That was enough. She shut down all other attempts at brainstorming before she thought of anything crazier than taking off her clothes in front of complete strangers.

Charlie walked along the walls of her small living room. She was really regretting taking nearly a week off from work now that she realized there was nothing she was brave enough to do other than play video games or read books. But really, even if that was all she ended up doing, it should have been more than enough to motivate her to do backflips. Why was it that when she was working all she could think about is getting home to be able to read or play more games, but then when she has almost a whole week off to do just that she quickly gets bored of it after the first day and then paces around her apartment floor like a mindless zombie? Was it crazy of her to actually be missing asking people their opinions about pickles?

_God help me,_ she thought, horrified.

On her fifth circuit around the living room, Charlie stopped in front of her bookshelf. She often did this when she was bored and admired her collection of books she had picked up throughout the years. Currently, none of the books were in any particular order, but depending on what mood she was during one of her periods of boredom, she liked to pull them out and rearrange them all over again. Sometimes they went in alphabetical order by title or author name, from biggest to smallest, from favorite to least favorite, and other times she liked to match colors. Today though, she reached to the top shelf where she then let her index finger slide from one side to the other, dragging over titles like C.S. Lewis' _The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe_ , Neil Gaiman's _American Gods_ , J.R.R. Tolkien's _The Hobbit_ , and lastly, all seven books from J.K. Rowling's _Harry Potter_ series.

As Charlie let her finger slide off the tip of _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_ , the thought of Harry's magic and wizardry made her think of Rowan's nifty magically appearing card trick. It had been two days since the events of that day, and every time she looked at it where it lay on her computer desk, a sick nervous feeling invaded her stomach. She thought about him constantly since their meeting on the sidewalk. It was even beginning to become exhausting that she couldn't get him out her mind. Things like that _never_ happened to a girl like her. All throughout her high school years, she often dreamt of the dreamy guys approaching her to sweep her off her feet. But in reality, they usually just tripped her instead.

So just _who_ was this Rowan?

Extremely gorgeous? Check.

Great personality? Check.

Way out of her league? Double check.

Charlie lost count how many times she wondered if his interest in her was just maybe some cruel joke. She picked up the card with his email address numerous times, deciding that she was going throw it into the trash. But that exasperating sense of curiosity of whether or not he was sincere always won in the end and she placed the card back down on her desk.

_That damn sandwich,_ she thought. _Why does_ he _have to be such a delicious looking sandwich?_

Charlie had no idea if she should really go through with it and actually email him. Now that her emotions and bodily functions were under control, she was able to look back and wonder why she hadn't given him her email address instead. Not that she had any experience with this, but wasn't it the guy who was supposed to make the first move? I guess he did go ahead and ask her out, but still, it seemed only right that he contacted her rather than the other way around. But it was too late to go back and change things now. So, she cursed her social awkwardness and accepted the way things worked out.

_Was two days long enough?_ she wondered. She didn't want to appear desperate and move in too quickly. And what if he had other plans? This was turning out to be much more stressful than she cared for it to be. But in the end, biting the bullet and deciding there was no better time than the present, she returned to her desk and placed her fingers on her keyboard, emailing him to see if he'd like to come over that night, if available. Her heartbeat increased with every word she typed, until finally when she reached the time to click send, she felt like her heart was literally trying to tear its way out of her chest in an attempt to save itself from the fear of rejection.

Click.

Charlie stared at her computer monitor, the " _your message has been sent"_ notification instantly sending a wave of nausea and regret to wash over her. So she spent the next hour and a half stuffing her face with ice cream, screaming into a pillow, crying in the shower, watching sappy romance clips on YouTube, and not necessarily all in that order. She fought the temptation of checking her email every five minutes but was doing a poor job of it. This was ten times worse than the compulsion of wanting to refresh the tracking page on a FedEx shipment every ten seconds to see if her package had yet to leave its last destination or not.

And to think, this was all for the sake of a LOLcat date.

Then finally, after nearly two excruciating hours of suspense, she refreshed her email page one more time to discover that Rowan finally replied to her message.

Hi Charlie,

Is it Wednesday already? That is the night you spend looking through LOLcat photos, isn't it? But to answer your question – yes, let's see each other. I've been waiting for your email since last we met. However, in your email you forgot to give me your address to find your place, so how about we meet at an internet café instead? I know of a great one downtown that sells great café mochas that's called Anna's Place. Have you heard of it? If so, let me know in a reply and I'll meet you there around 6.

Talk to you soon,

Rowan

Charlie read Rowan's email three times before she believed its contents were true. Then, from deep within her, a girlish excitement began to bubble up until it finally exploded into a squeal of joy. She was twenty-one years old and had never officially gone out on a date with a guy before. Nervousness and delight battled each other in her mind as she struggled to figure out all the small details for the upcoming evening, such as what to wear and whether she should put her hair up or down. She wondered, even though they put up a confident and hard-to-get front when in person, if all women secretly acted this way behind closed doors before a date.

Charlie found it kind of embarrassing that she didn't know enough about that kind of thing. But she quickly forgot about it.

Tonight, she had a LOLcat date.

### Chapter 5

The brisk autumn wind was especially sharp that evening as Charlie walked to Anna's Place. It was 5:57 pm and the sun had already begun its descent into the western horizon. Charlie liked this. She liked that the sun had begun to set earlier in the day because of her night owl personality. Her family had often called her strange because she was the type of girl who enjoyed the dark hours of the night and especially rainy days. Her father often teased her about being a vampire of sorts because she didn't get enough sunshine and spent most of her time locked away reading books. She liked the rainy days because something about cloudy skies and the drizzle of rain felt comforting. She would spend hours sitting along the veranda listening to the rain while doodling on paper or reading, drinking in the calming pitter patter of raindrops as it formed a barrier against the outside world. She had always been awkward, always the clumsy outcast who never fit in. On rainy days, people stayed inside because the fear of getting wet repelled them from interacting with the outside world. On those days, the streets were often mostly empty, and Charlie took comfort in the calming stillness of her rarely quiet world.

5:59 pm. If Charlie was good for something, it was for always being on time. One of her pet peeves was the lack of punctuality. She stood in front of Anna's Place with her stomach in knots and she didn't know whether her teeth chattered from the cold or from being nervous. What if Lisette was working that night? Oh sweet mother of mercy, if so, she would never hear the end of it every time she came for morning coffee. She could already hear the perkiness in Lisette's voice asking for every single detail.

6:00 pm. Charlie walked through the front doors and looked around the small café and bookshop for any sign of Rowan. And there he was, waving to her from one of the back tables lined up against the large window. She took one last, deep breath, gathered her courage and went on to sit with him.

"6 o'clock right on the dial," said Rowan, smiling. "I couldn't have timed that better myself. I'm glad we could see each other."

"It's a gift," said Charlie, taking a seat next to him and removing her mittens and scarf, "or maybe an obsessive compulsive disorder regarding time. I've never really figured out which one."

"You ready for our Wednesday evening fun and spectacular LOLcat extravaganza? I think I'd like to order a coffee while I set up my laptop. What you are craving? My treat."

"You don't have to do that for me. I can pay for my own."

"Please, I insist," said Rowan, smiling so brightly and irresistibly that Charlie couldn't bring herself to say no.

"Um... all right," said Charlie. "I'll have a regular with one cream and two sugars."

"Okay - one cream and two sugars coming right up."

Rowan stood and approached the front counter to put in their order. While he was away, Charlie took the liberty of removing her coat and hat and got comfortable. However, when she glanced over at Rowan and noticed who it was that was taking their order, Charlie felt like instantly shrinking in her seat. Lisette noticed her right away and waved at her with great enthusiasm, pointing at Rowan as he walked away and feigning a heart melting faint. Obviously, whatever god that looked down on her tonight decided that the embarrassment of being on her first date wasn't near enough.

"Great," said Rowan, cheerful and taking his seat, "Coffee's being prepared and the woman at the counter offered to bring it over to us once it's finished. She seems nice."

"A bright dose of sunshine," said Charlie.

"So what have you been up to since the other day? Have you dropped off a resume at any of the local barber shops? Because you definitely show potential in trimming men's beards."

"Yes, actually. But none of them seemed too eager to replace scissors with swords."

"Give it time. With a few more years of technological evolution, you'll be giving men the closest shave of their lives."

"Nice pun," said Charlie, grinning.

Rowan shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

Now coming over from the main counter carrying two hot beverages on a round tray, Lisette interrupted their conversation to give them their drinks. She especially looked at Charlie with more than just a touch of subtle excitement.

"Here's one spiced pumpkin café mocha for the handsome gentleman," said Lisette, the tone of her voice giving Charlie a verbal high five, "and one regular coffee with one cream and two sugars for the lucky lady. Charlie Cradle, you never told me you had such a cute friend! How long have the both of you been dating?"

Charlie tried to answer her to tell her that they weren't dating, that they had just met and decided to get together tonight. But her body did that really annoying thing whenever she got embarrassed and fought against her desire to explain herself. Then, to her surprise, Rowan answered for her and his response made her feel kind of good.

"This is our first date, actually," said Rowan, smiling at Charlie. "Charlie and I only just met a couple of days ago after she impressed me with her swordsmanship. You should see her handle a sword. Bearded men should especially think twice before crossing her. After such a display, I just hoped I'd be lucky enough for her to allow me the pleasure of taking her out."

Charlie blushed.

"Oh. My. God," said Lisette. "That is the sweetest thing I've ever heard! And Charlie, I didn't know you could use a sword. You are really just full of surprises!"

"I don't like to toot my own horn," said Charlie. "Need to keep a low profile, you know?"

"Well, there are customers waiting for me by the counter so I better get back to work. You two enjoy the rest of your night!" As Lisette walked away, she turned back to offer Charlie another encouraging smile and winked at her.

"You two are friends?" asked Rowan.

"Sort of, I guess," said Charlie. "I usually stop by here every morning to get coffee on my way to work. She likes to talk."

"I noticed. Is she always this happy?"

"It's kind of creepy, really. It's like she cannot understand any other concept other than pure joy. But she's really sweet, so I like her. Not to mention she makes really good coffee. Except..." Charlie took a sip from her cup, and then another. Something was off. "Except I think she may have forgotten that second packet of sugar. It tastes a little bitter."

Charlie looked around the table for any available sugar.

"I don't see any packets on the table," she said. "I'll be right back. I'll grab one from the counter."

Then, just as she turned her gaze from the table and was about to stand up, Rowan interrupted her.

"No need," he said. "There's some right here."

Charlie looked back onto the table to discover that there were, in fact, several small sugar packets in the container that she had just looked inside. This was odd, because just a moment before there had been none at all.

"That's weird," said Charlie, a bit mystified. "I could have sworn I looked in there and found none."

"Funny how that happens, eh?" said Rowan, picking up a sugar packet and handed it to her. "Kind of like magic."

"Speaking of magic, I can't stop thinking about the card trick you did the other day. It was so smooth and seamless. How did you do that?"

"Haven't you ever heard that magicians never reveal their secrets?"

" _Are_ you a magician? Your email address is kind of different."

"I've never performed on stage, if that's what you're asking."

"Then in this case, your statement is irrelevant," said Charlie, smiling and enjoying a small victory. "Are you still going to hold out on me?"

"All right, you win. But this kind of information doesn't come cheap."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't just be going revealing my secrets for nothing, now can I?" said Rowan, placing both elbows on the table and lacing his hands together appearing deep in thought. "Taking every factor into consideration, in this situation, I think maybe a kiss will be sufficient payment for the price of my secret."

Rowan's request took Charlie by utter surprise. One part of her mind said, _whoaaaaa there cowboy_ , while the other part looked into his eyes and admired the blue sunburst reaching out to her, and his short dark hair perfectly framing his handsome face. She had never kissed anyone before and the thought made her so nervous, it was paralyzing. She hardly knew him. In fact, other than the kind of coffee he liked and his interest in LOLcats, she knew next to nothing about him. But she had to admit, those lips looked really hard to resist...

"Um..." said Charlie, the only thing her mouth allowing her to express.

Rowan smiled and laughed softly. "I'm sorry if that was too forward for you. I can see that you're the kind of woman that likes to play hard to get. I can respect that. So, how about I change my offer and ask for a kiss on the cheek instead?"

"Well," said Charlie, still nervous of even doing _that_ and thinking very hard on her decision. "Well... all right."

Charlie leaned over the table and swiftly pecked Rowan on the cheek. Once she completed her side of the deal, she quickly sat back down and tried not to show her shyness. But Lisette didn't help in the matter, because when Charlie glanced over at the main counter, she was silently cheering her on while excitedly jumping up and down. Rowan simply looked at her and smiled.

"Now I guess it's my turn to hold up to my end of the bargain?" he said.

Charlie nodded shyly.

"So, you still want to know how I did that card trick?"

Charlie nodded again, and Rowan nodded back in response.

"It's magic."

Charlie continued looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to reveal how he did his trick. Saying _"It's magic"_ couldn't have possibly been his answer. But Rowan seemed finished and satisfied with his response, and lifted his cup to his lips to take another sip of his coffee.

"That's it?" asked Charlie, disappointedly.

"What's it?" asked Rowan.

"It's magic?"

"Yeah – magic."

"Come on, I know it's _magic_ but you still have to tell me how you did it. I held up on my end of the bargain after all."

"I've already told you," continued Rowan, sounding as if he was trying to convince her but still maintaining an air of casualness, "it's magic. That's the secret."

"You're really going to sit there and try to make me believe you're not joking? I know it was a sleight of hand and that you've obviously practiced it for a long time to make it look that good, but I'd really like to know just how you did it."

Charlie wasn't so much hurt about the fact that he seemed to be intentionally avoiding revealing his secret, but that she agreed to kiss him on the cheek and still he wasn't telling her how he did it. Sure, it was _only_ a quick peck on the cheek, but even that small act of affection was more than she had ever done with a man. If that was how he was going to act, she was going to make sure not to make the same mistake twice.

"I'm sorry that you can't accept my answer," said Rowan, "but it's the truth. What else can I say?"

Charlie sighed and decided to let the conversation drop. If he wanted to act that way and not reveal his secret, then that was just fine. Ultimately, it didn't matter if she knew or not.

"So when are we going to look at those cat pictures?" she asked, trying not to let her shift in mood slip through her tone of voice.

In response, Rowan flipped his laptop to face her and on the display was a picture of a very sad-looking kitten with his head hanging low, captioned with,

I r sorry...

U is pretty!

Still mad?

Charlie wanted so much to still be mad at him but the picture was so adorably cute that she couldn't help but smile and laugh out loud. Curse him for using adorable cuteness to win this battle! But really, she was glad. It made her forget all about being angry.

"I've never been on a LOLcat date before," said Charlie. "Actually, I don't know if anyone ever has. I almost feel kind of silly that my first date is of looking at funny cat pictures."

"This is your first date?" asked Rowan.

Charlie inwardly cringed at herself for letting that sensitive bit of information slip. She looked at Rowan with an expression that said, _I know – pathetic, right?_

"Wow. That's incredible."

"No need to rub it in, okay?"

"No, I mean that I must be a pretty lucky guy if you've chosen me to go on your first date with."

Lisette's perky voice rang in Charlie's head as her heart made a small summersault in her chest – _Oh. My. God. That is the sweetest thing I've ever heard!_ Charlie blushed and smiled at him. She found it amazing how one moment she could be shy, then angry, then completely googly eyed for him. Not for the first time, she wondered how was it possible that a guy like him could genuinely seem to be attracted to a girl like her.

Charlie and Rowan spent the rest of the evening laughing at funny cat pictures and getting to know each other. This was the first time since she could remember that she spent a night outside of her apartment, especially with someone else. Typically, she would never think of going out for the night. Staying home within the comfort of her personal living space was safe and predictable. She knew how the night would play out and wouldn't have to worry about the unpredictability of the social world. Things were orderly and in place and it provided all the excitement that she needed. At least, that's what she told herself. For whatever it was, this was her life.

But for tonight, she was glad she was with Rowan.

Whoever he was.

### Chapter 6

The next morning, Charlie was woken up by a loud knocking sound at her door. Rolling over in bed, she pried open her left eye just enough to see what time it was on her Star Wars R2-D2 alarm clock.

8:31 am.

Who the heck was knocking at her door this early in the morning? She didn't remember ordering anything from Ebay or Amazon lately, so it couldn't have been the delivery guy. And her next door neighbor, Margery, an elderly woman who was convinced that a young guy down the hall ogled at her lady parts whenever they passed each other, and often asked Charlie to use her internet to research defensive techniques, was out on vacation visiting her son and wouldn't be returning for two more months. She was the only other person who ever knocked on her door. That was largely due to strictly only having online friends. Internet people didn't knock on doors.

Once again, whoever was at her door knocked even louder the second time around. So Charlie dragged herself out of bed, threw on a housecoat and grumbled a few choice words along the way to answer it. Too tired and grumpy to bother looking through the peephole to see who it was, she just grabbed the handle, twisted it sharply, and flung the door open.

Charlie's expression went from a drowsy don't-bother-me-in-the-morning look to wide awake in seconds when she saw that standing before her was a woman of stunning and attractive professionalism. She had short, straight black hair, serious eyes expertly framed with a dash of eyeliner, fair complexion, and full red lips that Charlie felt were laced with ill intent. Her outfit was made up of a frilly white dress shirt that was left unbuttoned near the top to reveal more cleavage than Charlie could ever dream of having, a black leather underbust corset going around her midsection and cupping her breasts, and tight, dark blue denim jeans with black cowgirl boots. She stood in the doorway, holding a black leather jacket thrown over her shoulder with her index and middle finger. Whoever she was, she radiated confidence and command, and as Charlie stood before her wearing nothing but a purple bathrobe with cartoonish flowers, she felt like shrinking beneath the weight of her gaze.

"Charlie Cradle, I presume?" asked the woman, eyeing her with obvious distaste.

