by Len du Randt
‘You’re of no more use to us,’ Natasha said and took a few steps towards Jared. Her face was still swirling like the previous evening, only stopping now and again to reveal the hideously deformed creature. She pointed a bony finger at Justin and Rebecca. ‘You’ve crossed the line to their side. We have no more use for you, and we’re not going to allow you to oppose us.’
Jared shook his head. ‘Wait a minute,’ he said. ‘I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. And besides that, what do my parents have to do with anything?’
‘Your mother is the reason for your turning,’ Natasha hissed.
‘Your father,’ Tanya added, ‘is an unexpected bonus.’
We have no more use for you. Natasha’s words swirled in Jared’s mind. Another voice drowned out hers. You will have a major influence in the lives of millions of people.
Simon’s voice.
You will either lead them to Christ, or their slaughter. That much is certain.
Jared closed his eyes and images flashed through his mind. Thoughts and memories passed by at an incredible speed. Voices buzzed. And then he opened his eyes. And then he knew. ‘You wanted me to join your side,’ he said. ‘But you can’t use me anymore now that I’ve converted.’
‘So he does know,’ Tanya said. ‘Bravo.’
‘It doesn’t change a thing,’ Natasha said. ‘We simply cannot allow him to fight on the side of our enemy.’
‘Tanya,’ Jared said and his stomach churned. ‘Why? How long have you been a part of this conspiracy against me?’
‘Oh, even before you were born, Jared,’ Tanya said. ‘You had so much potential, and you just had to go and ruin it.’
Jared looked at his parents. ‘Did you know about this?’
They shook their heads.
‘Well, it’s been fun,’ Tanya said, ‘but every minute that you’re alive, you’re a bigger threat to us and our cause.’ She took a step back and allowed the stranger to move in between her and Jared. He raised his gun and aimed it at Jared’s head. ‘Say hi to the big guy upstairs when you get there, will you?’ Tanya mocked.
You will have a major influence in the lives of millions of people. You will either lead them to Christ, or their slaughter. That much is certain.
‘I can’t die today,’ Jared said. ‘That much is certain.’
‘Watch me,’ the stranger said and squeezed the trigger.
* - - - *
Justin’s body slammed into Greg a fraction of a moment before the gunshot went off, rendering the shot useless and flinging the gun from Greg’s hand. It slid over the floor, not too far from where Tanya was standing. Greg rolled with the fall and stood up before Justin could regain his footing. He slammed his fist into Justin’s solar plexus, dropping the older man to his knees. Justin coughed and wheezed as he forced air back into his burning lungs. Greg straightened himself up and took a few steps back, aligning himself for a kick to the Justin’s head.
Rebecca’s hand shot to her mouth. ‘Justin! No!’
At the last moment, just before impact, Justin pulled his head back. Greg’s foot overshot its intended target and flung him off balance. Justin kicked Greg’s leg behind the knee and the younger man crashed to the ground. In an instant Justin was on top of him, pummelling his fists into Greg’s face. Justin didn’t realise that Natasha was standing behind him until she grabbed him by the shoulders. She jerked him backward and flung him through the air before a coherent thought could formulate in his mind. Justin cleared at least thirty feet before he smacked into the cement with a sickening crunch. He barely hit the floor when Natasha was upon him again, screaming as she scratched at his face. Justin tried to fend her off, but didn’t have any strength left in him to fight back. He tried to push her away, but to his weak arms it felt like he was trying to move a mountain. Slowly he felt what little strength he had left drain from his arms as she heaved her full weight on his chest. His breathing slowed down to match his fading heartbeat. With one final effort he tried to budge his arms, and as he realised that it was a futile attempt, darkness engulfed him.
* - - - *
‘Your turn,’ Greg said as he stood up. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth as he neared Jared. A horde of demonic beings surrounded the two men, chanting their war-cries in the spiritual realm.
