October 31, 1995

It's amazing how quickly a person's life can change. It happens so fast that you don't even realize it. You just wake up one morning and you don't even recognize yourself.

Tonight I sit all alone in a dark empty house. I would call someone but there's no one to call. I have burnt those bridges. Outside my open window, the rest of the neighborhood is anything but silent. It's strange to hear kids laughing and screaming, the sounds of normal people enjoying Halloween. Once I was one of them. That seems like a lifetime ago.

 They all wear costumes and masks of different types. Some scary, some comical, and even a few of the more suggestive variety. As I watch them going about their business, talking, laughing, and going door to door, I can't help but compare them to my real life. Every day is Halloween.

School or home it doesn't matter. Different locations but the effect is the same. Everyone is wearing a mask. Everyone I know pretending to be someone they're not. I keep thinking of the relationships I've left behind me. At some point I thought losing them might be painful but there's only numbness. I welcome it. Feeling nothing will make it easier when I unmask the worst of them. Seeing what's behind the mask was always my favorite part of Halloween.

After some discussion, Andra and Cameron decided to wait for Melanie's text at a nearby park. They picked up lunch and headed over planning to set up an impromptu picnic. Pulling off onto the paved entrance road Andra could see that the park was larger than what she had expected. It had been fenced off into several clearly marked sections. To the left of the entrance, she could see a baseball diamond and a soccer field both lined with rows of bleachers. People were just beginning to congregate on the soccer field. A yellow and white building sat squarely between the two fields with a sliding window set into the front. Andra assumed the brightly colored building must be a concession stand.

Directly in front of the entrance sat a sandy area filled with seesaws and a jungle gym. A castle-like playhouse sat in the center with a swinging bridge that ran between three separate towers. Children ran, screamed, and squealed their way across the structure diving in and out of invisible entrances placed at the end of each bridge only to reappear moments later from tubes at the bottom. On wooden benches placed around the outside of the play area sat several women in varying stages of vigilance. A few sat talking and laughing as they watched their children playing. More than one sat with their heads bent over cell phones. A few sat quietly just enjoying these last few weeks of warm summer weather.

Cameron turned the Jeep toward the right-hand side of the park. This side of the park was more tranquil in comparison to what they had already seen. There were gray stone picnic tables placed across a large expanse of freshly mown grass. Walking paths weaved in out of large elm trees and around a large duck pond. People were jogging here and walking their dogs. One couple rested quietly on a blanket. The young woman who looked to be in her twenties sat quietly reading a book with her back against a tree. The boy with her lay napping in the shade with his head on her leg.

Cameron and Andra grabbed their belongings and headed for a lone picnic table at the edge of the pond. As they approached Andra watched amused as the pond's feathered inhabitants waddled around the edge of the water quacking and nipping at one another. They paid their new human visitors no mind.

The loud rustling of paper bags drew her attention away from their flat-footed companions as she turned back to see Cameron methodically unloading bags. He slid a burger and fries toward her as she took a seat and then began unwrapping his own. "Do you think she'll text you?" He asked before taking a large bite from his burger.

"I hope so." She said picking nervously at her food. "She seemed genuine about her feelings for Savannah. Maybe she does want to help."

"I have a hard time believing that considering what she did to her."

"Yeah, I know." Andra said shrugging "but we've already seen that the stories aren't always true. Savannah was struggling long before Donald died but in every version of the story, his death is what triggered her. Maybe what they've said about Melanie was wrong too. I'm willing to keep an open mind until she has a chance to speak. My main concern right now are those questions she says she has."

"I wonder what she wants to know?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. I've been sitting here going over in my head how to explain to her what has brought us this far. There's no explanation that doesn't make us sound completely crazy."

"I know," Cameron answered in a matter-of-fact tone. "That's why I wasn't sure you'd be able to get her to speak with us at all. No explanation is better than the one we have. Without one I had no idea how you would get a complete stranger to talk to us about something this personal. I'll give you props An. I had my doubts you could pull this one-off."

"Thank you." She said smiling sheepishly. "Guilt is a useful weapon. I felt bad using that against her though. It's obvious she's still hurting. Besides I'm not sure she's exactly had a happily ever after either."