"Yes," said Charlie, hesitantly, "I'm Charlie Cradle."

"May I come in?" she asked, but before giving Charlie any time to answer, she impolitely walked past her and straight into the living room, where she threw her leather jacket onto a chair and appeared as if she were inspecting a crime scene.

Charlie was stunned, and certainly didn't appreciate a random stranger barging into her home. "Actually, I--"

"Let's cut to the chase, shall we?" said the woman, pausing her inspection, facing Charlie with arms crossed and placing most of her weight on one hip.

"Who are you and what do you think you're doing?"

"The name's Roxy. I'm a bounty hunter. And I'm looking for a certain someone of whom I believe you got connections to. So, how about we make this easy and you just tell me where he is, got it?"

"A what?" asked Charlie, her mind reeling with the question of why a bounty hunter would have any interest in her? Didn't they just hunt down criminals or something? "What are you talking about?"

"Mortals," Roxy rolled her eyes and turned back to continue looking for clues. "You all seem to have such a hard time understanding details. Sometimes I wonder why you continue to prance around like you have such important lives to tend to. Ugh! And look at this place! Total nerd central! Why he has any interest in you is beyond me."

Two things set Charlie off at that moment. Number one, who was she to come uninvited into her home and insult her like that? Sure she might have been graceful and gorgeous, but that didn't give her any right to criticize her the way she did. Charlie thought that if she were just a bit braver, she'd sock it to her. But then, considering Roxy was a bounty hunter, maybe getting into a fight with her might not be such a good idea. And number two, what did that comment mean about being _mortal_?

"Listen," said Charlie, "I don't know who you are or why you think I've got anything to do with whoever you're looking for, but I want you to get out now."

At Charlie's command, Roxy halted by the computer desk, stopped all that she was doing and faced Charlie, wearing a mischievous grin. "What if I don't? What are you going to do to me?"

"I, uh..." Charlie wanted to be cautious and choose her next words carefully. She had never gotten into a fight before and wasn't sure if her first one should be against someone like Roxy, who had a look in her eyes that seemed to be begging her to try. "I'll call the cops. Bounty hunter or not, you don't have a warrant and you came into my home without my consent."

"Oh that's so cute," said Roxy, laughing. "Don't worry, honey, I don't plan on hanging around this dump any longer than I have to. Now, just tell me where I can find Rowan and I'll be out of your hair."

Rowan? Why is this woman after such a nice guy as him, she wondered? He was kind, funny and caring. Was there something about him that she didn't know of? Suddenly, dangerous possibilities raced through her mind. Was he secretly some kind of serial killer or something? What if he was a thief or a human trafficker? It's just that he seemed so nice. So much muddled her mind in that moment, but one look at Roxy and she knew that whatever Rowan might be guilty of, that woman definitely was equally up to no good. Charlie would have to be more careful from now on until she discovered the truth, but there was no way she was giving him up to the likes of her.

"I have no idea who you're talking about," said Charlie, lying.

"Oh, is that so? Then where did you get this?" Roxy grabbed a small white card off of Charlie's computer desk and held it up for her to see.

It was Rowan's name and email address.

Charlie kept her mouth shut, practicing her right to remain silent and refusing to give up any information.

Roxy grinned. "You know, the more you resist, the harder it's going to get for you – for the both of you. I know you've emailed each other, so there's no sense in prolonging the inevitable. I'm going to catch him. But, if you insist on being difficult, then I'll let you two play your little game until I've cornered and trapped you. He can't keep hiding behind the mask of a _wizard_ forever."

"Leave now," said Charlie, determined not to be bullied any longer, "I'm not telling you again."

"Fine, fine," said Roxy, waving a dismissive hand and heading for the doorway. "But when you see Rowan again, be sure to give him a kiss from me and tell him Roxy's closing in."

As Roxy exited her apartment, Charlie angrily slammed the door on her heels. Annoyed and fuming from the ears, she then stomped her way to the window where she watched Roxy mount a black and red racing motorcycle and take off spinning from where she illegally parked by the sidewalk. Charlie wished she had the nerve and skill to give her a beating, but she knew all she would accomplish was pulling out a bit of her hair before being taken down and possibly having a few ribs broken. She hoped that would be the last that she saw of her, but she knew it wouldn't be. Roxy seemed like a no-jokes kind of woman that took her job seriously, so chances were they'd have another run-in eventually.

But all that begged a more important question. A question she would soon have to get answers to if she wished to avoid any more social unpredictabilities.

Who was Rowan Astaire?

### Chapter 7

Later that day, Charlie met Rowan at June Park, where she found him sitting on a bench, feeding seeds to a number of small birds. After the incident with Roxy earlier that morning, she'd written him another email, asking to meet again. She hoped that even though Roxy seemed to somehow know that they were emailing each other, she still didn't know the exact context of their messages. She'd had enough of the bounty hunter for one day.

Rowan didn't notice Charlie approaching as she walked down the stone path toward him. He leaned forward, wearing a brown coat, with his elbows on his knees, and smiled at the assortment of chickadees, blue jays, and mourning doves hopping around in front of the park bench, enjoying the seeds. The sun reflected off his face, bathing him in a glow of warmth and golden color. His dark hair shone and his sparkling blue eyes complimented his gentle smile. Once again, Charlie melted at the sight of him. He was beautiful. And she wondered how someone so seemingly perfect could be the target of an arrogant bounty hunter.

Once Charlie got close enough to the bench, the birds flew away. Rowan looked up at her and smiled, saying hello and motioning for her to take a seat next to him.

"Sorry I scared the birds away," said Charlie.

"Don't worry," said Rowan. "They'll be back once you settle in."

"What's that you're feeding them?"

"Sunflower seeds. Would you like some? They aren't roasted like the ones you buy from the store, but it's the way I like them. The birds do, too."

"No thanks, that's okay."

Rowan nodded and, with his index finger and thumb, he flicked a seed into his mouth.

Charlie felt awkward, and she hoped it wasn't showing. But if Rowan had noticed, he wasn't letting on. She couldn't stop thinking about the things that Roxy said. It had been eating at her all morning and what she wanted more than anything at that moment was to get honest and direct answers.

Only a few days ago, her life had been perfectly predictable and safe. There were no unexpected twists to worry about, and she had been completely happy, she thought, living her monotonous, boring life. Now all this talk about mortals, magic, bounty hunters, and wizards was starting to give her a headache. She wondered if the amount of books and video games she indulged in every day was beginning to have a strange effect on her mind.

For a long moment, Rowan and Charlie let the silence stretch out between them as they simply stared at a flock of geese in the pond that had yet to fly south before the winter months. The day was partly cloudy and quiet, and not so cold as to keep them from enjoying the weather. Then, once the smaller birds returned to feed on more sunflower seeds, Rowan interrupted the stillness.

"So, in your email you said there was something you wanted to talk about."

"Yeah," said Charlie, feeling nervous and not knowing where to begin. She didn't want to sound crazy.

"Was it something I did?"

"No! You didn't do anything, specifically. It's just that I had a strange run-in with a woman named Roxy this morning. She claims to be a bounty hunter, and says that she knows you."

"Oh," Rowan fell silent, then placed his hand in the bag of seeds he carried and tossed some more to the birds.

"She said some really weird things," Charlie continued, "like stuff about mortals and you hiding behind the mask of a wizard. Honestly, I feel bizarre even bringing it up. She knew about our emails too, which also seemed a bit odd."

"I knew that using my email would probably tip her off to my whereabouts. But I took the risk because I wanted to get to know you."

"You mean there really is a bounty hunter who's out to get you?"

Rowan nodded.

Charlie's heart beat faster. She didn't want to believe that Roxy was telling the truth. But maybe all this time, Rowan was just too good to be true. Because really, who was she kidding? What sane gorgeous man would ever be interested in her? She was a geek. A nobody. She'd never had a chance with a guy like that in her teens and she definitely didn't have a chance with a guy like that now. Unless, she thought, just as she wondered earlier that morning, Rowan was a criminal who was just setting her up for human trafficking.

"I need to know the truth about you," said Charlie. "I mean, for the love of God, I don't think I'd survive if you sold me into prostitution!"

"What?" said Rowan, looking at Charlie wide-eyed in astonishment; unable to help laughing out loud. "I'm not going to sell you into prostitution! Where did you get a crazy idea like that?"

"Oh sure, you say that now. But isn't that what all criminals say? A criminal wouldn't admit to being a criminal, would he? So what are you, some kind of _computer wizard?_ Is that what Roxy meant? You hack into some kind of government database and steal women's personal information so that you can woo them before handing them over to human traffickers for a price?"

"You must really have a wild imagination if you took the time to brew up a story like that. So is that what you think I am? A criminal?"

"Why else would a bounty hunter be looking for you? That's how they make their living, right? They hunt bad guys. And I mean, it sort of all makes sense now, too."

"What makes sense?"

"Why you seem to be so interested in me," said Charlie, looking away sadly. "I mean, I'm not exactly a bombshell like Roxy. I'm just some geek with no life."

Charlie choked back a sob and continued looking away, not wanting to look at Rowan for fear of losing control and crying. Then, she felt a warm hand sit atop her own and, turning her head back around, she found Rowan looking at her with soft eyes and a warm smile.

"You know, I tried telling you last night at the coffee shop," he said. "But you wouldn't believe me."

"I wouldn't believe what?" asked Charlie, unable to remember exactly which part of the night he was speaking of.

Rowan let go of her hand and reached into the bag of seeds he carried on his lap. He pulled out a single sunflower seed and held it between his index finger and thumb, examining it closely. Once he appeared satisfied with whatever he was looking for, he smiled.

"Look," he said.

Charlie looked at the small seed intently. She wasn't exactly sure what she was trying to look for, but nevertheless, she inspected it carefully. Then, without warning, Rowan blew on the seed and flicked it away, where it then landed some distance into the grass.

Charlie raised her eyebrows at him curiously.

"Watch," said Rowan, pointing to where the seed had fallen.

Charlie didn't know where this was going, but decided to humor him anyway. Besides being a possible criminal, she hoped he wasn't mentally ill as well.

But then something miraculous happened.

Charlie stared in disbelief as right before her very eyes, directly from where Rowan's seed had fallen, a beautiful sunflower began to grow and take shape, not stopping until it was fully matured. In the midst of autumn where everywhere else leaves and flowers had begun to change color and die, right here before her under a partly clouded sky, the most bright and beautiful sunflower she had ever seen had sprouted from the cold earth. An impossibility unbelievably made possible. Her eyes were wide with amazement, and she stood up from the park bench and approached the flower to inspect more closely.

"How did you..." said Charlie, her words trailing off as she reached out and touched the warm petals of the newly born blossom.

"I told you," said Rowan, a happy glint in his eye. "It's magic."

Once his words had registered in her mind, she turned around and looked at him again. "You mean you really are a...?"

"A wizard?"

Charlie nodded.

"Rowan Astaire," said Rowan, bowing slightly, "traveling wizard at your service."

Charlie looked over Rowan very carefully, waiting intently for the crack in his composure where he would finally break and start laughing about how good he had fooled her. He had to be joking. Wizards just weren't _real._ They were the product of video games and good stories, fabled wise men of legends and sometimes Hollywood movies. One of her online friends played a wizard. Gandalf and Harry Potter were wizards! Not real life people sitting in parks and feeding birds. He liked LOLcats, for crying out loud! But Rowan's expression never wavered. His belief in his statement never faltered. Charlie just couldn't come to terms with it. It was too unbelievable. But that sunflower, how it just grew like that as if it were born of magic... If she hadn't seen it for herself, she would never have believed it. It was hard to dismiss something as incredible as that.

"You look like you're having a hard time coming to terms with this," said Rowan, breaking the silence Charlie had left them in.

"Yeah, just a little," said Charlie. "I mean you're asking me to believe you're a wizard – a real life magic user."

"So the sunflower spell wasn't enough to convince you?"

"Yes. I mean, no! I mean... do something else! Do some other trick just so I know that all of this isn't some sort of illusion."

Rowan nodded his head and agreed. So Charlie took a step back and prepared for whatever trick he attempted to do next, and hoped it had nothing to do with fire or explosions.

Rowan walked around the park bench and appeared to be deep in thought, as if he were trying to think up something good and more impressive than the magically sprouting sunflower. Then he stopped, his light bulb moment evidently clear through the excited expression on his face. Looking around to make sure nobody else was present, he walked over to a tree where several red and yellow leaves were barely holding onto their branches. Then, moving his hands through the air in a series of waving motions, he beckoned the leaves to leave their host tree.

Even though Charlie wanted to doubt his claim to being an actual wizard, she still expected something amazing to take place as she stood there watching. And that's exactly what happened.

Like metal being drawn to a magnet, every leaf from the tree that Rowan was targeting were whisked off and collected into the middle of what looked like a minor whirlwind swirling before him. They swooshed and swirled as the sound of the wind increased in volume, and all the while Rowan laughed like he was having the time of his life. Then the leaves began forming together to take shape, and from that effort was born the image of a woman in the very likeness of Charlie herself, made completely of tree leaves. Charlie gasped and raised her hand to her mouth as the red and yellow lady lightly stepped toward her, her every footfall like the gentle sound of blowing leaves in the wind. The detail was amazing, right down to her facial structure and the wrinkles in her clothing. The leaf image smiled at her, and once her initial shock melted away, she smiled back. Then, as they reached out to each other and the ends of their fingertips connected, Charlie's image made of red and yellow tree leaves fell apart and scattered in the wind.

Charlie looked at Rowan who stood leaning up against the newly naked tree, smiling victoriously.

"Now do you believe me?" he asked.

Charlie couldn't deny it. She had witnessed indisputable proof of his ability to perform real magic, even if the very idea was still extraordinarily absurd. But how could she argue the facts?

"You're a wizard," said Charlie, surprisingly excited.

### Chapter 8

Charlie dedicated the next day to do some hardcore gaming, as she liked to call it. After spending some more time with Rowan last night, continually being impressed and amazed by all the little tricks he would perform, she had an itch to play her online game that wouldn't be satisfied until she did. She needed to log into her wizard character and start razzle-dazzling some monsters with some major firepower. Rowan's magic had not only filled with her awe, but it also brought out her inner geek who desired to cast a few spells of her own.

Charlie was always this way. Whenever she watched martial arts movies, she wanted to run out on the street and start kicking and punching people, performing sick backflips and wall jumps and maybe even stop a mugger. When she watched inspirational movies, she wanted to stop world hunger or change the world in some other positive way. And when she watched anything to do with magic or sorcery, she always ran to her online gaming world to lay down the law with her level sixty fire mage.

Charlie and Rowan must have walked around the park last night for what felt like hours, just talking about what it was like to be a wizard and a little more about his life. And while she played her video game, slaying monsters and saving citizens in distress, she replayed the things that they talked about over and over again in her mind.

"Have you always been a wizard?" asked Charlie. "Like, were you born from a magical family and then taken to wizard school at the appropriate age like Harry Potter, or is it something you learned and kept practicing at?"

"Magic has always been a part of who I am," said Rowan. "Although in recent years while I've been traveling, I've been trying to keep it on the down low for the most part."

"How come? Does it have something to do with Roxy? You still haven't properly explained to me why a bounty hunter is interested in you. You're positive you're not a criminal right?"

"Positive," said Rowan, laughing, and this time Charlie genuinely believed him, "although, that story is a little bit more complicated to explain. But what I can tell is that I believe Roxy's determination to catch me may be fueled by something a bit more than just the law."

"What do you mean?" asked Charlie, even if she felt like she already knew the answer.

"It was a long time ago, but there was a time when we used to date. It was never anything serious. I found her to be a bit... _extreme_ , to put things lightly. And unfortunately for me, she's not exactly satisfied with how things ended between us. That's what I get for dating a bounty hunter."

"I see," said Charlie, feeling sort of awkward but understanding what he meant when he labeled her as _extreme_. She definitely had zeal for her job.

"But don't worry over her too much," said Rowan, sensing her apprehension, "she's been after me for longer than I'd care to admit, but I've been pretty good at keeping at bay. That's why I've opted to call myself the _traveling_ wizard. It's either I move around a lot, or else she eventually gets too close. Not exactly the ideal lifestyle, but I don't have much of a choice. I'm still trying to find a way to change all that."

Charlie thought about how he phrased his sentence. It sounded to her like he meant that he moved around from place to place in order to keep his distance. So did that mean he would eventually have to leave her for a different city in order to evade Roxy as well? Charlie knew that in the grand scope of things, they had just only met and things weren't that serious. But even so, she had already begun to really like him. No one had ever taken interest in her before. However much she knew how necessary it was for him to leave if he wished not to be captured by Roxy for whatever law he'd broken, she would be sad if he left.

"Why did you give me your email if you knew it would only tip her off to where you are?" asked Charlie, annoyed that because of it they risked spending less time together.

"Because it's less risky that way," said Rowan. "Magical people have the innate ability to sense other magical people through the things they do. If I had used a phone, the energy of my voice would have helped her narrow in on my position a lot quicker. Using email is still almost as risky, but it's harder to track since I'm just pushing buttons. I knew that if _you_ opened my email, then Roxy would have checked out your place instead of mine."

"Gee, thanks for that."

"I'm sorry! I couldn't think of a better way. It's pretty frustrating. It's like leaving a magical fingerprint no matter what I do."

"Exactly what law have you broken, anyway? Isn't there a fine you can pay that will let you off the hook?"

"Like I said, that's the complicated part. I hate to hide anything from you... but it has to do with the laws of magic and the people who govern them. I'm just afraid that the more you know, the more difficult things might become for you. Can you trust me for this once?"

Charlie didn't want to say yes. She wanted to hear the truth in all its painful glory. But at the last moment, that frightened person who she had lived as all her life that wished for nothing to be complicated screamed in her ear and urged her to let the matter rest. Security and predictability. Those were what had always won in the past, and it would win on this day as well.

"Well... I guess," she said, dejectedly.

