The Incubus, Succubus and Son of Perdition Box Set: The Len du Randt Bundle (38 page)

Jared saw the tree only for a
fraction of a second before he smashed into it.

‘
Jared!
’ Rebecca screamed as
she woke up.

Justin jerked and sat upright.
‘What? Who?’

‘Turn on the light, Justin,’ Rebecca
cried. ‘Please turn on the light!’

Justin switched on the light and
looked at his hysterically crying wife. ‘What’s wrong, honey? What’s going on?’

‘It’s Jared,’ she sobbed through her
tears. ‘Something bad has happened to him. He’s hurt. I know it.’

‘It was a dream, Becky,’ he said as
soothing as he could manage. ‘It was only a bad dream.’

‘No,’ she said and got out of bed.
‘This wasn’t a dream. It was something else. Something is wrong, Justin.
Something terrible has happened to our son.’

‘How is he?’ Rebecca asked. ‘How is
my son?’

‘He’s pretty banged up, Becks,’
Tanya said. ‘I’m not sure, but I think he’s in a coma. Everyone has a different
opinion at the moment, so as soon as I know something concrete, I’ll let you
know.’

‘I can’t wait that long,’ Rebecca
said. She rubbed her burning eyes. Since the dream she couldn’t go back to
sleep, and now that she knew for sure that something was indeed wrong with
Jared, she had no intention of going back to sleep either. ‘I’m coming to
Kelwick.’

‘Are you sure that’s such a good
idea, Becks? It’s quite a trip and there’s not much you can do for him anyway.’

Rebecca stared absentmindedly at the
lawn outside. Her eyes scrolled across the lush green grass where Jared used to
run and play as a little boy. Her gaze moved until it came to the tree where
she had seen Simon. ‘No,’ she said. ‘I’m coming.’

‘You sure?’

‘Yes.’

‘Well, if you do decide to come,’
Tanya said with just a hint of excitement in her voice, ‘you’re more than
welcome to stay over at my place. I’ll even lend you my car.’

‘I can take the bus tomorrow morning
and be there early evening.’

‘Okay,’ Tanya said. ‘Should I come
and pick you up at the station?’

‘I don’t want to be a burden...’

‘Nonsense, Becks! Book your ticket.
I’ll be there to pick you up.’

‘Thank you, Tanya,’ Rebecca said and
suppressed the urge to cry. ‘It’ll be good to see you again.’

‘You too, Becks,’ said Tanya. ‘It is
arranged then. You handle the tickets and logistics, and I’ll be sure to be at
the station when you arrive. Deal?’

The two women continued their
conversation in a light-hearted tone despite the depressing nature of the call.
They discussed living arrangements and covered various other topics like food
and finances. Tanya would hear nothing of Rebecca offering money. When the call
ended Rebecca let out a sigh of relief. She knew in her heart that going to
Kelwick was the right thing to do despite her fear.

It’s time to go back
, she thought as she
looked up the bus station’s phone number.
It’s time to face the past.

*   
-    -    -    *

Rebecca threw the suitcase
intentionally hard on the bed. She
wanted
Justin to hear what she was up
to. She opened the cupboards and unhooked the hangers with her clothes and laid
the clothing on top of one another next to the suitcase before going to the
cabinet drawers for the rest.

‘What are you doing?’ Justin asked
as he entered the room.

She looked up at her husband. ‘I’m
going to be with Jared.’

Justin walked over to her and placed
his hand on her shoulder. ‘It’s a bit early to be rushing things,’ he said and
sat down on the bed next to her. ‘Why don’t we wait until we have more
information before we just up and go?’

She leaned forward and kissed him.
‘Not we,’ she said. ‘Me.’

He raised an eyebrow. ‘You’re going
to Kelwick alone? Without me?’

‘We can’t both go, Justin,’ she
said. ‘Who’s going to be there for Monique when we’re gone?’

‘She’s seventeen years old,’ Justin
said. ‘She can look after herself.’

Rebecca shook her head. ‘We can’t
both go. There’s just no way I’m leaving her by herself. Who knows how long we
could be away?’

‘Then let me go instead,’ Justin
said.

