The Piano || 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬

|60|

In the lobby, the time was organised – they'd all get half an hour for their investigation before they'd meet in the lobby – and the equipment was handed out – a spirit box and a flashlight for Ashley and Nick. Then they said their quick goodbyes and each group made their way to their location.

The hallway was dark, but Ashley held up the flashlight as she and Nick walked, their steps swallowed by the thick carpet. His hands were in his pockets while he slowly trailed behind Ashley.

"I'm not gonna lie, the greenhouse is the creepiest room here," he said after a while. "Like, I don't know, the light's just weird. It's all gloomy and dark, like in a horror movie. And the plants look weird when you see them from the corner of your eyes."

Ashley chuckled. "Then why did you decide to come here?"

"Matt and Chris would probably shit themselves and run out if something looked weird," he replied instantly.

"You think anything's going to happen?"

"...Maybe? Just a fair warning though, if I see someone standing there, I'm going to scream."

"Don't worry about that, I will too," she chuckled.

Back in the greenhouse, they took a few chairs and a metal table and set them up in the middle of the room. Ashley set the camera on a rack holding several pots of plants. The light blinded her at first, but she kept her eyes open until she got used to it.

Nick was looking at the spirit box, messing with the buttons and trying to get it on. "How does this thing work...?" he mumbled under his breath, right before it cracked loudly, and static filled the room. "There we go."

They stayed silent for a second before Ashley spoke up.

"So, is there someone with us?" she asked the usual question. "Well, if there is, I'm going to assume-"

A voice echoed through the room, and Nick cut Ashley off, "It said moth. I think. Or soft."

They exchanged a glance. "Song...?" Ashley tried, and Nick nodded rapidly.

"Possibly. Probably," he said.

"No songs anymore today," Ashley said to the room. Right before she could end her sentence, the spirit box cracked loudly, making Nick flinch and raise his arms as if trying to protect himself. Ashley let out a breathy chuckle and shook her head. "Jeez. You think that's going to help?"

The box stayed silent.

"Is there anything else you'd like to talk about?" Ashley asked after a while.

After a few more minutes, the box spoke up, loud and clear, "Blood."

Their gazes snapped up, meeting immediately, and Nick let out a nervous chuckle. "Oh, that's not... something I wanted to hear today."

Ashley just sighed and tried to hide her smile. "Blood? Do you want to tell us something?"

"Feeling like..."

"Like what?"

"Over and over."

"It's so active," Nick hissed, quickly glancing around the room.

"What do you mean, over and over? Are you talking about repetition?" Ashley asked. But the spirit box stayed silent again. For one minute. Two.

Until Nick cleared his throat and stood up. "I gotta use the bathroom, I'll be right back."

Ashley nodded, a little discouraged, and turned off the spirit box while Nick walked out of the greenhouse. She sat there for a few seconds, just looking at the room and enjoying the silence that felt relieving after the continuous rustling of the spirit box. Eventually, she took out her phone—as you do. While Nick was gone, she decided, she could as well check her messages.

The second she removed the do not disturb mode, the phone buzzed. And as soon as she read who sent the message, her heart rate picked up. Just a tiny bit. But enough for her to notice. It was from Colby, asking, „Everything okay down there?" Her heart warmed up as she read it.

When she noticed her own—though involuntary, still very real—reaction, her breath hitched, leaving her lightheaded... and with a smile tugging at her lips. Why was she grinning like an idiot now? At one text message? At the thought of him being worried about her? At the thought of him caring about her?

She didn't get the chance to think about it any longer when someone pulled at her shirt. Hard.

Ashley whipped her head around and dropped the phone onto the table. It made a clattering sound, loud as a gunshot in the silence of the greenhouse.

When her eyes locked on the corner furthest away from her, she jumped up, almost tipping over the chair she'd been sitting on. A scream was stuck in her throat, but no sound escaped from her.

For the camera, it looked like she froze completely once she was standing. There was nothing to see in the darkness, and yet she was staring at something, her shoulders tense, her hand gripping the chair until her knuckles turned white. For the camera, it took only a few seconds before Ashely turned around again, grabbed her phone and the camera and rushed out of the greenhouse. The camera hadn't seen what she had.

Outside, she took a few trembling breaths before setting down the camera on one of the tables.

„What the fuck," she whispered, „what the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck..."

Her hands automatically took her phone and opened the chat with Colby, tying a short message. Ashley set the phone down and sat on one of the sofas, running a hand over her face. Only seconds later, she stood up again, walking behind the couch to lean against the backrest. Her eyes fell on the camera, and she realised she better explain what happened. Or try to, at least.

„That was... dangerous," she began, immediately shaking her head at how silly that sounded. „I just mean it felt dangerous. Literally from one moment to the other. Just... unsafe. Angry, maybe?"

She searched her brain for the right words, for anything that could express what she felt like. „Unwelcome. Yeah, like I wasn't welcome anymore. But not just a creeping feeling like I should probably leave, it was as if someone was screaming at my face what are you doing here?"

Talking helped. It felt less real now, less dangerous. Her hand closed around her wrist, the fingers slowly trailing over the single ring she was wearing. „And I was looking at that corner, and it was so dark for a second, almost pitch black. And-"

She was interrupted by the shuffling of footsteps at the top of the stairs and Colby and Chris rushed down—Colby first, searching the lobby with his eyes until they landed on Ashley. Her shoulders sagged in relief when she saw him.

At the same time, Sam, Matt and... Nick, for some reason, stepped out of the ballroom and gathered at the sofas.

Colby was running down the stairs. He was already halfway through the last flight...

... when he tripped.

He yelped, stumbling over his own feet while Ashley rushed closer. He threw his arms out to catch himself, but nothing helped, and he fell toward her, taking her with him as he crashed to the floor.