I never planned on spending my Friday night as a glorified tripod.
But life, as always, had other plans.
"Camera guy, adjust the angle. Higher. No, higher! I want my aura to look like it's descending from the heavens, not like I'm about to get mugged under a streetlight."
That was Seraphina Duskveil — the self-proclaimed witch, internet streamer, and the most chaotic human being I'd ever met. Well, human plus or minus a few magical quirks. Her pitch-black hair swayed in the cold night breeze, her eyes shimmered like she knew something I didn't, and her smile had enough confidence to sell sand in a desert.
Me? I was just her cameraman. Name's Elias Reed, 21, broke, and currently wondering if I could get frostbite tax-deductible.
We were standing in the middle of a deserted playground at midnight. Rusted swings squeaked, the merry-go-round was tilted like it had survived a war, and the only lighting came from a cracked lamppost buzzing overhead. In short: perfect conditions for a "witch goes live" debut.
I glanced at the phone screen clipped to my rig. Chat was already pouring in.
> [CHAT]
"ayo she kinda hot 👀"
"wait this is live??"
"cameraman shaky af, drink water dude"
"first!!"
Seraphina clapped her hands, the sound sharp and theatrical. "Welcome, mortals and night-crawlers! Tonight, your beloved witch blesses you with her first official live broadcast!"
The chat exploded.
> [CHAT]
"witch vtuber irl???"
"yo she real?? no filters??"
"bro this better not be another fake tiktok cult"
"Cameraman," Seraphina hissed between her incantation-like words, "pan slowly. Make it dramatic. Pretend you're Spielberg, not some film student drowning in ramen debt."
She wasn't wrong. I was drowning in ramen debt.
Still, I adjusted, doing my best to give her the cinematic entrance she wanted. The camera panned across the creaking swings, the tilted slide, and finally landed on her — standing on the merry-go-round like it was her throne.
Her laugh echoed through the park. "Tonight, under this cursed moon, I shall—"
CRACK.
Something snapped nearby. A tree branch? A loose sign? Didn't matter. I stiffened, but the stream chat went wild.
> [CHAT]
"yo wtf was that"
"SHE SUMMONED A DEMON???"
"nah that's just cameraman's spine breaking 💀"
Seraphina didn't miss a beat. "—summon forth the spirits of the forgotten!" she declared.
She raised a hand, muttered a few arcane-sounding syllables, and—
Nothing.
Not a puff of smoke. Not a spark. Just silence.
"Uh." She blinked. "Technical difficulties."
Chat spammed laughing emojis.
> [CHAT]
"L witch 😂😂😂"
"bro she really said abracadabra and expected wi-fi"
"still hotter than my last ex tho"
I tried not to laugh, but a snort escaped me.
Her eyes shot daggers. "Cameraman. Don't."
I straightened, face like stone. But inside, I was dying.
And then the real chaos began.
Out of nowhere, a stray dog bolted into the park, snarling, its teeth glinting under the lamppost. It charged straight for Seraphina's merry-go-round throne.
The chat lost its mind.
> [CHAT]
"OMG IS THIS SCRIPTED??"
"attack of the hound!!"
"cameraman DO SOMETHING"
Seraphina yelped, stumbling. "Uh—Elias?! Little help?!"
Me? I just stood my ground, camera locked. The dog lunged past me, jaws snapping—then tripped over the uneven ground, rolling harmlessly into the dirt. Right where my feet had been a second earlier.
Didn't touch me. Didn't graze me. I hadn't even moved.
Chat froze.
> [CHAT]
"bro did u see that??"
"cameraman didn't even FLINCH"
"IS HE INVISIBLE TO DOGS??"
Seraphina gawked at me, still balancing on the merry-go-round. "What the hell—why are you always fine?!"
I shrugged, steadying the shot. "Lucky, I guess."
The words felt casual, but deep down, something itched in my chest. That wasn't luck. That was… impossible.
The stream rolled on for another twenty minutes. Seraphina tried another "spell," some dramatic monologues, and ended with a promise:
"Next time, mortals, I shall show you true magic. Follow, subscribe, or forever be cursed with boredom!"
She signed off. Chat was still spamming about me.
> [CHAT]
"nah forget her, I'm here for cameraman"
"invincible cameraman spin-off WHEN"
"man really built diff"
When we finally packed up, she pointed at me with narrowed eyes. "Elias. Whatever that was? We're using it."
"What was what?" I asked, feigning ignorance.
She scoffed. "Don't play dumb. The camera loves you. The chat loves you. And somehow, physics itself apparently loves you. From now on—you're not just my cameraman. You're my co-star."
I groaned, rubbing my face. "God help me."
But I already knew.
This was only the beginning.