Chapter Two: A New Life
It was nearing Sophia's next meal when they finally made it to Dawsonville, Georgia.
When they passed by the welcome sign she briefly noted that the town was small, 619 people in total. Carol liked the thought of that though. Her past paranoia reared its ugly head... There'd be less problems with less people just in case this world ran out of supplies here too. Less people meant less people would try to loot and destroy wherever our new home might be. Less people that would try to hurt us…
Carol gripped the steering wheel till her knuckles turned white. She drew in calming breaths past her clenched teeth. After a while, she managed to calm herself down when she caught sight of Sophia in the rear view mirror. I'm okay…I'm okay. I'm not back there anymore. Sophia is okay. I'm not Eleanor anymore…No one will ever hurt me like that again…
Sophia, lulled by the motions of the car, kept on soundly snoozing in her car seat. Carol found that she felt energized after driving for a couple hours. It was probably because she hadn't done any sort of magic in a while.
A deep sigh escaped her. I probably have a magical cap here. Probably one that draws on how much actual energy I have. It's certainly disappointing. Well it's better than nothing, I guess. It makes sense, even if I don't like it. I should find out what I can do here though. At some point in time... Definitely.
She kept driving down Dawsonville's highway and spotted an odd road by the side of the highway. It called out to her making her insides tingle. Her magic crackled under her skin.
Tentatively, she decided to trust her gut. Besides if this way is a bust we could always just turn around. The gas tank is still half full from the trip after all.
From what she could see, Carol found that it was the perfect farm for them to settle down on. It certainly helped that it was on a hill. High ground was top notch in her book.
Carol parked at the front gate. She quirked a brow at the man in a well-dressed suit that was nailing a for sale sign down beside the gate's intercom. The owner, maybe?
She stepped out of the car and waved at the man curiously looking at her, "Hi there! I'm Carol Mason. I see that this place is up for sale. I'd like to purchase it, please."
He raised a brow and chortled before eyeing her up and down, pausing at her ringless hand, then glancing at her scruffy jeep, "The name is Greg Crews. I'm a realtor for this town and Woodbury. I know it looks nice, Ms. Mason, but this place is really big, really expensive and you're all alone with a baby."
Carol's prior smile vanished, as a frown invaded her face, "That's what hired help is for Mr. Crews. What's this place worth anyway?"
An intrigued look came over the realtor's face, "Hidden Hill Grange, 3641 highway 400 N, is about 42.54 acres of land with a six-bedroom pre-furnished interior. Beautifully designed and decorated as a modern farmhouse. It also has an attached four car garage and a sizable barn on the property. It has great-"
Carol cleared her throat and sheepishly smiled at him, irritation only just making her eye twitch slightly, "I'm sorry to cut you off. It sounds and looks lovely from what I can see of it right now, but I'd really like to know the price."
Grimly, she noted that Sophia's lip was beginning to tremble. Inwardly rolling her eyes, her smile strained. God damn. Just please get on with it. Was buying a house in cash always this long winded? The movies made it all look so much more effortless.
Greg nodded and wryly grinned, "It's $989,000, but with tax and all the associated fees it's more like a $1,000,000." Greg waited for Carol's face to fall. He didn't think she looked like some rich broad. Or someone who could afford a quarter of what this place was worth.
Carol nodded, her pleasant expression fading, and simply stated, "Do you take cash?" It would be the easiest way to shut this ass hat up and get someplace safe for us to settle into. This was way better than the slums I'd been living in my last life. To be fair though, it was the apocalypse.
Greg balked, a bemused expression overrode his face. No sane person carried that much money around with them. It was ludicrous.
He let out a disbelieving guffaw, shaking his head, "Yeah, sure Miss. If you have that much in cash right now in a silver briefcase, no less, you can sign the documents and have the property."
He snorted, chuckled, and chortled so hard his eyes teared up at the sheer absurdity. Just the idea that someone would have that much money on hand, made little sense to him. His obnoxious loud laughter echoed around them, startling the birds from their chirruping. Greg paid no heed to either Carol or the birds as he doubled over in laughter.
Carol stiffly nodded as she ground her teeth at the gall of the stupid realtor. With quick purposeful steps, she made her way to the trunk of her jeep. She snapped her fingers and felt a slight drain on her energy once more. Carol didn't care though, her anger bolstered her resolve. I know that I may regret this later, but this bitch needs to be taught a lesson. Really, I couldn't afford it? Sure maybe if I wasn't a witch. Ugh... I'll show him.
