"Hi, Chat!"
I greeted everyone, as cheerfully as I could.
It was always seven viewers. Strangely, they were not always the same seven viewers. But the number never exceeded seven, although there were, unfortunately, days when the number fell below seven.
But it always hit seven at least at one point during the stream. Never higher.
"All hail the return of the idiopath!"
"Lol, hi"
"Whatssup"
I couldn't help but feel a pang of resentment at how casually they hurt me yet threw laughing emojis and jokes around the next day.
Yet, I was grateful. Grateful that there were people. Whether they were making fun of me or not, for whatever reason they tuned in, at least they were there.
My eyes quickly scanned the viewer list. I was a little surprised to find that karuhi07 didn't join today. Senne, next to me, was probably disappointed, but she didn't show it.
It looked like no one else in the chat was seeing Senne either.
"Chat, about yesterday… I just wanted to say I'm sorry that I got a little emotional."
The hug emojis and head pat GIFs—I knew they were superficial, but they were comforting. Somewhat.
"But I wasn't lying. I really am—"
I sat up straight and my eyes widened.
The viewer count hit eight as a new person joined.
"Welcome to the stream, deeznutzcracker!!!"
I yelled in excitement, earning a few laughs. I couldn't care less.
And then—
"Welcome, lolioli!"
What's wrong with all these people's names?! Heck, my viewer count hit nine just now. NINE!
"Something's happening," Senne whispered, but her voice was calm.
I muted the mic for a moment and asked, my hand shaking.
"Senne, are you getting tingles?"
"Yes, but a good kind."
Then another one joined, immediately asking, even before I could greet them,
"Is this the stream with the ghost?"
Senne almost lunged forward, grabbed the microphone, and shouted into it.
"Yes! But I'm not a ghost! I'm a DEVIL!"
"CUT IT OUT!!!" I screamed at the marmalade brain.
The chat sensed something.
"Huh?"
"Who's she talking to?"
"Odd."
"Schizo?"
I pushed Senne aside, which was a bit too easy, and explained, "I'm sorry, just… something random."
"She's giving psycho vibes today"
"Is this her new spiel?"
"Interesting."
That single line caught my eye.
It was karuhi07.
I didn't know when they came in, but I instinctively checked the viewer count.
Thirteen.
"Nice to meet you, genderless person," Senne said.
"Did you guys see that?" BigDig99 typed in the chat.
"A glitch?" Another one said.
"Ooh, is this the ghost thing?" a newcomer asked.
"Did… did you guys hear it?" I asked the chat, my heart pounding.
"???"
The chat was scrolling fast with question marks and confused emojis.
"Did you guys just hear someone speak?" I asked again.
"She's tripping."
"This is fun."
"Schizo."
"Chat, what's going on?"
Although I sensed it first this time, I wasn't quick enough to stop Senne from making another interruption as she spoke one more time, "Marmalade."
"OMG what the fuck is that?" lolioli asked the others.
"Another glitch."
"That was done pretty well. Bravo."
"Sweet, this is what I came here for."
Something clicked in my mind.
"You guys see something? You don't hear it, but you see it?" I asked the chat.
"Lol."
"Pretty good acting for Bree tbh"
"I'll play along. Yes, some weird ass freak flickered for a second there."
That's when Senne lost it. She pushed me aside, making my gaming chair roll away from the desk all the way to the bedroom door, with me still on it, flailing my arms and stupid noises escaping from my mouth.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING WEIRD ASS FREAK?!!!! YOU INSOLENT IMBECILES!!!"
The devil screamed into the microphone and started speaking in a language that I had never heard before.
I hurried back to the desk to get the situation back under control. I snatched the microphone out of Senne's hand and shouted at her.
"NO MORE MARMALADE FOR YOU! BAD, BAD GIRL!"
Senne finally came back to her senses, lowered her head, sluggishly walked away from the desk, and stood facing the window.
"Jeez, I'm really sorry everyone."
The chat was silent for a full fifteen seconds. Nobody said anything. No wise-ass remark. No jokes. No emojis.
Then it exploded.
"Holy shit, what the fuck was that"
"I wet myself."
"That was traumatic."
"This is freaking awesome."
"Fucking hell."
Then someone joined the stream. Yet another new person. And then another one. Then another three. Then another few.
It just kept growing. The numbers were going up so fast it made me dizzy. The chat scrolled so fast I couldn't keep up.
Then something flashed in my room as if lightening struck. The computer screen went instantly black. The lights in my room went out. I could hear Brian running toward my room yelling out my name. I turned to see Senne, and for a split second, I thought the black flame on her face was gone. In its place, I saw a face—a face so beautiful it could kill you instantly. Then the black flame engulfed it again. As I stood frozen, Senne laughed. Like a child.
"Heh. Hehe. Hehehe."