CHAPTER THREE

"Charlotte?" She whispered under her breath, uncertainly.

Angel blinked at the young woman, wrapped in the blanket, fresh dressings on her various wounds, "Did you say something?"

"Charlotte." she affirmed in a stronger voice, "That's my name, I think?" Charlotte groaned, rubbing the bruise on her head, the confusion frustrating her. She looked at her unfamiliar surroundings, "Where am I?"

Angel fished a water bottle out of a cooler next to him, unscrewed the cap and handed the bottle to her, "Here, drink this first, your voice is hoarse, likely dry. Hydrate."

In fact, it was her demon's inner voice seeping through, but she didn't realize it. Taking the bottle, Charlotte took a deep swallow and started coughing hard, spitting the water back up, and dropping the bottle, spilling water on the floor, "Whoah, easy… are you okay?"

Charlotte coughed more and finally settled down, embarrassed. "Sorry sorry sorry."

"Don't be. Just sip the water slower." Angel fetched the near empty bottle, and tossed it aside, grabbing another clear bottle and gave it to Charlotte who did so, and a few more coughs later, she felt better.

"Do you know how you got here, Charlotte? Were you kidnapped?" He asked while rummaging through some trash bags, pulling out a black shirt and jeans.

"Kidnapped?" Charlotte asked, shocked, "NO! no.. I .. don't think so.. no. I.. I can't remember."

"It's okay. Don't push yourself. I'm sure it'll all come back to you." Angel pulled himself into the driver's side chair, currently turned to the back of the van, and handed her the clothes, "Here, I think these will fit you. Your clothes are a mess."

Charlotte realized her state of dress and blushed. Nothing intimate was showing, thankfully, but not without a bit of luck. She turned away in the blanket and Angel turned to face the front, giving her privacy. Pulling the tattered remains of her white dress shirt away, she noticed light cuts all over her torso and breasts. What had she been through?

"What's your name?" she asked as he slipped the black shirt over her, its smooth cotton feeling good against her skin.

"Angel.'' He answered, while adjusting the time on his watch, waiting for Charlotte to finish.

Angels, she thought the word sounded very familiar. Charlotte pushed off what was left of her slacks.. grateful her panties seemed to be fully intact, and slipped on the jeans, which hugged her hips comfortably, "They fit well."

"I keep a lot of different items in here for the kids and teens I find. I've gotten good at guessing sizes."

"Where am I?" Charlotte asked again, bringing the topic back to what was important to her.

"Gratten. I found you nearby in the woods."

"Gratten?" The name did not sound familiar to her but little if anything here did.

"It's in Virgina. Do you remember where you're from?"

Zipping the jeans and buttoning the clasp, she turned back to face Angel, "No. Why can't I remember anything but my name?"

Turning back to face her, Angel explains, "Amnesia is common with a head wound like yours, the trauma can block memory. Muscle memory generally remains, like being able to talk, walk, etcetera. I'm at a loss as to why you remember your name, and nothing else, though."

Charlotte rubs her forehead, the bruise stinging, as Angel continues, "You've obviously been attacked, I just can't understand why you were left behind."

"Behind?" her head throbbed, nothing made sense.

"Listen, Charlotte, I search for lost and taken children, to rescue them if need be from bad men. I was tracking a pair of brothers who'd taken two girls when I found you. I assumed you were taken, too, yet abandoned for some reason."

"I honestly don't think so… I don't know why I can't remember, but I don't feel like I was taken." Sudden realization hit Charlotte hard in her stomach causing a rumbling of energy and power she couldn't understand wash over her, "They take children?"

A deep animalisitc growl rumbled up her throat, and her eyes began to glow a bright red, changing from pupils to slits. horns sprouting out of her forehead through her blonde hair and her fingernails grew into vicious looking claws. Angel gasped in fearful shock and bolted for the driver's side door but a clawed hand grabbed him by the shoulder, and a demon's voice echoed in his ear, "WHO….ARE…. THEY!?"

Despite his training. Despite going into the most dangerous of hells to save the innocent, natural human fear won this moment and Angel couldn't move or react, the shock freezing him, only able to whisper, "Ch...c..Charlotte?"

The red eyes widened… and the shape of the demon before him receded back into Charlotte's familiar form. Charlotte looked shocked, frightened and oddly embarrassed as she fell back to the floor. Her voice felt tiny and hollow, "A..Angel? What.. What just happened to me?"

"What the fuck are you?" Angel managed to say between gasping breaths.

Charlotte shivered, pulling the warming blanket over her shoulders and she let out a sob, "I don't know! I don't fucking know! I'm scared!" Noticing Angels' hand on the door handle, ready to run, she sniffed, "Please… please don't leave me!"

