The Incubus, Succubus and Son of Perdition Box Set: The Len du Randt Bundle (82 page)
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Authors: Len du Randt
The wave rushed towards them at a breakneck speed. She
could hear the explosion of the meteor above the rush of the ocean as the speed
of sound caught up with the wave. The sudden blast noise caught her off guard,
and she burst into tears. Sobbing loudly, she dropped her poster and clutched
the frail man next to her.
‘Ain’t she a beaut?’ the man asked excitedly.
‘I don’t wanna die!’ was all that the girl could muster
in return.
The wave slowed in speed as it approached the shores,
but grew in size. It was screaming. Screaming at the puny people who would dare
challenge it. The girl jerked when the first skyscrapers crashed into the
others. The sound was deafening.
The wall of water ripped the Golden Gate Bridge from
its foundations and tossed it around; almost playfully.
‘I don’t wanna—’
The wave swept over the building with the thirty
spectators on its roof as if it wasn’t even there.
- - -* * *- -
-
‘It struck!’ Trevor shouted and
leaned forward to see the event unfold on GMN. The lights flickered and dishes
rattled as the building started shaking lightly.
‘It’s the impact quake that they had warned us about,’
Andrew said. René just clutched Trevor’s arm tightly. Outside, car alarms were
screaming. A few far-off explosions shook the building even more as gas pipelines
were ruptured and sparked.
‘Lord Yoshe could have stopped this,’ René said as she
viewed the damage on the television feed.
‘He’s dead, René,’ Trevor said.
‘He’s
not
dead,’ she defended. ‘They just don’t
know where he is, that’s all.’
‘They took his body three weeks ago already,’ he said
frustrated. ‘Don’t you think that we would have at least
heard
from him
if he was actually alive?’
‘They...they’re nurturing him back to health,’ she
said, grasping at straws. A tear trickled down her cheek.
Trevor wanted to make a comment. He wanted to make her
see that what she believed to be true was in fact, not. But he wanted more to
wipe that
told-you-so
expression off Andrew’s face. Instead, he remained
quiet and continued looking at the global destruction that was taking place at
that very moment.
- - -* * *- -
-
South Africa:
Two Days Later
The river rushing toward the
reservoir remained uninterrupted by the impact of the meteorite strike. It just
kept flowing, bubbling over rocks and pebbles as it snaked and twisted its way
through the field. A brilliant light cut through the night skies, illuminating
the field and everything in it.
The light slowly descended toward the Earth, as the
object that emitted the light came closer to the ground, the light faded. When
the cloaked creature’s feet touched the ground, only blackness remained where
there was bright light just a few seconds before.
The creature looked around to see if anyone had noticed
it. No one was unfortunate enough this time. It turned its attention to the
river, hunched down, and stuck a bony finger into the cool water. A green
substance oozed from the finger, blending with the water that, soon, there was
no trace of it having ever been there.
The creature stood upright and hissed a skin crawling
laugh, then shot up into the night sky in search of its next target.
- - -* * *- -
-
‘Pick up the phone, Trevor!’ Andrew
yelled into the ringing handset. ‘Pick up, for crying out loud!’
‘Hello,’ a female voice answered.
‘René,’ Andrew said. ‘I need to speak to Trevor,
urgently!
’
‘I’ll call him, Andy,’ she said, but then paused for a
moment. ‘Is...is everything okay?’
‘No time to explain, René, but Trev will as soon as
I’ve finished speaking to him. But whatever you do,
don’t drink the water!
’
‘Why? What’s wrong with it?’
Andrew sighed. ‘It might be contaminated. But please,
get me Trevor.’
René held her hand to her mouth as Trevor walked up to
her. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked. She just stood there, holding the telephone out
to him without saying a word.
‘Andy?’
‘Trev,’ Andrew said. ‘Don’t drink the water. Did you
drink water yet?’
‘Calm down, Andy.’ Trevor said. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘The water. It’s contaminated or something. People have
become extremely ill, others have even died.’
‘From drinking water?’
‘Yes.’
‘Is it just in Pretoria?’
