The Incubus, Succubus and Son of Perdition Box Set: The Len du Randt Bundle (46 page)

‘Yeah. After two more scenes the
words haunted me so much that I wrote a whole new story around it.’

For God’s glory to be revealed...

‘Anyways,’ Justin said, ‘I have to
pick Monique up from school. I’ll call you back later, okay?’

...he must see.

‘Okay,’ Rebecca said, and with
shaking hands replaced the cell in her handbag.

*   
-    -    -    *

 ‘Mom?’

‘It’s me, Jared,’ Rebecca said and
placed her hand on his.

‘I can’t take it anymore,’ he said.
‘I can’t go on living like this.’ She gently rubbed his hand, allowing him to
vent his anger and frustration. ‘Nothing is real anymore,’ he said. ‘Everything
around me is just a bunch of flashing colours; colours and…and overwhelming
darkness.’

‘All you need is time to get used to
it,’ she said softly.

‘I don’t
want
to get used to
it!’ Jared snapped. ‘I want everything to be the way it was before...before
this!’

Rebecca stroked the back of his
head. ‘Sometimes we have to go through bad ordeals to prepare us for what lies
ahead; to make us stronger.’

‘Or to make us consider suicide,’ he
said and looked away.

‘Don’t say that, Jared,’ she chided
him. ‘Don’t
ever
say that!’

‘You’re not in my shoes. I’ll say
what I want to.’

She bit her lip and rubbed her
burning eyes. ‘I had a dream last night,’ she said, then decided against saying
more.

For a moment he didn’t say anything.
After he regained control of his emotions he looked up. ‘What did you dream?’

‘Nothing.’

‘What did you dream?’

‘It’s...silly, really.’

‘What did you dream, mother?’

She took a deep breath. ‘I...I
can’t,’ she said and took a step back. She jerked slightly as the tears flowed.
She didn’t want Jared to hear that she was crying. ‘I thought I could do it,
but I can’t.’

‘Do what?’ Jared insisted. ‘What are
you talking about?’

Rebecca swallowed hard and rubbed
her face.
Just do it!
She forced herself to action and from her purse
produced a cloth and a small vial that contained olive oil. She then unscrewed
the top and pressed the cloth to the opening of the bottle.

‘Mom? What’s going on?’

She dipped the bottle, soaking some
of the cloth with the oil. After placing the bottle to one side, she carefully
walked over to his bed and hunched down next to him. She removed the bandages
to expose his eyes. ‘Lay still and don’t open your eyes,’ she said. Rebecca
then took the cloth and rubbed the oil over his eye lids.

‘What are you doing?’

‘Lord Jesus,’ she prayed. ‘I’m not
sure if this will work or not. I’m not even sure if I’m doing or saying the
right thing. But I believe that You can heal Jared and I’m taking a step of
faith and trust in You, Please acknowledge Your humble servant.’

‘Mom?’

She ignored him. ‘Please,’ she
begged. She inhaled deeply before issuing the command. ‘In the name of Jesus
Christ,
see!
’

For a moment Jared didn’t do or say
anything. Rebecca took a step back and held her hand to her mouth. It was too
late to undo what she did. Would he be able to see? Would her own lack of faith
hinder God from healing her son? She could only wonder as Jared turned his head
from side to side and fluttered his eyes open before closing them again.

‘I’m sorry, baby,’ she said. ‘I
thought...’

Jared opened his eyes again. ‘So
much light,’ he said. ‘So much brightness.’

Rebecca gasped.

His eyes moved around until they
locked onto hers. ‘Mom,’ he said.

He can see,
she thought as tears of
joy flowed freely down her cheeks.
Thank you, Lord for being faithful
despite my doubt.

Using his elbow, Jared pushed
himself up. He blinked a few more times and moved his eyes around until they
rested some place next to Rebecca. Jared closed his eyes slowly, and when he
opened them again, continued looking at the same spot next to Rebecca.

‘Is everything…are you okay?’
Rebecca asked.

