The Incubus, Succubus and Son of Perdition Box Set: The Len du Randt Bundle (12 page)

I’ll just lie
down for a moment, she thought.
Then I’ll make myself a quick cup of tea and
read a bit before turning in for the evening.

It wasn’t long
before she slumbered off into a deep sleep. In her dream she saw Justin. They
were together, having a picnic next to a lake.

‘I love you, you
know?’ he said while playing with a lock of her hair.

‘I love you
more,’ she said and smiled.

They both leaned
forward and kissed each other. The kiss was soft and gentle. She loved it when
he kissed her tenderly. Since the wedding he didn’t do it too often anymore.
She missed the Justin from before the wedding; the Justin that could just sweep
her off her feet and make her feel loved in a way that no one else could.
Justin placed his hand behind Rebecca’s head and applied more pressure to the
kiss. It wasn’t at all uncomfortable; just unexpected. More pressure still and
Rebecca tried to pull herself away. Justin held her head firmly and she had to
shove him hard on his shoulder to break his hold.

‘What’s the
matter with you?’ Justin asked. ‘Isn’t this what you wanted?’

‘No, I...’

He grabbed her
by the shoulders and flung her down to the ground. Rebecca tried to scream, but
no sound escaped her dry throat. In an instant he was on top of her, forcing
his lips onto hers while he pinned her arms to the ground.

‘Stop,’ Rebecca
pleaded, but Justin ignored her. ‘Please.’ Justin still didn’t listen. ‘Justin,
stop...’

Her request fell
on deaf ears. Justin intensified his grip on her wrists.

‘
Stop it,
Justin!
’ Rebecca screamed.

She woke with a
start and gasped for breath. It took a few seconds to realize where she was.
She tried to move, but couldn’t. A heavy pressure on her chest forced her to
breathe deeply. Slowly she became aware of her surroundings, including her
aching wrists. It took her five minutes of active effort before she could sit
up straight. She switched on the bed lamp and as light washed out the darkness,
Rebecca’s breathing slowly returned to normal. She glanced at the digital alarm
clock. It was three in the morning.

A chill ran down
her spine. She shot her eyes to the corner of the room and although there was
no one there, Rebecca couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching her.
She tried to shrug off the feeling, but it only intensified. She hated being
alone and afraid and felt even more so as she stared at the place where Justin
slept every night.

‘Oh, Justin,’
she said as she rubbed her stomach. Thoughts of the baby entered her mind and
that was all she needed to release the built up tears. Rebecca got up from the
bed, took her blanket and pillow, and made her way to the living room where she
lay down on the couch. She was still crying by the time she fell asleep again.

*    -    -   
-    *

Simon’s dream
was disturbing; more so than any of the other nightmares he recently started
having. The overall nature of the dream was always the same: angels doing
battle with hideous creatures; demons from the depths of the abyss. It was the
intensity of the dream that was different from the previous ones.

This time, Simon
was one of the angels, fully equipped with armour. He brandished a flaming
sword and next to him stood the angel he saw in the parking lot a few months
ago. Together, they slashed their swords through the onslaught of attackers,
slaying one demon after the other. Despite their aggressive defence, the
monsters continued their attack. They were relentless, using human beings as
shields while slashing at Simon and his companion with long, filthy steel-like
claws. Simon and the angel kept slashing their swords. The demons kept growing
in numbers; they kept spreading out.

Simon looked
around him. They were outnumbered almost a thousand to one. From all sides the
demons came, swinging their claws through the air as they advanced at lightning
speed. Four came for Simon at once, and when he tried to back away, three more
were standing behind him.

‘Elrisk!’ he
shouted, but couldn’t see his friend anywhere. ‘Elrisk, where are you?’

The demon facing
Simon raised its huge claw in the air and with one powerful motion slashed it
down upon him.

‘
No!
’
Simon yelled as he sat upright in bed. His breathing was deep and uncontrolled.
He placed his hand on his chest and was relieved to find it intact.

