Cornelius the Ancient Buys a New Mansion

 Cornelius the Ancient Buys a New Mansion

One the aspect of living forever is that you create layers between you and the outside world. One of the ways to do this is to buy permanent assets, like home and businesses and put them in other people's name. The beauty of this modern era is that you don't even do that anymore. You create a business, name the business and then have the business own things, including other businesses.

You put people in charge that you hire and fire every 10 years or so. No one ever suspects a thing, because the people in charge change so often, it wouldn't dawn to check the pictures.

What's even better is if you and your master have supernatural abilities to influence entire cities, to the point that they issues identification, licenses, and business names, all without even realizing it. If they ever check, when they're not under our spell, everything is in order.

You make sure the business doesn't make too much money and they keep regular people hired. You make sure the business doesn't go bankrupt so that the authorities don't check on it.

When you look at the layers we're talking about, it is 20,000 different businesses all subsidiaries of one another. It is a huge web, so complicated that the best minds would have to come together and cooperate to understand it all.

Today Cornelius is going to buy a new mansion. One of my sons is getting married. He is the CEO of one of the companies and his bride was picked out by me. I personally groomed the human family to be excellent and perfect, and made sure the daughter was of the best qualities.

We watched on closed circuit TV. We could not attend, because cameras and vampires do not mix. Sometimes equipment just does not work around a vampire and sometimes it works too well. Either the people there won't see the vampire and camera will, or the camera won't and the people will, so that people hugging the vampire will appear just bizarre to the camera.

Sometimes fine luxury glasses and plates have silver or cold iron or other strange metals in them and they do not vanish with the vampire.

So, Cornelius and I and other staff members got dressed up and watched on closed circuit television. The 3rd reception would be at the lair. The line of cars from the 2nd reception to the lair would be 50 cars long. The staff were so excited to do something other than take care of one vampire, who really didn't need them. He could, if he wanted to snap his fingers and everything would be done for him. He allowed them to serve him to make sure they weren't bored.

The lair was always busy. It was renovated and remodeled every 6 months. Right when staff got used to walking around the furniture, it changed. without fail an entire tray of food was dumped on the floor once a year.

Today was a very busy day. I was on my toes, ordering around everyone. My son was to be independent of the lair and he would be setup in his own estate. We had to choose a name for him.

I keep saying MY son. He is also related to Cornelius, very, very distantly. He was the one that would open the book of the family and choose a name. It was a magnificent book. It was huge. It took 4 servants to carry it.

The ceremony was just breathtaking by itself. Cornelius sat on one corner table, groom and bride at the center, and I sat on the other side of the groom. A bronze bell was rung, and the hall went silent. The 4 servants brought in the book on a podium. Cornelius stook up and they gingerly slid the podium in front of him on the table. They knelt and Cornelius opened the book and turned page after page.

The human guests and family members were all silent, as he flipped page after page. "Terren the 6th shall be you and your wife's name from now, forward."

Everyone stood, took their glasses and yelled, "we greet you Terren the 6th!"

It was not over. The 4 servants retrieved the book and 4 more servants removed that table so that Cornelius could walk on the inner circle of the tables. He would make a series of proclamations. Of course, they would all come true, because Cornelius stands outside of time. It's like looking out of a window, for him.

"And for you my dear, great granddaughter, I proclaim you will have 4 children...." and everyone stood up and cheered. The bride nervously giggled and said under her breath, "I was hoping for just one." My son hugged her and kissed her temple and smiled. Cornelius continued with the proclamations, which included predictions on the economy. This is the part where the family is to take note and the real reason they came. It was Cornelius' gift to them.

When the reception was over, Cornelius stood in the line, by me and everyone kissed the ringed finger. They were thanking him for the prediction. With over 200 people being prosperous all of a sudden, no one would get suspicious.

Standing in the line, though, also served another purpose. As they passed in front of us, we wiped all the mortal's minds of the true location of the laire. They would remember everything except how to get here. Also, for the next year they would feel at peace.

It took me 100 years to make Cornelius understand that, that was a good thing to do for guests.

I felt sorry for my son, though. As my son, he was born to a semi immortal father. I had taken so much of Cornelius' blood, that I was very close to being a vampire, myself. Actually, I was much more powerful than any vampire walking around, even the oldest of them. It also meant my children, without any other input, of blood, would live at least for 1,000 years.

His wife would not.