"Thanks, Charlie," said Rowan, reaching for her hand to hold in his own and squeezing it reassuringly. "If things ever settle down for me, I promise that I will one day explain everything."

Charlie enjoyed the warmth of his hand in hers and she smiled back at him.

"Have you ever had a conversation with a swan?" asked Rowan, attempting to change the mood of the situation.

"You can do that?" asked Charlie, excitedly.

"Well, I've only ever tried this spell on a duck, but it shouldn't be that much different."

The little excited little girl inside of Charlie squealed with excitement and they both raced off toward the pond to talk to a swan. Rowan had shown her a lot of neat little tricks, but that was by far the coolest one yet.

Now that Charlie was playing her game, where she just turned a charging Minotaur into a penguin using one of her transformation spells, she remembered that she forgot to ask Rowan about one very specific thing that Roxy had said. She had gotten so caught up with all the fancy, amazing magic he was doing that she had forgotten about everything else. And she couldn't blame herself for it, really. Who else _ever_ gets to learn that magic was actually real? Wizards and spells were part of fairy tales, and she felt like she was now living one. It was amazing. But what did Roxy mean when she called her a _mortal_? She really wished she would have remembered to bring it up. It was something she would definitely need to ask the next time she saw him.

And that brought up another important topic of which they discussed later in the night. How were they going to contact each other if using a phone or email put psycho lady bounty hunter on their trail? In the end, Charlie gave Rowan her address and before they parted ways, they agreed to seeing each other again that night since it was Charlie's last day off before returning to work. After that, depending on what kind of schedule her boss gave her for missing so much time, she wasn't sure when she'd be able to see him again.

So Charlie satisfied herself that day with adventuring in her online reality as much as possible. Then, after spending all of her morning and much of the afternoon questing and obliterating goblins and ogres, just as she was about to log off and get ready for her second date with Rowan, a message flashed on her screen, notifying her that Tom's character, Vinland, had come online. She hadn't talked to him for the past few days and thought she would stay on a while longer to chat before leaving.

"Hey," said Tom.

"Hey Vin!" said Charlie.

"How's it going? I haven't seen you on for days. You missed last night's guild run... and guess what dropped?"

"No! Don't tell me!"

"Yep, afraid so. The Bow of Lesser Destruction. DUN! DUN! DUN!!!!!!!"

"WHY?!?!?!?!" typed Charlie, then banging a fist on her computer desk.

"Fortune doth not shine upon thee."

"Of course it would drop on the night I've gone out."

"You actually went outside?" said Tom. "The infamous hermit, Charlie the Wood Elf Ranger, has actually seen what streetlamps look like past sundown?"

"Hey, I do work late sometimes you know! And occasionally the night calls for snacks."

"I applaud you taking your first steps into experiencing the outside world. What happened? Did a fire force everyone from your building to get out for a while?"

"Watch it or I'll turn you into a penguin."

"LOL! I'm just teasing. I'm sure the guild will make another run for it if you want. But really, what got you out?"

"Well, if you must know," said Charlie. "I kind of met a guy the other day."

"Oh? Well that's cool."

"Yeah."

"Is it serious?" asked Tom. "I mean, you sound like you're dating."

"Um, we're just getting to know each other right now. We've gotten together a couple of times and we're going out again tonight."

"Ah. So I guess I won't see you online tonight either. But I hope you have fun. You deserve it."

Charlie wanted to tell Tom all about Rowan. She was almost bursting at the seams holding within her the incredible secret she had learned. She wanted to tell him that magic was _real!_ That she had seen amazing things happen and that spells and wizardry wasn't only confined to their online characters. But Rowan had mentioned how he was trying to keep his magic on the down low. Even if he hadn't directly told her not to tell anybody, she would feel like she somehow betrayed his trust if she did. And at that moment while talking to Tom, something else also picked at her. She knew she must have only been imagining it, because their friendship had never gone beyond what it was, but did Tom seem concerned?

"Thanks Vin," said Charlie. "Anyway, I better log out. I need to get ready. One of these nights when I'm off work again, we'll definitely need to put in some game time together!"

"I'm looking forward to it," said Tom. "Have fun."

With a few swift clicks of her mouse, Charlie was logged out and she set off to get ready. This was going to be her second official date with Rowan. A real date this time, in a real restaurant, with no LOLcats involved. She also made sure Rowan chose a place where she was certain she wouldn't run into anyone she knew. She didn't want to go through another experience like she did with Lisette. So Charlie busied herself for the rest of the afternoon preparing for what she hoped was going to be another magical date. Quite literally. But more than once, she thought about her conversation with Tom and hoped that even though he put on a happy face, he wasn't secretly upset. She was normally pretty clueless when it came to translating social implications, but she had known Tom long enough now to know that he wasn't acting his normal self. But for now, deciding not to let it interfere with her upcoming night with Rowan, Charlie let it go and continued with getting ready.

She hoped Rowan's choice of restaurant served burgers and fries.

### Chapter 9

That evening, standing in the cool autumn air, Charlie found Rowan exactly where he said he'd be waiting. There beneath the streetlamp in front of the local flower shop, Rowan stood dressed in black dress pants, a white shirt with thin purple stripes with a long black coat that reached just about to his knees, and held a single red rose in one hand. He looked as dashing as ever – like one of those romantic types from out of a movie that never seem to actually exist in real life. Charlie was glad she opted to wearing one of her nicer-looking dresses, even if it still was a bit casual, or else she would have felt totally under dressed.

Looking at Rowan now, the way he stood there expectantly waiting for her arrival, this was exactly what Charlie had always dreamed about. All her life, despite her social awkwardness and interest in everything geeky, she always wished for someone to ride up on a white horse and sweep her off her feet. Maybe Rowan hadn't ridden up on a white horse, but those spells in the park with the flower and leaves definitely made up for it. That was a moment of true magic of both the heart and sight. The way Rowan manipulated things with his powers to amaze excited her visually, but it also touched her heart in a way she had never felt before because he did all that for her. Just to prove that he cared for her.

When Rowan finally noticed Charlie approaching, he stood up a little straighter and smiled.

"Wow," said Rowan, "You look great."

"Thanks," said Charlie, blushing. "I don't own a lot of nice dresses, so I was hoping this one would do. Is that for me?"

Rowan looked at the flower in his hand and offered it to her. "I hope you like it."

"That's really sweet. No one's ever given me a flower before. Well, besides that time as kid when my cousin tricked me into eating a dandelion."

"How did he do that?"

"He told me he saw a fairy sprinkle some sparkles over it and that it would give me magical powers. I'm kind of a sucker for that stuff, as you've probably noticed."

"Clever of him," said Rowan, laughing. "Except faeries don't actually sprinkle sparkles."

"Why do you say that?" asked Charlie, raising an eyebrow curiously. "Is that another part of your wizard knowledge?"

Rowan nodded his head, smiled and placed his hand within hers. "Something like that. So, are you ready to eat?"

"Would it be rude to say that I'm starving? Where did you have in mind?"

"If it's all right with you, I'd rather go to a place that's somewhat casual. I've been to enough fancy dinners in my lifetime."

"That's perfect, actually. To be honest, no one's ever taken me out to dinner before either. Somewhere casual would be a good place to start. And if you don't mind my asking, where do you come from that you had to go to so many fancy dinners?"

"Not any place near here, thank the stars. People from where I'm from think a lot of themselves. That's why I began my travels so I could escape that kind of life. But I know I can't keep it up forever."

"That's because Roxy is after you, isn't it? God! If people are anything like her from where you're from, then no wonder you left. She's awful!"

"A lot of them can be a pain in the neck, but she's in a league of her own. Now back to where we're going to eat! Have you ever been to The Fisherman's Corner?"

"I'm not a big fan of seafood, to be honest..." admitted Charlie.

"Then we're in luck!" said Rowan, leaping up onto the lamppost and posing like a sailor looking off from the mast of a ship. "Because across these here dark and treacherous streets lies an establishment selling the finest of burger and fries! Yarr!"

"I was so hoping for burger and fries!"

Rowan hopped down from the lamppost and landed by Charlie's side, the pirate within him melting away. "I know that the name of the place makes it sound a little too casual, but it's actually got some spunk."

"I think it sounds great."

Charlie thought Rowan's plans were perfect. She had been afraid that if things got too fancy, she'd be even more out of her element than she already was. Dating and the messy interaction of getting to know people without the barrier of an LED computer monitor didn't come easily to her. If she were with any other guy besides Rowan, she was positive that her geek lifestyle, awkwardness, and social anxiety would have driven him off. But Rowan was different. His easygoing down-to-earth personality made her feel comfortable and like he never judged her for being the person that she was. Because all things put aside, she liked being who she was. She didn't like all the little quirks that made her so socially handicapped, but she liked sleeping in late, wearing her Star Wars pajamas, reading comic books and fantasy novels, and most of all, she liked being a gamer. And the fact that Rowan seemed fine with it made her heart flutter in a way she hadn't felt since Nicholas Greene had given her a Valentine's Day card in the fourth grade.

Rowan and Charlie joked and held hands together during the walk over to The Fisherman's Corner, and just as they rounded a street corner and it came into view, she remembered an important question that she had been meaning to ask him.

"Oh!" said Charlie, "I just remembered I've been meaning to ask you about something."

"Oh?" said Rowan, waiting for her question.

"Yeah, it's about what Roxy said to me at my apartment. I meant to bring it up yesterday in the park, but I got so caught up in all of your magic that all my other questions just seemed to vanish."

Rowan began chewing on the inside of his lip and his expression changed from having-a-good-time to oh-boy-this-isn't-going-to-end-well. Charlie picked up on the slight shift in demeanor but was eager to get an answer, so she asked him anyway.

"When Roxy was looking around my apartment for clues on where to find you," she said, "she made fun of me for being _mortal_. What did she mean by that?"

Charlie stepped back in surprise when Rowan suddenly looked like he was _literally_ trying to dodge the question. He quickly hopped behind a mailbox that was anchored into the street on the other side of the road from the restaurant. Charlie thought he was just trying to be funny again while trying to avoid answering her question. It would have been cute if she wasn't trying to be serious.

"Rowan," she said, "seriously!"

"Shh!" said Rowan, reaching for her arms and pulling her down beside him behind the mailbox. "Look! On the other side of the street!"

Charlie rolled her eyes and no longer found his behavior funny. "Stop trying to avoid my question!"

"Please, not so loud!" he pleaded. "Or else she'll notice us!"

"Huh?"

His expression of alarm had finally gotten through to her, and then looking across the street to where Rowan was staring, Charlie's heart also jumped up into her throat.

It was Roxy. She wore her leather jacket over the same outfit from before, and was standing by the side of the restaurant, leaning against the building and speaking into a cell phone. As people passed her by, she occasionally looked over her shoulder as if she were expecting someone to arrive. Were they the ones she was waiting for? How could she have known where they were going that night? Charlie guessed that she also had a few magic spells up her sleeve and somehow divined their next destination. Thankfully Rowan had caught sight of her on time, or else who knew what would have happened if they crossed that street? And who was she speaking to on the phone? Was it a possible employer? If that were so, perhaps whoever it was had somehow been able to tip her off to where they were going. Ultimately, Charlie had no idea. But what she did know was that their night was suddenly going to become a lot more interesting. Exactly the way she preferred it _not_ to be.

"What is she doing here?" whispered Charlie, discreetly peering over the side of the mailbox.

"Unless she's placing an order for fish and chips," said Rowan, "I'd say it's pretty obvious that someone gave her a heads up about our plans tonight. There's no other reason she would be using a cell phone. It's got to be them."

"Who are you talking about? For god sakes, just tell me already!"

"No time! I think she's spotted us!"

And sure enough, when Charlie looked over, Roxy had her sights locked tight on them and was quickly walking across the street, her every stride commanding grace and confidence. But it was her expression that said it all. She wasn't going to let them get away.

Charlie was frozen with fear, still kneeling and glued behind the mailbox with growing apprehension. Although, thankfully, Rowan's cool, steady mind launched him into action and, as Roxy reached the middle of the street, he jumped out and stopped her where she stood.

"Roxy," said Rowan, spreading both arms out in an open gesture of welcome to his bounty hunter, "what a fine evening it is to run into an old friend. How long has it been, eh? It feels like several lifetimes have come and gone since you've graced me with your presence."

"Enough with the theatrics, Rowan," said Roxy, narrowing her eyes. "I'm done playing games. How about you make this easy on the both of us and come willingly. We both know my employer will take it easier on you if you do."

"I'm sure you'd like that. But you see, tonight's just not a good night. If you haven't noticed," he said, motioning toward Charlie who still remained hiding behind the mailbox, "I have a previous engagement tonight."

Roxy laughed out loud. "Don't tell me you're still leading that nerd around on a leash? Come on, Rowan! Oh, how your standards have changed."

"It sounds like you're a little jealous."

Rowan's words slapped Roxy across the face and her scowl deepened beyond what Charlie believed was possible. Then, in a quick motion, she reached for something hidden within her leather jacket, but Rowan had already gotten the jump on her. Apparently, he had anticipated her move and in an equally quick gesture he stretched a hand toward her and shouted an incomprehensible word. Suddenly, Charlie's eyes were momentarily blinded as a blue flash struck Roxy where she stood.

When Charlie's eyes recovered from the sudden brilliance, she discovered that Roxy was frozen in time, posing like an angry statue standing in the middle of the street. Rowan's spell caught her just as she was pulling whatever it was she reached for in her coat. At this point, Charlie didn't care. She just wanted to get of there before the spell wore off.

"I'm guessing this would be a good time to run?" said Charlie.

"Couldn't have put it better myself," said Rowan. "Come this way, the spell won't last for long."

Rowan grabbed Charlie's hand and led her down a series of backstreets and alleyways, putting as much distance between them and the psychotic bounty hunter as possible. The whole running for her life thing really brought to Charlie's attention how out of shape she was. A stitch was beginning to grow in her side and she tried without success to regulate her breathing so as to not pass out in the alley for the homeless to pillage her unconscious body. She was really going to have to cut back on how many bags of chips she eats a week. But not bacon. Never bacon.

Finally, Rowan slowed down at the end of an alley and gave her a moment of reprieve, where Charlie bent in half, placing her hands on her knees and sucking back lungfuls of air.

"I think this might be a good place to hide out for a while," said Rowan, while Charlie was catching her breath. "How does that saying go? Hide where she least expects it?"

As the burning sensation in Charlie's lungs began to subside, she peered up to where Rowan was looking at across the street. It was a red brick building with red neon lights in the shape of provocative dancing women and right above it sat the solitary name of the shady-looking nightclub.

Red's.

### Chapter 10

There was a lineup of people gathered outside of Red's nightclub, all waiting their turn to reach the door bouncer and be given entry. Charlie wondered why Rowan would pick this place, even _if_ he believed Roxy wouldn't think of looking for them in such shady dwellings. Her anxiety level was now increasing at an incredible rate because, firstly, it was terrifying enough being chased by a crazed bounty hunter, and secondly, she had never gone to a bar or nightclub in her life and never expected to. And that was fine. The idea of so many people bumping shoulders together in a dimly lit confined space and the revelries of drunken fools gave more than enough cause for her to be happy with keeping her distance. The thought of entering one now, even if it were with Rowan and that their lives possibly depended on it, and that she had no idea how extreme Roxy's intentions were, made her want to throw up.

Rowan reassuringly held her hand the entire time that they crossed the street and approached the bouncer. Charlie wondered why they weren't heading to the back of the line, since it was quite long and that the people waiting might get upset, but Rowan ignored the crowd and focused on the entrance. And the amazing thing was, he didn't even have to say anything. As soon as he approached the bouncer, a large, bald man wearing a black leather coat and dark sunglasses even without sunlight, appeared to recognize Rowan and simply nodded his head and jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, motioning for them to go inside. Charlie couldn't help but notice a few questionably-dressed women making a fuss over their skipping ahead of the line.

_Great,_ she thought, _now I might have to worry about having them on my back, too._

In the lobby just before entering the main room, Rowan pulled Charlie aside to talk to her, trying to talk loud enough to be heard over the loud beat of the music coming from within.

"There's something I got to tell you before we go in there," said Rowan.

"Like to avoid eating the peanuts sitting at the bar?" asked Charlie.

"That too, but this is about what you asked me earlier before we were interrupted by Roxy."

"You mean my question about mortals?"

"Yes. I didn't want to bring you into any of this, because most regular people don't cope well with knowing the truth, but there are people in this world who aren't exactly... _normal._ "

"What do you mean? I don't understand."

"You'll see what I mean in a moment. Come on, Red probably already knows I'm here."

Things just kept getting more and more confusing, thought Charlie. Rowan's vague explanations had also gotten old quick and were starting to get under her skin. She was tired of being given a bone to eat just to find out that she was only allowed to sniff it. But there was something about what Rowan said that made her feel uneasy. It was the thing about people not coping well knowing that kind of information. What did he mean by that? What was not considered _normal_ for him? Charlie really hoped she was prepared for whatever it was that she was about to face. Her simple, boring existence was beginning to spiral out of control fast.

The dance music increased in volume as they left the lobby and entered the main room of the nightclub. Just like Charlie had always imagined the inside of one would look like, men and women dressed in varied degrees of clothing came to and fro holding liquor and beer in their hands and danced and ground against each other on a dance floor, barely containing themselves. She wondered why anyone would want to suffocate themselves within the center of a drunken crowd, and how anyone of them could find it fun dancing in a space so small they couldn't properly move their elbows without knocking someone over. But they did. And they apparently loved every second of it. Although, she was sure a few of them loved it for other reasons, since it looked like a little bit more than just dancing was going on.

People bumped and pushed passed them as they milled about the nightclub. Rowan continued to hold Charlie's hand, never letting go, and guided them to a dimly-lit bar on the other side of the room with red neon lights glowing from behind the counter. As they approached, a well-groomed bartender, with dark slicked black hair, who wore a red button-up dress shirt that was loosened near the top to reveal his chest hair and dark shaded sunglasses which hid his eyes, noticed them walk up and extended his greetings to them with open arms.

