Part One: How I spent my summer vacation

1)

I will start by introducing myself. Because writing a first person point of view story with some nameless person telling you a story is lame.

Yes, that was aimed at you Grandpa.

My Name is Sara Endora Caine. Sara because it’s a traditional Japanese name with no real significance worth mentioning. None. It just sounds like the Western name Sarah the way my parents pronounced it.

I got the name Endora in honor of my paternal great grandmother. Which baffled her since my dad, her grandson, loathed her.

It may have been a way to ensure that old Endora didn't feel like she had to step in to protect me from the evils of even the men I was related to. Great Grandmother has some major issues.

My last name Caine also comes from old Endora. It was the name she chose after fleeing her family to come to colonial America. My younger sister got the full story. Normally Ami would love to blab, but this time she looked hesitant and told me to ask Great Grandmother myself if I wanted to know about it.

You know what? I think I can live without that information.

I am half Japanese on my mother’s side from the Ichiban family. And I strongly favor that side of my family, except for my weird eyes.

Green and yellow mixed in with each other with an almost black ring around the outside. I used to be self conscious about it until my Grandpa on my dad’s side said that my other Great Grandmother, his mom, had the same eyes. I’m the only one of her descendants with them. So, that’s kind of cool.

It’s a connection with an entire side of my family I had only recently found out about.

See, my little sister, got witch powers from my Dad’s side of the family. And both sides started fighting over who got to steal her away from Mom and Dad for their own purposes.

So, after Aunt Rosaria burned down our house… by accident we’ve all agreed to pretend to believe, Grandma Brianna gave me an old necklace she had. One of those half heart shaped ones with the initials J. L. on hers.

Stolen story; please report.

The necklace would swing around when I held it by the chain, but then it would just hang out there at an angle to guide me, Ami, and our little brother Aran all the way to my dad’s father, John Lathe. A man who I had never met, and who didn’t know that his son, let alone us, existed.

This happened just a few months after he won a lottery, which made the appearance of a previously unknown bunch of relatives sort of suspicious. He also just a week before we showed up had gotten bitten by a werewolf, which did at least make him somewhat accepting of weird things like previously unknown relatives showing up.

I don’t blame him for being suspicious, but when he saw my eyes. Well, it was like a switch had been flipped from doubtful old man, to… well, Grandpa.

A bad joking, hair mussing, junk food pushing, old man who bottles up all his emotions until he breaks down inside sort of Grandpa.

Also an indulgent, forgiving, supportive old man sort of Grandpa who even when he thought he was going to lose everything. He was still looking out for us first.

He’s… very frustrating.

Right now we’re living in his house, his very large house. The place had almost been fully built by some guy who ran out of money. Then years later Grandpa bought it, got it finished, and moved in.

He calls it Stately Wayne Manor since his middle name is Wayne and it's a quote from the original Batman TV series he made us watch a few episodes of. But I tracked down the original floor plans in his safe room and it was originally meant to be called Olympia, which explains the Greek themed decorations here and there.

I watched the rest of the Batman series on my own with my little brother despite all my complaints when Grandpa had made us watch it. It’s sort of a so bad it was good type of thing.

But, we will have a new house in a few more weeks. The work crews, all locals, just had to finish the interiors. Grandpa sold my Dad some land on the south end of his property for a dollar. The new house will be large enough that me and my sister won’t have to share a room again. Which will be a relief for both of us. Or at least that’s what I would have thought

Right now I have what the floor plans call a retiring room up in the attic level at the top of the stairs. It was apparently a room meant for people to sit and catch their breath between dancing in the ballroom which takes up most of the rest of the attic.

It has a balcony and there's even a half bath at the end of a hall that runs alongside it. But I have to go downstairs to take a shower. The same hallway also has the only closet since there isn’t one in the room. But even with a room of her own my sister keeps showing up in mine to talk before we go to bed and half the time she ends up sleeping in the bed next to me anyways or curls up on the old blue couch.

I guess she just wants some familiarity after all the changes in our life. Which doesn't explain why Aran also ends up there with us until Mom or Dad carries him down to his own room. I mean the only time he shared a room with us was when we first got here and Grandpa thought I wouldn't relax enough to sleep unless I was able to see both of my siblings.

So that’s the background. Me, my sibs, and my parents living at Grandpa's mansion while our own house was being built. Ami stayed with us even while getting trained by both sides of the family.

And me about to turn fourteen at a party with all my Grandpa’s brothers and his one sister as guests. Along with all of their children, grandchildren, and even great grandchildren. Only two of which I've ever met. All coming to meet me and my immediate family. With all but two of them ignorant of magic. So it's all of them, along with several of my relatives on the other side of my family, and the witches, my aunt, and my Grandmother.

Thankfully Great Grandmother Endora won't be there. I mean she was invited out of politeness since we didn't want a Maleficent situation, but she declined.

But it's not like she is going to change her mind and show up anyways… right?