Chapter 42
“Hey. Branston Gang! Welcome to our meet and greet.” at the entrance of a local boba shop, Brian was welcoming the fans and trying to control the flow of fans into the shop: “Please be patient. Branston will meet all of you one at a time! Ready your swag and selfie sticks!”
“Hey, Brian?” Caroline and Jason did not stand in the line at all, they headed directly up to Brian: “We need to talk with you and Branston, and Adam ASAP.”
“Woah woah woah. What’s up with you guys?” Brian tried to make Jason and Caroline back off some distance since they were coming on a little bit too strong, “Adam is not here. He’s prepping information for our next ghost hunting adventure. I think he suggested inviting you two to tag along as well!”
“We don’t care about that now, we wanna check with you...” Caroline tried to cut Brian off.
“Wait, what do you mean you don’t care? The stream literally blew up! ” Brian seemed a bit hurt and offended, “The stream got a couple of million views in live audience and replays! How can you not care?!”
“Is Caroline here? I heard Caroline.” Branston walked out of the boba shop door, causing all of the fans that lined up in front of the door to all cheer and scream - especially the couple that came with Caroline and Jason, “Oh heyyyy… Jason you’re here as well. Whatsup?”
“We need to talk. Now.” Caroline went and grabbed Branston’s arm directly.
“Ah. Well?” Branston exchanged looks with Brian, both were stunned for a moment and did not know what to do, so they both relented and let Jason and Caroline in the shop.
“Just be patient for a short while, gang!” Brian told the fans in line loudly before backing into the shop.
“Okay, let me see your arms, BOTH your arms!” Jason couldn’t help but yell at both Brian and Branston.
Brian and Branston were slightly intimidated, so they had to show Jason their arms. And to the relief of both Caroline and Jason, they did not have the same kind of black markings on their arms.
“Did you encounter anything weird since the stream?” Caroline asked, “Things like nightmares, strange visions and hallucinations? Or have you remembered anything?”
“Ummm… to be honest, I still can’t remember anything.” Branston admitted with embarrassment, “Whatever it is, it must be super creepy though. I mean we looked at the video like a hundred times, and it gets creepier each time!”
“Okay, okay, you should have the original video? Unedited? Anything strange in there?” Jason asked.
“Um, no. The camera was wired to keep streaming as long as it is recording. All the stream is also backed up online so that the fans can re-watch. We don’t do that editing fake-ass bullshit on our channel.” Branston was the one to seem offended and upset now: “I am the real influencer.”
“It’s true, we use one of those real cameras that link to an online platform. The platform certifies the final video with the stream. If we edit the streamed video then upload, we will not have the certification of realness.” Brian explained in a calmer voice: “Our brand is huge on realness, you know? It’s one of the reasons people trust us and trust the video - even though the stream got cut off - the camera was malfunctioning that time but it was still able to connect to the internet and record when we got the footage of you finding the body.”
“Okay. If you don’t remember anything, how can we get a hold of Adam? We have some questions for him.” Jason asked: “This is very important.”
“Can you tell me what’s this about first? ” Brian had lost most of his patience: “You barged in here, interrupted our meet and greet, just to look at our arms? What the hell is going on?”
“You’re better off not knowing. Believe me.” Caroline shook her head: “Now, tell us how to find Adam and we will get outta your hair.”
“You remember! Don’t you! You remember!” Branston jumped out of his chair and excitedly pointed at Caroline and Jason: “Holy shit! It makes sense now! You guys are psychics! You guys knew and you guys were there to deal with whatever was going on in there weren’t you?”
“Shit! Really?!” this realization struck Brian as well: “It totally made sense! Shit! It made so much sense!”
“You are fucking psychics! Psy-fucking-chics!” Branston’s voice caught the attention of the shop staff as well as a few fans outside of the door.
“Holy shit! This is bomb! This is bomb! Let me get a camera!” Brian rushed to the corner where he put his bag, and started looking.
“Tell us how to find Adam, NOW!” Caroline grabbed Branston’s shirt and pulled him towards her, speaking through her teeth: “We are not psychics, just give us his phone number.”
“Ah, ah, okay.” Branston was frightened by this sudden turn of Caroline’s attitude and gave up Adam’s contact info in fear.
“Thanks. And oh, um… stay away from haunted places next time, alright?” before they left, Jason had to turn back and remind Branston and Brian.
“Dude, what the fuck just happened?” Brian sat down beside Branston: “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah...” Branston nodded numbly, then suddenly his face lit up: “We should invite them to our next haunted trip!”
“Oh my god, dude! Great idea! ” Brian yelled excitedly as he high-fived Branston: “Let me ping Adam, don’t piss them off and try to get them onboard.”