The Piano || 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬

|58|

Ashley had known it was going to get chaotic as soon as the triplets would arrive, but she hadn't expected it to be quite this loud. As soon as the three brothers stepped out of their car and stored their stuff away, the camera was turned on, and everyone beamed with excitement.

"I already know Ilse and I are going to be besties," Nick said, grinning widely.

"Alright, but if you get an attachment, I'll kick you out," Matt chuckled.

"I just think there's a vibe, you know?" Nick said, rubbing his hands together.

"'cause she can relate to you or something?" Chris snorted, shaking his head. "Dude, you're impossible. She doesn't even know you."

"Well, maybe she does," Colby said, shrugging. "We can't know how the spirit world works."

Nick gasped, looking at his brothers. "Do you think she knows we're coming?"

"Maybe," Sam said, shrugging. "You can ask her."

"Oh, I will, one hundred percent. I've waited for this so long, you don't even know..."

"He's actually been so hyped about this, it's crazy," Chris scoffed.

"Well, you can't blame me. Ilse is iconic. Being lesbian in the 20s must've been difficult, and I love how open she is about it..."

He hesitated when Sam and Colby exchanged a glance. "And that's not all," the blond said. "Actually, we recently found out she had a girlfriend."

Nick's jaw dropped, making Matt and Chris look at each other and chuckle silently. "No!" he exclaimed, making all of them laugh. "What, actually? Slay girl!"

"But apparently she's found someone new to be interested in..." Colby said, glancing over to Ashley, who groaned.

"Alright, we get it," she scoffed. "There's really no need to constantly remind everyone!"

He shrugged innocently and picked up the camera again.

"For tonight, we were thinking we'd split up in three groups, two persons each, and to cover three different areas," Sam explained, glancing over to Ashley, only to see her confused frown. "We have the room, the ballroom, and something we haven't even seen yet."

"Ohh, yeah," Ashley said, after he glanced over at her. "Now I remember. I was confused for a second."

"I don't think we included this in the video, but we wanted to go to the greenhouse – which was closed off due to the snowstorm. Now we can try our luck again," Sam said in an ominous tone. "But first, let's go to the ballroom."

The REM pod was already set up and turned on when they entered. Sam held the door open with one hand, keeping the camera in the other to record each one of the group when they walked in – first Nick, Matt, and Chris, followed by Ashley, and Colby was last. But the second Ashley stepped over the threshold, the REM pod further in the room beeped. Chris exclaimed something, pointing at the equipment.

"She's welcoming us already," Sam chuckled, zooming in on the pod.

"Is that a good thing?" Chris asked, looking from the REM pod to Sam and back.

"I'd say so," he replied.

"Yeah, I think it is," Ashley said. "She seemed to be more tense and closed-off yesterday and the day before that, so it's a good thing that she's already communicating."

"You mean she was unfriendly?" Nick asked.

"Not really. Just a bit moody," she replied, shaking her head. Then she glared at Colby, who had already opened his mouth to make a joke. "Do not!" she said, pointing her index finger at him.

He quickly closed his mouth and held up his hands in a surrendering gesture.

"What's going on?" Sam asked, panning the camera to the two.

"Nothing," Ashley said, chuckling and shaking her head. "We should start."

"Alright," the blond replied slowly. Despite his reluctance, he walked over to the piano and set up the camera. The others instinctively gathered around him, some looking at the camera, some at the REM pod, others at the spirit box Sam had just pulled out of his pocket. Ashley was looking at the curtains in the corner.

When Colby nudged her arm and silently raised an eyebrow, she shook her head. No movement. He nodded, understanding exactly what she meant.

"Ilse, are you ready to communicate with us today?" Sam asked. It was silent for a few seconds until the REM pod beeped – once, twice, three separate times.

"Hi, how are you?" Ashley said, smiling. It was a reflex; she didn't consciously choose to ask that – how was Ilse supposed to answer anyways? But to her surprise, the device beeped twice.

"I hope that stands for good," she chuckled. "Because I've been doing great today." That was true. Despite the constant flow of blood her body deemed so important and the occasional cramps, she'd been high-spirited all day. Especially after spending the morning in town. With Colby.

She quickly shook the thought away.

"Hiii," Nick said, a grin on his lips, while Sam took out the spirit box and activated it before setting it down on the piano. For a few heartbeats, static was the only sound in the ballroom.

"You."

Nick gasped, turning around to Chris and Matt. "Does that mean she knows me?"

Matt snickered and shrugged, while Chris jokingly rolled his eyes. "Kid gets excited over a ghost..." Nick swatted at his arm.

"We're not here."

The group exchanged several glances.

"Who's 'we'?" Sam eventually asked. "And why aren't... you? We? Here?"

"Together."

"We're together, yeah," Sam replied, glancing at Ashley. "Is that what you want?"

"No."

"Ohh shit, that was immediate," Matt said. He crossed his arms and chuckled lightly.

"Is that our sign to start today's challenge?" Sam asked Colby, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh my god, I don't want to split up," Ashley sighed. "That's such a bad idea."

"We'll be fine. We need to find the greenhouse, though; we haven't been there yet."

"Then let's do it," Colby said. He was smiling wickedly as he took the camera from Sam and pointed it at Ashley and the triplets while the blond picked up the few devices he'd set down.

"If you're against bad ideas, you shouldn't be on our channel," Colby said.

"True. Your bad ideas are well-known."

"Hey!"

"She's not wrong," Chris grinned.

"Okay, alright, I get it," Colby grumbled. "Let's go to the greenhouse."

The lobby was still empty when they walked through, and Ashley couldn't help but wonder if the hotel just didn't do as well in summer – since she'd never gone to the breakfast buffet, she hadn't seen a single other guest.

Ashley walked last in the group, watching the others as they made their way through the hallway leading to the greenhouse. Why is it even attached to the building? She asked but decided not to question it further. Until they reached the door, she kept a friendly smile.

But when her eyes fell on the interior of the greenhouse, she stopped abruptly, and her face dropped.