School the next day passed in a blur, and before Charlotte knew it, she was leading Emma, Cleo, Rikki, and Lewis to her house. Rikki was drilling holes into the back of her head, and she could hear Cleo and Emma talking in low voices, no doubt about her.

"Thanks for coming, guys," she said hesitantly as they walked up the driveway.

"This better be worth it, Charlotte," Rikki muttered.

"It will be," she replied earnestly. Maybe a little too earnestly, because the others gave her strange looks. Blushing furiously, Charlotte opened the door. "Willow," she called out, "I'm back home, and the guys are here."

The red-haired girl bounded down the stairs, a smile on her face. "Hi guys, I'm Willow Rosenberg," she held out her hand, "Nice to meet you."

Charlotte looked over nervously. The three were staring at her hand like it was covered in poison ivy. Willow's smile and hand faltered a little, until Lewis (bless him) reached out and shook it.

"Nice to meet you, Willow. I'm Lewis McCartney." He wrapped an arm around Cleo, "And this my girlfriend, Cleo Setori, and our friends, Emma Gilbert and Rikki Chadwick."

Charlotte let out a breath that she hadn't even realized she was holding as they finally shook hands. This was going much better than she had thought it would. At least they were willing to listen.

"Okay, can we get started?"

Charlotte resisted the urge to give Rikki a glare and instead took a breath. "Well, Rikki, there's something I need to tell you all."

She took a deep breath, and began the story. She told them about Willow being a witch, first, as a way of easing them into it. Of course, the girls didn't believe them.

"Okay," Willow stated with a slight smile, "I'll show you a classic."

She looked around the room, and with a look of concentration, and a tilt of her head, everything, from the bed to all the pencils on Charlotte's desk, floated a foot off the ground. Charlotte couldn't help but smile.

"How are you doing that?!" Emma demanded, placing her hands over and under the floating objects.

Willow tapped the side of her nose with a cheeky smile. "Magic."

Charlotte laughed with delight at the flying objects. Even seeing all that she had seen as a mermaid, this was actual magic, from an actual witch. It was completely wonderful. Even Rikki looked impressed.

"It's amazing," Cleo whispered, hesitantly poking at a flying pencil mug, before looking back to Willow. "You're really a witch, then?"

Willow nodded, and gently set everything back down. "Ever since high school. And I can do a lot more than float things, now."

For a second, Charlotte thought she saw something like regret flash behind Willows eyes, but it was gone before she could be sure.

"Anyway," Charlotte continued, eager to get everything out in the open. "There's something else that both Willow and I need to tell you." She looked over to the other girl, who nodded. "Guys, Willow knows about you being mermaids. But I didn't tell her," she quickly added, before they jumped down her throat, "She was at Mako Island and found the moon pool!"

"Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anyone, you can trust me," Willow promised.

The three girls looked at one another, and Emma asked, "But Charlotte, what does all this have to do with you?"

"Well, it turns out that a few weeks ago, the Hellmouth that their town was sitting on top of-"

"Doesn't sound like a good place for a town," Lewis murmured.

"And in order to stop all the demons, Willow cast this spell to turn all potential Slayers into actual Slayers," Charlotte summarized. "And I was one."

"You're a vampire… Slayer," Cleo clarified, and both Willow and Charlotte nodded.

"That is really hard to swallow," Emma said, crossing her arms, a disbelieving look on her face.

"I know, but it's all true, Emma," Charlotte insisted. She didn't understand why she was trying so hard to get them to believe her.

"There's one thing I don't understand," Rikki asked, "If there are vampires, then why hasn't there been weird deaths or anything like that? I mean, people aren't stupid, I think people would notice if dead people kept showing up with bite marks on their necks."

Willow shrugged. "I lived in a town where vampire deaths were the norm, Rikki, and the people who lived there, myself included, had a way of ignoring things that don't make sense or coming up with some excuse for the strange deaths."

For a few minutes, the room was quiet, as everyone thought about what went on.

'This is going pretty well,' Charlotte thought cautiously, hoping she didn't jinx it.

The silence was cut off by the sound of Emma's phone ringing, which she quickly answered. "Hi, Mom… At a friend's house… No, not Rikki or Cleo. Charlotte Watsford, actually. I'll be home in a little bit... Love you too, bye." She hung up and stuck her phone in her pocket. "I need to go home, guys," Emma announced. "Charlotte, thank you for having us over."

"Um, you're welcome, Emma. Thank you guys for coming over," she replied.

They gave assorted sounds of agreement, and Charlotte showed them to the door. They all said their goodbyes, and Willow went off to the kitchen. Rikki stayed at the door, though, and Charlotte felt her stomach twist into knots.

"You didn't tell her, did you?" Rikki asked quietly. "You didn't tell her that the last time you had powers, you tried to destroy the three of us?" She looked up and stared into Charlotte's eyes, and Charlotte looked away guiltily. She didn't need to answer, because Rikki only asked it rhetorically.

"I plan to," Charlotte responded weakly. "I really do."

"Do it, or I will." Rikki didn't say it threateningly, just matter-of-fact, which honestly made it worse. If Rikki had been angry, or threatening, then Charlotte could fight her, it would be a force to go against.

'Oh my god,' Charlotte thought hopelessly. 'What is wrong with me?' Why did she need to fight against them? It hadn't been their fault.

"I know, Rikki," she murmured. "I'll see you at school Monday."

"Bye."

Charlotte shut the door and leaned against it for a minute, trying to build up the courage to talk to Willow about what she had done. She had no idea how Willow would react. Would she be angry? Charlotte shuddered. The last thing she wanted was an angry witch in her house.

She walked into the kitchen, where she could smell grilled cheese sandwiches being made. Maybe this was for the best, maybe Willow could take away this power before she hurt someone else. Any optimism for this gift was snuffed out by reality. Charlotte stepped into the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror, gripping the sink edge.

This was a test, she decided. A second chance. For what, Charlotte hadn't decided. To be a better person, to be hero, perhaps? That was a nice thought, one that made her smile and gave her courage.

"Charlotte! I made some dinner!" Willow called out.

"Coming!" With a last glance at the mirror, she went out to the kitchen.