AN: I haven't written fanfiction in years, but I have a paper due tomorrow and nothing else to procrastinate with, so... enjoy I suppose.

Cross posted on AO3

...

I died in a very mundane way. No epic fights against a burglar, no martyrdom to defy an evil tyrant, just a driver being too distracted by their phone to notice someone walking home from the grocery store.

It seems fitting, of course, for I lived a mundane life to go with my mundane death. I was born to two loving parents, grew up with my three siblings, went to school, hated it, went to college, hated it slightly less, and then I died. I was nothing special, and did nothing special with my life. So why in the world did something this incredible happen to me?

Of course, by "something incredible", I mean reincarnation.

Yes, the thing where you're born again after you die. When I was hit by that car, I expected it all to end. A void of nothing, perhaps, or maybe a bright tunnel. Instead, I got a warm, slimy, way too small tunnel, where I popped out of someone's womb into the hands of a waiting doctor.

And so, that began my new adventures, in a new life. A life that I would later find to be very similar to a book series that I had read as a child...

...

My new life was... different, to say the least. Still rather normal, mind you, but I had fully expected to die when I got hit by that car. Not end up with two younger siblings, a new set of parents, and a whole new life.

I do feel a bit bad for my new parents. I had been a difficult child, always quiet and sad, never very social. It must have been years before I began to refer to them as "Mom" and "Dad".

Of course, unbeknownst to them, I was grieving for my past life. How is one supposed to cope with not only the loss of their entire family, but also their entire identity? I was unrecognizable from myself before.

My eyes and hair stayed brown, but instead of being born in a small town in the Midwest, I lived in Rochester, New York, a city far away from the corn fields I had called home. Instead of growing up learning to cook laab and khao pad with my grandmother, I made pancakes with my parents. Every experience, hobby, story I knew that came from my life before, I could never tell again.

Plus I did have a major crisis of faith, being reincarnated and all. While I had been an atheist in my past life, being reborn will make you wonder if there is some sort of higher being in the world.

It wasn't until my younger sister was born I finally began to move on.

I owed everything to my younger siblings.

I was older than Kendra, my sister, by four years. When my parents brought her home for the first time and let me hold her, I looked into her eyes and knew that while I had lost my family from before my untimely demise, that was still no reason to not to welcome the new one I had gained. That was the first time I called my parents "Mom" and "Dad", and seeing their tears of happiness hearing me finally acknowledge them as my parents only furthered my resolve to stop causing them so much grief.

It would be a long time before I finally managed to move on and let go of my old life, but at least I was beginning to let in my new one.

My new parents, Marla and Scott, named me Alice, but I quickly let them know I disliked it, crying out whenever they tried to call me it. I had gone through more than enough anxiety trying to come out in my old life, and I quickly decided that I wouldn't tolerate it in my new one.

I called myself Reynard, Reynie for short, and they thankfully went along with it, even legally changing my name when I was 6. I also let it be known that I was not a girl, and while they at first seemed to think that I meant I just wasn't girly, after a while they realized what I meant and began to call me their son instead of their daughter.

I had two younger siblings, Kendra, who was four years younger, and Seth, who was six years. Their names sounded vaguely familiar, but it wouldn't be until much later that I realized the significance of their names. I was at first a standoffish child, trying to stay as emotionally far as possible from my parents as possible, but after I learned of my younger sister Kendra, my personality flipped nearly 180, becoming an affectionate person, for I knew how quickly one could lose their family.

Having been a college student before my death, I was also very ahead of my peers. Of course, calling them my peers does seem a bit unfair, as they were literal five year olds, while I was mentally twenty-four.

When my parents tried to send me to kindergarten, the teacher called them in by the end of the day, telling them of my genius. I took a bunch of tests, showed my aptitude for mathematics and problem solving, and was henceforth known as a child genius.

I felt rather bad, but at the same time, I struggled a lot getting into colleges in my past life, getting terrible grades in high school. Being known as a genius, I could probably get into any college I wanted.

