Moriah’s story was just as haunting as advertised. She recounted a Sunday in June of 1998, when on one of the hottest days in San Antonio on record, her house had lost power. While trying to work the generator—and accidentally spilling some gasoline in the garage—the gas stove in the kitchen spread its flames and the house caught fire. Moriah went in for a rescue mission to save their newborn son, then named Carson, only to find something straight of her nightmares:

                Carson himself was on fire.

                And he was breathing calmly as though impervious to the flames.

                Moriah had ignored the impossibility and focused on extinguishing him and getting him out, succeeding at both, though not without inhaling plenty of fumes and burning herself thoroughly.

                From there, she, Carson, and Dan were rushed into the emergency room. Moriah was separated to treat her third-degree burns, while Dan oversaw treatment on Carson. The doctors were equally baffled by Carson’s lack of injuries yet subsequent high temperature. They began treating him for heatstroke, for lack of any other ideas. It was then, and only then, that Carson started making a fuss. Their attempts to cool him down only seemed to aggravate him further, crying more and more. When the head doctor requested something from outside the room, a brief moment left only Dan and the doctor alone in the room with Carson. Carson continued to make a fuss, and according to Dan, shot fire out of his hand in an effort to get the doctor off of him.

                After Dan and the doctor make sure that they weren’t both simultaneously hallucinating, the doctor manages to get the nurses away from the room as Dan coaxed Carson into repeating the supernatural occurrence. It took some more cooling and complaining for Carson to yet again produce flame, this time from his mouth like he was burping it. With the supernatural fully acknowledged and partially accepted, the doctor changed gears and treated Carson as though his condition was normal. Other than being burning hot, he was perfectly healthy and calm. Dan managed to get Carson to cool himself down with some encouragement, so when the nurses eventually came back to check on him, they were shocked to find him perfectly unharmed and normal. The doctor agreed to keep what happened a secret, as long as Dan and Moriah kept a careful eye on Carson and checked in frequently for regular check-ups with him personally.

                Moriah, of course, discovering that her baby was a supernatural, nearly had a panic attack, but ultimately adapted and became the supernatural mom she was today. Carson garnered the nickname “Cole” which stuck to this very day, and the rest…

                “…is history,” Moriah concluded.

                “Wow…” Lizzie said for both of us, as I imagined myself in Moriah’s shoes, seeing a potential son of mine burning alive in front of my very eyes, not knowing he’d come out of the incident unscathed. It was more than chilling, and I found myself clutching Lizzie’s hand instinctually. We’d mentioned having kids someday before, and for the first time I wondered how magic was going to influence their life. I let the thoughts perturb me until Lizzie inexplicably broke the silence by turning to Cole with a snicker. “You almost killed your mom.”

                Cole had a stupid grin on his face. “And I still give her shit over it to this day,” earning a playful elbow in the chest from Hazel. Moriah, meanwhile, just laughed off the comment.

                “Since then, Dan and I got to thinking about how we couldn’t be the first people to experience something magical,” she continued. “I worried myself to death knowing that there was someone out there who was just as confused as we were, feeling perhaps lost and alone in the world, knowing they could do something that no one else could, and be a potential target too… So, after some conversations, Dan and I got to work on finding other mages. I worked my ass off for five years writing killer mystery articles for the San Antonio Daily Newsletter until they finally agreed to let me be a traveling reporter on nationwide mysteries. It took a hefty amount out of my pay to convince them, but Dan got promoted in his job and makes enough for us for my job to work. It gave me the perfect excuse to go snitching around for anything suspicious online and go investigate. It took years until I finally found my first big breakthrough, and that’s how we found Hazel.”

                “Hurricane Sandy, right?” Lizzie asked.

                Hazel’s eyebrows shot up in horror. “H-How did you…” she stuttered, unable to complete the thought.

                Moriah laughed. “First thing to know about these two: They take their protective measures about themselves seriously. I’m guessing you did your research then?”

                I nodded. “We found your article about Hazel. All things considered, it wasn’t too hard to find.”

                “That’s public!?” Hazel gaped to her adoptive mother.

                Moriah shrugged. “Not really my choice. The article blew up for San Antonio Daily, and when I came back from New Jersey with a new daughter, a story had to follow. At this point it fills more holes in our stories than having it missing, so it’s not too big a deal.”

                “But isn’t it super risky having an article like that out in the public?” Lizzie asked.

                “Only if you know what you’re looking for,” Moriah said with a wink. “I sincerely doubt anyone reading that article would have any reason to believe that Hazel was a water mage. And even if you were suspicious, it doesn’t count as proof in any form. Wouldn’t you agree? You’ve read it, and I doubt it clued you into anything.”

                “Actually,” Lizzie said, mouth parted uncertainly, “it kinda confirmed our suspicions if anything.”

                “Only after you knew magic existed already, and a hint from me about Hazel’s abilities,” Moriah countered. “And you can’t really tell me you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Hazel was exactly what you thought she was from the article alone.”

                We exchanged glances and relented with shrugs. If we were really sure about Hazel, we would’ve believed Moriah a lot faster as well.

                “Believe me, if I could remove the article, I would. But it’s beyond my control at this point, and at the end of the day, it’s not going to confirm anything about us.”