Her brows furrowed and made her nose scrunch up. Energy drained from her slowly. The air in front of her rippled and twisted. With a soft pop, a silver briefcase appeared into existence, dropping into her waiting hand. A mean smile curled Carol's lips.
The dickish realtor was still laughing when she came back from behind her jeep. Luckily Sophia had managed to settle down. She didn't trust her child to stay sleeping though. It was a tentative sleep at best, especially with the car not moving. The sooner I could get this over with, the better.
She nosily cleared her throat. Carol did her best to reign in her temper, but she was fairly irritated as it was. Inwardly, she prayed that God would give her the patience not to turn him into a frog. Taking a fortifying breath, she pulled on a retail smile. Raising a brow, she presented the silver briefcase he'd asked for earlier.
Greg managed to catch a breath to stop his laughter in order to look up. He wiped away the tears that had gathered in the corners of his eyes and blinked rapidly. Quick as a blot, his amusement turned into wary confusion, "Seriously?"
Carol scowled at him, tired of being polite, and bit out, "As a heart attack. It's all there. You can open and count it if you'd like." She shoved the briefcase towards him, grunting slightly.
Greg gaped, blinking in disbelief. He gingerly took the silver briefcase and popped it open. Inside he found a heap of stacks of hundred dollar bills. Real hundred dollar bills. He shook his head and gasped under his breath.
She didn't know if she was supposed to hear him, but she could've sworn he said something about 'the mafia'. Snorting inwardly, she rolled her eyes. As if she could ever fit in with the mafia. She'd had enough dead dealt to her, thank you very much.
He clicked the briefcase closed and looked up at Carol, confusion written across his face, "Who are you?"
Carol rolled her eyes as she huffed out an irritated breath, "Carol Mason, like I said. I'd like to sign the papers now. Look. I just want to feed my daughter in my new home as soon as possible before she wakes up and makes a fuss. Can you help me do that or not?"
Greg looked flabbergasted as he nodded, "Yeah, sure, but you didn't even look around the property or inside any of the buildings though."
Carol chuckled at the utter dumbfounded look that still graced his face. With a boneless shrug, she shot him an encouraging grin, "Why don't we sign everything up at my new home, and you can tell me about all the other stuff that comes with this place?"
Please just shut up and get into the car. Come on. You can see that I'm the real deal here. Come on.
Greg, with shocked expression frozen on his face, nodded numbly and got into the car with Carol. He gripped the briefcase against his chest, not quite believing it was real.
She shot him a smug smile as she got in and clicked her seat belt in place, "The gate please."
Slightly bewildered still, he quickly nodded and clicked a black fob, "Huh? Oh. Oh yeah. Here."
The large iron gate loudly creaked open, swinging over the gravel road in front of them. Carol tilted her head and hummed under her breath. I'm definitely going to have to do something about that gate. It's too open. Sure it's tall enough, but I don't know. I want something more solid. Gotta make these walls bigger too. The stone's great and everything, but it's just not tall enough. That's not crazy though, is it?
Shaking her head, and reassuring herself that she wasn't crazy, she glanced at the realtor and nodded, "Thanks, Mr. Crews."
"You're welcome," he murmured absently as they rode up the drive towards her new home.
Sophia let out a bunch of irritated baby burbles and a loud screech as they bumped up and down the driveway. Her lower lip trembled now and again as she made grasping motions at her mother from her chair. She was obviously hungry and didn't like the thought of waiting. The bumpy ride probably wasn't helping either.
Carol glanced back and made a goofy grin at her daughter. Sophia settled slightly once she noticed that her mother was paying attention to her again. Her shoulders slumped as a tired half smile crawled onto her face when she faced towards the road ahead, "We're almost at our new home, sweetie."
Greg shot Carol an understanding look, his brother just had a kid earlier this year. It was hard, having a kid. He assumed that it was even harder if a person was all by themselves. He couldn't quite wrap his mind around someone wanting such a secluded home when, he assumed, she was a single mother. It didn't make sense. He shrugged off his confusion. Money was money. One shouldn't question the whys, he reminded himself.
Once they finally made it to the house. They parked and strolled into their new home. Carol hurriedly found the kitchen, rocking her already irritable baby. Relief filled her face as she found what she was looking for. Quickly, she settled them into their new kitchen.
