The Incubus, Succubus and Son of Perdition Box Set: The Len du Randt Bundle (10 page)

Justin was
conflicted. He didn’t get the answers from Simon that he was looking for, but
he could sense that Simon spoke from his heart. There was a certain sense of
truth that echoed in Simon’s words that Justin couldn’t deny.

But if you
are aware of any sins that have not been forgiven, and you ask forgiveness for
those sins, the Lord will remain faithful and forgive you.

Justin’s fingers
tightened around the steering wheel.
Do I have to be forgiven?
He
wondered.
Was it that night with Megan?
He didn’t feel like confessing
anything about that night to either to Rebecca or God. Justin figured that it
was a stupid kiss and that telling his wife about it would most probably cause
more harm than good, especially given her current condition. He figured that
what she didn’t know wouldn’t break her heart.

Is it the
fact that deep down I’m not ready to be a father yet?

The Lord will
remain faithful and forgive you.

‘I don’t need
forgiveness,’ Justin mumbled.

The Lord will
remain faithful and forgive you.

‘It was a
stupid kiss!
’ Justin yelled and slammed his palm
against the steering wheel. Pain shot through his wrist and he instantly
regretted his sudden outburst. It was then that he remembered. And with the
remembering came the tears. Justin pulled off the side of the road, unbuckled
his seatbelt, and then wept like he hadn’t done in a long time.

*    -    -   
-    *

Far away from
the Greene household, at the mouth of a cave stood a hooded figure, watching
the night skies. The figure sniffed at the air, and once satisfied that
everything was safe and secure, entered the cave.

‘It is done,’
the figure spoke from the middle of a clearing to seemingly no one. ‘I have
accomplished my mission.’ For a moment there was nothing but a soft humming
echoing off the walls of the cave.

‘No,’ a voice
finally spoke. The voice appeared to be coming from the walls, and surrounded
the lone figure standing in the clearing. ‘It is not finished.’

‘What do you
mean?’ the hooded figure asked. ‘The birth of the child has been prevented.
That is what you sent me to accomplish.’

More humming.

‘Right…?’

‘The child that
you are referring to was not the one. The one we seek must still be born.’

‘How could you
be so sure?’ the figure asked.

‘
Do you dare
question me?
’ the voice boomed from all around the figure. ‘
Do you dare?
’

The figure fell
down on its knees. ‘Forgive me, my lord.’

‘You shall
return,’ the voice commanded. ‘But the plan has changed. You are not to harm
the child.’

The figure
nodded. ‘What am I to do, my lord?’

‘Stand back
until the child is conceived, then drive the woman insane and make the husband
leave her. After the birth, we can dispose of the woman.’

‘What if he
doesn’t leave her?’

Humming.

‘Then kill him.’

The figure
nodded. ‘And the child?’

‘The child will
be raised by someone of my choosing. He will grow strong and powerful and will
serve my purposes instead.’

‘As you wish, my
lord,’ the figure said before standing up. After bowing deeply, it disappeared.

*    -    -   
-    *

Two months later

‘Hey sweetie,’
Rebecca said as Justin entered the apartment. He took her in his arms and
hugged her tightly. She missed being hugged like this. ‘Are you okay?’ she
asked.

‘I’m fine,’ he
said. ‘Come.’ He took her hand in his and led her to the door. ‘I have
something for you.’

‘What is it?’
Rebecca asked, barely able to contain the excitement in her voice. It had been
a long time since he surprised her with anything.

Justin led her
to the car and opened the passenger door. ‘A little something for you,’ he said
and took a step back. On the seat was something bulky with a blanket placed
over it. ‘For when I’m not around to keep you company.’

Rebecca lifted
the blanket off the object to reveal a bird cage. ‘Oh my,’ She said and leaned
forward to get a better view of the yellow Lovebird inside. ‘It’s beautiful,
hun.’

Justin smiled.
He was relieved that she liked the bird. He panicked on the way home, thinking
that she might take the gesture the wrong way. If they lived in a larger
apartment, he would have brought her the puppy she always begged him for. ‘Its
name is Lotus,’ he said. ‘But you could name him something else if you want
to.’

‘No,’ Rebecca
said and stood back so that Justin could pick up the cage for her. ‘Lotus is
perfect.’

‘I’m relieved,’
he said. ‘Why aren’t you dressed?’

‘Dressed?’ she
asked, wondering if she missed something.

‘For dinner,’ he
said. ‘I’m taking you out tonight.’

*    -    -   
-    *

‘So,’ Rebecca
said after they were seated at their table. ‘To what do I owe the pleasure of
this surprise?’

‘I felt like
taking you out,’ Justin said. ‘It’s been a while since we’ve had a decent night
out for ourselves, don’t you think? Oh, and the fact that I’m getting a salary
now also helps.’

Rebecca giggled.
She liked it when Justin was spontaneous. The gesture with the bird warmed her
heart and eased painful memories. He did care after all. Was there a certain
sense of nervousness from his part? She couldn’t tell. ‘Yes,’ she agreed. ‘It’s
about time.’

‘How’s work?’
Justin asked, trying to make small talk while they waited for their food to
arrive. He wanted a Texan steak with fries, and she ordered the Chicken
Schnitzel.

‘Work is all
right,’ she said. ‘I made double quota again today.’

‘That’s great,
baby,’ Justin said. ‘When was the last time you reached double quota?’

‘Oh, about two
or so months ago.’

‘Well, I’m real
proud of you, Becky.’ He said. It had been two months since the miscarriage and
Rebecca was still not completely over it. His mind raced with potential subject
changers. ‘How’s Tanya nowadays?’