She is a normal human. What she doesn't know is all of her children will also live 1,000 years. Every year, my son had the task, on their birthdays, to age them a year, otherwise, the children would stay infants for 100 years. They would be smart infants, but they would look like infants. So each birthday party, he would cast a spell and age them. All the way till they turned 16.

The wife wouldn't know what would be going on, but the children, right around 9 years old, would catch on. My son, is 30 years old, but he looks 20. I told him to look that young, because I wanted him to hurry up and marry the young woman when she turned 18. I also made him a little taller.

2 days later, the family, not friends, would gather at the new mansion, and the newlyweds would be presented with the new mansion and a couple of brothers that agreed to be their servants for a decade or so. A few of the other relatives would act as servants too. 

The wife would know none of this. So on the steps of the new mansion, Cornelius made a big ceremony of handing over a giant key, that fit a lock, to a red ribbon that went clear around the house. You could see the wife's eyes get big, as soon as she stepped out of the car, leading up the steps. Cornelius made it a big deal to say, "I let you stay in my house for as long as ye both shall live." And with that he kissed each on the temple.

The family clapped. As Cornelius stepped down the stairs, one of the other family's young men came up to him and said, "I want to get married." Cornelius stopped and looked at the young man. He took his his hand, clasped the ear with his palm, and wiped his forehead with his thumb. "Would you like to get married?" he asked. The young man started, as if the idea had just came to him. "Yes, I would like to get married."

I don't know what he did to the young man, but I know, he changed him, somehow, fundamentally.

"Let's see now. Oh my, you're 35," Cornelius said, looking at the young man, who didn't look a day over 20. "Where are your two brothers?"

Cornelius knew everyone in the family, intimately, and didn't miss the smallest detail. I knew that this young man's father, was another retainer, like me, but he wanted to keep his children close to him, forever. He could have had 50 children, if he wanted, but instead he only had 3 boys and kept them close to him.

Aha, that's what Cornelius changed. He changed the young man from being dependent on his father, to being independent, because that's what the young man was truly asking. Cornelius loved weddings. He could have just changed the young man and left, but he loved weddings, so he also put the seed of marriage in the young man.

When we got back to the lair, after granting my son the mansion, I spoke to him. "Why didn't you change the father?" What Cornelius told me staggered me.

"Bart, sit down. I am truly all powerful. You know this. This retainer of mine. He is my grandson, like you are my grandson. His father left him, when he was very young. It was no fault of the father, but other the mother. She is not of my blood, so I had nothing to do with that. I knew he would turn out ok. So I left him be. He wants to keep his children with him forever. He wants to give them the smothering love he missed from his father.

I could change him. I could wipe his brow, and take away all the pain and sorrow he has. But, this sorrow runs deep. This pain runs deep. He breathes it. He sweats it. He gave life to it, in the form of 3 sons.

If I changed him, it would break who he is. This pain has to be balanced with triumph. I am all powerful, but I also believe in the balance of things. If I do a magical thing, it's just moving the timetable up a little bit.

The pain this man feels, must be balanced with the triumph of 3 weddings. And when each son has 10 grandchildren each, it will overflow that man's heart so much, he will cry tears of great joy, when his father shows up. He will proudly introduce him to all of his grandchildren. Also, the father is going to look, not a day over 40. He will feel, as if, he had met his father when he was a kid, all over again," Cornelius finished and kissed me on the forehead.

I was so happy for my cousin. I couldn't wait to see it all play out.

I Used to Come Out of My Body | Astral Projection

My father died when I was a 7 years old. It took my mother by surprise and she did not know how to handle being alone, with a child. Surprisingly, having 15 brothers and sisters herself, she shirked her duties, in the line of girls taking care of her younger brothers and sisters, so when I came along, and then her husband died, she was wholly unprepared.

She thought it was fine to leave me alone, in the house, for hours. I never really had a childhood, and mistakenly I would come off as being an adult in a child's body. You could hold a conversation with me, at the age of 4, and come away with a new perspective on something. I was told not to grow up so fast, by many people. But, I guess, I knew what was coming, and grew up fast.

But the truth is, at age 7, alone, in a huge house, I was afraid. My fears were well founded. One night, when we were out, our house was broken into. Shortly after that, though, we became U.S. diplomats and traveled overseas. But, my mother's nasty habit of leaving me alone continued. Luckily we had maids and butlers, but at night, they were off duty, so I was left alone in the mansion.

Two things I did when I was alone. In the U.S. I would sit by the door, in a chair, and sing, loudly, for hours. 

