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Chapter 8

Eve flopped down heavily onto the hotel room bed. Disembarking the plane had been just as exciting as boarding it was. Despite his attempts to remain incognito under his hoodie, Matthew was recognized almost immediately, attracting a crowd. Airport security and his personal bodyguards were able to keep the crowds at bay as the group was ushered through the airport and straight to the waiting cars. This time, Eve kept her footing and stuck close to Hannah, who navigated the chaos like a seasoned professional.

Upon arriving at the hotel, Hannah handed her an additional room key. “This is the key to the war room.”

Eve gave her a quizzical look.

“When we travel, we book a suite to set up like a makeshift office. You can go there to write your articles if you want.”

Eve took the card key. “Thanks.”

“I have to warn you, though. It’s going to be super wild in there tonight, since Matthew’s going to be streaming later. His moderators usually set up there and prefer to have zero distractions while they work. I learned that one the hard way.”

“Matthew’s streaming the day before a competition?” Eve asked.

Hannah laughed. “Matthew never misses a stream. The world would literally have to be ending, and even then I think he might do an apocalypse-themed stream. He’s very dedicated.“

Eve smiled. She could understand being so dedicated to something that you would want to work on it even if the world was ending.

Once she settled into her hotel room, she unpacked her bags and sent Maddie a quick text.

Just got to the hotel room. Super fancy. Gonna try to find out if they have a pool.

She looked at the key card on her nightstand.

I could do some research on the headphones brand Matthew will be wearing tomorrow.

Eve snatched up her laptop and the key card and read the number “1201.”

That’s the top floor.

She tentatively stepped into the elevator and selected the twelfth floor. When the doors opened again, Eve’s mouth fell open.

They rented the presidential suite for this?!

The door to the suite was at the end of a long, sleek hallway with floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the ocean. Taking a deep breath, Eve swiped the key card and tried to look natural.

The door shut behind her with a heavy thud. Soundproofed. Several long, mahogany, conference-style tables had been pushed together and lined with computer monitors. Three low-backed, velvet couches surrounded an enormous TV screen. Eve’s shoes sank deep into the plush carpet as she walked past a shut door with a sign on it that read: “STREAMING ROOM, AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.”

The room was as silent as a library, with only the occasional ambient sound of someone typing on a keyboard. Eve crept over to one of the couches and pulled out her laptop. Quickly, she began to lose herself in her work, researching the company that had sponsored Matthew. She got a feel for their branding and values, noting what would be important to include in an article for them.

Someone tapped Eve on the shoulder, giving her a start. It was Hannah. She sat next to Eve on the velvet couch.

“You scared me! Is everything okay?”

Hannah kept her voice low, but didn’t whisper, breaking the sanctity of the library-like silence. “I was just wondering if you were settling in okay, or if you needed anything.”

Eve considered this for a moment. “Do you happen to know if the hotel has a pool?”

“There are three. One inside, one outside, and one on the rooftop. The one on the rooftop is the most private,” Hannah said, a glimmer of mischief in her eye.

“Maybe you could come swimming with me when I go?” Eve asked.

Hannah lit up. “I’d love to! As long as I’m not on call. You never know when someone on the team might need something.”

Eve admired Hannah’s enthusiasm. “You’re very good at taking care of people.”

“I originally went to school for hospitality,” Hannah leaned in. “But I wound up as an administrative assistant for a tech company. That’s how Matthew found me.”

“Found you?”

“Yes, he walked in on me being yelled at by my old boss for using the wrong size of paperclips. It was a total accident. I was supposed to assist him with his meeting with Matthew, but Matthew arrived early. He saw the whole thing.”

“Sounds like a terrible boss,” Eve said.

“He was, but Matthew refused to make a deal with him. I think it was because he saw how he treated me. The next week, I had an email from Matthew’s legal team offering me a position as a staff assistant.”

“Well, he made a great decision to hire you. You handled that crowd at the airport amazingly.”

Hannah gave Eve a wink. “I’m glad he hired you too. I can tell we are going to get along great!” She glanced at the clock. “You might want to relocate soon, though; the stream is going to be starting, and the Mods will be taking over any minute.”

Eve collected her laptop and stood to leave. “Good Idea.”

As soon as Eve got back to her room, she pulled out her phone and went to the Mr. Cards streaming account. The bright “Stream Starting Soon” graphic flashed at the top of his page. She imagined Matthew just a few floors above her preparing his PC for a night of streaming. It felt oddly intimate.

Suddenly, the graphic on the screen switched to a countdown, and Matthew’s face appeared on the stream. He wore the same hoodie from earlier, and the faintest outline of stubble traced along his chiseled jaw. Eve squinted at the screen. They weren’t too noticeable, but he also had small dark circles under his shockingly green eyes.

He must be tired from traveling all day.

“Hi Everyone! Thanks for watching my stream!” Matthew said. His voice sounded more rehearsed, polished, and less natural than it sounded in person.

Like a customer-service voice.

“Today we are going to try out a new game that has been highly requested. Jumpscare Maze Deluxe. It’s supposed to be pretty scary, so brace yourselves.” He fixed the camera with a dazzling grin and pulled the game up on his screen.

Eve was quite familiar with Jumpscare Maze Deluxe; it wasn’t quite as good as Ghost Exterminators, but she enjoyed how creepy it was. She was surprised to hear that Matthew had never played it before.

Matthew clicked rapidly through ominous screens full of text. “We don’t need the tutorial. Level one of these games is usually pretty easy.” He moved his avatar through the maze and began to explore the different areas. “Game developers never put anything too intense in the first level, so I think we should be pretty safe to- AGH!” Matthew screamed and jerked his head away from the screen as a decaying corpse jumped straight into the camera and began to chase him.

Eve laughed. She watched as hundreds of messages from chat rolled in, some amused at Matthew’s reaction, some offering advice on the game, and a few making fun of him for it.

Eventually, Matthew got stuck in a bonus area on level five. There was a switch hidden under a piece of paper on the floor that he had walked over dozens of times. “I’m stumped, any ideas, chat?” he asked.

Eve chewed on a fingernail and then quickly typed into the chat box.

Eve11211: Mr. Cards, look under the piece of paper by the door

She waited for her chat to be swallowed by the wave of oncoming messages, but to her surprise, it hung at the top of the screen for a few seconds.

Mods?

Matthew’s eyes flicked to the top of the screen, then flicked back to the game. “There’s a piece of paper by the door?” His avatar moved over to the piece of paper, which disappeared, revealing the hidden switch. Matthew’s eyes lit up as if he had made a huge discovery. Then glanced back at the camera, flashed a huge smile, and said two words that pierced straight through Eve’s body and slammed against her heart with a jolt.

“Thanks, Eve.”