The Incubus, Succubus and Son of Perdition Box Set: The Len du Randt Bundle
Read The Incubus, Succubus and Son of Perdition Box Set: The Len du Randt Bundle Online
Authors: Len du Randt
The Len du Randt Boxset:
The Incubus
The Succubus
The Son of
Perdition
By
Len du Randt
Copyright © 2012 by Len du Randt
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,
scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without the written
permission of the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of
copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.
Only purchase authentic works.
Published by:
The Incubus, The Succubus,
and
The
Son of Perdition
are all works of fiction. Names,
characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons,
living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
E-mail the author at [email protected]
“Do
not forget to entertain strangers, for in doing so people have entertained
angels without knowing it.”
- Hebrews 13:2,
NIV
The wheat flowed in the wind, like
millions of swaying dancers performing a ballet. Justin shifted his gaze from
the road to the horizon of sprinkled gold. He stared at it dreamily for a
moment before stealing a glance at his sleeping wife.
‘You did it,
Becky,’ Justin said softly. He loved watching her sleep; seeing her without a
care in the world while the sun gently gnawed at her shoulder. ‘You made this
possible.’
Rebecca wriggled
her nose and shifted her weight in the seat. She tugged at the seatbelt and
moistened her lips before slumbering off again.
Justin sighed.
There weren’t many women like her. When he lost his job five months earlier,
Rebecca stood firmly by his side. When he didn’t know how they were going to
survive each month on her salary alone, she not only managed to save up enough
money for their immediate needs, but also enough for their first year
anniversary weekend away at a resort.
‘I don’t know
how I’m going to make our first anniversary special to you,’ he told her after
they had finished working out their budget. ‘The plan was to take you away
somewhere far and exotic. Now I’ll be lucky if I can treat you to a movie.’
Rebecca laughed
and lovingly took Justin’s hands. ‘We don’t need money to make it special,’ she
said and kissed him softly. ‘We just need each other. Nothing more. Nothing
less.’
Rebecca was his
rock; a pillar of strength during the times that everything around him seemed
to crumble and fall. He couldn’t imagine life without her. The road ahead was
clear for as far as the eye could see, so Justin stepped down on the gas pedal
slightly and the car accelerated. The wheat fields zipped past. He stole
another glance at Rebecca and cupped his free hand over hers. ‘I love you,
Becky,’ he said softly.
‘I love you
too,’ she said with her eyes still closed and yawned. Slowly—like a butterfly
breaking free from a cocoon—she opened her eyes and Justin could only stare in
awe at the grace with which she woke.
‘Hey sleeping
beauty,’ he said. ‘How was your—?’
‘
Justin, look
out!
’
For a moment
time stood still. The expression of fear on her face would forever be seared
into his memory. Adrenaline flushed through his legs and Justin instinctively
slammed on the brakes. It was only then that that he saw the figure standing in
the middle of the road. The wheels locked and the car swerved into the opposite
lane. Had another car or truck passed at that exact moment, the collision would
have killed them both instantly. Justin jerked at the wheel to try and keep the
car from veering off the shoulder of the road. The car over-steered and he had
to pull the steering hard. After what felt like an eternity, the car finally
came to a standstill.
‘Are you all
right?’ Justin asked Rebecca. His tongue felt like cork and his voice was a
coarse, quivering croak.
Rebecca nodded,
but it was a reflex move. She had no idea whether she was all right or not. She
bordered on shock. The numbness of her mind was the only thing keeping her from
crying.
Justin fumbled
with his seatbelt. His hands were still shaking from the adrenaline, but he
finally managed to unclip it and flung the door open. A burst of afternoon heat
blasted him as he clambered from the air conditioned car and slowly walked to
the back of the vehicle on what felt like rubber legs. He leaned against the
trunk for stability and scanned his eyes across the road. There was no trace of
anyone.
Where did he
go?
‘Is he okay?’ a
badly shaken up Rebecca asked as she joined her husband’s side.
‘He...he’s
gone.’
