Caitlin was nothing if not quick - we got off the phone not long after I agreed to join them, and within two hours, I had a message saying that I had a flight to Orlando the next week. From there, I’d meet Caitlin and the boys at the hotel to go over the paperwork before we headed to the building.
When I got off the plane, I wasn’t expecting a driver to be holding a sign with my name, but it seemed the boys didn’t do anything half-heartedly. Even the hotel was one of the fanciest places I’d ever stayed. The driver pulled the black sedan up to the door, where a cheery woman in a burnt orange sweater and jeans stood waiting to greet me. The driver opened my door and I stepped out, the woman already reaching out to shake my hand.
“You must be Andromeda!” the woman I assumed was Caitlin said, shaking my hand aggressively. “I love your look! I hadn’t pictured you as a goth when we first talked, but I’m sure the boys will be excited to find someone who fits the vibe. We had another woman on who claimed to be psychic at one point, but she didn’t look the part, and quite frankly, the audience picked her apart until she broke down and admitted that she was a fraud.”
“Is that something I should be nervous about?” I asked, following her into the lobby of the hotel that was covered in marble. The driver walked close behind us, rolling my suitcase behind him. “Is your audience that bad to people?”
“Oh no, we would never say anything like that about them, they might hear us,” she said turning around to lightly wink at me. I wasn’t sure if she was joking about them hearing us, or if she was silently admitting that their audience was intense, but for some reason, I still followed. “Now, I will say that our audience is very… passionate. If they think someone is lying to them, they will stop at nothing to get to the bottom of it. So, as long as you don’t lie to them, you shouldn’t have that problem.”
She led me to a small meeting room off to the side of the hotel lobby. The marble floor extended into the room, but the rest of the area was much more modern than the rest of the hotel lobby, with a glass meeting table surrounded by office chairs. In the far corner of the table sat a pile of papers that looked like they had been abandoned seconds before. “I will also say,” she began the minute the door fully closed, as she took her seat by the mess of papers, “that they are admittedly more passionate when they think that someone is romantically interested in either Luke or Liam, and they seem to think that every unmarried woman who comes on the show is interested. You don’t happen to be married, do you?”
I pulled out a chair and sat down next to her. “Nope, not married, but also not particularly interested in either of them.”
“Well, hopefully the audience will be able to see that.” She muttered to herself as she shuffled through the papers, finally pulling one out. “Ahh, our contract for the Peter’s Building - you’ll all have to sign it before you can enter, just states that they’re not liable if you fall and injure yourself, or if you get possessed by one of the ghosts of the building.”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
I raised my eyebrows and she shrugged, so I read through the document quickly, and it was just as she said. “They’re really playing up the haunted aspect of this, aren’t they?” I said, gesturing for a pen. She passed one over and I signed the document. “I’ve been dealing with ghosts for my entire life, and I’ve never seen anyone actually be possessed before.”
“Really?” Her voice was shocked, and when I looked up, she was staring at my curiously. “I can personally guarantee that between Luke or Liam, they’ve been possessed at least five times!”
It was hard to keep myself from rolling my eyes, but somehow I managed. “I must not have seen those episodes, then.”
“Oh, we would never show it,” she said, composing herself as she started to shift through the papers again. “Something like that would be far too sensitive for our viewers - they want to know that Luke and Liam are the two that are with them the whole time, not some random spirit possessing their bodies. There’s nothing the YouTube audience looks for more than they look for authenticity.”
“Well, if they get possessed while I’m there, at least I’ll be able to take care of them.” I passed the paper back to her and she passed me a new one.
“This one’s a confidentiality clause, stating that you won’t tell anyone what happens on these shoots until the video is actually posted. After that time, you are able to discuss what happens at the building before, during, and after the shoot, but you are still not allowed to discuss our business proceedings. And yes,” she said, lightly clearing her throat, “if they get possessed and you’re able to detect it, you might be able to help. Last time, they needed to go to a witch to get the possession removed. It was ultimately one of our highest-viewed videos, so if you were able to remove a possession, I assume it would go equally as well for all of us, and we could easily continue the series.”
“Continue the series?” I asked, handing the signed paper back to her. “Are you planning on me becoming a regular or something?”
“Consent to appear on video,” she said, handing me another form. “That’s the last one, I promise. And that depends on how you screen test. If our audience likes you, it only makes sense to have you back for more episodes. If they are crazy about you, I talked to the boys and they would be accepting of having you become a regular, so long as you pass their vibe check. Of course, if the audience doesn’t like you and the video completely tanks, then this will be a one-time thing. I hope not, though,” she said with a light laugh. “I could use another woman around here. Sometimes the bro energy can get to be a bit much, even for me.”
“Yeah, that is the part that I’m admittedly not looking forward to. I’ve never been much for bro culture, so it might be fun interacting with that.”
“Don’t believe everything that Caitlin says about us,” said a male voice from behind me. A chill ran down my spine as I jumped around to see two men about my age standing behind me. One was blonde with blue eyes, wearing a worn baseball cap, t-shirt, and jeans. The other was brunette, slightly taller, with a five o’clock shadow and an all-black outfit. Unlike his reasonable conservative friend, I could see the swirls of tattoos creeping out of the collar on his shirt, and he looked to have almost as many piercings as I did. It was the blonde who was talking, while the brunette had a shit-eating grin on his face, as though he’d just caught me in the middle of acting out. “She’s practically our sister at this point, so I think it’s in her contract that she has to hate us.”
“I don’t hate you,” Caitlin started, but she was quickly interrupted by the brunette.
“Come on, Cait, you don’t want to start out this beautiful relationship by lying to this fine lady, do you?” He reached his hand out to me and after a heartbeat, I grabbed it and gave it a firm shake. Somehow, his smile seemed to grow even wider. “Nice to meet you. I’m Liam.”
“And I’m Luke,” said the blonde, grabbing my hand afterward. “And you must be our psychic.”