Chapter 3

Riley's POV

Vanessa hurries over and grips Preston's arm. "Preston, you have to protect me, okay?"

Wade nods along fast. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."

Preston clearly eats up the flattery. His eyes cut to me, dripping with contempt.

"As for you." He gives a cold laugh. "You just got lucky, stumbling onto some loophole in the boss's rules. But acting like you've got a death wish is going to get all of us killed eventually."

Vanessa chimes in. "Exactly! She's out of her mind, no shame at all. Let's just leave her to fend for herself."

I roll my eyes, not even bothering with these people.

We're in a horror game, and they're still playing clique politics?

I rub my empty, growling stomach and yawn. All the emotional whiplash today has wiped me out. I just want to find somewhere to lie down and get some real sleep.

I ignore them and head straight for the back of the stage.

"Hey! Where are you going? That's the boss's private area! Get yourself killed if you want, just don't drag the rest of us down with you!" Preston shouts after me, practically foaming at the mouth.

"I'm not making it past tonight anyway. Doesn't matter where I sleep." I wave a hand without turning around.

I walk through a dim hallway lined with warped, unsettling paintings. The eyes in every portrait track me as I pass.

The old me would've had jelly legs by now.

Now? I actually have the energy to make a face right back at one of them.

"What are you looking at? Never seen a pretty girl before?"

The face in the painting seems to freeze for a second, then quietly turns away.

At the end of the hallway sits a set of ornate dark gold double doors, carved with roses and thorns, the kind that dares you to come any closer.

This has to be Julian's room.

I knock. No sound from inside. I just grab the handle and push. It isn't even locked.

Thick carpet covers the floor inside, and a massive European-style bed sits at the center of the room. Julian sits on a couch by the window, a glass of something red in his hand, like he's trying to calm himself down.

He hears the door and jerks his head up, a flash of shock crossing his blood-red eyes.

"You... how did you get in here? Get out!"

I lock the door behind me, kick off my shoes, and walk straight toward that bed.

"Hey, boss, you've got your own room here, right? How about we share the bed?"

Julian's hand jerks, and the liquid in his glass nearly spills. He stands up, and the pressure in the room shifts instantly, heavy and suffocating.

"Human, you don't want to test me. This is my private territory. Get out now, or I'll make you wish you were dead."

I walk to the bed and drop face first onto it.

God, this feels amazing.

I pull the blanket over myself, wrapping up like a cocoon, only my head sticking out as I look at him.

"I already told you, I'm dying anyway. What's the difference between wishing I were dead and actually being dead? Either kill me right now, or let me sleep. I'm not leaving."

Julian looks so mad he almost laughs. He strides over to the bed, reaching out like he means to snap my neck. But the second his hand touches my cold cheek, he freezes.

I lean into it, rubbing my cheek against his cold palm, and mumble with my eyes closed. "So sleepy... you smell pretty good, actually."

Dead silence fills the room. A few seconds later, the touch on my face disappears. I crack one eye open and catch him stiffly backing away to the couch by the window, staring out at the thick black mist outside, looking oddly wronged.

The livestream chat is losing it:

[LMAOOOO he's literally sharing a bed! This woman knows exactly how to play a difficult man!]

[Julian: I'm an eldritch god and I just got bullied into sleeping on the couch?]

[Look at those long legs with nowhere to go, I'm dying!]

[This isn't a horror game anymore, this is a domineering god and his bratty little wife.]

And that's how I fall asleep, deep and peaceful, in the horror game boss's private bed.

Outside, Preston and the others are still scared out of their minds, scheming against each other, while I sleep like a baby.

"Night, boss."