The Piano || 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬

#1

Author's note-
> Everything is made up; the hotel, the spirits, the friends, even the states they're in. I'm not from America and prefer not to define where exactly they are because I don't want to get details wrong.

> All of the characters except for the publicly known belong to me.

> English isn't my native language so please inform me of any mistakes I will inevitably make. 

> This story has three different parts, the first one being paranormal, the second one happening in real life, and the third one focusing on the paranormal again. That way, I can both work on the character's personalities and write about the paranormal. 

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"WHAT'S up guys, it's Sam and Colby!" Colby shouted into the camera Sam was holding up.

"Today we're here at the Hoffman Hotel – I hope I pronounced the name right," Sam continued, pointing at the white marble stairs behind him and Colby. Ashley was standing on the other side of the camera, watching the two of them do their intro.

"This is supposed to be one of the most haunted hotels in this entire state. Which is interesting, because there is only one known spirit haunting this place, but we'll get to that later," Colby said and cleared his throat. "Because we are here with, cue the drumrolls..." Colby started patting his thighs at a rapid speed, "Kris and Ashley!"

Sam turned around, and Ashley and Kris appeared in the vision of the camera. Ashley was grinning widely, and they were all cheering and whooping, despite the fact that they were shivering in the cold air outside.

"They're going to help us find out what the spirit in the Hoffman Hotel wants to tell us and who exactly she is. Because this was an elite hotel in the 1920ties..."

"Why is it always the 1920ties?" Colby interrupted him. A moment of silence erupted where Sam was only staring at his friend.

"I don't know dude, you got to ask the staff here," he finally said. "Anyways, so, not like the places we usually go to, there was not much illegal business here..."

"So, no dead prostitutes?" Kris asked loudly. Ashley chuckled slightly, rolling her eyes, and crossed her arms in front of her chest to keep herself warm. It was colder out here than she'd anticipated.

Sam shook his head, and Ashley laughed. "Poor Colby," she said, and Kris broke out in laughter. Colby raised his hands to his chest, making a defensive gesture.

"What?" Ashley asked innocently. "The video in the Mizpah Hotel was pretty clear."

"You saw that?"

"And the one with Maddie. Don't think I came here without preparing anything," she snickered. "I did a little research, and that was among the videos I watched." He rolled his eyes.

"Let's head inside because it's freezing out here," Sam then stated. The hand he was holding the camera with was shaking, and the others nodded quickly and took their bags to rush up the hotel's white stairs and through the doors. As soon as they stepped over the threshold, Ashley sighed, finally relaxing the arms that had been clutching her chest.

"God, it's a lot better in here. Why did you guys want to make the intro outside?" she asked and looked out for the reception desk.

"Because we needed to capture everyone's authentic reactions," Sam replied and turned the camera to her.

"Oops, sorry for ruining that I guess."

The hall the first stepped into was a long room with the floor covered in a red carpet. On both far sides, there are fireplaces that are lit but the group was standing too far away from them to feel the heat. But the sight of the open flames alone made Ashley feel a lot warmer already. In front of both fireplaces, there was a grouping of several red couches and one or two small coffee tables. The group was standing in front of a giant staircase and two receptions on both sides of it. Only the one on the right was occupied.