"HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR, Natalia. Happy birthday to you."

Natalia blew out the candles on the cake her dad held. As she smiled at him, the lights cut out. She blinked into the darkness.

"I'll meet you downstairs," she said.

She heard her dad shuffle out of her room and moved once he was gone. She search for some clothes on floor and hoped they were the right way round when she found some. February mornings were still dark – truthfully, most of the day was – so hardly any light came through the window to see with as a guide.

She dressed anyway and hurried downstairs.

Rain and wind howled beyond the front door. Natalia braced herself and stepped into the deluge to reach the little electrical cupboard attached to the side of the outside of the house.

Yellow light flashed when she pulled the cord. She shivered when a spider ran across a wire in front of her and sighed when it disappeared into the brickwork.

It was an old house so lights going out or electrics tripping wasn't unusual. But as she searched the board, she was stumped.

Nothing has tripped.

For good measure, she flicked some switches before turning off the light and retreating, leaving the spiders and their silky webs behind – two things she didn't care for.

Instantly, the wind slapped thick droplets across her cheeks. Shielding her face with an arm, Natalia turned to the front door.

As she did, movement shot by in the reflection of the glass and she froze.

Spinning with little grace belonging to a former dancer, her gaze spotted a wolf.

What?

How could there be a wolf? No wolves existed on this island – there were no woods for them to live and no zoos for them to have escaped from. It must've been a dog. Nevertheless, Natalia stepped into the rain, eyes searching for answers to whatever she'd seen.

Blinking, she spotted a brown shape running away.

Definitely a dog. It probably escaped from someone's house or garden, she thought as thunder rolled across the sky. Only it didn't sound right. Normal thunder had a resonating crack. This sounded like a snappy firework.

"Get back inside!"

Natalia wiped her eyes in time to see three people blast past her. They sprinted in the same direction as the dog. Were they warning her that the animal was dangerous?

Whoever had shouted and whatever their meaning, the warning of something was clear.

Another chest-rattling noise burst through the air. This time, Natalia was entirely convinced it wasn't thunder. She turned toward the sound, heart pulsing with ominous dread.

Distinguished billows of black smoke rose into the unclear sky.

The smoke wafted closer and closer as a shape emerged from the far end of the street. One that was unmistakable. A scorpion. But this wasn't one that could be crushed under a foot. This insect was at least double the height of a person. Natalia choked on her own saliva, her body shuddering. She tried to back up yet her legs wouldn't cooperate, paralysed with hopeless fear.

Out of nowhere, the brown 'dog' returned, barrelling past Natalia, directly for that giant thing.

The dog leaped suddenly and Natalia looked for why.

Blood had pooled in the street, leaking towards a drain. Blood from a body that was cleanly snapped in half.

The lower abdomen was down the road a few paces, legs dangling from the path. The top half was closer to Natalia, just in front of her dad's crappy car, but close enough that she could see the wide, lifeless eyes.

Natalia's legs unfroze and she darted toward the front door.

Whatever was happening, it had to be in her head. She was dreaming, her brain not yet awake to comprehend reality and had instead offered a nightmare.

She reached the door, her back pressed against it as the rain continued its assault. Still she couldn't turn away or wake.

Three figures sprinted back down the road, paces behind the wolf-dog – Natalia was convinced they were the same ones. If they looked at her, she hadn't noticed; she was too focused on the giant bug as it snapped its massive pincer.

That was the noise!

A lump formed in her throat. Fear either gave the ability to fight or to run. Natalia was unable to do either – a heart solid with fear and wonder was a potent mix apparently.

Natalia's field of vision grew wider the closer the figures got to the giant scorpion. One of them broke away, brown hair whipping about their faces, while the others disappeared into a pillar of smoke.

Their stare was direct as they lifted their arms and Natalia cowered in panic.

When she lifted her gaze once more, all was gone. No one was running about. There wasn't a giant scorpion snapping somewhere at the distant end of the street. There wasn't even a dog. All that remained was the storm.

The dream had ended. She was awake. She had to be.

