The Incubus, Succubus and Son of Perdition Box Set: The Len du Randt Bundle (44 page)

‘The door?’

Simon nodded and walked to the brick
wall behind the pulpit. Loud pounding and banging sounds came from the bolted
door at the main entrance. ‘Here,’ Simon said as he gently rubbed his fingers
over the bricks. ‘This is it.’

‘What are we looking for?’ Jared
asked.

Simon ignored the question. ‘Stand
back,’ he said and Jared took a step back. Simon smashed the hilt of his sword
into a brick, and it broke out like a loose tooth. A blue shimmering light
shone through the hole in the wall, and soon, three more bricks were broken
out. Then five. Then seven.

There was a loud bang on the
entrance door and the wood cracked.

‘We’re going to have company soon,’
Jared said.

Simon didn’t answer. He broke out
more bricks. ‘Almost done,’ he said, and then broke out another one.

The door cracked.

Jared could see arms pressing
through the cracks in the wood, groping for the bolt. ‘They’re coming,’ he
said. Simon kept breaking the bricks. The door cracked and snapped, allowing
the swarm of half-decayed men and women to flood into the building. They
advanced upon Simon and Jared at a rapid pace, lashing their arms out as they
came at them from all sides.

‘Get in,’ Simon said, once satisfied
that a man could fit through the gap.

‘What about you?’ Jared asked. ‘And
your friend?’

‘Never mind us,’ Simon said and
pushed Jared toward the wall. ‘We’ll be all right.’ He raised his sword in the
air and a flame engulfed the blade. With one majestic
swoosh
of the
weapon, Simon dropped six of the humanoid creatures.

‘Go!’

‘Will I see you again?’

Simon nodded and slashed down with
his sword and then sideways, dropping two more and setting fire to three
others. More were swarming in through the main door, followed by three
bear-like monsters.

‘Thank you, Simon,’ Jared said, and
stepped into the blue light.

‘It’s been a month now, Lord,’
Rebecca prayed. ‘I don’t know how much more of this I can take.’ She made no
effort to stop the tears that flowed from her eyes. ‘I need to get back to my
husband and daughter.’

Although she received no answer, a
certain sense of calmness seemed to settle over her.

‘I’m sorry, Jared,’ she said. ‘I
tried, my son. But there’s no more fight left in me.’

She didn’t want to tell him that a
transfer to the hospital in the city where she and Justin lived would bankrupt
them. She didn’t want to tell him that the doctors believed that even if he one
day did manage to wake up from the coma, that he would have severe brain
damage. So instead she spoke to him about how he grew up. She described the
events that she wanted him to remember as happy moments. When they were at the
park together. When they went out for dinner as a family. She wanted to
remember him as her little boy, before they switched off the life support
machines.

*   
-    -    -    *

At first Jared could see only blue.
Apart from the howling of the wind, he couldn’t hear anything else. The blue
faded and revealed an image that made Jared gasp. He was floating above
golden-orange clouds. In the distance hovered a majestic castle made entirely
of gold. It radiated light in every single direction.

Jared’s heart beat heavily in his
chest. The castle was built in layers, each floor with outer passageways that
led around it.
If only I could get there
, Jared thought, and in a flash
he was closer to the castle. He tried to move closer, and in another flash, he
was. Another flash and he could make out more details of the magnificent
building. One thing that struck him as odd was the fact that there were no
people walking around, almost as if the castle had been deserted, or had been
prepared for someone not here yet.

Another flash and Jared stood inside
one of the outer hallways. He was now distinctly aware of another sound. A soft
humming coming from the walls itself. Jared looked closer and noticed that the
gold in the floors and the walls was swirling, almost as if it were alive. He looked
out over the clouds, and tears of amazement stung his eyes. The scene in front
of him was one of such beauty that he wanted to cry out. He composed himself
instead and moved down the hallway in three consecutive flashes until he
stopped in front of a door. For an instant, he saw an image of a beautiful
golden throne in his mind. Somehow he knew that the door was locked, so he
turned left to follow the hallway instead. He flashed twice more down the
hallway and stopped. Right in front of him at eye level hovered three rotating
golden keys: the smallest on the left; the largest in the middle. Each key had
a golden thread tied around it. The hallway stretched away into eternity, but
his focus remained, instead, at the three keys. Jared examined the fine craftsmanship
as the keys slowly rotated around and around.

I will bless you
; a voice spoke from all
around Jared. The voice was calm and gentle, yet packed with authority.
I
have established my covenant with you, and you will be a blessing to others.

