The Piano || 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬

|82|

Author's note-
> Guys I haven't written anything for this in a week because of a certain someone so uhh I have NO idea when the next (few) updates will be. Unless I get a sudden burst of motivation and ambition, of course.

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Ashley didn't dream anything that night. Whatever the reason was, she was glad. No dreaming meant no sleepwalking and no need to explain it to Colby. She could just tell him the truth the next morning, No, I didn't dream anything. Yes, that's a relief.

Then: Yes, we should call Pythian Priestess today. The words slipped over her lips easily – too easily. Ashley bit down a nervous chuckle, replacing it with a kind smile. Colby smiled and cupped her jaw, pressing a quick kiss to her lips.

They sat on the couch – Colby on one side, Sam on the other, and Ashley in the middle. In front of them, on the couch table, was the laptop. It was Sam's, the same they'd used last time. Calling Sarah. For a moment, Ashley felt thrown back to that moment. She was just as nervous and on edge around Colby, and even more sensitive towards any topic regarding Ilse and the hotel. Only, this time her smile felt more forced when they turned on the camera, started the screen recording, and started facetime.

Both Sam and Colby were sitting confidently, leaning against the couch back, but Ashley had her knees pulled up to her chin and pulled down her – Colby's – hoodies' sleeves. She was chewing on her lower lip and moved the piercing in and out with her tongue.

Then the other Ashley's face showed up on the screen. She had a kind smile and was wearing a cloth to pull back her black hair. The background of the video was just as Ashley had imagined – a shelf with bottles and glasses in various shapes and sizes, filled with herbs, crystals, and powders. She could almost smell the room.

"You must be Ashley," Pythian Priestess says, slightly tilting her head as she looks at Ashley. "The one who had a ghost fall in love with her?"

A nervous chuckle leaves her mouth, and she fixes her gaze on her hands, fiddling with a sleeve. "Yeah, that's me."

"Alright. How much do you know about how attracted, slash attached Ilse is to you?"

"Well..." Ashley hesitated. "She visits me in my dreams. Not every night. In the beginning, it was always very short, and at most she'd hold my hand or..." kiss it. "Yeah. Hold my hand."

"And now?"

"We talk." Her voice sounded far away in her ears. She was no longer talking, just listening to someone who happened to have had the same experiences. "We sit at this table that I have to find first, and she holds my hand, and we talk." And she looks at me. With those deep, brown eyes, filled with something that's not quite longing but close enough. Like she knows me. Has known me forever. Like she...

"Ash?" Colby whispered, carefully nudging her shoulder. Ashley's eyes snapped up.

"Sorry, what?"

"It's okay, I asked about the ring," Pythian Priestess explained.

"Oh. Yeah. That. I, uh, I lost it, the first time we were at the hotel. Well, not really, because..." She took it, slipped it from my finger. "Because I don't remember taking it off. And it has her initials on it, now."

"Do you think there's a strong connection between her and the ring?"

"Yes." No hesitation, no questioning.

"Would you agree to meet me sometime? I'd like to take a look at this ring." Her voice was more serious now. Ashley swallowed and nodded.

"Sure. I mean..." She glanced first at Colby, then at Sam.

"Yep, we should organise a meeting," said Colby and leaned forward. "The sooner the better." They dove into dates and times, and Ashley's mind drifted off.

When her eyes wandered down to her hands again, her gaze met her left hand – a silver band decorated her ring finger. She slipped it off as smoothly as possible, trying not to let Sam and Colby notice. When did I put this on? She wasn't wearing any other jewellery except for a golden necklace and her piercings.

As the conversation started to end, she tuned in again, just about catching the discussed date. Colby nodded firmly, immediately laying an arm around her shoulders as Sam turned off camera and laptop.

"So. Tomorrow we're going to meet her." Colby looked at her distracted expression while Sam was already leaving to go to his room, granting the two of them more privacy. Colby's voice turned impossibly soft. "Are you okay?"

Something in his voice and expression made Ashley hesitate before she could speak her usual I'm fine. That second of silence was enough to invalidate any positive answer she could've given him.

"I... don't know," she muttered. "I'm scared. And at the same time, it's so ridiculous. And you're here, and Sam, and Pythian Priestess, and I know I'm gonna get out of this, but..."

"... but sometimes our minds don't listen to logic," he finished her sentence. Ashley nodded miserably.

"And it's not even that all of this is happening that's the worst, it's just how much time and thought it takes..."

Colby made a sound of agreement. "Right now, it definitely feels endless," he said. "Just a terrifying spiral of spirits."

Ashley laid her head on his shoulder and scoffed silently. "I'm tired," she said.

"Me too," he whispered, "me too."

She lifted her head and looked at him, lips parted, ready to speak. Colby, her mind wanted to say. Help me. Help me get out of this, because I won't have the strength.

But when her lips moved, the sounds that left her were completely different. "I love you," she said, looking at his serious expression. It softened, immediately getting streaked with surprise and affection.

"I love you too," he replied, pulling her closer against his chest. She sighed softly. At least one weight was lifted from her heart.

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None of them felt like working, and yet Ashley had to stream. She would've just let it be, but Colby insisted that it would be good for her – distract her, bring some sense of order into her life. Some normalcy. Unfortunately, she had to agree with that. She was in dire need of something that wasn't ghosting around in the apartment wearing her pyjamas all day. Plus, she hadn't posted on any of her social media accounts in a long while, and her supporters would start questioning her inactivity soon.

The second the stream countdown started, Ashley could feel herself relax. The greenscreen was set up, Colby lying on the bed behind it, and she went through her ideas for today one last time. He had been right – this would be good for her.

For the rest of the day, Ashley felt like her normal self again. Or some version of herself that had never met the boys. Or never gone to the hotel, but to some other place... Maybe she wouldn't have gotten to know them this closely if she hadn't. Scratch that, she definitely wouldn't have.

Her fingers wrapped around the cold ring in her pocket, and she felt her heart beat with gratefulness.