Unease settled into her stomach as she stepped inside, and she blinked in confusion, unable to shake the feeling she was walking away from something important.

The smell of strawberries wafted up her nose, chasing away most of her thoughts. She followed it to the kitchen where her father was bent over the small table, cutting her birthday cake into near equal sized sections, just as he always would.

Natalia sat at her usual spot, tucked into the corner of the small room. She put her hands shaking hand on the table for only a moment before squirrelling them onto her lap. Her dad didn't seem to notice as he passed her a china bowl, took one for himself, and sat opposite with a toothy smile.

"Happy birthday," he chimed, green eyes blazing. The lights above him were on, yellow and soft, like they'd never been out for even a second.

Natalia tried to smile. "Thanks, Dad."

Is the wolf-dog still out there? The body? The scorpion?

The intrusive thoughts made her choke on her first bite, earning a raised eyebrow, but she played it off as a cough.

Of course they're not out there. There never was a wolf. There wasn't a scorpion. And there wasn't a body.

Yet the thoughts didn't leave, no matter how hard she tried replacing them with cake.

In another attempt at distraction, she watched her father.

They shared a lot of features. The same tree-bark brown hair which they wore unstyled; Natalia's fell to her elbows with a side parting, while her father's was much shorter, greying at the roots already. The pale complexion, oblong face, small nose, and the dark eyebrows and eyelashes.

Natalia's eyes were the same almond shape as her father's, but hers were a dull brown and his a calm green. She'd never worn braces for her straight teeth while he had wonky teeth he was unbothered by.

Between her shoulder blades began to itch as she thought about the oddest difference. Sometimes, when she became flustered or blushed, a subtle sparkle rose on her cheeks. It didn't happen every time, and Natalia didn't think others noticed it when it did. If they did, nobody had mentioned it. She herself had assumed it was residue glitter from something – probably from all the cake decorating she did regularly.

"Did Katherine make this?" She stabbed the last piece of her icing and saw the design on it: intricately small flowers made of tiny dots.

He winked. "Of course she did."

Katherine Santos was their overly cheerful neighbour who owned her own café and cake shop along Main Street. Natalia now worked there too, cooking and baking and cleaning.

She sighed, her gaze drawn to the window and the storm outside.

She caught a hint of her father's voice as it trailed off. She blinked and looked back at him. "What?"

He smiled. "Something's caught your attention."

Wolf. Giant Scorpion. A trio. Dead body.

"It's nothing. Just think about a dream I had." She paused, her stomach twisting. "What were you saying?"

"I was saying," he pushed his bowl away, "that your birthday comes round quicker every year."

"It's the same time every year, Dad. It's just that we're always so busy it seems to come round faster."

"Can't you stop growing up for one year?"

At that, she relaxed and smiled. "I don't think that's how it works."

"Then I suppose," he emphasised the word dramatically, "I better give you these."

From under the table, he drew out two presents wrapped in silver paper. Natalia became an impatient child, no longer distracted, wanting to grab her gifts. She did just that and her father chuckled.

Ignoring how her hands still shook, she tore into the smaller present first.

Inside a black box sat a sight of wonders. Two silver stars, hanging off short hooks, glistened with a hint of something that resembled the essence of starlight itself. Her mouth opened in awe. For months she'd asked for these earrings. She'd been drawn to them from the very first moment she'd seen them. How had her dad afforded them?

Her fingers glided over them and then picked them out. Carefully, she pushed the first into one ear and then the second on the other side. The stars hung just below her lobe. They caused little rainbows to dance on the walls as the lights caressed them.

"Dad..." She trailed off, unable to finish. She touched the earrings. They were hers.

His smile was a proud one. "You have another present," he reminded, pointing at it.

With a thumping heart, Natalia wondered if she could handle a second present. These earrings were more than enough. They were everything. Knowing her father would only push until she relented though, she grabbed the second gift.

"They're from Katherine too," he said. "She wanted to get you something and remembered me saying about your headphones."

"Dad." She touched the box of her new green headphones. "This is too much."