Rebecca looked
around. ‘Gone?’
Justin didn’t
answer. He walked across the road and peered over the shoulder to see if anyone
was lying at the bottom of the ditch. He looked up and down the road. No cars
in either direction. No people either. There was only the golden wheat, the
high pitched screams of the cicadas, and the distinct smell of burnt rubber.
‘Did you find
anything?’ Rebecca asked as he made his way back.
Justin shook his
head.
‘Where could he
have gone?’
‘I don’t
know...’ Justin said and made a final quick scan of the area. ‘You also saw
someone in the road, right? That’s why you screamed?’
Rebecca nodded.
A cold shiver
ran down his spine. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something made
him feel uncomfortable. He sensed that Rebecca felt it too. ‘Come,’ he said.
‘Let’s get out of here.’ The two of them got back into the car and Justin
managed to start it on the second try. He took one last look in the rear-view
mirror as he stepped down on the gas pedal.
* - -
- *
It was Rebecca
who broke the awkward silence. ‘What just happened?’
‘I don’t know,’
Justin said. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and although his eyes
were locked on the road, Rebecca could tell that his mind was somewhere else;
reeling in the void of thoughts. Justin adjusted the rear-view mirror and took
another look as if expecting to see someone standing in the middle of the road.
‘Are you sure we
didn’t hit him?’ Rebecca asked. She placed her hand lightly on Justin’s knee,
hoping that the gesture would be enough to calm the nervous bounce in his leg.
‘Did you feel us
hitting anyone?’ Justin asked, unable to suppress the curt snap in his voice.
‘But what if
he’s hurt?’
‘What if
who
is hurt?’ Justin asked. ‘We’ve been driving for twenty minutes now. Even if we
did go back to check I doubt that we’d find the exact same spot. It could have
been a mirage or something. It could have been
anything
, damnit!’
Who are you?
Rebecca wondered. She had never seen her husband act this way
before, and an old familiar fear crept over her. All those questions of doubt
instilled into her mind by well-meaning family and friends before the wedding:
Aren’t
you a bit young to get married? Shouldn’t you two get to know one another a bit
better before you decide to spend the rest of your lives with each other?
Aren’t you a bit too young to get married? What if you woke up one morning and
suddenly realized that you didn’t love him anymore?
‘I...I’m sorry,
hun,’ Justin said and gave her hand a light squeeze. ‘I’m just as freaked out
as you are, that’s all.’
It was another
half an hour before they reached the resort where they were going to spend
their anniversary weekend. By the time Justin parked the car in front of the
reception building, he was convinced that what he and Rebecca had seen was
nothing more than an optical illusion.
That’s it,
he thought.
It was
a mirage; a reflection of a mill or a bird or something.
Inside his gut,
however, lingered a gnawing sense of doubt.
Justin opened the
door and the two of them were greeted with a soft
ding!
as they entered
the reception area.
The receptionist
looked up and smiled. ‘Welcome to Sunny Hill Spa,’ she greeted them as they
approached her. ‘You are...?’
Justin was
caught off-guard by her beauty. Her hair was soft and her skin silky smooth. He
especially liked the little upward tilt of her small nose and the way her lips
naturally curled upward to form what he believed to be the perfect mouth.
No
ring on her finger.
Rebecca poked an elbow into his side and he was jerked
back to reality. ‘Oh...’ Justin said and cleared his throat. He was aware of
his heart beating faster and a weak feeling in his knees. ‘Justin and Rebecca
Greene.’
The receptionist
scanned the register.
‘As in the
colour,’ he added. ‘But with an
e
at the end.’
The receptionist
chuckled politely and tapped her finger on their surname. ‘Greene,’ she said.
‘You’re in cabin twenty one. Please fill out the register while I get your
keys.’
Justin moved the
register over to Rebecca. She shrugged, took a pen, and started filling out the
form.
Vehicle registration number. Contact numbers. Next of kin.
