Page 10 of White Noise

I sit up straighter and check the member list.

Forty-two subscribers.

“What the fuck?”

I open moderation.

Graveyard’s name is sitting under BANNED USERS.

I stare at it.

I didn’t ban him.

Nobody else has moderator access.

My eyes snap back to chat.

silas: Better.

The cold feeling in my stomach gets worse.

“How the fuck did you do that?”

His reply appears almost immediately.

silas: You keep acting like this room belongs to you.

Another message follows.

silas: It doesn’t.

I tighten my grip on the mouse.

silas: If I don’t want some pathetic fuck looking at you, he’s gone.

For a second, I don’t know what to say.

Then:

silas: Now put your shirt back where it was, little echo.

The chat starts reacting again, but I barely read it. My attention stays on the empty space where Graveyard’s name used to be and the banned-user list sitting open beside the stream.

Silas shouldn’t be able to do any of this.

That should probably scare me.

Instead, it pisses me off.

I look back at chat and find his name sitting there like he owns the fucking place.

“You know what? Fuck you.”

Before I can talk myself out of it, I grab the hem of my shirt and pull it over my head.

I toss it beside me and sit there topless, both pierced nipples on full display while the room absolutely loses its shit.

Tips start hitting almost immediately.