"What do you mean?" Cameron asked, but her phone dinged from the table beside her before she could answer him. They stared at each other wide-eyed for a moment before Andra picked up her phone and saw a message from an unknown number. Are you still close by? It read. "It's her," Andra said a small tremble slipping into her voice.

We're at the park. By the duck pond. Andra replied quickly. The answering text came through almost before Andra had time to set her phone down. I'm at the soccer field. See you in five. "She's on her way," Andra said. "She's just over at the soccer field."

"Oh man, so we're really doing this."

"It looks that way," Andra answered a wave of nausea washing over her. Now that Melanie was on her way she wasn't sure she was prepared for this. Pushing the now cold food away, she opened the backpack that sat on the ground at her feet. She fished through it for a moment before retrieving her notebook and the file she had put together on Savannah's case. Then almost as an afterthought, she turned on her phone's recorder before letting the screen go dark.

Cameron watched all this with some amusement before nodding toward her phone with a raised eyebrow. "Are we going to tell her about that?"

"Not a chance," Andra answered without hesitation.

They didn't have long to wait before Andra spied Melanie approaching across the parking lot. She made a beeline for the duck pond and spied Andra and Cameron almost immediately. As her gaze settled on them her body tensed and her pace slowed. She's nervous to Andra thought to herself and somehow this knowledge was reassuring.

"I don't have long," Melanie said quickly sitting down beside Andra. "The kids are at soccer practice. I told the other moms I was meeting with you guys about cleaning out our garage and attic." The chilly edge that had been so prominent in her voice when they had last spoken was long gone. She sounded tired now and her voice carried a note of resignation.

"We won't keep you long." Andra said, "We just have a few questions."

"Me first. You showed up on my doorstep this morning. I didn't ask for this and frankly, you didn't give me much choice. If you want answers to your questions then you answer mine first."

Andra glanced across at Cameron. He shrugged and then nodded a gesture that said we knew this was coming. "Ok," she said. "What is it you want to know?"

"Who are you really and why are you doing this? And if you don't mind save whatever fun little story you've dreamed up and cut to the chase. I don't have time and frankly, it won't help either one of us. You're not going to get what you want by lying to me." There was no anger at all in her voice as she finished her little speech only that same tired acceptance.

Andra's heart dropped as she struggled to keep her expression as neutral as possible. She thought for a moment unsure of exactly what to say or where to start. If she explained everything who would believe her but if she said too little Melanie could very well get up and leave without giving them the answers they so desperately needed. This was going to be a balancing act and Andra wasn't sure she was up for it.

"I didn't lie," Andra answered firmly. "I'm gathering information for my Youtube channel. Cameron's helping me."

"It's true," Cameron said. "I've been helping her with research."

Melanie eyed Cameron suspiciously before turning back to Andra. "I don't buy it. Nobody puts in this much work for an after-school project." As she said this last she gestured toward the notebook and file folder that sat on the table in front of Andra. "What kind of story is this?"

Andra's eyes met Cameron's. She was sure the look of trepidation he wore mirrored her own. "What are you not telling me?" Melanie asked.

She rubbed her damp palms anxiously on her jeans with a soft sigh before starting. " My channel deals with the paranormal. I'm new to Inglewood and while we were out one night we came upon Savannah's house. Cameron told me the story and I decided I wanted to look into it. Once we got involved the search sort of took on a life of its own. We got in deeper than we had intended and now we're just looking for answers."

"Just looking for answers? What makes you think you can manage what an entire police force couldn't?

"To be honest I don't know that we can. I just know that we have to try. Everyone else has written this story off as some kind of urban legend. I don't know what kind of person she was in life but no one deserves what happened to her. We just want to help."

Melanie nodded but said nothing just sat quietly looking down at her hands. After a moment she looked up at Andra seeming to have come to some kind of decision. "You've seen her haven't you?"

"Seen who?" Andra asked warily. She was fairly certain she knew what Melanie was asking but she wanted to hear her say it.

"Savannah," Melanie answered firmly. "She's still in that house. I know because I've seen her too."