‘Oh, you know
her. She’s her ever cheerful self.’

The laughter was
followed by a moment of comfortable silence. Rebecca finally spoke first. ‘So
how are things at your work?’

Justin’s face
lit up. ‘It’s great,’ he said. ‘I’m really making a name for myself. I don’t
think that they expected me to be
that
good when I applied.’

‘That’s good to
know,’ Rebecca humoured him. ‘So you’re still in the...’

‘Workshop,’
Justin finished for her. ‘But I heard a bird sing about them moving me over to
other projects.’

‘Other
projects?’

‘Like onsite
technician,’ Justin elaborated. ‘They’ll send me to their really important
clients to help out with workload when necessary.’

‘I’m impressed,’
she said. She knew that Justin fixed computers, but never saw him in action.
She had no idea how good he really was. ‘And you’ve managed to achieve this in
the little time that you’ve been there.’

‘It’s not a big
deal,’ Justin said as modestly as he could manage. ‘All the guys at Cybernetics
Computers are very good at what they do.’

‘Still,’ Rebecca
said and took his hands in hers. ‘I’m very proud of you.’

You won’t be
if you know the truth about my past
, he thought,
but discarded the thought and forced a smile. ‘And I’m proud of my little
double quota girl.’

Rebecca giggled
and just then their food arrived. Both enjoyed their meals. They kept talking
to a minimum during dinner and Justin skilfully avoided the topic of her
miscarriage. Justin just wanted her to relax; to take her mind off everything
that’s happened to them over the past few months. He hoped that this dinner
would be a fresh start to a new season in their marriage.

*    -    -   
-    *

Friday nights
were Simon’s favourite. There was a certain smell in the air that one didn’t
get on any other night. It was a fresh smell, rejuvenating the soul after a
long weeks’ worth of work. He decided to spend the evening at the local mall
where he would watch the people ice skate while he enjoyed a cold chocolate
milkshake after which he would watch the new block buster movie.

Simon scouted
the parking lot for an open bay near the main entrance, but wasn’t surprised
when he found none. He then drove around to the far side of the lot where there
were a few available bays, and parked next to a huge truck. He stepped out and
locked the door. There were no security guards this far from the entrance, and
to make matters worse, most of the lights in this section of the parking lot
were out, making this side of the lot appear eerie and somewhat ominous. Simon
decided that he wouldn’t let that bother him. He took a deep whiff of Friday
night air and started towards the shopping mall.

That’s a big
truck, Simon thought as he looked at the massive sixteen wheeler parked next to
his car. The top of the truck’s wheel stood out well above the roof of Simon’s
car. Halfway to the entrance, Simon stopped.

Please Lord
, he prayed.
Please protect my car and all the rest of the cars
in this parking lot.

Simon looked
back and his heart skipped a beat. Next to the truck stood a man so large that
the top of the truck only reached his hips. The man had massive, outstretched
wings and brandished a huge flaming sword. Simon blinked once and the gigantic
being was gone. After a moment he wasn’t even sure if he had seen the angel at
all. Simon nodded and continued on his way towards the mall, confident that the
cars would be protected.

*    -    -   
-    *

‘Becky,’ Justin
said and turned to face her. He had waited until they were in bed before he
decided to talk to her. ‘I have something to tell you.’

Oh no!
Rebecca thought.
I knew the dinner was too good to be true!
She kept her expression as straight faced as possible. ‘Yes sweetie?’ she said.
‘What’s on your mind?’

‘I don’t know
how or where to begin,’ he said. ‘I’ve never told anyone this before; and I
even managed to somehow block it from my own memory until recently.’

‘What is it,
love?’ she asked. Justin never was one for opening up to her, so when he did,
she knew that he had something heavy to get off his chest. She stroked his
hand. ‘You can talk to me, baby.’

Justin took a
deep breath. He managed to put this off for two months, but he wanted to tell
her now and get it over with. He
needed
to tell her if they wanted to
make headway and move forward with their lives. ‘Becky, you know that girl I
used to date way before I met you?’

Rebecca probed
her memory. There were many girls in his past. She didn’t want to make him feel
guilty about it, so she didn’t really want to guess. ‘Um...’

‘Sandra,’ Justin
helped her.

Oh no!
‘Oh yes,’ she said as if she was just about to say the name before
he beat her to it. ‘What about her?’

Justin wiped his
hand across his face and sighed.

‘You can tell
me,’ Rebecca encouraged. ‘What about Sandra?’

‘I...she fell
pregnant while we were dating.’

Rebecca froze.
She didn’t say anything, but instead waited for Justin to go on.

‘We were young.’
Justin paused and searched his wife’s eyes for any form of disappointment or
anger. So far there were none. ‘Stupid.’

‘And...?’
Rebecca asked.

‘I couldn’t
handle the responsibility. I was young and stupid, and so I forced her...’
Justin choked and swallowed hard. ‘I forced her to have an abortion.’

Rebecca waited a
moment to see if there was more to his story. When she was sure that there
wasn’t, she took him in her arms and held his head against her chest. ‘We all
do stupid things sometimes,’ she whispered. She didn’t know if Justin could
hear her through his sobbing, but it didn’t matter.

Justin pulled
himself away from her. ‘And now God,’ he said and choked again. ‘Now
your
God has punished us for what I have done by taking our baby.’ He looked at her
for a moment until the tears blurred his vision so much that all he could do
was clutch onto his wife as he cried.

‘Nonsense,’
Rebecca said while gently stroking his hair. ‘You know that’s not true.’