He climbed from his chair to kiss Natalia's head. "Nothing is too much for my Natalia."

"How—"

"I've been saving. It's why you didn't get much at Christmas."

Natalia kissed his soft, shaven cheek. "Thank you," she whispered. But no amount of thanks, whether said or showed, would ever come close to expressing how truly grateful she was.

The doorbell rang and her dad left to get it, knees cracking as he moved. Natalia stayed. She didn't dare blink in case her incredible gifts puffed out of existence. Were they taunts, things in front of her, in reach now, but things she would never really possess? They were too incredible and yet she'd been given them.

"Guess who?" Teased an overly familiar voice, drawing her back.

Noah entered, flashing a wide smile to show off his coloured braces. His neatly-cropped black hair showed off his ears – one ear was missing a chunk at the top thanks to an infected piercing from a couple of years ago. The kitchen lights gave his umber skin a golden sheen.

Natalia stood and Noah enveloped her in a secure hug. She caught her father's eye over Noah's back. He winked – his way of offering encouragement – and walked off.

"I heard it was someone's eighteenth birthday." Breaking apart, Noah thrusted a brown papered package at Natalia. "The birthday Fairies might have left something for you at my place."

"There's no such thing," she argued as something niggled at her stomach.

"Today is your birthday, right?"

"It's February nineteenth, right?"

Noah snorted as he laughed. "Then there must be such things. Come on, Princess. You've turned eighteen, not one hundred. There's still enough life in you to joke around."

"But what if they're bad?"

He fake gasped. "I'm offended. I'm cancelling our friendship."

She grinned. "That's the fourth time this week."

"Only the fourth?" Noah laughed at himself as Natalia unwrapped her present.

Long ago, Natalia had grown out of believing stories about Fairies and Witches and the rest; they belonged to the worlds inside her books, the ones now collecting dust in the loft. The idea of them was nice but silly now, and childish. They were a children's wish, not an adult's reality. Maybe that was why her brain had conjured what it had earlier, to hold onto what innocence it could. But Natalia was eighteen now and had to put those things away for good. Though she wasn't old, she was old enough.

A brown box was hidden inside the brown paper package. She tore off the tape and beamed.

On the top was a giant box of Malteasers – her favourite. Putting them on the table as Noah slid into a chair, she found the second gift. She laid down the box to unfurl the piece of clothing, laughing as she held it up.

It was black with writing made from sequins that, when shook, flipped to a rainbow pattern. No matter the way the sequins hung, the writing remained the same: I'm a Fairy, bitch.

She looked to her best friend. "Is this why you were going on about Fairies?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "It might've had something to do with it."

"Thank you." She shuffled over and kissed his cheek.

"Though," he paused, "it might have something to do with the gossip about a wolf roaming the streets last night." Natalia's breathing hitched but Noah didn't notice. As her heart pulsed loudly, Noah took her hand and kissed the back of it. "Princess," he said – his nickname for her because "Nat" wasn't good enough and he needed a perfectly cheesy name for all the time they'd been best friends.

She blinked. "What?"

"I was just saying I'm glad you like the gifts."

"Old age is kicking in," her father commented as he returned. "She zoned earlier too."

"A mind of jelly at eighteen. It's a sad affair." Noah shook his head, grinning, more so when Natalia's father handed him some cake. "Thank you, sir," he said.

Natalia's father turned to her, looked the t-shirt up and down, and said, "Suits you." He smiled and she smiled back. "Do you two have plans today?"

"Have you got work?" Natalia asked back.

"No matter how much I want this house to run itself, it won't."

Her father, Tony Whitebell, worked hard for what little he had and was proud of that. He gave whatever he could to Natalia despite her constant, incessant protests. But she was everything to him and she knew it, he made sure she did. Usually by doing small things – picking flowers from the garden so she could look at them while washing up; buying a postcard from the market by a local aspiring artist that would brighten her bedroom; trying out new recipes to change her moods. Whatever he could do, however he could do it, he did anything and everything to make her happy.

"Eleven hours today," her father answered, leaning against the sink.

