Charlotte Bethany

Charlotte Bethany, usually referred to as Mrs Bethany, is a vampire and headmistress of Evernight Academy. She also teaches English at Evernight and was one of the school's original founders. Mrs Bethany is eventually revealed to be the overall main antagonist of the Evernight series, attempting to trap wraiths in order to find a way of making herself human again, regardless of the fact this destroys the wraith in the process and puts the lives of the teachers and students at Evernight in grave danger. It is also revealed in Afterlife that Mrs Bethany is the wife of Christopher Bethany, and was a member of Black Cross as a human.

Physical Appearance
Mrs Bethany has an 'ageless' face; Bianca's states that she "couldn't begin to guess her age." She is tall and fair skinned, with thick, dark hair and pale eyes. Mrs Bethany is described as being quite beautiful, but this is somewhat marred by her usually cold, severe manner. Mrs Bethany often dresses in old-fashioned clothes, such as long skirts and high-necked, lace-trimmed blouses and shirts. She usually wears her hair "piled on top of her head, like someone from the Victorian era." All of this adds to her serious and often intimidating appearance.

Background
Charlotte Bethany was most likely born in the late 1700's or early 1800's, having been human during the Regency era. She was raised in Black Cross, becoming a highly skilled hunter, infamous among vampires. At some point, Charlotte fell in love with a man named Christopher Bethany - another hunter - and they married. Sadly, their happy marriage was cut short when Christopher was betrayed and murdered by men he had believed to be his friends, for his money. Mrs Bethany was distraught by her husband's murder and, when the killers went unpunished, she sought revenge. She asked the Black Cross leaders for permission to hunt down and kill the men responsible, but they refused to allow this, because Christopher's death was not related to vampires and it was against the rules of Black Cross to kill humans - no matter what they had done.

Mrs Bethany was enraged by this response. She left Black Cross and developed a deep hatred for them over the years. Mrs Bethany turned to a more drastic solution to avenge her husband's death; she tracked down a vampire and persuaded him to make her a vampire as well, despite the fact she had always despised vampires and killed dozens of them. This way, she was free to hunt down Christopher's killers and take her revenge on them, without breaking human laws. After completing her revenge, however, Mrs Bethany no longer saw a reason for living. She hated being a vampire, but believed that if she took own life in this state, she would be unable to move on to the afterlife and thus would not be able to be reunited with Christopher (she was unaware at this point that Christopher had come back as a wraith). As a result, Mrs Bethany began searching for a way to turn herself human again. She eventually discovered that the process involved wraiths and so helped to found Evernight Academy to trap wraiths, so she could use them in her investigations.

In the modern age, Mrs Bethany decided to invite human students into the school, but only those haunted by wraiths, so as to lure the wraiths to the school. She also agreed to admit Bianca Olivier to Evernight, as she hoped Bianca would become a wraith, rather than a vampire, as Mrs Bethany felt that using a 'pure' wraith such as Bianca would increase her chances of the spell that turned vampires back to humans working correctly. Mrs Bethany, however, kept all this a carefully hidden secret, pretending that was inviting human students so that the vampires could learn more about the modern world and how to interact with human without arousing suspicion.

Evernight
Mrs Bethany greets the students of Evernight on the first day of the new school year, subtly warning the vampire students against harming or giving away their secret to the human students. She teaches Bianca's English class and has a habit of picking on and humiliating Bianca, Raquel Vargas and a few other students, especially when Bianca attempts to stand up for Raquel. Mrs Bethany also helps bust a late-night party and escorts Patrice Deveraux back to her and Bianca's room, reminding her why the school has rules that must be followed, to ensure the sanctuary of Evernight is not breached. After Bianca inadvertently bites Lucas Ross at the Autumn Ball, Mrs Bethany has him brought back to her rooms in the carriage house and reprimands Bianca. She is somewhat more lenient on her due to her parents standing up for her and the acknowledgement that, as a born vampire, Bianca is not used to being a true vampire, but still punishes her actions by having her write a ten page essay on the use of the epistolary format in writings of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. she tells Lucas that he was injured by a crossbar falling on him and warns Bianca that she must keep him from learning the truth.