The second thing, I was told, wasn't so normal. If I went to sleep, or shall I say, lie in my bed, I would come out of my body and walk around the house, and walk outside patrolling the estate. I would do this for hours and hours, walking around, in this ghost form. I could see and hear everything.

I thought nothing of it, astral projection they call it. I had developed the habit of astrally projecting. I didn't know it was a unique ability. I didn't know it was a dangerous ability.

That is, until my very religious aunt heard what I could do. One day, in the U.S., I was sent to be cared for by my aunt and uncle, again, my mother shirking her duties. Since we were virtual strangers to the family, world travelers and such, my aunt put me up in one of her estates, a huge Tudor like home, two stories, 12 bedrooms. And, like my mother, she left me alone in that home, by myself.

I lay down, because there was nothing to do, in that big house, and immediately astrally projected out of my body. I patrolled around the house and outside. Surprisingly, my aunt came to check up on me, I saw, and she was on the phone. I heard her entire conversation and could even hear the person on the other end, probably a gift of astral projection. When she came in, I got up and told her I saw her and told her about the conversation she had.

She became very serious. Clearly, I wasn't lying. Clearly, everything I said was true. Imagine, this strange kid, from your sister, that travels all over the world, is put into your care, and then he says something out of the blue, yet has proof of everything he says, and you didn't see him, but he's able to tell you, not only your conversation, but what the person on the other end of the phone line said too.

She immediately believed, every word I said. She asked me where I learned to do this. I told her about all the times I was left alone. I was told not to turn the stove on, not to sit in the salon, or living room. So I taught myself this astral projection, to protect myself.

She became gravely serious and this it what she said to me:

• - do not astrally project
• - when we astrally project, our spirit leaves our bodies
• - when our spirit leaves our bodies, our bodies are left empty
• - a demon could easily come into our bodies, if it finds it empty
• - then if we try to come back to our bodies and a demon is inside, it won't give up the body and we will not be able to get back into our bodies, and essentially we will be dead.

Two things happened after that:

1. 1. I was never left with my aunt and uncle
2. 2. I never astrally projected after that

I've been curious, if I still have that power, but I've never done it again, for fear it might be true. 

For those of you who know, is that true?

Finally, I have since learned that Astral Projection, isn't just for looking, watching, listening and seeing stuff far away from your body, but, just like the demon, in the story my aunt told me about, you have the same power, as an astral projection. You can try to enter someone else's body. You'd have to fight their spirit, just like the demon, but most people, wouldn't have the spiritual stamina to even put up a fight, versus you, the one who has so much spiritual stamina, as to be able to astrally project.

Also, sort of like a poltergeist, in your astral form, you can affect the physical world, if you practice it enough. You could open doors, not that you need to, but for other people, you could open doors for them. You could throw things. You could start things, like engines, or turn on the A/C or heater. You see where this is going? You could carry that to the extreme and make someone have a really bad day, or worse.

I'm being gentle, but the or worse part, is the key here. If you could wrestle someone else's spirit, out of their body... well, you heard what my aunt said.

The Headset

The Headset

( have this on repeat as your read the story:

Mary was a romantic girl, steady, loyal, true. She didn't give her love easily and when she did, she expected love in return. This is the tale of her one true love.

Jeff wasn't a remarkable guy, but he loved Mary. He had boy next door looks and a good head on his shoulders.

The two were inseparable, once they came together and agreed to always be with each other. That was when they were 14. They went through high school together, won homecoming king and queen. No scouts came to watch him, no modeling agents contacted her, but they were happy.

They decided they would not go to college. They would get simple good paying jobs. Marriage was just an assumption since they had already made a promise to each other.

Jeff got the call that he would start Monday to be  an apprentice electrician, Mary would start on Monday too, being a seamstress. They could take vacations and do things in life, most people their age could only dream of.

They bought a house together only a year out of high school, something modest, a 3 bedroom. None of their friends could afford a house, definitely not a year out of high school.

Life had its ups and downs, but none more up and down than people testing their love and loyalty to each other. Men hit on Mary and women hit on Jeff. They quietly and politely would excuse themselves from these people and leave the situation. No drama, no claiming they had a boyfriend / girlfriend. Just a really reserved aura that said, no.

One was never far away from the other. Half the time Mary was at home, taking in hems, and stitching holes. She would go into work when there was a big project that required all hands on deck. She had steady work, but she could do it at home.

Jeff would come home and tell her about everything, the guys at work, the girls at work, the work. She would just rest her head on his chest and they would nap together until dinner time.

When her dad got sick Jeff arranged to take off work and the two stayed in the house to keep her mom company and be there if need be, to answer any call the hospital had.