Jared looked at her and then back at
the spot. He closed his eyes and rubbed them hard. When he opened them again he
opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Rebecca looked next to
her but didn’t see anything. Finally, the words escaped from Jared’s parched
throat. ‘That man...’

Rebecca looked around the room. She
didn’t see anyone. ‘What are you talking about, dear?’ she asked.

‘The man standing next to you,’
Jared said and pointed weakly to where he had been staring. ‘Can’t you see
him?’

She shook her head.

‘I saw him somewhere, but the memory
is vague.’ He reached his hand out to the place he was looking at and waved it
slowly through the air. ‘So much light,’ he said. ‘Yet, I can clearly see his
face.’

‘Don’t strain yourself too hard,’
She said as she walked to the bed and embraced her son. ‘I’m going to call the
doctor and he will check you out.’

Jared looked up at his mother. Her
hair had more grey than when he last saw her; the texture more stringy. ‘Before
you go,’ he said as he studied her frail figure. ‘I need to know something.’

‘Yes?’ Rebecca asked and took
Jared’s hands in her own.

He looked at the spot where he was
staring earlier and then back at her. ‘Who is he?’ Jared asked. ‘Who is Simon?’

“What’s going on, John? Why are
those guys trying to kill us?”

John looked sideways to make sure
that they were alone. “They found out what I can do,” he said. His words came
out barely above a whisper. “They know that I know the truth; that I
saw
the truth.”

“What truth?”

“I know things that they’d rather
not have the masses know.”

“Like what, John? What could be so
important that they want to kill us?”

John looked deeply into her silver
eyes, searching them for anything that would betray her, that would indicate
that she was in fact, working for the government. He only saw fear and
confusion. Good enough. “I know who killed John F. Kennedy.”

“We all know who did it,” she said
and raised her voice. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“You
think
you know,” John
said and he couldn’t prevent the smirk that followed. “But you don’t. There’s a
lot
of things you
think
you know, but don’t. I do, and you’re
affiliated with me. And that, Nina, is why they want us both dead.”

Justin sunk back into his chair and
sighed loudly. He rubbed his face and smiled broadly as he nodded to himself.
This
is going to be a good one
, he thought as he stood up and walked over to the
window where he stared at the lawn outside. Autumn had painted the leaves
yellow with a splash of red to match the afternoon sunsets, and now they were
ripped from the branches and strewn all over the lawn. A gentle breeze blew
some of the leaves to and fro, making them dance to the song of nature.

‘Now for the mail,’ he mused out
loud and saved his document before casually strolling to the kitchen where he
poured himself the last of the orange juice in the container.

Have to get some more,
Justin thought and
frowned. He downed the orange juice and smacked his lips as he stepped out into
the bright sunlight outside. He squinted at the sudden light of the clear
skies, and then leisurely strolled to the mailbox at the end of the footpath
next to the fence.

‘Bills,’ Justin said as his eyes
studied the first envelope. He flipped it over and behind the stack of
envelopes in his hand. As he walked down the path, flipping between phone
bills, electricity bills, and teenage daughter bills, the last envelope in the
stack made him stop dead in his tracks. He stared at the handwritten address
made out to his name and a familiar sense of dread twisted his stomach into a
knot. Justin became distinctly aware that his heart beat heavier and faster
than normal.

Thump, thump, thump!

He looked around, thinking that it
might be a prank and hoping to catch the prankster peeking at him from behind a
tree. There was no one. This wasn’t a prank. Justin felt like ripping the
envelope open then and there, but he decided it would be best to get inside
first.

It’s another rejection, Justin
Greene,
his mind reasoned.
We apologise, but you will just have to try again and
again.
He had submitted the manuscript to no fewer than fifty agents.
Thirty by post and twenty through e-mail. The rejections arrived one after the
other. Some were eloquent letters explaining that his book didn’t fit the list
for this year. Others were less discreet like the curt, “Thanks, but no thanks”
message that one agent sent via e-mail. The letter that he now held in his hand
would be the fiftieth rejection. For some unexplainable reason, the walk felt
longer than usual.