I skipped several grades in school, going to the local high school for classes alongside being tutored at home, and at age eleven graduated, ready to go to college.

Despite going to college at age eleven, I still kept a good relationship with my new family, calling and visiting as often as possible, and frequently spending all my time at home with Kendra and Seth, hanging out and having fun. Once I graduated, I decided to go back to college to get my master's degree.

With all my time occupied with college and life, I began to slowly forget about my previous life. I would never forget any of the important parts or course, like my old family, but I did begin forgetting about an old book series I read known as Fablehaven.

...

When I was seventeen years old, my maternal grandparents died, leaving a cruise trip for my parents to go on. Our Aunt Marci usually babysat Kendra and Seth, but all of our grandparents children were allowed to come, so she couldn't babysit them during the cruise. Without a babysitter, Kendra and Seth were left without anyone to look after them, and while I was mature enough to do so, I wasn't legally allowed, as I was only seventeen.

Physically, at least.

I had just completed my master's, and was taking a year off to spend time with my family, so I was left at home. With three kids at home, none of whom could be left without adult supervision, our parents sent us to our paternal grandparents for the length of the cruise; Grandma and Grandpa Sorenson.

If I had heard about this plan years ago, before too much time had passed before my last life, I would have instantly recognized the names and the situation, but it had been seventeen years since my death and birth, and I had barely spared a thought to the book series called "Fablehaven" that I had read in my youth.

Instead, all it conjured was a vague sense of deja vu. It seemed familiar, and where I knew the situation from was on the tip of my tongue, but I just chalked it up to being similar to a movie or something else I had seen.

My parents drove me, Kendra, and Seth to our grandparents house in Connecticut. None of us had ever visited before, and we barely knew our paternal grandparents, as they had visited quite rarely, but it was really our parents only option. The drive was long and seemed nearly endless, but my musings on the past were interrupted by Seth complaining about the drive.

"Why didn't you tell us Grandpa Sorenson lived in India?" He complained.

"Hey, calm down kiddo, I'm sure it won't be much longer." I leaned forward and grinned at him as I gave him a noogie from the backseat.

"Hey!" Seth squirmed under my grip. "Mom! Make Reynie let go!"

"Reynard..." Mom looked back at me reproachfully. I gave an apologetic smile to Seth and let go, grabbing some crackers from beside me and offered them to him as an apology.

We all sat in silence for a while, save for Seth's cracker crumbles going everywhere before Kendra piped up.

"Won't you get bored stuck on a boat for seventeen days?"

Dad glanced back at her through the rearview mirror, before Mom again began trying to convince Kendra that staying with our grandparents wouldn't be that bad. "We're not all that thrilled about the trip. I don't think your grandparents envisioned an accidental death when they made this request, but we'll make the best of it."

"Plus the boats stop a lot of the time." I chimed in.

"Yeah, Reynie's right." Dad said. "You get to disembark at the different ports as you go."

"Is this car ride going to last for seventeen days?" Seth complained again, having already worked his way through the crackers I gave him.

"We're nearly there," Dad reassured him.

"Do we have to stay with Grandma and Grandpa Sorenson?" Kendra asked. "Why can't Reynie just look after us?"

"First of all, Reynie's not old enough. He's only seventeen." Sensing that Kendra was going to try to convince him that I was old and mature enough to look after them, Dad kept going. "I know, I know, he should be able to, but the law's the law. Second of all, it'll be fun! They almost never invite anyone to stay with them."

"Exactly!" Kendra exclaimed. "We barely know them."

"Well, they were my parents." Dad said. "If I survived, so can you."

The forest surrounding the road soon changed into a small town that we passed through, climbing upwards as the car continued on the drive. Before long, Kendra leaned forward to check the gas and told Dad how there was less than a quarter of a tank left.

"We're almost there," Dad told her. "We'll fill up after we drop you kids off."

"Can't we come on the cruise?" Seth asked. "We could hide in the lifeboats."

