The Incubus, Succubus and Son of Perdition Box Set: The Len du Randt Bundle (29 page)

The woman continued singing, her
long black hair flowing in the wind as if dancing to her song. Her voice grew
in brilliance and intensity until Tanya couldn’t handle it anymore. Tanya cried
as she clutched the woman’s feet, soaking them with her tears. She took a thick
lock of hair in her hand and wiped her tears from the woman’s feet. The singing
stopped and the woman hunched down next to Tanya. ‘Come,’ she said in a soft,
sweet voice as she extended her hand. ‘Time is short and we have much to do.’

*   
-    -    -    *

The man standing behind the podium
was impressive. His speech was perfect and he knew his subject matter extremely
well. Jared couldn’t help but feel insignificant in the speaker’s presence.

‘We have to unite as a global
power,’ the man said. ‘If not, everything we’ve worked so hard to accomplish is
futile.’

The audience applauded and cheered
as the man’s speech grew in authority and intensity.

‘We have to weed out the weak to
build a new generation of men and women worthy of the great task at hand. We
need strong leadership to guide our tightly-knit fellowship so that things will
finally be run the way that they’re supposed to be.’

His comment was met with even more
applause and cheering.

‘With this in mind, I therefore
implore each and every one of you to...’

The singing not only distracted the
speaker, but everyone else in the auditorium. At first Jared couldn’t place the
source of the voice, but he soon determined that it came from a room opposite
the hallway outside. His stomach twisted. Jared had never heard such a
beautiful voice in his life before, and had he not known better, he would have
sworn that the voice belonged to an angel.

‘I implore each one of you,’ the
speaker tried to continue, ‘to...’

Jared stood up and moved toward the
aisle. He was on the verge of tears, unable to control his emotions in front of
the gathered crowd.

The voice grew louder with intensity
and passion.

Jared swallowed hard to rid himself
of the lump in his throat. His eyes stung as tears brimmed in the corners. He
made his way across the narrow hallway and stood in front of the door for a
moment. Tears snaked down his cheeks as he placed his hand on the door handle
and pressed it down. The door slowly creaked open and Jared gasped in awe as
the music reached his ears unfiltered. He cried out and fell down on his knees,
unable to stop the tears from flowing as the voice grew even more intense and
powerful. He knew no words to describe the divine beauty of the song which
captivated him so immensely. Jared wanted to sing and dance, he wanted to cry
out and laugh. He wanted to build cities and destroy countries. He wanted to
implode the universe.

The source of the voice slowly made
her way to him and Jared gasped in awe at the sight of the astoundingly
beautiful woman. She wove words in a voice that left him crying like a child.
Jared felt an overwhelming need to touch her, to feel her skin, to stroke the hair
of the woman that could render him helpless with her mere voice. He wanted to
be part of her, to embrace her, and to treasure her song until his heart
exploded.

Her slim, graceful hand reached out
to him and his own hand came up to meet hers. Their fingers touched only for a
fraction of a second before he awoke with a start.

Jared wiped at his clammy face with
his arm, but the tears kept flowing. He looked around the darkened room, hoping
that what he had just experienced was real. When he realised it wasn’t,
disappointment seeped into his thoughts and he briskly made his way to the
bathroom. The woman’s voice still echoed in his mind as he entered the bathroom
and shut the door. With the door locked, Jared lay on the cold bathroom tiles,
sobbing loudly as the voice slowly faded.

‘Jared?’ Amy’s muffled voice called
to him from the other side of the door. ‘Are you okay in there?’

‘Go away!’

‘Is everything...?’

‘I said,
go away
!’

He tried to hold on to the waning
strands of the music. Jared didn’t want it to stop. He wailed even louder as
the voice finally faded into nothingness. After a few minutes of lying on the
floor, he finally managed to pick himself up. Turning to the basin, Jared
splashed cool water over his face and drank some of it to drench his parched
throat.

