Dead On The Internet

CHAPTER1: My New Brother

"Darn it!"

Oliver seethed in frustration as he threw down his console. He had lost to his friend once again.

"You're lucky you weren't streaming," Lyan smiled.

"True. Though I think I should start streaming soon. My fans are going to hate me if I disappear for too long," Oliver sighed.

"You mean your 7 viewers," Lyan stated bluntly. "Bro, if you need a break then take it. Maybe use that time to catch up on school? You don't have to be like Ghowisp, you know?"

Ghowisp was one of Oliver's favourite internet personalities. He was mysterious and posted gaming videos but never even showed his face or voice. Oliver wanted to be famous and loved like him, but he was just a 14 year old high school student right now. Oliver groaned, he had forgotten about school.

"Yeah, I'll take a break from the screen."

With that, he closed his PC and flopped on to bed.

— — —

Oliver stared at the bathroom mirror. He was a mess, his hair was a bird's nest and he had football paint under his eyes. Currently it's 6:30 in the morning and he isn't looking good.

I should really take a break from gaming.

He sighed and grabbed for his tooth brush. When it came to toothpaste, he realised it was empty.

Great, just another thing to deal with.

He dragged his feet to the cupboard and rummaged through the bag next to the box filled with, as his mom said, "important stuff". At last, his hands wrapped around the toothpaste, as he yanked it out, Oliver noticed a shiny trinket fall to the ground from the "important stuff" box. As he bent down to pick it up, he noticed it was a keyring.

Why would mom keep a cheap keyring in the house, let alone in her "important things" box?

Oliver knew for a fact that his mom would never own cheap things. His dad wasn't rich but his salary was above average and that was good enough for his mom to go around buying designer clothing and bags. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't really remember the last time he saw his dad. His dad was always overseas travelling for work.

Oliver shrugged and walked back to his bedroom while studying the keyring. It had an image of a cute, cartoon panda coated with what looked like a layer of clear, cured resin.

Maybe it was accidentally put in the box of important things.

When Oliver reached his bedroom doorway, he covered his mouth, containing a scream. Someone was sitting at his desk, moving the mouse and keypad, playing Minecraft.

The person turned around, "Oh uh, well this is awkward."

He had black hair which was tied on one side, he was wearing jeans with a hoodie. That wasn't what was concerning Oliver though. The person had a slight blue glow to him and he looked translucent. Oliver could see the window straight through him

"M-MOM!" Oliver yelled.

The person hurried to shush him.

"No, please! Let me explain!" He rushed to block the door.

Oliver just stared at him, shrinking into the corner.

After affirming the door was bolted, the person turned back to Oliver.

"Ok. How about we just calm down and talk like civilised people—I'll tell you who I am," The person said. "So... as you might've figured out already, I'm a ghost. Yup. I died. I died when I was 13, three years ago," He added the last part when Oliver stared at him incredulously.