Her little girl's whining and tears trickled to a stop. Sophia was able to happily eat her long awaited meal in their new kitchen, and once again the only sounds they could hear was the bird song in the distance. Carol let out a deep sigh as she slumped into a chair beside the high chair Sophia was occupying. She paid no heed to her mother, guzzling down her bottle with enthusiastic suckles.
Greg placed down the silver briefcase onto the kitchen island that Carol and Sophia had decided to sit at. Pulling out the necessary papers from a nearby cupboard, he hummed as his mind buzzed. That cash was real. This wasn't a dream. This would be his biggest and quickest sale yet. Inwardly, he merrily danced while visions of beaches danced in his head. He could totally afford that vacation now.
He pulled up a nearby bar stool and gave Carol a slightly stilted smile, "So ahhh...umm...right. As you can see, this modern farmhouse has a lot of natural lighting. It also has lovely views of the pasture since we're on a slight hill. The rest of the property is fairly flat though. This is a great big kitchen with stainless steel appliances that can even function off of propane if you'd like."
Greg shifted his papers and pulled out the necessary documents that she needed to sign and an overly shiny pen, "Since you didn't really want a tour, I'd like to mention there is loads of storage space throughout the house. It also has a large floor plan, totaling to about of 4000 sq feet. There are four floors in total; the basement, the main floor which we're on, the second floor and the attic."
Carol nodded and began signing the various papers while she kept an eye on her daughter. She tilted her head and scanned the details of each page. A little caution never hurt anyone, and since it was a lot of papers, she knew that caution would be appropriate here. Biting her lip, she finished off signing the last sheet he slid towards her.
The realtor pulled out glossy 8 by 10s. They showed the many different areas of the house and property in question, all in different lighting. The floor plan was also slipped in the pile of pictures.
As she perused the photos, he continued gesticulating now and again, "It has an in ground pool out back and every room has eight-foot-tall ceilings. It was built in 1985, but has since been renovated and remodeled, as you can see." He gestured to to the beams that lined the tall ceilings with a flourish of his hand.
Carol blinked and tilted her head, her impatience leaking through her stoic expression, as she silently urging him to continue.
Sheepishly, he coughed into his hand and looked down at his papers, "This land is already fenced by 4 foot tall walls all around the entire property including the woods that are partially on this land. Hidden Hill Grange also has a medium sized pond near the woods, and a stream that runs through the woods. There's a fishing lake that's only about a 40 minute walk from the edge of this property as well. In the backyard not too far away is an already well established vegetable garden and fruit trees, but it's hard to really see all that stuff since it's way too late in December. It's good hunting and gathering all around really."
Carol gathered Sophia into her arms as she finished off her bottle. Hugging her to her chest, she gently started patting Sophia's back to get her to burp, "That still all sounds really great. I love how this place, has the potential to be self sufficient and is already furnished and decorated. I'm not much for doing that kind of stuff."
A relieved expression invaded his face, his lips quirked up slightly, "I'm glad that you like the place so far. The previous owners hired some good people. On a different note, there are great Elementary schools just 20 minutes down the road and a fairly good high school just 10 minutes away from that. This place's bones is built to withstand a hurricane, it's that sturdy. The last last owners were a little paranoid. Real off the grid sort of people."
She quirked a brow, a warm feeling suffused her, "That sounds intriguing. What else did the last last owners add?" Maybe this really would become their safe haven. The original owners sounded like her kind of people.
He early nodded as he pulled out some schematics and papers from his leather folder, "Ohhh, it may not look like it, but they did lots of things that the previous owners decided to keep since it would've been a hassle to really dismantle it."
"Oh, like what?" Carol questioned offhandedly while she let Sophia bounce in her arms. She pursed her lips at the highchair. Her little girl wasn't exactly light. Maybe she could hang out there when her arms got too tired. It wasn't like it wasn't a comfy looking high chair. It was already set up as a decor piece in the house, but she figured that it worked well enough as an actual high chair.
Flipping through the schematics and notes that he pushed over to her, he pointed at various diagrams here and there, "Well...The doors around here may not look like it, but they're made out of solid steel. The house's frame support is sturdy as heck too. And the door frames could probably withstand an earthquake if there ever would be one."
He turned and gestured at the windows behind them, "All the windows in this house are double panned tempered glass."
She nodded and deposited her daughter into the high chair. Sophia happily clambered in and smacked her tiny hands against the granite counter. She happily giggled and chortled at the slapping sounds she could make. Carol turned her attention back to the realtor.
