Charlotte's or rather Charlie's story begins about a year before she discovered Mystique Hollow, around the time she had lost her father and mother. It was her fifteenth birthday, just after school had let out and her parents had picked her up, choosing to go out for the celebration. First thing they did was exchange presents. Her mother had given her a very special music box and her father had given her an evening gown in pale blue which she wore to go with them to dinner and afterward to a theater show. It was by far the best birthday she ever had.

But that night as they were driving home, their car was hit by a truck who's driver was awfully drunk. The crash had sent the car skidding off the road and tumbling down a ravine. Charlie's head had been thrown hard aganist the window and she was knocked out instantly. When she awoke she was in the hospital with a bandage wrapped around her head to stop the bleeding of a nasty gash she had recieved. But that gash and few a bruises were all she sustained from that accident. Her parents however were not as lucky. Her father's head had crashed against the wind shield resulting in fractured skull while her mother's neck had been snapped by the sudden force. Their deaths had been quick and painless, no suffering. Yet their daughter was left suffering more than they ever would from here on out.

Her maternal grandparents were long dead and her mother had been an only child, her paternal grandfather was still alive but tragically in the early stages of dementia while her paternal uncle had five children to care for. That left only her godfather Stolas to look after her. Stolas Goetia was a very wealthy biotech consultant who had been a long time friend to Charlie's parents, he was her father's college roommate and he was in the same theater trope as her mother. He introuduced the future couple to each other at a party and since then he had always been there to help them when neccessary. Though they drifted apart once he married and had his own daughter yet they still chose him to look after their little girl should anything happen to them.

Charlie could remember Stolas visiting them on holidays or babysitting her when she was younger, but living with him would be a little strange because the very last time she saw him, she was only seven years old. Not to mention he lived all the way in the state of Oregon, territory that she wasn't familiar with. She had grown up in a big city but Stolas lived in a small town. He had once lived in the city like Charlie's parents did but after divorcing his wife, he thought that a quieter and more simple area would be better suited to his daughter Octavia.

It was a very old house, one that had an attic under the roof, a cellar under the ground, and an overgrown garden where Stolas grew and tended to his large collection of plants. He had enough money to own the property but he thought the house was too big to shelter only three people, so he chose only to own part of it and allow other residents to rent out the remaining flats.

Gina De Luca lived in the flat below Stolas, on the ground floor. In her youth she had worked as magician's assist and a fortune teller, traveling around the world and never really finding stable home until she married Marco De Luca owner of a very popular Italian resturaunt. When Marco died, she retired and their son Roberto became the resturaunt's new owner. Two years afterward she lost her daughter Emilia to her abusive son-in law and became the legal guardian of her grandson Anthony "Angel" Giannelli and then ten years later her adult nephew Baldwin "Blitzo" Walker moved in with them after his career at the circus ended.

In the flat above, under the roof, there lived Husk Talanov. Husk was a war veteran who got by on military benefits and was prone to using the money for gambling or booze. People said that the war did a real number on him, that what he experienced messed up so bad that sometimes he rant like a mad man or talk to people who weren't really there. Some concerned parents thought he was a threat to children but Stolas had allowed his daughter to bring Husk his mail on several occassions, so he was probably harmless.

When Charlie finally arrived at the house, she was greeted warmly and with open arms from Stolas and Octavia but she was too numb from sorrow to accept any hugs or say anything. In fact she barely said a word that entire first year and the only time she ever left the house was to go to her new school, and school arguably made things harder for her.

She was the new kid and she had decided not to interact with anyone. She just wanted to get through her classes and go home. After months of not trying to socialize, her peers began to spread rumors and tease her about something being very wrong with her. One time someone put an open ant farm in Charlie's locker and for weeks Charlie found squashed ants between the pages of her books. Another time someone sprayed painted the word FREAK on her locker door and despite scrubbing until her finger were red, the paint wouldn't completely wash off until a month had passed.

