The Incubus, Succubus and Son of Perdition Box Set: The Len du Randt Bundle

by Len du Randt

  ‘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 h
is 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.

  * - - - *

  The barking was part of the dream at first, aggressive and relentless. Shaun turned and coughed. The dream slowly seeped away, allowing reality to slip through. He opened his eyes. Through the darkness he could barely make out the silhouette of his wife. It took a moment before his eyes could focus enough to read the neon lights of the alarm clock next to her head.

  03:33 A.M

  And he could hear the dog barking.

  ‘Sam?’

  She didn’t respond.

  The dog continued its consistent barking. It wouldn’t usually bark at this hour unless there was a good reason to do so. Shaun sat up straight, ran his hand over his face and then got out of bed before making his way down the corridor to the living room.

  ‘What’s wrong, Maximus?’ Shaun asked. His dog ignored him and continued barking at something outside. It scratched the sliding glass door and sniffed at the bottom. ‘What’s bothering you, buddy?’

  Shaun looked outside.

  Nothing.

  He could only see the dark shapes of the trees in the back yard. Nothing more.

  He flipped the switch and the yard was instantly lit.

  Still nothing.

  The dog continued its aggressive barking, the ridge of hair on its back a clear indication of its agitation.

  Shaun unlatched and opened the sliding door, allowing Maximus to pursue whatever enemy hid in the shadows. The dog merely ran to a tree and raised itself against the trunk, barking at something high above while clawing at the bark of the tree.

  ‘Maximus,’ Shaun shouted, trying his best not to raise his voice too loud. The Labrador paused and looked at him, whimpered, and then turned its attention back at the tree and continued its frantic barking. ‘Maximus!’ Shaun shouted and stepped outside. ‘What’s wrong, boy?’

  The dog looked at him and growled.

  Shaun stopped dead.

  ‘Maximus?’

  Maximus bared his teeth at Shaun.

  ‘What’s the matter—?’

  The dog bolted forward, charging at Shaun at a breakneck speed. It took Shaun a moment to realise what was happening. He forced his numb legs to run back into the house and slammed the glass door shut just as the dog jumped up. It rammed itself into the glass, scratching furiously at the glass door as it tried to get in.

  ‘What the hell...?’

  Not taking his eyes off the dog, Shaun retreated deeper into the house. He came to an abrupt halt when he bumped into something. He turned around and was just in time to see the arm swing before it struck him hard against the side of the head. The force of the blow lifted him clear off the ground and sent him crashing into a book shelf. Shaun raised himself on his hands and knees, his mind reeling, his head throbbing. He waved his arm around, searching the darkness for whoever had struck him, but he couldn’t see anyone.

  ‘Who...who’s there?’

  Shaun sensed someone move behind him. A soft scream escaped his lips as someone abruptly pulled him up by his hair. Even in the midst of turmoil, he still considered his sleeping wife. Can’t wake Samantha! Pain surged through his head as his feet dangled a short space off the ground. Shaun kicked around wildly to try and free himself, but all his efforts were in vain. He was flung from the living room into the hallway where he crashed into the wall with a sickening crack.

  The pain ran down his upper arms and stabbed into his rib cage. Pushing as hard as he could with his weakened arms, Shaun managed to lift himself. There was an odd metallic taste in his mouth. His vision blurred and he struggled to form a coherent thought. Someone was in his house, an intruder with one apparent objective.

  With what strength he could muster, he pushed himself up and ran to the bedroom where he slammed the door shut behind him.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Samantha asked as she switched on the bed lamp. ‘What’s happening?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Shaun said as he flung open the cupboard doors.

  ‘You’re bleeding, Shaun! Please tell me what’s going on!’

  Shaun took the shotgun from the cupboard and pumped a cartridge into the chamber. ‘Whatever you do,’ he said. ‘Don’t go out there.’

  ‘Shaun, no,’ Samantha protested. ‘Don’t leave me. Please!’

  ‘Stay here, Sam, and don’t move,’ he said and left the room, closing the door behind him.

  The silence that followed was unbearable.

  ‘Shaun...?’

  A scream.

  Glass breaking.

  An ear-splitting explosion as the shotgun discharged.

