Free Red Right Hand by Levi Black Page B

I felt sick to my stomach.
    Trust him? I didn’t think so.
    Daniel reached out and took the stick of gum. Unwrapping it, he let the foil flutter to the ground at his feet. Pulling the end off, he popped it in his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. He stood for a moment as we both watched him. After a long second he held the rest of the gum out to me. “It’s safe, Charlie.”
    I took the gum. I still didn’t trust the Man in Black, but Daniel had taken a chance on my behalf, and that obligated me.
    And my mouth still tasted like death.
    The spearmint cut through like a winter breeze the second it hit my tongue. The queasiness broke, fading with each chew. I looked at the Man in Black. “I still don’t want you reading my mind. It creeps me the hell out.”
    He shrugged, his coat’s flaps waving on their own. “It matters not what you want, Acolyte. The Mark you bear connects us; it is what will allow us to use Ashtoreth’s gift and complete the mission set before us.”
    The second he mentioned it, I became aware again of the circle around my throat. It lay on my collarbones, bruising and heavy, making them sore underneath it. I wanted it off me. I wanted Nyarlathotep out of my life. I wanted this night to be over.
    Something moved on the edge of the parking lot, drawing my attention.
    A low, long shape moved next to the bushes that edged the asphalt lot. Its four-legged gait herked and jerked, all hackles and low-slung spine. The creature glistened in the sodium lights above us, one baleful yellow eye staring at me as it slipped into a shadow, the other a black hole in its skull. I stared at it, and it stared right back from the darkness.
    â€œWhat the hell is that?” Daniel’s voice sounded too loud, shocking me.
    The Man in Black answered. “It is a skinhound. It will hunt her until the one who sent it is defeated.”
    Daniel stepped in front of me, hands curled into fists. “Then let’s kill it before it can hurt her.”
    â€œHe will send more if that one is destroyed.” Nyarlathotep put his normal hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “That one will remain at bay while I am here, but the only way for my Acolyte to be safe is if we complete our mission.”
    I hate it when people talk about me and not to me.
    â€œWhat do we do, then? How does this…” I searched for the right word. “… collar work?”
    â€œYour magick is intuitive. It is a part of you, the same as the mechanism that allows you to breathe or your heart to beat is a part of you.”
    I held up my hand. The Mark across my palm was red and raw and scabbed over. “I thought this was where the magick came from.”
    â€œThat merely activated what already lay inside you waiting to be born.”
    I could feel the magick inside me. “What do I do?”
    â€œClose your eyes.”
    â€œWhy do I have to close my eyes?”
    Thin lips pulled back to show gritted shark teeth. “Do you have to question everything, Acolyte?”
    â€œI’m not the trusting kind. I used to be, but I learned my lesson the hard way.”
    He sighed. “You have to use your Sight to find the one we seek. It is easier if you shut off your vision of this plane.”
    â€œThat’s all you had to say.” I closed my eyes.
    The Man in Black’s voice vibrated through me. I could feel it in my bones: a low, deep thrum. “Open your mind. The elder gods are out there. You now have the ability to feel the desires of others. The ones we seek desire to enter this plane of reality. Their lust for this world will call to you like a siren song.”
    As he spoke, my mind loosened. It slipped like a dislocated joint, popping out of its socket and stretching. It hurt in a long, slow ache. From the edges of my mindspace came little pinpricks, swirly white spots that sparked and flared in my cerebral cortex. Emotions connected to impressions swept through me,