They spent the morning in their room, playing different games and trying not to get bored. The phones were useless, except for the few games Ashley had on hers. At first, the others laughed at her for having multiplayer games on it but soon they proved to be more useful than all the others' phones. And they used the time to take some pictures of each other in the hallways so they would have something for Instagram accounts later.

As promised, Kris and Colby tried to get some sleep after lunch. Despite the coffee the two had been drinking all over the morning, their eyes seemed to fall shut every second they could spare. Sam and Ashley left the rooms with their phones and cameras, not knowing what to do in their spare time. They had agreed to wake Kris and Colby up at seven pm.

"We have now, what? Five hours until we can wake them up?" Sam narrated to the camera. They were talking silently, not wanting to disturb any of the other guests, even though there shouldn't be any on their floor.

"Yeah, and we're going to try and find anything to spend our time. What we didn't tell Colby or Kris, we took a few devices with us. Just in case." Ashley winked at the camera.

"First, we thought we could just walk around the hotel. I think there's a library somewhere, as well as some sort of greenhouse on the back of the hotel. We thought we'd just come here, talk to the spirit, and go away... well." Sam chuckled. "This brings back memories from when we used to just walk around the haunted places and hope to find something."

They were now walking down the hallway, in the other direction than where they usually went.

"Are we even allowed to film here?" Ashley questioned, admiring the decorations of the hallway.

"I think so. Justin and Nora said nothing when we walked through the lobby with the camera. Several times."

"I feel like they just stopped giving a fuck after I ran down in the middle of the night, followed by you guys shouting and filming," Ashley laughed. "I hope they don't have to get used to crazy ghost hunters running around in the middle of the night."

"After this video?" Sam asked. "Not to brag or anything but I don't think so. This is probably the most active spirit we've ever encountered."

She grinned. "All thanks to me," she said with a nonchalant shrug.

Sam playfully rolled his eyes. "Come on, don't get- Oh, wait, where are we?"

They had descended different stairs on the other end of the hallway. Those had been significantly less elegant than the main staircase, and more hidden. If Ashley had been counting correctly, they were now standing on the third floor, looking at a basic door with a green emergency exit light next to it, pointing further down the stairs. On the fourth and fifth floors, there were only doors as well, but they had small windows, showing them the hallways that looked a lot like the one on the sixth floor. This door had no window and pointed in another direction than the others.

"Third floor?" Ashley suggested. "Open it, let's see if there's another hallway behind it."

Shrugging, Sam pulled the door open. It revealed two rows of bookshelves on both sides of them.

"Would you look at that," Ashley exclaimed. "We found the library! That was quick." She stepped out of the door, looking at the bookshelves. The room's roof was surprisingly low, hardly higher than a normal room's roof. It wasn't at all like the old library she'd expected, she could easily reach the highest shelf of books. No high ladders or aesthetic chandeliers, sadly.

The light was coming from a few reading desks scattered between the shelves, there was only one window at the end of the room. When Ashley emerged from between the two bookshelves where the emergency exit was, the entrance of the library was on her left, and the window on her right. A few hotel guests looked at her as she walked through the library, regularly pulling out books from the shelves and setting them back. The only sound filling the room came from people turning pages in the books and discussing them silently.

Then she and Sam reached the door and walked out.

"I don't feel like the other guests like us," Ashley chuckled. "Did you see how they looked at us?"

"Well, what did you expect? Look at us, among all these rich businessmen. And women." Sam moved the camera to show the viewers Ashley's colourful outfit and the tons of jewellery she was wearing, and then his own clothes, mostly consisting of his and Colby's merch. "Without serious ambitions, just walking around with a silly camera, recording stuff and thinking that's an actual profession..."

"Okay, okay, got it," Ashley chuckled. "They're boring and hate us for actually doing something we enjoy instead of sitting in dark offices all day, sorting papers and... whatever it is that they do."

"Come on, let's go explore this hotel a little more. The library apparently isn't it." Sam pointed the camera down the hallway.

"Speaking of explore..." Ashley raised her eyebrows. She raised her hoodie a little bit to show the t-shirt she was wearing underneath it. Sam immediately realized what she wanted to say.