  Then silence again.

  ‘Shaun?’

  Samantha got out of bed and as fast as she could, made her way to the door. She listened for any movement or sound on the other side. She couldn’t hear anything. Slowly, and as silently as she could manage, she wrapped her fingers around the handle and opened the door. She peered down the darkened hallway but couldn’t see anything.

  ‘Shaun...?’

  No answer.

  ‘Answer me, Shaun!’

  In the background, past the high pitched ringing in her ears, she could hear Maximus barking. Closer, in the foreground, she heard a growl that chilled her blood.

  She slammed the door shut, sobbing as she tried to figure out what to do. Should she lock the door? She hesitated. What if Shaun needed to get into the room?

  Thunk!

  Something smacked hard into the door. Samantha let out a scream and turned the key, locking it. ‘Help me, Shaun!’ she cried. Tears streamed down her face. ‘Don’t leave me alone in here.’

  Thud!

  She flinched and took a few steps back. She was in mid-stride when she bumped into something. Samantha turned around and only got a brief glimpse of the glowing eyes and razor sharp fangs before everything went black.

  * - - - *

  ‘Come,’ Amy said and opened her arms.

  ‘Come,’ Natasha said and opened her arms.

  Jared wrapped his left arm around Amy, and his right around Natasha.

  He was driving.

  He was flying.

  He was the universe.

  ‘You are the one, Jared Greene,’ Natasha said and blew him a kiss.

  ‘All power goes to you,’ Amy said.

  Jared stood on the clouds, looking down at the world beneath him.

  ‘You are the one,’ Natasha said.

  Jared smiled and looked at her. She returned the smile, but something was different. Something was wrong. Her face melted away as if it were made of wax, revealing a hideous creature underneath. Darkness swallowed Jared and he was instantly transported from the cloud high above the earth to his car.

  All power goes to you.

  The car flipped.

  You are the one.

  The car landed on its roof. Sparks shot every which way.

  They wanted to manipulate your choice; to bend your free will and make you accomplish their goals.

  The car neared a tree.

  Jared jerked awake. It took a moment to realise where he was and who the figure was that was hunching over him.

  ‘It appears that you’ve had a bad dream, my friend,’ Simon said.

  Jared sat upright and squinted at morning sunlight. He rubbed his face. ‘You can dream in a coma?’


  ‘Come,’ Simon said and extended his hand toward Jared. ‘We can’t stay here much longer.’

  Using Simon as leverage, Jared pulled himself up. He looked around. The place looked completely different in daylight. Less ominous. Elrisk stood at the window, in exactly the same position as he had been standing in since he had drawn his sword the previous evening. When he saw that Jared was awake, he sheathed his sword and saluted. Jared returned a flimsy salute. He was in no mood for formalities.

  Glass crunched underneath his feet as he stepped into the morning sunlight outside. Jared looked up and down the deserted road and rested his eyes on the orange glow in the distance. ‘Where are we headed?’ he asked.

  ‘We’re going that way,’ Simon said and nodded in the direction of the glow. ‘We need to get you there before nightfall.’

  ‘Where is that?’ Jared asked. ‘And what is that glow?’ If Jared didn’t know any better, he would have thought that the setting sun on the horizon gave off the eerie orange hue in the distance.

  ‘You will see soon enough,’ Simon said. ‘Come, for time is of the essence.’

  For most of the day the three of them slowly progressed toward the glow, manoeuvring their way through side streets as they tried to avoid anything that might be lurking about. They saw a group of half-decayed people milling around, and took a long way around them. After what felt like days of travelling, they finally arrived at their destination: the source of the orange glow.

  Jared stared in awe as tears welled in his eyes. ‘That’s...’

  ‘That’s Lake Metanoia,’ Simon said.

  Jared fell to his knees. He could feel the heat from the flames even from where he was kneeling. ‘The lake is on fire...’

  Simon nodded and hunched down next to Jared. ‘A result of the bomb.’

  A tear trickled down Jared’s cheek. ‘I...I caused this?’

  For a moment Simon didn’t answer. He merely listened to the roaring of the extraordinary large flames in the distance. ‘It doesn’t have to be this way, you know,’ he said and helped Jared to his feet.