His enthusiasm seemed endless, but she figured that was because she was an interested buyer. He pulled out more papers with diagrams, photos and notes, "And there's even other power sources for this house along with options that the last owners disconnected, but they could be easily reconnected at your leisure."
He paused and stroked his chin before continuing, "Actually, just between you and me, before the big renovations and redesign of this farmhouse, there were a bunch of solar panels on the roof with all the wiring still up there. Those are just disconnected for now. Besides that, there are propane tanks that are located at the back of the house that are good to go and have about twelve years left before they expire."
Greg snapped his fingers and grinned, "Oh! And, all the big appliances can run off of the propane too, just in case you'd want that sort of thing. Plus, one of the neat power sources that I found around here was this water turbine that they somehow rigged up from the stream that flows through the woods. It connects to house and you just need to switch it on for it to start giving you some extra juice. All of this stuff is labeled in your breaker box in the basement."
Her lips slowly upturned, while her eyes lit up at the thought of being able to truly live off the gird, "That all sounds really great. I'll definitely look into reinstalling the other power sources for this place, just in case yah know. It's always good to be cautious. Did you need anything else besides my signatures, Mr. Crews?" It'll take a while for me to trust that this world isn't going to go to shit. Besides, even if it doesn't, this way I won't have to pay an arm and a leg for my energy bill.
"Very true, especially since you have a little bundle. Nope. Did you have any other questions for me while I'm here? The papers that I gave you do tell you the condensed bit of info on this place, but not all the off the grid stuff. The last owners were scared that it wouldn't sell for top dollar if people knew about that stuff," he hurriedly stated while he started organizing the papers he had to leave with Carol and the papers that he need to keep on him.
Sophia whined and struggled to get out of her seat. With a little sigh, Carol tucked her daughter in to her arms. She tilted her head and slowly nodded, "I'm actually really happy about it all, to be honest. I don't wanna be left high and dry in case the main grid goes down for some reason."
Greg shot her a distracted smile, "Good stuff. Good stuff. So no questions?"
She rocked and bounced Sophia in her arms. The motions slowly eased her baby's irritation, lulling her into laying her head against her mother's chest. Sleepy eyed, she nuzzled Carol. Biting her lip, she frowned as a new question formed in her mind, "Well...How about where the water comes from and the whole septic tank system thing?"
Greg paused in his ministrations and tapped his lip before he nodded, "From what I recall this place is connected to the regular sewer system and to the grid water. It also has secondary sources though. There is a septic tank connected to the house, a grey water system running through the house and farm fields, and quite a bit of water options."
Carol continued to rock her child as she hummed, "Water options?"
Putting the stray papers left behind on the counter into his leather folder, Greg scrunched his face as he thought about it, "Mhmm...There's a rain water collection system up on the roof already that you would've seen if I'd given you a proper tour, along with a couple water cisterns and an underground well pump that's also connected to all the pipes in the house. It all works. The well pump is labeled with an on switch in the breaker box as well."
Slowly, her cheeks dimpled at the possibilities that ran though her mind, "So if I really wanted to, I could live off the grid?"
He chuckled as he tucked the folder under his arm, "Well, yes, but it's certainly less convenient, don't you think?"
She nodded and clucked her tongue, "That's true. I like having a back up plan though."
Pulling out his flip phone, he shot her a sheepish smile, "Back up plans are good. Well, I just gotta go and call the prior owners so I can hand you the keys, transfer over all the utilities, and hand you the deed today. If you'll excuse me for a moment."
Carol tilted her head and nodded in agreement, "Sure."
Greg took that as a que to leave, as he strode into the hallway near the kitchen.
She turned away from his retreating form and looked down at her drowsy daughter, "Looks like we have a new home, Sophia. How do you like it?"
Sophia snuggled and smiled against her mother. Taking a tiny fistful of her mother's sweater, she closed her eyes to the world and focused in on her mother's steady heart beat. A tiny coo escaped past her lips while Carol continued to sway in place.
Carol grinned down at her daughter, pecking her downy head, as she looked around their new home in a small bit of wonder, "I like it too."
Her stomach grumbled in protest and startled her for a moment. Carol let out a little laugh, "Huh I guess mama needs food too, eh Soph?"
