The walk back up the stairs was silent too, but this time, Ashley was chewing on her bottom lip and Sam's thoughts were racing until he forced himself to calm down.

"It's going to be fine," she said before they entered the room. "It's just another day in a hotel."

"Haunted hotel, but otherwise yeah," Sam muttered before they opened the door. Kris and Colby were already halfway passed out on the couch, looking up as the two entered.

"Yay, coffee," Kris announced and got up to grab herself a cup. Colby did the same, but Ashley's and Sam's bitter faces didn't go unnoticed by him.

"What happened?" he asked, taking a sip out of his cup. Kris sat down on the couch and pulled her legs up to her chest. Sam and Ashley exchanged a glance before he spoke.

"We're stuck. Cut off."

"What?" Kris asked. Both Colby and her had the same look as Ashley when she first heard the news. Denial, and then the try to imagine something else that could mean.

"The bridge gave in, and we have no service... That damn snowstorm really messed this place up," Ashley sighed. "The man who told us said we'll get out in the evening or tomorrow morning, worst case."

"What?" Kris's voice was now significantly higher, her hands clasping the cup tight. Colby just stared at Ashley, sitting down on the couch with a groan.

"You're not serious," he said. She just looked at him, until she pulled the hood of her hoodie down over her face.

"I wish I wasn't," was her muffled reply, and she sunk deeper into the cushions. "I had a stream planned tomorrow, and I can't even announce that I have to cancel it. And what will my roommate think of my sudden disappearance?"

Sam stood next to the couch, his arms crossed, and his lips pressed to be a tight line. He shook his head slightly and looked down at the floor. It was silent again, everyone staring at their hands, until Ashley grabbed a muffin from one of the trays she and Sam brought, and bit into it. Kris sighed and reached forward to get a small bowl with porridge.

"So?" she said after everyone had started eating. "What do we do?"

"I guess we try not to get bored," Colby shrugged. The others all nodded, but no one was eager to speak up. The topic they all thought about, but no one wanted to talk about was so painfully obvious that Ashley started uncomfortably shifting in her seat, avoiding looking at the others. Eventually, she cleared her throat.

"Hey, look at it from the bright side," she said with a crooked smile. "We have a lot more time because of this."

They simply stared at her, knowing exactly what she was implying.

"Ashley-" Colby started but she cut him off.

"Oh, come on. You can't tell me this isn't like a sign. I get stuck with you guys in a haunted hotel?" she scoffed.

"It may be a sign, but I don't think it's a good one," Sam sighed. "But, even if I'm sorry to say this, I have to agree. We're all a little calmer now after getting some rest – at least Ashley and I did – and we still haven't solved the mystery around Ilse's death. We only got two words that didn't really say much before we got sidetracked."

"See? He gets it." Ashley waved her hand over to him. "I understand why you wanted to stop yesterday. But there's absolutely no reason to now."

Colby and Kris looked at each other.

"I mean, you guys can talk easily," the blond woman said, "as awake as you are. I don't really... I'm not interested in talking to spirits while almost falling asleep."

"I agree," Colby nodded. The rings under his eyes were almost as dark as Kris'. "Fine. As soon as I'm more awake... let's continue. The viewers would want it, too."

Sam grinned and held his hand up for Ashley to give him a high five. She chuckled, reaching up to do it.

"Should we film an update for the viewers?" she suggested, and Sam nodded. Kris, who was sipping her second cup of coffee, leaned back on the couch.

"You do it," she said. "I'm," she was interrupted by a yawn, "not camera-ready."

Ashley playfully rolled her eyes. "What are you talking about? You're always gorgeous!"

Kris scoffed, but smiled, nonetheless. "As are you, Ash," she retorted.

"Alright, let's do this," Sam said, reaching for the camera. He and Ashley walked a few steps away from the couch with the two half-dead YouTubers and started recording.

"Soooo," Ashley began, stretching the 'o'. "Something came up."

"We're stuck," Sam explained. "There's no way of communicating with anyone. No service. No Wi-Fi. No street."

"The bridge we crossed when coming here broke. Wasn't built for so much snow to fall," Ashley continued.

