The Piano || 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬

|12| It may be a sign, but I don't think it's a good one.

The walk back up the stairs was silent too, but this time, Ashley was chewing on her bottom lip and Sam's thoughts were racing until he forced himself to calm down.

"It's going to be fine," she said before they entered the room. "It's just another day in a hotel."

"Haunted hotel, but otherwise yeah," Sam muttered before they opened the door. Kris and Colby were already halfway passed out on the couch, looking up as the two entered.

"Yay, coffee," Kris announced and got up to grab herself a cup. Colby did the same, but Ashley's and Sam's bitter faces didn't go unnoticed by him.

"What happened?" he asked, taking a sip out of his cup. Kris sat down on the couch and pulled her legs up to her chest. Sam and Ashley exchanged a glance before he spoke.

"We're stuck. Cut off."

"What?" Kris asked. Both Colby and her had the same look as Ashley when she first heard the news. Denial, and then the try to imagine something else that could mean.

"The bridge gave in, and we have no service... That damn snowstorm really messed this place up," Ashley sighed. "The man who told us said we'll get out in the evening or tomorrow morning, worst case."

"What?" Kris's voice was now significantly higher, her hands clasping the cup tight. Colby just stared at Ashley, sitting down on the couch with a groan.

"You're not serious," he said. She just looked at him, until she pulled the hood of her hoodie down over her face.

"I wish I wasn't," was her muffled reply, and she sunk deeper into the cushions. "I had a stream planned tomorrow, and I can't even announce that I have to cancel it. And what will my roommate think of my sudden disappearance?"

Sam stood next to the couch, his arms crossed, and his lips pressed to be a tight line. He shook his head slightly and looked down at the floor. It was silent again, everyone staring at their hands, until Ashley grabbed a muffin from one of the trays she and Sam brought, and bit into it. Kris sighed and reached forward to get a small bowl with porridge.

"So?" she said after everyone had started eating. "What do we do?"

"I guess we try not to get bored," Colby shrugged. The others all nodded, but no one was eager to speak up. The topic they all thought about, but no one wanted to talk about was so painfully obvious that Ashley started uncomfortably shifting in her seat, avoiding looking at the others. Eventually, she cleared her throat.

"Hey, look at it from the bright side," she said with a crooked smile. "We have a lot more time because of this."

They simply stared at her, knowing exactly what she was implying.

"Ashley-" Colby started but she cut him off.

"Oh, come on. You can't tell me this isn't like a sign. I get stuck with you guys in a haunted hotel?" she scoffed.

"It may be a sign, but I don't think it's a good one," Sam sighed. "But, even if I'm sorry to say this, I have to agree. We're all a little calmer now after getting some rest – at least Ashley and I did – and we still haven't solved the mystery around Ilse's death. We only got two words that didn't really say much before we got sidetracked."

"See? He gets it." Ashley waved her hand over to him. "I understand why you wanted to stop yesterday. But there's absolutely no reason to now."

Colby and Kris looked at each other.

"I mean, you guys can talk easily," the blond woman said, "as awake as you are. I don't really... I'm not interested in talking to spirits while almost falling asleep."