"You could sneak us food." I interjected.

"We can sneak in using your luggage." He said.

"Sleep in the-" Mom interrupted me.

"You all with have much more fun with Grandma and Grandpa Sorenson, just you wait. Give it a chance at least." She told us.

"And here we are." Dad said, smiling, as he pulled off the road onto a gravel driveway.

...

The driveway stretched on for a long time, the car driving for what must be miles. Along the way, the car passed many signs telling the viewer that they were on private property, saying things like "Private Property", and later transitioned into more threatening ones saying "Trespassers will be Persecuted".

How odd, I thought to myself. Well, I suppose Grandma and Grandpa Sorenson appreciate their privacy. But I'm getting the strangest feeling of deja vu... I tried thinking about how I knew it but all I got was a headache.

"These signs are funny," Seth said, snapping me out of my thoughts. I could hear Kendra mutter that it seemed more creepy to her.

Eventually we reached a tall, wrought-iron fence with an double gate standing open, presumably for us. Next to the gate was one final sign, saying "Certain Death Awaits".

"Is Grandpa Sorenson paranoid?" Kendra asked.

"The signs are a joke." Dad reassured her. "He inherited the land, I'm sure the fence came with it."

The car passed through the gate and over a small bridge. It climbed up a small slope before the trees ended abruptly, bringing an absolutely gorgeous house into view. The house was large, and had dozens of gables and even a turret. It seemed old, but still in a beautiful state, and the grounds only accentuated how gorgeous the house was.

A bright flower garden bloomed in front of the house, with manicured hedges and even a fish pond. I could faintly see a large brown barn behind the house, topped by a weather vane.

"By the gods, what I wouldn't give to live here." I muttered under my breath.

"And you will be, for the next month or so." Mom said. "I only wish we were all staying."

"You've never been here?" Kendra questioned.

"No, but your father came here a couple times before we were married."

"They go the extra mile to discourage visitors." Dad said.

"Yeah, I think we noticed." I said, raising an eyebrow. "What, with the 'Certain Death' signs and all."

"And other things as well," he said. "Me, Uncle Carl, Aunt Sophie - none of us have spent much time here. I don't get why, but you kids are lucky. You'll have a blast. If nothing else, you can spend your time in the pool."

The car pulled to a stop outside of the garage, and Grandpa Sorenson emerged out of the front door with two others, a tall, lanky man and an ageless white haired woman who looked slightly East Asian. We all got out of the car besides Kendra, who stayed sitting, and I began to help Dad and the tall man unpack the suitcases from the car trunk.

"You coming Kendra?" Dad asked.

I saw her get out of the car from the corner of my eye as I carried the luggage, following Dad.

"Just place the things inside," Grandpa told the two of us. "Dale will take them up to the bedroom." he gestured towards the other man helping us.

I brought the luggage to the front door as Dad walked behind to talk to Grandpa. Dad, Dale and I carried the larger bags while Seth held a smaller duffel and his cereal box survival kit.

"This is Lena, our housekeeper," Grandpa introduced us to the woman who had come out with him and Dale before. She smiled at us and gave a little wave. "Dale here," he said, properly introducing him, "helps me tend the grounds."

"Aren't you pretty?" Lena said to Kendra, smiling gently. "You must be around fourteen. And you two must be twelve and seventeen?" She asked me and Seth.

"Absolu-" Seth started.

"Eleven actually." I cut him off, smirking at him before turning my head to face Lena. "And Kendra's fourteen in October. But yeah, I'm seventeen."

We entered the house, and my jaw slightly dropped in awe. The house looked like a historical manor, with beautiful glossy flooring, a painting of a fox hunt on a wall, and furniture that looked like antiques. Dale headed up the stairs with some of the luggage while Lena excused herself and left the room.

"Your home is beautiful," Mom gushed. "I just wish we had time for a tour."

"Maybe after you get back." Grandpa said.