"Rowan, my man!" said the bartender, smiling wide and revealing white pearly teeth. "What brings you to this side of paradise? And oh, who's this pretty little flower that you've brought with you?"

The bartender paused and looked Charlie up and down, which made her feel dirty and like spiders were crawling all over her body.

"Oh my..." he continued. "Rowan, you're too good to me! A virgin! What? Is it my birthday already?"

Charlie was taken aback, embarrassed, but thankfully the neon lights were already giving her skin the illusion of being red or else she would have stood out like a sore thumb.

"Hands off, Red, she's with me," said Rowan. "Charlie, this is Red. He owns the place."

Red grinned at her seductively and made Charlie feel dirty all over again. Right off the bat, she knew she wouldn't like this guy. The words _hustler_ and _slime ball_ were written all over him. No wonder he ran a nightclub full of partly dressed women dancing around. Then Charlie noticed something strange about him. Suddenly and curiously, from behind his sunglasses there was a subtle flash of red that she never would have noticed if she hadn't been staring directly at him.

"What just happened with your eyes?" asked Charlie.

Red grinned again and removed his sunglasses. Charlie gasped in shock as he revealed to her two bright red irises. The more she reacted toward the colors of his eyes, the more they appeared to glow with delighted intensity.

"What's wrong, honey?" said Red, laughing and replacing his sunglasses. "Haven't you ever met a _demon_ before?"

Charlie stared at Red in disbelief. Rowan had warned her that she would learn that some people weren't _normal_ , but she hadn't expected anything this extreme. She looked to Rowan for answers, but all he offered in response was a weak smile that translated into words in her mind which sounded like, _this is why I didn't want to tell you._

"A real demon?" asked Charlie, returning her attention to Red. "Like... a _real_ demon?"

"Straight from the land of fire and brimstone, baby!" said Red. "But let me tell you, no place gets any hotter than it does in here!"

"How is that possible?" asked Charlie.

"In the beginning, God created blah blah blah and please tell me you know how the rest of the story goes or else I'll have to do something you humans consider politically incorrect. That's unless you're one of those scientifical types who believe the cosmos farted us into existence. I love that story! But face it – I'm a demon, baby. I've got hell in my bones and heaven on my back, trying to cramp my style. Those self-righteous louts are always trying to bust this place for underage drinking. But enough with the small talk. Rowan – now that I know you haven't brought me this virgin to play with, I know you didn't drop by just to say hello."

"You owe me a favor," said Rowan, his face serious and his tone of voice expressing that he only wished to converse for as much as was needed. Charlie got the feeling that Rowan didn't care much for Red either.

"You mean you're still holding me to that promise I made so long ago?" said Red, frivolously. "Didn't you know the word of a demon can't always be trusted?"

"I should have cast you out from that man by the docks that day. I realize now how wrong I was for doing so, but nevertheless, you gave me your word that if I let you stay, that someday you would return the favor. I've finally come to collect. We need a place to stay until we've lost track of a bounty hunter that's giving us trouble. Give me your word that you'll keep us hidden until the coast is clear."

"Sure, sure, my word is my bond and all that jazz."

"I'm serious, Red. Or else tonight I'll finish what I should have done long ago."

Rowan placed a hand on the bar and a subtle blue glow radiated from beneath his palm. Red's brow creased as he stared back in defiance, and a low growl escaped his throat that was somehow impossibly loud enough to be heard over the roar of music. Several bouncers also took notice of Rowan's glowing hand and took a step toward him in warning.

Charlie couldn't tell if the temperature felt like it was rising because of the collective body heat from everyone inside, or if it was from the tension between Rowan and Red as they looked ready to come to blows. For a long moment, neither of them looked ready to back down, until thankfully Red cracked a smile and defused the situation. Charlie sighed with relief. As exciting as it would be to watch a wizard and a demon partake in an epic battle against each other in the midst of a thriving nightclub, Charlie would have rather it happened on screen than right in front of her.

"All right, all right already!" said Red, grinning and throwing both arms up in the air in defeat and then waving his men off. "Back down boys, there's not going to be any trouble here tonight. You know if you weren't so good-looking, I might have needed to smack you around a little. But how could I hurt a face like that? Okay, you have my word. If that bounty hunter comes around looking for you, then I'll make sure my boys send her packing. How does that sound, lover boy?"

"No funny business," said Rowan.

"Who? Me? I never!" said Red, using his index finger to cross his heart. Then, he dropped all his antics, leaned onto the bar, and regarded Rowan seriously. "But know this, after tonight, the slate's wiped clean, and if we meet again under similar circumstances, I can't guarantee a warm reception."

"I expect as much," said Rowan, then he turned his focus onto Charlie and leaned in to whisper something into her ear. "I'm sorry to ask this of you, but I want to make sure Red's going to hold up to his end of the bargain. Can you wait here while I go cast a _spell of shielding_ on the entrance? Red may have given us his word, but I doubt if push comes to shove that he'll make an effort to protect us."

"Uh, sure," said Charlie, her eyebrows knitting in concern. "Yeah, I can wait."

"Thanks. I'll do my best to be quick about it."

And then, before Charlie had the chance to say anything else, something unexpected and amazing happened. Just as Rowan was about to turn and leave, he stopped and looked at her one more time, then he leaned in, gently grasping both of her shoulders, and kissed her lips. It was a moment unlike anything she ever experienced. Where most people experienced fireworks firing in their hearts or the sensation of floating on a cloud, Charlie experienced an epic combination of the thrill of ranking first place on an online gaming leaderboard and the calmness of sitting on her parent's veranda while reading as it rained. Her first kiss was the collective, positive embodiment of every good feeling she had ever felt, and she wanted it to last forever. Unfortunately, Rowan pulled away after five seconds of blissful eternity and the smell of cigarettes, booze, and sweat rushed back to seize control of her senses.

After their kiss, Rowan looked at Charlie and smiled, gently held her hand in his own, then let go to leave and prepare his spell to cloak their presence from Roxy. Charlie watched him be swallowed up by the booming crowd and felt a small ache in her heart, wishing for him not to leave her. Red interrupted her thoughts with a laugh and brought her back to the present.

"If you think that kiss knocked you off your feet," said Red, picking up a glass mug and beginning to clean it, "you should consider one night with me to experience some _real_ magic."

"No thanks," said Charlie, wanting to sound disgusted, but at the same time afraid of upsetting a demon.

"Suit yourself. But there's no other bed like the one you share with Red."

"Can I ask you something? If you're a demon, then why are you here of all places and running a nightclub? If hell's real, then why aren't you there torturing and tormenting the damned?"

"Baby, take a look around. After spending millennia listening to people burn in a lake of fire, would you rather keep listening to that or go to where the real actions takes place? Take a good look at those two girls just going at it! And how about that guy in the corner, eh? He thinks he's just here waiting for a friend, but has no idea a group of college kids are about to ask him to join in an orgy in an attempt to make some cash off some porn site. And then there are those two drunks who are waiting for closing to beat the crap out of each other in the alley. I mean, come on. Cries of suffering and agony are sweet, but the crazy shit that happens in this fine establishment is hard to beat. So what do you say? You're an honored guest in my castle, so why don't you have a drink? How about a Bloody Mary, eh? I'll even make it a virgin for the pretty virgin."

"Sorry, I think I'll pass," said Charlie, wondering how much longer Rowan was going to take. "I'm not much of a drinker."

"Baby, please, I insist," said Red, reaching for a glass regardless of Charlie's refusal and filling it up anyway. "It's on the house."

Red slid the glass toward her, grinning and waiting expectantly for her to accept it. Charlie didn't know what to do. She didn't want to drink whatever liquor he had given her, because she knew he probably lied about not putting anything in it, but he just keep staring and grinning at her without any indication that he was going to give up unless she drank it. So, feeling unable to stand her ground against the will of a nightclub-owning demon, Charlie gave up and took the glass into her hand. It was a thick red drink, ironically, with a celery stick and straw sticking out of it. Red nodded his head and continued grinning like a chef awaiting feedback for a wonderful meal he just concocted. Then, feeling apprehensive and hoping for Rowan to hurry back, she brought the cool glass to her mouth and drank from its spicy contents.

"See?" said Red. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Actually, thought Charlie, it wasn't as bad as she was expecting. It wasn't a drink she'd care to ever have again, since the taste of liquor Red had sneaked in there had never been one she liked, but she liked the flavor of the tomato juice and that certain something else she couldn't put her finger on. She explored the inside of her mouth with her tongue in an attempt to figure out that mystery flavor, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find a word for it. Just exactly what was it?

Suddenly, Charlie began to feel lightheaded and her vision started to blur. She put her glass of liquor on the bar and raised her hand up to hold her head. What was happening? Everything started feeling like they were much farther away. Was it something from her drink?

"What did you put in that?" asked Charlie, continually feeling her grip on reality slipping away. "Rowan... Where's Rowan?"

"Shh, shh, shh..." whispered Red. "You don't want some tree-loving excuse for a man to be the one to take that pretty little flower away from you, do you? Don't worry, good ol' Red's going to take nice care of you." He paused, looked at three women standing close by and snapped his fingers. "Girls! Take this delicate rose up to the V.I.P. lounge. She's in for some special treatment tonight! Now hurry before that jokester comes looking for her."

Charlie had just enough sense to lift her head to be able to get a better look at the women coming to abduct her. She recognized them as the women from outside who were making a fuss about her and Rowan skipping ahead of the line. As they reached for her arms, Charlie cursed and tried to fight them off but she was too disoriented until finally she collapsed in their arms. She couldn't understand why anyone wasn't helping her? Couldn't they see that she was in trouble? And why was Rowan not coming to her rescue?

Then, right before the lull of unconsciousness took her, she looked into the eyes of her captors. Their irises were glowing red.

### Chapter 11

Charlie slowly started to come to, her head aching and mouth dry like it had been swabbed with cotton. When she opened her eyes, she discovered herself lying across the length of a red leather couch. Around the room, a few more of the same couches were lined up to make a U shape design with a couple of round tables in the middle topped with liquor and cigars. There was a private bar near the back by a door that she guessed to be the exit, since it was the only door visible, and the entire opposite wall across the room was a huge viewing window from floor to ceiling that displayed the party going on down within the rest of the nightclub.

As the effects of the Bloody Mary she had earlier was beginning to wear off, Charlie attempted to stand to look for a way out but was interrupted by three partly-dressed women seemingly appearing from the shadows.

"Ah, ah..." said the one wearing blue lipstick, waging her index finger. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I've had enough partying for one night, thanks," said Charlie, trying her best at mustering some courage.

"Red's not going to like you bailing on him like that," said another wearing purple lipstick, "If you know what's good for you, I'd suggest you have a seat and wait there like a proper little virgin."

"You know, sisters," said the third wearing black lipstick, her irises glowing bright red, "Red could be a while dealing with that pretty boy downstairs, so while he's taking care of him why don't we warm this little flower up for him, hmm?"

"I like where you're going with this," said Blue. "We can take off that pretty little dress of hers and teach her how impolite it is to cut in line. Red can join in when he's ready."

Charlie sank in as deep as possible into the couch like it would buy her a few more precious moments of not having her body and mind ravaged by a gang of insidiously lustful demons. She wanted to scream at the horror of what was going to take place, but panic caused every muscle in her body to lock up. She felt like a deer caught in headlights. She felt she'd be powerless against a group of regular humans, so the fact that they were a group of demons made it worse. Her last thought as the women reached out for her was why did Rowan have to bring her here of all places? Whatever Roxy had in mind, she was positive it wouldn't have robbed of her innocence and peace of mind.

The women cackled in delight to Charlie's obvious torment, until suddenly the door at the back of the room burst open in a flash of blue light. Two bouncers were thrown into the room by the force of the blast and crashed hard into the bar, upending chairs and breaking several glasses and bottles of liquor. All three women shot around to stare at the destruction being brought into the room. Then, to Charlie's great relief, Rowan came dashing through the blown-open doorway.

"Rowan!" screamed Charlie.

"Don't worry, Charlie!" said Rowan. "I'm getting you out of here! I won't let them hurt you."

In response, all three women standing over Charlie focused their attention on Rowan and screamed at him. And as they shouted their challenge, their faces stretched and contorted into demonic visages that more suited their terrible nature. Rowan's hands pulsed with blue energy.

"Unless you want to end up like Red and his lackeys," said Rowan, warningly, "give her to me or else it's straight back to hell with you."

Black unleashed a hideous scream, her face contorting more than Charlie thought possible, her eyes flaring such an intense red that it was difficult to say if tiny flames were actually licking her eyelashes. Then, taking initiative and with blinding speed, Black leaped ahead of her sisters and led the attack. Dreadful claws extended from where her soft pink fingers had once been, and she swiped them in wide arcs in an attempt to slash Rowan's throat. Rowan jumped back and dodged her strikes and countered with an attack of his own. Quickly stretching a hand toward the first demon, just like he did at the restaurant with Roxy; he shouted another incomprehensible word and an orb of blue light shot toward the demon, striking and effectively incinerating her.

The demon wailed in agony and Charlie's fear intensified as she had never witnessed anything like she had now. It was an impossible battle that took place before her. Beings of which she had always believed were purely mythical were now locked in magical warfare, with her being the prize. She attempted once again to flee the red leather couch but Blue grabbed her shoulder and tightened her grip, shooting a horrible scowl that warned her not to make another move. Obediently, with Blue's nails digging into her skin, Charlie listened.

After witnessing her sister being reduced to ash, Purple howled in fury and jumped at Rowan, determined to avenge her sister's destruction. Rowan shot another orb of blue energy at the demon in the hopes of achieving the same effect, but she anticipated his move and dodged the orb where it then flew into the large window which burst into an explosion of glass shards that rained down upon those dancing in the nightclub. Screams and shouts reached their ears in the V.I.P. room over the roar of music and the frantic footfalls of panic soon followed.

The unexpected twist caused Rowan to hesitate, the guilt about the pain he had wrought upon the innocent clear on his face, and it allowed Purple the opportunity a chance to strike. In a series of motions faster than Charlie could keep up with, the demon leaped toward Rowan and slashed at his chest, causing a gash. Rowan jumped back in surprise, the pain returning his attention to the fight. His shirt was ripped where she tore at him and blood began to run down his chest.

Charlie screamed his name and wanted to run to him, to help him and leave together. But the vicious grip of Blue's hand tightened its hold on her again and forced her to remain sitting. Charlie winced at the increasing pain in her shoulder.

"Once I'm finished feasting on your bones," provoked Purple, her grotesque tongue licking sharp teeth, "I'll be sure to take _real_ good care of your little virgin."

Charlie was getting real sick of being reminded of how she was still a virgin.

But the demon wouldn't deliver on her promise because her taunt was just the push Rowan needed to put her to rest. Feigning a dodge to the right, Rowan then charged at the demon who held her claws out, prepared to shred him to pieces. But then, instead of rolling to either side or sliding beneath her like she was expecting him to do, he instead locked hands with hers, cutting his fingers in the process against her sharp claws, and transferred blue energy from his palms to her own. Purple shrieked and writhed in pain as Rowan's magic coursed through her veins, until she burst into flames and disintegrated into ash.

Hope had now sparked inside of Charlie. Rowan had destroyed two demons and was down to the last one. But then, unexpectedly, as Rowan was approaching Blue to finish the job, she pulled Charlie from the couch, stood behind her, and wrapped her dagger-like claws around her throat. Small yelps escaped Charlie's mouth. Her heartbeats increased even further and panic now completely engulfed her.

"Take another step and I cut her throat!" warned Blue.

Rowan halted and regarded Blue dangerously. "Let her go. Things can still end well for you if you just leave now."

"After how you just destroyed my sisters like that? I think not. I'll see you suffer before this night ends!"

Charlie's legs trembled with fear. Then, Blue brought her lips closely to Charlie's ear and blew softly on her lobes. Suddenly, she began feeling light headed again, the red-tinted room starting to fade in and out all around her. The last thing she remembered before passing out was the sound of the demon's maniacal laughter, Rowan calling her name, and the sudden flash of blue light.

### Chapter 12

The next morning, when Charlie woke and slowly opened her eyes, she discovered that she was home and lying in her bed, neatly tucked beneath her blankets. She looked at her R2-D2 alarm clock to check the time, and since it was only 9:25 a.m., she thought about rolling over onto her other side and going back to sleep since she had another few hours before her first day back to work. Then, fixing her blankets to get more comfortable, she noticed she was sleeping in her dress. Suddenly, the events of the night before all came flooding back to her.

Her second date with Rowan.

Their run-in with Roxy.

The demons at Red's nightclub.

Charlie quickly sat straight up in bed and looked around her room for any signs of danger.

There was none. She was totally and completely alone within the safety of her apartment. There were no demons, no bounty hunter, nothing that was life-threatening and near. Even Rowan was nowhere to be found. Then, looking past her R2-D2 alarm clock, she noticed a note sitting next to vibrant sunflower petal on her nightstand. She leaned over to pick it up, a pain shooting down her neck causing her to squeeze one eye shut and wincing, and read it.

Dear Charlie,

How can I fully express on a piece of paper how terrible I feel about last night? I should have never believed that I could trust a demon to keep us safe and hidden. Apparently, even magical people still have lessons to learn. If you're wondering how you got home, it's because after getting us out of the nightclub, I carried you back. I don't think we'll have to worry about the likes of Red for a long time. I'm really sorry about getting you involved in all of this. I care about you, Charlie Cradle. I hope you can find the heart to forgive me.

Sincerely,

Rowan

Charlie placed Rowan's letter next to her in bed and picked up the sunflower petal from her nightstand. The yellow color was so bright and vibrant, and because the sun had been shining directly onto it, it still felt warm to the touch. She sat in bed, staring at the flower petal and slowly flipping it from side to side while examining her feelings. Things had gotten very complicated indeed.