The only safe place in the world for her was her new bedroom, which she had made into an almost complete replica of the one she had before her parents had passed. It was a room filled with numerous items to feed her incredible imagination. Shelves of fantasy books, a collection of toys in one corner, posters of various musicals, and figurines that adorned her desk and vanity. Here she could read her stories and enter her own fantasy world, pretending that the cruel and unfair real world didn't exist. In a way her room was a world just for her and no one but her was permitted to enter.

This posed as a problem, specifically in regards to Stolas's daughter Octavia. By this time, she was six years old and like all children her age she was curious, tended to be thoughtless, and was always trying to be involved with everything and find some game to play. She wanted to play with Charlie and she wanted to play with some of Charlie's toys but her older godsister barely did anything with her and forbade her to touch anything that belonged to her. Unfortunately children very seldom listen to anything a teenager tells them.

"Octavia!" Charlie shouted angrily.

After a particularly awful day at school, Charlie came home hoping to cool off with one of her books but her anger was greatly spiked when she found Octavia in her room and reaching for Charlie's favorite toys from her childhood, two plush goats that she had named Razzle and Dazzle.

"What are you doing in my room?!" She demanded. "You know you're not allowed up here!"

"I...I...I was having a tea party." The six year old said. "And I wanted to invite Razzle and Dazzle."

"These do not belong to you." Charlie said placing the two toys on a higher shelf.

"Daddy says it's important to share." Octavia said.

"He also says you're not supposed to enter a person's room without their permission, or borrow things without permission."

"I was going to ask to borrow them."

"You were not! You never ask to borrow anything! You're always sneaking into my room and taking my stuff!"

"Well I would ask but you never say yes. It's always no."

"That doesn't mean you can be a little thief!"

"I'm not a thief! I just want to play."

"Then play with your own toys. Why are you always trying to play with mine? You have more toys than any kid in town I'm sure."

"Because then you'll play with me."

Charlie's anger began to simmer down as she slowly allowed the child's words to sink in.

"You never wanna play with me and I think maybe it's because you don't like my toys. I thought that if I brought your toys to play then you'd join in."

Charlie sighed. As annoying as Octavia could be, Charlie knew that in the end the girl didn't mean any harm. She was only trying to get closer to Charlie and spend time with her. Her father doted on her but he had a job so he couldn't be with her all the time, her mother was all the way back in the city, and there were no children in the neighborhood, so on days when Stolas had work and Octavia didn't have school, Charlie was her only option for a friend.

"I'm sorry Via." Charlie said in a much more gentle tone. "I know you just want to play but when I come home from school, I'm not in the mood to play. I just want to be alone."

"But you're always alone and I always have to play by myself when Daddy isn't here. Can't you play with me for a little while? Pretty please?" She quivered her lip and gave Charlie the puppy dog eyes.

"One hour." Charlie said caving in. "And I'm not letting you do my hair or my make up."

"Yay!"

Octavia excitedly pulled Charlie into her bedroom where a blanket was laid flat on the floor. At the center of the blanket was a teapot and at the ends of the blankets were tea cups perched next to a doll or stuffed animal. The two girls sat down and Octavia proceeded to pour invisible tea into the cups.

"Everyone this is Lady Charlotte." Octavia announced to her toy guests. "Lady Charlotte this is Sir Twilight." She introduced the teddy bear which was black as night.

"The duchess sisters Dawn and Luna." She introuduced the two dolls, one with golden hair and one with silver hair.

"And Prince Orion." She declared introducing a plush owl.

Charlie wouldn't admit it but playing with Octavia did lift her spirits and bring a smile to her face. A small smile, but a smile nonetheless. For an hour she played tea party with "Princess Octavia," and it made her feel a lot better than she thought it would.

Octavia's room also had a vanity in it and unknown to both girls, someone was watching them through the mirror of that vanity. Watching them from the other side. Watching them from a dark world that no child or teenager should ever enter. Watching them and smiling.