The faint clatter of utensils stirred Zane from his light sleep. It was just past 6 a.m., the dim morning light bleeding through the cracks in the curtains of Anna's modest Brooklyn apartment. Stretching slightly, Zane sat up on the couch, still fully dressed from the night before. His senses were sharp, but not tense—habit, more than paranoia.
Drawn by the noise, he padded quietly toward the kitchen.
Anna was there, still in her work clothes from the night before, hair tied up haphazardly as she stirred a skillet on the stove. The scent of eggs and slightly burnt toast filled the small space. Her movements were tired, but precise.
She turned her head slightly and smiled as she noticed him. "Morning."
"Morning," Zane responded, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "When did you get back?"
"Around five. Barely got time to shower." She gave a small chuckle, but it didn't reach her eyes. "You?"
"Got back at eleven," he said, pulling out a chair at the kitchen table. "Got something. Some real leads."
Anna turned off the stove and slid scrambled eggs onto two plates. She placed one in front of him and sat down with the other.
Zane continued, "I was ninety percent sure before, but now I'm a hundred percent sure—Camila was taken by wizards."
Anna tensed. Her hands clenched the spatula, knuckles white.
"Why?"
"She's awakening magic," Zane said, voice calm but edged with steel. "Muggle-born children who begin to show signs… someone's targeting them. I think they're experimenting. Using them."
Anna set down the pan and faced him, arms folded across her chest. "What kind of monsters experiment on children?"
Zane didn't answer. He didn't need to. His silence said enough.
"What do we do now?" she asked quietly.
Zane looked up at her. "Did you find anything on your end?"
Anna nodded and sat across from him. "I went through old files. Disappearances. Cross-referencing case notes from my agency's archives. In the past three years, about a hundred kids between the ages of ten and twelve have gone missing across the country. The official reports are useless—most are classified as runaways or unresolved. But I found something… odd."
She opened her satchel and pulled out a worn brown leather folder. No tech, just paper and pen, the way she worked best. Zane opened it, eyes scanning the typed reports and clipped photos.
"These fifteen," she said, tapping her finger against a page. "All identical to Camila's case. One day they were fine, the next… vanished. No signs, no struggle. Families swear the children were acting strange days before. Outbursts. Objects moving on their own. Lights flickering."
Zane nodded. "Early magic surges."
Anna's face hardened. "Exactly."
Zane reached into his coat and pulled out a small parchment, unfolding it to reveal a rough sketch of a symbol—a dagger entwined with a serpent.
"I pulled this from the memory of a drunk muggle," Zane explained, unfolding a small parchment and showing her a rough sketch of a dagger entwined with a serpent. "He didn't know what he saw, just a wild fight between two wizard men near the docks. But he remembered this symbol."
Anna studied it, brow furrowed. "That looks familiar…"
She stood, walked over to a drawer in the hallway, and pulled out an old wooden box. Inside were documents, reports, black-and-white photos. She sifted through them quickly and pulled out a faded cargo manifest.
"There," she said, pointing. "This mark was stamped on crates seized three months ago. A transport company upstate. We thought it was some underground smuggling ring… but now I'm not so sure."
Zane's eyes gleamed. "Perfect cover. They're probably moving the children through Muggle means, avoiding detection from the magical authorities. No traceable magical transport, no alarms triggered."
Anna frowned. "This company could be a front."
"It probably is." Zane stood up and pulled on his jacket. "I want you to investigate it. Dig into their logistics, find their warehouses, and especially the owner. Someone has to be coordinating this."
Anna looked up at him. "And where are you going?"
"I need to visit someone in MACUSA," Zane said. "A contact deep inside. I want to know if any of this was covered up. If this group has protection from the inside."
He paused, then added, "And give me those fifteen case files. I'll check them personally. Maybe I can track something our way."
Anna nodded and started collecting the documents.
Before he left, Zane turned and looked back at her. "One more thing."
"Yeah?"
"If you find anything—anything at all—don't go alone. Whoever's behind this isn't going to hesitate."
Anna gave a bitter smile. "Neither will I."
Zane gave a faint nod and stepped out into the quiet morning streets of Brooklyn, the weight of the truth settling heavily on his shoulders.