Sophia, at this point, had fallen into a happy slumber. A warm full tummy and soft warm cuddles from her mother soothed her quickly and deeply. Life was already looking up, and Carol hoped her luck would hold out.
Greg ambled back into the kitchen and shot her a beaming grin, "Alright, Ms. Mason. The owners have agreed. Here are your keys and the deed. Oh! Trash collection day is Thursdays. You'll need to install your own security system since the one currently installed is deactivated. Ahhh... What else? The septic system was just checked last month so you don't have to worry about that for the next three years."
He giddily handed her everything, his professionalism fading somewhat now that he'd just completed the sale.
She took it all with one hand and nodded at him, "Thanks Mr. Crews. For everything." A small smile pulled at her lips. Even if he'd annoyed her initially, she was happy that he'd helped her gain her new home.
He nodded in return and pulled out one last contract from his folder, "Oh you're very welcome. Thank you for helping me make an instant sale and for making the last owners jump over the moon. Surprising lady. Welcome to Dawsonville you two."
Carol pursed her lips and hummed, "Thank you. Do I just sign these papers?" She placed the papers she'd just received onto the counter beside her.
Greg placed the contract on the counter beside her and pushed a pen into her free hand, "Yes in deed, ma'am. Just sign here, here, initial here, here, there, and one last signature here along with the date and my signature."
She scanned and quickly penned her signature in the assigned spots, "Alright. Umm...wait. What's the date?"
He tilted his head and flipped his phone open to check, "Ah...It's December 15th 2000."
With one last flourish of his pen, she finished signing all the documents, "Okay. All done."
Quickly sliding it back into his folder, he slipped his pen into his jacket pocket and grinned Carol, "And viola, you, dear lady now own the house and the land it stands on. The utilities guy should come by tomorrow. My number is on the card attached to the papers I gave you. If you need anything, just call."
With that they made their way through the hallway to her front door. As he made to exit her new home, she quickly replied, "We will. Have a good night!"
He shot them a lopsided smile before tilting his head and exiting their house, "Have a good evening, ladies."
Sophia and Carol waved at the still slightly surprising realtor as he walked over to the other car on their drive way. They stood in their doorway for a while, Carol watching him quickly drive off their new property. As he disappeared down the hill, Carol decided that it was best to retreat back inside. Her daughter snuggled closer into her mother's warmth. She chuckled and kissed her daughter's little head as she was just about to head back inside.
Pausing slightly, she sighed and snapped her fingers. Their stuff was still in the jeep. Sometimes she felt like she could just slap her forehead when she did stupid shit like this.
With an impatient tap of her foot, all their luggage, the new baby supplies, and a huge cooler marched out of the jeep and into their house. As they entered, she closed the door with her hip, and flicked the lock closes. All their things floated on by and put themselves away into their respective places, with a twist and a snap of her fingers. A bone weary feeling of fatigue settled down around Carol. She'd overexerted her magical core again.
Inwardly, she wondered... Would I gain more strength if I kept practicing with my magic this way? Is it like a muscle in this world? Is it worth the risk to try and find out?
She sighed and shook those thoughts away. Blowing out a stray hair out of her face, one that had decided to rest onto her forehead, she muttered under her breath, "Definitely way too much magic usage today, sweetheart. How does a sandwich for mama, and more baby cuddles for you sound? Because I think we have enough time now that we can just sort everything else that we need tomorrow."
Sophia, of course, didn't reply. She was far too busy snoozing to care what her mother really did at that moment.
Quirking a smile and snorting slightly, Carol roamed towards their kitchen at a leisurely pace. She could take her time now. They had a home, a real home now, so there really wasn't a rush. With deft hands, Carol quickly snatched up a couple pre-made sandwiches from her fridge. It took no time at all for her to gobble up her meal.
Not too long after, she wandered around her new house with Sophia snoozing on her chest. After snooping through each room upstairs she finally found the show room nursery. It was beautifully designed and already had a crib, one that was much nicer and sturdier than Sophia's original bed.
She gently laid her daughter in the comfy looking crib, and slumped into a nearby nursery chair. The soft chair soothed her aching legs and back. The soft light in the bedroom combined with the warmth from the heater made her eyes droop.
Carol yawned and sleepily grinned at her snoozing baby. Slowly, but surly her eyes shuttered closed as she fell away into a deep slumber. Her magic had been too tapped out because of her hasty overuse of magic. Her last conscious thought was that tomorrow would be a new and interesting day starting their lives anew.
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