"Thanks for letting the kids stay with you," Dad told him.

"Oh it's our pleasure," he said. "Now don't let me keep you."

Dad apologized, saying how he and Mom were on a pretty tight schedule.

"You kids be good and do whatever Grandpa Sorenson tells you," Mom said, hugging each of us. "And Reynie, look after Kendra and Seth, okay?"

"I will," I said, hugging her back.

"Have a fun cruise," Kendra said. I could see her fighting back tears, and quickly slung an arm around her shoulders, giving her a quick squeeze.

"We'll be back before you know it," Dad wrapped an arm around me and Kendra, and tousled Seth's hair before walking out to the car with Mom.

They drove away, honking the horn before passing out of sight, and Kendra stood there for a while, looking a bit lost before she closed the front door. I watched Seth begin to examine some intricate pieces of a decorative chess set.

"Hey, careful with those," I told him, watching him pick one up and twirl it around in his fingers.

"Oh, it's fine," Grandpa said, but still looked relieved seeing Seth put the piece down. "Shall I show you to your rooms?"

We followed him up the stairs to a small narrow staircase with a white door at the end. "We don't often have guests, especially children, so I think you two will be most comfortable in the attic." He told Kendra and Seth. "Reynie, I'll show you your room next.

Grandpa opened the door, and we entered after him into a spacious and cheery room with a pair of beds, shelves crowded with children's books, wardrobes, tidy dressers, a unicorn rocking horse, many toy chests, and a hen in a cage.

Seth honed into the hen, and went straight towards it. "Cool!" He exclaimed, trying to poke his finger in the bars of the cage.

"Careful, Seth," Kendra warned him.

"He'll be fine," Grandpa told her. "Goldilocks is more a house pet than a barnyard hen. Your grandmother usually takes care of her, but I figured you three wouldn't mind filling in while she's gone visiting her sister Edna. You'll need to feed her, clean her cage, and collect her eggs."

"Eggs?!" Me and Seth exclaimed at the same time. I suddenly winced as my head began throbbing.

"One or two a day if you keep her well fed." He said, pointing towards a plastic bucket full of kernels near the cage. "A scoop in the morning and another in the evening should take care of her. You'll want to change the lining of her cage every couple of days, and make sure she had plenty of water. Every morning, we give her a tiny bowl of milk." Grandpa winked. "That's the secret behind her egg production."

"Can we ever take her out?" Seth asked.

"Only if you put her back afterwards." Grandpa bent down to put a finger in the cage, but got pecked by Goldilocks. "Never liked me much." He remarked.

Kendra stepped away from the cage to examine an ornate Victorian dollhouse. "Some of these toys look pretty expensive."

"Toys are meant to be played with," Grandpa said. "Do your best to keep them in decent shape, and that will be good enough."

Seth moved to a small harpsichord in the corner of the room, banging on a couple of the notes, as I walked over to the rocking horse, giving it a push. Something about this reminds me of something. But what? This is hurting my head...

"Consider this room your space." Grandpa told Seth and Kendra. "Within reason, I won't bother you to pick things up in here, so long as you treat the rest of the house with respect."

Kendra agreed, Seth too busy with the harpsichord to give anything more than a quick nod.

"I also have some unfortunate news. Reynie, this concerns you as well." I looked away from the horse and towards Grandpa. "We are in the height of tick season. You kids ever heard of Lyme season?"

"I think so," Kendra said, as Seth shook his head and I nodded.

"It was originally discovered in the town of Lyme, Connecticut, not too far from here. You catch it from tick bites. The woods are full of ticks this year."

"What does it do?" Seth asked.

"Some really gross stuff," I told him. "Ticks burrow into your skin and drink your blood and give you it. Starts as a rash, and can become arthritis, paralysis, and heart disease. Plus it's a major hassle to take them off because sometimes you only pull of the body, not the head."

"That's disgusting!" Kendra exclaimed.