‘It’s all over the world, although only certain cities
and towns have been infected. So far there’s no pattern.’
Trevor thought for a while. ‘So what are we supposed to
do now?’
‘Nothing at the moment,’ Andrew said. ‘But just don’t
drink any of the water.’
‘What if I boil it? Won’t that kill all the bad stuff
in the water?’
‘Not
this
virus, no.’
‘And if I get bottled water from the store?’
Andrew thought about it for a moment. ‘Good idea! Get
as much of it as you possibly can. When people realize that there’s no way
around it, there will be chaos in the stores.’
‘Will do,’ Trevor said. ‘I’ll take René. Her car could
carry quite a load.’
‘Great,’ Andrew said. ‘I’m also going right now.’
‘See you later,’ Trevor said and hung up. He turned to
René: ‘Is it okay if we take your car to the shops?’ he asked.
She nodded and they both left to find as much bottled
water as they could.
- - -* * *- -
-
When Andrew returned from his
shopping expedition, the first thing he did was turn on his computer. He took a
sip of bottled water as he waited for his email program to load up. When it had
done so, he put down the bottle, cracked his knuckles, and began writing:
Dear Mom and Dad,
This isn’t going to be a long letter.
Just a note to warn you against drinking tap water. I don’t know if you know
yet, but it appears that a large amount of fresh water supplies had been
poisoned, and people are warned NOT to drink of any water until their town or
city had received the green light from their government.
I urge you not to drink water
until you have found out first. Thousands of people have been taken up in
hospitals because of this, and many have died. My apologies if you know about
this already, but I felt like I needed to warn you myself.
May Jesus protect and guide you.
Love,
Andy
xXx
Andrew looked at the message for a
while, then set the message to ‘HIGH’ priority, and sent it off. He switched
off his computer and walked over to the television where the main news report
was about to begin.
- - -* * *- -
-
It took the two of them two trips
each to buy and carry as much drinking supplies as they possibly could. When
all the cupboards were filled to the brim, and the small space behind Trevor’s
couch couldn’t contain another bottle, he and René fell down on the sofa in
front of the television. He switched it to GMN. A news reporter was just
finishing a story about a bus accident in Mexico which had claimed the lives of
thirteen people.
‘In the wake of the meteor strike, the World Census
Organization has reported that the death toll has risen to around four hundred
and seventy thousand dead on land, and still only an estimated seven thousand
dead at sea.
‘Most of America’s western coast got flooded, as well as
eastern islands such as Taiwan, the Philippines, and Japan. The damage is
staggering, and it’s difficult to determine if the order of life can be
restored at all on these islands. New Zealand is totally under water, as well
as a huge section of Australia.’
‘Isn’t that where Andy’s parents are from? New
Zealand?’
Trevor nodded, and René held her hand to her mouth.
‘They’re okay. They’re staying with friends in America,
remember?’
‘The destruction,’ the news reporter continued, ‘of
most of the plankton in the ocean has created a massive disruption in the food
chain, causing the deaths of vast numbers of sea life. Dead sharks, whales, and
dolphins litter the beaches at some of the most respected public holiday
resorts; and a case of red tide has been reported globally.’
‘Red tide?’ René asked.
‘I’m not sure,’ Trevor said. ‘Think it’s the blood of
all the dead animals that makes a large section of the sea appear red at
certain places...or something like that.’
‘Oh dear.’
‘Thousands have been hospitalised, and even more have
died at the wake of a new water virus known as
Bitter Water
. The virus
is said to have contaminated some of the world’s most important reservoirs.
There is no known cure yet, and doctors from around the world are combining
forces to battle this latest killer. Little is known about the origin of the
virus, except that the first symptoms were reported in Germany just a few short
days ago. People of the following areas are asked not to drink
any
water
until it has been declared drinkable.’
Trevor sat upright as a list of city names scrolled
over the screen.
‘There we are,’ he said and slumped back into his sofa.
‘What
else
can go wrong?’
The news reporter came back after all the names had
been scrolled through twice. ‘A professor at the MIT Centre for Space Research
has denied claims that the Bitter Water virus came from the meteor that struck
us almost a week ago. His full views on this will be aired later tonight.’
