The Incubus, Succubus and Son of Perdition Box Set: The Len du Randt Bundle (28 page)

‘Convert?’ Tanya interrupted. She
almost spat out the word as if it were vile in her mouth.

Jared nodded. ‘I couldn’t though,
but I obviously did some soul searching when I got back home. I really want to
marry Amy, Tanya, I really do. The least I could do for her is to embrace her
faith.’ He smiled. ‘Besides, I’m already half way there, right?’

‘Jared,’ Tanya said thoughtfully as
she gazed at the ring. ‘This sounds awfully rushed, love. Changing your beliefs
just to get married...What does that tell you of your own lack of faith in
whatever you initially believed in? How do you know that your new religion
won’t waver when the next best thing arrives?’ Tanya sighed and handed the box
back to Jared. ‘Weren’t you the one that said that all the church does is
excite one enough so that the sucker can go again to pour out even more money?
Aren’t you falling for that very trap?’

‘Well…
you
taught me that…but
this; this is different…’

‘And besides, Jared, why do
you
have to change your beliefs? Doesn’t she love you enough to marry you without
you having to adapt to her petty ideals?’

Jared lowered his head. ‘Something
in that service told me that it’s time to move on with my life,’ he said. He
looked up and the excitement returned to his eyes. ‘I tell you, Tanya, I’ve
never felt like this before. It’s as if I gained some secret insight into whom
and what God really is. I can’t get it out of my mind and the only logical next
step for me would be to convert. It’s not just about Amy.’

‘Jared, I think you’re making a—’

‘Let me help you with that,’ Jared
said as Amy entered the room with a tray. He got up and took the tray from her,
allowing her to take a seat.

‘Did I miss anything exciting?’ Amy
asked as she took her mug from Jared.

‘Not really,’ Jared said and winked
at Tanya. ‘We were just discussing religion.’

The edges of Amy’s lips curled
upward. ‘Did he tell you that I finally managed to drag him to Church
yesterday?’

‘I did, yes,’ Jared said and
chuckled.

‘He went along kicking and screaming,’
Amy said. ‘But in the end I think he actually enjoyed it.’

Tanya merely managed a weak smile.
This
is not good!
‘I’m glad,’ she said. She spent the rest of the conversation
in absentminded thought and once her two guests finished their coffee, dropped
the hint that the visit was over.

‘So we’ll see you at my place next
week?’ Jared confirmed as he handed out his hug and kiss. ‘Same time as usual?’

Tanya nodded.

‘Unless, of course, you’d like to
join us for Church next Sunday evening?’ Jared asked and winked. He wanted
Tanya to be there when he proposed. He wanted her to see him become a man and
move on with his life.

Amy giggled.

Tanya shot him a glance and Jared
instantly knew that he had overstepped a boundary.

‘Well,’ he said. ‘Monday evening
then.’

‘Same time,’ Tanya confirmed. She
escorted the two to the front door and once they left, hurried down the hallway
and unlatched the door to the attic. She made her way up the wooden steps into
the dark room and fumbled in the darkness at a specific spot until her hand
made contact with the box of matches. She struck a match and lit strategically
placed candles around the room. Slowly but surely the room came to life,
painted in drab colours by the thin light of the candles.

‘The time has come,’ Tanya spoke out
loud, ‘to ensure our stronghold on the one.’ She donned a black robe and pulled
the hood over her head. After lighting a black candle, she chanted softly as
she stepped onto the huge pentagram painted on the floor.

*   
-    -    -    *

 ‘Is it just me,’ Amy asked as
Jared sped through Kelwick in his Vanquish. ‘Or did Tanya act kind of strange
toward the end?’

Jared shot a quick glance in her
direction. ‘Yeah, I picked up on it too,’ he said.

‘What do you think triggered it?’
she asked. ‘Was it me, or something I said?’

Jared shook his head. ‘Don’t think
so, no. My best guess would be that she just has a lot on her mind.’

For a long moment Amy didn’t say
anything. She looked out the window at the rows of closed stores zipping by,
each one equipped with reinforced security gates. ‘I guess you’re right,’ she
said. A gut feeling in the pit of her stomach told her otherwise. ‘You would
tell me if she didn’t like me, right?’

‘Don’t be silly, Amy. Of course she
likes you.’

‘But if you knew she didn’t, you’d
tell me, right?’

‘I would,’ he said. ‘Trust me.
Whatever caused her to behave strangely tonight has
nothing
to do with
you.’

*   
-    -    -    *

 ‘That woman is threatening our
stronghold,’ Tanya spoke out loudly to no one in particular. ‘She must be
stopped before it’s too late.’

At first there was nothing. No
response. A gentle breeze coming from a small window at the end of the attic
fluttered the tiny flames of the candles before it subsided again. Still there
was nothing. A moment later, Tanya could feel the presence of someone in the
room with her, but she still couldn’t see anyone. A sudden gust of wind ripped
the window open. The slam of the wooden frame snuffed the candles, leaving
everything in instant darkness.

What is it that you propose to do?
A growling voice
reverberated through the attic. Tanya was momentarily taken aback, but she
quickly regained her composure.

‘She must be removed from his life,’
Tanya said. ‘Plucked out.’ She paused as she waited for her eyes to adjust to the
darkness. ‘Jared must be turned away from her God in the harshest manner
possible.’

There was silence for a moment. The
wooden frame of the window gently tapped against the window sill. Finally the
voice spoke again.
There is one that can accomplish this task, but you would
have to offer her a sacrifice before she will do it
.

Tanya knelt down. ‘What sacrifice
would appease her, my lord?’

You are to carve a wooden idol in
her likeness and worship it
.

‘And who is she, my lord?’

Her name is Nahemah, queen of the
Succubi
.

