Andra stepped out of the bathroom steam billowing out behind her as she ran a towel over her damp hair. She had showered and dressed hastily in a pair of black leggings and her favorite grey hoodie. The urge to question her mother was strong but the need to cleanse her skin after her last encounter with Savannah was stronger.

Hesitating outside her bedroom she took a deep breath before gingerly pushing the door open. Her body was poised to run at the first hint of danger every muscle pulled tight as piano wire as she surveyed the empty room.

Andra allowed herself to relax a little as she moved into the familiar space. The room still carried the faint odor of her late-night visitor and she unconsciously wrinkled her nose as she stepped inside. She had taken the wastebasket beside her desk down to the trash and dumped it before her shower but the smell still lingered.

Leaning over her desk she flipped on the small wax burner that sat there and then threw her towel into the hamper in the corner of the room. She left the door open hoping as she headed downstairs that the smell of her favorite sugar and spice wax melt and some fresh air would get rid of the scent that still hung in the air.

The sun had just started to rise as she headed into the kitchen. Her mom was moving around at the stove and had the radio playing quietly in the background. They were never up this early but the thought of going back to sleep was out of the question for both of them. Andra had some serious questions for her mother and now that she felt clean again the possible answers to those questions were all she could think about.

"Do you want some breakfast hon?" Denise asked without turning.

At the mention of food, Andra felt her stomach do a barrel roll.

"Thanks but no thanks." She said shaking her head quickly. She did however pour herself a large cup of black coffee before sitting at the table. Wrapping her hands tightly around her favorite mug she let it warm her cold trembling fingers as she waited on her mother to join her.

She was staring out the large window in their breakfast nook watching the sun start to break over the tops of the trees when her mother placed a small plate of muffins and a bowl of eggs in the center of the table. She returned to the kitchen to retrieve two plates and her steaming cup of coffee.

"There are plenty of eggs if you change your mind." Her mother offered taking a seat across from Andra. Andra's stomach did another unhappy little flip at the thought of food. She was having a really hard time getting the image of Savannah out of her head. The decomposing nightmare that had visited her overnight and food did not belong in the same sentence. Her stomach tightened uncomfortably every time she remembered it.

"You never did answer my question?" Her mother said picking at her food. "Where did you get that picture?"

Andra shook her head quickly forcing a smile that under the circumstances felt completely unnatural.

"No way not this time Mama. You first. You recognized the girl in that picture. How?"

Denise stared out the window for a moment that seemed to drag into an immeasurable amount of eternities for Andra. When she finally turned back she sighed quietly before meeting her daughter's unflinching gaze.

"Savannah was a friend of mine. Back when I used to go to high school here. I was living here when she died."

Andra felt her heart skip a beat and when her stomach began to tighten again she found herself immensely grateful for her decision to avoid breakfast. She tried desperately to control her facial expression although she had no idea how successful she was. Her mother was studying her intently and some unknown instinct was telling Andra that it would be unwise for her mother to know just how much she was affected by this new revelation.

She wrapped her fingers securely around her coffee mug gripping it tightly so she wouldn't betray the small tremor that ran through her fingers.

"Mom, how is it possible that I didn't know this?"

But even as she asked the question she realized she already knew the answer. Andra knew her mother as a parent but not as an actual person. Denise had been an only child and her parents had passed on when she was younger. She had no contact with anyone that was left on that side of the family and Andra realized with a start that she had no idea if anyone was left.

As she sat waiting for her mother to reply she was suddenly struck by the realization that she knew so very little about the woman sitting across from her.

The certainty of this enveloped her in a thick blanket of guilt and regret. She was ashamed at the thought of how egotistical she had been. She had never considered for a moment that her mother might have or have had a life outside of her only daughter. This thought either hadn't occurred to Andra or she just hadn't cared enough to ask. She was a little reluctant to investigate the cause too deeply afraid that her motives might prove to be more selfish than she imagined.