‘I’m glad we got the bottled water,’ René said.
‘Yeah,’ Trevor replied and took a sip from his bottle.
‘We must work sparingly until we can get our hands on more.’
‘And now for the main story of this evening,’ the news
reader announced. ‘Pope Alexander the Ninth has today—in a news
conference—declared that the European Empire’s leader and Messiah, Victor
Yoshe, has returned from the dead.’
Trevor sat up. ‘What?’
‘Oh my Lord,’ René shrieked and clapped her hands.
‘This came only shortly after Lord Yoshe had appeared
to Pope Alexander in a dream at first, and then personally, in the flesh.’
GMN aired a video clip from Antonio’s public
announcement earlier that day.
‘It is with great joy that I announce to you the
resurrection of our Lord and saviour, Victor Yoshe.’
There was a moment of silence as Antonio spoke the
words, which was followed by the cheers and clapping of the news reporters
present. Cameras flashed and the cheering became deafening as a familiar figure
walked onto the platform and took a stand next to Antonio. Victor placed his
arm around Antonio’s shoulders and waved to the room of awestruck reporters.
‘
It’s him!
’ René shrieked.
‘Impossible!’ Trevor said.
‘It’s him,’ she repeated.
Victor stared at the cameras. He wasn’t ready to
address the world yet, but he wanted all to know that he was back.
Trevor studied the man on the stage next to Antonio,
wondering if it might be a body double. Trevor looked closely at Victor’s
composure, charisma, and even his smile. Other than a scar across his right eye
where he had been struck, there was no doubt about it. The man standing on the
stage next to Antonio was indeed Victor Yoshe.
‘It had been three weeks since the
meteorite struck Earth,’ the newsreader said, ‘and scientists estimate that it
could be five years or more before the dust will settle completely and restore
Earth to the way that it was before impact. Until then, scientists believe that
we will have only roughly seventy percent of the light from the sun that we
used to have.’
‘Just imagine our lungs by then,’ Trevor said, and then
turned his attention back to the news reader.
‘It has only been a couple of hours since the first
confirmation of the European Empire’s President, Victor Yoshe’s resurrection.
He will address the world shortly, but before he does, GMN will air a new music
video composed by some of the world’s greatest artists in honour of his
glorious second coming.’
A rock band performed a ballad on the television, and
Trevor felt a lump in his throat as the various global artists skilfully
depicted the life, death, and resurrection of Victor. Trevor took René’s hand
in his, and the two of them just sat there, staring at the screen. A tear slid
down René’s cheek as the music video showed various video clips of Victor waving
and smiling at cheering crowds. Trevor swallowed hard and his eyes stung. If
René had not been there, he most probably would have cried like a baby.
‘It’s him!’ René shouted suddenly and squeezed Trevor’s
hand. Victor was standing behind a podium, smiling at the reporters who all
simultaneously shouted their questions while the photographers took pictures at
the live press conference. The commotion took about three minutes to calm down,
and once it did, Victor stepped forward to speak into the microphone.
- - -* * *- -
-
Andrew was staring out the window
of his lofty apartment, looking at the bright lights of the city. The remaining
dust that hung in the air after the meteorite struck gave the moon a permanent
crimson glow.
The red moon now just served as a grim reminder of how
terribly bad things were still to become. Not only could a large section of
Earth not drink water anymore, but the damage caused by the meteorite was
slowly and systematically killing all sea life.
Cheering and clapping from the television in the
background pulled him back to his lounge. He walked to the couch and positioned
himself comfortably in front of the television as a stern-faced Victor Yoshe
took the podium.
‘My people,’ Victor addressed the world. ‘I have told
you that I would come back. It has come to pass. In my absence, I have returned
to the realm that I have come from before I have created this world and its
inhabitants. I have gained secret insight into whom it is that is trying to
plunge the world into darkness and chaos with their acts of terrorism.
‘They have now poisoned our water, killing many
innocent people and will do even worse things in the future. I have seen the
people responsible for this. They go under a title, calling themselves
Christians
.’
