Dichotomy

PETER MEET PAUL

Charlotte and the wolf spent quite a bit of time lying in the snow eyeballing each other. Until eventually Charlotte softly whispered, "I have to go," as she slowly rose to her feet. She needed to get back to the house. Her foster parents would be angry with her if she showed up late.

Gio didn't move as he watched her go. He sat still, allowing Charlotte to put some distance between them before getting up to follow her. This time he didn't hide.

Charlotte noticed of course. For a moment, she was concerned the wolf might try to ambush her, but he just followed her quietly, never trying to get any closer.

She made sure to keep an eye on him as he treaded after her.

Although the wolf looked intimidating, he certainly didn't act wild, Charlotte realized. Perhaps he had been someone's pet and they abandoned him here? She considered. Whatever it was there was something about him that felt strange.

The sun was beginning to dip behind the trees, casting its golden light onto them when they reached the edge of the woods. Charlotte stopped and turned to look at the wolf.

"Thank you for saving me, but you can't follow me any further." She told him, hoping the animal would understand. She knew wolves were intelligent creatures and this one seemed particularly intelligent.

Whether the wolf understood or not she didn't know, but either way, he didn't move to follow her past the edge of the wood.

His eyes however never left her as she crossed the yard and disappeared into the tiny run-down house.

"Where have you been, Charlotte!? We've been worried sick!" Elaine screeched as soon as Charlotte stepped through the door. She grabbed Charlotte's shoulders tightly with her claw-like hands, almost like she wanted to shake her but couldn't.

Charlotte gapped at Elaine in surprise before noticing her caseworker was sitting on the sofa with a cup of tea in his hand.

"I'm sorry Elaine. I decided to walk home, and it took longer than I thought and there was a bear..." Charlotte explained, nervously.

Elaine's beady eyes narrowed.

"A bear... really?" The woman hissed angrily.

Charlotte nodded, wide-eyed.

"Bears aren't out right now. Won't be for a few months." Elaine shook her head. "If you're going to lie at least make it believable." She said, looking over at the caseworker as if to say, see what I have to deal with?

Charlotte's mouth tightened as she tried to conceal her annoyance.

She could have added something about Elaine forcing her to walk alone in a storm, but chances were high that the woman would talk her way out of it, probably by making Charlotte seem like a liar and a brat.

Charlotte took a deep breath, reminding herself to choose her battles.

"Charlotte! Enough with the nonsense. Peter has been waiting here for hours. He came to see how you're settling in. Let's not waste Peter's time any more than you already have." The spindly woman chastised.

"It's Paul...." The caseworker corrected. This was actually the third time he'd had to correct the woman.

"No matter, Charlotte is here now so you can get started." Elaine dismissed, pushing Charlotte toward him.

"Yes," Paul said, placing his cup of tea down and picking up a yellow legal pad.

"How are you doing Charlotte? Sounds like you had quite the adventure today?" He asked gently, trying to make her feel comfortable. The tiny brunette girl was rather stiff, although she was that way last time if he remembered correctly.

"Fine, and no... it wasn't a big deal. I guess I was confused." She answered flatly.

"I see. Well, how is school going? Have you adjusted well?"

Charlotte could feel Elaine watching them intently.

"It's been good. I've met a few nice people," She answered.

"That's great! You've made friends?" Paul asked cheerfully.

"Yes, I guess you could say that." Charlotte shrugged.

"Wonderful..." Paul continued with a few more ice-breaking questions, but Charlotte anticipated he would shift to a more probative query soon. She'd been through the process enough times to know what to expect.

"Elaine, I would like to ask Charlotte a few questions in private. Would you mind waiting in the other room?" Paul asked, his tone shifting as he looked up at Elaine.

Yep, here we go, Charlotte thought.

"..... of course," Elaine responded, her thin lips tightening in displeasure.

The woman gave Charlotte a stern look as she left the room. A warning not to say anything unfavorable as if Charlotte hadn't gotten the hint before.

There were several things Charlotte could complain about. Walter and Elaine had her sleeping in a cold, dark basement, they barely fed her, and they weren't particularly nice... but the truth was Charlotte had experienced much worse and if she complained she would be taking a gamble that the next family wouldn't treat her worse than this one.

At least here she wasn't being beaten, Charlotte thought as she stroked the long thick scar on her wrist. A reminder of how bad a foster family could be.

"How do you feel about living with the Watsons? Are they kind to you?" Paul asked gently.

"They are decent people, I think." She answered noncommittally.

Charlotte continued answering questions until Paul seemed satisfied that she wasn't being abused there. Yeah, it was a low bar.

"It was so nice having you! When will you be back?" Elaine asked as Paul donned his hat and coat in preparation to leave.

Charlotte rolled her eyes, knowing that the true purpose of her question was to ensure she wasn't caught being anything but motherly.

"We make periodic wellness visits, but they are random, so I can't say exactly when the next one will be, but it'll be soon," Paul answered kindly.

It wasn't true. Caseworkers were always overloaded, and they rarely made wellness visits.

As soon as Paul left, Elaine turned on her, dropping the façade. Her face pulled up into an ugly sneer.

"You're lucky that Mr. Rayburn thinks highly of us. What really took you so long girl?!" Elaine snapped.

Charlotte was a little taken aback by the intensity of her fury. Also was the woman delusional? No one thought 'highly' of her, she was no Mother Teresa.

"Were you running around with a boy?" Elaine growled. She had been embarrassed when the caseworker showed up and they had no idea where Charlotte was or what was taking her so long to come home. Having the caseworker here, breathing down her neck for so long had shaken her up.

"No," Charlotte answered firmly, stepping around the woman.

"Charlotte the harlot." Elaine sneered as Charlotte headed to her room in the basement.

A deep frown settled across Charlotte's face, but she kept walking. It wasn't worth a response. She had no intention of starting a fight with her foster parents.

Not when she was so close to getting out that she could practically taste freedom.

Charlotte spent the evening laying on the basement mattress, clutching the pillow to her chest and staring at the water stains on the basement ceiling.

For the majority of her life, she had been in foster care. Tossed around carelessly from one home to the next. Ignored, abused, forgotten. After her parents died in the car accident, she had no one. It was as if Charlotte had been thrown into this world completely alone. The only thing that gave her strength was knowing she was a witch.

Charlotte had very few memories of her life before the accident but one memory that stuck with her was her mother leaning close like she was sharing a fun little secret. Her eyes sparkled warmly, "Charlotte, I have something special to tell you. I'm a witch, and so are you!" She had said.

It took Charlotte a while to realize it, but being a witch was her golden ticket. Sure, she didn't know much or anything really about magic, but it was in her blood. It was like a pulse inside of her that she had learned to move and manipulate.

Once she turned 18, she would be free to make her own way and her magic would help that. She was sure of it.