Haidan Tariq didn't like many things. It was the consequence of working in retail for the past few years. He was an apprentice mechanic and there were a lot of people out there protective of their cars. He found the ones who named them were the most protective; they didn't want anything happening to their precious "Pig", "Boyfriend", or "Dracarys" - they were the cars he had helped fix this week.

He had intended on spending the weekend collecting firewood for his family and relaxing, but the beginning quickly turned chaotic. He'd met Lily, then Jack, then Niall in the span of an hour. Three other supernaturals like him. He'd thought he was alone in his curse.

They had answers to the questions he'd been asking for the past year - since he woke up one morning for prayer and he felt his skin flare with the rising sun.

He'd avoided praying in public since. His mother thought he was straying from his beliefs, that his foundations were crumbling, but Haidan didn't know how to tell his own mother fire lived through his veins.

He was raised Muslim, believing in kindness, love, and only one being greater than everyone. He was told about prophets and angels, demons and sins, but no one told him about the supernatural. Haidan had thrown it aside and not listened to myths nor legends - why would he pay attention to them when he had the real thing at his side?

Haidan stared at his ceiling while lying in on his bed. How did he balance faith in something greater than humanity when he was greater in another way? A phoenix, if Lily spoke true. A phoenix, a creature of fire. Dangerous, chaotic, and completely real.

Since Lily said he was a phoenix it was as though the wool had been pulled from his eyes. He knew what he was, if she was as truthful as she claimed. It was so different from what he'd been told to be his whole life.

The supernatural were real - he was real - and he needed to know everything. Haidan just didn't want to go through it alone.

Haidan drew a deep breath in before letting it go, forcing his legs to move. He had been treading unfamiliar terrain for a year before last week when he'd used his fire abilities to stop a dreadful storm from hitting his family. His mother had been outside with a candle, calling him in. He wouldn't let anything happen to her - secrecy be damned. He didn't regret saving her life by unveiling his hidden curse.

She hadn't spoken to him since she saw the fire in his hands, since his eyes changed from deep brown to bright orange - that, Haidan did regret.

Haidan stepped into the living room, his hands brushing the smooth walls, dodging the pictures hung up. The crayon drawings his little sister Mila had done in her youth were stuck to the fridge as he walked through to the kitchen. He smiled when he saw Mila doing her homework at the dining table.

"Haidan!" Mila beamed. "Frozen 2 comes out next month!"

"Does it?" Haidan put the bag of firewood next to the doorway and crouched next to her. "Well we'll have to watch all the Disney films to be prepared then. I've forgotten what it's all about!"

"No you haven't!" Mila giggled. "We watched it last week!"

"It's about a reindeer with ice powers, right? His name's Olaf?" Haidan put his finger to his lips in thought. "And Hans is the good guy?"

"No!" Mila squeaked, her homework forgotten as she swivelled in the chair to face her brother. "Olaf's the snowman! You bought me Olaf for my birthday Haidan!"

"I thought I bought you Kristoff?" Haidan widened his eyes. "To match your little chameleon from Tangled, Sebastian?"

Mila laughed. "N-No, that's all wrong!"

"Well you'll have to watch them all again with me and teach me, oh great master." Haidan bowed. He wondered if Lily, Jack and Niall would teach him about his phoenix abilities, if Jack's promise held true. He had no idea where he'd find them - they didn't mention that in their brief chat.

Mila grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the living room but they both froze when their mother called Haidan's name from the kitchen. "Just a moment Mila, I need to talk to your brother." She said kindly, smiling at her little girl. "Can you finish your homework in your room?"

"Okay mummy," Mila skipped to her room. "I'll get Olaf to help me before dinner!"

Haidan let his sister go and turned to face his mother. Her eyes softened staring at her eldest boy. He'd grown too quickly these past few years but not into the person she thought him to be. Stubble was growing across his jaw, his cheeks had lost their youthful curve. His eyes didn't have the childish curiosity to them anymore but a wise warmth. When did her boy become to a man?