‘What the hell was
that
about?’ he softly asked his reflection and swallowed hard. He couldn’t believe
that a mere dream could move him to such an extent. Catching a glance of his
pale face in the mirror, he switched off the light before making his way to the
study. His hands were still shaking slightly as he poured himself a glass of
Ragnaud-Sabourin Le Paradis cognac from an ornate crystal decanter. He drowned
the glass in one gulp and, still feeling somewhat overwhelmed and
disorientated, headed back to bed.

Jared woke to the smell of frying
bacon. He checked the digital alarm clock. Ten to six. From the empty space in
the bed next to him, he figured that Amy must have gotten up at around five to
prepare the breakfast. Jared closed his eyes. He didn’t know why he felt so
fatigued, but the realization that it was Friday gave him enough strength to
sit up straight.

Oh man
, he thought as he rubbed his face.
What
a night!
Jared slipped out of bed. With his first step his leg buckled and
he had to hold on to the bed for support. It felt as if he had been drugged,
and he shook his head to clear it while he slowly shifted his balance between
each leg. He took another step when he felt secure enough to try walking again.
What on earth’s the matter with me?

‘Morning, love,’ Amy said as she
entered the bedroom. ‘Breakfast is ready.’ She wrapped her arms around him and
pulled him closer for a kiss.

Jared avoided the kiss and gave her
a peck on the cheek instead. He didn’t want to kiss her before he at least
brushed his teeth. ‘Thanks,’ he said, surprised at the numbness of his mouth
and tongue. His own voice sounded groggy and alien to him. ‘Feels like I’ve
been in a coma.’

‘You had a bad dream last night,’
she said as she handed him a glass of milk. ‘I don’t think you slept well again
after that.’

Sections of the dream flashed
through his mind and Jared held on to Amy to prevent himself from falling down.

‘Are you all right?’ She asked.

‘I’m fine,’ he lied. He looked up at
her face and studied her eyes. ‘I was rude to you,’ he said as bits and pieces
of memories from the previous evening revealed themselves to him.

‘You were upset about the dream.’

‘Even so,’ he said. ‘That doesn’t
give me the right to yell at you.’ He folded his arms around her and squeezed.
‘I’m so sorry, baby. Please forgive me.’

Amy squeezed tighter. Even though
she didn’t take it personally, she was relieved that he realised when he was at
fault. ‘Come,’ she said. ‘Shower and get dressed. I’ll wait for you in the
kitchen. You look hungry.’

Jared finished the milk and handed
the empty glass back to her. ‘Thanks, love,’ he said. ‘A shower and a good
breakfast might just be what I need to get myself back into gear.’

Relieved that Jared was feeling his
normal self again, she pulled him closer for another peck before heading down
to the kitchen.

Jared waited until he was sure she
was in the kitchen before he carefully made his way to the bathroom. He twisted
the warm water tap and took a step back as the water spurted from the head.
Jared then turned to face himself in the mirror. The pale figure that eyed him
from within the mirror revolted him. He splashed his face with water from the
basin and wiped at the fogged up mirror. A figure in the corner of his eye made
him jump and turn around. Jared chuckled nervously when he realised that there
was no one there.
Get your act together, Greene
, he reproved himself as
he got into the steaming shower.

*   
-    -    -    *

 ‘There’s a complication with
the Patterson shipment,’ Shaun said as Jared entered the building. ‘We somehow
lost track of the load.’

‘Good morning to you too,’ Jared
said.

‘This is serious, Jay,’ Shaun said
as he followed Jared deeper down the entrance hallway. ‘If we don’t find that
shipment within the hour, we’re going to breach Service Level. It’s our first
shipment for them and I don’t think it would leave a great impression if we
messed it up now.’

The two men briskly walked up the
marble steps to the executive floor. ‘What’s the last log we have on the shipment?’

‘GTA Freights.’

‘How hard could it be? Have Lisa
track it and sort it out.’

‘She’s not in today,’ Shaun said as
they walked through the hallway toward Jared’s office at the end. ‘I tried her
already. Her cell phone is switched off.’

Jared stopped at the door. ‘Are you
serious?’

Shaun nodded.

‘Did you verify with Pam if Lisa
called in sick?’