Thump, thump, thump!

Once inside the house, Justin
stuffed the bills into the makeshift “bill-bin” for later. He thumbed the
envelope and studied the handwriting as he absentmindedly strolled to his
office. He placed the envelope to one side and for a long moment stared blankly
at the words he had typed only a few minutes earlier.

“But you don’t. There’s a
lot
of things you
think
you know, but don’t. I do, and you’re affiliated
with me. And that, Nina, is why they want us both dead.”

Justin caught himself stealing a
glimpse at the envelope. He picked it up and sighed as he rubbed his thumb over
the handwriting.
This is it,
he thought and opened the top desk drawer
from which he produced a letter opener that Jared had made for him in ninth
grade woodshop class. His mind wandered as he looked at his distorted
reflection in the blade. The copper that once gleamed was now faded. Images of
his son reeled off in his mind like a movie and Justin could only smile as he
sent up a prayer of thanks.

To second chances,
Justin thought as he
slipped the blade into the small opening on the side of the envelope and ripped
it upward, neatly cleaving a slit into the top. With shaking hands he pulled the
neatly folded paper inside the envelope out and placed both the letter opener
and the empty envelope on the desk before gently unfolding the letter.

It was a printed letter and Justin
took time to examine the agent’s logo first before allowing his eyes to scroll
to the text.

Manuscript:
The Reaper & Mr.
Smith

Dear Mr. Greene,

Thank you for your query regarding
the abovementioned manuscript. I have read the first three chapters that you
have supplied and would like to see the rest.

Please send it at your earliest
convenience and mark it for my personal attention.

Regards,

Dorothy Stevens

Justin exhaled slowly and then
re-read the letter twice more, tracing his eyes slowly from side to side and
breathing out each word as he read it. An agent was interested in seeing the
whole manuscript! He could only shake his head and smile as he walked to the
telephone on what felt like rubber legs. The reality still didn’t sink in. He
picked up the receiver and dialled Rebecca’s number as he re-read the words once
again.

‘Becky, you’re not going to believe
this,’ Justin said when his wife answered.

‘What’s wrong?’ Rebecca asked. ‘Is
everything all right?’

Justin merely laughed. ‘Nothing’s
wrong, Becky. It’s quite the opposite, in fact.’ He took a deep breath. ‘I
received mail from an agent today.’

‘Yes...?’

‘She wants to see the rest of the
manuscript.’

‘Oh Justin, that’s wonderful news,’
Rebecca said with a slight shriek of delight in her voice. ‘I knew you could do
it.’

‘Thanks.’

‘Oh wow, baby. I’m so happy for
you.’

Justin smiled. ‘So how’s Jared?’

‘I’ve been meaning to call you all
morning,’ she said. ‘But I had to wait for the doctor’s report to be absolutely
sure.’

‘Why? What’s wrong?’

‘It’s quite the opposite,’ Rebecca
punned on Justin’s words. ‘It’s Jared. He can see.’

‘He can see?’

Rebecca laughed out loud. ‘Jared can
see!’

Justin could feel the corners of his
eyes starting to sting as he eyed the letter from the agent. The paper appeared
faded now, almost as if the magical golden glow had disappeared. Its message
paled in comparison to what Rebecca just told him. He swallowed hard at the
lump in his throat. ‘What...how did this happen?’

‘It’s a long story,’ she said. ‘But
I’ll tell you all about it when we come home.’

‘Home?’ He choked out the word.
‘When...?’

‘Two weeks, I think. Jared has some
intensive therapy ahead of him. They just need to get him started with the
foundation therapy and if they’re happy with his progress, will allow him to
continue the course at a clinic near us.’

Justin closed his eyes and inhaled
deeply. ‘I miss you, you know?’

‘I miss you too,’ she said. ‘Mostest
most.’