Andrew sat up straight in his chair. ‘What?’
‘These Christians...these terrorists have polluted a
huge section of our fresh water supplies, hoping that it would cause a
disruption in the peace process, and in turn lead to global warfare. They have
joined forces with the terrorist group I have exposed before my death; the
Messianic Jews, and they will stop at nothing to attain their goal, which is
global anarchy.’
Cameras flashed as Victor paused for effect.
‘Dear citizens of the Empire...no...citizens of the
entire free world,’ Victor said with thunderous passion. ‘We cannot allow this
type of anarchy to throw our lives into turmoil. We must unite once again to
overcome a threat to the human race.
‘We must rid the world of these Jesus followers so that
there can be peace—
true
peace—once and for all.’
Victor’s voice exploded with emotion and conviction and
the reporters cheered him on as an audible display of their agreement and
support.
‘We will fight back. We will stand up to these bigots
of humanity. We will unite against these hate mongers. They cannot be allowed
to spread violence and turmoil anymore.
They must be stopped!
’
The cheering was deafening and Victor had to wait a
minute before he could continue.
‘We do, however, still have a water supply problem. To
get past this, N-Force will be driving through the streets of the infected
cities and towns to hand out bottled water. Each bottle should be enough for
one person to drink from for about three days. Please use your water sparingly
until the poison has worked its way out of our water supply system. Thank you.’
The reporters cheered again as Victor nodded and
stepped back from the podium. Some of the reporters fell on their knees and
worshipped him. Others broke down and cried uncontrollably, while some just
reached out for the honour of touching the edge of his clothing. He allowed
this as he soaked in the worship and prayers.
- - -* * *- -
-
‘Oh, Lord God,’ René wept as she
prostrated herself in front of the television. ‘Forgive my sins and bless me
with your divine presence.’
Trevor rolled his eyes and walked to his room. He had
heard and seen enough and decided to retire for the evening.
- - -* * *- -
-
René went to her room soon
afterward. She read a few tracts on Yoshism and how the various beliefs all
formed part of this new universal religion. According to the tracts,
all
religions were a small part of Yoshism. Together, they formed the larger truth.
Thus, anyone could still practice their individual faiths, but with the added doctrine
about Victor Yoshe.
So instead of religious division, all could now say
that they embraced Yoshism, and that their ‘cell’ in this huge organism was
called whatever their religion was.
René closed the tracts and turned off the light. After
a quick prayer to Victor, she turned on her side, and a minute later she was
fast asleep.
- - -* * *- -
-
It started as a low humming sound
at first. In his dream, he was driving an ’86 XJS Coupe down a countryside
road. The wind ruffled his hair, but he didn’t mind. He was cruising. The soft
humming of the engine grew gradually louder. It was only a matter of time
before the engine hummed so loud that he thought it was going to explode.
Trevor jerked awake in his bed with a gasp. Something
bothered him. It wasn’t the dream. It was something else. The humming. He could
still hear it; in the darkness of the room it sounded as if millions of insects
were swarming around him. He flailed his arms violently, trying to swat away
that which was causing the sound. It didn’t work. The humming grew louder into
a frantic buzzing. Trevor was about to get up and switch on the light when
something stung him on his upper leg.
‘
Ouch!
’ he yelled out, hoping that René would
hear him and rush to his aid. ‘Ren—’ he cried out, but was cut off short as
another sting stabbed him at the base of his neck. Two more stings sent him
sprawling to the floor. Four more stinging pains shot through his arms, and one
into his inner thigh. He tried crawling for the wall as the relentless attackers
stung him on his stomach, face, neck, hands and tongue. The pain had become
unbearable. Trevor wanted to die. Never in his life had he felt a pain like
this, let alone so many times at once.
‘Oh Jesus,’ he cried out of desperation. ‘
Help me!
’
There was no answer; no sudden burst of light. In fact,
it appeared that his cry for help only antagonized his attackers even more. The
buzzing grew more frantic as the stings pelted his body from every direction.
He cried out again as they stung his eyelids, his lips, ears, nose, knees,
feet, fingers, chest, and tongue.