She swore to herself that as soon as this thing with Savannah was over she would talk with her mom. There was so much she didn't know about her but Andra promised herself that she would find out.

Andra had let the mask of indifference she was trying to keep up slip a little as her thoughts tumbled wildly through her head and Denise immediately noticed her distraction.

"Are you ok?" She asked quietly placing her hand warmly over her daughter's in the center of the table.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Andra answered almost mechanically. She gave her head a little shake trying to rid it of the chaotic thoughts trying to overwhelm her.

"Mom you never told me any of this."

This time it wasn't a question Andra's tone was almost accusatory. She tried to dial it back a little not wanting to upset her mother right now.

"Why? You could have talked to me about it." She added but in a gentler tone.

"Honestly" Denise answered "it never came up and I'm not sure how I would have handled it if it had. It's not something I felt like reliving."

Andra nodded still holding her cup in an iron grip.

"Can we talk about it now?"

"Yes, we can." Denise answered "but you first Andra. Why do you have a picture of a dead girl in your room?"

Andra saw no other way around it. Her mother wasn't one for negotiating and there was no doubt that she had information that Andra needed.

Taking a deep breath she launched into her story portraying her and Cameron's search as the product of teenage boredom with a lot of curiosity thrown in for good measure. When she came to the part about Officer Ramirez she let her mom believe that they had talked to someone nearby. Her mother didn't need to know they had gone out of town to find the lead investigator.

Andra never mentioned their intention to enter the house only that the house and Savannah's death were local legends and she had been intrigued by it. With little to do until school started back, it had become a morbid project of sorts. She also left out the fact that Savannah had dropped in for a visit during the night. Andra could just imagine the fun conversations and doctor's appointments that would result from that particular revelation.

She listened to her daughter's story in patient silence. When Andra was done Denise sat quietly picking at her muffin saying nothing for a few moments seemingly lost in thought.

After what seemed like a lifetime to Andra her mother finally looked up at her. She seemed to weigh her words carefully when she did speak.

"I'm glad you have friends and I like Cameron but I don't know how I feel about the two of you digging all this up. So this was the ghost story you wanted to post?"

Her mother was aware that she made videos about the paranormal online but Andra wasn't sure that she understood all of it. "Yes this was the one and we're not digging around so to speak."

Andra answered hesitantly very aware of the fact that she was dangerously close to flat-out lying to her mother a practice that always made her uncomfortable. She kept very few secrets from her mom. and lying to her always left Andra feeling extremely guilty.

"We just talked to a friend of Cameron's family."

She knew this was stretching it a bit but it wasn't a complete lie. By the way, Denise studied her face from across the table she could tell that her mother was skeptical.

"Why is this so important to you?" She asked leaning across the table toward her daughter.

Andra shrugged feigning nonchalance. "Just curious about what happened to her I guess and I have to say knowing you knew her makes me that much more curious."

Her mom leaned back studying her face again looking for anything that might give Andra away. After a moment she began to pick at her muffin again apparently seeing something that eased her anxiety a little.

"I can understand that I guess." She replied, "but you have to be careful Andra. This place, this town," she said gesturing to the world outside their window. "They like to hold their secrets close and from what I can tell they have a lot of them. They wouldn't be happy about anyone poking around in what they consider to be their business. They keep to themselves here and they expect everyone else to do the same."

"I believe I've heard that somewhere before." She said immediately thinking of what Cameron and Officer Ramirez had said to her. "No offense though mom but you don't sound like this was exactly home sweet home."

Denise grimaced at that as she took a small sip of her coffee. "It wasn't." She answered flatly.

"Then why in the world would you move back here?" Andra said more than a little surprised.

A shadow passed over her mother's features as she stared into her coffee cup so intently that she resembled a woman reading tea leaves. When she lifted her head to meet Andra's eyes whatever her daughter thought she had seen in her face was either gone or had never been there.

"Because baby girl," she answered quietly "what better place to hide than in a town where no one talks."