Over the course of a week, Charlie's life and the way she viewed the world around her had changed forever. When she woke up seven days ago, she was still the quiet, shy introvert she had been all her life. Today, she woke up with the knowledge that wizards, demons and who knew what else existed used the world as their playground. Seven days ago, the thought of controlling a wizard in Diablo III and laying waste to hordes of demons with magical powers and abilities sounded like a fun night of mindless gaming. But today, it brought back memories of the previous night and of how truly terrifying such an event can be in real life. Charlie's life had become drastically less mundane than it used to be, and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing anymore.

Charlie returned the sunflower petal to her nightstand. Aside from feeling physically affected by what happened the night before, she felt emotionally and mentally drained as well. All she wanted at that moment was to lie down in bed and fall back asleep, but she knew her wandering mind would never allow her that pleasure. So, choosing not to fight the inevitable, she got out of bed, took a long shower in the hopes that it would help cleanse the memory of the demons filthy hands and lustful eyes all over her, and finally sat in front of her computer to play a game to help clear her mind.

But Charlie couldn't get past the login screen. She stared at the blinking cursor that waited for her to input her username and password to begin her forays in a fantastical digital world, but couldn't be convinced to bring her fingers onto the keyboard. All she could think about was Rowan.

I care about you, Charlie Cradle.

Those written words repeated over and over again in her mind. Because she realized that she in fact also cared about him. How could she not? He chased after her when she pushed him away, accepted her quirks and made her feel wanted, dazzled her with heart touching magic, and even fought supernatural beings to save her life. He was the embodiment of everything she ever wished for in a man. So why was it that she felt like it needed to end?

She grew up on stories of the fantastical and strange, the weird, wonderful, and often impossible. She dreamed of being whisked away into an existence where dragons were slain by courageous knights, where brave heroes saved fair maidens, and where magic was a central and important part of modern society. She used to crave that existence. But after living it for a few days, she wondered if it were better left to video games, movies, and books.

She hated to do this, but she felt that it was best to break it off with Rowan.

### Chapter 13

Later that day, at exactly 12:19 p.m., Charlie entered the café shop while on her way to work for her one o'clock shift. Her familiar routine of grabbing a coffee before going to work was somehow comforting, and despite her hatred for pickles, she was actually looking forward to doing something mind-numbingly frustrating and boring. As she walked in and approached the counter, she inhaled deeply of the scents of fresh coffee brewing and appreciated that ordinary moment. Lisette was working that day and greeted her as she approached the counter.

"Hi, Charlie!" said Lisette, her voice as bright and perky as ever. "It's been so strange not seeing you on your way to work for a few days. Are you still seeing that guy from the other night? Because what a catch, Charlie!"

"Actually, I don't know if it's going to work out between us," said Charlie, hoping Lisette would drop the subject.

"Really? Oh that's too bad," Charlie noticed that in the way Lisette responded, she thought he was the one breaking it off with her, but she didn't bother to correct her since that would have been the most logical explanation. "He seemed like a really nice guy."

"He's amazing..." Charlie admitted.

"Well, don't worry about it. If a hunk like him saw something in you, then that means you got to be pretty special. I'm sure you'll meet someone else!"

"Yeah, thanks for that," said Charlie, now wanting just to get her coffee and leave.

Thankfully, after paying for her drink and saying farewell to Lisette, the rest of the walk to work was just as it had always been. The smell of the bakers and the flower shop tickled her nose, her hot drink warming up her hands against the increasingly chill autumn breeze, and the familiar cramming of people in the elevator while choking on the scent of that same man's cologne, brought her a sense of ease. As always, she walked onto her department floor and into her little cubicle without anything out of the ordinary happening.

Well, almost.

"Charlie," said Mr. Director, his greasy voice floating from down the aisle, "it's good to see you back at work. But before you get started, there's someone I want you to meet. She'll be your new supervisor on this unit."

Charlie turned to face her boss and when she did, her entire uninteresting world came to a screeching halt. Standing before, dressed in a very expensive-looking business suit, was her new supervisor.

Roxy.

Charlie stared into Roxy's grinning face and wondered how this could have possibly happened. Her boss tapped his foot in annoyance of her stunned expression.

"Well," he said, "aren't you going to welcome her into the fold? She's got a very impressive resume and I believe she's a perfect candidate to help our research move along nicely."

"It's a pleasure meeting you, Charlie," said Roxy, a smug grin on her face. "I'm looking forward to working with you."

Charlie couldn't bring herself to words, her anger and frustration at this woman's nerve and persistence, enabling her only to simply nod in response.

"Fantastic!" said Mr. Director, "Now I'll just leave the two of you to get to know each other a little better while I go and have a drink... of coffee! I mean coffee. Right."

Once Mr. Director walked outside of earshot, she whirled on Roxy and demanded an explanation. "What do you think you're doing here?!"

"I've got a job to do, sweetie," said Roxy, "and when push comes to shove, I shove back hard. So unless you want to have a work shift from hell, I suggest you give me what I want."

Charlie sighed, wondering if she'd ever catch a break. Even if she intended on ending things with Rowan so she could get her normal life back, she didn't plan on going ahead and handing him over to Roxy. She still liked Rowan – a lot, as a matter of fact. She had a feeling things were about to get messy.

"I'm ending things with Rowan," said Charlie. "I don't want anything more to do with this craziness. So please, just leave me alone and leave my job out of this."

"You don't expect me to believe that, do you?" said Roxy. "Fine. If you want to do this the hard way, let's play. Because as I recall... I still owe you for last night."

Roxy turned on her heels and walked away into a new office with her name on it that was constructed just for her. Charlie began mentally preparing herself for whatever trouble she was going to have thrown at her, and sat down in her chair to log into her computer to start making calls.

***~~~***

An hour had passed and Charlie was relieved that so far there hadn't been any incidents. Even though she noticed Roxy walk past her a few times, enjoying Charlie's obvious discomfort about her presence and new position within the company, there hadn't yet been any attempts made to sabotage her workspace. However, she knew it wouldn't last forever. There was still seven hours until the end of her shift, after all.

Charlie dialed out a new phone number to collect a survey. "Hello, would I speaking with Mr. Meydam?"

"Who is this?" asked an elderly man.

"How are you doing today, Mr. Meydam?" asked Charlie, but like always she didn't give him enough time to answer before entering into her next segment. "Doing well, I hope. And to answer your question, my name is Charlie."

"No, there's no Charlie here. You must have the wrong number."

"No, _my_ name is Charlie, Mr. Meydam."

"Yes and I've been trying to tell you that Charlie Meydam died ten years ago. Got real sick, he did. But I say it was his wife. Her soup tasted so awful, I just know she was putting toilet cleaner in it."

Charlie rolled her eyes and rubbed her forehead in frustration. She hated dealing with these kinds of people. There was also happened to be a fly buzzing around her head at the moment, and she subconsciously swatted it away.

"That's terrible, sir," said Charlie. "But if I could just have a moment of your time--"

"That Rosalina was a heifer!" continued Mr. Meydam. "Just a gold-digging double-crosser, I tell you."

Three flies now buzzed around Charlie's head, and this time, minor irritation flared within her and she swatted at them again.

"She probably was," said Charlie, instantly catching herself and inwardly cursing her choice of words. She wasn't supposed to encourage people into deeper conversation. But those damn flies just wouldn't leave her alone. There were seven of them now all annoyingly buzzing around her ears and nostrils.

"Well I'm glad someone agrees with me!" exclaimed Mr. Meydam. "I've always told Ang that Rosalina was trouble, but did she ever listen to me?"

Fifteen common house flies as big as the tip of her index finger were madly buzzing around her face. Charlie now used both hands to beat them away from her head, but no matter how much she wildly flung her arms around, she never seemed to hit one. Four kept flying in and out of her exposed ear, buzzing and unbearably tickling, two had managed to dart into her mouth, one assaulted her nostril, and two others were mating on the bridge of her nose. Charlie tried to find the mute button for her headset, at the same time wondering where all the flies came from and why were they attacking her head, but the sensation of her face being raided by over a dozen giant flies was just so gross and horrendous that she couldn't help but curse.

"Holy shit!"

Then, suddenly, as if that was their cue to leave, each of the flies circled Charlie's head once more and flew down a hallway and out of sight. Well, all except for the one that shot into her mouth and she accidently bit down on. She was still gagging from that one. However, as the flies buzzed away and Charlie had calmed down, she then noticed that all eyes were on her and everyone was deathly silent. That's when she realized she had failed to hit mute on her headset and that Mr. Meydam was still on the line.

"I understand your desire to express how you feel about what Rosalina did to my brother," said Mr. Meydam. "But there's no need to yell and get vulgar."

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Meydam!" said Charlie, wanting to shrink and hide in what little dark corners her cubicle had to offer. "I hope you have a good rest of the day."

Charlie ended the call. She felt embarrassed and awful about cursing while on the phone with someone. It wasn't uncommon for that to happen at a job like this. But it also wasn't uncommon for those people to be fired soon afterward. She wanted to bang her head against the desk; she was so angry with herself! She couldn't afford to lose her job. If that happened, she had no idea how she wasn't going to afford paying her rent. Suddenly, she felt an itch on the back of her head, and she looked over her shoulder toward the newly-constructed office.

Roxy was standing inside, looking through the door-sized glass window and grinning wickedly. Charlie shot her an angry scowl and held back a few select curse words she was tempted to shoot at her. Charlie knew Roxy somehow sent the flies after her. It was all her doing.

But none of that mattered right now, because coming down the hallway wearing an angry expression was her boss.

"Charlie," said Mr. Director. "I want to see you in my office. Now!"

### Chapter 14

"I'm disappointed in you, Charlie Cradle."

Mr. Director sat behind his large wooden desk, holding a metal pen in one hand and writing with it on a black clipboard that he held in another. Charlie couldn't see the contents of what he was writing, but unless he was making a grocery liquor list, since that poorly concealed bottle he kept on his desk disguised as their company's logo of a smiling pickle, he was definitely writing her termination slip. Charlie sighed and felt like crying. Why did things have to turn out this way? She was through with magical beings and bounty hunters. All she wanted was her normal life back and that included her much hated job.

"I'm really sorry, Mr. Director," said Charlie, "But I swear it wasn't my fault! There was a horde of flies that were--"

"No excuses, Charlie," said Mr. Director, cutting her off. "Here at The Pickle Jar Incorporate we'd expect our employees to act with the highest degree of professionalism, even if they were plunged into a pool of sharks."

_There was definitely one shark in there today,_ thought Charlie, miserably and not for the last time inwardly cursing Roxy's name. She also wished she could yank the concealed liquor bottle off of his desk and smash it over his hypocritical head. But there was no sense in making things worse. Even though she was getting fired, she still hoped to salvage the company as a positive reference for her resume when searching for a new hair-pulling job. Maybe playing the spoons as a form of busking would yield enough rewards to pay her bills? If only she had a dancing monkey to first draw a crowd.

"I understand," said Charlie, looking down and no longer able to keep eye contact.

"I'm just glad that Roxy called my office and notified me of your behavior right away," said Mr. Director. "You should be thankful those breasts—I mean, that woman! Um, be thankful that woman was on her toes and ready to report any misbehaviors before things were able to get out of hand."

_Yeah,_ thought Charlie, _real thankful..._

"Because, Charlie, your actions merit your termination."

Here it comes, she thought, she better go find a small cardboard box to put her belongings in.

"But, even though I _should_ be firing you..." Mr. Director continued, the hesitation in his voice causing Charlie to raise hopeful eyes and meeting his gaze again. "You're one of our most valuable employees. You've been with us for longer than the average and your dedication to the pickle industry yields results. I can't deny that. You are among the top of those that secures real calculable answers that will help this company take the pickle industry by storm. So, taking these facts into consideration... I'll allow this slip up to be swept under the rug for just this once."

The relief that suddenly washed over Charlie was enough to make her lower body weak enough to force her to stop a pee drop from leaking out. Despite the putrid stench of liquor flowing from his lips with each word that he spoke, she could have jumped over Mr. Director's desk and kissed him. It was just too good to be true!

"However," he continued, Charlie's world decelerated into slow motion again, "it would be bad business not to reprimand you in _some_ way. Others around the office will start thinking that we are perhaps trading sexual favors or something. And we _definitely_ can't have that. I have standards, you know. So unfortunately, Charlie, I'm going to have to suspend you from the office for a week. Once this whole commotion settles down, you can come back to work and keep plowing the way for a better pickle, for a better tomorrow."

_Yep,_ thought Charlie, _too good to be true._ But, on the bright side, at least she hadn't completely lost her job. The thought of job searching and being interviewed was beginning to stress her out even further. So putting on her most enthusiastic smile, she thanked Mr. Director profusely and then left to log out from her computer and got ready to leave for yet another week.

As Charlie walked down the hall, before arriving at her workspace, she discovered Roxy standing by her cubicle, a triumphant evil smirk playing on her lips. Charlie wished she could find that fly she chewed on and stuff it in her smug face.

"That was quite the outburst," said Roxy as Charlie approached. "So inappropriate while on the phone with a client. It just _hated_ to do it, but as your new supervisor, it was only right to follow my obligations and report that potty mouth of yours."

"Well, I hope you're happy," said Charlie, spiteful and angry but trying to keep it to a whisper, "because now I'm suspended for a week."

"Aw, that's too bad. I was really aiming for you to be thrown out to the curb. So let this be a warning to you. If you don't bring me to Rowan, then next time I'll have you fired for good."

Roxy pulled a card from her pocket, walked over to Charlie's shoulder purse that was lying on her desk, and shoved it inside to avoid Charlie not accepting it.

"That's my cell number," she continued. "When you finally decide to come to your senses and wish to avoid any more trouble, then you know how to get a hold of me. You want to do this, Charlie Cradle. It'll only get worse from here."

Charlie narrowed her eyes and fumed with anger. The very nerve of that woman! She was so sick of her by now that if she weren't still at work, she would have punched her straight in the face even if she knew she'd only get mangled afterward. The satisfaction of smudging Roxy's perfect makeup with her fist would have been worth every cut and bruise.

The walk home from work was a long, wet and miserable reflection of how she felt inside. It seemed that even the sky wanted to add insult to injury and piss on her already bad day. She had one more week without work. That meant her half-paycheck she was expecting to receive next week, which was already cutting things tight for her, was instead going to show up bearing a big fat zero. This issue didn't escape Charlie's notice, not even for a second. Because even though she didn't get fired, it still created a dilemma she was unable to by any means ignore. How was she going to pay for her rent?

Charlie knew that taking one week off from work wouldn't have affected her ability to pay her bills. At home, in a file on her computer, she had a spreadsheet outlining her monthly budget. This meticulously outlined where every cent she made was going into, which basically consisted of her rent, cell phone and utilities bill, credit card payment, three books and two new video games, online gaming subscription, groceries, and finally lots of take-out. She usually shamelessly spent half a paycheck on ordering take-out, so that one week's vacation she just had really cut deep into that part of her budget. But she had already spent most of everything else. And now that she wasn't able to depend on her last half paycheck to come in, a big chunk of her rent money was missing. And unlike the people she watched in movies who somehow managed to escape their landlord's wrath for what appeared like weeks, Charlie new real life wasn't like that. It was either _pay your rent or get out._

It killed her to do this, but Charlie could think of no other solution of as to how she was going to manage to pay her rent. So, knowing that what she was about to do wasn't going to come without a cost, once she arrived home she picked up her phone and dialed a familiar number.

"Hello, Mom?" said Charlie, cringing and holding the phone away from her ear as her mother screeched with delight over the fact that she had called after not hearing from her for several days. "Um, I kind of need to ask you a favor."

***~~~***

Charlie sat outside on the damp stone steps of her apartment building complex, carrying a small duffle bag with enough clothes to last her a week, while waiting for her mother to come collect her with the old family car. She knew trying to convince her mother and father to lend her money for this month to afford paying her rent wasn't going to be the hard part. Charlie never asked her parents for help, which she suspected made her mother sad because she did this even while growing up, and so she knew her mom would literally leap at the chance to come to her rescue. No, none of that took much convincing. The hard part was being required to visit and stay at her parent's house for the week. If abhorrent demons and a fanatic bounty hunter hadn't caused her to collapse on the brink of insanity, then she feared what her mother's suffocating and needy personality might to do her.

While she thought about what might take place during her visit to her parents', Charlie's thoughts started to wander to her purse, or more specifically, the card that had been placed inside her purse. Suddenly, the strap over her shoulder felt like it was tightening its grip and becoming heavier. She needed to get rid of that card. As much as she wanted to make all the madness stop, she didn't know if she'd be able to live with herself if she caused Rowan's capture. She reached a hand into her purse and dug around inside, trying to find it. However, she was suddenly interrupted by a loud noise from down the street, and she removed her hand from her bag, forgetting about the card.

Right on cue, her mother's first act to nudge Charlie over the edge occurred as she rounded the street corner and honked her car horn in her own special way of saying hello. As the car pulled up to the side of the street, Charlie sent a silent prayer to Asgard.

"Hi, Charlene," said her mother, brightly. "Are you all packed and ready to go?"

Charlie nodded, stood up while grabbing her bag and shoulder purse, then placed everything into the backseat of her parent's car and sat in the passenger side.

"You know, Charlene, I'm so glad you called," said her mother. "Your father and I are always here to help whenever you need it. And this will be a good reason for us to finally get some family time together!"

"Please, mom, stop calling me Charlene," said Charlie. "I like Charlie."

"There you go again with that boy's name. When will you ever accept that your father and I raised a little girl? You looked so adorable in your Sunday dress with your hair all done up. Say, that gives me an idea, tomorrow why don't we take a trip to the mall and get our nails done?"

"Mom, I really appreciate you and dad doing this for me, but you know I hate that kind of stuff. I'm not like that."

