The Piano || 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬

#4

Just like before, the first few chords were shaky and uncertain, but this time it took her less time to get used to the rhythm. She even continued smiling a little, enjoying the well-known movements of her fingers.

This time, she let the piano do all the singing. Her thoughts wandered, but she was always aware of any movement in her back. She couldn't help but notice Colby's stiff position just a few feet away from her.

"Ring," the ovilus said and Ashley almost messed up.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sam whispered. "First it's silent for so long and then... ring?"

Ashley let the song end, slowly and calmly hitting the last keys. She hadn't even realized how her heart was pounding until she looked at her hands in my lap, watching them shake and twitch.

"Ashley?" Colby asked and slightly touched her shoulder. She flinched.

"Sorry, I just... zoned out, I guess."

"It's alright. How do you feel?"

"It was a lot more exhausting than I'd thought. Like, my hands are shaking, but the song wasn't that long or hard to play or anything," Ashley explained, taking a few slow breaths to calm herself.

"Wait a second... Sam, can you get the camera over here?"

Sam was already standing close to the piano but walked up to them as Colby asked him to.

"Do you see that?" Colby asked and pointed at something Ashley couldn't see. She wanted to turn around, but he laid a hand on her shoulder, telling me not to move.

"Oh, God," Sam whispered.

"What? What is it?" Ashley asked, feeling her heartbeat rise again.

"There's some kind of mark on your neck," Colby explained. "It looks like..."

"A hickey," Sam finished his sentence. She swallowed.

"Where is it? Can you touch it?"

Colby's fingers traced a round shape on her neck, and she inhaled sharply.

"That's right where... she touched me. Before, I mean. When I thought Kris was there."

"Damn, girl," Kris said. She had come closer too, they were all standing behind Ashley's back now. "You there, you ghost," Kris then called out, her voice echoing in the room eerily. "You can't just go around giving hickeys to people!"

Ashley chuckled, despite the nervosity making my limbs go cold. "Can any of you take a picture and show me?"

Colby took out his phone and gave it to her right after he snapped a picture. And they were right; there was a red mark a little on the right of Ashley's neck, looking exactly like a hickey, maybe a little less bright.

"Well, at least I have a great story to tell," she joked. "Got my ever first hickey from a ghost. I love that."

"Now you have a ghost girlfriend too," Kris said. "Even better than Colby. He's only ever talked to them."

The boys laughed and Sam pointed the camera at Kris, who shrugged innocently.

At that moment, the flashlight on the piano turned off, and they all jumped backwards. The others did, at least. Ashley glanced at it as if she had expected it.

Then the REM-pod made a sound, and they all whipped their heads around. Next was the cat ball which was several feet away from the group. And, lastly, the second flashlight about in the middle of the ballroom.

"It's like a trace," Kris said. "You heard of Hansel and Gretel?"

"This is nothing like Hansel and Gretel," Colby said with a chuckle.

"It's a trace and we're going to follow it," she insisted.

"Damn right, we are. Are you okay with that, Ashley?"

Ashley grinned at him, quickly standing up from the stool of the piano. "Fuck, yeah. Who doesn't want to follow an ominous trace of lights into a dark room?"

"I feel like she just pointed us in the direction," Sam said. "That's where we came from. Maybe she wants to meet us somewhere."

"Like in our room?" Ashley suggested.

"Most likely. It was hers once too," Colby explained.

Sam began to pack up his and Colby's equipment, but before they left the room, Ashley turned back to the piano.

"Let me just..." she started, but she couldn't finish the sentence. Right as she reached out her hand to close the cover over the keyboard, it fell shut with a loud bang. She quickly pulled back her hand. "Holy shit, that was loud," she exclaimed, trying to calm her pounding heart. By now, she had lost count of how often it had started beating twice as fast as normally in the last half an hour.

"Pianos don't do that," Sam said. "And it wasn't you. Your hand wasn't even touching it."

"Let's just go to Kris's and my room," Ashley said, suddenly eager to meet this spirit that had given her a bright red mark on her neck.

She walked ahead of the others as they returned to their rooms. Behind her, she heard Sam and Colby whisper something, but she didn't look back or tried to understand them, somehow it felt like all that mattered was to get back to the room as quickly as possible.

-----

"Do you think she's okay?" Colby asked Sam, leaning closer to him and the camera.

"I don't know, man. She seems pretty calm if you ask me."

"Yeah, that's what freaks me out. Everyone else would literally be on the verge of a panic attack or something after someone touches their hair and gives them a mark." Colby was watching Ashley closely as she walked up the stairs, her hands clinging to the railing determinedly. "Plus, it's her first time going ghost hunting. How is she so chill about all of this?"

"Are you guys coming?" Ashley whisper-shouted, standing on the highest floor already. Kris was standing next to her, looking down the staircase. Colby flashed them a smile and quickened his steps.

They reached the door to the girls' room, and Kris opened it with her key. But as soon as she stepped over the threshold, she hesitated.

"Whoa, do you guys feel that?" she asked, pressing a hand on her chest. Ashley quickly followed her in, looking around.

"No, what do you mean?" she asked. Colby and Sam walked in behind her and immediately realized what Kris meant. There was a certain pressure in the room that didn't come from dust, when they had come in here before it hadn't felt like this. Colby and Sam looked at each other.

"There's definitely something different," he stated. "It's like the air got thicker if you know what I mean." Sam nodded.

"Exactly. Ashley, you don't feel it?"

The redhead shook her head. "I feel so welcome here. Like, even more than before."

"I bet this is Ilse's doing. But why would she make Ashley feel good and us others not?" Kris questioned, rubbing her arms. "Maybe she liked the piano..."

"Ashley, you want to teach us some songs?" Colby challenged the redhead, which made Sam snort.

"Ilse's just going to hate us because it sounds so horrifying," he laughed.

"Yeah, probably," Colby chuckled, and Ashley rolled her eyes.

"Come on, boys, let's stay serious. What's happening next?" she asked, looking around the room.

"We think it's time for the Estes method," Colby began explaining and looked at Sam significantly.

"Oh, I hate that look. You're going to make me do it?" Ashley sighed.

"If you're comfortable with it," Colby quickly said, studying her reaction closely. She shrugged.

"I'm in."