When did he harbour fire in his bones?

"How are you, Mum?" Haidan cleared his throat.

"Sit, please." She waved to the kitchen table. Haidan slowly drew out a chair and sat down. Something told him this wasn't going to be a friendly conversation. "I think we're a little overdue for a chat, aren't we?"

Haidan's throat bobbed as he nodded, keeping his hands beneath the table as his mother sat down, staring at him. He felt like he was in trouble.

"I know we haven't spoken since...since last week." Haidan began, trying to ease into the conversation. His mother was the kindest woman he knew, but sitting at the table with her made him nervous. "I'm sorry."

"I just..." His mother said. "I think I just needed time."

Haidan sighed, eventually saying, "I think we both need time to pray and think things over."

"I always knew you had Allah's faith."

"This is more than faith, Mum."

"Is it? Faith burns Haidan, don't extinguish yours because of...this." His mother reached out her hands and Haidan hesitated, drawing his from his lap and gently placing them in hers. She stroked the back of his hands with her thumbs, he knew his skin was hot to touch but she was still looking kindly at him. "We'll get through this, okay?"

Haidan wondered how she saw him; someone that could summon an inferno from a candle flame with a swipe of his hand, and maybe, as he hoped and prayed, still her son.

"I met some people that could help me." Haidan said quietly, his heart started to beat rapidly at the memory. "Yesterday, when I was getting wood for the fire-"

His mother flinched at the word. He had done that to his own mother - she was terrified of fire, of him. Haidan went to pull his hands away but she held tightly onto him, not letting him go. She couldn't forget what she saw but she wasn't going to live in fear.

Haidan rephrased his words, emotion beginning to burn his eyes. "The people I met, they've offered to help me and tell me what I need to know."

His mother blinked in surprise. "Like a cure?" She asked, looking him in the eye, watching him carefully.

Haidan's mouth hung open for a moment. "I-I dunno, Mum, maybe. They're going to help me out."

She smiled, her cheeks creasing in joy. Haidan smiled too, but his mind wondered to Jack's magic, Lily's glowing eyes, and Niall's gale - what if there was no cure? Could he live with his fire like they could with their own supernatural?

"Okay, that's an option. Did you want to do that?" His mum said quietly, gently, and Haidan paused to think it over. "Are they nice?"

He immediately thought of the fight Jack almost started with him. "I didn't spend much time with them, but they're certainly passionate. I think they're really set on helping me learn about...what I can do."

"But is it something you want to do? You didn't answer that."

Haidan took a deep breath, but his mother held his hands reassuringly, seeing the panic in his eyes at the unknown. "It's okay to be scared Haidan, but it's not okay to live like that, to live in fear. If you think they can help you, let them. You might learn something new in the process."

His fear immediately sizzled out, and he squeezed his mum's hands back, resting his head on his arms. "Why are you always right?"

One of her hands came to stroke his wavy hair. "You should shower before you go, you could also meet someone while you're there-"

"Mum! Is this why you're encouraging this?"

"What? I'm not getting younger and you're nineteen! At this rate you'll go grey before you get married!" His mum laughed. "I'm just nudging you in the right direction."

"Mum." He groaned, leaning back against the chair, looking at her mischievous grin. "Seriously?"

"Can you blame me Haidan?" His mum said, grinning.

"I thought you were going to kick me out." He admitted.

His mother's smile fell. "No. We work this out together Haidan. We'll work this out, I'll help you and be with you every step of the way, okay? You're my son and that doesn't change no matter what happens."

Haidan's eyes watered and he tried to stop the tears but his mother was already wiping them away gently with her thumb. "You were always the fiery one out of you and Mila."

He laughed, they both did, and his mother stood up from the table and pulled him with her. "Now, what did you want to do?"

"I'm going to go." Haidan said after a moment, thinking about Jack's offer and Lily's knowledge. There was so much to learn, and if they could help him, he could do it. He could better protect his family from any more unnatural storms, or whatever else there was in the world.

