The Piano || 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬

|40| Cause of death: jealous ghost.

Ashley got the information about Ilse's lover, Helene Schneider, via mail. Actually, she had received it a long time ago but forgot about it until she was emptying her inbox one evening and saw Ronja's mail.

She quickly downloaded the documents on her tablet, scrolling through them. It felt like everything the historian could dig up about Helene's life. Literally everything. Ashley felt like a stalker, looking at all of it, so she decided to skip to the interesting parts, where Ilse came into play.

Two of those pages were reserved for music sheets. Piano, obviously. After a few moments of staring at them and trying to imagine the melody, she paled at first, and then a devilish grin spread on her lips. She wasn't good at reading music like this, but the first few chords were obvious. Oh, the boys were going to love this.

Jerry was streaming in his room – they had moved his streaming equipment from his desk to his couch so he could sit comfortably while working – and Sadie was... somewhere. She was getting more and more comfortable with living here, going in and out whenever she pleased, but still spent the nights on Jerry's couch, though.

Walking to the piano, Ashley felt a nervous tingle in her stomach, especially as she reached out to open it and brush over the keys with her fingers. She set the tablet on the music stand and zoomed in on the music sheet. Taking a deep breath, she started playing.

Her fingers found the rhythm of the music too easily. She was insecure at first as she looked at the sheets, trying to figure out where to put her fingers. But it didn't take long until she was able to pick up speed, her fingers quickly getting used to the pace.

"Hey," Jerry said, making her flinch.

"Shit, you scared me," Ashley laughed. "What's up?"

"Sorry. What were you playing?" he asked casually, flopping down on the couch after he leaned the crutches against it.

"Um," Ashley said, not sure if she wanted to answer that. She cleared her throat, glancing at his room's door. "Weren't you supposed to be streaming?"

"Dude, it's ten pm. I've finished ages ago," he chuckled.

Ashley glanced at her tablet. Hadn't it just been eight? But the digital time proved Jerry right; it was nine forty-seven in the evening.

"Oh no, nope, fuck this shit," Ashley muttered, taking her tablet and closing the piano as quickly as she could. She took a step away from it and glared at the black wood as if it were the instrument's fault.

"What is it?" Jerry asked, slightly worried.

"This fucking piece of music," she complained. "It's just... Fuck, I'm never going to play that at home again. Ever. I don't want an attachment!"

"What are you talking about?" he said, getting more concerned now.

"That was Ilse's song," she sighed, sitting down next to him. "Oh god, I didn't even tell you. It must've slipped my mind. You know how I was with Sam and Colby the day of the accident? We kind of met up because they were planning something..."

Jerry didn't get to answer because the front door opened, and Sadie entered the apartment with a happy, "Hello!"

He simply at her, keeping his focus on Ashley. "What exactly didn't you tell me?"

"Um, they got a call from a German historian. Damn it, I didn't even think of this until now. Maybe I didn't want to think of it. Anyways, so this historian had found out a few things about Ilse Hoffman, you know, from the hotel... Including the fact that she did indeed have a girlfriend back in the day, Helene Schneider. And that song that I just played? That was hers. Helene taught Ilse how to play it, it was probably the only thing she could actually play.

"And, well, I got sent the music sheet to the piece and thought it was a good idea to play it at home. So that I could play it at the hotel. I'm never doing that again, or I'll probably haunt this house..." Her last words were accompanied by a tired chuckle.

"That's crazy," Jerry stated with his mouth hanging open. "What are you guys going to do now?"

"Go back," Ashley replied instantly. "You know what, I'm going to text them right now and ask if they have planned anything yet." Determinedly, she pulled out her phone and opened the chat with Sam and Colby in it, asking them if they had any idea how and when to organize it.

"Sam says they have pretty much everything planned except for the exact dates. We would be there for a week to really get the whole feeling," she said to Jerry as Sam finally answered. "Do you want to come with us?"

Jerry raised an eyebrow, pointing at his cast. "Seriously?" he asked.

"Hey, it was Sam's idea. He said there are going to be more guests this time, and you could come with us."

He seemed to think about it, trying to remember what had happened last time. "I don't know," he replied slowly.

"Why wouldn't you?" Sadie asked from the kitchen. She was leaning against the kitchen island, scrolling on her phone. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance."

"I guess it is," he agreed, "but like, I'm scared, dude. You know I don't do well with scary things, not even horror movies."

"Yeah," Sadie sighed dramatically, not even looking up from her phone. "You've always been a pussy. Come on, get over it. It can't be that scary. Right, Ashley?"

The redhead automatically straightened her back. "I mean, it was pretty terrifying," she admitted, not liking the causality in which Sadie was talking about it. As if she knew better than her, even though she hadn't been there herself. "Especially when I got tripped on the stairs. That could've ended badly," she added, trying to make Sadie understand that there was a real reason behind her fear.

"Exactly, I don't want that to happen to me because Ilse thinks we're in love or some shit," Jerry said, and Ashley laughed, boxing him in the shoulder.

"Come on," Sadie snorted. "It's not like Ilse's actually trying to hurt anyone."

"I would hope so," Ashley chuckled. "Imagine your cause of death: jealous ghost."

"That would be dope," Jerry said, shaking his head. "Maybe I'm coming with you guys anyway. Just to raise my chances at that being my cause of death."

"Jeez, no one's going to die," Sadie laughed, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, I don't think it's real anyway."

Ashley stiffened. "Well, I can assure you, it was all pretty real when I was there," she said, trying to keep her casual tone.

"I'm not calling you a liar," Sadie defended herself. "I just find it really hard to believe that there would be a ghost playing the piano and giving random girls hickeys just like that, you know?"

"I know, it sounds pretty absurd." Ashley stood up from the couch. "Jerry, I'll tell Sam that you'll think about it, yes?"

"Why don't I get invited?" Sadie called out when she had almost reached her door.

"Sam didn't say anything about inviting you," Ashley replied. "But I can ask him."

"That'd be nice, thank you," Sadie smiled. Again, that infectious, broad smile which made Ashley automatically grin as well.