Jared looked around, but couldn’t
see the speaker. The voice was everywhere. It radiated from the walls, the
floors, the keys. The voice also spoke from within him. ‘Who...who are you?’
Jared asked. He didn’t care for the quiver in his voice.

I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob
,
the voice answered.

Jared closed his eyes.

I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob
,
the voice echoed softly.

Jared took a deep breath.

I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob
,
the voice faded away.

Jared opened his eyes.

Once again, Jared was surrounded by
nothing but black.

*   
-    -    -    *

 ‘Hello?’

Darkness.

‘Is anybody there?’

‘Jared?’

It was his mother’s voice that
answered. Jared cried out when he heard it. ‘I’m here, mom.’

‘Nurse,’ he heard her call from somewhere
in the distance. ‘Come, quick!’

‘Mom? Where are you?’

‘I’m right here, Jared. Please lie
still. Save your energy.’

Jared stuck out his hand. At first
there was nothing, and then he could feel her soft hands folding around his.
Someone said something in the background. Although he couldn’t hear everything,
he did detect a sense of urgency in the voice. He heard the words
doctor
and
awake
and tightened his grip around his mother’s hand. ‘Please don’t
leave me,’ he begged softly. ‘I don’t want to be alone.’

‘I’m not going anywhere,’ Rebecca
promised him.

‘Mom?’

‘Yes dear?’

‘Where are you?’

‘I’m right here,’ she said. ‘What’s
wrong, baby? What’s the matter?’

‘It’s dark,’ he said and slight
panic seeped through his voice. ‘I can’t see a thing!’

‘He’s awake, Justin.’

‘Who?’ Justin asked. ‘Jared?’

‘Yes, our son. He is awake!’

Justin sat down. He shot up a quick
prayer of thanks and took a deep breath. ‘How is he?’ he asked. ‘Are there any
complications?’

‘So far it’s difficult to say. He
can’t see me, but he did recognize my voice. The doctor is busy examining him
as we speak.’

‘I’m sorry that I can’t be there
with you at this moment, Becky.’

Rebecca smiled. It didn’t matter.
Her son was going to live. ‘Any news from those agents you sent your queries to
yet?’

‘Not yet, no,’ he said. ‘But I’m
expecting a rejection any day now.’

She giggled and for a moment neither
of them spoke. Both were content that everything was slowly returning to normal
again. The novel was finally completed and Justin now just had to find someone
that would be interested in representing it. Five hard years of sacrifice might
finally start paying off. Jared had awakened from his coma and soon, Rebecca
would be with her husband and daughter and everything else would be back to
normal.

‘When are you coming home?’ Justin
finally asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Rebecca said. ‘It
all depends on Jared’s condition. I think it might be in a few weeks or so at
most, give or take.’

‘It’s lonely here without you,’ he
said. ‘We miss you, you know?’

‘And I miss you too. Both of you.
But I’ll be home soon.’

A man in a white coat walked up to
Rebecca and stood still next to her. It was clear from his body language that
he wanted to speak to her. ‘Hold on,’ she told Justin and covered the mouth
piece in her hand. She looked up at the gentleman next to her. ‘Yes?’ she
asked.

‘Ms. Greene?’ the man asked to
confirm.

‘Yes?’

‘I’m Doctor Cunningham. Would it be
possible to see you in my office for a moment?’

Rebecca held up an index finger and
spoke into the phone again. ‘I have to go, love. I’ll call you if there are any
new developments. Please send my love to Monique.’

‘Okay,’ Justin said. ‘We’ll talk
later.’

When she hung up, Rebecca smiled at
the doctor. ‘Sorry about that.’

‘It’s quite alright,’ the younger
man answered and motioned for her to follow him. The two of them didn’t talk at
all as they walked down a long and dark corridor. A sense of coldness followed
the clicking of her heels. Finally he stopped at a door and opened it, allowing
her to enter first. ‘In here,’ he said and followed after her. ‘Please, have a
seat.’

She complied, sitting down in the
hard chair in front of his desk. The doctor walked around the desk and sat down
in his leather seat. He interlocked his fingers and sighed deeply, trying to
formulate the words in his mind before speaking them out loud.

‘Is it Jared?’ Rebecca asked softly.
‘Is something wrong?’