They all sat around her Dad's hospital bed on that day... that day the earth stood still for them. The eldest son flew in, just in time. Jeff had picked him up from the airport. He had come along, not bringing the wife nor kids, just himself. He lay with his head on his father's hand, Mary stood over her brother and her mother held her.

Her dad passed on, that afternoon. The bed was wet with the eldest son weeping. Her mother held Mary upright, almost fainting. Jeff came and got her and drove everyone home.

Mary just laid on his chest that night, not weeping, just there, not saying a word. Jeff held her all night. When her mother came in the morning and opened the door, there they lay, eyes open, laying, not saying a word. Mom quietly came in and pulled a chair next to the bed and stroked Mary's hair, just like when she was a baby girl.

"Your brother's a mess, in there. Please go talk to him. Jeff are you hungry? I made us a morning snack. Come get some juice at least. You know Henry looked at you, like a new son," she steered the moment like a ship's captain.

Mary got up and tears... fell from her eyes. It's as if laying on Jeff's chest kept them in and being away from him, let the flood gates open. Jeff reached out to her, but mother captain, got up, hugged her, rubbed her arm and said, "go help your brother, you know dad was his biggest hero."

Mary went in and talked to her brother and held him for an hour, like Jeff held her.

Jeff and Mary's mother went into the kitchen and snacked on little pieces of meat and cheese and juice.

An hour later Mary and her brother came in. Her brother's eyes were red like a stop sign, this was going to take some time for him to let his father go.
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They set a date for the wedding, a year out. Everyone had plenty of time to get ready.

It was nothing fancy, no tons of gifts, because they had mostly everything in the house.

One day, Mary was at home taking in hems. It was getting late, the sun was going down. She kept working. Finally, she looked up and it was dark.

She kept working. After several more hours she curled up on the sofa and drifted off to sleep, he'd be home soon, she told herself.

She was cold, so cold it woke her up. What time was it? She got up and turned on the lights. What was she doing sleeping on the couch. Oh yes, waiting for Jeff. Should she call her mother? No, she decided against that. Mother wouldn't know anything anyway.

She prepared a quick meal, so when he came in he could grab it and come to bed.

She left a note on the counter telling him it was in the oven.

She headed off to bed, but left a candle burning by the note. The bed was cold, so cold, without Jeff. She put on all her nightclothes and got in bed. He'd come in and laugh at her looking like a big kid in her night clothes.

She woke up in the morning. She found the candle burning still, and the food in the oven untouched. She put it in the fridge and called in to work. Did they need her to come in? No! They'd be around to pick up the work she'd done and give her some more.

Ninna came by and marveled at how many hems she did. She explained her fiance hadn't gotten home and she worked all day and night, 12 hours. Ninna laughed that she worked too hard. Maybe she needed a raise, she'd see to it, and since she's about to get married it would help too.

They sat and gossiped for about an hour. Then Ninna left. She was happy for the human contact.

Jeff would call if something was wrong. He'd always call if something happened. She set out to work. She looked up and it was lunch time already. So steady working, it was 2pm already.

After lunch she set to work again. She continued undisturbed till night again, late in the evening. Still Jeff was a no show. Again she cooked a meal, set it up and watched T.V. for a bit.

"Do you have a loved one that is about to leave this world, is in a coma, or just can't talk to you? A miracle break through has just been created. Neural net! Just place this device over your head and neural net will connect you to that loved one. Don't worry, the neural net will contact the brain that you have in your mind, that person need not be connected at all. We are taking testers right now, just call this number and we'll send a kit over next day and they'll explain everything."

Mary had already ordered hers before the commercial was even over. Won't Jeff be surprised when she taps into his brain?

The next morning the representative came over. She was expecting a man, but a lovely lady came buy and explained everything, hooked it up for her and as she started talking to Jeff, she waved goodbye.

"Hi honey, I've been waiting to hear from you for three days," she said.
Jeff seemed confused, "who is this?"
"Honey it's me Mary, you're surprised aren't you? I'm on this new neural net and I can connect with you directly," she said excitedly.
"It's only been three days? It seems like an eternity," Jeff said, in a distant voice.
"I know right? I missed you so much when I went to bed. Where are you?" Mary said.
"I don't know, it's dark here," he said.
"You don't know where you are? Were you in an accident?" Mary asked.
Jeff patted himself down, "nope I seem fine, It's just really dark."
"Well are you near the car, when are you coming home?" She asked.
"Home? That seems so long ago," Mary thought maybe he was in accident and didn't know and he's in shock.
"Honey, where was the last place you were? We'll come pick you up, I'll get mom to drive dad's old car," Mary said.

