The Piano || 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬

|3| She just wants to hear a song, right?

Ashley was completely out of breath and dizzy when she finally stopped. Colby filmed the entire thing, he had even taken out his phone to play some classic music – silently, not wanting to disturb any other guests, of course. Meanwhile, Sam had packed out several pieces of equipment and set them up around the room, including two cat balls and the REM pod. He was just recalibrating it, but nothing happened when he put it on the ground.

"Ilse Hoffman," he whispered when the girls stood next to him and Colby. "If you're here, if you can see us, please touch one of these pieces of equipment we have, to let us know you're here with us."

The room stayed dark and silent.

"Ilse, if you're here and want to talk to us, let us know."

A few minutes passed, and nothing happened. The room stayed eerily quiet.

"Maybe she's not here," Colby suggested. "After all, she's the only spirit in this hotel, and she's got a reputation to live up to. Maybe she's in your room, tidying a little?"

Ashley shivered. "Don't say that!" she exclaimed.

"Come on, she's a friendly ghost. Not known to attack people."

She rolled her eyes and punched Colby playfully. "Still, I don't want her to go through my stuff."

They waited for a few more minutes, but nothing happened. Ashley could feel how the hope and energy of the groups slowly started to fade, and frantically tried to think of a way to lift the spirits.

As Sam started packing up the stuff, she jumped up from the floor, where she'd sat down after dancing. "Wait!" she shouted and pointed to a piano on the other side of the room. "Maybe if we go closer to that? She played the piano, after all."

"Good idea. Let's move there," Sam answered. They quickly carried the stuff over, and Ashley sat on the stool of the piano, laying her hand down on the cover of the keyboard. Sam placed one of the flashlights on the top left of the piano.

They waited for another twenty minutes, but still nothing happened, even after calling out to Ilse several times. The ballroom stayed as quiet as it had been when they had first walked in.

Ashley sighed in frustration, and finally grabbed the blanket covering the piano, pulling it off. The flashlight was placed onto the black, shiny wood underneath.

"What are you doing?" Colby asked, watching her lift the fall board of the keyboards and open the Top Board to uncover the strings.

"If she's not going to play a song, I will," she stated and sat back on the stool. She took out her phone to look at the music sheet and took a deep breath.

Kris, Sam, and Colby were sitting on the floor a few feet away from the piano, looking at her full of expectation. Ashley suddenly seemed flustered by the attention and blushed a little as she met their intense gazes, but started playing, nonetheless.

The first few chords were unsteady and out of rhythm, but it only took her three or four beats to get into the song. And it sounded absolutely wonderful. The sound raised to the ceiling of the room, resounded in the chandelier, and made all the hairs on their arms stand up. Kris and the guys were watching her in awe as her fingers danced over the keys. After a few more minutes, she gained enough confidence to start singing, accompanying the sounds of the piano with her voice, and weaving it into a strong melody, captivating all of them.

Halfway through the second song, Ashley heard Kris step closer to her. She smiled, waiting for the blond woman to say something, but she just stood right behind her, her breath tickling the top of Ashley's head. She didn't let Kris confuse her and just continued playing, completely focused on her fingers dancing over the keys.

That is until she felt Kris running her hands through her hair and touching her neck with cool fingertips. Ashley stopped playing and turned around with a grin.

But Kris wasn't behind her.

She was still sitting with the boys, looking at Ashley with a tilted head.

Blood pounded in Ashley's ears, and she jumped up from the stool, trying to comprehend what just happened. The others quickly scrambled up, as they saw her alerted expression, and looked around frantically.

"Ashley? What happened?" Colby asked. Ashley's heart was pounding, and she felt her breath hitch in her chest.

"Kris?" she asked, ignoring Colby. "Were you... Were you sitting there? All the time?"

"Yes," she replied immediately, her face etched with worry. "Ashley, are you okay?"

Ashley swallowed and felt her hands starting to shake and tremble. She quickly crossed her arms, not wanting the others to see it. "Holy shit," she whispered. "Holy fucking shit..."

"Ash, what happened?" Colby repeated.

Ashley swallowed. She was clutching her chest, trying to calm herself down. "There was someone behind me, she just... walked up to me, and I thought it was Kris because the steps were so light, and then she touched me but there was no one there..." She took a deep breath and quickly tried to shake the feeling off.

"Ilse?" Sam asked, his voice startling Ashley. "Ilse, if you're here, give us a sign. We just want to talk."

The REM-pod went off, the green light blinking rapidly before turning off again. Kris, who was standing almost right next to it, jumped away from it quickly and with a shriek. Ashley was standing next to the piano now, staring at the technology.

"Was it you who walked to Ash when she was playing the piano?" Colby asked. Silence filled the hall. The four ghost hunters were too tense to even move.

"Just go near the REM pod, and we'll know," Sam explains. "Or touch one of the flashlights..."

The cat ball behind him went off, and he spun around, clutching his heart. "Oh, god dang it," Ashley heard him whisper. "Was that you, Ilse? Do you want us to talk to you?"

The flashlight on the piano right next to Ashley turned on, and she jumped backward a step.

"It feels like she's just walking around," Colby said. "She never lights up the same piece of equipment twice." As if agreeing, the cat ball next to Sam turned on again for a second.

"Ilse," Ashley said. The flashlight on the piano turned immediately off, and she clapped a hand over her mouth.

"That was immediate," Kris said.

"It really was," Colby whispered. In the corner of her eye, Ashley saw Sam take the Ovilus out of his backpack. He quickly explained what it did to the camera before turning it on.

"Would you like to talk to us, Ilse?" he asked, holding the device up. It stayed completely silent, the four of them holding their breaths.

"Maybe she doesn't like the technology," Kris suggested in a low tone.

"Then why would she use the flashlights and stuff?" Colby asked, his voice just as quiet.

"She probably wanted to show herself to us. Ilse, don't you want to talk to us?" Ashley asked, looking around the room. Her arms were still crossed in front of her chest, but she felt herself relaxing unintentionally, the shock slowly fading away.

The flashlight next to her turned back on. She didn't even startle, just turned her head to look at the light.

"It's mainly the one on the piano," Colby stated.

"Maybe she liked the music?" Kris suggested. The flashlight turned off again, and Ashley didn't hesitate as she sat down on the stool again.

"Ashley," Colby said, and she saw him watching her with a worried expression. "You don't have to if you don't want to. That was pretty... intense, after all."

Ashley smiled, as she turned on her phone that was still on the piano. "It's fine," she replied. "She just wants to hear a song, right?"

No answer.

"That's weird," Sam whispered.

Ashley took a deep breath before sitting back on the stool and quickly shaking her hands. She didn't want to mess up, who knows what Ilse would think of that.