Her mother knit her eyebrows and nodded sadly, looking like she lost another battle in trying to get her baby girl back. Charlie hated that look. But not because she believed her mother was trying to guilt her into giving in. That was a genuine look of sadness and defeat. It killed Charlie on the inside to see her mother so hurt. Even though she hated being her mother's little princess, she could understand why she acted that way. That's the way she grew up, and that was the only way she knew how to express her love for her.

"I'll tell you what," said Charlie, "I'd still rather not go to some big, fancy salon, but if it means that much to you, how about we do our hair and nails at home together?"

"Deal!" said her mother, her face instantly brightening to a degree that would rival that of the suns.

Charlie also noticed her mother had started driving faster, and wondered if it was because of barely-restrained excitement. Then, taking a deep breath, knowing that she would have to be subjected too much unwanted motherly madness, she prepared herself for the long week ahead of her.

### Chapter 15

Two days had passed since Charlie had come to stay at her parents' house. Since that time, she endured the collective sum of all the love and affection her mother was unable to smother her with since the day she had decided to move out on her own. To her mother, it was two days of unrestricted joy and ultimate bonding with her daughter, while to Charlie it was like experiencing how a cat must feel when being dressed up in ridiculous and uncomfortable costumes. She had sampled more perfumes, tried on different clothes, and listened to more Alan Jackson songs in forty-eight hours than she had in her entire life. Charlie didn't remember her mother being _that_ intense. She wondered if it was because she didn't get to see her enough. Considering this, she made a mental note to visit at least once in a while to avoid having her mother get this crazy again.

_Rent money, rent money, rent money,_ Charlie kept reminding herself.

Charlie hated her relationship with her mother, but not for reasons such as disliking her. She loved her mother. No matter how maddeningly annoying she could be, when it came down to it, Charlie still really cared about her. No, the reason why she hated their relationship was because they were two completely different people. Her mother desired a little girl who she could primp and pamper, while Charlie desired a mom who was cool with just hanging out, going to the movies, and maybe just grabbing a burger together. Her father was more like that, but he was often too busy with work.

It was now day three of her seven day visit and the whole family was gathered around the table for five o'clock supper. Her mother mentioned more than once how nice it was to have the entire family back together, and sharing a rolling of eyes with Charlie, her father nodded his head in agreement. Obviously, Charlie's father had learned to tune out most of what his wife said. Then, right before her mother said grace, someone knocked at the door.

Unable to resist the temptation of being the first to know who was on their front porch, Charlie's mother hurried to answer the door. Charlie continued to eat the spaghetti she was served and didn't bother herself with caring who it was, only until she heard his voice.

"Hello," said her mother, "can I help you with something?"

"Hi, Mrs. Cradle," said Rowan, "I hope I haven't stopped by at a bad time. I was hoping that I would be able to find Charlie here."

At the sound of Rowan's voice, Charlie immediately leaped from her seat and rushed to the door. "Rowan, what are you doing here?"

He looked tired. But not in the same way that a person looks tired when they don't get enough sleep. In fact, Charlie might never have picked up on it if she hadn't seen that same look in herself when she looked in the mirror. Nobody else would have noticed what she noticed. She wondered if it had something to do with using too much magic like the way he did at Red's nightclub, but something inside of her told her otherwise. In the expression of his eyes, which usually were bright and full of pulsating blue color, she saw signs of the weariness of life. Those were the same eyes she looked into the morning after she woke up from their unsuccessful second date. They were the eyes of a person who longed for escape.

"You know this man, Charlene?" asked her mother.

Charlie couldn't be sure, but she thought it was surprise she heard in her mother's expression, like she were amazed her daughter could secure the interest of such a good-looking man.

"Yeah, mom," said Charlie. "Could you excuse us for a minute while we talk outside? I'll be right in once we're finished."

"You mean you're not going to invite him in for supper? No, no, I didn't raise you to be so impolite. You come right in, Rowan, and have a seat. There's plenty more for an extra mouth."

Rowan hesitated by the doorway, unsure of how to proceed with the situation. Charlie's mother was insistent that he came inside, but Charlie's face had turned lobster red with embarrassment as she feared what might transpire between him and her parents. Her entire life, her mother had nagged her about when she would bring home a man, and seeing that familiar motherly lunacy in her eyes, Charlie predicted catastrophic embarrassment in her very near future.

Another reason why Charlie didn't want Rowan staying for supper was because of her complicated feelings for him. A few days ago, she had decided within herself that she wanted to break things off with him, but she never had the opportunity to talk to him about it yet. She hadn't dated anybody before, so being in a situation where she needed to end a relationship was awkward and frightening. How would Rowan react? Would he be offended that someone as good-looking as him was dumped by an inferior specimen of a human being? That reason also gave Charlie extra motive to end things, because how could she possibly fool herself into believing that someone way out of her league would maintain interest in her forever? The breakup was inevitable. She might as well save herself the pain and mental anguish and just sever the connection. She decided that after supper, when they could afford some privacy, she would tell him how she felt. Rowan could find a better, more exciting, and attractive woman than she was...

"So, Rowan," said her mother, "can you tell us a little more about yourself? I'm really excited to hear about how you and Charlie met each other. You _are_ a couple, right?"

"Mom!" said Charlie, shrinking into her seat.

Her father laughed. He didn't care about that stuff. As long as Charlie was happy doing her own thing, he considered himself a success as a parent.

"What?" said her mother. "Can't a mother question the man who's interested in her daughter?"

Charlie was about to reply, but Rowan beat her to the chase. "I don't mind, Mrs. Cradle. I wouldn't think of hiding anything from you. To put things simply, I'm just a drifter who's been looking for the right place to settle down. I was on my way out of town again when I first met Charlie, but after talking to her... well she's kind of had me under this spell ever since."

Rowan paused, and Charlie finally lifted her gaze from her spaghetti and met his eyes.

"She's one of a kind," Rowan continued. "And now that I've had the privilege of meeting her parents, I can see where she gets her good looks."

Charlie's mother blushed and fanned her face with her hand, while her father laughed out loud with his mouth full of garlic bread and spaghetti. Charlie, on the other hand, felt the familiar kindling of fire in her heart, the exact same way she felt when Rowan kissed her a few nights ago.

It was strange, she thought, how she could feel like wanting to end their relationship one moment and then passionately desiring to kiss him the next. Rowan looked at her with a smile, and with all her earlier emotions melting away, she did the same. Maybe she should wait until they talked things over before making any drastic decisions.

The rest of supper went surprisingly well. Rowan was so charming that her mother basically swooned over him while her father had laughed almost the entire time. Charlie was thankful. She knew that if he were any other guy, he would have been just as awkward as she was and probably would have run away for good. Rowan must have had a lot of practice, thought Charlie, because no one could be _that_ good.

Sometime after supper, while Charlie's mother was doing the dishes and busying herself with some other cleaning to do, and her father was leaving for the night shift, Charlie and Rowan went outside onto the veranda where they could talk in peace. The sun had almost completely set and was painting the horizon with different shades of pink and orange, and the autumn weather had warmed enough that night to allow it to rain. Sitting out on the veranda and listening to the rain brought up memories of her childhood. This was her place of refuge from the increasingly scary world. As a child, she was afraid of it for different reasons, such as bullies and dentists. Actually, dentists still kind of scared her. But now as an adult, staring out into the darkening day of this hectic corporate world, she was afraid of everything. She was afraid of being alone, afraid of never finding personal success, and had recently become afraid of the unknown. She had learned that her father was wrong, and that monsters weren't just a figment of her imagination, but that they liked nightclubs and motorcycles. But at least in this moment, within the sanctuary of her veranda, she could stare out into the rain and feel okay for a little while.

Charlie and Rowan sat on the swinging chair together, kicking their feet against the wooden floor and looking at all the various garden gnomes her parents had spread out over the lawn. There was an uncomfortable silence spreading between them now that they had the opportunity of being alone. After letting the time drag out a little longer, Charlie finally gave in and requested of Rowan what she'd been dying get from him since the beginning.

"Rowan," said Charlie, building up the courage to face him, "I need to know the truth about you."

"Charlie..." said Rowan, hesitant to answer that loaded question.

"No, no more secrecy, no more saying that it's complicated. Because trust me, Rowan, I know it's complicated. My entire simple, boring life has been turned upside down into complicated. Since you've shown up I've learned that wizards and demons are not just wild stories people came up with, but real, living beings that run nightclubs and run away from magical bounty hunters. So please, Rowan; please stop trying to act like you're protecting me from something when I'm already been through enough danger."

Rowan looked at her with sad, regretful eyes, then leaned back in the swinging chair and stared out at the sky as the sun made its final dip beyond the horizon. He sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his hair.

"All right," he said, "you deserve to know the truth."

This was it. Charlie sat up straighter and stared at him more intently now. She was hoping that soon everything would make sense and she would see if things could yet be salvaged.

"I'm not actually a wizard," said Rowan. "Wizards are _human_ beings who develop magical abilities here on Earth."

"You say the word human like it's something different than you..." said Charlie, curiously and a bit afraid.

"Yes, and that's because I'm not human. Neither was I born on Earth. I'm a faerie, Charlie."

"A...fairy? You mean like the little people who fly around with butterfly wings?"

"Not exactly," said Rowan, laughing. "The Fae is a realm that lies just beyond that of Earths, where people who are born of magic come into existence – like me. We're Fae people, otherwise known as faeries. That's why my life here has been so complicated. It's not uncommon for faeries to visit this realm, that's the reason why humans invented folklore and stories about seeing our kind, but the King of the Fae forbids us permanent residency here. He is a strict believer that the immortal races should not live among mortals. He's the one who's sent Roxy after me. Like him, most of the Fae beings are self-righteous and believe themselves greater than the younger races. It's the reason why after centuries of living among such people that I ran away. My hope was that I could pretend to live my life here as human. But, as you may have figured out, it hasn't exactly been easy."

"I never would have guessed," said Charlie, completely astounded. "But there's something I don't understand. If your goal was to life a simple human life, then why tell people you're a wizard? Wouldn't that just tip off those who are after you?"

"You got it," said Rowan, grinning. "I've tried to go without using magic for a long time. But a faerie without magic is like a dog without its bark. It just doesn't feel right. That's the one thing I haven't been able to rid myself of because I love magic. So, when people find out about me, I pretend to be a wizard."

"I guess I understand. I'm a gamer, and my parents' laptop sucks for gaming, and solitaire just isn't cutting it. But why would you want to leave a realm of magic? It sounds amazing!"

"I admit that I do love The Fae, regardless of its people. It's a place unlike any you'll ever see. Beauty never fades with time, tender moments seem to last forever, and the creatures are majestic and free. But The Fae will never possess one thing, the one thing that I admire so much in humans, and that's the value of life."

"I feel kind of dumb," said Charlie, "but I don't understand. Wouldn't it be great to never die?"

"That's the question that took me centuries of living among you to find an answer to. Faeries cannot grasp the concept of death since we can never die. But to mortals, it's an ever-present fear and reality that one day they will perish and fade away... It's what makes you unique. It fills you with the desire of making every day of your existence one that will matter. Life is precious to you, and so your passions have that much more meaning."

Charlie stared into Rowan's eyes as the significance of his words tore deep into her heart. Here sat a magical, immortal person who admired humans for their value of life and the intensity of their passions. And in truth, the more she listened to him, the more it saddened her. Rowan loved people for those very reasons, but she couldn't take credit for any of it. She had never lived an exciting, passionate life. She felt that everything Rowan described was everything she was not. When she woke up in the morning, it wasn't thrill seeking or different ways of how to make her day count that she first thought of. Instead, she thought of how much she hated her job, how to avoid as much social interaction as possible, and how much time she'd be able to sit in front of her computer and hack away at pixelated monsters.

All the while Rowan explained these things, Charlie thought of Mr. Morris' sandwich and of how she actually envied him.

"Is something wrong?" asked Rowan, noticing the tears welling up in Charlie's eyes.

"No," said Charlie, turning her head away and wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "It's nothing. It's just been an overwhelming few days is all."

"I'm sorry if I've caused your life to becoming something you never wished it to be," said Rowan, with genuine sincerity. "I never meant for you to get caught up in all of this. I just hoped that I could have made things work this time. But I'm learning that that may never happen." He paused, and then slowly, he reached his hand to place it over Charlie's. "I care about you, Charlie Cradle."

Charlie turned back to face him, wanting to tell him that no one had ever made her feel the way that he did now. However, their special moment was suddenly interrupted by the sound of an approaching motorcycle. The engine roared so loud that both of them were forced to tear their sights from each other and look toward the advancing rumble. And then, as the woman wearing a black leather jacket parked her bike and raised her helmet's visor to look at them, Charlie's heart dropped in her chest.

Roxy grinned and waved them hello.

### Chapter 16

"Hi, Charlie," said Roxy, waving and grinning mischievously from where she stood by her motorcycle. "I'm so glad we were able to come an understanding. Now come on quietly, Rowan, unless you want to get these poor people involved as well."

_What is she doing here?!_ Charlie's heart thrummed in her chest and her mind raced back to Roxy's card in her purse. Since her mother had picked her up, she had totally forgotten about her number. But she never called it either, so why was Roxy standing on the edge of her driveway now?

"What is she talking about, Charlie?" asked Rowan, looking at her with concerned eyes.

Charlie stepped to the edge of the veranda. "What are you doing here? I never called you!"

"Oh?" said Roxy, grinning. "Then why is your parents' number showing up on my cell?"

Charlie didn't understand. How was it possible that she had received a call from her parent's number if she had never even taken the card out of her purse? Then, the answer suddenly hit her.

Mom.

Rowan continued to look at Charlie for answers, and through his expression she could see the thoughts of betrayal playing on his mind. She felt sick to her stomach that he might think she set him up. If only she had thrown out that card the moment she received it.

"I know this looks really bad," said Charlie, taking Rowan's hand in her own, "but you've got to believe me when I say I had nothing to do with this."

Rowan appeared to be considering whether to believe her or not, but then nodded and slightly tightened his grip on her hand in confirmation to his belief. Charlie silently thanked her stars and then guided him into the house and away from Roxy.

"Oh come on, Charlie!" said Roxy, calling out to them. "You're so close to ending all of this. Don't make it harder on yourself now."

Then, her irritation for that woman reaching its limit, Charlie built up her courage and did something she had wanted to do since that first day when Roxy barged into her apartment. As she and Rowan reached the doorway, Charlie turned around and flipped Roxy the bird.

"Screw you!"

Roxy must have been sure Charlie was going to give up and comply, because the look on her face now spelled out surprise and offense. It pleased Charlie to know she was able to out rightly piss her off, even if she knew she might regret it soon after.

As Charlie slammed shut the front door, her mother came out from the kitchen to investigate all the commotion, and looked out the window to see who was there.

"What's going on?" she asked. "Oh, Charlie, has your friend arrived already? Wow, she's fast. I only just called her five minutes ago."

"You what?!" said Charlie, trying very hard not to scream at her mother. "Mom, where did you get her number?"

"Well, don't be mad at me, because it was supposed to be a surprise. But since Rowan showed up, I thought it would have been nice to have a get together with all your old friends and some of your new ones. So I did some digging around in your purse to see if I could find some of your friends' phone numbers. The only thing I could find was a white card with the name Roxy on it, and she seemed more than excited to come by."

"That woman is _not_ my friend," said Charlie, so angry at her mother that she literally wished to strangle her. "She's a bad person, Mom, and she's not here to sample your cheese and crackers."

While Charlie spoke, worry and concern had begun to build up within her mother's eyes. She didn't do well under great amounts of stress, and the notion that Roxy was there to do them harm was starting to make her panic. But then Rowan did something unexpected, and Charlie watched as he walked up to her mother and took her hands within his own. A blue glow pulsed from his hands and just as she had witnessed before, he spoke an incomprehensible word and the effects of a spell had begun to take place. Charlie's mother's eyes closed and she collapsed to the floor.

"What did you do to her?" asked Charlie, worried that Rowan just killed her mother.

"Don't worry," said Rowan, picking her up in his arms and carrying her to the living room couch. "I just placed her under a sleep enchantment. She'll sleep through the night without any memory of what happened."

"Thank God. If she knew about wizards – I mean faeries – and magic, I think she might actually need to be admitted into a psych ward. It's a good thing Dad's at work too. So now that that's taken care of, what should we do about Roxy?"

"That's the million dollar question, isn't it?" said Rowan. "I hate to say it, but there's much else that we can do but run."

"Can't we fight her or something? What if you use your magic like last time but stronger?"

"Unfortunately, even that's only a temporary solution. I couldn't kill Roxy even if I wanted to because Fae people can't be killed. To you, it would look like death, but she'd be reborn the next day and would keep coming after me. The best we can do is slow her down and wait until she finds us again."

Charlie could tell that Rowan was becoming weary of this never ending game of hide-and-seek. She wondered just how long he had been running from her. Twenty years? A hundred years? Five hundred years? She knew that if she were in his shoes, she probably would have given up a long time ago. It must be exhausting continually having to be on the run.

Charlie was about to ask him how they should prepare for their escape, but then she heard a sound coming from outside. It sounded like the pitter-patter of small feet on pavement – a lot of small feet. Initially she believed it to be the rain, only to look outside to realize it wasn't raining anymore. Charlie cupped her hands against the window and face to try and get a better view of what might be clicking around in the darkness beyond the veranda.

Thump!

Charlie jumped back and screamed as a garden gnome crashed into the window and laughed at her. It stood on the outer windowsill and banged its small ceramic fists against the glass, trying to get inside. Soon there were more thumps and bangs around the house as more and more gnomes besieged her parent's home.

"What is going on?" said Charlie, the sight of the garden gnomes terrifying and making her skin crawl. "Where did they come from?"

"I've got to admit," said Rowan, "I didn't expect her to pull this out of her bag of tricks."

"You mean Roxy did this?"

"Take another look out on your lawn."