"And now we're here for another day." Sam shrugged. "I think it could be worse. Like, it's warm, we have food and electricity... It's not a movie, after all." He chuckled and turned the camera to show Colby and Kris.

"They didn't sleep well, for some reason," Ashley said while Kris weakly held up the peace sign. "I slept like a baby, as did Sam. We're trying to revive them with coffee currently."

"So, you probably know what this means," Sam continued, now addressing the camera, and turning back around. "After what happened yesterday, we weren't sure whether we actually want to continue, but this leaves us no other possibility. As soon as those two," he pointed at the couch, "are a little more energetic again, we'll continue. It's going to be great." He finished with a grin and stopped recording.

"Decent," Ashley stated.

"What? That was good, come on!" Sam said, jokingly offended. She just shrugged. "Well, you try explaining something after four hours of sleep!" He ruffled through his hair, handing her the camera.

"I'm joking," she laughed, going back to the couch. There she laid an arm around Kris and grabbed a cookie from the tray. "You think we should go outside for a second? I read somewhere that fresh air and movement help against sleepiness," she suggested, chewing the cookie happily.

"God, you have too much energy for me," Kris groaned. Colby muttered something that sounded like he agreed with her, but his voice was too raspy and quiet to actually tell what he was saying.

"Half an hour," Sam chuckled. "Then we'll drag you out of the hotel if it's necessary. And after lunch, you guys take a nap."

Kris sighed but nodded in agreement. "Fine. Better than being halfway asleep the entire day, I guess."

Just like Sam promised, half an hour later, they collected all the trays with the empty cups and bowls, and, after Kris and Colby had changed into more decent clothes, brought them down to the ballroom, where the buffet was still standing. Kris grabbed a third cup of coffee before they left the hotel through the main entrance, stepping into the thin, cold air.

Even though Ashley was wearing a hoodie with a sweater underneath, she felt goosebumps crawl all over her arms. She didn't let it show, though, while they walked down the street for a few minutes. Kris was grabbing her cup of coffee with white knuckles; it was probably the warmest thing close by. Colby had his hands buried in his pockets and his hood pulled up. Sam seemed to be fine, but he was the only one wearing gloves and an actually warm jacket, so Ashley wasn't surprised.

They had been walking for fifteen minutes, just following the street, and trying to clear their minds when they arrived at the bridge. The river was rippling quietly underneath, the water crystal clear and freezing cold. The bridge that had seemed stable as they had arrived at the hotel, wasn't as broken down as they had expected. It didn't look like in the movies, not half the bridge was dangling from one side.

But the railing was completely missing on one side, and most of the snow had slid down there. Ashley could see where the wood was about to break and fall into the river. The rest of the bridge was covered in a thick white cover of snow.

"We could easily walk over that," Colby said. "I expected a little more."

"And then what?" Sam chuckled. "It took us two hours to drive up this mountain from the nearest city. You want to walk all that in the cold?"

"Besides, someone has done that already," Ashley said, pointing at the footsteps sinking deep into the snow. "Probably to get help. Inform the authorities."

"Let's turn back before any of you get the great idea to try and get over there," Kris said.

"Good idea. I'm freezing," Ashley exclaimed, rubbing her hands together.

While Colby, Kris, and Ashley were laughing and chatting on the way back, Kris almost dropping her cup several times, Sam walked a few steps behind them, sunk in his thoughts.

"What's up?" Colby asked as he let himself fall a little behind the girls. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just wondering. The story we found, remember? That three days after Ilse's disappearance, her ghost apparently played the piano for the first time."

Colby nodded, encouraging him to continue.

"Why three days? If she fell into the river? It's fifteen minutes away from the hotel. Why didn't she appear sooner? I had supposed that she appeared in the hotel as soon as she had died."

"You're right, that's weird... But we most likely missed something about her death. For that, we'll go on with the investigation today. Maybe you can ask Ilse herself?" Colby patted his friend's back. "Come on, let's catch up."

The girls were already standing in front of the hotel doors, waiting for the boys to arrive. As soon as the boys reached them, they all hurried in to warm themselves up.