The Queen's Test - Book II [Down Draft]

Chapter 37: Coven

Chapter 37: Coven

Friday,

April 2,

Heaven's POV

The mansion was grand. It sat up high on top of an overgrown hill, filled with weeds and tall grass. It was dark, and clearly it hadn't been lived in a couple hundred years. The green and brown vines wrapped up the side of the house, over windows and the front door, overflowing with blossoming roses of several different shades of colors: red, yellow, white, pink, and the occasional orange; they filled the rails and supports of the wrap-around porch, and it seemed like something in a fairy tale book. No windows were broken; instead, they were boarded up, nails sealing anything in and everything out. The abandoned mansion had a particular wild smell about it. The wild flowers and weeds, and large trees, some with leaves and some that were still growing, that surrounded it. I could tell it had been white, at one point in its time, but over the years, under harsh weather and stubborn vandalizing children, the color had gone away, and the mansion lost its total intense glory.

Not to say that it wasn't still beautiful, because it was. It looked antique.

Alexandria and Eva were asleep when I caught sight of the beautiful place. I knew that was where we could stay, and not because it was beautiful. As old as it was, it had to have working fire places. Eva and Alexandria could feel the cold like I no longer had the ability to do. They needed warmth to live. I could go to the next town over and find food.

Draken landed on the massive wrap-around porch softly, mindful of the two sleeping children on his back. I leaned them against each other so they wouldn't fall off.

As quietly as I could, I set about walking around the mansion to find a way in that wouldn't be so noticeable, Draken acting as guard for the two children. I found one in the back. There was an opening in the ground that led to what I assumed to be the basement door. It was almost completely overgrown, but it had wiggle room. Draken and I squeezed ourselves in the little space in front of the door, and the overgrown wilderness was now above our heads. However, the door was not opening, and I didn’t want to wake the two.

I had to use magic to open the door, and even then it was difficult, but I managed to accomplish that. It was completely dark in the basement, and the overwhelming smell of must and mold, and dampness and dust almost knocked me off my feet. Draken even seemed to be having a hard time.

I lit my hand on fire for the light and saw that the basement was completely barren, but it was a full basement that covered the entirety of the foundation of the house, and it was extremely cold. Colder, even, than outside. We made our way to the door of the basement that led up the stairs.

The bottom floor of the mansion was covered in nature. Dead leaves, flowers, branches and a few rocks littered the entire floor. I walked around them the best I could, but I still didn't dodge them all.

The floor space, which was marble, without furniture, looked enormous. The stair case looked similar to Cassie's, where there was a single, wide staircase at first, then it branched out on either side. I went up the stairs, thinking heat rises.

The girls were still asleep, and I needed desperately to get them warm. It was the beginning of April, but it was still so cold outside.

Once I reached the top of the stairs, I went down one hallway and picked a room. It held a fire place, as I suspected every room in here did. It was a little warm in this room, but very stuffy and smelly.

I told Draken to sit down, and then I carefully lifted the two off of him. Once he lay down, I sat them against him and put the thick blanket across from them.