Trying to not let the small gnome who banged on her window unnerve her, Charlie looked outside again to see what Rowan was talking about. That's when she realized that the gnomes trying to break into the house were the same garden gnomes that her parents had spread all over their yard. Roxy had given them life and turned them into her own little army.

Charlie shuddered.

"What are we going to do?" she asked, hoping Rowan had some get-away-quick magic spell.

"I don't think we need to worry too much," said Rowan. "They're only garden gnomes, so they shouldn't be able to get inside."

From somewhere at the back of a house came the sound of glass shattering.

"Okay, I take that back," Rowan continued. "Maybe their little ceramic fists do pack enough punch to break through windows."

Charlie felt like she was in the middle of a horror scene. If there was anything that scared her worse than demons, she realized, it was happy killer garden gnomes.

In every room windows continued to shatter and the sound of little running feet, along with mischievous laughter, filled the house. Standing in the living room, Charlie grabbed the closest thing to a weapon that she could find, which happened to be a fire poker. She decided to call it the _Destroyer of Gnomes,_ hoping that such a menacing name may cause them think twice about approaching her.

The first one entered the room. Rowan shot an orb of blue energy from his hand and it disintegrated into dust.

_That wasn't so hard,_ thought Charlie.

However, she would soon regret those words because suddenly it wasn't just one or two that ran in next, but what seemed to be over thirty of them, all laughing and ready to bruise some shins.

"How are there so many of them?" asked Charlie, now swinging her fire poker and smashing one gnome after another. "I don't think my parents had this many!"

"Roxy must be using a multiplier spell!" said Rowan, continuing to cast blue orbs to destroy the tiny hecklers.

"They're relentless!"

"But they all seem to be coming after me," Rowan pointed out.

Charlie hadn't notice this before, but now that Rowan said so, for the most part it did look like they were focusing their attention on him, possibly in the hopes to overwhelm him with their numbers. When they all started pouring into the room, she hadn't taken the time to analyze the situation, but through panic just started whacking them instead. She jumped out of the way of the never-ending stream of garden gnomes and stepped to the side of the room. Rowan was right; they weren't interested in her at all. But she knew she couldn't just stand in a corner and abandon him. So, taking some comfort in the fact that she didn't need to fear being personally harmed, she re-entered the fray and continued with the smashing.

The problem was that there was just so many of them. They just kept coming, no matter how many were destroyed. Charlie knew she wouldn't be able to keep up with swinging her fire poker much longer before falling to exhaustion, and taking one look at Rowan, she knew he was feeling the same way. Something had to be done.

"They just keep coming!" said Charlie. "Did Roxy set up a cloning machine outside?"

"Why didn't I think of that!" said Rowan, "Charlie, you're a genius! She must be using a _source_ gnome outside that continues to multiply until I'm captured. Do you think you can go and take care of the problem while I keep trying to keep them off me?"

"But what if Roxy's out there? She'll eat me alive!"

Rowan looked at her pleadingly, his eyes expressing what words wouldn't be able to convey. He was in trouble and he needed her.

Charlie took a deep breath and readied herself. She was afraid, but Rowan had saved her life once before and she couldn't let him down now. Leaving Rowan to fend off the much-too-happy garden gnomes from hell, Charlie hurried out the back door to find the source gnome.

Thankfully, it wasn't hard to find because Roxy had stood by the gnome beside a tall tree, feeding it magic while it continued to magically multiply every 3 seconds. Charlie walked against the crowd of charging gnomes, gripping her fire poker tightly and holding it in striking position. At that moment, in some weird way, she felt like one of her warrior characters from her online video game.

"So the little hero has come out to play," said Roxy. "Cute."

"Stop what you're doing and let Rowan go," said Charlie, trying to sound braver than she actually felt.

Roxy laughed, not stopping from feeding purple energy into the source gnome. "What are you going to do? You're a pathetic mortal with a sorry excuse of a life. Just give up already."

A burning knot formed in the pit of Charlie's stomach and she clenched her teeth in anger. She'd had enough of Roxy. She'd had enough of being pushed around. And not just by her, but by those who thought themselves superior just because they had a better job and knew more people. So, sick and tired of listening to Roxy's condescending nature, she did the only thing that was left to do.

Charlie held her fire poker up high and let loose a battle cry, charging Roxy head-on. Roxy hadn't expected her to actually go on the attack, and the surprise caused her to flinch and shield her face with her arm. And that was exactly what Charlie was hoping for. Now that her feint had worked and Roxy disconnected her power from the source gnome, Charlie focused her swing on the gnome and shattered it to pieces. When she looked back, she noticed that all the other gnomes had reverted back to lifelessness.

When Roxy realized she had been tricked, she growled in frustration and raised her hand to strike Charlie. But as her arm came down, Charlie grabbed it mid-swing and squeezed her wrist tightly.

"How dare you! Don't you realize I have the power to crush you where you stand?"

"Then do it!" said Charlie, surprising herself with how much bite was in her words. "If you're as tough as you say you are, then stop with the threats and actually do something!"

Roxy boiled with anger and yanked her arm free of Charlie's grip. She stared at her for a long moment, Charlie expecting her to do her worst, but then she backed away. This surprised Charlie, because she was sure she was about to be obliterated into oblivion.

"I guess you're got more spunk than you let on," said Roxy. "Fine. Go and tell Rowan he's off the hook for tonight. But don't think for a second that I'm through chasing him. I'll get him eventually."

Charlie stood there and continued to brandish her fire poker, unwilling to nod or respond, only wanting Roxy to leave and go away. After she left, Charlie hurried back into the house to search for Rowan. However, he was nowhere to be found. The only thing that greeted Charlie was dust and floors covered with pieces of ceramic garden gnomes.

### Chapter 17

Charlie had spent the rest of the night cleaning up the remnants of the gnomish invasion. The next morning when her mother finally woke up from Rowan's spell and her father came home from work, she had successfully cleaned up most of the ceramic pieces and dust, but she had to lie to them about how the windows got broken. She explained to her mother that she had taken her advice and invited a few friends over after she fell asleep, and that unfortunately things got a little wild and a few windows had become casualties. She promised that once she started working again, she would pay for the damages as soon as she was able.

Then there was the question of what happened to Rowan. Charlie was a little put out when she came back into the house the night before to find that Rowan had already left. But she had to admit, he was in a tight spot and so maybe he escaped the house before she was able to destroy the source gnome. She was sure she'd see him again. It wasn't like Rowan to leave without saying farewell.

So for the rest of the morning, Charlie kept herself busy by helping her mother clean up what she wasn't able to the night before and then rested on the couch when she was able. It was the fourth day of her visit to her parents' house, and she was now beginning to go through gaming withdrawals. She wished her parent's laptop didn't suck so much so she could at least play something other than solitaire or mahjongg. But even though she hated those games, her craving for something to play always brought her back to the laptop at least for a little while, just as she did right now.

Charlie lay on the couch and opened up the laptop, deciding to check her emails before an exciting game of solitaire or tic-tac-toe. Once she logged into her account, she noticed that Tom had sent her an email the night before. That was strange, she thought. Tom never emailed her. A while back, they had exchanged emails just in case they wanted to contact each other outside of gaming, but even though that was a long time ago, they had never actually done it. It was sort of exciting to see that he emailed her. She wondered what it could be about. So, clicking on the message, she went ahead and read it.

Hi Charlie,

Wow, it's kind of weird messaging you about something that has nothing to with gaming. But I thought it was about time I put your email to good use! Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I was going into the Riverton tomorrow and thought that maybe you would like to meet? I'm sorry if it's a little forward of me to ask you that, considering we've never actually met in person before, but I thought since we've been online friends for a couple of years, then it might be cool to finally meet each other. I'm in town for work-related matters, so the thing is that I'll only be there for one day. Let me know what you think. I'll understand if you'd rather not take our relationship beyond using me as a meat shield in-game.

Talk to you soon,

Tom, aka Vinland

After reading Tom's message, Charlie experienced a nervous excitement. If she could name one real friend that she had, regardless if they only chatted online, it would be Tom. She had often wondering what it would be like to meet each other. She had never even seen pictures of him, nor he of her. She never bothered with social media sites like Facebook because of her lack of real life friends, so unless she outright asked him for a picture, which she felt she would never be brave enough to do, then there was no way of her knowing what he looked like unless he offered her his picture himself. But he had never done that either, and Charlie wondered if it were because of the same reasons as her. She didn't find herself attractive and feared what he might think of her, of whether or not he might act different after knowing what she looked like. So for that reason, she had always liked keeping things simple and strictly in-game. But now that he wanted to meet, she didn't know what to do.

Charlie made a decision without taking the time to consider one. If she had learned anything from the past week and half, it was that she was boring and not a chance-taker. If she weighed out the possible pros and cons about meeting Tom, then chances were she'd never agree to meet him for fear that he thought she was ugly or weird. Because the truth was she did want to meet him.

Taking the plunge, Charlie responded with an email of her own suggesting the time and place that would be ideal for them to meet.

***~~~***

Later that afternoon, Charlie sat within a booth at Joleen's Diner, a restaurant not far from her own apartment that served delicious home-style cooking, waiting for Tom to arrive. Soon after sending her message, Tom replied with much enthusiasm and agreed to meet her there. She thought about going to the coffee shop, since it would have been cheaper to order something, but she wanted to avoid another embarrassing incident with Lisette if she could help it. Thankfully, her father offered her ten dollars regardless of the damage he believed she had caused to his house. Her dad was awesome.

Charlie looked out the window, sipping at a glass of iced tea and wondering what Tom would look like. She had to leave him details about her so that he would be able to spot her once he arrived, but nothing too specific. Just things like the color of her shirt, for example. She hoped she provided enough information though, because she would hate for him to walk past her and they'd never know it. But it was a good thing Tom had a good eye for detail.

"Hmm," said a man who suddenly appeared next to Charlie. "Blue shirt, sitting alone, avoiding eye contact with everybody else in the restaurant... well, if I didn't already know you were a borderline hermit, I'd say you must be Charlie."

Charlie turned her head and looked at the man who stood before her. He was average height, had dark and slightly wavy hair, a little overweight but carried it well, and had a face that was not handsome but still somewhat pleasing to the eye. Overall, there didn't look to be anything special about him. He was simply an average, normal-looking person.

"Tom?" asked Charlie.

"You got it," said Tom, taking a seat across from her. "It's kind of weird not referring to each other by our character names, eh? It's good to finally meet each other in person."

"I'll admit I was a little hesitant. Even though we only talk to each other online, you know me better than anyone else, so you know how bad I am with meeting people."

"I know. That's why I was a little scared to ask you to meet. I know how much of a recluse you are."

Charlie and Tom laughed, but then an awkward silence spread between them and Charlie played with the straw in her drink and didn't know what to say. She could tell by the way Tom was tapping his finger against a salt shaker he grabbed that he was experiencing similar anxieties. But thankfully, a waitress came around and took their order.

"Can I get you anything?" she asked.

"Um, maybe just a fried donut and a refill for my drink," said Charlie.

"I guess I'll try the same," said Tom. "But I'd like a coffee instead, please."

The waitress wrote down their order and went out back to put it in, returning a couple of minutes later with two donuts, a coffee and an iced tea.

"Wow," said Tom, "this donut's great."

"I know, right?" said Charlie. "I like coming here because it's not the usual fast food joint. Everything is made fresh and the food's incredible."

"Man, I could definitely load up on these during one of our guild raids. Having one of these in my mouth would make the armor repair cost taste a little less bitter. Remember that time you and I decided to go on a stealth mission into the Dark City? Man, that was a disaster waiting to happen. We totally got our butts handed to us. But wasn't it hilarious when we jumped that one guy when he was dealing with a merchant? I still laugh when I think about what he must have been thinking that two players from the opposing faction actually attacked him inside _his_ home city."

"That was so funny!" said Charlie, laughing really hard. "I literally banged my fist against the computer desk and spit energy drink from my nostrils."

Charlie and Tom laughed together again, but this time there were no awkward pauses. Being able to share that memory in person and laugh about it together had helped to break the ice, and somehow Charlie felt a lot more comfortable now. They looked at each other and smiled, and then once she realized she was staring at him, she broke eye contact.

"So..." said Charlie, "is this your first time to Riverton?"

"Nah," said Tom, "I usually don't travel unless I have to come into town for work stuff. I'm a trainer at a call center I work at in my small town. Sometimes other companies hire ours to train some new employees and when they do, they usually send me."

"No way! I had no idea you worked at a call center, too. I'm sure your position must be better than harassing people on the phones about pointless crap though. I freaking hate my job."

"Tell me about it! Try training people who'd rather stab themselves in the eye than listen to me tell them how to pretend to excited about technical support."

Charlie was amazed at how well their meeting was going. She was glad that she agreed to get together. They were hitting it off really well. They talked like two old friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time. It felt good to talk to someone about normal, mundane things. It was all looking really positive, until Tom started acting awkward again and brought Rowan into the conversation.

"So, how are things going between you and that guy you mentioned the other day?" asked Tom. "You still seeing each other?"

"Yeah, things are good," said Charlie, feeling awkward talking about Rowan with him.

"You like him?"

"Yes, I do," said Charlie, really meaning it. Even if things were complicated because they both came from different worlds, that didn't change that she had developed strong feelings towards him.

"Oh, I see," said Tom, averting his eyes from hers and tapping the salt shaker again.

Suddenly the atmosphere had gone from pleasant to uncomfortable. Charlie had a feeling in her gut as to why he brought that up, but she didn't want to believe it. She really didn't want this to happen. Her emotions and relationship with Rowan was complicated enough and she didn't want her own with relationship with Tom to get weird either. He was her best friend. If something happened between them, then she would have nobody else if she and Rowan didn't work out.

"Charlie, I've got to be honest with you," said Tom. "I didn't just come here for a business meeting. The main reason was because I wanted to see you and tell you something."

"Tom..." said Charlie, her expression pleading with him not to go there.

"Please, just hear me out. I don't know if I could forgive myself if I didn't at least try. Charlie, the truth is that I really like you. I've been crazy about you for a long time but have always been afraid to say it. I know I tease you a lot about being a shut-in and everything, but to be honest, I'm the exact same way. We're exactly alike, and I've never met anyone who I felt so connected to before. The reason I never told you this in the past is because I value our friendship so much that if you ever turned me down, then I know we would never be the same again. But when you told me the other day that you met a guy, my heart felt like it shattered to pieces. I hated myself for not telling you how I felt before someone else stole you from me. And believe me, Charlie, it's not like me to be so forward about all of this. But I know that if I sit back and let someone as amazing as you slip through my fingers, to be swept away by some other guy who doesn't know you the way that I do, well, I'll always wonder if things could have ever been between us."

Charlie was thrown into a dilemma from which she believed she could not emerge from unhurt. At that moment, she desperately wished to be fighting off savage demons and garden gnomes instead. The truth was that she also really liked Tom. Even if their relationship was strictly online, she had come to enjoy his company and even look forward to more time spent gaming with him. There had been a few times when she even entertained the idea of what it would be like if they dated. But the prospect of bringing it up to face rejection was just too frightening to go through with it. But it was too late now. She was with Rowan. And the truth about that was that she really liked him too. He was gorgeous, charming, and had saved her life like a hero from within a fairy tale. He had shown her things that amazed her beyond limits and made her feel more alive than she ever did in her life. Sure, things were complicated because of the nature of his existence, and sometimes she felt like being in a relationship with him was too scary and dangerous at times, but he was just so perfect and always had the right things to say to make her feel like she really mattered. It pained her so much to do this, but deep inside she felt like she couldn't just leave Rowan after all the good things he's done for her.

"I'm so sorry, Tom..." said Charlie, feeling sad and unable to meet his eyes.

Tom bit the inside of his lip, as if trying to keep back from looking sad and hurt, and nodded. "It's all right. Don't worry about it. It was just something that I felt like I had to do. Let's try and not let this interfere with our friendship, okay? We still got to get you that Bow of Lesser Destruction, after all."

Charlie nodded, too afraid to speak for fear of crying.

"Anyway," said Tom, checking the time on his cellphone, "I better get ready for that business meeting. It's was really great meeting you, Charlie. I hope we can do it again sometime."

"I'm glad we met, Tom," said Charlie. "You're a really great guy."

Tom nodded, looking just as sad as Charlie did but trying not to look affected, then picked up his things and left the diner. Charlie watched him walk out the door, then inside his car as he drove away. When he was finally out of sight, Charlie buried her face in her hands and started to cry. She knew that even if they said it wouldn't affect their friendship, things would never be the same again. There would always be that awkwardness between them, and Tom's feelings would never change, making it so unbearable for him that at some point he would have no choice but to distance himself from the pain he felt inside.

Why did love have to be so complicated?

### Chapter 18

That night, Charlie found a note sitting on her parents' doorstep. When she finally got around to going back to her parents' house, after a very long walk through random streets and parkways, she discovered that the lights were off and no one was home. Apparently, her mother and father had gone out as well. She discovered that the note was left by Rowan, who she figured must have left it there upon realizing she was gone out. Once she let herself in, she read his letter.

Charlie,

It looks like you're out, so I'm leaving you this note beneath your door to let you know that I was looking for you. Sorry about leaving so suddenly last night. I was starting to get a little overwhelmed and decided the best thing to do was to create some distance. Thanks for the distraction from Roxy – you're a lifesaver! I'd like to meet with you tonight because there's something important I'd like to talk about. Can you meet me tonight at June Park? I'll wait for you by the same bench. Hope to see you there.

Rowan

Charlie was glad to hear that Rowan was all right. Even though she knew he was more than capable of taking care of himself, she worried about him nonetheless. But now she wondered what it was that he wanted to talk about. Whatever it was, it must be important if he intended to wait at the park in hopes that she would show up.