Jared backed up as the man advanced, but stopped abruptly when he struck the workbench behind him. Not taking his eyes off the deranged attacker, Jared frantically searched the bench behind him for something—anything—that he could use as a weapon. His hands grasped at nothing.
The attacker sprang into action, rushing towards Jared with his arms flailing through the air. He was just about upon Jared when fate stepped in. Jared felt something hard and in an instant he wrapped his hand around it and took a swing. The wrench struck the assailant against the head, knocking the man to the ground.
The demons hissed and closed in on Jared. A shrill scream not too far off made them stop and turn to face Natasha. She looked up from Justin’s unconscious body and snarled as the irises in her eyes turned from black to scorching red. The demons scattered as she cleared the distance between herself and Jared in one powerful lunge.
‘What the hell are you?’ Jared asked and swung the wrench at her.
Natasha grabbed his wrist in mid-swing and squeezed. Jared screamed out in pain and the wrench dropped to the floor. She then clamped her free hand around his neck and lifted him off the ground.
Jared gasped and tried to pry her fingers from his throat, but to no avail. He kicked out at her with his feet. She didn’t budge. The more he squirmed, the tighter her fingers clamped around his neck. He tried her fingers again, but there was no strength left in his hands. Her grip tightened even more.
She grinned, exposing her fangs.
Her eyes flared.
The demons laughed.
Three shots rang hollow throughout the hangar. The grip around Jared’s throat released and Natasha took a few steps back. It was when she fell to her knees that Jared saw his mother not too far off, still aiming the gun.
‘No...’ Natasha said. She looked up at Jared and as her face relaxed, her irises faded to black. She exhaled her last breath and then fell forward at Jared’s feet. Dead.
Rebecca dropped the gun and her hands shot to her mouth. She was still in shock when Tanya attacked her from the side.
* - - - *
‘You fool!’ Tanya shrieked. ‘Do you know what you’ve done?’ She knocked Rebecca from her feet. ‘You will pay for this,’ she growled and wrapped her fingers in Rebecca’s hair. She then raised Rebecca’s head off the ground and slammed it down hard.
‘Mother!’
Tanya looked up and snarled. ‘You’re next, you little twerp!’ she yelled and picked up the gun. Screaming, she shot off round after round while running towards Jared.
He was about to react when a slug struck him and he instantly dropped to the ground.
* - - - *
Tanya towered over Jared. ‘You shouldn’t have done that,’ she said and aimed the gun at his face. ‘We were so close, Jared. And you ruined everything!’
Jared tried to speak but couldn’t. He reached for his shoulder and what he felt was wet. It was then that his brain acknowledged the fact that he had been shot; it was then that he became aware of the hot, burning pain surging through his chest. He stared up at the barrel pointing down at him and laid his head back down on the cold cement floor. There was nothing more that he could do. He closed his eyes and embraced his fate.
‘Goodbye Jared,’ Tanya said.
You will have a major influence in the lives of millions of people. You will either lead them to Christ, or their slaughter. That much is certain.
Tanya was about to squeeze the trigger when something moving to her side caught her attention. It was Natasha. The younger woman moved and groaned. Tanya ran to her side, but as she neared Natasha, she stopped. The once beautiful face that could seduce the most incorruptible of men wa
s now pale and thin; the eyes dark and sunken back into the head. ‘Nahemah...?’
Natasha looked up and around her, clearly disorientated. She held her hand out to Tanya, but what was once soft flesh now resembled dried meat. Her elegant fingers were bony and claw-like.
Tanya took a step closer and knelt down beside Natasha. ‘Are you all right?’
Natasha didn’t answer. Her hair fell out and her cheeks pulled tight. She snapped her head forward and the skin at the back of her scalp tore open. The flesh tore down her back and finally ripped open, revealing the reptilian scales underneath. Razor sharp claws ripped through her hands, and soon, all flesh that was torn from the creature lay on the floor beside Tanya.
