The Incubus, Succubus and Son of Perdition Box Set: The Len du Randt Bundle (42 page)

Think, Jared! Think!

The sudden stench of burnt hair and
a soft growl behind him iced his blood. Jared turned around slowly and was just
in time to see the bear-like beast jump at him with its razor sharp fangs.

*   
-    -    -    *

 ‘Lose weight without any
exercise. With Electro-Gym
you
are in control. This simple yet effective
weight control system was developed—’

Justin pressed a button and the
television snapped off. The image died with the soft crackling of static. He
dropped the remote next to him and sighed.
When are you coming home, Becky?
he
wondered as his gaze shifted to his teenage daughter sleeping on the couch next
to him.
When will all this finally be over?

‘Come,’ he said as he gently shook
Monique’s shoulder. She woke and blinked a few times as if to remember where
she was. ‘Let’s get you to bed.’ Justin stood up and held his hand out to help
her up.

Something felt wrong.

Justin turned and his heart skipped
a beat when he saw the silhouettes of the two men standing at the window,
looking in. Something urged him to get out of their line of sight.

‘Monique, get—’

BLAM!

The blast was quick, blunt, and
loud; like a car backfiring. Justin fell to the ground for cover. He could see
Monique’s legs as she ran to the bedroom. He tried to push himself up but had
no strength in his arms. It was then that he felt the wetness at his hands,
that he became aware of the burning pain in his face.

I’ve been shot!

Justin tried to move his arms but
couldn’t. He tried to speak, but only managed a faint gurgling sound.
Consciousness was seeping away with each passing second.

Please protect her,
Justin thought as
darkness blurred out his vision.
In the name of Jesus Christ, please don’t
let anything happen to her...

Justin woke from the dream screaming
and drenched in sweat. He slapped his hand around on the bed; his heart
fluttering in his chest with fury. He finally found the bed lamp switch and
clicked it on, filling the room with instant light.

‘Oh Lord,’ he said and choked. He
took a few deep breaths as he tried to control the raw adrenaline pumping
through his veins. It took a moment before his mind distinguished between dream
and reality. ‘Please be with Rebecca,’ he pleaded through the breathing.
‘Please be with my son. I beg of you, Lord. Please protect them both.’

*   
-    -    -    *

The slash of a blade.

The glint of metal.

The roar of fire.

In one swift motion, the sword
flashed through the air, instantly separating the beast’s head from its body.

Jared’s eyes were still closed when
the remainder of the monster smashed into him, smacking him into the wall.
Jared’s mind reeled. He tried to wrestle the dead weight off him, but couldn’t
find the strength to do so. The stench was unbearable, as was the gaping wound
a few inches from his face.

The beast moved. Jared’s heart sank.
It was only after the dead animal was flung to one side that Jared realised
what was going on.  A man stood in front of him, his hand extended toward
him. ‘Take my hand,’ the man said. ‘You’re safe for now.’

Their hands slapped together and the
stranger pulled Jared to his feet.

‘Thanks,’ Jared managed.

‘Thank me later,’ the man said. He
nodded toward his companion. ‘Follow us.’

‘Why?’ Jared asked. ‘Where to?
What’s going on? And who are you?’

‘Your questions will be answered in
time,’ the man said. ‘But it’s getting dark very quickly now. We’ll talk
later.’

‘At least just tell me who you are,’
Jared insisted.

The man pointed at his companion.
‘This is Elrisk,’ he said. ‘My name is Yuriel, but you can call me Simon.’

The streets of Kelwick were desolate
and quiet. Too quiet. The man that identified himself as Simon carefully looked
around a corner and surveyed the street from left to right. Once he was sure
that the coast was clear, he made a hand gesture that somehow told his
companion exactly what he needed. The man introduced as Elrisk half-hunched as
he ran across the street to a burnt-out convenience store. He withdrew his
sword and made his way into the shop through the shattered window where he
disappeared from view for what felt to Jared as too long.

‘Shouldn’t we go and check if he’s
okay?’ Jared whispered.

Simon merely held up his hand, not
taking his eyes from the building. He waited a moment longer and stood up.
‘Right,’ he said. ‘All is clear. Let’s go.’

Jared looked at the shop. There was
no trace of Elrisk. ‘Are you sure?’ he asked. ‘How do you know...?’

‘I know,’ Simon said and helped
Jared to his feet. ‘Come. You don’t want to be out here when it’s completely
dark.’

Jared wasted no time.  He
followed Simon across the street until they were inside the store. Elrisk
stepped from the shadows. He saluted Simon and the two of them patted each
other on the back as if they had just succeeded in accomplishing a major task.
Jared figured that he’d soon find out what was going on, so he merely stood
back and observed as the last rays of the sun completely disappeared outside.

‘We’ll be safe here,’ Elrisk said.
‘The only way inside is through the window we came in. I will stand cover and
guard it until sunrise.

