Chapter Nine: Sirens Do Not Grant Birthday Wishes

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

Plus, there was the matter of the journal. It was a plain leather bound diary with a strap to keep it shut. On the cover, Kara had used her magic to inscribe Blake's name in gold cursive font, and on the inside, she'd 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 left it there. He wouldn't know the true meaning of it and she found it oddly fitting for him. As for the places, well... No human knew where they were located.

Maybe Blake would be the first.

Around noon there came a knock at her door and Kara stood up from the pile of gifts to go open it. Sure enough, it as Theo.

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

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

Kara shut the door and led him into the living room where she sat down by the wrapped gifts. There were a few left, still, which she gestured him towards.

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

Meanwhile, Theo was sitting on the floor doing his best to get wrapping paper around the Beginners Kit For Young Adventures. It was a cute little set, really. A magnifying glass, some notepads and pens, a book on the dangers of the wilderness. That sort of thing.

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

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

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

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

"No way, you're a singer?"

"I am," Kara said with a nod as she sat down next to him to gently take the gift into her own hands. "I love singing more than most anything."

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

Theo turned 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 asked curiously.

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

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

It took them a few minutes to finish wrapping the last few gifts- mostly because Theo kept having to tape stuff back together- and by then Kara was starved. She ran out of food yesterday, prompting her to order groceries and 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. Actually, he had looked thrilled.

It was weird.

"I did some baking last night and made too much, should I bring the excess," Kara asked, 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 told him seriously, grabbing his arm to pull him up. Theo came with willingly- which is good because otherwise she would not have been able to tug him around.

"I didn't mean junk as in bad. I just meant unhealthy." When she walked around her counter to open the fridge, he leaned over the counter to look.

Kara pulled out the melon mint mousse she had spent all day preparing and presented it to him with a proud, "Ta-da!"

"What am I looking at."

"Mousse. I made it with melon, whipped cream, some mint for freshness. This isn't all 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." Theo looked the mousse over with intense scrutiny and then nodded.

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

"Sure." Kara set it down on the counter and grabbed a fork and spoon- she didn't exactly have any spare cutlery, and offered him one.

Maybe she should get a few extra plates and stuff... Just in case.

Not to have visitors over, of course, but it could come in handy. Just for emergencies. Totally.

"You're the first one to try it, actually, so tell me what you think." Theo accepted the spoon and took a bite, the stern look on his face melting somewhat. For some inexplicable reason, Kara waited with bated breath.

Not that his opinion mattered to her at all!

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

"Oh, uh, it's great," Theo told her, offering her a thumbs up. Kara sighed in relief. "It's really refreshing, actually. What sort of melon is this?"

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

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

Probably pride. She'd been spending too much time with these humans.

"We should get going," Theo announced and Kara quickly checked the time.

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

Theo took half the presents and Kara carried the other half. Thankfully there wasn't anything too large, so carrying everything down the trail wasn't too difficult. Kara's arms were still sore once they reach the Hart house, but she'd recover.

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

"Kara, you came!" Blake threw his arms around her the moment she stepped inside and Kara stood frozen in surprise. This was certainly a warm welcome.

"Happy birthday," she told him. Kara tried to hug him back awkwardly with one arm, but the gifts were in the way.

Plus, Kara wasn't great at hugging.

"You didn't have to get my anything," he said- she wished people would stop telling her that- and backed up to look. When he noticed she got him several things, his eyes widened.

"Woah! What is all this stuff?"

She really did go overboard. But again, first time shopping for a guppy. Nobody could blame her.

"Some of this is from your brother, actually. Where can I set these down?" Donna appeared 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 became even more excited and he grabbed ahold of Kara's hand.

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

Blake sat down at the table and sure enough there was an empty seat next to him that Kara accepted.

She got the feeling he didn't have many friends.

Donna came in holding a cake with candles on it which Kara leaned away from in alarm. She had known about this tradition, but she'd never seen it in person. The candles burned so hot that the wax was already starting to melt, but no one seemed concerned.

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

"What did you wish for," she asked curiously.

"I can't tell you, then the wish wouldn't come true." What? What sort of magic was 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 started serving cake after that while Blake eyed his gifts with growing nervous excitement. Kara was surprised he managed to eat his cake before asking if he could open them.

"They're yours, sweetheart, of course you can go ahead and open them," Donna assured him.

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

When he got to the box with the green ribbon, he looks up at Kara with a grin. The grin faded away when he untied the bow and lifted the lid, though.

He pulled the journal out, turning it around in his hands and blushing.

"A diary," Blake asked sceptically. Oh, right, there was some kind of stigma around writing in a diary? It was seen as girly.

Kara had forgotten about that.

"You know, every great explorer kept a journal of their adventures," Kara told him as she gently took the journal and opened 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 asked, excited once again. "You mean like Nolan Mackey!?"

Kara had 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 asked him. Then, she passed the journal back to him with a wink.

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

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

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

He ran off with the other kid upstairs, talking faster than Kara could hope to keep up with. He sounded very happy his gifts.

"Well, I reckon that'll keep him occupied for awhile," Donna said 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 explained with a shrug.

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

These people liked her. Without even knowing a thing about her, they liked her. Blake looked up to her, Donna and William worried about her, Theo...

She wasn't certain what he felt about her precisely, but it clearly wasn't dislike.

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

Until eventually she'd 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 was thinking about future birthday parties! What was next? Weddings, funerals?

Kara's heart started to race and she realized her hands were shaking.

"Miss Bint, are you okay," William asked. Kara stood up from her chair.

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

At what point had she started to see herself as one of them?

"Kara," Theo said, standing up with her as she stumbled back from the table.

"I have to go! I'm sorry, tell Blake I hope he has a wonderful birthday." Kara fled while she had the chance, hurrying outside and down the steps.

The sky had gotten darker while she'd been inside, storm clouds gathering. It would start raining, soon.

Kara knew that. She knew for certain because she was not a human. She wasn't human like Blake or William, she would never be able to completely understand Theo, Donna's kindness was wasted on her.

These were not her people.

So then why did they keep making her forget that?