The doctor didn’t answer at first,
but merely rocked back and forth in his executive chair. ‘Jared has recovered
from his coma,’ he stated the obvious. ‘From his earlier diagnosis this in
itself is a miracle. Although his brain appears to be functioning at a normal
level, there does however, appear to be another complication.’ The doctor
picked up a fountain pen, removed the cap, re-clicked it shut, and tapped it on
the desk. ‘It appears that Jared might never be able to see again.’

Rebecca choked. ‘Are you sure?’ she
asked, grasping at what she could. ‘Isn’t this just a temporary thing because
of the coma? Won’t it come right with time? Aren’t there operations that could
fix this?’

The doctor lowered his eyes and
shook his head. ‘I’m afraid not, no.’ He dropped the pen and interlocked his
fingers again, tapping the knuckles of his fists against his chin. ‘But we have
to keep looking at the positive and not succumb to the negative. The pressure
on Jared’s brain has cleared up, so at least he will be able to function
normally. His brain suffered no permanent damage.’

Rebecca felt elated that her son
would live, but she wanted to laugh out and weep at the same time. She was torn
between gratefulness and denial, pulled between the two forces that were her
emotions. Images of a young Jared flashed through her mind, memories long
buried. Jared ran on the grass outside their house and fell. She could recall
how she wanted so desperately to help her crying son to his feet, but how she
allowed him to do it on his own. When she first heard that he was the victim of
bullies at school, she wanted to grab the little mongrels by the ears and drag
them to their homes to have it out with both the kids and their parents.
Instead, she stood back and watched as he learned to fend for himself. She
remembered the sparkle in his eyes when he graduated from University, Cum
Laude. And now, that bright young boy who learned the hard way to stand up and
fight back would never see again. The sparkle was gone. He would never know
what his children would look like. She felt utterly useless, unable to do
anything but look on helplessly as her son would try to come to terms with this
new reality.

‘You may see him if you wish,’ the
doctor said. ‘He had a certain amount of short-term memory loss, but that was
caused mostly by the confusion between the accident and the recovery of the
coma. He has no sense of time yet, but he should be back to normal in about a
week or so.’

Rebecca nodded. She thanked the
doctor and slowly made her way to the door.

‘He’s a fighter, you know,’ the
doctor said and she paused. ‘What happened to your son, despite the blindness,
is nothing short of miraculous.’

Rebecca smiled. ‘Thank you, doctor,’
she said and then left.

*   
-    -    -    *

When she saw her son lying on the
bed with the patches stuck to his eyes she almost broke down and cried. A sob
escaped her mouth, but that was all that she’d allow. She had to be strong, not
just for herself, but also for Jared.

‘Hello?’ Jared asked and lifted his
head somewhat. ‘Is anyone there?’

Rebecca took a step closer. ‘It’s
me,’ she said and bit her lip. She had to fight hard to stop the tears from
breaking through. Pain stabbed in her forehead and her throat constricted.
‘How…how are you?’ she asked.

‘It’s dark,’ he said. ‘I feel so
alone.’

A tear trickled down her cheek.
‘You’re not alone,’ she said. ‘I’m here with you.’

Jared raised his hand. ‘Come,’ he
said. ‘Sit here next to me.’

She sat down on the chair next to
the bed and took his hand in hers. ‘You were in a coma,’ she said.

Jared smiled faintly. ‘So I heard.’

‘According to the doctor, it’s a
miracle that you’re still alive.’

Jared didn’t answer immediately. He
turned his head towards the window as if he could see through it and allowed
the sunlight to kiss his face. ‘It doesn’t feel like a month, you know,’ he
said. ‘If feels like I’ve gone to bed a little too early and overslept. You
know when you wake up more tired because you’ve overslept?’

She nodded but realised that he
couldn’t see the gesture. ‘Uh-huh.’

‘Well, that’s what it feels like.’

‘Did you dream anything?’ she
ventured.

Jared turned his face away from the
window. ‘I want to say no,’ he answered, ‘but I do have flashes; incoherent
images coming and going. I think that I might have dreamt
something
at
least.’ He rubbed his face and sighed deeply. ‘Perhaps I’m just remembering
dreams I had before the accident…’

‘Don’t strain yourself too much,’
Rebecca said. ‘Try to rest. You have a rough time ahead of you and will need
all your energy.’

Jared pushed himself up on his elbow
and tried to look at the spot where he thought his mother was sitting. For a
long moment he didn’t say anything. ‘I’m never going to see again, am I?’ he
finally asked.

A tear slapped down on her hand and
she wiped it off. ‘No,’ she said and choked. ‘It doesn’t appear so.’