Oh, how he wanted to leave, bolt from the door and run for the hills, but he pulled his courage back to him, because her pain sounded real and genuine. Angel eased the grip off both the handle and scolded himself internally for his idiocy, but he slid from the chair to kneel in front of her.

"I.. uh.. don't think you're from around here." Allowing a broken chuckle in, he continued, "You looked...you looked like a demon."

"Demon." Charlotte tasted the word, and it clicked about Angel. Angels and Demons. Heaven and Hell. She understood the concept, but nothing else. "If.. If I'm a demon…why do I feel such rage about innocent children being hurt? If I'm a monster, why do I care so much?"

"Monster's don't care, Charlotte." Angel held a hand to his face, rubbing his eyes and blew a long breath of air out to destress, " I'm going on a very long thin limb here, but I don't think you're a monster. Mostly since you haven't eaten me… yet."

Charlotte gulped hard, swallowing deeply and coughed again. Grabbing the bottle of water, she remembered Angel's warning and sipped slowly to still the itch at the back of her throat.

"Thank you." Pausing to look at the bottle , "What is this?"

Attributing it to the odd memory loss, "Water. You don't know water?"

"I.. I don't think I drink water. Much."

"If you're what I think you are, there's likely not much of that where you're from."

Charlotte looked at Angel questioningly, "What do you mean?"

"It's just as I said, Charlotte. Red eyes, horns, claws. Many artistic depictions attribute those features to demons. I grew up in a Catholic family, but lost my faith a long time ago. Haven't prayed since.. " Quick sigh, "And I have never been able to really accept the existence of the supernatural, despite my sister's insistence, but most stories suggest demons follow the devil, Lucifer."

"Lucifer, "Charlotte spoke the name long and slow, quietly as her mind rolled in painful confusion and under her breath, a word escaped almost unnoticed, "Dad?"

He wasn't sure if he'd heard her correctly, but decided to put it aside, "And they're the denizens of evil, ripping flesh from bone, eating souls, i.e.; monsters."

"That's not me!" Charlotte exclaimed, with a certainty she couldn't place, "I can't bear to think of those children suffering! Let me help!"

Angel leaned back, surprised, "Help?"

"If I'm able to do what I just did, again? If I can harness this.. power.. that I feel welling in me… I can...I can scare the fuck out of those men and help you save the children!"

"What if, releasing your power, you discover you fit the stories, and instead, kill everyone, including me?"Angel challenged.

Charlotte fell silent, eyes dropping, shoulders slumping, "That isn't me. It can't be. FUCK!"

Charlotte's sudden outburst caused a ripple of power to swell inside the van and the skin on Angel's arms shivered and he fell back, again. Charlotte's head whipped up, ashamed, "SORRY! But I felt it again.. it's there, just below the surface, but I don't know what to do."

Regaining his composure, and taking a chance, Angel spoke low "I am going to trust you, Charlotte, even though it may be stupid of me. But, you didn't hurt me when you lost control earlier, and in fact, your rage did come from hearing what I said. I am going to put faith in you, but I gotta ask… you're wounded… Do you feel you can do this?"

Silence swallowed the interior of the van, as Charlotte bit her lip, and looked away. Her mind was in shambles, but her heart was not. Her every fiber told her she would never harm the innocent. She didn't know what the stories were that Angel talked about, but she couldn't believe them to be real. If she was really from… hell?

"Fuck" Charlotte thought to herself, "Am I really the devil?"

Looking up to Angel she swallowed her fear and firmly answered him, "Yes. I mean, I hope so. But.. I need to become what I was a few minutes ago… I need it to come out, completely, and I don't know what to do.. and I don't want you running away when I do."

"Just..promise not to rip my guts out?" Angel quipped in forced humor.

"I sincerely promise you, Angel. You saved my life! I will never hurt you. But those monsters out there need to pay for what they've done. I want to know what to do, how to save the children."

Sighing deeply, Angel scratched his forehead, "First thing I need to do is go scout out the place I was looking for when I found you. I've already lost a lot of time tending to you but it seems that the alternative was leaving a demon in a hospital so…. Not going to curse myself anymore on that."

"Don't. And I understand I've delayed you. I feel strong enough to move.. the power I let loose earlier seems to have done something .. I don't feel weak."

Angel took a hold of Charlotte's hand, and lifted the bandage on her arm, and shock hit him.. her wounds were gone. He eased away the wrapping on her shoulder, to which she moved her head trustingly and that wound was gone, as well.

"You're… healed." Angel whispered in awe.

