The Incubus, Succubus and Son of Perdition Box Set: The Len du Randt Bundle (94 page)

 
‘The one thing I fear the
most is that I wake up one morning and find that I’m the bad guy.’

-
Victor Samael Yoshe

‘
Wait!
’ Trevor shouted and
stood up from behind the dumpster.

‘Trevor! Don’t—’

The armed bounty hunter slammed the butt of a rifle
against Sumen’s head, knocking him unconscious.

‘Well, lookie here,’ the bounty hunter said as two of
his armed companions rushed in and grabbed Trevor by his arms. ‘If it ain’t the
Good Samaritan.’

‘You promised to spare his life,’ Trevor said, nodding
to where Sumen was lying.

‘No, I didn’t,’ the bounty hunter said and lit a
cigarette. ‘I merely said that I would kill him if you didn’t give yourself up.
I never said anything about what I would do if you did.’

Trevor realized that the man was right. His heart beat
heavily in his chest. ‘Fine,’ he finally said. ‘Kill me then, but let him go.’

The bounty hunter laughed and his companions joined him
in laughter. ‘Kill you?’ he asked as he chuckled. ‘No, my friend. Such luck you
do not have. N-Force pays substantially less for the dead ones.’

‘How much money do they place on the souls of men these
days?’ Trevor asked.

‘We don’t trade for money,’ the bounty hunter said. ‘We
barter for food and water.’ He raised his rifle and poked it into Trevor’s
chest. ‘Now please,’ he said. ‘Get in the jeep.’

- - -*  *  *- -
-

The concentration camp wasn’t very
far. There were so many of them now, filled to the brim with people who only
had two options: to take the Shield, or be tortured until you do.

Severed heads dangling from the hair bobbed in the wind
like giant wind chimes and decorated the entrance to what had once been a
school. A sense of familiarity struck him as they led Trevor down a long
hallway and locked him in a small room. Trevor felt uneasy. The floor was
coated in blood, and his stomach contracted when he saw human fingers piled in
one corner.

‘Trevor Elliot,’ a man said as he entered the room. He
carried a thick pile of papers and was reading his name off the front page.

Trevor didn’t answer.

‘That is your name,’ the man asked. ‘Right?’

‘I want a lawyer.’

The man laughed. ‘Lawyer, Mister Elliot?’ He slammed
the file down on the table in front of Trevor. ‘No lawyers are assigned to
enemies of the Empire.’

‘I have rights...’

‘No, Mister Elliot. A citizen of the Empire has rights.
A dog...has rights. You? You have
no
rights.’

Trevor realized that he had reached the end of the race.
There was no way that he was going to take the Shield, and there was no way
that they would allow him to live unless he did so.

‘Why are you not bearing the Shield?’ the man
interrogated ‘Are you a Christian terrorist?’

‘Yes.’

The truthful boldness of Trevor’s answer caught the man
off guard. He had expected some longwinded explanation on how Trevor had missed
the deadline because he was at a funeral in Alaska, and that he had so many
business meetings that he just couldn’t make the time to get himself a Shield.
He looked at Trevor with a dumbstruck expression. ‘You...are...?’

‘Yes.’

The man tapped his pen on Trevor’s file. He didn’t say
anything. He just tapped. Finally, he stood up, walked out of the room, and
slammed the door shut behind him.

- - -*  *  *- -
-

The next few weeks were Hell for
Trevor and Sumen. The N-Force guards tortured both of them repeatedly for hours
at a time, several times a day. They were whipped, punched, electrocuted,
beaten with sticks, and then whipped some more.

Trevor had four of his ribs cracked, his nose broken,
and both his shoulders were dislocated. Sumen’s toe nails were ripped out
one-by-one and, after two days without sleep, was subjected to another
all-night session where they applied the famous Chinese Water Torture technique
on him.

‘Renounce your Christ or die!’ the torturer would
scream in Trevor’s ears as he whipped him again and again. Trevor felt as if he
would pass out and never awaken again. But just as he was on the welcome brink
of passing out, they would stop and let him go. He would usually be given a day
to recover before the relentless torture would start all over again.

‘Accept the Shield and repent to our Lord and Sovereign
Emperor, and you shall receive life in full.’

More promises were made as rocks pelted Trevor’s naked
body from every direction.

Eventually, Trevor did pass out.

- - -*  *  *- -
-

‘I can’t take it anymore,’ Sumen
said. Tears streamed down his face and he had to wait a moment before he could
continue. ‘If they beat me one more time...I’ll die...’

To die is gain
, Trevor thought, but he didn’t want
to speak. His mouth was badly swollen, and every word he uttered was sheer
pain.

Sumen stared into the distance where a few prisoners
were being shot. He remained quiet as he drew patterns in the sand with a
stick. Finally he spoke again. ‘They’ve cut me a deal...’

‘
What?
’ Trevor said, and then flinched. He
opened his mouth slightly, and then carefully breathed out his question. ‘A
deal?’

‘Yeah,’ Sumen said and snapped the stick. ‘They
promised me that if I accept the Shield, I would be free to go. They will also
give me all the food and water that I would ever need.’

‘It’s a lie,’ Trevor said after some careful thought.
‘I don’t think that Victor and his henchmen are capable of speaking the truth.’

‘They only torture us for a month before they accept
that we won’t convert. After that, we will be skinned alive and thrown into the
lion’s den,’ Sumen said. ‘If I take the Shield and they lied, at least the
death will be painless and quick.’

‘But the consequence would be eternal.’

More shots in the background made Sumen flinch.

‘What are you going to do?’ Trevor asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Sumen answered. ‘I really want to
believe you with all this end-of-the-world stuff, but if you really think about
it, it just doesn’t make any sense.’