‘No one knows where she is.’

‘Did you try her land line at home?’

‘Answering machine. I left a
message; a few, in fact. Look Jared, I’m sure she’ll come in on Monday morning
with a good excuse, but for now we have to focus on the problem at hand.’

Jared frowned. Lisa would never stay
away without informing him. No matter what. That was a personal arrangement
between him and her. ‘You’re right,’ he said as he opened his office door.
‘Patterson’s shipment.’

Once the two of them were seated at
Jared’s table, Shaun exhaled slowly and gave his head a slight shake. ‘So,’ he
asked. ‘Any ideas?’

Jared thought for a moment as he
stared out the glass wall. He tapped his fingers against each other and closed
his eyes to clarify his thoughts. Most of these scenarios were resolved by just
calming the nerves, subduing the thoughts, and taking it from the top, one step
at a time. ‘I assume you called GTA?’

‘Yes,’ Shaun said. ‘They claim the
load has already been pushed out.’

‘Okay. From there, where did it go?’

‘To Harris and Sons.’

‘Let me guess,’ Jared said and
swivelled his chair. ‘Harris and Sons claim they never received the load?’

‘Correct.’

‘And what does GTA have to say about
it?’

‘They claim that Harris and Sons
signed it off.’

‘Who signed it off?’

Shaun flipped through a stack of
papers. ‘I have it here somewhere,’ he said as he traced his finger down a list
of names. ‘It’s a guy called Ronald Jamal.’

Jared leaned back into his chair and
gave it another swivel. He rubbed his chin as he repeated the name in his mind.
‘You say it’s Ronald Jamal?’

‘That’s right. Is something wrong?’

Jared’s eyes lit up and he allowed
himself to relax as a smile spread itself across his face. ‘Should I give you a
minute or so to figure it out?’

Shaun checked the name again.
Nothing funny or interesting came to mind. ‘I don’t see what you...’

‘Ronald Jamal works for SlipStream,’
Jared said. ‘Not Harris and Sons.’

Shaun’s eyes lit up as he verified
the information. ‘GTA sent our Patterson shipment to the wrong guys.’

‘And logged it wrong too,’ Jared
said. ‘This is not the first time. Get on the phone with Harris and apologize
for the miss-communication. Also have Pam send them something nice to drink.’

Shaun jotted down the instructions.

‘Once you’re done, get hold of
Ronald Jamal at SlipStream and verify that he has the shipment. Tell him where
it should go to.’

‘I’ll get right to it,’ Shaun said.
‘What do we do about GTA?’

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Jared said
and picked up the phone. ‘I’m on it.’

*   
-    -    -    *

Jared stood at the glass wall,
looking out over Kelwick while wondering where on earth Lisa was. As his
personal assistant she was quite efficient with updating him about her
whereabouts at all times. She always made sure that he knew when she was going
to be absent or late, which was—in a word—never. The lack of communication
worried him. He tried calling both her numbers during the course of the day,
but only got as far as leaving voicemails. He was sure that she would be in on
Monday morning, bright eyed and bushy tailed like always with a very good
excuse.

The phone rang.

Lisa
, Jared thought. He walked around
the desk and checked the display on the phone. It was an external number.
Tanya
.
‘This is Jared Greene,’ he answered formally none-the-less.

‘Hi sweetie,’ Tanya greeted. ‘How
are you?’

‘I’m fine, thanks. And you?’

‘Couldn’t be better.’

‘That’s great,’ Jared said. ‘It’s
nice to know that all is fine. What can I help you with?’

The sound of paper shuffling in the
background came through before Tanya spoke again. ‘Sunday,’ she said. ‘Do you
have any plans?’

‘This coming Sunday?’ Jared asked
rhetorically. Other than going to Church, converting, and asking Amy to marry
him, he didn’t have anything major planned. ‘Amy and I are going to Church in
the evening. No plans during the day.’

‘Great! I want you to come over for
lunch. Nothing fancy. I’m dying to introduce you to my niece, Natasha.’