Venderly Island wasn't big. It was close to Nantucket Island but still awfully far – oddly the U.K. had claim over Venderly despite it being geographically closer to mainland America. There was one large general store. Nearly all produce was shipped from mainland America. Two deliveries a week, sometimes three, and then the shelves needed filling. That was what Natalia's father did, often pulling long shifts. But a job was a job.

"I applied there last week," announced Noah.

Natalia's head whipped toward him. "Since when?"

"Since I got rejected for every other job I applied for." Noah rolled his eyes heavily. "Apparently I'm too young and don't have enough experience for anything. But how am I supposed to get experience if no one is willing to offer a chance for me to earn it?"

"Unfortunately, that's how the world works." Natalia's father sighed. "You'll get there, kid."

Even though Venderly was reclusive, the only way on or off being by boat, plenty of people lived here. The entire Island was one town of sorts. There were shops, a market, the grocery store, as well as houses, two hotels, three different schools, a dance studio, a swimming pool and gym combo, and a combined shipping and transport yard and dock – both on the West side, which was how you got from the mainland to here. But jobs were rare and hard to obtain when one did rise.

"I'm going to water the sea and declare that as my job," Noah joked.

Tony laughed. "Let me know how that goes. If it pays well, and the hours are good, I might join you."

"I'll stick with the job I have," Natalia threw out. "I'm guaranteed my birthday, Christmas day, Boxing day, and New Year's Eve and day off every year. Plus, the boss is rather nice."

"She is indeed," her father agreed, not meeting her gaze as he spoke. He pushed off the counter with his hands and folded his arms, crumpling the t-shirt he wore. "And that brings us back to the fact that you have today off."

Natalia turned to her best friend. "I was thinking we could visit the new rooftop bar?"

"No more exams?" Noah asked. Natalia shook her head. "Then it just so happens, I have midday reservations for that place."

She looked at her father. "You're ok with that?"

His smile was toothy. "You're eighteen. Technically, I don't have to be ok with anything anymore for you to do it. But of course I'm ok with it!" He unfolded his arms. "It's your birthday and you've finished your exams. Celebrate. Please."

Natalia threw herself at her father, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly. "It's impossible not to love you," she whispered.

"My job is to make sure that doesn't change." He kissed her head so gently it felt like bird's wings fluttering against her skin. "And I love you too."

He promptly pushed Natalia into the hallway where she shuffled into shoes and a February appropriate jacket.

"I'll grab something on the way home for tea," she promised.

"I won't be home until after nine!" Her father called from the kitchen.

She smiled to herself. "I'll wait."

She could picture him shaking his head as he said, "I know."

Noah shoved past Natalia. "To the roof party!" He unlocked the door and ran out.

Natalia followed cautiously, searching for a body first and laughed nervously when there wasn't one. There wasn't even a drop of blood in sight. The ground was sodden and the winds had picked up, yet there were no signs of anything mysterious – why would there be? Natalia cuddled herself as she struggled to keep up with Noah's long strides.

Venderly Hotel soon came into view down Main Street – the road that ran directly through the centre of the Island, from one end to the other. The lavish grey brickwork showed style and how it was newer that its surroundings. Gold double doors flashed to those passing, pointing out this was the entrance. An old fashioned chalk board sat out front with "Rooftop garden now open. Come and get your drinks" scrawled across it in cursive writing.

Natalia's heart lept as Noah pushed the doors.

They were guided to the lifts by a worker once they'd expressed why they were here. The friends hopped inside the box of gold, along with five others, and were taken up to the fifteenth floor without any music playing above them.

When the doors slid apart, Natalia grabbed Noah's coat sleeve, unable to comprehend how there was somehow more to see.

Here, the whole Island – despite being vast and needing a near quarter day to calmly walk from one end and back – was visible. As was part of the sea beyond; the sound of the waves lapped the shore. Seagulls flew and dived overhead, making a horrible din, but they didn't swoop too low. Car horns tooted, bus doors shushed, and the tram bell dinged below in the streets.