‘It doesn’t?’

Sumen shook his head. ‘You said that my friends and
family prayed for my salvation, and that’s why I still don’t have the Shield,
right?’

Trevor nodded.

‘I wanted to believe that to be true, Trevor. I really
did. The thing is...the more I think about it, the crazier it sounds. I have
made up my mind...I’m going to get the Shield.’

‘No,’ Trevor said. Pain shot through his body. ‘It’s a
mistake.’

Sumen stood up. ‘No,’ he said, ‘going through this
torture and living in constant fear was my only mistake. So long, Trevor. I
hope your God has mercy on me.’

Trevor didn’t say anything as Sumen limped towards the
N-Force offices. Words struggled to form complete sentences in his mind and he
could only look on helplessly as Sumen knocked on the office door. He was about
to hand over his soul to Victor, and there was
nothing
that he could do
about it. He felt useless and powerless.
Please Lord
, he pleaded.
Make
him turn around, please! Make him change his mind!

Tears stung Trevor’s cheeks as the door to the offices
closed behind Sumen.

- - -*  *  *- -
-

‘The Old City has been fortified
and is secure, sir!’

‘Splendid,’ Malcolm said. ‘Line the walls with as many
speakers as you can find and report back to me once it has been done.’

‘Affirmative, sir!’ the scout said and saluted.

Malcolm dismissed him with a salute and used his
long-range radio to contact Timothy.

‘Alpha One,’ Timothy’s voice crackled from the speaker.

‘We’re good to go,’ Malcolm said. ‘Repeat: good to go.’

‘Acknowledged,’ Timothy said.

It has begun
, Malcolm thought as he looked at a
group of people tearing down another statue of Victor.

- - -*  *  *- -
-

Except for the cool desert night
breeze, there wasn’t a sound at Base Camp Six. The N-Force patrol officer
scanned the bunkers to ensure that everyone was sleeping and, once satisfied
that they were, he took out a small vial filled with strong alcohol. He
unscrewed the cap, and then placed the opening of the vial to his lips.

A sudden explosion made him jerk and the bottle slipped
from his fingers and smashed on the ground. Another explosion rocked nearby and
soon many confused and half asleep people were gathering to see what the
commotion was all about.

‘Get back inside!’ The officer commanded.

No one paid any attention to him.

‘I said, get back inside or...’

The blaring sound of horns and trumpets made him stop
in midsentence. In the blackness of the night, he could see an even darker
patch descending from the mountains. He could hear the shouting of men, and
soon the people around him all ran around in confusion. They shot at one
another, thinking that the next person was one of the attackers.

The whole attack lasted only five minutes and, after
that, the eerie silence returned as everyone lay lifeless on the ground.

- - -*  *  *- -
-

‘Bravo One, this is Alpha One. Come
in.’

‘This is Bravo One,’ Malcolm said. ‘Proceed.’

‘Bravo-Charlie-Six is down. Repeat: Bravo-Charlie-Six
is down.’

‘Great news, Alpha One. Return to base.’

‘Roger that,’ Timothy confirmed. ‘Alpha One, out.’

Malcolm listened to the static on the radio. An
important Base Camp of the enemy had been destroyed. It was a small base, but a
vital artery in Victor’s communication infrastructure. Over the next few weeks,
many more encampments would be targeted and destroyed.

‘Malcolm?’ A female voice crackled through the static.
‘Is that you?’

Malcolm stared at the radio in disbelief. ‘Mary?’

‘Malcolm...
bzzzt
...’

‘
Mary!
’ Malcolm shouted frantically into the
radio. ‘You’re breaking up. Please repeat.’

‘We’re okay...
bzzzt
...moved...
bzzzt
...explosion.’

‘I cannot hear you,’ Malcolm shouted. ‘Where are you
now?’

‘Not sure...
bzzzt
...’

‘Mary?’

The signal was getting weaker. ‘I...
bzzzt
...you.’

‘I love you too,’ Malcolm said. The signal died and
tears of joy rolled down Malcolm’s face as he looked at the stars. She was
safe, and that was all he needed to know for now.

- - -*  *  *- -
-

Timothy and his squad entered
Jerusalem and were welcomed by a large crowd of cheering and singing people.
Trumpets blew as the convoy slowly drove through the Jerusalem streets to the
main headquarters building. Timothy saw his father and jumped from the truck.
The two men embraced each other and laughed heartily.

‘How did it go?’ Malcolm asked.

‘It was easier than I thought,’ Timothy said. ‘The Lord
confused them so that they attacked each other. They wiped themselves out
completely, and I think that we only had to take out about five or so.’

Malcolm chuckled. ‘I can just see the expression on
Victor’s face when he hears of the attack.’

‘Most probably the same as when he heard about Al
Jalil.’

‘Oh yes,’ Malcolm said and his face lit up. ‘Your
mother is alive.’

‘What?’ Timothy asked, straining to hear his father
above the cheering and the trumpets.

‘Your mother,’ Malcolm repeated. ‘She’s alive!’

‘That’s great news,’ Timothy said. ‘Let’s go and talk
inside.’

- - -*  *  *- -
-

‘All right,’ Timothy said once they
were clear of the festive noise outside. ‘Do we know where she is?’

‘No,’ Malcolm said. ‘But for now that’s okay. What
matters is that she is safe.’

‘Yes,’ Timothy agreed. ‘She is safe. If the Lord
protected her from Al Jalil, He will probably continue to do so.’

‘I believe so too,’ Malcolm said.

There was a moment of silence where both men just
enjoyed the other’s company. Finally, Timothy spoke: ‘I see that you guys have
outdone yourselves in restoring the city.’