He forced his
numb legs to move and slid out of bed. Kneeling down beside it, he prayed
softly as not to awaken Justin who was sleeping at the other end of the room.
‘Please Lord, help whomever You want helped. Please protect the person that
requires your protection. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.’

‘Simon?’ Justin’s
voice cut through the darkness. ‘Are you all right, bud?’

‘I...I’m fine,’
Simon said as he got back into bed. ‘Bad dream, that’s all.’

Justin mumbled
something and turned onto his side. Moments later he was asleep again. Simon
stared at the ceiling, replaying the disturbing dream over and over in his mind
before; finally, he too succumbed to the clutches of sleep.

*    -    -   
-    *

‘Is everything
okay?’ Justin asked at lunch time. ‘I can’t remember much, but I do recall that
you had a bad dream or something last night.’

‘I’m fine,’
Simon said. ‘As you say; it was only a bad dream.’

‘I had a few of
those a while ago. Some really nasty ones.’

‘What was yours
about?’ Simon asked.

Justin thought
for a moment. He couldn’t remember half the dreams that gave him so many
restless nights. ‘I can’t remember the dreams all that well,’ he said, ‘but I
think there was one of a guy in our house that wanted to kill us. Then there
was the one where I got attacked by a dog. I know it sounds stupid now, but it
was terrifying while I was having them.’

‘Are you still
getting them?’

Justin shook his
head. ‘No. They stopped a couple of weeks ago.’

‘And the dreams
were different each time?’

‘Yes.’

Simon sat in
deep thought for a while. ‘When I have nightmares,’ he said, ‘it’s always the
same dream.’

‘The same one?’

‘Well, the
setting is the same. It’s the intensity of the dreams that change.’

‘What’s it
about?’ Justin asked.

‘It’s a battle.
Angels against demons.’

‘And it’s the
same every single time?’

‘Only when God
wants to tell me something.’

Justin frowned.
‘What do you mean?’

‘Whenever I need
to pray for someone, God gives me that specific dream.’

‘Pray? For who?’

‘I’m not sure,’
Simon said and shrugged. ‘It could be anyone.’

Justin raised an
eyebrow. ‘You’re not sure who you need to pray for?’

Simon shook his
head. ‘Nope.’

Justin pressed
it. ‘No idea at all?’

‘I knew once
before, but not in general, no.’

‘And you’re sure
the dream means that you have to
pray
for someone?’

‘Yes.’

‘How do you know
that’s what you have to do then?’

‘I’m not sure,’
Simon said. ‘I just do.’

Justin just
shook his head. ‘What about the time that you did know?’

Simon wondered
whether he should tell Justin, but there was nothing in his gut warning him
against doing so, and so he decided that it should be all right. ‘Do you know
about the boy that was attacked by a dog a while ago?’

Justin searched
his memory. ‘Little Timmy?’

Simon nodded. ‘I
woke up after having the battle nightmare and knew that I had to pray for him
specifically.’

‘He’s still in a
coma, right?’

‘Yes,’ said
Simon. ‘They don’t think that he’s going to make it.’

Justin sighed.
‘It doesn’t look like your prayer worked then, eh?’

‘I don’t
question,’ Simon said. ‘I just obey.’

‘That’s what I
don’t like about your God,’ Justin said. ‘He’s always so conveniently
mysterious.’

‘But you do
believe He exists, right?’

Justin laughed
out loud. ‘Not really, no. Well, at least not in the same sense as you and
Rebecca do.’

‘Why not?’

‘I don’t know,’
Justin said and shrugged. ‘I guess I’m too smart to believe in man-made gods
created to control the mindless masses.’

‘So you’re
implying that I’m not smart?’

Justin was
cornered. ‘Put it this way,’ he said. ‘I grew up with Christian parents. My
Christian father used to lift his hands to the Lord every Sunday morning, and
straight afterward, slammed them back down on us. My Christian mother did
nothing but look on.’

