Chapter Nine: Sirens Do Not Grant Birthday Wishes

Birthday parties, Kara decides, are stressful. Despite telling Theo she'd wait to wrap the gifts, she decides to get an early start on some of them. He might run late, after all. Better to be prepared.

Plus, there's the matter of the journal. It's a plain leather bound diary with a strap to keep it shut. On the cover, Kara has used her magic to inscribe Blake's name in gold cursive font, and on the inside, she's left him a small message.

Little Guppy,

There is a world out there waiting to be discovered. The Shimmering Isles, The Lost Lands, The Forgotten Hollows. Follow your heart and find adventure everywhere you step.

The "guppy" part had been accidental, actually, but she leaves it there. He won't know the true meaning of it, only she will. As for the places, well... No human knows where they're located.

Maybe Blake will be the first.

Around noon there comes a knock at her door and Kara stands up from the gifts to go open it. Sure enough, it's Theo.

"Good morning," he says. "Or, afternoon, now."

"It might as well be morning, I slept in today," she tells him, stepping aside so he can come in.

Kara shuts the door and leads him into the living room where she sits down by the wrapped gifts. There are a few left, still, which she gestures him towards.

"There's no hurry; I started without you, so we're almost finished." Kara slides the journal into a box with a pair of sturdy gloves and ties it shut with a shimmering green ribbon.

Meanwhile, Theo is sitting on the floor doing his best to get wrapping paper around the beginners kit for adventures. It's a cute little set, really. A magnifying glass, some notepads and pens, that sort of thing.

"How did you fold that stuff so perfectly," Theo demands, trying once again to get the glossy paper to follow his directions. It rips down the middle and he looks down in defeat. "Do you have tape?"

"I do," she confirms, hiding a smile by biting her bottom lip. "I like it, you know. Adds character."

"Easy for you to say, you're clearly an artist." Kara's smile slips and she looks away.

"I'm not, actually. I'm just a... Perfectionist, I guess. I can't create art, though." Her mother could. Kara misses that. "I guess you could say my artistry rests in song, instead."

"No way, you're a singer?"

"I can," Kara confirms as she sits down next to him and gently takes the gift into her own hands. "I love singing more than most anything."

With careful movements, Kara folds the paper and wraps the kit up snug, taping it down. She hands it back to Theo with a grin. "There you go, all wrapped up."

Theo turns the gift around in his hands a few times before setting it down and turning to look at her.

"Can you sing something for me," he asks curiously.

"Maybe one day." But probably not. Kara is very capable of singing without using her Siren Song, but it's more than that. She isn't a performer. Her singing is something she considers private, just for herself.

And even if she didn't use her Siren Song, a siren's voice can have unusual effects on humans.

It takes them a few minutes to finish wrapping the last few gifts- mostly because Theo keeps having to tape stuff back together- and by then Kara is starved. She ran out of food yesterday, prompting her to order groceriesaand start cooking for herself.

The poor delivery driver had a hard time finding her out in the middle of nowhere, but he didn't seem too upset.

"I did some baking last night and made too much, should I bring the excess," Kara asks, standing up.

"Eh, if you want. There's gonna be lots of junk food already." Junk food? How dare he insult her treats.

"I'll have you know my baking is anything but junk," she tells him seriously, grabbing his arm to pull him up. Theo comes with willingly.

"I didn't mean junk as in bad. I just meant unhealthy." When she walks around her counter to open the fridge, he leans in to look. She pulls out the melon mint mousse and presents it to him.

"This one isn't that bad for you. I mean, sure, I wouldn't eat it every day, but every now and then can't be all that bad for you." Theo stares at the mousse, hunger in his eyes and lips parted. Kara must not have been the only one starving.

"Man, that looks delicious. Forget bringing it to the party, can we have some right now?" Well, they have a minute or two to spare...

"Sure." Kara sets it down on the counter and grabs a fork and spoon- she doesn't exactly have any spare cutlery, and offers him one. "You're the first one to try it, actually, so tell me what you think." Theo accepts the spoon and takes a bite, the stern look on his face melting somewhat. She hopes that means it tastes good.

Not that his opinion matters to her at all!

Theo takes another bite before looking up at her and noticing her staring.

"It's great," Theo says at last, offering her a thumbs up. Kara sighs in relief. "It's really refreshing, actually. What sort of melon is this?"

"Honeydew. It's good in a lot of desserts, actually. Popsicles, cakes, puddings, that sort of thing." Mousse especially!

Together, they finish the mousse and Kara sets the dish in the sink once they're done. For some reason, the fact that Theo liked it so much makes her feel warm all over.

She's been spending too much time with these humans.

"We should get going," Theo announces and Kara quickly checks the time.

"You're right. Okay, let me grab my shoes." Kara hadn't been entirely clear on the dress code, so she's just wearing a blue T-shirt and green overalls.

Theo takes half the presents and Kara carries the other half. Thankfully there isn't anything too large, so carrying everything down the trail isn't too difficult. Kara's arms are still sore once they reach the Hart house, but she'll recover.

