The Piano || 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬

#16

"So, as per usual, we begin with calming ourselves down," Sam instructed, slowly taking Colby's and Kris's hands. Ashley took them from the opposite side. They all closed their eyes and took deep breaths. "We're open for anyone who wants to communicate with us."

The room was filled with the steady breathing of four people, holding hands, and sitting in a circle, and the flickering of the candles in between them. Ominous, unsteady shadows were cast on the walls.

"Did it just get warmer?" Kris whispered. Ashley nodded slightly.

"I felt it too."

"Ilse, if that's you, please give us any kind of sign, for example, blow out these candles. Make yourself known." Colby's voice was steady, and Ashley noticed that he glanced at her more often than once. It didn't bother her, though.

The room stayed quiet, and the candles continued their pace. The four all turned their heads around, trying to catch a glimpse of something, anything that was out of place.

When Kris's phone suddenly chimed, they all startled, whipping their heads around to the blonde woman. She blushed, quickly taking her phone.

"Jeez, Kris," Ashley chuckled. "That scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry," she muttered and then hesitated. "Wait... Guys, I have service again!"

"Seriously?" Sam asked. "They must've fixed the poles. But let's concentrate on this, we can get back in contact later."

"I agree. Ilse's probably here with us-" Before Ashley could finish her sentence, a loud crash interrupted her. She yelled out and jumped up, turning around to look in the direction where the sound came from. Kris dropped her phone and Colby scrambled up to stand next to Ashley because the crash had been in their back, in the direction of the bathroom.

"What the fuck?" Ashley asked. "What the hell was that?"

"It came from the bathroom!" Sam whisper-shouted. "We should check what it could've been."

Without hesitation, Ashley started walking toward the closed door. The room on the other side was dark, and she let her fingers hover over the light switch for a moment before she turned the lights on. The lamp flickered once before it filled the room with the cold light typical for a bathroom.

At first, Ashley didn't see what could've possibly made such a sound. Then she pulled the shower curtain aside and glanced into the bathtub. The shower head was lying on the turquoise stone, having fallen off the rack. She sighed.

"It was the shower head," she explained to the others who had entered quickly after her. "It must've slipped out of the bracket." Bending down, she put it back where it belonged. "It would certainly be loud enough to make us jump like that. But why would it fall randomly?"

She turned back around and saw the others watching the mirror. With a glance in the direction, all blood drained from her face. It was fogged up again, but not only that – someone had drawn a smiley face similar to hers the day before.

"Who did that?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady. "I'm being serious, who did that?"

"Didn't you?" Kris asked. "I saw the smiley yesterday."

"I know, I drew one when we saw that the mirror was fogged up, but it was gone in the morning, I swear on my life." Ashley looked at the others.

"Is this the sign we asked for?" Sam spoke up.

"Probably. Should we continue?" Ashley said. She quickly rubbed over her arms to hide the goosebumps.

They went back to the candles, leaving the bathroom door open this time, and sat in the circle. This time, Ashley cleared her throat after they had taken each other's hands.

"Ilse. We are here to listen to your story. If you are ready to tell us how you died... or tell us something about your lover in Germany, we are ready to listen. Give us a sign if we can ask you about it."

Nothing. The room stayed silent, just like it had before. Ashley kept her eyes closed but felt her hope slip. This was their last chance to get answers, and she was desperate to find out what happened to Ilse and her lover. If Ashley was right and the pianist had been a girl. Who she had been.

"I don't think she wants to talk to us anymore," Sam whispered.

"Can't we still try?" Ashley asked the desperation showing in her voice. "Just take out the spirit box for a few minutes. In case she changes her mind?"

Sam and Colby exchanged a glance. "I mean, it's worth a try," Colby shrugged, letting go of Ashley's and Sam's hands. Kris on the other side did the same.

"I don't know, guys," she sighed. "I don't think we're going to get anything anymore. I feel like Ilse's getting tired of us."

"You feel it, or you think it?" Ashley asked.

"Both. It definitely feels different than in the beginning. I don't feel particularly unwelcome anymore, but still not welcome. You know that feeling when someone just glares at you from across the room and even if you can't see it, you feel it? And at one point they just accept that you're here but avoid you so that their refusal to acknowledge you is painfully obvious."

"I know exactly what you mean," Colby nodded.

"I do too but I don't feel like it," Ashley sighed. "Not a lot has changed for me."

"Ilse apparently loves to mess with people's feelings," Sam said.

They were still sitting in a circle on the carpet, none of them eager to get up and continue. Ashley felt the itching in her fingers that she always felt when she needed to do something, but she didn't want to do anything the others weren't comfortable with. Fortunately, Sam took the lead before she could speak up.

"Let's get the spirit box out one more time," he said, and got up, walking to his backpack.

He set the spirit box down in the middle of the candles after turning it on. The sound of static filled the room.

"So, Ilse, we'll try one last time. If you want us to stop, just say so. If you want to tell us your story, we invite you to do so," he said, loud and clear.

But the spirit box, too, stayed silent no matter how often they tried or who asked.

"That just proves to me that this shit is real," Colby said, gesturing to the equipment. "Usually, we always get some voices through the spirit box, something that we can decipher. But right now, it's only static. How do you explain that if you believe that the words spit out are just random parts of songs or programs? How do you explain that it didn't say a thing today?"

Ashley shook her head in defeat. "I don't know. We should probably stop. Ilse won't talk to us anymore." She got up and walked to the light switch while the others blew out the candles.

Colby took the camera and pointed it at the three others. "So, what do we think?" he asked.

"I think it was great," Ashley yawned. "Especially being targeted on my first investigation. Woohoo. But I'm so done right now, and it's not even ten pm."

"Yeah, me too," Kris sighed. "I think this was the most intense investigation I've ever done."

Sam nodded in agreement. "What they said," he stated. "I'm ready to go to bed too right now. Let's record the end and our opinions tomorrow."

Colby turned the camera off in agreement. "I hope I'll get sleep tonight. Ilse, if you're still here, I'm not trying to steal your girl, let me sleep in peace!"

"Don't call me her girl," Ashley laughed with an eye roll. Colby shrugged with a smirk.

"You did call her beautiful though," he pointed out.

"What, when?" she asked with wide eyes.

"When we saw the painting. That's Ilse, I checked. And the first thing you said about her was that she's beautiful."

"Oh, god," she groaned. "Do you think that made her so fond of me?"

Colby shrugged again, gathering his stuff before leaving the girls' room with Sam.