"Hi honey! Did you have a good day at school?" She practically sang the words, but something was off with her too. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her smile was concealing something, trying to bury it deep inside. That something wasn't making her happy.

"What happened?" I asked in an urgent tone, trying to calm my rapid heart beat. I was taking in slow, deep breaths.

"What you do mean?" She scoffed in a lighthearted way. "I just asked how your day was. Did you run home? You're all sweaty."

"No, something happened. You're trying to be overly cheerful. You're not a good liar, Mom." I paused, speaking rapidly because I kept needing to breathe. "And my day was okay, and before you ask again yes I did run home, but what happened? You can't hide this from me." Her smile seemed to drip down and off of her face. She motioned for me to come into the kitchen to talk. Oh, this is more serious than I thought. I set my backpack down beside the door and cautiously walked into the kitchen.

"Mom?" My voice was suddenly meek, like a nervous kid who had done something wrong. She turned to confront me.

"Jackie, sweetie," she started and sighed. "I have something to tell you."

"What's wrong?" I asked once more hesitantly, confusion continuing to build.

"Well, it's um... It's about your Aunt Kate." She wouldn't continue. I could see tears in her eyes.

"Mom," I softened my voice to try to comfort her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "What happened to Aunt Kate?"

"She -" Her voice cracked and she had to stop for a moment. "She... um, was found d-dead in an alleyway outside of her apartment building."

"Oh," I had to close my eyes to dull the sudden dizziness. Oh God. When I opened them up, Mom was full on crying. Tears had already stained her face. "Do the police know what happened?" I patiently waited for her to recover her voice.

"They don't know who killed her or why, but she was found with a mutilated body. They think it was the murderer trying to prevent her from being recognized. She was so destroyed no one could tell she was a woman until they did DNA testing. Jackie, there was blood everywhere, they needed to call in professionals for clean it. It was like something inhuman killed her. Her face looked like it was ripped off from her head and her eyes...," She trembled and embraced me. "Who would do something so cruel?" She cried in overwhelming emotional agony and bawled on my shoulder in a disgusting, wet, snotty mess of hiccups and saliva. In the moment, I abandoned everything about the figure outside. Aunt Kate doesn't, well... didn't prefer me or Mom after Mom and Dad got divorced. She treated me horribly, but she was, no still is family. Bile rose in my throat as imagined what her body could look like. God, who would be sick enough to do that to a human being?

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We stood like that for an eternity until Mom had calmed down into small, quivering hiccups. I rubbed her back in an attempt to soothe her. By now my shoulder was wet, slimy, and desperately needed a wash. She finally looked up and pulled away, avoiding eye contact. She used a mix of paper towels, tissues, and wipes to clean herself. I left to take a quick shower. When I came back, dinner was set on the wood table and Mom was already sitting in her chair. I sat down in my seat slowly. It's been awhile, has she calmed down enough to talk about it?

"Mom?" I asked hesitantly. "Are you feeling okay?" Tears already started to prick at the corners of her eyes.

"Jackie, sweety, can we just, please not talk about it right now? Let's just enjoy dinner and forget about it," she asked in a slightly pleading manner, trying her best to sound cheerful but failing miserably as her voice cracked.

"Mom, I don't think you're supposed to just forget and distance yourself from someth -"

"I don't give a damn about what you think right now!" She croaked, entering a coughing fit.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room. I took a bite of my dinner to do something other than stare at the plate. It was tasteless and dry.

"It's delicious Mom, but I -I'm not hungry right now," I mutter. Fighting back my own tears, I take my backpack from the door and walked quickly to my room. I didn't have the appetite to face this. I didn't want to see her like this, and she won't even talk to me to work it out. I have homework anyway. Mom stayed still in her place at the table absently picking at the food. It was growing cold.

After hours of going overboard on science, I laid in my bed with head resting on my hand. I stared blankly at the ceiling as it drifted in and out of focus. My mind was numb from utter mental exhaustion. I didn't even want to think about the figure or anything. I knew I should, but was it even there? Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. Honesty it was more likely it wasn't real. Either way, all I knew was that I was hungry.