"It's cool that your brother's birthday is the first day of spring," she says offhandedly as Theo opens the door for her. "It's like you get to celebrate two different events at o-"

"Kara, you came!" Blake throws his arms around her the moment she steps inside and Kara stands as still as a stock in surprise. This is certainly a warm welcome.

"Happy birthday," she tells him. Kara tries to hug him back awkwardly with one arm, but the gifts are in the way.

"You didn't have to get my anything," he tells her- she wishes people would stop telling her that- and backs up to look. When he notices she got him several things, his eyes widen.

"Woah! What is all this stuff?" She really did go overboard. But again, first time shopping for a guppy. Nobody can blame her.

"Some of this is from your brother, actually. Where can I set these down?" Donna appears from the kitchen archway, that warm comforting smile on her face just like last time.

"There's a spot on the table for gifts. We were actually just about to start opening them. Isn't that right, Blake?" If possible, Blake's already giddy face becomes even more excited and he grabs ahold of Kara's hand.

"I saved you a spot at the table," he whispers while he pulls her into the big dining room. There are already semi-familiar faces gathered there.

Blake sits down at the table and sure enough there's an empty seat next to him that Kara accepts.

Donna comes in holding a cake with candles on it which Kara leans away from in alarm. She had known about this tradition, but she's never seen it in person. The candles burn so hot that the wax is already starting to melt, but no one seems concerned.

"Okay, baby, make a wish," Donna tells her youngest son with a gentle smile. Kara waits to hear the wish, but Blake blows the candle out without speaking.

"What did you wish for," she asks.

"I can't tell you, then the wish wouldn't come true." What? What sort of magic is that? "But, uh, I kind of make the same wish every year and it hasn't come true, yet. So I'll tell you. Later."

William starts serving cake after that while Blake eyes his gifts with growing nervous excitement. Kara's surprised he manages to eat his cake before asking if he can open them.

"They're yours, sweetheart, of course you can open them," Donna says.

Just like that, Blake starts tearing the flimsy paper away, making all sorts of excited sounds.

When he gets to the box with the green ribbon, he looks up at Kara with a grin. The grin fades away when he unties the bow and lifts the lid, though. He lifts the journal out, turning it around in his hands.

"A diary," Blake asks sceptically. Oh, right, there's some kind of stigma around writing in a diary? It's seen as girly. Kara had forgotten about that.

"You know, every great explorer kept a journal of their adventures," Kara tells him as she gently takes the journal and opens it up, revealing the message within. "They would write in secret codes about the things they found, leaving behind hidden messages for the next great adventurer to decipher."

"Hidden messages," Blake asks, excited once again. "You mean like Nolan Mackey!?"

Kara's never heard of a human named Nolan Mackey...

"They all did it. How else will you tell the rest of the world everything you've seen," she asks him. Then, she passes the journal back to him with a wink.

"You mean like... A real explorer?" Blake's eyes light up and he holds the journal a little closer to his chest.

"That's not all, buddy," Theo says, handing him the horribly wrapped gift next. Blake has it open in a flash and unravels the clothes with a gasp.

"Woah, this is like everything Nolan Mako had when he explored the ruins of the Hall House in the third Nolan Mackey game!" Blake slides the harness on and puts his toy gun in it it, covering his eye with the plastic eye patch. "Come on, Silvester, there's treasure hidden here somewhere!"

He runs off with the other kid upstairs, talking faster than Kara can hope to keep up with. He sounds very happy his gifts.

"Well, I reckon that'll keep him occupied for awhile," Donna says with a laugh. "He looked so excited about pretendin' to be that, er, Nolan fellow. Whoever that is."

"Some video game character he really likes," Theo explains.

"Well, thank you both so much for the gifts and Kara, thank you for comin'. It meant a lot t' him." Yeah, Kara is starting to understand that.

These people like her. Without even knowing a thing about her, they like her. Blake looks up to her, Donna and William worry about her, Theo...

She isn't certain what he feels about her precisely, but it clearly isn't dislike.

If she stays here, all of that will only get worse. They'll keep showing up at her lake, keep inviting her to birthdays, and keep liking her.

She'll start liking them, too. Blake had been the easiest, and a gateway to the rest of them. Just once she let herself sympathize with the kid and now she's thinking about future birthday parties! What's next? Weddings, funerals?

Kara's heart starts to race and she realizes her hands are shaking.

"Miss Bint, are you okay," William asks. Kara stands up from her chair.

"I'm- actually, I'm not feeling so well. I think I over did it on the cake." She needs to go. She needs to leave. This is all- this can't happen. The longer she stays here, the closer she's going to get to these humans.

At what point does she start to see herself as one of them?

"Kara," Theo says, standing up with her as she stumbles back.

"I have to go! I'm sorry, tell Blake I hope he has a wonderful birthday." Kara flees while she has the chance.

Kara is not a human. These are not her people.

So then why do they keep making her forget that?