Rebecca stopped what she was busy
with and sat down next to her husband. She took his hand in hers and studied
his face in silence for a moment. ‘No,’ she said. ‘I appreciate what you’re
trying to do, love, but this is something that I simply
have
to do.
Alone.’

‘But...’

‘Besides,’ she said. ‘You’re
expecting to hear from agents about your book any day now. You need to stay
focussed.’

‘The novel can wait,’ Justin said.
‘Jared is my son.’

‘And he is my son too,’ she said and
rubbed her thumb lightly over the back of his hand. ‘Just make sure that
Monique is safe. I wouldn’t survive it if something happened to both our
children.’

Justin rubbed his hand over his
face. This whole scenario was messed up. Simon said that Jared was meant to do
great things, and now he was in a coma that he might never wake from. He didn’t
want Rebecca to return to Kelwick, especially alone, but he realised that she
would ultimately get her way. ‘Where will you stay?’ he asked.

‘Tanya suggested that I stay at her
place for a few days. Just until I get settled.’

‘What can I do to help?’

‘Pray,’ she said as she wrapped her
arms around his shoulders. ‘Pray and believe.’

*   
-    -    -    *

The five-star luxury bus came to an
abrupt stop, jerking Rebecca from her dream. She opened her eyes and scanned it
across the station. Only one more stop to go before Kelwick. She sat upright
and smiled at the boy sitting opposite her. He had a plastic gun in one hand;
his mother’s hand in the other.

A few moments later, the bus pulled
away. They should reach Kelwick in about half an hour or so. Rebecca’s thoughts
drifted to the past as trees and open fields rushed by the window. For a split
second she was back in Kelwick, thirty years younger, and pregnant with Jared.
The feeling sent a cold shiver running down her spine.

The bus pulled into Kelwick Station
and Rebecca took her bag from the overhead compartment. She then carefully made
her way down the steps and walked around to the side of the bus where she
collected the rest of her baggage.

The doors closed with a hiss and the
bus drove off, rapidly picking up pace as it left the station. Rebecca watched
it become smaller and smaller in the distance. There was no turning back now.
She was in Kelwick and would stay for as long as she had to.

When the bus had completely
disappeared, Rebecca turned and breathed in deeply through her nose, inhaling
memories of lazy Friday afternoons after work, inhaling the moment when she
first heard that she was pregnant, inhaling the scent of the demonic young man
who had tried to tear her and Justin apart. A cold shiver rippled down her spine
as she recollected memories about the charismatic gentleman and his
supernatural hold over her.

‘Becks?’

Rebecca closed her eyes and smiled.
She turned around slowly to face her friend. ‘Tanya.’

Tanya nodded.

The women embraced, and Rebecca
brushed away a tear with the back of her hand. ‘It’s so good to see you again.’

‘You haven’t aged a bit,’ Tanya
said. ‘It’s hard to believe that it’s been nine years, isn’t it?’

Rebecca held her hand to her mouth.
‘Has it been nine years already?’

Tanya nodded. ‘Jared’s twenty first,
remember?’

‘Oh my, it feels like only
yesterday.’

A young woman around Jared’s age
took her place next to Tanya, and Rebecca was struck by her intense beauty.
‘Becks, this is Natasha,’ Tanya said and turned slightly so that the two women
could face one another. ‘Natasha, this is Jared’s mother, Rebecca.’

‘Hi Rebecca,’ Natasha said and
extended her hand towards the older woman. They shook briefly. ‘Jared has told
me so much about you.’

‘You’re Tanya’s niece, right?’
Rebecca asked.

Tanya nodded.

‘Amy mentioned you.’

Natasha glanced at Tanya.

‘Where is she, by the way?’

‘She’s...’

‘She went to California for
business,’ Natasha interjected. ‘She should be gone for a few weeks.’

Rebecca nodded. She couldn’t take
her eyes off Natasha. Something about the young woman’s cold and lifeless eyes
chilled Rebecca’s blood. She feigned a smile. ‘Well, that’s nice. Must probably
be a bookseller’s convention or something going on there.’