This rooftop was delicate and vast too. Little circular wooden tables were spread out with chairs tucked beneath. Candles sat at their centre, most unlit. Lavender bushes lined the edge of the space and their smell was currently subtle. Other potted plants were placed around, adding greenery to hide the concrete structure it was the best it could. The balance of natural and industrial was incredible. Especially the little path that was lined by plants that led to a wooden shack at the furthest end of the rooftop. The wooden shack being the bar.

To Natalia, it was everything she'd been expecting from the new construction.

No waiter or server came to escort them, so Noah and Natalia took themselves to a table. It wasn't at the edge yet close enough they could see across some of the water the Island was captured by.

Being up this high, able to see so much, was like flying without having wings or the fear of falling. The salt air mixed with the lavender as Natalia tried to take it all in – if only she could package this combination into a jar.

"My treat, birthday girl," Noah said as he handed over a menu from the table behind.

She perused it. Half of the list was compiled of things she'd never heard of. Eventually her eyes found something familiar. "A glass of—"

"Red wine," he finished before she could.

She folded her menu. "It's like you know me."

"You know what? I think I might." He walked off to the bar and returned minutes later with drinks, his ID stuck between his glass and hand, and a puzzled expression. He handed Natalia her wine and sat opposite her, face unchanging. "Those women," he nodded to two tables over, "were at the bar too. They were saying there's a new family moving into Opal."

Natalia was glad she'd not taken a sip or she would've choked. "Opal House? Someone's moving in?"

"Apparently they have a large dog too."

"I heard it was a wolf," said a man in passing, clearly ear-wigging. He moved on quickly.

Natalia's hands shook as she raised her glass. "A wolf." The rich wine did nothing to drown the bitterness she could taste lingering on the tip of her tongue.

"It ran past my window!" Shrieked someone from another table. Clearly they were having a similar conversation. Natalia peered over and spotted the man that had commented to her and Noah moments ago now chatting lively to the women who had been gossiping about Opal House. "A wolf ran across my grass in the night. It unearthed half of it! I'm angrier about my lawn than I was scared. Bloody beast."

Noah raised an eyebrow at Natalia and whispered, "Did you see anything?"

"I don't think it was a wolf," Natalia replied, her stomach twisting an inch.

She realised then that while people had mentioned Opal House and the wolf – dog, her mind corrected – no one had said anything about a body. If that had been real, surely everyone would've been talking about it. But there wasn't even a whisper. That alone convinced Natalia, in that moment, that it hadn't been real. Maybe the other bits had been; the storm, the smoke, even the figures and the wolf. But not the body and certainly not the beast.

Noah huffed. "I'm pissed I didn't see anything! I heard about it, obviously, but..." He sipped his drink.

Natalia laughed nervously. "There might be a next time."

"Bloody better be. I seem to miss out on all the good stuff."

Natalia drank, hoping there wouldn't be a "next time". Noah drank too. And that was how they spent the next few hours. They talked, mostly about his failed job applications or of Natalia's preparations to start her nurses' course – she'd graduated from High School a term early, hence the recent exams as they were end of term ones and her college entrance exams.

"Come on, Princess," Noah said as he stood, wobbling. "I think it's time to go."

The sky above was sinking, not because the day was done, but because another storm was brewing on the horizon – Island's had benefits and problems.

Natalia gathered her bag as an idea popped into her head. "What about pizza? Home-made?" Despite what she'd drunk, she felt no affects as she stood.

"Like we used to?"

They stepped back into the lift and rode it down, the bell dinging once they reached the ground floor. The doors opened with a swish and they stepped out together.

"You're the birthday princess," Noah continued. "If that's what you want to do, we will."

Umbrellas were thrown up to protect those passing. The older generations kept their heads down while the younger ones looked to the sky. All seemed unsure of when the storm would break, only hoping they could beat it to their destinations. Natalia lifted the hood on her jacket and Noah copied with his coat.

They tried to outrun the heavens too. They made it to the front doors of the general store before water touched them.