‘Nahemah...’ Tanya said. She was about to stand up when the creature shot its claw out and grabbed her by the throat. It stood up and lifted Tanya right off the ground. She kicked out and tried in vain to loosen the grip around her neck. ‘What...are...you...doing?’ Tanya asked, fighting the urge to just close her eyes and relax her muscles. ‘I command you to let me go!’
The demon hissed and with the twist of its wrist, snapped Tanya’s neck. It flung the limp body through the air where it slammed into the wall on the far side of the hangar. Once the creature was satisfied that Tanya would not get up again, it roared out loud, shattering all the windows in the building. It snorted and sniffed the air before turning its attention to Jared.
* - - - *
Jared rolled over. He realised the futility of his situation as Tanya’s lifeless body flew through the air. There was no way that he could fight the thing that Natasha had turned into and he knew it. ‘Help me, Lord,’ he prayed as he reached for the gun. The demon roared and turned to him. It briskly walked towards him with awkward, sticky movements. Jared’s torso was on fire. His arm felt as if it had been ripped from its socket. Inch by agonizing inch, Jared reached for the gun.
The demon kept advancing, snorting wisps of sulphur.
Jared’s hand clasped around the butt of the gun. He pulled it closer and screamed in pain as he sat up. He clenched his teeth and squeezed the trigger. A shot rang out. The demon kept coming. It was on top of him before he could squeeze off another round and slapped the gun from his hand. The demon howled loudly and grabbed Jared by the throat. Jared tried to scream, but he managed nothing more than a raspy gurgle. The invisible demons drew closer to Jared, hissing and laughing as his consciousness slipped away. The reptilian demon stabbed its claws into Jared’s side and a faint scream escaped his lips.
Not far off, Justin stumbled to Rebecca and embraced her. They could only look on helplessly as the demon drained the last of their son’s remaining strength.
Do not be afraid, spoke the voice of Pastor Jacobs in the void of Jared’s mind. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.
‘Oh Lord,’ Jared prayed with the strength he had left. ‘Open their eyes...so that they may see...’
A brilliant light flooded the hangar and the demon instantly released Jared. It roared and looked up at the source of the light. The other demons fluttered back to the furthest, darkest reaches of the hangar, but it didn’t help. The light was everywhere, exposing every inch of every crevice.
‘Can you see them?’ Justin asked his wife. He looked at the back of the hangar where the demons cowered in fear.
Rebecca nodded.
They both looked towards the brilliant light and gasped when they saw the legion of angels that spanned as far as the hangar’s entrance and beyond.
Victory to the Lamb! The angels shouted in unison, their voices sending a vibration through the ground that toppled most of the demonic beings off their feet. Simon stood at the front and narrowed his eyes. He unsheathed his sword and raised it into the air. Hundreds of angels followed suit.
The Succubus took a few steps back and growled.
‘Leave Nahemah to me,’ Simon said. He took a deep breath and then slashed his sword through the air.
‘Attack!’
* - - - *
The angels and demons charged at each other, flailing swords and claws as they went. They clashed into one another with a supersonic BOOM! that shook the foundations of the building.
Elrisk led a team to the back of the hangar to dispose of those demons that were too cowardly to fight.
Simon moved in to protect Jared and his parents against Nahemah. He slashed his sword out to the left, and two demons dropped to the floor. One attacked from the right but Simon parried the blow, side-stepped the demon, and took off its head with one powerful arc of the flaming blade. By the time he reached Jared, the man and his parents were sitting in a huddle, looking awestruck at the scene that unfolded itself around them.
Demons flew up into the air, trying to flee the combat through gaping holes in the roof. Some angels caught on to this and cut off any escape routes. The demons would have to stay and fight. Nahemah roared and advanced upon Simon, knocking over angelic warriors as she went. Simon swung his sword at her legs, but she grabbed his wrist and twisted it hard, relaxing Simon’s grip on the weapon. The sword clattered to the ground. Nahemah hissed and slashed Simon’s chest with her claw. The angel dropped to the ground and this was all the time the demon needed to spread its leathery wings, and fly up through the roof.