‘I will have it ready by Thursday,’
Tanya said. ‘The woman must be removed before Sunday, or it will be too late.’

So shall it be
, the voice spoke through
the darkness. There was a final blast of wind before silence settled over the
attic once more. Tanya finished her chanting and then made her way down the
wooden steps before closing the attic door. Time was of the essence. She had
three days to carve a wooden doll for the demon or they would lose their chance
forever.

*   
-    -    -    *

Everything was calm in the small
farming village. Children played about, chasing each other through makeshift
obstacle courses. The shepherd’s dog joined in the fun, barking as it ran
alongside the shrieking boys and girls. The men of the village were out
farming, gathering wood, or making tools of various kinds at the blacksmith.
The younger women prepared lunch while the elderly ladies made clothes.

A little to the north, just across
the riverbed stood an abandoned barnyard. The holes in the tapered roof and the
rotted walls let in just enough light to illuminate the interior. Patches of
grass sprouted through floorboards that creaked and snapped when stepped upon.

In the middle of the barnyard, seven
hooded men surrounded a lone figure. The figure spoke to an invisible force.
Heated words were exchanged. The man pointed his finger and threatened through
clenched teeth. The invisible being picked the man up into the air and twisted
his neck before throwing him the distance of the barnyard. The man’s limp body
crashed through the rotted wood and light spilled through the gap in the wall.
The seven hooded men scattered, but were cut off. Each one met a similar fate.

Just then the doors to the barnyard
flung open and a man entered, shouting something at the invisible demon.

Jared?

The demon hissed and cursed.

Jared! Don’t!

The man took a step closer, pointing
at the demon as he shouted his commands above the wailing wind. The demon
recoiled, but then retaliated, lashing out at the man with its full fury.

‘
Jared! NO!
’

Justin switched on the bed lamp.
Rebecca sat upright next to him, breathing furiously as she wiped the sweat
from her forehead. ‘What’s wrong, Becky?’

Rebecca swallowed hard, darting her
eyes across the room. Slowly but surely her breathing regulated enough for her
to speak. ‘I had a bad dream…about Jared,’ she said. Her tongue felt dry and
her throat scratched. She was in desperate need of water; anything to quench
her aching thirst. ‘Again.’

‘Again?’

Rebecca nodded. She got out of bed
and headed for the bathroom where the gulped down the cool water as if she had
been deprived of the liquid her entire life. When she returned to the bedroom,
Justin was still awake; looking at her expectantly to tell him what was going
on.

‘I had a bad dream last week as
well,’ she said as she slipped back into bed. ‘Although not quite as vivid as
this one.’

‘We all have bad dreams now and
again, Becky,’ Justin said. ‘It’s one of those things.’

‘Not like this,’ she said. ‘It felt
too
real.’ Rebecca closed her eyes and replayed some of the images in her mind.
‘Something’s wrong,’ she said. ‘I think that Jared might be in some kind of
trouble.’

‘Then why don’t you call him and
find out?’

‘I did,’ she said. ‘Last week
already, but he insisted that everything was okay.’

‘Then everything
is
fine.
Trust me, if something was wrong, we’d have known about it by now.’

‘I hope you’re right,’ she said and
kissed him on his forehead. Justin turned over and switched off the light as
she wrapped her arm around his waist. Long after Justin’s soft, rhythmic
snoring returned, Rebecca still lay awake, unable to shake the gnawing urge in
her gut that something bad was going to happen to her son.

*   
-    -    -    *

Lightning flashed, lighting up
Tanya’s attic in places the flickering lights of the candles couldn’t. She
stepped into the symbol painted on the floor and made several hand gestures as
she chanted.

Did you bring the token?
a deep voice growled
from the corner of the attic, its speaker invisible in the deep shadows of the
small chamber.

‘I did,’ Tanya said and held out the
idol. Although no piece of art, it would be sufficient.

Now bow down to it
, the voice instructed.

Tanya obeyed.

Offer yourself to it
.

Tanya took a dagger from within her
robe and pressed it against the palm of her left hand. She clenched down on her
teeth as she drew the blade across her hand. A trail of blood followed the tip
of the blade to the edge of her palm and dripped down onto the idol in front of
her. Tanya picked up the wooden figure and wrapped her blood soaked hand around
it. ‘I herewith offer myself to you,’ she said as she rubbed her palm over the
little statuette, coating it with her blood.

Well done
, the voice said.
You
have pleased Nahemah. She shall do your bidding
.

Lightning flashed, and for a second
Tanya could see the shape of someone standing in the corner of the room. She
stood up, trying her best to suppress any form of fear in her voice. ‘I command
you to show yourself.’

For a long moment nothing happened.
Lightning flashed again and the demon was instantly upon Tanya. It stopped just
outside the circle that surrounded the pentagram on the floor.

Tanya flinched, but didn’t move. She
studied the beast in front of her, its eyes hungry for murder and its fangs
ever as deadly as they seemed. ‘You will take on a human form,’ Tanya said,
trying her best to sound like the one in charge. She had done her part. The
demon had to do her bidding. ‘Until she is out of the way and he is ours.’

The demon hissed and moved back into
the shadows. Tanya couldn’t see what was happening in the darkness, but when
the lightning flashed again, she could make out the silhouette of a woman. At
first the singing couldn’t be heard above the thunder outside, but as the woman
approached the pentagram, her singing reached Tanya’s ears.

Tanya gasped when she heard the
singing. It was the most angelic sound she had ever heard and she almost broke
down and cried as the approaching woman’s marvellous voice grew louder and more
wonderful with each passing second. ‘Oh mighty one,’ Tanya sobbed as she fell
down at the woman’s feet. ‘Have mercy on your loyal subject.’