Aurelia Kinkle woke up on her sixteenth birthday unware that her mom's cousin, Amanda, was talking to her mother over the phone planning a surprise for her about the big family secret she wasn't supposed to learn about until her sixteenth birthday. While her little brother Kayson got to go with her parents on their trip to Paris, she was stuck with Amanda. She loves her, but she can't help but feel disappointed about being left behind and not seeing her family on the most important day of a young girl's life. How is it fair that Kayson is allowed to skip a month of school and enjoy Paris while she is stuck in Westbridge? She has to continue her studies because her mother says "it would look bad on college applications for her to miss a month of high school." Salem jumps onto the bed and starts kneading into her arm. Salem is her mom, Sabrina's black cat. Her dad, Harvey, claims that Salem has been around for a long time, even before he himself was born.
"Good morning Salem," Aurelia says sitting up in bed, petting his head, "I can't believe it's my birthday today and I still have to go to school. How unfair is that!"
Salem meows in response, though Aurelia knows he just wants her to feed him.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll get up and get you breakfast Salem."
As she gets up to get ready with her day, she glances into the mirror at her reflection. I'm finally sixteen and my family isn't even here to wish me Happy Birthday, she thinks glumly. Just as she finishes getting ready, Amanda walks in, the excitement pouring off of her.
"Happy Birthday, Aurelia! I can't believe you are sixteen now. I'm so excited," she says, never stopping to catch her breath, "You are in for the surprise of your life. Now that you are sixteen there is so much we have to tell you."
"Amanda, can we try and be a little less enthusiastic? I'm not really looking forward to the day. Maybe we could just forget it's my birthday…"
"Nonsense, you'll have the best day of your life, especially since your mother is down stairs in the living room waiting for you," Amanda says.
"Mom's here? I thought she was in Paris!" Aurelia cries happily.
Excited that her mom flew back to her on her birthday, Aurelia rushed down the stairs and runs straight to the living room.
"Mom, you're really here!" she exclaims happily.
"Of course I'm here. I can't miss my little girl's sixteenth birthday. It's the most important day in a girl's life," she says, embracing her daughter, "Well, one of them. Happy Birthday, Sweetie."
"Where are dad and Kayson? Are they here too? Are you taking me to Paris with you?" She asks.
"Whoa, slow down Aurelia. I'm here to spend the day with you. Your father and brother are still in Paris. I flew back because I have some things I need to explain to you. I have to fly back tomorrow morning."
Disappointed that her father wasn't there to see her on sixteenth birthday, she slumps down onto the couch and puts her face into her hands, not wanting her mom to see her tears. At that moment she even wished her brother had come back too.
"Sweetie, there is something I need to tell you that I want to do in person," her mother says, sitting next to her on the couch, "You're a witch."
"Mom, I know I'm upset, but you don't need to spout nonsense to try and cheer me up," Aurelia grumbles.
"I'm being serious Sweetie. You are a witch. You come from a long lineage of witches. I'm a witch too, and eventually, when he turns sixteen in a couple years, we can tell Kayson too."
"Hold on…you can't be serious. There are no such things as witches mom," she says, glaring at her, "I don't like this joke, not one bit."
Sighing, her mom stands up and holds her hand out away from her. Suddenly her once empty hand is holding an apple. Wide eyed, Aurelia jumps up.
"H-How did you do that?"
Just then Salem jumps onto the arm of the couch.
"She just told you, she's a witch," he says.
"Salem just talked…"
Last thing she remembers before passing out is Salem saying, "No duh Sherlock."
Aurelia is five sitting on her grandfather's lap. Her grandfather, Edward, is tickling her. She giggles for him to stop as the phone begins to ring. Suddenly, Edward is tickling her without his hands. He walks across the room to answer the phone and starts talking on the phone. Aurelia realizes she is still being tickled by an unseen pair of hands. When Edward comes back, he snaps his fingers and the tickling stops.
"Gampa how you do that?" she asks, still catching her breath.
"Why magic my dear little Pumpkin," he smiles.
"Grampa am I magic?" she asks.
"I can't tell you that yet Pumpkin. We'll know one day if you are," he says.
