The Incubus, Succubus and Son of Perdition Box Set: The Len du Randt Bundle (7 page)

Justin shook his
head. ‘Not at all,’ he said. ‘I already feel at home here.’

‘Not here,’
Simon said. ‘At home.’

‘I’m not sure
that I understand what you mean?’

‘Whatever
happens, just be there for Rebecca, okay?

‘Rebecca?’
Justin frowned. ‘What does she…?’

Simon smiled and
he shook Justin’s hand once more. ‘Hope you enjoy it here,’ he said before
briskly walking away.

‘What the heck
was that about?’ Tour-Techie asked.

‘I don’t know,’
Justin said and shrugged.

‘Do you know
Simon?’

‘I briefly met
him in a coffee shop a few days ago.’

Tour-Techie
chuckled. ‘He’s a strange one, that guy. But you know what? He’s one of our
best. A bit weird at times, but you should see him hack away at a keyboard.’

‘I can only
imagine,’ Justin said, distracted by Simon’s words.

‘Come,’
Tour-Techie said. ‘Let’s get us some java.’

*    -    -   
-    *

Rebecca opened
the door to the apartment, and for the first time in over a year, it felt cold
and empty. Almost unwelcome. It was the absence of Justin that gave the place
an aura of bitter grey. She shut the door behind her and took a quick dip into
the kitchen to flip the kettle switch before moving into the living room to
collapse onto the couch. Being a data-capturer was no small task, and not only
did she complete her quota for the day, but she also almost made double; a feat
achieved only by office legends.

‘Office legend,’
Rebecca said softly and smiled at the thought. ‘Rebecca Greene: Achilles of
data capturing.’ She couldn’t help but giggle at her own joke, and as the
kettle neared boiling point, she heaved herself from the couch and made her way
to the bedroom where she slipped into something more casual. Once dressed in a
tracksuit pants and pull-over t-shirt, she made her way down the passage and
past the closed study door into the kitchen where, for the first time since
who-knows-when, she realized what a mess it was. With his new job, Justin
wouldn’t be there to wash the dishes for her anymore. Coming home to a lonely
place and unwashed dishes would from now on be the norm. For the briefest
moment Rebecca wished that Justin hadn’t gotten the job. She rejected the
thought and as she reached for the kettle, a pain shot through her abdomen.

‘Hey little
one,’ she said and rubbed the spot where she thought the baby aught to be. ‘Are
you all right in there?’

She poured some
water from the kettle into her favourite mug and was about to turn to the
fridge to get some milk when a figure in the corner of her eye made her freeze
in place. She could clearly see the outline of a person standing there, watching
her, but she couldn’t see who it was. She didn’t dare move a muscle.

‘Justin?’ she
asked softly, but she knew in her heart that it wasn’t him. The figure was
shorter than Justin, almost as small as a child, and although she couldn’t make
out any distinct features from her peripheral view, she could clearly see two
large, black eyes staring right at her.

She quickly spun
around, but there was no one; the figure was gone.

‘Justin?’ she
asked again and slowly walked from the kitchen to the living room. Although no
one was there, it felt as if someone was watching her every move. She shrugged
and as she turned to go back to the kitchen, the open study door caught her
eye.

‘Justin?’ she
asked again as she started walking towards the study. ‘Are you here?’

No answer.

She picked up
her pace and once inside the study, stopped cold.

Nothing.

No Justin.

Everything
appeared normal to the eye, yet something felt out of place. A chill crawled
down Rebecca’s spine and she felt an urgent need to leave the study. She pulled
the door shut behind her and walked back to the living room while calling out
to Justin. She stopped in mid-sentence. The emptiness of the living room walls
caught her eyes immediately. Both paintings that she would have sworn her life
on were hanging on the walls a mere minute ago, now lay face-down on the floor.

‘This can’t be,’
she said and took a step back. The click of the study room door made her spin
around. Slowly it opened. A scream escaped Rebecca’s lips and she grabbed the
keys and ran from the house. Moments later she was sitting on a ledge in what
little of the setting sunlight she could manage to find while fighting back
tears that desperately tried to break free.

*    -    -   
-    *

What’s she
doing outside?
Justin wondered as he parked the
car. He locked the door and as he approached Rebecca, he could sense that
something was wrong. She was sitting on a small cement step with her head
tucked into her arms as she rocked backwards and forward.

‘Hey you,’ he
said as he approached her. ‘What are you doing outside?’

Rebecca looked
up. Her facial expression told Justin that she was relieved to see him back
earlier than expected.

‘You’re going to
catch a cold out here, love.’

‘
I don’t
care!
’ Her words escaped as a sob. ‘I’m not going back into that place
alone again.’

Justin frowned.
‘What place?’ He looked up at their front door. ‘Our home?’

Rebecca didn’t
answer. She just kept on rocking.

‘What’s wrong,
Becky? What are you talking about?’

‘Paintings,’ she
said. ‘They’re off.’ Her eyes darted from Justin to the apartment and back to
him. ‘Little man with big eyes. Study door...’

‘Whoa there,’
Justin said. ‘You’re not making any sense. Come, let’s go inside and talk about
it over a nice cup of tea, eh?’

He wrapped his
arms around his wife and led her to the front door. It was unlocked. He opened
it and she instantly headed for the living room.

‘These
paintings,’ she said and pointed without looking.

‘What about
them?’ Justin asked.

‘They...they’re
down.’

Justin frowned.
‘Down from what?’

‘The wall,
Justin!’ she snapped. It was hard to hide the irritation in her voice. She
looked up and her heart sank. The paintings were back on the wall as if nothing
had happened. ‘They...they were on the floor,’ she said and walked to the
nearest painting. ‘This one was lying right here.’