                Hazel shifted uncomfortably on the couch. “I guess…”

                The topic was dropped, and a few minutes passed without much fanfare. I’d settled into studying the B&B we’d found ourselves in. It was smaller than I expected for what I’d pictured in my head as a full organization of superheroes. “So… is it just you guys here?” I asked.

                Moriah smiled as she held up her fingers. “Let’s see. So far, our group only has two mages, Cole and Hazel, then there’s me and Dan, there’s my mother who’s in the know, and of course Dr. Vik, the doctor who discovered Cole’s powers alongside Dan. Which reminds me, Vik has been asking to meet with you at some point to go over your powers.”

                “Go over my powers?” I repeated.

                “Things like hooking you up to some machines and measuring power level, getting data for your vitals in case things go wrong, making an official list of your superpowers, things like that. He’s our go-to person if anything strange ever happens. He’s good at finding your limits as well, with a nice lab set up in his personal home that he’s spent all his life working on. All of course, kept to himself and anyone else you authorize.”

                “Wow…” Lizzie said, bug-eyed. She turned to me, cogs turning in her head. I knew what she was thinking, because I was thinking it too, realizing just how useful a doctor in the know truly was. I imagined myself going over to him if I had questions about my powers and having him do check-ups on me without needing to hide strange details about my life. If Moriah was for real, then this was an opportunity I was going to have a hard time turning down.

                “Dr. Vik is incredible,” Moriah continued, the biggest smile on her face. “He’s our closest friend by far, offering to be our personal supernatural doctor for absolutely no cost. When he first discovered Cole’s powers, he didn’t even know much about physics. But he’s been actively studying physics while working as a full-time doctor, and now he’s probably the smartest person in the world. He’s got a photographic memory as well. I’d trust him with my life.”

                “Yeah I’d… I’d love to meet him,” I said before I could stop myself. I hadn’t meant to commit to anything so soon, but then again, I was struggling to find anything untrustworthy about this group. Moriah was as homely and inviting as I’d hoped, and Hazel and Cole were friendly enough. On top of confirming their powers, they also had a doctor that I could take advantage of, making sure that I was medically ok, one I didn’t have to deliberately lie to. I was starting to realize how valuable being honest around my peers was to me.

                I bit my lip, eyeing Lizzie. I’d hoped maybe she’d spotted something I was missing, but she seemed equally as invested as I was at this point. This whole thing seems almost too perfect…

                Moriah checked her watch. “Oh, it’s almost time for us to pick up the pizza. Cole, would you mind--”

                “I can do it!” Hazel cut in, jumping to her feet. When everyone stared, she sheepishly twirled her hair. “I feel bad for messing up outside, so I wanna return the favor somehow.”

                “Messing up?” Moriah asked. “If you’re referring to prematurely revealing how many of us there were, it’s already forgotten. Everything worked out in the end, didn’t it?”

                “Still…” Hazel murmured. “I can do it, if you need me to…”

                Moriah waved a dismissive hand. “It doesn’t matter to me. I appreciate it sweetie!”

                Hazel awkwardly nodded and swiftly left the room, leaving just the four of us.

                “She seems kinda shy…” Lizzie noted. “You know, I was wondering why you wanted her to meet us before yourself. She didn’t seem like she wanted to do it.”

                “Ah,” Moriah said, sipping on a mug of coffee I only then noticed she had. “I’ll admit, that was one of my more deliberate ideas to sweeten the deal for you Beck. I know that sounds bad, but I couldn’t imagine you feeling particularly enthusiastic about a woman showing up to your dorm insisting she can help you with a secret program. My hope was that sweet Hazel would melt your heart a bit and understand that we’re not as scary as we seem.”

                I pursed my lips a bit. As much as I appreciated her honesty, it didn’t sit well with me that she had been trying to manipulate my decision somewhat. I neutrally shrugged at that. “I guess. Though it did make you a bit more of an enigma.”

                “Yeah, why did you have Hazel wait outside for us earlier when we came here, rather than yourself? We already told you we were coming. And then to prevent us from going in? I was getting kinda sketched out,” Lizzie added.

                Moriah shrugged. “I figured you guys would probably prefer to meet up with another mage first, especially one you already met. If I’d known you wanted to meet me, I would’ve been out there right away.”

                “I-I see…” Lizzie answered, taken aback with Moriah’s bluntness.

                The more we talked, the more open and honest Moriah was becoming, and I was starting to find myself feeling even more of my doubts slowly withering away. Part of me wondered if that was deliberate on her part, but I pushed those thoughts aside. She’d given us no reason to doubt her at this point, and I was starting to feel like she really was looking out for me.

                “Well, I appreciate your honesty,” I eventually replied, a gracious smile lining my cheeks. “I feel a lot better now about being here now that I don’t have to worry about anyone being secretive at all.”

                “I agree,” Moriah warmly said. “I figure now that we’re all acclimated, why hide anything? I know you’re a careful person Beck, and I’m glad you took a chance on us. On that note, I figure you guys have a billion questions about magic and whatnot. I can’t pretend to know all the answers, but I’ll do my best.”