Jared’s mind made an instant
analogy.
N for Niece. N for Natasha.
He was confident that he wouldn’t
forget the name. ‘You have a niece?’

‘Yes silly,’ Tanya said. ‘I’m sure I
told you about her before. You know; the one that lives in New York?’

Jared scanned his memory. ‘Nope,’ he
said. ‘Can’t say that I’ve ever heard you mention a niece or say the name
Natasha before.’

‘Well that’s beside the point. Let’s
make it for around noon.’

‘Noon should be fine,’ Jared said.

‘Oh, and bring what’s-her-face...’

‘Amy.’

‘Yes, Amy. Bring her too.’

‘Okay, Tee. See you then.’

Jared hung up and strolled back to
the window.
Such a lovely Friday afternoon
, he thought.
Can’t afford
to waste it
. He walked back to his desk and rang Shaun, telling his
colleague that he would be leaving early today.

‘Any news from Lisa?’ Shaun asked.

‘None,’ Jared said. ‘I’ll keep
trying from my cell over the course of the weekend.’

‘Okay. I’ll keep trying from this
side too. Sooner or later she would
have
to answer.’

After relaying a few errands that
had to be attended to, Jared headed for the door. Amy didn’t expect him home
for another three hours. She also didn’t expect dinner and a movie; the perfect
start to the perfect weekend.

*   
-    -    -    *

Sunday arrived quicker than Jared
would have liked. He toyed with the idea of proposing after lunch at Tanya’s
place, but ultimately decided against it. The plan was set. He would join Amy
for the Church service where—if anything compared to last week—he would
convert. They would then drive to Abbott’s Peak where, with the perfect view of
Kelwick, he would ask the perfect woman to be his wife.

‘I still can’t see why this couldn’t
wait until tomorrow evening,’ Amy said as the car crunched along the gravel
driveway. ‘Our arrangement was for Mondays, not Sundays.’

‘Maybe they have plans for tomorrow
night,’ Jared said. ‘Who knows? Besides, maybe it’s time that the two of us
have a Monday to ourselves, don’t you think?’

Amy didn’t answer. She merely
unclipped her seatbelt and got out.

‘Hey you,’ Tanya said as the two of
them approached the door. Once all the hugs were dealt out, Tanya gave Amy’s
elbow a gentle tug. ‘Will you be a sweetheart and help me finish off in the
kitchen?’

Amy raised an eyebrow at Jared. He
merely smiled and shrugged.

‘You can wait for us in the living
room, okay?’ Tanya asked. She didn’t wait for Jared to respond, but merely led
the dumbstruck Amy into the kitchen; leaving a confused Jared standing there,
wondering what on earth just happened.

‘Women,’ Jared sighed as he made his
way to the living room. ‘Just when you think you’ve got them figured...’ His
words trailed off when his eyes made contact with a woman standing in the
corner of the room.

N for Niece. N for Natasha
.

‘You must be Natasha,’ Jared said.
The woman turned around and smiled. Jared gasped. Never in his life had he seen
such beauty. The strength in his legs drained as she made her way toward him
and his heart pumped in his ears when she held out her hand.

‘And you must be Jared,’ she said in
a silky smooth voice and smiled again. ‘It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.’

Jared took her hand and his stomach
fluttered.
Such perfect skin!
Her voice left a seductive tone in his
ears. He couldn’t quite place what exactly it was that he liked so much about
her. Was it the crystal blue clarity of her big round eyes? The way her perfect
nose tilted just a little bit upward? Was it her lips that felt as if they were
pulling at his own lips with a magnetic force he couldn’t resist? Jared
couldn’t put his finger on it. ‘Believe me,’ he said, his words sounding like a
mere echo somewhere in the distance to his own ears. ‘The pleasure is all
mine.’ He felt stupid even as he spoke the words, but he didn’t care. She was
the reason his legs felt weak and he would admit it in a heartbeat. Something
about her triggered nostalgic childhood memories where everything was so pure
and simple. An image of his dream flashed through his thoughts and Jared
studied her face. Could it be her? He dismissed the thought and merely smiled
at her.