The Piano || 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬

|19| Other than a little bit freaked out, yeah, I'm fine.

Author's note-
> The plan above is Ashley's and Jerry's apartment because I suck at describing things

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Colby picked up the phone after it rang twice. Ashley took a deep breath, trying to sort her thoughts. Knowing that it would be great for the video, she started a screen recording.

"What's up, Ash?" he asked, and she chuckled nervously.

"Something scary?" she suggested, glancing at the ring, still lying on her carpet. "Can we switch to Facetime?"

"Sure," he agreed, his tone now concerned.

"Well, um," Ashley said as she turned the camera on. "The ring. It's... Wait, I'll show you."

A lot of shuffling was heard as she moved on the bed leaning down to get a good view of the ring for Colby.

"Why is it on the floor?" he asked.

"I'm not touching that thing anymore," she stated. "Look." She zoomed closer, her phone's camera getting a perfect view of the inside.

"Oh, my god," Colby said. "Is that what I think it is?"

Ashley nodded even though he couldn't see it because the camera was facing away from her. "Yeah. It's an engraving."

Her phone screen was now showing Colby with wide eyes, turning around to call for Sam. "Yo Sam!" he yelled. "Come over here real quick!"

"What's up?" the blonde asked, entering the frame. His hair was damp, he had probably just been in the shower.

"Ashley just called me. Look at that and tell me it is what I think it is."

Sam squinted, leaning closer to the phone. Then he gasped, staring at it in shock. "I. H." he read. "Is that on your ring?"

"Yeah, I just saw it," she said, turning the camera back to show her face. "And I'm not touching that thing again. There are fucking initials engraved in the ring a ghost stole. The ghost's initials. That's so fucked up."

"But you're alright?" Colby made sure.

"Other than more than a little bit freaked out, yeah, I'm fine," she answered, staring at the ring over her phone. By now, it wouldn't even surprise her if it suddenly disappeared.

"Well, what do we do now?" Sam asked. "Should I call Kris? She'd want to know."

"Yeah, do that," Ashley answered. "But the main question is what the fuck do I do with that ring? I'm sure as hell not going to wear it anymore, or Ilse will think we're married or some shit. Then I'll get an attachment for sure."

"If she's not already attached to you, she'll still be at the hotel and not know whether you wear it or not," Colby reassured her, only that it wasn't actually reassuring.

"Jerry's going to kill me if I brought a ghost home. He's terrified of anything paranormal, that's why he didn't come with me. He can't even watch horror movies, not even the badly done ones," Ashley sighed, burying her face in her mattress. "Why won't it just stop? It's just like in the hotel. We just get more and more and more." Her voice was muffled now but Colby understood her perfectly well.

"If it makes you feel safer, you can still just throw the ring away," he said. "Though I'd like to get a good picture or clip of it first."

"Sure, I'll try to convince Jerry to help me. I'm not touching that thing," she repeated for the third time as if to make sure Colby understood her.

"I can't reach Kris," she then heard Sam's distinct voice on the other side of the call. "I texted her to call me later."

"Okay, so I'm going to record the explanation and send it to you and then figure out what I'll do with the ring. This is going to be a nice evening." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm as she said the last sentence, and Colby could tell she was getting irritated by this. He almost chuckled at the thought that she wasn't intimidated but annoyed.