The beep of the register rang again. And again.
Bran's fingers moved automatically, scanning the barcode on the can of soda like his brain had long since checked out. His eyes flicked to the clock above the freezer section.
6:42 PM.
Eighteen minutes to go live.
He bagged the last customer's items, gave a half-smile that barely reached his eyes, and waved them off. Before the next one could even step forward, Bran pulled off his apron and tossed it onto the counter.
"Yo," came a voice from behind him. "Where you running off to? Got a date with destiny or something?"
Bran glanced back.
Tyler, his co-worker… tall, stocky, and forever wearing that stupid grin like he owned the world. The guy was a clown, but not a bad one. Just... annoying when you were in a hurry.
"Just heading home," Bran said quickly, grabbing his phone and backpack. "I've got something to do."
Tyler raised an eyebrow, then smirked. "Ohhh right. That livestream thing, huh?"
Bran paused, his hand still on the door.
"How many followers you got now? Five? Six?"
"Fourteen," Bran muttered, not bothering to hide the sigh in his voice.
Tyler laughed teasingly. "Man, I admire the dedication. Ain't nobody watching, but you're still talking like you got fans lining up in the comments. You ever thought of just recording TikToks instead? Less humiliating."
Bran shot him a flat look and shook his head.
"Later, Tyler."
"Say hi to your invisible fanbase for me!"
Bran didn't bother replying. He pushed through the store door, the jingle of the bell behind him trailing off into the Texas evening.
A-Town, Texas.
That's what people called it. Short for Allensfield, though the only thing that ever felt "all in" was poverty.
The sun was setting low behind the flat rooftops, painting the sidewalks in dull orange and burnt shadows. Bran's sneakers slapped against the cracked concrete as he jogged down a side street.
He passed the same closed-down laundromat, the same old man asleep under the basketball hoop, the same graffiti-tagged wall that read:
"YOU ARE STILL HERE? YEAH, ME TOO."
It made him think. About life. About time. About how stuck it all was.
It hadn't always been like this.
Just four years ago, Bran was a college freshman. Communications major. Low GPA, but a big heart and a camera always pointed at something.
People, life, and ideas.
Then came the phone call.
His dad, dead from a car crash on his way back from an overnight shift. His mom, left behind with a petty job and hospital bills.
Tuition? Gone.
Dreams? On pause.
He had to drop out of school, picked up a job at RidgeMart, and canceled everything but rent and internet.
Because the only thing he had left—the only thing that still felt like his—was the livestream.
However, even his so-loved livestream career had been much of a hell for him, and one didn't have to be told how miserable it had been.
After almost two years, Bran had just been clinging to fourteen active viewers, and it wasn't looking like it would get any better.
For many, there was nothing to be hopeful about, as they saw Bran as a stubborn failure who wouldn't just give up.
Still, his passion for what he loved remained strong, and he was ready to livestream till the end.
...
It wasn't far to Gina's place. Just six blocks down and two turns past the pawn shop.
Gina, his childhood friend. The only person who still saw him as something more than "that kid with a dead dad and a dead dream." She had believed in his idea when no one else did.
"It's stupid," she would say. "But it's our kind of stupid."
He smiled to himself as he crossed the last street, reminiscing about the funny moments with her.
Tonight was their big idea... The thing that might finally get people to watch. A dumb prank, sure. A fake summoning ritual, scripted with Gina acting as a creepy witch to "invade" the stream.
It was supposed to be funny.
It was supposed to go viral, right?
Upon reaching Gina's apartment, he didn't bother knocking and just used a unique alarm.
"Gina, you better not back out now. I've already hyped this thing on Discord."
Bran leaned against the frame of his childhood friend's apartment door, arms crossed and frustration only half-faked.
Inside, Gina sat cross-legged on her bed in mismatched socks, applying black lipstick with the focus of a surgeon.
She didn't even look up, just chuckled.
"Bran, you're summoning a 'witch from another world' using a chalk circle, dollar-store candles, and Latin you found on Reddit. Excuse me for not treating this like Oscar material."