‘Oh no, you don’t,’ Simon said and as fast as lightning, shot up after her. High above the hangar he grabbed hold of her bony ankle and pulled at it. ‘This ends here, Succubus!’ he shouted above the roar of the beast and yanked his arm down hard, throwing Nahemah down towards the earth at an incredible speed. She crashed into the Cessna outside the hangar, causing a violent explosion that ripped apart most of the front side of the hangar.
Simon landed near the fireball and slowly walked towards it, keeping an eye out for the demon. Through the flames walked the monster and she was upon Simon before he could react. Sharp fingers dug into Simon’s side and he shouted out in agony. She tossed him through the air as if he weighed nothing. By the time Simon hit the ground, the demon was upon him again. She roared victoriously before slashing her claw out for the killing blow.
It never came.
For a moment everything stopped.
Time stood still.
Nahemah didn’t move.
The creature looked down at the blade protruding from her stomach. She spun around and stood face-to-face with Jared. He took a step back. The Succubus howled and raised her bony claw into the air. She was about to strike down on the human when Simon pulled the sword from her back and, with lightning fast speed, slashed diagonally down, splitting the demon’s head and shoulders from the rest of her torso.
Nahemah dropped to the floor. Her body jerked in convulsions and boiled as the demonic scales melted into oblivion.
The rest of the demons, realizing that their master had been destroyed, were frozen with fear. The angels needed no invitation to end the battle swiftly, and once all the demons were banished, the angels aligned themselves in neat military units that stretched to the farthest reaches of the hangar.
‘Simon?’ Justin asked as he and Rebecca limped towards the angel and their son. ‘It’s you, isn’t it?’
Simon nodded and smiled. He sheathed his sword and took a step back. ‘Victory to the Lamb!’ he shouted.
The angels drew their swords in a salute and shouted in unison, Victory to the Lamb!
With that, they disappeared.
The light faded, and with it, the bodies of the fallen demons. Once the light was completely gone, Jared and his parents looked around the empty hangar. There was no sign of Greg or Tanya anywhere.
‘What are you doing here?’ Rebecca asked and lovingly wrapped her arms around Justin’s waist.
‘It’s a long story,’ Justin said and stifled a chuckle. ‘So I’ll tell it on the way to the hospital.’ He then looked at Jared and embraced his son for the first time in years. ‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘Thank you for coming.’
No more words were exchanged. The three just stood there,
embraced in each other’s arms for a very long time.
* - - - *
‘If what you’re saying is true,’ Pastor Jacobs said and looked over the lake for a long time before he continued. ‘You have quite a remarkable tale to tell your fellow believers.’
Jared picked up a piece of dried bread and tossed it into the water. A fish immediately bobbed up and swallowed the piece of bread in one swift motion. ‘Where do I begin, Pastor?’ Jared asked. ‘How do I know that anyone would even believe this story?’
‘Are you kidding?’ Pastor Jacobs asked rhetorically. ‘Jared, this story of yours encouraged me whether I believed it or not. How about starting small? How about you tell it to my congregation on Sunday evening?’
‘I don’t know...’
‘It would be a terrible waste if you had to live through the whole ordeal just so that no one would ever be able to hear about it.’
‘I could always write a book,’ Jared said and grinned. ‘I’m not much of a public speaker when it comes to people I don’t know.’
‘Pretend as if though you’re addressing the staff at a company function,’ Pastor Jacobs said and smiled. ‘I’m sure you’ve done that before, right?’ He chuckled and gave Jared a pat on the shoulder. ‘But seriously, speak to your parents about it and ask the Lord what He thinks you should do. When you have the answer, let me know. And please remember that regardless of what you do decide in the end, I’ll respect your final decision.’
‘Okay,’ Jared said. ‘I’ll sleep on it and let you know.’
The two men continued talking for a while longer, after which they greeted one another and went their separate ways.
* - - - *