Chapter One: Day Two

Kara wakes up to warm rays trying to break through the murky water.

Day two, now. Her mission? Overcome all obstacles and get her new house livable. The obstacles in question; strange new body with wobbly knees, wet floors, broken glass, and them.

Kara hears the persistent knocking about ten minutes after she gets inside and considers pretending she isn't home. It's early morning; she only just started cleaning again. Maybe she'll get lucky and they'll just go away? But then again, they may keep coming back and she'll really never get anything done.

With an exasperated sign, Kara leaves her work behind and makes her way to the front door, legs shaking beneath her. At this point she isn't sure if it's her new body or anxiety.

The sun is shining on the front of the house today and she can just barely make out the outline of three people waiting through the dilapidated cracks in the door.

These visitors are multiplying, apparently.

Kara opens the door slowly, eyes narrowed as she peeks around it. A short woman stands there, even shorter than Kara, with greying reddish hair and a giant smile. Behind her is the kind child and the rude man from yesterday.

"Good mornin', neighbor!" Is it, though?

"Can I help you with something," she asks warily, still peering around the door and half hiding behind it like it's a shield. Kara has never been comfortable in groups of humans. Too easy to get cornered, too easy to be overpowered. Especially on land.

The woman's smile doesn't falter and Kara is relieved. She has a deep southern accent, her words flowing fast and her voice pitched high.

"We were hopin' you might like t' come over for some lunch, today! Everyone has been just dyin' t' meet ya!" Oh boy. They want to invite her over? Can she possibly refuse such an offer? Kara looks at the rude man, who is glaring at her, and then Blake, who is giving her a huge grin and a thumbs up.

"When is 'lunch'," she asks with a defeated sigh.

"Oh wonderful! We were thinkin' you could stop by around noon. Now, the trail has gotten a little overgrown, so I'll have Theo come walk you over." She turns and elbows the rude man, causing him to cough and hunch over. So his name is Theo. Short for something, perhaps?

"Yeah, I'll be here at twelve," he mutters. With that he turns around and leaves. Kara opens her door a bit wider with her lips pressed thin in displeasure. Why is she so polite to these people when they are so rude to her?

"Oh, I'm sorry about him," the woman says warmly. "He's had a rough time of it here lately. That's my oldest, Theo, and this is my youngest, Blake. I'm Donna Hart."

"Kara Bint," Kara says, a bit unsure of this woman. She seems kind. So far. "Does this lunch thing have a dress code?"

"You gotta wear a tiara," Blake tells her seriously. His mother ushers him back, waving him towards their house.

"She does not have to wear a tiara. Ignore him, dear, you wear whatever you like. Heck, my husband spends all day workin' outside and comes home head to toe looking like he lost a battle with a mud pit, you couldn't track in more dirt than he does if you tried." Good to know. Kara will dress well, but not overly formal.

"Okay, I guess I'll be there, then. Um, I should really get back to work now." The kind woman nods and guides Blake towards the trail between their houses.

"We'll see you later! You take care now," she calls back at Kara before they reach the treeline. Kara shuts the door and slumps against it with a tired groan. It's neverending, isn't it? They're not going to stop these weird visits.

Well, at least she has a few hours to spare until that horrible man shows up. If she wants this place to be spotless, every minute of the day counts. Back to work!

Three hours later, Kara wouldn't say the house is spotless, necessarily, when she finally settles down on the dock to take a break and just stare up at it. The broken glass and damaged wood frames are all in the garbage now, at least. There's no more danger of cutting her feet just from walking inside and it's less ugly to look at. But the bathroom sink needs to be repaired and the bedroom has an old wardrobe- the only piece of furniture left in he house- that needs to be dragged out and cleaned.

It's a wonder she got so much done, actually. Her limbs still feel heavy and hard to move. She had more energy today, if only it had lasted a bit longer.

Ah, and it's almost noon, Kara realizes with a disappointed frown as she glances up at the sky. That man will be dropping by soon to walk her to the Hart house for lunch. It probably isn't a good idea to show up in these filthy clothes she's been cleaning in. An old rusty nail had ripped a hole in her shirt and there's a new stain on her shorts. They'll dissolve the moment she doesn't need them anymore, so she isn't too upset.

Okay. Something casual, then. Something easy going. Something human. Kara shuts her eyes and tips her head back. It isn't too difficult to imagine the mundane clothes she desires in her head. Boring blue jeans and a plain white v-neck shirt. An unassuming outfit that will help her blend in.

The magic flows through her and Kara let out a pleased hum as she opens her eyes. It quickly turns to a shocked and outraged gasp when she takes in her outfit.

Rather than jeans and a v-neck, she has on a flowy black skirt, threaded with shimmering blues and greens, and a black sleeveless mock turtleneck. It's not even spring, yet, they'll think she's a crazy person.

"What... Absolutely not," she hisses, glancing down at the water with wide eyes. Had... Had this been her mother's doing? Had she interfered with Kara's magic to give her nicer clothes? While she's still in the realm of casually dressed, this is far more... Attractive? Kara learned years ago to never be too attractive around humans. It draws too much attention.

"No, I can't wear this. I need-!" The sound of rustling sticks and leaves cuts her off and Kara jumps up, flailing a bit on her shaky legs. It's too late, she can hear someone coming through the woods. If she tries to use her magic to change her clothes again, she might be seen and discovered as a siren. Well, she doubts any human would jump straight to the conclusion of siren, but they'd know she isn't human and that's just as bad. Worse even.

The last thing she needs is to be at the end of a pitch fork.

Kara stumbles off the dock and into the house in the hopes of changing into one of her prepared outfits in her suitcase, but the moment she steps inside there's a heavy knock on the door and she knows there's no time. With how uncoordinated she is, changing the human way would be a slow hassle.

Great. Thanks, mom.

With defeat dragging her shoulders down, Kara shuffles to the front door. It could be worse, she could have ended up in an ugly neon green tube top. She opens her door and looks up at Mister Disrespectful with a frown.

Theo... Yes, that was his name. Theo looks her up and down, silent for a few seconds. Kara expects him to complain or insult her again, but he just looks away quickly without even acknowledging or greeting her. Then, he turns around and starts walking.

"Keep up," he calls back to her, his shoulders hunched almost as much as hers are. Kara would like to throw something at him. Something heavy. What sort of escort is this? Why bother coming at all if he's just going to walk off like a jerk? It would be so easy to throw her shoe at him.

She settles for shutting her door and stepping after him unhappily. A trek through the woods sounds exhausting right now, especially in rude company and dressed in a long skirt, but complaining won't help her.

This lunch better not take long.