Just then she felt hands on her and being shook. They we calling her name, Mary, Mary, Mary sweetheart.

"Hold on Jeff, someone is here in the house," Mary said. She decided to take the set off.

"She's regaining consciousness," one voice said.

Mary opened her eyes to find herself in the hospital surrounded by nurses, her mom, her brother and a couple of doctors.

"Where am I? What happened?" Mary was almost yelling.

One of the doctors said, "calm down miss, you're alright now. You've been in a coma for a whole month."

Mary went into shock immediately.

After the doctors and nurses got her under control, her mother brushed aside the doctor and went to Mary's side, "you put that thing on and lost track of time?"

Mary shrugged and said, "I must have. Because it seemed like a minute to me. I was talking to Jeff, through this thing."

The room went silent.

"Honey..." her mother started it.

"Here you want to talk to Jeff? He's right here," she said.

Her brother snatched the headset from her and put it on, "Hi Jeff."
"Hey, boy I haven't seen you in forever," Jeff said.

A single tear rolled down his face as he removed the headset, "She's right. He's literally sitting there waiting to talk."

"How can that be," the mother turned to the doctor. The doctor shrugged, "I have no idea what that headset does, Ma'am. But, I think, as we saw with your son, if you don't let yourself get lost in it, you won't lose yourself."

"What's goin on?" Mary asked.

"Here, Mary. Hold my hand. I'll be right here. I'm holding your hand. Tell me what you see, while you talk to Jeff," her mother said.

Mary placed the headset on and took her mother's hand and closed her eyes, "he's standing on a street with purple and blue lights."

"My god, Mary is that you? It's been ages since I last spoke to you," Jeff said.
"He says it's been ages since I last spoke to him," Mary said under her breath.
"Mary sweetie, I don't know how time works where he is, but I have some new for you. Jeff has been dead for about 6 months," her mother whispered.
"That's impossible. It's only been 2 days, and I've only been talking to him for 15 minutes," Mary whispered back.
"Mary are you talking to me? It's so dark here," Jeff said.
"He says it's dark there," Mary whispered.

A gasp went around the room.

"She's keeping him there," a voice said.

"She most certainly is," a new voice said. "Either she should tell him to go into the beyond or she can keep him there for eternity and he will not pass on," the new voice said. You could hear the smile in the voice.

Mary's mother shook Mary and squeezed her hand, "honey you have to let Jeff move on, tell him to leave."
"Mother he's leaving, like a cloud or something. He heard you. NO JEFF DON'T LEAVE ME!!!" Mary screamed.

"SHE'S GOING INTO SHOCK," a voice said.

"ACTUALLY, you have a choice, let her go with Jeff or keep her here. But it is our experience that being this close to someone breaks the human spirit when they let the person go," the new voice said.

Although a commotion was going on throughout the room the mother looked over to the eldest son. "Unplug it," she said.

The son reached down behind the bed and with great force yanked the plug  out of the wall.

The beeping and monitors all stopped. Mary's body went slack.

"SON, YOU UNPLUGGED THE WRONG THING!!!" the doctor yelled.

Mother turned to the doctor with cold smoldering eyes. "No he didn't!"

Mary passed away that moment. You could hear her laughing quietly.

"It's not dark here at all. There's a light right there, you dingus," she said grabbing his arm. "Oh, so there is. Let's go over there then. You feel all warm now," Jeff said.

The eldest son stood up from the bed. "I couldn't imagine Mary with anyone but Jeff."

The mom shrugged, "I think her laughing at the end there, pretty much summed this who affair up.

And you, did you not warn the public what they were doing?"

The representative took the kit and placed it into the eldest son's hands, "technically, you could recall her and Jeff any time you want to talk to them. It won't hurt them anymore, since they've gone into the beyond. It'll be like a day visit.

We spoke with the entity that keeps the beyond and he actually explained a lot to us. This doesn't break the rules.

BUT, don't go anywhere except that road. If you go anywhere else but that road, you're gone.

We explained that to your daughter. She might not have remembered, but I think you made the right choice, because she decided a long time ago. We were surprised that she stayed alive this long.

We've already taken care of all the financials and the home. One of you sign here. And, we'll take care of the hospital too."

******************************************
Once a year the eldest would put the headset on and visit with Jeff and Mary. He would always come away from those talk as If he had aged in wisdom a hundred years.

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