After they finished their discussion
and hung up, Justin walked aimlessly around the house for a few minutes. He
practically had an agent. His son was out of the coma and could see again.
Justin slumped down into his chair and sighed out loudly as he rubbed his hands
over his face. He then saved and closed the document that he was working on and
opened his draft of The Reaper & Mr. Smith. Five years of writing and now someone
other than Rebecca and Monique was going to read the entire manuscript. He
checked the paper in the printer tray and after scrolling through the document
to make sure that everything was in order, clicked on print.

*   
-    -    -    *

Movement was painful and slow. What
would take an able person two minutes to accomplish cost Jared ten agonizing
minutes of frustration. He moved two slow steps, rested, two more, rested, and
then two more. He found using a walking cane reduced the strain on his lower
back, but at the cost of his dignity.

‘Do you need some assistance?’ a
nurse offered as she passed him in the hallway.

‘No,’ Jared said and held his palm
out toward her to strengthen his resolve. ‘I have to do this by myself.’

Despite his answer, she nonetheless
reached her hand out to help him, but he jerked his arm away. She looked at him
for a moment and then asked softly, ‘Are you sure?’

Jared nodded.

‘All right. But please don’t
hesitate to call on us if you need anything, Mister Greene.’ She shot him a
smile before leaving him to his self-inflicted agony.

Step by step he made his way down
the hallway. He set goals for himself. The door. When he got there the goal
became the fire extinguisher. With each target reached, the space to the next
one increased. Jared tried to quicken his pace with each milestone he achieved.
He looked at the refreshment cart at the end of the hallway.
Just this one
,
he thought,
and then I can make myself some coffee while I’m there.
He
took a deep breath and began the next stretch of his arduous journey down the
cold, ominous hospital corridor.

It took Jared longer than expected
to finally reach the cart. He couldn’t control the slight quiver in his hand as
he poured coffee from a pot into a Styrofoam cup. He sipped at it gently as he
contemplated the route he would take back to his room.

Jared.

Jared looked behind him. For as far
as the corridor went, there was no one there. ‘Hello?’ he asked. ‘Is anyone
there?’

Jared.

He spun around and cried out in
reflex at the tall person standing right in front of him. The man was dressed
totally in black, but it wasn’t until Jared saw his charred face that he
recoiled. Jared flung the cup from his hand in reflex and the warm liquid
sprayed against the wall. In the process of trying to get away from the charred
thing, he bumped into the cart, sending crockery and cutlery clattering to the
floor. Pain stabbed at his back as he scrambled for the wall.

Jared.

‘Leave me alone!’ Jared demanded and
waved his cane through the air. ‘What the hell are you?’

‘Mister Greene?’ a nurse asked as
she ran toward him. ‘Are you all right?’

The burnt man in the black robes in
front of Jared raised a bony finger at him.

‘Him,’ Jared said and stabbed his
cane in the direction of the man. ‘Who is he, and what does he want from me?’

The nurse hunched down next to Jared
and looked at where he was pointing. ‘Who are you talking about, Mister
Greene?’

‘The man right in front of you
nurse. Are you blind or stupid?’

The nurse frowned. ‘There’s no one
there.’

‘He’s right there! Can’t you see?’

She shook her head.

Jared closed his eyes for a moment
and when he opened them again, the man was gone.

*   
-    -    -    *

 ‘What’s wrong?’ Rebecca asked
as she entered Jared’s room. ‘You look like you’ve seen a ghost.’

Ghost
, Jared thought.
I don’t know
what I saw, but that was no ghost.
‘I...I’m fine,’ he said. He considered
telling his mother about the creatures he saw, but suppressed the thought
instead. He stared out the window in silence for a long time as she took a seat
next to the bed and buried her purse underneath the chair.

‘You don’t look fine,’ she said and
placed her hand on his forehead. ‘In fact, you look pale and you’re burning
up.’

Jared pulled his head to the side
and she took away her hand. ‘I’m fine,’ he insisted and decided to shift the
focus away from himself. ‘How’s dad?’