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 about 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. I don't know yet if there's going to be a fourth part.
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.
Sam walked to the one on the right and put his camera on the table, facing away from the receptionist. The others followed him quickly.
"This place is gigantic," Ashley whispered to Kris, who was walking a few steps behind Colby. She nodded, just as impressed as the redhead. Ashley had never been to a place this big and elegant. The thick red carpet swallowed the sound of her steps, and the windows were covered with thick red curtains that looked like satin.
"Do you believe in the spirit that is said to live here?" Sam asked the receptionist.
"Oh, absolutely," the guy, whose nametag read, 'Justin', answered.
"And are there like a lot of complaints or anything? She's alone after all, isn't she?"
"Well, the most common feedback we get is that the guests can't sleep at night because of the piano."
"The piano?" Sam dug deeper.
"Yes, she often goes into the ballroom at night and plays the same song repeatedly. We've even managed to capture a short clip on camera, too," Justin explained while handing Sam our keys. Ashley's eyes widened slightly. They were actual keys, not the key cards from hotels nowadays. This really was an old-fashioned place.
"Have you ever seen her?" Sam asked and gave Ashley, Kris, and Colby their keys. Ashley and Kris were going to sleep in the room right next to Sam's and Colby's on the sixth floor.
"I haven't, but my co-worker has. She has her day off today, though, I'm sorry."
"That's unfortunate. Thank you anyway!" Sam said and grabbed his bag.
"No problem," Justin replied, smiling politely. "If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to come and ask us!"
"Sure, thank you!" With that, Sam waved him goodbye, and they walked to the stairs. Ashley had only one bag beside her backpack, and they both weren't too heavy, which she was grateful for after seeing the elevators that didn't look safe at all.
"We're first going to our rooms to leave our stuff there," Sam explained to the viewers. "And then it's time to go and find the most haunted place. We know it's not our usual level of 'hauntedness' but we decided to shoot our shot to find out why exactly the spirit stays here, and how she died. And especially why she's playing the piano. So, you see, there's a lot of unanswered questions here."
"Why do you guys think there haven't been many investigations here?" Ashley asked. She was walking up the stairs as the last of the group and glanced back at the lobby. There weren't a lot of guests here, even though it was so massive. Probably because of the weather, the forecast had even said it was going to snow soon, which was a rarity here.
"Because it's not that badly haunted," Colby replied. Ashley looked up to see that he'd stopped too, standing only two steps ahead of her. "It's not as famous as the other places we've been to, I'd never heard of it until Sam told me about it."
"As if you hear about the other places you've been to before you're researching for a video," she scoffed.
He gave her a crooked smile. "You know what, fair enough."
"How did you even find this?" Ashley asked. "Hoffman Hotel. I haven't seen it in any lists or anything. Don't you usually go to more haunted places? One ghost isn't that impressive, compared to other hotels like for example the Driskill."
"We decided to take a little step back, after the last few videos. There were some really intense and dangerous moments and we felt like we just needed a short break from the tons of spirits and ghosts and whatnot.
"This place was Sam's idea; I think he got it from a viewer's DM. Some girl living in the town nearby asked us to come here and find out the true story behind the ghost girl and her piano. He thought it'd be perfect for a little break."
Before any of them could continue, they heard Sam shouting from the top of the staircase.
"Come on, you two! How long are you going to take?"
Ashley looked up between the stairs' railings and saw the camera looking down at the two of them. She stuck out her tongue before pulling her head back and looking at Colby.
"Let's race?" Ashley asked. It only took him a moment before he started sprinting up the stairs. She ran close behind him, his bag almost hitting her in the face, but not close enough to pass him. They arrived in front of Sam and Kris panting and with hurting sides, but with wide smiles on their faces.
"Not fair," she gasped, leaning forward to support herself on her knees. "You had the... the moment of surprise..."
Colby set his bag down and leaned against the railing of the stairs, trying to calm his breath. "You could've taken it."
Sam turned the camera back to Kris, who was already walking down the hallway. "I've got our rooms!" she called out and Ashley picked up her bag again to follow her and Sam.
"Let's race?" Colby asked as he stepped beside her, and she snorted. He seemed surprisingly calm while Ashley's heart was still pounding, and she was breathing heavily.
"Go on," she chuckled. "I won't run behind you though. Instead, I'll watch these... magnificent paintings." Ashley pointed at the wall where a gigantic picture was hanging, framed by a massive golden frame. It showed a beautiful young woman with delicate features and light skin. "She's actually beautiful if that sounded sarcastic," Ashley added, stopping in her tracks.
"Come on, Ashley," Sam yelled from ahead. "Do you want us to leave you behind?"
"Coming!" she yelled back, quickly catching up to the three of them.
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Author's note-
> Please don't be a silent reader if you enjoy the story; it only takes a second to vote for the chapters after reading and it really encourages me to write more <3