Justin
caught himself staring at the receptionist as she walked to the back wall where
all the keys hung. She was slightly shorter than him. He continued to stare
even after she had taken the keys off the hook and was heading back. Only when
she made eye contact did he become self-aware enough to tear his gaze from her.
For a moment he wondered why he was so infatuated with this women where until
now, he only had eyes for Rebecca.
‘Here you go,’
the receptionist said and held out the keys towards Justin. He intentionally
brushed his finger against hers as he took the keys from her.
‘Thank you,’
Rebecca said and slid the register back to its original spot. ‘Did the payment
go through?’
‘Everything’s
fine,’ the receptionist confirmed. ‘Enjoy your stay, and if there’s anything
you need, please don’t hesitate to ask.’
‘We won’t,’
Justin said. ‘Thank you.’
Gravel crunched
underneath their feet as the two of them made their way back to the car. Just
before getting in, Justin stretched out his arms and filled his lungs with as
much air as he possibly could. The air didn’t smell
this
fresh in
Kelwick.
‘I think I’m
going to enjoy this weekend,’ Justin said as he got back into the car. A minute
later they were driving off in search of their cabin.
* - -
- *
‘Fifteen,
seventeen, nineteen,’ Justin counted the odd numbered cabins on the left. If
his calculations were correct, theirs would be the next one. It was.
‘This is really
nice,’ he said as he parked the car next to their cabin. Justin got out and
surveyed the huge trees around them. ‘This is very nice.’
‘Happy
anniversary, Sweetie,’ Rebecca said and kissed him on the cheek. He took her in
his arms and held her tightly before kissing her passionately for the first
time since they left home. ‘Thank you for arranging this, love,’ he said. ‘I
really needed it.’
‘You and me
both,’ she said and held him even tighter. For a moment they didn’t have a care
in the world. There weren’t unpaid bills to worry about; no job-hunting for
Justin; no concern about next month’s groceries or where the money would come
from. It was just the two of them, surrounded by nature, as they stood embraced
in each other’s arms.
‘Right, let’s
get our things inside,’ Justin said. ‘I want to go explore this place with
you.’
She kissed him
once more and sighed. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘You can start unloading our things
while I open the door and windows.’
Justin heaved
two heavy suitcases from the trunk of the car. He then carried them to the only
bedroom in the cabin. ‘This is nice,’ he said as he swung the suitcases onto
the hard bed. ‘It’s not home, but it’s definitely nice.’
‘There’s a
shower,’ Rebecca said with a naughty grin as she entered the tiny bedroom.
‘Wanna take one?’
Justin laughed.
‘Later,’ he said. ‘Let’s go explore first.’
* - -
- *
Justin was
amazed at how much a person could do at the resort. There were both cool and
heated pools, Jacuzzis, a super tube, pool tables, a putt-putt course, and a
go-cart track. The go-carts, much to Justin’s disappointment, were closed for
maintenance the entire weekend.
‘What would you
like to do first?’ Rebecca asked.
‘Let’s leave the
swimming for tomorrow,’ he suggested. ‘Today we could just relax and unwind;
maybe shoot some pool or something.’ Rebecca agreed, and after two hours of
watching Justin lose on purpose, they headed back to their cabin for a light
meal.
* - -
- *
Justin turned for
the fifth time. The wooden bed creaked under his weight. He lay still for a
moment before sighing out loud and sitting up to fluff out his pillow. Once
satisfied that he was as comfortable as he was going to get, he picked up his
novel and continued from where he left off. The retired FBI agent was hot on
the trail of the serial killer. The story was starting to pick up pace.
‘Hi Baby,’
Rebecca said from the door.
Justin sighed,
dropped the bookmark between the pages and looked up. Rebecca stood in the door
frame in a seductive pose, wearing silky smooth lingerie she bought
specifically for the weekend. ‘Come here, you,’ Justin said and placed the book
down on the table next to him. He opened his arms and in one graceful
manoeuvre, she moved over the floor and onto the bed. She slid over to him and
they embraced tightly as he planted his lips on hers. They kissed passionately,
both losing themselves in the moment.