Noah grabbed a basket and they walked along the aisles where a few other shoppers were browsing. Natalia picked up some essentials but found herself growing increasingly more distracted.

Her eyes kept wandering to the windows and the shadows as if something was lurking there, watching. Even though nothing jumped out, her heart refused to settle. The events of the morning were plaguing her, her mind unable to decipher what was real to what wasn't.

Once they'd checked out, they chose to venture back up Main Street as it provided the best shelter from the storm. Trams were slower in the rain and walking would give them the best chance to investigate the rumours surrounding Opal House. It took one passing look to decide what to do.

As they turned up Opal Street, Noah pointed to the parked yellow moving vans.

"Them old ladies were right," Noah whispered as they stopped under a tree.

Opal Street had no outlet, though Waverly Road intersected it from halfway down – the way back to Natalia's house. But the dead end gave way to the Island's biggest level-topped hill. Stone steps placed into the earth led up to one of the oldest residencies on the Island.

Opal House had remained mostly empty for as long as Natalia could remember; few had bought the house but no one lasted more than a few months. Every kid on Venderly used to play by the House at some point in their lives; they chased around it in summer and slid down the hill in winter.

"How long do you think they'll last?" Noah asked.

"Someone's finally bought it," Natalia said at the same time. It felt like the end of an era; these yellow vans seemed like serious business.

Noah wiped the rain from his face. "Who?"

It had to be someone off Island buying it. That would make the most sense since no one here had ever claimed it. Natalia adjusted herself and spotted a builders van parked closer to the House. Why would anyone choose to move here though? Not many people in recent years had moved to the Island in general, let alone claiming a rather large house. Maybe it was to be a holiday home?

The wind gusted and rain blew through their little tree cover, coating Natalia and Noah, spraying into their unsuspecting faces. All talk of the House died as they rushed on again.

Luckily the rest of the sprint home was no longer than ten minutes. Natalia handed her things to Noah so she could unlock the chipped, green front door. She shoved him inside and followed, her face immediately flushing.

After putting their coats on the radiator, Natalia led the way into the kitchen. There wasn't much shopping to unpack but Noah insisted on helping. So Natalia flicked on the light and radio, and everything was fine.

Then, for the second time that day, everything shut off.

When the lights didn't miraculously turn on again, Natalia sighed. Throwing open the front door, she hurried into the electrical cupboard. When she was done she paused, eyeing the road.

There was no sign of anything suspicious, but her heart-rate peaked as if expecting there to be. She squinted and a scorpion flickered into hazy existence and then out in a blink. She took a sharp, shallow breath.

It's not there. There's no scorpion now and there wasn't one before.

Touching the handle, she caught a glimpse of a shape in the glass of the door. Her head whipped round. A roll of thunder echoed and she pictured a snapping pincer. Was her mind playing tricks again? It had to be. There were no such things as giant scorpions.

Another rap of thunder crashed and there came no image this time.

Definitely in my head, she thought.

She went back inside, closing the door slowly behind her as if waiting for something to happen at the last second. When nothing arose, she pressed her head against the cold door, steadying herself before going back to the kitchen, picking a jumper up from the stairs in passing.

"I've already started." Noah side-stepped to show a floured countertop. "Hope you don't mind." He must've seen something written on her face because he asked, "Everything cool?"

"Just the electrics."

Noah grinned. "No wolf?"

She swallowed the lump in her throat, refusing to portray her unease on her face. "Not this time."

"Then how about these pizzas?"

Natalia forced a laugh and bumped him aside to join. Eventually she did settle into singing and dancing and cooking with Noah like when they were kids, but something deep in her stomach wouldn't allow her mind to rest – like an idea blooming in her subconscious, slowly coming together.

As they continued, lightning flashed and Natalia gasped. Noah bumped her hip again and she smiled at him. Though it wasn't the lightning that had alarmed her. She could've sworn the flash had illuminated the shape of a wolf in the garden, its eyes staring directly at her.

But as time passed, so did the worst of the storm, and the wolf never returned. 

- - -

[ all rights to STARLIGHT belong to Lauren Jade ]

- - -

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