Tanya merely shrugged. She didn’t
like the awkward route this conversation was headed. ‘Are you hungry?’ she
asked. ‘I’m so starved that I could eat a horse. So why don’t we make a quick
stop at the hospital and then go find us a nice spot where we can grab us some
dinner?’

Rebecca nodded and smiled warmly.
Her friend had not changed one bit over the years.

‘I’ll catch up with you two later,’
Natasha said. ‘I have a few personal matters to attend to.’ She helped carry
the bags to Tanya’s car and then waved them off as they pulled out of the
station’s parking lot. Once the two older women had driven off, Natasha made
her way back to the station. As she neared the entrance to the train section,
she glanced from side to side, and then disappeared.

*   
-    -    -    *

Rebecca’s strength left her legs
when she saw her son. He lay motionless on the bed, bandaged from head to toe.
The cardio monitor was going strong, but other than the machinery, there was no
indication that her son was alive. She fought back the tears and lightly
wrapped both her hands around his. ‘Jared...’

‘The doctors are still running
tests,’ Tanya said. ‘They should be able to give us an assessment in a couple
of days.’

Rebecca nodded. She wished that she
could see his face. She wished that she could talk to him and hear his voice.

‘Come,’ Tanya said. ‘Let’s go.’

‘I’ll be back soon,’ Rebecca
promised and gently stroked the side of Jared’s head. She then wiped the
corners of her eyes as she left the room with Tanya.

*   
-    -    -    *

 ‘You never told me that you
had a niece,’ Rebecca said after they ordered their drinks. Tanya was having a
Choc Mint Latte. Rebecca ordered herbal tea.

Tanya frowned. ‘I guess it never
came up.’

It never came up?
Rebecca wondered.
In
over thirty years?

‘But she’s about Jared’s age, so I
think you were gone by the time that she was born. Besides, it’s not like I’m
that close to my sister anyway, so I never heard about Natasha until she was
about sixteen or so.’

‘That must have come as a surprise.’

‘It sure did,’ Tanya said and threw
in a subtle topic changer. ‘So what have you been up to since I last saw you?
Are you still teaching at that school?’

Rebecca shook her head. When she and
Justin left Kelwick, she corresponded with Tanya on a daily basis. Dailies
became weeklies which became monthlies. Soon after, the two of them would only
send one another the occasional e-mail and a pleasant greeting through Jared.
‘Retired,’ she said. ‘Jared made it possible for both me and Justin to retire
early and enjoy what time we still have left with each other and Monique.’

‘That’s nice,’ Tanya said. ‘How old
is she now?’

‘Seventeen.’

Tanya whistled softly. ‘How they
grow, eh?’

‘Too fast,’ Rebecca said. A memory
of Jared as a baby flashed through her mind and she flinched. ‘People today
grow up faster and die younger. It’s a whole other world we live in, Tanya.’

There was a moment of silence where
neither of them said anything. Tanya took Rebecca’s hands in hers. ‘He’s not
dead, Becks,’ she said. ‘He’s going to pull through; you’ll see.’

‘I know,’ Rebecca said softly, not
sure if she actually agreed with what she was saying. ‘It’s just...he’s my
boy.’

Tanya wiped the tear from Rebecca’s
check. ‘There are too many things that he still has to do. Trust me.’

Rebecca couldn’t help but smile. If
Tanya only knew what she knew. Simon said the same thing. Should she hold on to
that hope? That one small glimmer that there really
was
something
planned for Jared’s life? She had to change the topic, lest she cry at the
table. ‘Are you still working at Kelso?’

Tanya laughed and shook her head.
‘Left them shortly after you left Kelwick and started working at a firm called
Sole Food.’

‘Soul food?’

‘It’s a shoe manufacturer. I started
in sales and quickly worked my way up into management. I’m now the regional
manager and oversee most of the stores in Gauteng.’

‘Oh,
sole
,’ Rebecca said when
she caught the pun. ‘Why didn’t you just ask Jared for a managerial position at
Whyte & Greene International?’

‘Nah,’ Tanya said and shook her
head. ‘I advised him in the background though; still do from time to time. In
return for my services, he got me a nice car, a house, and a whole lot of
spending money.’

‘That’s Jared,’ Rebecca said and
smiled warmly. ‘Always helping where he can.’