3

                Both my hands were occupied. Bentley’s card in one hand, a burner phone displaying the dial screen in the other. My hands were shaking. There was far too much at stake here. At worst, I could be handing myself over to people who could single handedly ruin my life, stripping me of my freedom, and running experiments on me until I died. At best… I guess I’d learn more about magic.

                Lizzie reached out and rubbed my back, giving me the most supportive smile she could. I knew she was nervous as well, but she did her best to mask it for my own sanity. I raised a weak smile appreciatively.

                Lizzie had agreed with me that the whole meeting was incredibly suspicious, but also had immense potential. Finally getting answers to my abilities was extremely tempting and connecting with other supernaturals had endless benefits. Still, we had to be cautious about it. We figured that two heads were better than one, and that if we were together, we could pick up on some things that the other might not notice. If we worked hard, we could weave around the traps that Bentley could throw at us. So, when the weekend hit, Lizzie left Ramona with Frank and Marianne, and drove her way up. I told my roommate she was coming, and he swiftly left us alone. No one could overhear our conversation. We were as private as we could get in this school.

                I put the phone on speaker as I dialed the number and hit send. My hands were clammy, so I put the phone on the bed we were sitting on and immediately brought my hands to my forehead in stress. This is a bad idea. I’m setting myself up for the worst. I’m so screwed… I’m so screwed… I’m so-

                “Hello?” came a confident voice from the phone.

                My heart skipped a beat, and I looked to my girlfriend, who’d gone paler, but nodded slowly. I nodded back and cleared my throat. “Um… hello.”

                “I don’t believe I recognize the number,” the woman said, no nervousness to her tone. “Who’s this?”

                “Um…” I said, eyes widening. Immediately she called out the phone number. Lizzie seemed to catch onto that as well, and she subtly shook her head. I knew what that meant, she wanted to make sure that I didn’t give out my name right away. “I uh… I got your business card, and this was the number on the card and--”

                “Oh!” she exclaimed suddenly. “Then does that mean that you’re Beck Roland?”

                My breathing intensified. That certainly confirmed that we were probably talking to the right person. There wasn’t much reason to hide my identity at this point, so I stumbled out a “Y-yeah, it’s me.”

                “Fantastic!” she replied, excitedly. “Oh goodness, I’m so glad you called Mr. Roland! It’s a pleasure to finally get the opportunity to speak to you. I’m Moriah Bentley, though you can just call me Moriah.”

                I was trying to tell whether she was faking excitement for the sake of being inviting or if she was genuinely enthralled that I’d called. All I could pick up from her tone was a strange twinge of relief, as though she’d been nervous that I wouldn’t call. “Hello Moriah…” I said slowly. “Sorry I didn’t call earlier, I was busy with school and all…”

                “Oh, no problem at all!” she replied cheerfully. “I can’t imagine this was an easy call to make, with all that’s going on in your life. I’d never expect you to prioritize anything over your education, and I certainly don’t want to be the one standing in your way.”

                She paused there, and I tried to wrap my head around her strange positivity. It felt too inviting for my sake. Before I could stop myself, I blurted out my thoughts. “Can I have an explanation here!? Who are you!? How did you get my address? Who was that girl? And what did she mean when she said—" I cut myself off when seeing Lizzie’s desperate “cut it out” hand gestures.

                Moriah didn’t seem to miss a beat. “Yes, I’m sure you have tons of questions, and I’m sorry about the awkwardness of getting you this number. Hazel—the girl you met—she was really nervous about revealing too much, poor girl. Truth be told, considering the nature of our little group, we have a bit of a necessity of being vague. I’m sure that if we’re on the same page, you’d understand why.”

                I bit my lip. It really felt like we were talking about the same thing. And as much as I wanted to express as such, being defensive was my best bet. I didn’t like playing the “vague game”, but my choices were limited. “So… how can we make sure we’re on the same page then?” I asked.

