There are certain words that those in the medical community would tell you are forbidden. Certain phrases, you aren't allowed to so much as think, for fear of some greater being or just plain fate itself taking issue with the audacity of someone so bold as to say those words.

It seems as soon as you say the q-word, for instance, all hell breaks loose. What was once a calm day, a serene night, a relaxing time, turns into a miserable experience.

That's what is to blame for how Aeva’s day turned out.

She had heard of this phenomenon, the superstition certain jobs have surrounding the q-word and other phrases similar to it. She was a streamer. She had no reason to believe that such a phenomenon would apply to her. Boy was she wrong.

She was streaming a game on TwistTV. A sidescroller platformer with some RPG elements to it. It's a fun game, kinda more of a kid-friendly title, so she was getting decent views. Her viewers were being kind of quiet, just the normal occasional emoji spam, a couple of trolls, and a spattering of sweet comments chatting at her or at each other.

At that moment, she was taking a break playing to read comments and list off subscribers and donations. She made the mistake of uttering the word, and was still paying for it.

.

.

.

[User 887Beanfordayz has Subscribed!] [User KillaJeans has Subscribed!] [600 Tipz donation from User GBrialNots!] [User GBrialNots has donated 3 subscriptions!]

"Thank you guys so much! Oh my gosh, you guys rock. 600 Tipz! Too much," Aeva said, smiling and blowing a kiss with both her hands at her webcam, "You're too generous. Seriously guys. Pleeeeeeease make sure you feed yourself first! I don't wanna feel guilty for you guys spending too much on me! Heh. Alright alright. Time for some questions."

She leaned forward in the chair, clicked a few buttons on the mouse so the screen was on the right application, and leaned back again, yawning with her hand cupping her face. She wasn't wearing anything fancy, just some jean shorts and a black t-shirt that hugged her frame with a kitten in a coffee mug. She tucked her knee up against her chest and hugged it, the other one kept loosely to her side. She wasn't a bodybuilder or something, but had a naturally lean frame, save for her chest-size. Perfect for a streamer... oh but she could bemoan the failings of the patriarchy another time.

[Cutie! <3 <3 <3] [Fuck that loos good on hr ass.] [What game are we watchign?] [U play for long tonite?] [How old r u?]

How many times had she answered these same sorts of questions? "We're playing Jones Odessy! But right now I'm answering questions of you lovely people!" she answered, tilting her head with a big smile, "I'm gonna probably play for another hour or two before I call it quits. BananaRama44, I am 22. Finally finished college this last year! Worked so hard I thought my hands were gonna fall off with how much I had to write. But now I'm free to stream so much more for you guys! Yay!"

She was tired. Aeva reached for her Creature Energy Drink. Some mixture of 7-hour energy and a RedHorn. Super filled with sugar and caffeine, it was the drink of champions and insomniacs.

"Ugh, it's so quiet tonight. Need somebody to raid our stream or something. Maybe I could try a speedrun? What do you guys think? I'd fail miserably, but that'd be kinda funny in and of itself," she said, then sipped at her drink, not knowing the accursed word she had just doomed herself with.

Aeva was alone at home. The moment she turned 18, her parents didn't really kick her out, per se... but they took the opportunity to escape as soon as they could. Her brother, Lukas, was older than her by five years, so they didn't have to worry about him. As soon as Aeva was legally of age, though, they were chomping at the bit to ditch the house and travel around the world.

That was four years ago.

Two years ago, the siblings got the news that they had died in Nepal. She was already living with her brother and had been living with him since she left home.

He was an okay roommate. A little noisy. Frustratingly attractive, he constantly garnered the attention of her viewers anytime he passed by. She made the mistake of informing them he is gay, and that seemed to only make their lusting for him all the worse.

Another hour passed, and she was done playing. Aeva had turned off the stream, set down her headphones, and was spoiling herself with a little TheyTube enjoyment. Videos of cute cats, people falling over, random rabbit holes of DIY construction - whatever suited her fancy for the night... and it was night by this point.

As per usual, the time had gotten away from her and at some point, it went from one pm when she started the stream to almost midnight after she finished some videos.

Aeva rose from her black and red throne, tossed the now empty can in the little blue bin beside her desk (which she kind of needed to take out by now but oh well), and made her egress from her cave of wonders. She hadn't heard her brother come in, which wasn't too uncommon since she had headphones on all day, but she always liked to hear him - you know? She appreciated that small acknowledgment of his continued existence. With her parents gone, they had to look after one another.

Aeva had failed her attempt at a speedrun to the great amusement of herself and her chat. She wanted to regale him about her horrible form, her missed jumps, and how chat asked for his ass again. They preferred his over her own, of course.

The house was quiet. Over it sat the lull of a horror movie, that creeping chill that makes you feel like when you turned a corner there was gonna be a face right there to... to... eat you? She guessed?

She didn't watch much horror, but could totally imagine their little house fitting right into a horror movie. She never liked how it looked in the dark. The shadows from the blinds that were cast because of the light outside made faded images dance along the walls. The kitchen's stark white tiling was unfriendly. Any item left out became a spooky silhouette, the shadow of something with teeth and claws instead of a blender or meat tenderizer.

"Lukas...? Luke?" she called out, her shyness appearing like a ship in the fog of the night. She knew he wasn't here. If he was, the lights would be on. He didn't go to bed until like three in the morning, same as her.

She pulled out her phone.

[1 Missed call - Lukas Ruiz - 20:23]

"What?" her little whisper was audible. Aeva turned on the light, checked her sound to make sure it was on - which it was - and checked her missed calls again. There was only one, but it had been like four hours ago. Worry crawled up her back like a centipede. She pressed the call back button.

There was that little hitch in her breath every time the ringing stopped to start a new cycle of itself, like when you're really nervous about a phone call you have to make for an interview or something. Every time, there was part of her that thought the phone was going to connect.

Hi, this is Luke. Leave a voicemail or something after the beep. I suck at making these things. Bye! This was followed by an awkward moment of fumbling to hang up without catching the sound of traffic.

The pit in her stomach widened.

Panic.

How many times had they tried to reach their Mom and Dad? She knew she was being paranoid, she knew, but something felt wrong. She could feel it like a porcupine in her chest that something was wrong.

Aeva called his work. He had left hours ago, as expected.

That was enough for her. She decided she needed to go look for him and pulled her phone out once again after she grabbed her jacket and a pair of shoes. Thank the gods for modern innovation. His phone was still on so hopefully... Yes! GPS!

Family locating stuff was creepy as hell, but damn did she appreciate it at that moment. He was in the forest just off the main road. They lived kind of in the middle of nowhere in Oregon.

Shit. Did he crash? If he crashed, was he sitting there for hours?

She could imagine all sorts of terrible things - her imagination was not a bad one. Degloving was one particular injury that especially bothered her to even think about. Someone that crashed a car could go through their windshield. Why else would he be in the forest off the main road? That’s all she could think of - that he crashed, went flying, and landed in the trees. What if he was bleeding out?

Her pace sped up and she darted out the door with her keys, wallet, and nearly slipped heading down the stairs she was in such a rush. She needed to get to him.

No more of this tragic backstory crap. It was already bad enough their parents had been crazy enough to travel around the world and got themselves killed. She and her brother already had anime-blue hair and eyes to match, not to mention the spatterings of white freckles that danced on their Latinx skin.

Screw that noise. Neither of them needed the curse of the main character.

Thanks but no thanks, gods!