‘And now it’s
not?’ Justin asked. He couldn’t help but smirk at his own joke.

‘Do you think
it’s funny?’ Rebecca asked with an agitated quiver in her voice. ‘Do you think
I’m making this up?’

‘Calm down,
hun,’ Justin said. ‘I know you’re not lying, but you have to see the humour in
this.’

‘The study door
was open again.’

Justin walked to
the study. ‘Well, it’s closed now,’ he shouted from the little hallway. He
appeared again and took Rebecca into his arms. ‘Are you sure that you’re okay?’

‘I’m fine,’
Rebecca said and pushed herself away from him.

‘I’m just
wondering if you’re…you know…all right up here...’ he twirled his finger next
to his head and crossed his eyes. He meant it as a light hearted joke to try
and ease some of the tension.

Rebecca didn’t
appreciate Justin’s condescending tone of voice. ‘I’m not crazy,’ she said, but
the last word came out choked. The first tear started the chain reaction.

Justin stepped
forward and took her into his arms again. ‘I’m sorry, Becky,’ he said softly.
‘It was a terrible joke.’

‘I’m not crazy,’
she said, her voice muffled with her face pressed against his chest.

‘I know, my
love.’ He held her for a moment longer and allowed her to cry it all out.
Whatever it was that piled up inside her had to come out.
Hormones?
‘Don’t pregnant women sometimes hallucinate?’ Justin asked when he thought it
was safe to talk again. ‘I think I read it in one of your pregnancy magazines.’

Rebecca shook
her head. ‘I didn’t hallucinate,’ she said.

Justin decided
that it would be best for him to drop the subject. If he didn’t, she might cry
the night away; something he was not in the mood for after a long first day at
a new job. ‘It’s okay,’ he said as re-assuring as he could. ‘I’m here now.
Everything’s going to be just fine.’

She held him
tighter.

‘I’m here to
protect you now. Nothing will harm you.’

*    -    -   
-    *

Rebecca’s hands
were still shaking when she turned the taps. After a rumble and a clank from
the old water pipes outside the small bathroom window, warm water spurted and
then sprayed from the shower head. She could hear Justin hard at work at the
dishes in the kitchen. Despite his occasional flaws, she still loved him very
much. He was a sense of comfort to her that neither words nor feelings could
properly define. She also adored the little things he did for her that ordinary
husbands would deem unimportant.

You’re
looking too old for your age
, she thought as she
stared at her reflection in the mirror. Did it come with the territory of being
pregnant? She couldn’t help but wonder.

A soft
scratching sound at the door made her stop and look up. She stood perfectly
still. Did she hear right? Did Justin walk past the door and accidentally brush
his arm against it? Her thoughts were interrupted by another scratching sound
at the door. Louder this time.

‘Justin?’ she
asked. Her voice emitted a hollow echo in the confines of the bathroom. ‘Is
that you?’

No answer.

Scratching
again.

Longer. Slower.
More purposeful.

‘Justin?’ she
asked, loud enough for him to hear it from the kitchen. Rebecca’s heart bounced
around furiously in her chest as she reached her hand out to the handle.
Another scratch made her jerk her hand away. ‘This isn’t funny, Justin! Stop
it!’

The scratching
stopped.

Rebecca placed
her hand around the cold handle and pressed it down. She pulled the door back
hard and screamed when she saw a figure standing in front of her. The figure
grabbed her and she tried to fight back, but to no avail.

‘Becky, it’s
me,’ Justin said. ‘Calm down.’

It took a while
for Rebecca to register that it was her husband holding her. ‘Let me go!’ She
screamed.

‘Geez,’ Justin
said and released her. ‘It was only a joke.’

‘Get away from
me!’

Justin took a
step back. He could sense that he had crossed a line.

Rebecca slammed
the door shut and, for the first time since they were married, locked it. She
stood in the corner of the bathroom and slid to the floor, her hands covering
her face.

‘I’m sorry,
Becky,’ Justin said from the other side of the door, but it was futile. His
voice was drowned out by the shower’s water and her sobs.

*    -    -   
-    *

The engineers at
Cybernetics Computers had a ritual where they would drop whatever they were
busy with each day at ten o’ clock, and meet each other in the lounge for a
smoke break. Those who didn’t smoke mingled in by making it their coffee break.
They would usually spend the next fifteen minutes complaining about management
or clients, or worse; management’s unrealistic promises to unforgiving clients.
There were no such qualms today. A new topic had slowly taken over the past two
weeks. Nightmares.

‘I had another
one last night,’ said Luke. He was outsourced as a site engineer to a major
communications company. ‘I can’t remember everything, but I do remember the
spiders.’

‘I had one too,’
Bill said. He had greasy hair that he slicked back and wore black thick-rimmed
glasses that almost gave him a Buddy Holly look. Bill was the company nerd. A
nerd’s nerd. Justin found it hard to imagine that this man would ever admit to
having nightmares. Too retro. Bill drained half his mug of coffee before
continuing. ‘I was trapped in a mental asylum with all these half-human
creatures running around and hunting us down. Eventually I was the only one
left.’ He finished the last half in one gulp. ‘Then I woke up.’

They all looked
at Justin. ‘And you?’ Luke asked.

Justin hated
being placed on the spot. He was the new guy. He didn’t want to share his
personal problems or experiences with them yet. He nodded. ‘Same as yours,
Luke, but with snakes instead of spiders.’

‘Had the snake
one last week,’ Bill said.

The spotlight
was off Justin again and moved to Rupert. He shook his head even before the
question was asked. ‘No nightmares here.’