‘Confirmed,’ Simon said. He motioned
for Jared to stand back and then made his way to the middle of the room. He
unsheathed his sword and closed his eyes. After taking a deep breath, Simon
exhaled loudly as he drove the sword into the wooden floor. He took a step back
and once satisfied, spread his lips into a smile. A blue light pulsated from
the blade of the sword, growing in intensity and light until the whole room was
illuminated. Simon looked at Jared. ‘They’re afraid of the light,’ he
explained. ‘It drives them away.’

Jared nodded. ‘Afraid of the light.
Right.’ He pulled his face to emphasize his sarcasm. ‘What exactly are we
hiding from? Where on earth are we? Why do you carry a sword, and more
importantly, why does it radiate blue light?’

Simon looked at Elrisk who gave him
a knowing nod. Elrisk took a defensive position at the window; his sword drawn
as he stood guard. Simon then walked to the nearest wall and slid down to the
floor with his back against it.

Jared sat down next to him and
studied the man for a few seconds. ‘Comfortable?’

Simon nodded.

‘Right,’ Jared said. ‘Now please
stop stalling and tell me. What the hell is going on?’

*   
-    -    -    *

 ‘I’ve been to the hospital
today,’ Shaun told his wife as they washed the dishes together. She washed. He
dried and put them away.

Samantha looked up. ‘And...?’

‘Still no improvement,’ he said.
‘The doctors don’t even know how long he might still be in this coma, or even
if
he will recover at all. It’s frustrating, at the very least.’

‘What will happen to Whyte &
Greene?’

‘I don’t know, Sam. There’s just too
much we don’t know at this moment. The company is in the process of being
liquidated. We’ve lost most of our best guys already. I guess that if Jared
should die, that the Executor of the Estate will take the money from his trust
funds and whatever savings he didn’t squander the past few weeks and use that
to pay off the staff and all other outstanding bills.’

Samantha took a deep breath. ‘Are
we...are we okay?’

‘We’re fine,’ Shaun said and hugged
her. He kissed her on the cheek and smiled. ‘I saved up for a rainy day.’ The
mood was pleasant and Shaun didn’t want to ruin it by telling her about the
conversation he had overheard. He would talk to her about it later.

‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘Thanks for
looking out for us.’

Shaun embraced her and held her for
a long time. Neither of them saw the figure outside looking in through the
kitchen window.

*   
-    -    -    *

 ‘Hell,’ Simon whispered.
‘You’re not far from being right, Jared,’ he said. ‘For this place is as close
to it as you’ll get.’

‘This is hell?’ Jared asked.

Simon shook his head. ‘This is
Kelwick,’ he said. ‘Four months from when you last saw it.’

‘Four months since I last saw it?’
Jared asked. ‘I don’t understand. What is this, some sort of vision or
something?’

‘Kind of, yes.’ Simon nodded. ‘You
were in a car accident, Jared.’

A car on its roof.

‘You were taken to a hospital.’

Sparks in every direction.

‘Where you are being kept on life
support.’

‘Life support?’ Jared asked. ‘But
I’m right here, wide awake.’

‘In spirit you are here, yes,’ Simon
said. ‘But in flesh, you’re in a coma at Kelwick Emergency Hospital.’

‘Coma...’

Simon merely nodded.

Jared stood up and ran his fingers
along the wall. ‘So none of this is real?’

Outside in the distance something
howled and Elrisk tightened his grip around the hilt of his sword.

‘This is very real for you,’ Simon
said. ‘Your brain can’t distinguish the difference. However, if you stay on your
current path of self-destruction, this will also be very real for the rest of
the world in four months from now.’

‘My current path...?’ Jared asked.
He waved his hand through the air. ‘What do I have to do with all of this?’

Simon closed his eyes. ‘You will
have a major influence on the lives of millions of people, Jared,’ he said.
‘You will either lead them to Christ, or to their slaughter. That much is
certain.’

‘To their slaughter?’ Jared asked
and couldn’t suppress the nervous chuckle. ‘I think you’ve got the wrong guy,
Simon. No offence. I’m in the import-export business. I don’t have that kind of
influence and power.’

‘You’re not paying attention,’ Simon
said. ‘What I’ve told you
will
happen. It does not matter how you manage
to make it happen. Whether you lead people to Christ or their demise is a
choice that
you
will have to make. Free will is what will determine the
final outcome.’

‘Some choice that is,’ Jared spat.
‘What if I choose neither? Isn’t that part of free will too?’

For a long while Simon said nothing.
He merely looked into Jared’s eyes with a certain sense of understanding and
remorse. ‘Pharaoh had a certain role to play in the history of this world,’ he
said. ‘So did Moses. So did Paul. So did Judas Iscariot.’

Judas!
Jared’s mind reeled.
Shaun!
Random memories of his life flashed through his mind.
Shaun the traitor!
‘I’m not like them,’ Jared said. ‘I’m just an ordinary guy, not someone from
the Bible.’

