Behind a Broken Mirror

Chapter 4

I stepped out of my car, looking down at my phone to make sure I had the right house. I did, but I smiled to myself for a different reason.

I was right, the day at the shelter wasn't the last time I'd see Karl. I was meeting up with him today, he had asked me to be a guest appearance on his stream. Apparently it was karaoke, which made me nervous, but I just couldn't say no.

I knocked on the door. Soon after, it swung open, leaving me and Karl face-to-face. He looked extremely tired, and I felt that same stinging guilt again.

"Raven! Hey, come on in." He said happily, moving out of the way.

I waved, stepping inside. His house was quite nice, but a few things felt out of place. Like how the kitchen and living room looked like they hadn't been touched in forever. It was just off-putting in a way.

"So, there's gonna be quite a few people there. The stream isn't even up yet though, so we can do a quick meet before we start." Karl explains, as he leads me to his streaming room.

He gives me a pair of headphones, and I put them on. I watch closely as he reaches over, trying to plug them in. I get the feeling this may not end well, so I tap on his shoulder.

"Hmm?" He asks quietly.

"Do you need some help?" I ask, and he sighs, standing back up properly.

"Yeah.. see that plug in, the one outlined with red? It goes there." Karl says, and I reach to plug it in.

I stumble, my ribs hitting the desk. I wince a little, but I ignore it and plug the headphones in. When I stand back up, I have to fight the urge to double over in pain.

"Are you okay?" Karl asks, and I nod slightly.

"Yeah, I just hit a little too hard. I'll be okay though." I say, and he doesn't seem to believe me, but he leaves it alone anyway.

I sit down, rolling the chair out of frame. Karl sits down in front of the camera, and he seems a little nervous. I hear some voices from the headphones, and now I understand why.

"KARL WHAT WAS THAT?"

"Yooo are you banging someone?"

"Uhhh, maybe we shouldn't be listening."

"Didn't he say he was inviting someone on stream?"

"This is awkward."

When I look at Karl again, he looks terrified. I roll back over, grabbing his hand. He looks at me and gives a light smile. I smile back, then let go of his hand.

"I was plugging in headphones and hit the desk. Don't overthink it." I say sternly, and the call goes silent.

"You guys can be so weird sometimes," Someone mumbled, "Hello! Are you okay? It sounded like you hit it pretty hard."

"Yeah, I'm alright, don't worry." I say, and Karl seems to get back into character.

"You guys are so dumb, oh my god. This is Raven, the girl me and the crew worked with at the shelter." Karl explains, and the others on the call made little 'ohhh' noises.

"Well, uh, thats awkward. Sorry 'bout that. I'm Nick, nice to meet you. Call me Sapnap on camera though."

"I'm Dream, hey Raven." I chuckle at that one. Dream is obviously an online name, right?

"I'm Darryl! But call me Badboyhalo, please."

"I'm Wilbur."

"Big Man Tommy right here!"

"Tubbo, nice to meet you."

"Ranboo."

"Well, it's nice to meet you all." I say, and Karl giggles.

"Tommy's a child." He says, and the man in question yelled in protest.

I laugh a little, trying to ignore the burning pain in my ribs.