Trevor finally managed to pull himself up against the
wall. He quickly ran his fingers against the surface of the wall as the buzzing
grew louder and the stinging continued. He finally found the light switch and
pressed it. Light flooded the room and the buzzing and stinging ceased
instantly. He would have thought himself insane if it hadn’t been for the
excruciating pain still surging through his body.
He fell down to the ground and bundled himself as small
as possible, still sobbing loudly as each part of his body burned as if he had
been stabbed thousands of times with a hot blade.
- - -* * *- -
-
It took Andrew a while before he
answered his telephone.
‘This is Andrew,’ he said with much effort.
‘Andy...’
‘Trev?’
‘I’ve...I’ve been stung or something. I’m hurting
badly...’
‘Me too,’ Andrew managed. His neck and lips had been
under heavy attack.
‘You too?’
‘Yes,’ Andrew said and then flinched as the burning
reached his lips. ‘I think it was a global thing of some sorts.’
‘Do you know what caused it?’
‘I’m not sure, but I have my theories. I think that GMN
should have something on it soon enough.’
Trevor remained silent for a while.
‘Trev?’
Trevor weighed his next words before speaking them. ‘I
prayed, Andy,’ he said. ‘I called to your Jesus.’
This time it was Andrew that was quiet. Eventually he
spoke. ‘And...?’
‘And nothing,’ Trevor said. ‘Just as I expected: not a
damn thing.’
Andrew didn’t know what to say. He was hurting too bad
to register what the implications of any or no answer could be.
‘Anyway,’ Trevor said. ‘I have to go check on René...’
‘Okay, Trev. I’ll see you soon.’
Andrew hung up and lay down on the couch in front of
the television. He switched it on, and twenty minutes later, a live GMN press
conference with Victor was aired on every single channel.
- - -* * *- -
-
‘The pain that most people
worldwide experienced today,’ Victor said, ‘was caused by a secret weapon used
by the Jewish and Christian terrorists in retaliation to my earlier speech
where I exposed them. It is quite tragic that they would stoop so low, but it
just goes to prove my point even further.’
Although he appeared sympathetic toward those attacked,
it didn’t appear to Trevor that he suffered as those he was addressing.
‘These people are trouble makers to the highest degree,
and I urge everyone to stand up against them. It is your human duty to do so.’
René nodded in agreement.
‘Those individuals with the Shield were unaffected by
the onslaught of this secret weapon, and it will continue to protect those who
bear it should the terrorists strike again.’
‘That’s why nothing happened to me,’ René said and
flashed her hand at Trevor.
He didn’t say anything. The burning still raged on
inside his body. Outwardly there were no signs of abuse, but even the slightest
touch or bump would send his body into a pain spasm.
‘Those who embrace Yoshism, but do not bear the shield
yet, will also be protected against future attacks of the same device.
‘The Shield is the same as the mark of protection that
I had my people wear in the book of Leviticus. Get yours as soon as possible,
and you will be protected from any future attacks that the Christian terrorists
could use upon the loyal citizens of the Empire, and even the rest of the
world.’
- - -* * *- -
-
The atmosphere was a lot tenser
than what Trevor had anticipated. Not only were the people hurting from the
invisible attacks, but they were slowly dehydrating as well. Almost seventy
million people worldwide were without water, and if N-Force didn’t do something
fast, even more people would die.
‘I’m relieved that it’s only tap water that’s affected
and not bottled water too,’ René said as the three of them joined the crowd
waiting for the N-Force Water Supply Unit. They still had ample water bottles
at home, but they didn’t want to take any chances.
‘Yeah,’ Trevor said and rubbed his arms lightly. They
still burned and he wondered if the pain would ever go away.
The gentle rumbling of an approaching N-Force truck
momentarily drew Trevor’s attention away from the pain.
‘All right people,’ an N-Force officer called through a
megaphone. ‘Gather around. We need to keep things running smoothly here.’
No one really paid any attention to the man, and
everyone swarmed the truck at once.
‘We need all those with Shields up front first.
No
exceptions.’
‘What?’ someone cried out in disbelief. ‘Why?’