Free Kilenya Series Books One, Two, and Three by Andrea Pearson Page B

The large columns looked to be made of granite, and the windows, most of which had either been boarded over or smashed open, were massive and elegant. The wide, concrete porch that circled the house was now cracked and disheveled, with vines growing unchecked through the cracks and up many of the columns. The front right corner of the foundation had begun to sink, and rotted wood lay strewn about.
    In front of the house, to the right, was a large pit. Jacob thought he could hear Akeno’s voice coming from it, and he struggled to break free of the snake’s tight grip. But the snake ignored his attempts and continued slithering across the ground, up the stairs, and through the open front door of the house.
    It was musty and dirty inside. Dim light shone through several of the smashed windows. The front entryway was spacious—at least two stories high, maybe three. The floor was marble, and there were grand marble pillars lining the edges of the room. Stained-glass windows, most of them boarded over, were placed between the pillars.
    Just before they went up a large, curved stairway, Jacob caught a glimpse of a side room with sheet-covered furniture. There was a hallway at the top of the stairs, the first half overlooking the front entry and the second half lined with doors on both sides. All the doors were shut, and many of them had a slight greenish glow coming through the cracks. The snake stopped abruptly at the end of the hall. In place of the door was a silvery, translucent sheen that filled the entire doorway.
    The snake paused before entering. The moment its head passed the frame, there was a loud clap, and the sheen disappeared. The snake wriggled forward a few feet, then released its hold on Jacob. He stumbled to his feet and whirled, ready to defend himself, but the snake had already slithered back into the hallway and was biting the top, bottom, and sides of the door frame. The translucent veil materialized again, sealing the doorway, and the snake slithered down the hall and stairs.
    Jacob rushed to the nearest window, barely noticing the junk and oddly placed rolls of thick cloth on the floor, and watched as the snake disappeared into the forest. He waited a few moments longer, but the snake didn’t return.
    The pit was beneath the window. It wasn’t very deep—maybe two or three feet—and Akeno was there, thrashing around with the remains of charred furniture and other debris. Jacob pounded on the window, trying to get Akeno’s attention, but the Makalo didn’t seem to notice.
    A cold wind blew on the back of Jacob’s neck, making his hair rise. He turned and nearly yelled—about a foot or so away was a partially decomposed body sitting in a chair, on the verge of tumbling over.
    Afraid it would fall at any moment, Jacob kept his hands up as he stepped to the side, barely missing another body that lay across the floor with arms stretched toward the door. He jumped away from it, realizing that what he’d assumed to be rolls of cloth were really bodies sprawled on the ground, reaching for the exit.
    He made his way to a clear spot and looked around.
    The room was very large. There was a massive bed against one wall, a fireplace on another, and several chairs placed in random positions around bookcases, tables, and the fireplace. Nearly every chair held human remains, ranging from full skeletons to decomposing corpses that had been dead for only a few weeks at most. In one corner of the room was a table. On top were two stone jugs and bits of both fresh and moldy food.
    The smell of death and decay became so overpowering, Jacob felt as though his lungs would burst. Desperate for fresh air, he steeled himself, then rushed past the dead bodies back to the window.
    He grunted, pushing on the lever, trying to open the window. But it wouldn’t budge.
    Jacob’s gaze landed on the jugs, and he grabbed one—it was heavy with water. He smashed it against the window as hard as he could. The result was water