Bran grinned, giving a headshake. "Hey, first of all, it was a French occult site. Secondly, the chalk cost extra. That's commitment."
Gina rolled her eyes, tossed the lipstick aside, and stood. She wore a long black dress layered with a cloak and some fake bones she had strung together from her Halloween box.
"You're lucky I love embarrassing myself for you."
"You love embarrassing me," Bran corrected.
She walked up, opened the door, and tapped his chest. "Same thing, nerd."
They both laughed, exchanging affectionate looks. That was the kind of laugh that only came from a decade of friendship, shared memes, failed science projects, and awkward teen phases.
Their bond had been... unbreakable.
Then Gina leaned in and narrowed her eyes playfully.
"So, when exactly do I jump out as the evil otherworldly witch?" she asked.
"Right after I chant the last line," Bran said. "Fog machine goes off, lights flicker and bam! Witch appears. My viewers go nuts."
Gina folded her arms. "How many viewers?"
He looked away. "…Fourteen."
"Awhun… Big league stuff."
"Heyy, they were eleven some days ago."
"Phew… I know. Don't forget I'm your manager."
Gina laughed softly as she went in to grab all the stuff she needed and followed Bran out, heading to his house.
They wasted no time on preparation and rehearsals, and began immediately when it was 7 PM on the dot.
The camera was live.
Bran sat cross-legged in the middle of a dimly lit room, the chalk circle drawn unevenly on the floor around him. Candles flickered at each point. A dusty old book, actually a thrift store Bible with a fake leather cover, sat open in front of him.
His screen showed 14 active viewers.
------
[VoidPrince37: "LMAO is this a new ARG or what?"]
[LatteFiend: "Looks cheap af but kinda spooky. I dig it."]
[ChocoMage: "If this dude floats, I'm calling the cops."]
------
Bran cleared his throat after reading the first few comments and shut his eyes.
"Tonight… we call upon the Veil. We summon her, the lost one, from beyond the Shattered Realms…"
The Latin-like gibberish followed. Bran did his best serious voice, suppressing a laugh at the ridiculousness of it.
Behind the camera, Gina waited quietly in the hallway, ready to burst in with a dramatic shriek and fog machine puff.
She didn't want to mess things up, because this might just be the one golden chance to help her best friend with his poor livestreaming dream.
She literally wanted the best for him, and wanted him to succeed with what he loved.
At a point, Bran reached the final chant.
"Venari olthra… Et nolari trenn—"
It was a phrase he had practiced for an eternity, but now, well, he was almost perfect.
BOOM!
The candles exploded inward.
The lights in the room flickered violently. Bran jumped to his feet. His monitor glitched into static. His mic hissed.
The chalk circle glowed white-hot.
And in the middle of it… the air ripped open.
His eyes widened.
"What the...?"
---
[User: DanteDeluxe: "WHAT CGI IS THIS??!"]
[BloodLuvr: "Wait… this ain't real, right?"]
[AstroSnax: "Dude this is so fake I love it!"]
---
Bran staggered back, eyes wide.
The rip expanded like a vertical pool of black water trembling inside the circle. The air smelled like ash and static, as sparks danced across his floor.
And something… stepped through.
First, a pale hand. Then a cloaked figure with blood on her cheeks and glowing eyes, full of fear, fury, and confusion.
The woman collapsed to one knee. Gasping. Breathing like she had just clawed her way out of death.
Bran just stood there.
Not moving.
Not speaking.
Not breathing.
[VoidPrince37: "Oh my god is she okay??"]
[ChocoMage: "Whoa, Lady Witch went HARD with this one."]
[I Have A Girlfriend: "Peak Acting! I wanna buy the witch chocolate!"]
[ModeratorNote]: "Stream flagged for review — visual effects under investigation."
Bran didn't blink.
Because he knew one thing for sure...
That wasn't Gina.
And whatever he had just pulled through that circle…
Was real.
The most dumbfounding part? This mysterious young lady was brutally injured.
And right before their eyes, before Bran and Gina could even react, she looked around, made a short observation of where she was...
And collapsed at Bran's feet.