Establishing an HQ and finances.

I thought about the amazing things I had been lucky enough to experience since my otherworldly encounter. A parade of naked bodies and by different forms came to mind along with my newly acquired wealth. I needed one more thing to complete the image; a nice home.

After I got back, I spent an hour training then went to bed. I woke up refreshed and relaxed, no longer weighed down by stress and people's expectations. I even took a moment to just feel relaxed and thought about never having to work again. 'Wow, life's pretty good right now,' I whispered under my breath, soaking it all in. After my brief pause, I dressed well, jumped in my car, paused to appreciate the high end leather interior and purr of the engine then drove to a few different estate agents to see what was available. It wasn't until the fourth that a property caught my eye.

An old Manor house that had fallen into bad times and needed renovation. I had a big secret to keep and remodelling would help me protect that. This place was also well located between two important cities and on a very large plot of land. I chose to visit that one and the man behind the desk raised his eyebrows in surprise and judgement. I didn't care, it seemed perfect. He was a little, older guy with thick glasses on the end of a long nose and a face that hadn't seen light for a decade. Despite this, I followed him to the property. We drove there immediately and he had to get out of his car to unlock the big, rusty gates. The heavy duty metal spikes and designs were awesome and somewhat Gothic in nature. Nothing a lick of paint couldn't fix.

We drove down the path inside the grounds and after climbing a small hill, the buildings came into view. It was definitely in disrepair and looking quite sad but I could see the potential. It was composed of a towering main building with a spire on top and two wings on either side, jutting, both forwards, and backwards. The wings had one less floor than the main section, and, as it stood, the courtyards looked more like mossy jungles. The house was elevated, so we climbed the steps to the huge, old wooden doors. The front of the main section was heavily detailed but the art was lost below a cover of climbing vines. The heavy doors unlocked with a loud clunk as the key turned unwillingly in the lock and a screech as they were **** open. Beyond the entrance I saw a wide, stone staircase which filled half the room and four doors lined the surrounding hall. One more was hidden behind the staircase. So many rooms. The whole thing was lined up so that the back of the property was due south. This meant the estate agent could describe the wings as 'the east wing' and 'the west wing' which tickled my sense of humour and pride at the thought of owning it.

It was quite cold inside as we went on a tour. I noticed most of the walls were damaged on the surface, so I asked an important question. 'Has the building been inspected by a professional? Is it structurally sound?' My voice echoed through the empty halls.

'As a matter of fact, yes, we had it independently verified and our last viewer had his own satisfactory inspection done, too. It is completely sound, the full report is provided in the documents. No subsidence, just a little wear and tear here and there. Nothing a professional can't handle. The only casualty is the old barn and stables in the back. Unfortunately, if you plan to use them, they would need to be torn down and rebuilt.' He explained all of this to me proudly and concluded with a little 'Hmm,' and a nod, pleased with his eloquence.

We concluded a tour with the grounds and it turned out they had been somewhat maintained until just a few years ago when the previous owner had died and no heir had claimed the property. 'Probably due to inheritance tax laws,' I had been told. 'So the full lands and property, in their prime, are probably worth well over a few million pounds. Because of the extent of repairs needed, the owner is willing to part with it for much less. Are you considering making an offer?' He flashed the price tag at me again and nodded at it for emphasis.

'Hmm. Yes. I'll take it.'

'So, what would you like to offer?'

'Tell you what, drop it by five percent and I'll sign the paperwork tomorrow and bring you the deposit.' Money had no meaning to me but if I didn't barter he would become suspicious. His jaw almost dropped, but he caught himself quickly and nodded again. He really liked nodding. I smiled, filled with pride at my new financial power. I didn't technically have all the money yet, I needed to launder it first. I had planned for that already though, a detailed process was needed to sustain and legitimise my wealth.

Together, we returned to the office and I signed a notice of interest. I also left £10000 deposit from my real savings to reserve the property. I would have two weeks to give the full deposit. I thanked the older gentleman for his time and promised to be in touch with the rest of the information. I left the building and immediately got started with the finance side of things.

Over the next few days, I hired a savvy accountant and a lawyer, full-time, both known to tread the line at times, maybe even having mob ties. They helped me to create the start of a financial empire which I mimicked and multiplied by using a long string of fake IDs, businesses, off-shore accounts, all linked to several fake address services to hide them all. If I kept this up, all three of us adding a few strings to the web each day, I would have a constant income of at least a few hundred thousand by the end of the end of this year. It would grow over time, but, too much, too quickly would be bad. It was all very above board looking. The accountant even hooked me up with a few 'professional' money launderers and I gave them the maximum amount they could handle. Waiting for that all to settle into place, I kept my life simple, purchasing a few smaller things here and there like a new, top of the line phone. I used VPNs and security software on there, taking my old phone off-line to use as a portable record of my accounts. With a promise I would receive large chunks of legitimate-looking cash from then onwards, I was satisfied and left the general operations to my new personal employees. I made promises of my own that if they looked after me, I would do the same for them, even leaving healthy bonuses for both of my new team. They seemed very happy to be working for me.

A whole week, I realised I had been completely wrapped up in my new scheme and barely spent more than an hour a day practising my ability. I hadn't even hooked up with a hot girl. I had been 'in the zone' and it felt amazing. My pockets were already filling up and I had enough for the deposit and more, a payment I made as soon as possible, and I was put in touch with the owner, and we agreed a date to sign over the property a few days later.

Finally, satisfied with my work, I got home on the Tuesday evening and thought about what I could do now. I picked up my new phone and looked at my list of contacts. Charlotte was off-limits until she contacted me, but I felt nervous about that, still. Elody was a possibility, as was Molly, but I really wanted to sort things out with Charlotte as soon as possible.