Evie arrived at her soon-to-be apocalypse base.
This huge mansion was made for her, literally.
A dark theme and spacious arrangement. The mansion-like villa had so many rooms built to a noble's standard. The main rooms; two living rooms, a kitchen, two bathrooms, and five bedrooms were top-notch.
Evie explored the rooms one by one.
The kitchen was her favorite, an open-concept design seamlessly integrated into the living space of the first floor. The oversized island in the center topped with an obsidian marble countertop functioned as both a workplace and a casual dining area.
Her idea of learning to cook could probably be put into practice over the time she spent here. Given the many cooking and recipe magazines she had in ownership, it wasn't too far-fetched.
The actual dining table was a room away, the dining hall. Also on the first floor, the main living room was in the middle of a hall. It wasn't to her taste. The sofa, lounge chair, and coffee table took on bright colors making it give the whole room colorful accents.
'I would prefer it completely black.'
Evie walked up to the next floor noting down changes she would make. In the empty house, her heels cracked on the stairs.
The study, music room, reading room, dance room, art room, and meditation room were distributed between the first and second floors. She took a quick look at the bedrooms and she was convinced that she had to make major changes. They were nowhere near her level of comfort. However, in remedy to that, there were inbuilt bathrooms and ample storage compartments in the walk-in closet.
There were guest rooms and several free rooms left.
Evie went to the third and top floor. The second living room was here. It was smaller and cozier compared to the first. In the same open space was a modern home bar with toned-down lighting. Two doors led towards other rooms on the floor. A sauna, an open bath, and an entertainment room were also on this floor.
Evie took a deep breath, simply walking around her house made her dead tired but she still had places to visit in the house.
There were the basement floors. To her surprise, the basement floor area was almost twice that of the upper house. She tilted her head slightly.
'What was it used for previously?'
Evie had never encountered such a peculiar house design. Even after hearing it from Marwah, seeing it first-hand left her dumbfounded. She thought the floor-to-ceiling height was already impressive but it was more like a warehouse here than a 'floor'.
There was nothing down here given that only three more places occupied the rest of the space. A wine cellar, a frozen room, and a laundry room. They hardly took up any space. Evie didn't push her body any further to explore the space.
She understood that space was a garage and warehouse and room for any innovations she might have.
Evie made her way to the first floor. She took a seat on the sofa and took out her pocket note and a pen, she took out her phone as well. It was almost sunset, however, she wouldn't spend the night here. Besides the furniture, there was nothing here.
Besides, some things were best done sooner lest they were forgotten.
A long list of things to change out was noted down, mostly the furniture and many more things to buy. This list could go on forever as long as she thought of it.
Then she took note of other factors. Compared to many places, it didn't meet her safety measures quite yet. It lacked fortified fences. While the forest area and secluded location did indeed form a natural fence, she couldn't be satisfied with that.
She had all the money to spend, why not spend it well?
Evie took a deep breath, taking in the new house's scent of fresh paint and new furniture.
"This is perfect…"
She muttered under her eyes showing some emotion that had been long forgotten. She was home, this was her new safe Haven, cradle nest, and place to come back to…
Home, a feeling she had long forgotten was found once more.
Phew
Evie was dead tired. She sat motionless for a while longer before she was sure she could manage the drive back to her company.
After a final glance back she locked the door and left to her car, riding back to her sold-off company.
She was somewhat looking forward to meeting her company's buyer.
…
The day of the appointment came by, and just like any other day of the week, it was a sunny warm day. The light shone in her office apartment as she liked to call it.
After a night of purchases, while being extra inspired after viewing the house, she went on a shopping spree. All the things she didn't know she liked to have and many more she figured could be useful.
After the final payment, her bank account balance didn't even go down a single digit. Evie grimaced
'How do I spend all this?'
Lost in her thoughts, her hands grazed a paper edge leaving her index finger bleeding. As if on cue, the gem on her wrist bracelet fell and landed where a drop of her blood did.
While taken aback by the series of events, Evie failed to notice the shallow wound on her finger which was bleeding a second ago had closed up leaving a stain of blood but no cut.
"How unlucky…" she muttered and sighed.
She wiped all traces of blood on her finger, desk corner, and the gemstone that had escaped its hold.
After ascertaining it was spotless, she held the opal high against the sunlight. It was like a rainbow captured within the stone, the shimmering array of colors from mesmerized Evie. She couldn't help but fall into a trance while she stared at it.
More so because it was an important part of her past. One she didn't know...
She admired it for a long time before the white galaxy-like view of the opal became infinitely huge and engulfed her whole. After an inside-out experience, Evie fluttered her eyes to the new view.
"Where…?"
Evie's voice was resoundingly clear within this space, such that she had the illusion she could hear her breathe. However, Evie was completely distracted pay heed to such small details.
The place was infinitely white, so much so she couldn't be sure which way was up or down more so how far wide or tall the place was. Not even her shadow was visible.