"Reynie's right." Grandpa nodded grimly. "They're so small you can hardly see them, at least until they fill up on blood. Then they can swell to the size of a grape. Anyhow, the point is, none of you are not allowed to enter the woods under any circumstances." He looked seriously at each of us. "Stay on the lawn. Break that rule and your outdoor privileges will be revoked. We understand each other?" We nodded.

"You also need to keep out of the barn. Too many ladders and rusty old pieces of farm equipment. Same rules apply to the barn as apply to the woods. Set foot in there, and you two will spend the rest of your stay in this room, and you in yours." He looked at Kendra and Seth, and then me.

"Okay," Seth said, crossing the room to a small easel, examining it and the shelves stocked with jars of paint. "Can I use this?"

"I'm telling you twice, you have the run of this room," Grandpa said. "Just try not to destroy it. I have many chores to attend to, so I may not be around much. There should be plenty of toys and hobbies here to keep you busy."

"What about a TV?" Seth asked."

"No TV or radio." Grandpa replied. "Rules of the house. If you need anything, Lena will never be far." He indicated a purple cord hanging against the wall near one of the beds. Tug the cord if you need her. In fact, Lena will be up with your supper soon. Reynie, your room has the same thing."

"Won't we eat together?" Kendra asked.

"Some days. Tonight I need to visit the east hayfield. May not be back until late."

"How much land do you own?" asked Seth.

Grandpa smiled. "More than my share. Let's leave it at that. Reynie, I'll show you your room, and I'll see you kids in the morning." He turned towards the door, ready to lead me to my room, before turning back. "Each of these keys fits something in this room. See if you can figure out what each unlocks." He said, handing Kendra a tiny key ring holding three small keys of varying sizes. He walked out of the room.

I gave Seth and Kendra each a quick hug before bidding them goodnight. "I'll see you guys tomorrow, okay? Don't let the bedbugs bite." I grinned and followed Grandpa to my room.

...

Grandpa lead me down the attic stairs to a beautiful bedroom with a large bed, a glossy wooden desk and dresser, and a wardrobe that looked as if it were straight out of one of a C.S. Lewis story.

"The bathroom's right over there," Grandpa said, pointing towards a door on the wall of the room, "and there's the cord to pull if you need Lena."

"Thanks, this room is beautiful!" I exclaimed, still looking around in awe.

"It's no problem." He said. "Although you're older, I still expect you to follow the same rules as your siblings." Grandpa fixed me with a stern stare.

"Oh, of course." I agreed. "I do have a question though, about the 'no TV and stuff' rule? Is that a more 'there isn't one in the house', or more 'if you brought one you can't use it'?"

Grandpa looked at me. "You... brought a TV?" He asked dubiously.

"Ah no," I laughed. "I brought a small walkman."

"Hmm..." He thought pensively for a moment. "It should be fine so long as you only use it in the house. We try not to use a lot of electronics in the yard and the woods.

Lena should be here with your dinner soon. Try to make sure your siblings don't get into any trouble."

"Yeah, of course. Kendra shouldn't be much trouble, but Seth certainly does-" I winced, furrowing my brow.

"Are you alright?" Grandpa asked, concerned.

"Er, yeah," I said, rubbing my forehead. "Just a migraine."

"Do you get those often?"

"Increasingly," I muttered under my breath. After a moment, the pain subsided. "Anyways, yeah, Kendra's pretty cautious, but I'll still keep an eye on her and Seth."

"Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow then." Grandpa said goodnight, still looking slightly concerned, before leaving.

I began to poke around my new room, unpacking my belongings and exploring the room. Even though we couldn't go into the woods, I still had a feeling I would enjoy my time here at my grandparents' house with Kendra and Seth. But looking out the window, I also had a strange, ominous feeling that the woods held more than just ticks.

...

AN: Hope you enjoyed! I probably won't be updating this often because I'm only working on it when I procrastinate. But then again, thinking about all the homework I have, perhaps I will haha. Anyways this is just for fun, but please Read and Review!