                “Well, as Hazel probably hinted at when you met her, we have a suspicion that things have been a bit abnormal for you since your vacation in Boston.” She was talking very slowly, putting very light emphasis on certain words every now and then that someone could easily miss. “If we’re right, then I imagine that having someone to talk to could be helpful. That’s why I think that us connecting could be a benefit to you, because, well… to put it vaguely, we’re capable of offering that kind of support.”

                My heart started to race. We were starting to get to the thick of it. “What kind of support?” I asked, clarifyingly.

                “Moral, mostly,” she chuckled.

                Lizzie and I both narrowed our eyebrows in confusion. I was fully expecting some sort of recruitment to an agency or a secret society where I’d grow and enhance my powers for the betterment of the world. Instead, she was offering… therapy? A support group? Lizzie held up a finger to silence me and let Moriah continue.

                “As Hazel implied, there’s a couple of us here that have gone through something similar to what you did. We’ve all found that it’s been very relieving to have other people to talk to who know about certain things that you feel like you can’t tell others. Compare that to the alternative. Hiding aspects of your life from people that you know and trust can be very isolating, especially without knowing there are others in the world like you. If that had happened to Hazel… goodness knows how confused and scared she’d be right now. That’s not to say there’s no confusion now, but at least there are people to confer with when you are confused.”

                I bit my lip when I heard that. The thing was, I already had support on my side, the evidence being the woman next to me. Even if she didn’t have any superpowers, Lizzie still was my number one. She was still my shoulder to cry on, the person who I could tell anything and she’d understand. It didn’t matter if she didn’t have the same problems that I did with my powers, she still heard and shared my concerns. If all this group was offering was more moral support, it wasn’t that big a sell.

                Then again, how exactly was I supposed to ignore the fact that other supernaturals existed, and I didn’t know who they were?

                Regaining some composure, I reminded myself who was in power here. I was only seeking information, I didn’t have to promise anything. “Who is us? You keep mentioning a group of people.”

                There was a pause, before she replied, a much more protective tone to her voice. “Before I explain that, I’d like to make sure we’re on the same page entirely.”

                Lizzie picked up on the tone shift as well and quickly held her arms across her body in an X formation. She was telling me to stay guarded and be careful. I nodded quickly, making sure to give no hints to my own capabilities. “How do we do that then?”

                “I’ve been putting a lot of thought into this, Mr. Roland, and ultimately, it’s too hard to come up with perfect method to verify the topic without a bit of risk. So, if you’ll indulge me, I’d like to bring forth a story. One that if we are on the same page, you should be able to decipher my hints.”

                We exchanged a glance and she shrugged. “Alright, I’ll try.”

                Moriah took a deep breath. “When I was a kid, I used to hate the beach. I despised the sand, swimming exhausted me, and there was always the fear of drowning. The moment Hazel came into my life, that all changed. Since she joined our family, I’ve never had a bad beach day. The water is always nice and buoyant, the waves are always tall and perfect if we want to surf, and best of all, I’m confident that I’ll never drown, as even without lifeguards, I have Hazel looking out for me. She might just be the best swimmer on the planet, and with no training. It’s effortless for her. Plus, she always puts on a show for me, and it never disappoints—although I do have to make sure no one’s looking. Some might call Hazel a good luck charm. I’d call her something else. And If I’ve been giving enough hints, you might come to your own conclusion as to why “good luck” is the absolute wrong conclusion.

                My mind raced to process what she said. Perfect beach conditions, guaranteed… no risk of drowning… and Hazel putting on some kind of show? I pictured the incredibly anxious girl who’d come to my door, trying to imagine her doing any kind of performance. Not only that, but one that no one else was allowed to see… I recalled something Hazel said during our encounter yesterday, that she had something in common with me, even if it wasn’t exactly the same.

                Lizzie’s eyes lit up suddenly with a silent gasp. She started punching her leg in excitement as silently as she could, suddenly mouthing something at me: Water! Water! Water!

                I blinked slowly, mind catching up to her thinking. It hit me so hard and so suddenly that my jaw dropped and I audibly gasped. I fumbled out a response to Moriah as I tried to contain myself. “C-Can I have a moment to process this?”

                “Sure, take your time--”

                I’d hit mute on the phone so fast that she didn’t even have time to finish her sentence.