Jared sighed. ‘It never just rains,
does it?’

She didn’t answer. Somehow she knew
that there was going to be a certain amount of resistance and denial. She
closed her eyes and tried to imagine what it must feel like for him. She
shuddered at the thought. Tears forced their way from her eyes and she finally
couldn’t keep them locked up any longer. The tears rushed through relentless
and unstoppable. Rebecca tried to speak, but she couldn’t. Instead, only loud
sobs managed to escape her mouth.

Jared squeezed her hand. ‘It’s
okay,’ he whispered. ‘I’ll be fine.’

‘No you won’t!’ she sobbed. ‘You
won’t be okay.’

He rubbed her hand gently, wiping at
the wetness. ‘We have to be strong,’ he said. ‘We have to believe that
everything happens for a reason, that everything happens the way it’s meant to
happen.’

Rebecca forced a smile. She wiped at
her cheeks with the back of her hands and inhaled deeply to regain control of
her emotions. ‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘Everything will turn out the way it’s
meant to. You’re alive, and that’s
all
that matters.’

*   
-    -    -    *

Justin jerked awake. He was still in
front of the computer, its monitor glaring at him through the darkness. He
yawned and stretched out before wiping the tiny spittle of drool at the corner
of his mouth.

Must have dozed off
, he thought as he
lightly rubbed his fingers over the keyboard impressions imprinted on his
cheek. He stood up and headed to the kitchen where he poured himself some
orange juice before making his way back to his study.

‘Now where was I?’ he murmured as he
repositioned himself in front of the computer again. He swallowed half the
orange juice in one go.

The dream
, he remembered. His book
was accepted for publication. He couldn’t remember all the details, but he
could remember that some large publishing house wanted his book. He smiled.
Yeah,
right.

Justin re-read the last paragraph of
a short story he had started writing in order to keep his skills honed while he
waited for the rejections to pour in. He paused at the last sentence. Facing
him on a single line were three words: He must see.

Justin frowned. He couldn’t remember
typing that. He re-read the paragraph. There was nothing in the context of what
he was writing that would lead to him typing that sentence. He shook his head
and chuckled as he replaced the words with his own.

*   
-    -    -    *

 ‘But he’s fine, right?’ Tanya
asked as she poured herself a Rosé. She offered some, but Rebecca politely
declined.

‘Despite the fact that he might
never see again, I guess he is fine, yes,’ Rebecca answered.

Tanya smiled. ‘It’s sad that he’s
lost his sight, but I’ve seen him overcome far worse obstacles.’

‘That’s true,’ Rebecca said and
returned the smile. ‘He’s a fighter.’

‘Some of the greatest men in history
had some sort of handicap,’ Tanya said and Rebecca wondered if it was meant to
make her feel better. ‘It actually made them stronger, drove them harder.’ She
took a sip of her wine. ‘Maybe this whole thing will turn out to his advantage.
Who knows?’

‘I hope you’re right,’ Rebecca said.
‘I really hope you are.’

*  
 -    -    -    *

Jared prodded a fork in the general
direction he believed his plate to be. ‘That’s right, Mister Greene,’ a nurse
said, trying to help him stay on the right track. ‘You’re almost there.’ Jared
poked in mid air, and then made contact with the wooden tray situated above his
waist. He stabbed a few more times before the fork made contact with the
porcelain, resulting in an ear splitting screech. Jared flinched. ‘Great work,
Mister Greene,’ the nurse said. ‘The hardest part is over.’

‘This isn’t working for me,’ Jared
said. ‘I can’t do it.’

‘Now, now, Jared Greene,’ the nurse
said, trying to sound as stern as she could manage. ‘You can’t give up this
early in the game. You can’t quit now.’

‘This is stupid and I don’t like
it,’ Jared insisted. ‘And talk normal to me, for crying out loud! I’m blind,
not brain damaged.’

‘I meant no disrespect, sir...’

Jared ignored her and stabbed at his
plate again. Something soft made contact with his fork, and he pressed the
utensil into it.

‘That’s a piece of potato,’ the
nurse said reluctantly. ‘You got it spot on, Mister Greene.’

Jared wanted to cry out; he wanted
to scream and lash out at everyone and everything. Instead, he secured the
potato on his fork and raised it to his mouth. The teeth of the fork struck his
own, shooting a sensation of pain through his jaw that stabbed into his brain.
Jared cursed and flung the fork the length of the room where it struck the door
with a
clang
before clattering to the ground.