There are some things that man was never meant to know. Only the most morbidly curious, desperately suicidal, or else tragically unfortunate encounter this forbidden knowledge. For most, eldritch lore destroys the synapses, obliterates the consciousness, and sends the victim head-first into the ocean of insanity. Many are driven to suicide, if only to escape the eldritch information echoing in their dreams.

David Martin was not one of those people. He had been merged with the entirety of all consciousness and emerged alive, though not necessarily for the better.

Now deep into the woods, having departed from the blinded girl, David reached into his blazer’s pocket and removed a half-empty pack of cigarettes. As he placed one of the cigarettes between his lips and flicked the lighter, the thought struck him once again. This hadn’t been a habit of his before. Well, not for a few years. In his youth back in Liverpool, he’d been a rather casual smoker, only partaking in the activity when out with friends or when at a party – few and far between as they had been. But when he graduated university, he’d packed away his smokes for good – or so he thought. When that thing had been inside him, something latent was awoken. Animalistic, he thought, that this vile habit had taken over, yet hadn’t gone when the voice did.

He kept walking, heading deeper into the rough of the trees. The path upon which he strode hadn’t been cleared in a while, judging from the nearly waist-high grass at the edges, trying to creep into what had been man’s territory. As he trekked, every so often he would stumble over some foolhardy root or branch that dared to encroach onto the dirt path. In his head, David referred to these daring bits of plant life as “hands” reaching out to grab him by the ankle.

“It’s all nature battling an encroachment,” David sighed through a puff of smoke.

He quickly moved onto loftier ideas. Distracted by his own thoughts, David didn’t detect the slightest of movement from the grass as it fluttered gently in the breeze…

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South Watershed Regional Banquet Hall
South Watershed, Louisiana
8:14 P.M.

“Mystica,” said the lobster from atop the table as it inched out of Annie’s purse.

“Ah, Jefferson,” replied Mystica, pinning his own left hand by the wrist to the table. “Samuel Jefferson, a.k.a. The Crimson Hand. Enjoying your immortality?”

“This,” Jefferson snarled, using his blue claw to gesture vaguely at himself, “is not the eternal life you promised me.”

Mystica gave a sarcastic groan and rolled his eyes. Having retaken her place at the table next to her master, Annie squirmed uncomfortably. Noticing this, Mystica sought to break the ice.

“Annie, meet Samuel Jefferson. He was a trusted confidante of mine from one of my previous treks on Earth in a hijacked body. Victorian era.”

“Was,” Jefferson emphasized. “Right up until the moment he turned me into the thing you see before you.”

“Oh, come on,” Mystica chuckled. “I promised you immortality, so I turned you into something that doesn’t get diseases. Simple.”

To this, Jefferson merely slammed his claw against the table in frustration.

“You betrayed me!” he cried.

“Samuel, that hurts,” said Mystica, feigning offense. “For goodness’s sake, man, I was looking out for your well-being.”

“By turning me into a delicacy?”

“I could have gone with snail, but apparently that’s also a bit of a delicious meal to some. If anything, I saved you from a horrible fate. Things were falling apart. The plot had unraveled, and I knew they would be coming for us. So I saved your life before I myself was subjected to another few decades of sleep.”

“Wait, sorry,” Annie interrupted, looking rather perplexed, “who was coming for you?”

Mystica furrowed his brow and looked to his pinned hand, which was still locked in a series of spasms. It wouldn’t be long now…

“Annie, if you’re going to truly become my favored avatar upon this planet, you have to understand that I have enemies. I have always had enemies, even since the dawn of time itself. With each vile deed committed, the odds become steadily stacked against us. If you must truly know…I fear some of my dear brothers and sisters are also awake and on Earth. And if that is indeed the case, then we are all in incredible danger. The mere association with me sentences you all to a most violent death. You will find that my siblings are not ones for mercy. They will hurt you if they find you. They will tear you apart from the subatomic level, and you will feel every bit of your being being torn asunder and burned up in the fires of some distant star. But you know no better than to follow me like a sheep to slaughter. Poor girl.”

“Do not make assumptions about me,” Annie warned, her eyes dropping into suspicious slits. “I’ve done many a horrid deed to gain your favour. You should not make me out as some pitiful creature. I am more than your brothers or sisters can see. I am more. You said it yourself. And I will not be defined merely by my association with you. I am fear. I am anguish. I will embrace whatever fate awaits me. They may tear me apart and burn away the evidence, but I will leave a scar on this Earth. Do not put me in a corner, and do not assign a label to me, dear master. I am more than a name. I could be more than just you. And I will be.”

“Well, goodness,” Mystica snickered, looking rather pleased. “I hadn’t realized what an absolute treasure I had in you.”

“Do not make the mistake again, master. Leave mistakes for your unfortunate siblings to make.”