‘So you’re
judging the entire Christian faith based on the mistakes of two people?’

‘Just like
you’re judging me based on a single conversation? You don’t know
anything
about me or my past.’

Simon could
sense that he hit a nerve. ‘I’m sorry...’

‘It’s okay,’
Justin said. ‘I don’t mind people believing in their gods. Everyone I know have
some sort of deity that they believe in and worship. It’s just when they try to
shove their beliefs down my throat that I become agitated.’ Justin wanted to
end this conversation as quickly as possible. ‘People can believe what they
want to believe. As for me, I’ll leave that spiritual mumbo jumbo to the religious
folk.’

‘God spoke to
me,’ Simon said as he stood up. ‘Do you believe that?’

‘Saying that I
do would mean that I acknowledge the existence of your God,’ Justin said.

‘I’m going to
warehouse seven now,’ Simon said. ‘But I’d like to leave you with one thought.’

Justin squinted
at the sun. ‘Yes...?’

‘If God doesn’t
exist, or can’t speak to me,’ Simon said. ‘How was it that I knew your name the
day we met in the coffee shop?’

With that, he
turned around and left a dumbstruck Justin behind as he headed towards the
warehouse.

*    -    -   
-    *

Rebecca opened
the door to the cold apartment. She still couldn’t get used to the idea of
coming home to no one, and figured that she probably never would. She entered
the kitchen and flipped the kettle’s switch to kick start the
afternoon-at-home-alone ritual she always performed. While the water to boiled,
she entered the living room and turned on the television.

Nothing
worthwhile showing.

She flipped
through a few channels and then switched it off and made her way back to the
kitchen. Halfway there the television switched on by itself; the volume turned
up all the way.

Rebecca spun
around. ‘What?’ she asked, but her voice was drowned out by the loud noise of
the television.

The Lovebird
jumped around in its cage, unsure of what was happening. Rebecca grabbed the
remote and switched off the T.V. Her heart pounded in her chest and her hands
shook as she placed the remote control down on the coffee table. After a few
more deep breaths, Rebecca managed to calm herself enough to try and subdue the
panic-stricken bird.

‘It’s okay,
Lotus,’ she said with a slight quiver in her voice. ‘I’m sorry, but it was an
accident.’

The bird just
flapped its wings furiously and rammed itself into the sides of the cage.

‘It won’t happen
again. I promise.’

The kettle
switch flipped off. Tea would certainly calm her nerves. Rebecca walked back to
the kitchen, still aware of the numbness in her arms and legs. The television
sprang back to life, again at full volume. Lotus flapped around and almost
killed itself against the side of the cage. Rebecca ran back and switched it
off again.

What’s going
on?
She wondered.

The television
answered by switching itself back on. Rebecca jerked, and pulled out the plug
at the wall. The sudden silence was almost just as unbearable as the extremely
loud noise. The bird still slammed itself furiously against the side of the
cage.

‘It’s okay,
Lotus,’ she said, trying her best to hide the fear in her voice. ‘I unplugged
it. It won’t happen again.’

The television
stayed off.

Rebecca chuckled
nervously to herself. She shuddered and decided that her tea would need a
substantial amount of sugar. Her nerves were shot and she couldn’t shake the
feeling that someone was watching her as she made her way back to the kitchen.

A scream escaped
Rebecca’s lips when loud music suddenly blasted from the living room. She ran
back to the living room and had to cover her ears with her hands. She stood in
front of the television, confused for a moment as it was still switched off.
Rebecca noticed that this time it was the radio, playing music at top volume.
She promptly unplugged it too and fell back against the couch. Something was
wrong. Something was very wrong. She didn’t want to be alone. She wanted Justin
to be there with her, to comfort and protect her. She jumped again at the
sudden shrill ring of the telephone next to her.