Charlotte cracked her neck, a somewhat creepy smile shadowed over her lips for a moment, "I feel.. good. Very good, in fact. I feel energy in me now." And she looked at Angel with a more mischievous grin, rather than menacing, "Help me bring it out!"

Opening the side door, Angel stepped out, turned and held out a hand that Charlotte took and he helped her step onto the cold, wet grass. Charlotte felt the blades tickle her bare feet and it felt good. The wind was light and the moon bright, and Charlotte's hair seemed to have an eerie glow as she filled out in a way that Angel had never seen any woman do before. She commanded power, strength. The change was palpable, and he realized she was embracing what she could be.. driven by a divine need to protect.

"So NOT what I've ever known about demons." Angel thought to himself. Maybe the stories were wrong, after all.

"Charlotte."

She turned to him, her hair flowing, her eyes sparkling, and standing as if she had never been hurt at all. "Yes?"

"We do not have much time, but I am going to try to help you bring out what I saw, with you in control of it. If it's even possible, that is." Taking a deep breath that he lets out slowly, he starts, "I'm sorry if this hurts, but I want you to concentrate on what happened in the van. Remember what I said about those fuckers kidnapping children. Imagine those scared little kids, fearing for their lives. Know that these men are sick perverted scum. They take kids, not always for ransom, sometimes for a lot worse."

Charlotte was feeling an energy pulse to her heart beat. She tried to pull the power forward, but it was hard, and whispered, eyes closed "Worse. How?"

What she hears him say, causes her rage to burst in a supernova from deep within her soul and her eyes flew open, red as blood. The transformation was instantaneous, power raced through Charlotte's veins, exploding outwards and altering her physical form. Who was once before him, the sweet looking, blonde hair black eyed young woman, now stood a demon, pointed tail, horns some 12 inches long, protruding out of the top of her head, whispers of ember fire sparking from their sharp tips.. Her pupils had thinned to slits, and razor sharp teeth peeked past her black lips. She had grown slightly taller, filling out in her hips and chest but the magics altered her clothing to fit. Something unexplainable to Angel.

Energy crackled around her and Angel felt true fear and regret that he may have misjudged everything. No movie or story could compare to what was now before him, and his hand slipped to his gun, unbuckling the clip holster. Charlotte took notice of this, swooping in and slapping his hand away, she ripped the gun from the holster. She took a step back, hissing darkly, and Angel looked at his hand to find it was still there, unharmed.

Angel stayed frozen in place, until the demon he once knew as Charlotte, gently placed the gun back into his hand and Charlotte's normal voice came from the fanged mouth, "It's me, Angel. It's Charlotte. I have control. I promised I would not hurt you. I trust you won't hurt me."

He looked up into Charlotte's eyes, still red and glowing, but wide in fear of being rejected. Angel slipped the gun into its holster and with his breath held tight, reached the same hand out to cup Charlotte's cheek in a sign of trust, which felt hot to the touch. "I won't," Angel affirmed.

The moment became still, the young man with his hand on the cheek of a demon straight out of the scariest stories man could ever dream up, and something sparked inside Charlotte. She still could not remember her past, but she could feel confident she had never met a man so honorable, sincere, and fighting human fear to trust her where she believed all others would flee or fight. She knew in that instant she was going to learn to control this power, and she was going to be his partner, and they would save every child they could. Wherever she came from would have to wait. She felt determined and focused in the moment.

Charlotte lifted her clawed hand to cover Angels, with the gentlest of touches, "Well… " she drawled out and paused, teeth flashing with a small smile, "How do I look?"

The question was so unexpected, Angel burst out laughing, and Charlotte followed with her own and it was quite the sight to behold if you came across it in that moment, but the two felt fear, hesitation, uncertainty drain from their collective bodies and Angel coughed, "You… honestly, when not fearing for my life and getting to really look at you, you're.. amazing .. scary as fuck, yes, but amazing. How do you feel?"

Charlotte closed her eyes, taking in her feelings, both physical and emotional, and smiled, "Amazing. Powerful."

"How did the clothes not rip from you?"

Charlotte's cheeks blushed, knowing but not knowing how she knew, "My magic. It's.. just a part of my magic. Like, I think I know some things I can do in this body."

Angel walked around Charlotte, appraising her. "What abilities are you thinking?"

Charlotte turned and grinned wickedly, lifting her hands and power sparked on her fingers, "I think I can fire .. fire or energy.. from my fingers."

And to prove it, she pointed up and shot a flare of fire into the air, erupting in a burst and dispersing. "Pew pew!" Charlotte playfully whispered, feeling her inner child surface and she giggled.

"Demon fire. Makes sense."