"Go shop XPLR merch now! Link in description!" he said, stepping into view of the camera.

"By the way, I'm still waiting for those fingerless gloves you promised me," Ashley said, rubbing her hands together to warm them up a little more. "They would really come in handy here. It's freezing, even inside."

"Yeaaaah, about that..." Sam quickly turned away and started walking down the hallway. "Oh, look at that painting!" The playful try to distract Ashley was obvious and she laughed, but as soon as she laid eyes on the painting, she froze.

"Hey, isn't there a similar painting on the sixth floor?" she wondered, tracing the frame with her fingers. Her sudden seriousness made Sam frown.

"I don't remember," he answered slowly. "But we can go check? We have more than enough time, after all."

"Yes, please." Ashley's happy mood had disappeared, her jaw was suddenly tensed and her steps more direct. Sam followed her as she hurried up the stairs and reached the sixth floor.

When she saw the painting, she visibly relaxed. "Oh, thank god," she sighed as she looked at it more closely. "Yeah, it's the same woman, look." Sam filmed the painted woman.

She had black hair put up in a tight bun and was wearing a dark dress. Her hands were folded in her lap and several rings decorated her fingers. A silver necklace hung from her neck and disappeared in the neckline of the dress. Her features were delicate, and a friendly smile was displayed on her face. She was looking directly at the viewer, even though the painting was hanging a little above Sam and Ashley's heads.

"Why did you want to check?" Sam asked Ashley.

"Oh, I just dreamed of her tonight. When I saw her down there, I was scared for a second, until I remembered that I had looked at this painting, yesterday, when we first arrived." Ashley smiled when she said that; her tone was slack and relieved.

"What did you dream?" Sam asked.

"I'm not really sure. I think she was playing the piano, down in the ballroom. I was standing next to her, admiring her. She was wearing a different dress, though. It was black and a lot simpler, almost like one that people would wear in mourning," Ashley explained. "I guess I should have been scared but I actually quite enjoyed it. That was probably how my brain tried to process what happened yesterday. Through connecting faces, sounds, and places."

Sam smiled. "She's beautiful, I think everyone would enjoy her company."

"And the way she played... It was even more beautiful. I don't think I've ever heard the song before, though..." Ashley's voice trailed off as she tried to recall the melody. "Can we go to the ballroom? I'd like to try and play it if I still remember it..."

"Sure, let's go." Sam turned the camera off and they walked down the stairs.

The lobby and ballroom were empty, except for Justin, who was standing behind the reception again. He looked up and nodded at Sam and Ashley as they walked past.

In the ballroom, Ashley walked straight to the piano. She opened it completely, and Sam set up the camera, hitting the record button.

"Wait, Ashley," he said before she could start to play. "Don't you think we should get Kris and Colby? Just in case something happens. I mean, the last time you played the piano it was pretty exciting for all of us. They wouldn't want to miss it."

Sam could see how badly Ashley wanted to play the piano, but even though she tried to convince him to stay and do it without Kris or Colby, he insisted on getting them.

"Fine," she finally sighed. "Leave the stuff here, you'll be quicker. I'll wait."

Sam nodded slowly. "Okay, I'll just wake them up and be right back."

Ashley smiled at him as he walked out of the room. The doors closed with a loud bang behind him, and she turned back to stare at the piano. She felt it. The melody. It was technically impossible, but she could hear the melody from her dream, and she was sure that she had never heard it before. Her fingers tickled in anticipation. But she had promised Sam not to do anything while he was gone.

She couldn't resist.

"Ilse," she called. Her voice was carried through the room and filled every corner, even though she hadn't spoken that loud.

When it was silent again, she heard a sigh behind her. It was thick with desire, and Ashley knew that no kind of vent could make a sound like that. A sound so full of emotion.

"Ilse," she whispered, her voice barely audible this time.

Somewhere in the back of her head, a little voice screamed for her to stop, to wait for Kris and the boys. But she didn't listen to it, she suppressed every thought about them, completely unaware of the camera still recording her. There was only her, Ilse, and the piano.