When Mrs Bethany later learns that Lucas did indeed find out that Bianca is a vampire and that Bianca bit him again, she is displeased, but does not punish them. She tells Lucas that is close to becoming a vampire himself, hence why he has enhanced senses and abilities, and provides him with texts on vampire history and lore, even subtly suggesting he become one of them fully. After learning that Lucas is actually a spy for Black Cross, Mrs Bethany is infuriated. She berates Bianca for knowing that Lucas was breaking the rules, including breaking into the carriage house, but Bianca turns around and states that Mrs Bethany is to blame, not her, as she is the one who allowed Lucas into the Academy in the first place, without thoroughly checking his background. Mrs Bethany is enraged by this, but it's implied she knows Bianca is right and seethes over being tricked by Black Cross.

After the discovery of Erich's body, Mrs Bethany leads a group of Evernight's most powerful vampires, including Adrian and Celia, to attack the meetinghouse where Black Cross are hiding out to retrieve Bianca after she's 'kidnapped'. When Bianca comes out willingly, Mrs bethany wants to hunt down the fleeing cell, but the other vampires refuse. Mrs Bethany is furious by their defiance, but Balthazar More subtly threatens her and she reluctantly allows the cell to retreat. Whilst questioning Bianca on how she was kidnapped by Black Cross, Mrs Bethany is clearly suspicious of Bianca's story, but she has no proof that Bianca lied. She concedes that Bianca is "no longer the shrinking violet" and is learning how to effectively lie and manipulate others, which she seems to grudgingly respect.

Personality
Mrs Bethany is very cold and intimidating in her appearance and behavior. She seems to enjoy wielding power over others and doesn't like it when others question or challenge her authority. She is also very selfish and manipulative and becomes increasingly unbalanced towards the end of the series. Despite this, there were occasions where she has behaved in a more benevolent - and even kindly - manner, and she is capable of sympathizing with others. Mrs Bethany also has a sense of honor - she upholds the rules and traditions of Evernight Academy at all times (such as when she agreed to let Charity More seek sanctuary at Evernight, in accordance to the school's rules, despite her hatred of Charity). She also dearly loved her husband and it was his murder that was the catalyst for her descent into madness and hatred.

Mrs Bethany has a particular hatred for Black Cross, resenting them and viewing them as hypocrites, which stems from their inaction when Christopher's killers went free and apparent lack of sympathy despite her years of devotion. Mrs Bethany is willing to go to extreme lengths to achieve her goals, purposefully becoming a vampire to seek revenge for her husband and later concocting an elaborate, years' long scheme to become human again. Mrs Bethany has a somewhat warped sense of justice, having few qualms about using violence and in fact seeming to enjoy fighting, being a warrior at heart. She seems to hold to the belief of "an eye for an eye" when it comes to meteing out 'justice'.

In regards to her vamprism, Mrs Bethany appears to have a mixed, sometimes contradictory view. She seeks to become human again, viewing vampirism as as a curse of sorts that ultimately brings only misery, but does not seem to hold the belief that vampires are monstrous creatures, but rather tragic figures, unfairly persecuted by Black Cross and suffering. She believes vampires should live civilly amongst humans, with order and structure, and that they are very misunderstood.

Christopher Bethany
Mrs Bethany adored her husband and was extremely devoted to him. The only time she appeared to be genuinely happy was when she was with Christopher, with them hunting alongside each other and looking out for one another. When he was murdered, Mrs Bethany was heartbroken and was the never the same. Such was her grief at losing Christopher, Mrs Bethany sought to become the very thing she had sworn to destroy to avenge him.

Mrs Bethany never got over her loss of her husband; notably, around three centuries after his death, she continues to call herself 'Mrs Bethany' and keeps a portrait of him in her house. She also seeks to become human again, then take her own life so as to be reunited with Christopher in the afterlife, going to some extreme lengths and committing several atrocities in her desperate desire to be with her beloved. In the end, Mrs Bethany is overwhelmed when she finally sees Christopher again after catching him a wraith trap, forgoing a chance to escape her burning house in an attempt to save him.

Quotes about Mrs Bethany

 * "Few women hunted in those days, but nobody questioned her. She was the best fighter among us. And the vampires - they always underestimated her until it was too late. There sprang up a legend among them of a huntress both beautiful and deadly, which they disbelieved at their peril. Sometimes it was last thing they said, even as the stake sank into them. 'It is her.'" - Christopher

Appearances

 * Evernight
 * Stargazer
 * Hourglass
 * Afterlife