Charlie remembered the look on his face the night before when he showed up at her door. He looked weary, like a traveler after a long journey who would give anything to rest his eyes for a while. What if he intended to leave Riverton? Was it now his time to go in search of a new place to live until Roxy zeroed in on him again? Charlie would understand if that's what he chose to do, because if she found it difficult to be in relationship with a faerie, then it must have been even harder pretending to be something you're not in a world that's not your own. But even if she understood, the thought of it still pained her. She didn't want him to leave. She had finally decided that even if things got scary and crazy, she wanted to stop being the safe, boring and typical person that she always was. His words from the night before had really affected her, and she didn't want to cower under her blankets of protection anymore. She wanted to stay with him.

The sun had already set and it was getting late. Charlie wondered what time Rowan had left the note and hoped that he was still at the park waiting for her. So not wasting any more time and pulling on her coat and scarf again, she walked back outside and ahead in the direction of the park.

***~~~***

With the darkening sky, the temperature felt like it had dropped quite significantly since her walk back home from meeting Tom. Charlie was glad she brought her scarf along. It felt especially cold. The chill of the night made her nervous jitters feel more intense.

As she followed the familiar path along June Park, Charlie found Rowan sitting at the same bench where she had learned of his magic. The air was still and quiet and the sound of her feet disturbing the gravel path alerted Rowan of her presence. He stood up to meet her as she approached and appeared relieved that she had come.

"Thanks for coming," said Rowan. "I was afraid you wouldn't get my note."

"Sorry for missing you when you came by," said Charlie. "I was out with a friend. I only just found your letter before coming straight here. Your note sounded pretty serious. Is something wrong?"

Rowan ran his fingers through his hair and sighed deeply. He appeared to be struggling for words, unable to figure out how to come out and say whatever it was he wanted to say. But one look in those eyes, and Charlie knew. She saw the longing for rest, for his never-ending manhunt to end.

"You're leaving... aren't you?" she said.

Rowan breathed out, releasing all the tension in his chest and shoulders, as if relieved that Charlie was able to come out and say it for him.

"I'm tired, Charlie," said Rowan. "Whenever I start to believe that I can finally slow down and relax, the Fae appears right back on my heels to take me back in."

"I get it," said Charlie, her eyes tearing up and holding back from outright crying. "You've got to move. This city just isn't safe for you anymore."

"Charlie..."

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to make this hard for you. I just hate that things had to turn out this way. I've never met anyone like you, and before we could allow things to get serious, you need to leave. Where are you going to go?"

"Well, that's the thing," said Rowan, pausing to take Charlie's hands in his own and looking her in the eyes. "I want you to come with me."

"What?" said Charlie, surprised. "But, where would we go? How would we survive without a job or a place to live?"

"That's the other important thing I wanted to talk to you about. I'm going back to The Fae, Charlie, back to my home realm."

The significance of what Rowan was telling her was slowly beginning to sink in. She had been right about his desire to move again, but what she hadn't expected was that he wanted to leave Earth altogether and go back to his land of magic and wanted her to go with him. Time slowed down for her at that moment, and it was like every impossibility had suddenly become possible. Not only was it amazing that she recently discovered that fantastical beings existed, but she was now being offered an invitation to live within a world of pure magic.

It was a world that she had always dreamed of being part of.

"You want me to go live with you in The Fae?" asked Charlie, almost disbelieving. "But how is that possible? I'm only mortal. And doesn't your King want you arrested?"

"I met with Roxy later last night to talk things over. I was able to strike a deal with her that I would stop running, but only under one condition. And that was if they'd allow for you to come with me. I realize this is a big decision because we've only known each other for a little while. But I know that we can learn to love each other and be happy. I'm drawn to you, Charlie. You're not like other women. I ran from Faerie to distance myself from snobs and know-it-alls, only to be disappointed to find that earth is filled with them as well. But I must warn you that once you enter The Fae, you'll never be allowed to return. You'll be changed forever to live an immortal life like me. You'll become a faerie."

"So that's the catch."

Charlie hesitated. The thought of escaping this world and leaving all its troubles and sorrows behind sounded like an opportunity of a lifetime. There would be no more stupid questions about pickles, no more worrying about paying the rent, and never having to fear the prospect of death ever again. She would become a being of magic, like she always dreamed of. She wouldn't have to fulfill the desire of being able to use magic through one of her online game characters ever again, because she would be just like Rowan and able to wield it herself.

But what of her humanity? What would become of it? Would she lose her identity and become something else? And what of her family and everything and everyone she's ever known on earth? What of the smell of coffee in the morning and those late-night gaming sessions complimented by pizza deliveries? Would she be able to live an everlasting life without ever experiencing any of those things again?

Then Charlie thought of Tom's sad face, and how that at this very moment she more than likely had nobody else but Rowan.

"I'll go," said Charlie. "There's nothing left for me on earth. I want to go with you to The Fae."

Rowan smiled, pulled Charlie into him and embraced her tightly. "I promise to take care of you."

Charlie liked being held in his arms, the warmth of his body against her own, filling her with a sense of security and comfort. She responded with a soft squeeze of her own. Then, after a long moment of pressing her ear against his chest and enjoying the sound of his beating heart, she pulled away and regarded him again.

"Before we go, I think I should make some final preparations," said Charlie, "which basically means saying goodbye to my parents, without them realizing what's happening."

"Tomorrow morning, when you're ready, you can return here," said Rowan. "Roxy will be ready to take us away into The Fae. And there's no need to worry about trouble on the other side. The only thing that will happen to me is that I will be forbidden to return to this realm. You won't need to bring anything with you. You'll soon find that everything you ever dreamed of will be at your fingertips."

Suddenly Charlie became overwhelmed with emotion. She was leaving. Soon, everything she had ever known will only become a part of her past and would live an everlasting life in the most beautiful place imaginable. Part her was overcome with excitement, but it still felt like a hard thing to do. Saying goodbye was never easy. Even if she felt like there wasn't much to say goodbye to.

Charlie leaned into Rowan and kissed him deeply. Then, she left the park to bid her world farewell.

### Chapter 19

Charlie woke up the next morning feeling nothing. Maybe that was because she cried until slumber took her. It was like last night's sleep had drained her of all emotion, preparing her for her disappearance later that morning. She would be gone. People may come looking for her, but she would leave no trace as to where she was going or any clues to her whereabouts. All that would remain of her in this world would be a memory.

It was strange. She felt like a person who had come to terms with the idea of her suicide. There were no hesitations, no second thoughts, only acceptance. Today, the human known as Charlie Cradle would die and she would be reborn into a being of what she once believed was nothing but myth and legend. She would become a being of pure magic, able to manipulate nature with but a single thought.

It still all felt too unbelievable to actually be happening to her, of all people.

The night before had been an emotional rollercoaster ride for her, to the point that even her mother thought she was acting a little strange. Charlie made it a point to spend the rest of night bonding with her family, the only people she had left in this world. But trying not to appear like she was hiding something wasn't as easy as she hoped it would be. She couldn't figure out why it was so hard if she had come to terms with really leaving. Was it supposed to feel this way? Or was she actually having second thoughts but didn't realize it? Whenever she started to doubt herself, she thought of Rowan and about how much he meant to her. In a sense, he had entered the world and saved her from it, giving her the opportunity to escape the pains of life.

That didn't make her a coward, did it?

After having a shower and eating her last breakfast with her parents, Charlie felt like she was now ready to leave. The only thing she wished she could have done before leaving was logging into her online video game one last time and say farewell to the fantasy world that she spent so much time adventuring in. She thought about stopping by her apartment to do just that, but figured that it might make it even harder to leave after seeing all of her possessions and collectibles left behind.

The time had come. Charlie was ready to go. She told her parents that she was going for a walk since it turned out to be a nice sunny day, and that she thought she'd enjoy some fresh air. Then, she hugged each of them and said told them she loved them, which really made her mother worry that something was wrong with her because hugging was something Charlie just didn't do. But Charlie reassured her everything was all right and that she felt bad that she didn't show them enough affection. Her mother accepted her answer and appreciated the gesture.

As Charlie was pulling on her coat, she looked at the laptop sitting by the couch and thought that it might be nice to check her emails one last time before leaving. But as soon as she did, she instantly regretted it, because there was new message from Tom. She still felt terrible about how their meeting had ended, and thought that maybe it would be best to leave his email unread to save her some more pain. But curiosity won in the end and she had to read it.

Hi, Charlie,

I wanted to apologize for yesterday. Even though I don't regret telling you how I feel, I feel bad that the first time we met each other had to end that way. I really hope this won't affect our friendship. Anyway, it looks like I won't be able to leave as early as I was hoping to this morning due to my car breaking down on me. So I've got to take the bus home while it's getting fixed at a mechanic. My bus doesn't leave until noon, so if you were still interested in meeting each other one last time before I leave, then maybe we can hang out at the station while I wait to go home?

Again – sorry if I made things weird. You're still my best friend.

Tom

Charlie read Tom's message and then closed the laptop. She was right. She did regret reading his message. Now she felt even sadder than before. What would Tom think once he realized she was gone? Would he know that she had run off with Rowan? Would she be able to hear the sound of his heart breaking all the way from The Fae? She forced back tears from welling up in her eyes at the thought of this. But her mind was decided. In the end, she hoped that this would be the best thing for her.

Charlie walked out the door and stood on the veranda, taking one last look at the place where she found comfort in her childhood. She hoped that becoming a faerie would help ease the sorrow she was feeling.

***~~~***

On her way to the park where Rowan was waiting for her, Charlie decided to take the long way and walk through the streets of Riverton one last time. The day was particularly beautiful, like the autumn weather remembering what it was like on a warm summer morning. She took in the sounds and sights of the city, admiring the things that she never before took the time to appreciate. For the first time since the night before, Charlie felt like she would miss this place.

Then something strange happened.

As Charlie was walking past a large restaurant window, she noticed a waitress carrying a plate that she was bringing over to a customer.

And on that plate was a sandwich.

The sight of the sandwich was strange for two reasons. First, she could swear she once had a dream about that exact same peculiar-looking sandwich. However, she couldn't quite remember to be sure. Second, her entire conversation with Mr. Morris while at work that day had all come rushing back to her, and she could suddenly hear his voice inside her head.

_I am_ _passionate_ _about my sandwich-making ability. You know why? Because I make a damn good sandwich! It's my passion. Life is meaningless if you've got nothing to live for._

Then, just as suddenly, words that Rowan had said also filled her mind.

The Fae will never possess one thing, the one thing that I admire so much in humans, and that's the value of life. It's what makes you unique. It fills you with the desire of making every day of your existence one that will matter. Life is precious to you, and so your passions have that much more meaning.

Charlie stared through the restaurant window at the man who held the sandwich in his hands, realizing something important. Although she had failed to notice that he was also staring back at her, raising an eyebrow, and appearing as if wondering why she wouldn't look away from his sandwich. That was his sandwich. He paid for it. If she wanted one so bad then she'd have to get her own. He gripped the toasted exterior of his early lunch like Gollum grasping his precious; covetous and unwilling to share it with anyone else.

Charlie walked away from the window oblivious to the man's existence. The only thing that mattered was the significance of that sandwich. To anyone else, it would represent nothing but a way to satisfy their hunger, while to Charlie it meant so much more. It represented everything she would ever miss out on if she abandoned her life to live in another world.

An enormous weight lifted from her shoulders at that moment. She now knew that she couldn't go through with Rowan's request. However much it hurt to watch him leave, she realized it would hurt much more to never experience life the way she should have for so many years. So, leaving the city streets behind, Charlie hurried to the park to meet with Rowan, because suddenly she needed to meet someone else at a bus station.

When she arrived at the park where Rowan told her to meet him, Charlie found him waiting by the pond, with Roxy standing nearby, leaning against a tree with her arms crossed, waiting expectantly. As Charlie approached, Rowan must have seen something in her expression, because his smile changed from being happy to see her, into one that was understanding but disappointedly sad, like he half expected her to change her mind. It was a big decision after all.

"You've had a change of heart?" asked Rowan.

"I'm really sorry," said Charlie. "But I can't go through with this."

"It's okay, Charlie," he said, taking her hands in his own. "In all honesty, I know I was laying down a pretty big request. It was kind of selfish of me to ask you to leave behind everything you have ever known for a life with me."

"You've changed my life, Rowan. I've lived my entire existence hiding away from the world, too afraid to _really_ live. But since you appeared, you've helped me realize that I don't have to be ashamed to be myself anymore. And I know that if I run away now, I'll never get to experience all the things that make me human. I'll never find my true passions that make my life worth living. I don't doubt that living in your world would be the most amazing thing that could ever happen to me, but I'm just not ready to give up on my own just yet. I want to experience all the joys and sorrow this world had to offer."

"Humans never cease to amaze me," said Rowan, smiling that familiar bright warm smile. "Just when I think I've learned all there is to know, you prove me wrong once more. I'll miss you, Charlie. I hope you find what it is that you're looking for."

Rowan pulled Charlie into him one last time and embraced her gently. She hugged him back, knowing that she, too, would miss him dearly. But at that moment, after all that had been said, she knew that this was the right decision. She wasn't afraid anymore.

After releasing each other, Rowan walked to the edge of the pond, where he turned and looked back at her and smiled one last time, then he dove into the water, never to be seen again. Charlie hadn't expected the gateway to The Fae to be inside the pond, and for a moment she feared that he might drown.

"Don't worry," said Roxy, finally approaching her and waving a hand at the water, "he'll be all right. It's a faerie trick. We use nature to travel back and forth from each realm."

"Does this mean you'll leave me alone now?" asked Charlie.

"Now that I've accomplished what I was paid to do – yeah, you're off the hook." Roxy was just about to dive into the pond, but stopped herself and turned back to say one final thing. "You're a heartbreaker, Charlie Cradle. You're all right for mortal."

Charlie smiled, then Roxy dove into the pond and she never saw her again.

Suddenly, Charlie saw the world in a different light. The crisp air of the morning tasted sweeter and the sun's warmth filled her with a sense of belonging she'd never experienced before. She now belonged to the world just as much as it belonged to her.

Charlie checked the time on her watch and suddenly felt a sense of urgency. It was almost noon. If she didn't make it to the bus stop on time she would miss the chance to tell Tom how she really felt about him. So, wasting no more time, she ran with all her might down the gravel path of the park, then paused to catch her breath, ran some more, paused again, then ran until she reached the street where she was able to flag down a taxi to drive her the rest of the way. She thought it would have been more romantic to run the whole way, but knew that she'd pass out from exhaustion before reaching him. Thankfully, she had just enough money—left from that ten dollars her father had given her—to pay for the cab.

Charlie was nearly driven crazy because time felt like it was on fast forward while the rest of the world moved in slow motion. Her heart pounded in her chest at the fear of not making it on time. She couldn't let Tom leave without knowing that she, too, felt the same way about him.

Finally, her cab had made it to the bus station and with not a moment to spare. As they pulled in, so did Tom's bus.

"That'll be $4.87," said the cab driver, but Charlie just threw all the money she had on her without caring for the change in return and jumped out of the car.

People were boarding the bus now, and at least half of them had already entered. She hoped Tom wasn't one of them. And thankfully he wasn't, because just as she spotted him, his head down while playing a Gameboy, he placed his first foot on the bottom step and was about to go inside.

"Tom!" yelled Charlie, desperately hoping she was heard.

Then, a second before he pulled himself into the bus, Tom turned at the sound of his name and looked for the source of the call. And that's when he saw her.

Tom and Charlie locked eyes, and when they did, he smiled in amazement and took his foot off the steps of the bus.

Charlie was overcome with relief. Tears filled her eyes as she smiled back at him, his completely average self now appearing more perfect than it ever had. Tom wasn't a wizard or born of magic; he had no special powers other than the ability of being simply awesome, and he probably couldn't battle a demon and win if he tried. But none of that mattered to Charlie. He was a regular person, just like her, who hated working for a call center. He played video games and laughed at jokes that most other people didn't understand, just like she did.

Charlie knew that she was taking a chance by pouring her feelings out to Tom like the way he did. What if things never worked out between them? But right, now she didn't worry about that; even though it was only the beginning of their relationship, just as Rowan had said to her, she was sure they would learn to love each other. She didn't want to live her life anymore always wondering what could have been. Maybe she and Tom might never travel the world or experience extravagant things or make lots of money. Maybe they could only keep living their lives the simple way, but now with more appreciation for it. They could exist together. And that would make her happy.

It would be a wonderful existence.

###

### Acknowledgments

I want to thank my wife, Carlie, for always being encouraging, believing in me, and for all the time she let me spend writing while I'm sure she would have rather have cuddled on the couch. From now on, I'll try to remember not to place the toilet paper beyond your reach.

Thanks to Ang Meydam for all the great feedback and for being one of the first to read the story. Her encouragement and enthusiasm made me giddy with joy! Every writer needs to have a friend like her.

I especially want to thank my grandmother, June Jimmo, for plain and simply being awesome. Her love and support has been a shining light in my life, and an anchor that's kept me from drifting out to sea.

Thanks to my editor, Monica San Nicolas, for helping me reach my goal of becoming published through her willingness to work within my needs. Without her skill and expertise, this story may not have seen the light of day for a very long time.

And finally, my biggest thanks to my high school English teacher, Penny Matthews, who has been the greatest influence in my desire to write. Thank you for reading every one of my terrible poems and song lyrics and still telling me they were awesome. You made writing feeling good.

***~~~***

### About the Author

Scott J. Callaway was born and raised in the small Maritime fishing community of Escuminac, New Brunswick. As a child, his most despicable moment was when he left his sister for dead in a hole in the snow while trying to escape the evil clutches of a talking doll. It was that moment when he realized that he could never be a hero, and would have to settle with writing about them instead. Currently, he lives in the city where he works trying to provide for his wonderful wife and beautiful daughter in the best way that he can. He draws energy from peace and quiet and values the stillness of a room while enjoying a good book. His dream is to someday be able to share all the things he makes up in his head with the world.

For more information about the author, visit his blog at www.scottjcallaway.blogspot.ca or his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ScottJCallaway.