Aurelia is eight and playing at the park with her friend Marnie. Marnie brought her favorite doll and is sharing with her when another girl rips the doll from their hands. Marnie is upset, crying for her doll.
"Hey, give us back Marnie's doll," Aurelia says angrily.
"Make me," she says, walking off with the doll.
Aurelia is mad. She wants the mean girl's hair to fall out. She wants her to be ugly on the outside, just like she is on the inside.
"Aah! MY HAIR!" the girl screams, dropping the doll as she grabs her head, clumps of hair falling to the ground.
Aurelia watches in horror as the mean girl's mom picks her up and runs her to their car. Aurelia knows she did that but can't understand how.
Aurelia is twelve and her brother just broke her favorite cd. She is upset and keeps staring at the broken pieces. She wishes that it was fixed, tossing it into her trash bin before leaving to get her mother.
"Mom he broke my favorite cd. Marnie gave me that for my birthday," she cries.
"Honey calm down."
"But look what he did!"
As she reaches into the trash to pull out the broken cd, she sees that it isn't broken anymore.
"Mom…he broke it. It was in two pieces!" she says stunned.
"Maybe you got confused honey. It looks fine."
"I swear it was broken just a minute ago. It's like it got fixed by magic or something…"
When Aurelia opens her eyes, two large green eyes are staring at her. Lifting Salem off her chest, she sits up. Looking around, she saw she was in her room.
"Salem, I just had a strange dream that mom was here. She said I was a witch, and then you started talking."
"A cat that talks? That must have been some dream," Salem says.
Aurelia screams, tossing Salem to the floor and pulling her legs to her chest. What's going on here? She thinks to herself. She hears a knock on her door and looks up as her mother walks in.
"Sweetie, are you okay? How is your head?" her mom asks.
"Mom…it's all true…isn't it?"
"Yes Aurelia…it is," she says, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Is dad a witch too?"
"No Sweetie. Your father is a human, or as we say in the other realm, a mortal. I'm half-mortal and half-witch. My father, Grampa Edward, and his wife, Gail, are witches. Gramma Diana is mortal, like your father. Amanda is a witch too."
"But why am I a witch? Why can't I be mortal?"
"Honey, it isn't a choice. You are either born with it or you aren't. You showed magical abilities from a very young age. Your brother just started to show magical abilities. We thought he was going to mortal like daddy, but I guess he takes after me too."
"Yeah, he was a late bloomer. I on the other hand was an exceptional witch when I was his age," Salem brags as he jumps onto the bed, "Sabrina freaked out when she found out she was a witch, but she took it better than you."
"Salem…our cat…is a witch too?" Aurelia asks in awe.
"Yes, I am. I just so happen to have a slight issue with the Witches Council." He says.
"Slight issue, Salem?" Sabrina says, "You tried to take over the world!"
"Yeah, but I didn't, now did I?"
"Hold on, slow down!" Aurelia says, "Salem tried to take over the world!"
"Yeah, and my punishment is one hundred years as a cat. Where is the humanity in that?" he grumbles.
"Honey, there is more." Sabrina says.
"More? What else could to happen to me now?" she cries.
"Well…you see, every witch has to go through some training. I thought that instead of sending you to high school in the mortal realm that you might like to try going to school…in the other realm…"
"You mean like a school for witches?" Aurelia asks.
"Yes. It's a Charm school. You'll go there for the next six years."
"SIX YEARS!" She screams, "But why six years? High school is four years long and I'm a sophomore! I only have two left!"
"Well things work a little differently in the other realm. Aurelia, you need to learn, and Amanda promised to take care of you. You will be staying with her."
"Why can't you and daddy move there and I stay with you guys?"
"The Witches Council doesn't approve of Mortal-Witch marriages. Mortals aren't allowed in the other realm," she explains, placing her arms around her daughter.
"But I'm part mortal?"
"You are still a witch, so they accept us," she says, hugging her close.
"I don't want this mom. What about my friends? What about my life here?" she cries.
"Just give it a chance," her mom says, "I think you will find that being a witch can be a little fun."
"I'm just a freak now," Aurelia grumbles.