"And I think I can disappear?" Closing her eyes hard, concentrating, the demon before him faded away.

"Charlotte?" Angel asked after a couple moments of her not returning.

He then felt hot arms surrounding him from behind in a gentle but firm embrace, "You didn't see me or hear me walk behind you, did you?" Charlotte's warm breath whispered in his ear.

"I did not", and he put his hands on her invisible arms and gave a reaffirming squeeze, a bit surprised by the intimacy of her touch, which worked to dispel the rest of his fear of her. "Invisibility, confirmed"

Reappearing as she stepped back, Charlotte blushed at his touch, and she turned hoping he didn't notice, and Angel noticed a lack of wings.

"No wings? I figured that would be common for demons."

"Wings? Oh, I'd love to have wings!" Charlotte turned back around, looking wistful at the thought, "Sadly though, I guess not."

Fresh in his thoughts of Charlotte taking his gun, he challenged her, "How fast are you?"

Charlotte started to sprint in a silent answer, and around the van she moved with quicker pace each lap.. quickly besting the fastest human runner, easy enough, and stopped on a dime next to Angel after completing a full dozen laps in seconds. "How's that?"

"More than enough. How's your eyesight in the dark?"

"I see perfectly." Charlotte boasted, firm and proud.

The silence from Angel caught her attention and Charlotte looked at him, curiously, "What?"

"You were wounded when I found you."

Charlotte nodded, not quite understanding, but she saw Angel's hand brush the holster and it clicked, "We don't know if I can be killed."

Angel didn't reply right away.

"Shoot me."

His head whipping her way, he choked "What?"

"Don't. No lies please. You thought about it. And it's the right thing to be thinking."

"I.." Angel sighed softly, "I can't help it, I'm a strategist, it's how I'm so good at my job. I think of every angle to every mission. My army buddies used to tease me that I was playing 4-D chess, seeing every possible outcome to a mission. We were an extremely successful unit , until.."

He stops, and quickly switches, "The fact is, you were bleeding, cut, hurt, memory loss. You healed, yes, but..."

"But we don't know if I was in my demon form when I was hurt." Silence as the two simultaneously reached the same internal conclusion, and Charlotte said in a firmer voice, "Shoot me!"

Knowing it was fruitless to argue, Angel took a single breath to still himself, as he was trained to do, Angel unclipped the holster cover, pulled the gun, cocked it and without another thought to challenge his resolve, fired a single round into the demon before him, aiming for her shoulder. The bullet pierced through like butter and exited the other side, spewing hot golden colored blood.. not the red blood Charlotte had in her human form and she shrieked loud and demonically in pain, grabbing at the wound and her face flushed with tears! Angel holstered the gun and raced to her, but Charlotte held up a clawed hand, fire sparking from the tips and her full demon voice warned, thick and menacingly "DON'T!"

Stopping in his tracks, shaking, Angel obeyed and Charlotte stood up straight, pulling her hand away from the wound. She stood there, fully erect and growled deep, scaring Angel that this was in fact, the biggest mistake and the end of his life. But Charlotte's skin started to heat up, steam welling from the wound and in moments, it closed completely… and her body drained and she stumbled. Despite her warning, Angel instinctively ran forward and caught her mid fall, and she let him.

"Charlotte?"

Her eyes opened, and they were her soft black human eyes, though her demon form remained, "I'm so sorry for scaring you… the pain was more than I expected and for a moment I didn't know if I could control myself from lashing out."

"Your eyes?" Curious, Angel brushed a wisp of hair away from her face.

"I think the healing process takes a bit of my power for a moment… but it's okay.. I think my normal eyes are prettier, anyway, don't you?"

Angel nodded softly, and they stared quietly at each other for seconds that felt like minutes, before Angel cleared his throat, "It appears that despite your power, you're mortal. I don't know if it's a good idea for you to do this."

"I'm not debating this, Angel. I will go either way. I think you know you can't stop me."

Charlotte didn't want to sound so dark, but she was not going to be left behind, she was not going to let those children suffer if she could do anything about it. Angel took a deep breath, accepting her stance, "In that case, we're going to need a plan."

"What kind of plan?" She asked as Angel helped her to her feet.

"I was thinking about that. We're going to take full advantage of the lore about demons." Charlotte's face looked quizzical, which was rather cute to Angel as he walked over to the van and grabbed a duffle bag from inside the open door and checking its contents, confirmed it had what he needed. He also grabbed a pair of black crocs and handed them off to Charlotte, who shifted back to her human form and slipped them on.

Angel started off towards the woods where he found Charlotte, who followed beside him, "Let me tell you some stories."