It was the first time he was leaving home, and it was to uncover the secrets of being a phoenix whose flames birth the sun...whatever that meant.

"Okay, I'll help you pack." His mum said. "You're taking your best shirt with you in case someone catches your eye."

"Mum!"

"I make the most of every opportunity!" She called as she walked into his room. "Why is your room always a mess, Haidan?"

"I know where everything is!"

"Do you really?" She challenged, as he went to grab a duffle bag from beneath a mound of clothes and put it on the bed. "Is there anything clean in here?"

"Probably somewhere, Mum."

"Cheeky boy," she playfully scolded, as the two of them packed his bag. They didn't know how long he'd be gone for, but he packed a week's worth of clothes just in case. He could always come back, he knew that, but there was something final about putting your most treasured belongings in a bag and leaving everything behind for the unknown.

He gently placed his Qur'an and the box of his father's letters in last, zipping up the heavy bag with a sigh. He felt like he was missing something. Was there another thing he had to pack?

He did a quick scan of his room and spotted the picture resting on his bedside table. It was one of the few of his whole family, taken only last year. They were all alive with happiness, aware that in two days his father would travel back to Dubai for work, but unaware the next morning Haidan would learn he was supernatural.

His hands shook grasping the wooden-framed picture. Haidan tried to breathe through the lump in his throat and the hollow pit in his stomach. It was as though there was no oxygen for the fire in his belly.

His mum gently placed a hand on his arm in comfort. "We'll get through this, Haidan." She whispered. "Come here."

He immediately wrapped her in his embrace, breathing in her scent; the sweet delicate perfume she was wearing that his dad bought for her a few years ago, her favourite. The turmoil in his stomach eased - the thing he had been forgetting was to hug his mother.

"I'll tell Mila and your work you're off sick, at the doctors." His mum said as they pulled away. "We'll take it week by week. Keep me updated, yeah? Especially if you meet someone special."

"I love you Mum."

"I love you too, Haidan." She said, kissing his cheek as he made his way to the door, grabbing one of his many jackets off the hook. His mind went over everything they'd packed, checking he had his keys, wallet, and phone. "Drive safely!"

He waved at her as he hauled his bag and himself into the family car. His mother and sister always walked to the mosque, the car was his to drive to work and back, but they would be okay without one for a while. He'd need a car if he was going to find the others.

As Haidan shut the door to the car, silence enveloped him. Despite the fact no one was in the car with him, it was the first time in the year he'd discovered his abilities he didn't feel alone. He didn't feel like a lone candle burning in an empty room - but a light showing the way.

He stared at his calloused hands. An invisible bringer of destruction and flame - a phoenix with no fire to see.

A phoenix whose flames birth the sun. The words rung in his ear, replaying again and again. Just when he thought they died, they were reborn with fiercer force.

He didn't know about myths and legends - but he knew a phoenix always rose from the ashes anew. Even if there was a cure to being supernatural would it work on him?

There was only one way to know. Haidan threw the car in gear and drove out of his dry town of Widderin. The patchy grass was anaemic from lack of rain - they were still on water restrictions from the summer, but it looked like it would ease soon. Mila would be overjoyed if it snowed over her school holidays, she hadn't seen it before.

Haidan approached the junction leading out of Widderin. He could turn left and head to the city, driving around Mount Tyrill, or he could go right and head towards Trawalla and Marlin's Bay.

There's a town on the other side of the forest, Trawalla. It's where my aunt and my friends are.

The memory of his argument with Lily burst forth. He was too focused on her saying he couldn't protect his family to clock about her hometown.

Haidan turned right to Trawalla. If anyone was to know where Lily was, and Jack and Niall, then it would be her aunt and friends. Jack had mentioned Lily's aunt patched up her shoulder so he'd search the hospital for her first.

As he drove through the forest with the sun beginning to set on his back, Haidan hoped he wasn't too late to take up the offer of learning more about his supernatural side.

He hoped the rogues hadn't got to them first.