The Piano || 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬

|80|

Ashley awoke to all her muscles clenching at once, her eyelids opening with a startled gasp. She looked around wildly, trying to reorient herself in her suddenly bright surroundings.

Colby had her in a tight grip, even as she stumbled. Her hand, closed in a fist, opened, and something dropped to the floor, making a clinking sound that echoed through the otherwise quiet room. He followed it with his gaze, a discontent twist around the corners of his mouth.

"What's going on," Ashley mumbled. "Where are we?"

"In the basement," Colby replied, letting go of her. "You sleepwalked down here."

"Oh."

She looked at him closely. He was wearing a full outfit still, which meant he must've just arrived home. But his eyes... They were stern like never before.

"Did... was it a good investigation? Did you get enough material?" she asked after a few awkward seconds of silence.

"I guess so, yeah," he said, shrugging. In reality, his thoughts were nowhere close to the day's happenings. His entire focus laid on Ashley and how she bent down to reach for the ring. For Colby, it felt like it was surrounded by a threat, weaving its way through Ashley.

Both stared at it for a while before he found his voice again.

"You left that at the hotel."

Ashley's fingers closed around the metal. "Yeah."

His eyes looked for hers, but she barely reacted, just looking down at her first.

"Why is it here? You were supposed to leave it all behind." He feared his voice would betray the fear behind his words.

"I don't know," she said, and he knew she told the truth. "It was just... back. In my bag, I found it..."

"You found it?"

"Yeah! Well, I was looking for it." Her voice grew more defensive, and he could see her shoulders tense.

"You were looking for it? Even though you knew you left it behind?" he demanded.

"I don't know, I just knew it was here somewhere," she muttered.

"Okay. That's it, we're getting a psychic to check you out."

"What?" Ashley' voice was laced with genuine shock.

"You heard me."

"You can't be serious."

"Oh, I am. This is serious, Ashley. You were sleepwalking and talking to a ghost while holding your ring! The ring with her initials on it! You have to admit this isn't normal anymore!"

"Can you stop?" Ashley yelled. His eyes widened in surprise. "There is nothing wrong with this, I literally just sometimes dream about her-"

"This happens regularly?" he asked, quickly regaining his composure. "Ashley, how often do you dream about her?"

She shut her mouth and glanced away from him. No matter what she said now, it would only worsen the situation. Unfortunately, staying silent was not a good option either.

"How. Often?"

"Every few nights," she muttered. Not completely untrue – since she lived with Colby again, Ilse only visited her every now and then. Not every night, like she used to before. "It's just dreams, though, there's nothing wrong with that..."

He pointedly glanced down at her still closed fist. She defiantly stuck it in her pocket and put the ring away.

"And you don't think we should get a medium?" he asked, with a strong undertone of mockery in his voice. Ashley clenched her jaw.

"Yes. It's just dreams. Nothing more."

"Are you sure of that?" he asked, his voice softer now. "If you don't want to, we won't talk to anyone about any of this, I just... I think it's for the best. For you, especially."

Ashley raised her head to look at him in the full determination to lie at him. But one look at his eyes, and her stoic façade crumbled. He could see it fall and reveal the exhaustion behind her eyes. A sigh left his nose, and he stepped forward to hug her again. She sunk into his arms, the last rest of defiance gone.

"It's not just dreams," she whispered. "She visits me, every night. Almost. We don't talk a lot... usually. It never lasts. She looks at me, and when I try to say something, I usually wake up."

"But...?" he asked, softly urging her to continue.

"Last time, she gave me the ring. Told me not to lose it." Ashley could still hear the words. Don't lose it. As if they were etched into her brain, maybe forever. "And this time, she wanted something, but I don't understand what."

"Did she... talk?" Ashley was so used to talking and thinking about Ilse this way that Colby's hesitance to say that seemed ridiculous to her.

"Yes, but in German."

"Would you remember what she said? What it sounded like?"

She thought about it. Ilse's words usually stuck to her mind, playing in an endless loop. This time was no different. Whatever she'd said, it stuck to Ashley's brain word for word, syllable for syllable. She nodded.

"Okay, good," he breathed. "Then we can find that out tomorrow. Now, we should go to bed, or what do you think?"

Ashley nodded in relief. The tiredness clung to her bones, pulling down her weight. But before they could leave the basement, she hesitated.

"What if I dream of her again?" she asked, her voice timid.

"I'll be right there. I won't let you sleepwalk again."

When they settled back into bed, Colby having changed out of his clothes and into more comfortable ones, and the room went silent, Ashley kept her eyes open. Her thoughts were racing, and she couldn't silence them despite Colby's arm around her and his secure weight right next to her.

Today's happenings had deeply unsettled her. Understandable, one would say. But it wasn't the dream or the sleepwalking that scared her – it was that she already wanted to go back. She missed the greenhouse, Ilse's presence, her fingers wrapped around her hand. Her lips on Ashley's knuckles... She tried to shake herself out of it. This wasn't normal. She was supposed to be scared, terrified even. But no.

With a deep exhale, Ashley turned to the other side, facing away from Colby. The rest of the night was spent with restless tossing and turning and she barely got an hour of sleep.

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Author's note-
> Gang should I make a discord server for all things fanfiction?