‘Oh, but you
are
like them,
Jared,’ Simon said. ‘Weren’t they also just ordinary men like you?’

‘That’s different.’

‘Really? How so?’

‘It...’ Jared struggled to find a
reason. ‘It just is...’

‘On the night of the accident, you
would have invested millions into a bomb that would change the face of the
world forever.’

‘A bomb?’

Simon nodded. ‘It’s a
gene-manipulation bomb. A few of them, actually, that not only destroy Kelwick,
but entire continents, Africa, Australia, Europe, and Asia.’

‘So all of this...everything I’m
seeing here is a result of the bombs?’

Simon nodded.

‘And that creature that was chasing
me...?’

‘Was a normal bear once, now a
monster, a direct result of the gene-manipulation bomb. The animals and people
that didn’t scorch to death live out the rest of their horribly disfigured
lives in agony and pain. All of them will eventually die.’

This is a very important function.
The topic is of great importance.

‘No,’ Jared said. ‘I would never
invest in a bomb like that.’

‘You wouldn’t have had a choice in
the matter,’ Simon said. ‘The Succubus had you in her grasp. She had seduced
you beyond your control.’

‘Succubus?’

‘Natasha Sinclair,’ Simon said.
‘Let’s just say she’s not entirely what you think she is.’

‘Natasha...’ Jared whispered.
Memories stabbed into his mind.
Shaun. Natasha.
He could vaguely
remember. More faces flashed by. Faces he recognized. Faces he remembered.
Tanya, Amy, his mother, father, Monique. Memories flashed past at the speed of
light; each evoking a different emotion within him. ‘I remember everything,’ he
finally said.

‘Well done,’ Simon said and slapped
him on the back.

Jared rubbed the stubble on his face
in silent thought for a while. Finally he looked up. ‘What does Natasha have to
do with it?’

‘She’s a demon, Jared,’ Simon said.
‘She was sent to sway you from the path of righteousness and lead you down the
road of death and destruction.’

Jared laughed. ‘This all sounds like
a bad Hollywood script.’

‘They wanted to manipulate your
choice,’ Simon said, ignoring Jared’s scoff, ‘to bend your free will and make
you accomplish their goals. What you experience here is the result of what
reality would be if they were to succeed.’

‘But they
won’t
succeed,’
Jared said. ‘I know what their plan is now. I can prevent this from happening.’

‘It’s not that simple, Jared. The
seductive power of the Succubus is relentless to such an extent that you can’t
comprehend or plan ahead for it.’

‘Then I’ll just skip the country for
a few years. You know, go someplace small and quiet.’

‘You underestimate this demon,’
Simon said. ‘She has been assigned a certain task and will not stop until she
completes it.’ He stood up and walked over to Elrisk where he stared out into
the darkness for a moment, listening to the moans of the creatures that lurked
outside, creatures that observed them from a distance. ‘She will do what she’s
assigned to do,’ he said without breaking his gaze from the darkness. ‘And
there’s no place far enough, no mountain high enough, and no ocean deep enough
for you to hide.’

*   
-    -    -    *

 ‘I should never have let you
go all by yourself.’

‘I’m fine, baby. Really,’ Rebecca
said. ‘Monique has school and you have the book. It’s just the way things
turned out.’

‘Maybe I should pull Monique from
school for a few weeks. We could both join you.’

‘No,’ Rebecca said without
hesitation. ‘Monique can’t afford to miss school. It’s almost exams and she
needs focus now more than ever. Besides, you need to be there in case an agent
tries to contact you.’

‘I doubt that’s ever going to
happen. No one seems to even bother getting past the cover letter.’

‘It
will
happen, my love,’
Rebecca said. ‘It would be a shame to miss out on an opportunity like that for
something that you have no control over anyway.’

Justin sighed. She was right. As
much as he would hate to admit it, she did have a valid argument. His presence
in Kelwick would not wake Jared from his coma. ‘All right,’ he finally said.
‘Just be careful, okay?’

‘I will. Promise.’

They finished their conversation,
and once they hung up, Justin headed to the kitchen.
It was just a nightmare
,
he thought as he opened the fridge and took out the orange juice.
Nothing
more. Nothing less.
He poured some of the content into a glass and
immediately dropped the box and jumped away from the counter. In the glass, on
the counter, and spilled across the floor was a red liquid. Justin had some on
his hands. He rubbed his fingers together. There was no doubt about it. It was
blood.

‘Dad?’ Monique asked as she entered
the kitchen. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Stay back,’ he warned her. ‘Don’t
come closer.’

‘Why? What’s going on?’

Justin kept eye contact with her to
distract her attention away from the bloody mess in the kitchen. ‘Go to the
living room, sweetie,’ he said. ‘I’ll meet you there in a minute.’

‘Shouldn’t I help you clean up that
mess first?’

She saw it!
Justin struggled to find
words. He turned to face the scene that awaited him and his heart sank. In the
glass, over the counter, and across the floor was the orange juice he had just
spilled.