Detective Jim's wife, Sara, wasted no time in an autopsy; she hosted the funeral a day after.
Jim's friends and family were all present at the funeral, which was being held in his previous home.
Andrea, and her family except her uncle who had been away for a while all attended the funeral. Andrea watched as Sara served everyone food and drinks on her own without breaking a sweat, she wasn't wearing any smile on her face, she just fulfilled her last duty to her husband and his family in silence.
Andrea's heart broke.
She remembered one time when detective Jim had told her about his family. Then, his eyes were filled with light bright enough to light up a city, as he thought and talked about them, he looked proud, fulfilled, happy.
"My wife probably hates you, she always hates the fact that I was working my butt off to prove you innocent and clear your name, she always wanted me home, I wish I could spend a whole day with her" he had said to her that day.
As Andrea's gaze stopped at the coffin placed in the living room, she thought "You're home now, you've spent a day with her, your wish has been fulfilled"
She turned to walk out of the house but her eyes met Sara's.
Immediately, Andrea looked away, she didn't know what Sara would say to her, she surely didn't want to fight with her here so she chose to walk away from her.
"Andrea" Sara called out to her, stopping her in her tracks.
Andrea brought her eyes back to the blonde, slender woman, who was shorter than her by several inches. "Sara"
Unexpectedly Sara pulled her in for a hug and whispered into her ears
"He genuinely cared about you, he loved you like you were his daughter" she let go of Andrea and smiled "Thank you for coming"
Still shocked at everything, Andrea found it hard to find her voice and form a complete sentence, but she managed to say
"Thank you for having me" she walked out of the house and walked into the car.
When they all got home, Andrea walked straight into her room and removed her clothes. She hated black, it always reminded her of the funerals she attended as a child; her parents', her guardian and now her best friend.
She stared at her reflection in the mirror, she was obviously hurting but she couldn't cry, crying was for weak, expressing your pain was like a fart in the windstorm, frivolous.
Andrea sucked in a deep breath and let loose her hair. Her black long straight hair cascaded down her shoulders stopping beneath her breasts, she couldn't recognize herself anymore. She had built walls around herself, hindering her from having and expressing any emotions whatsoever, she had strength, just like her name.
Phlegmatic.
Two knocks came from her door, she guessed it was Lucy so she didn't bother putting on some clothes over her undies, Lucy had seen her naked multiple times, there was no point in covering anything now.
"Come in" she yelled a little at the door.
The door opened and Andrea didn't bother to look at her guest, she was focused on her reflection in the mirror.
"Andrea" A gentle accented voice called out to her, she snapped her head around in shock, her guest was Bree.
She wanted to cover up immediately but that would make things weird, she could go naked in front of Lucy, why would Bree be any different, they were both girls there was nothing to hide.
It was as if what she had just decided was total bullshit, Andrea still walked to her closet and fished out a robe, clothing herself with it, she looked back at Bree but found her looking away, to get her attention Andrea cleared her throat, and Bree stared back at her.
"Why are you here?" Andrea asked as she took a seat on her bed, there wasn't any other place to sit down, so Bree joined her on the bed.
"You didn't cry today" that response from Bree took Andrea by surprise and for a split second her heart palpitated.
"There's no point in it, it's not as if crying will change anything" and moreover she had already cried for him, the last time she saw him alive, she had cried, so that should be enough.
"Something will change '' Bree stared at Andrea's hands for a while before advancing to take it in her but that attempt must have startled Andrea, her reflex was much faster than her reasoning, before she could stop herself, she had moved her hand away.
"What will?" Andrea asked to clear the air that had suddenly become awkward.
"Andrea, crying doesn't make you any less strong, repressing your feelings isn't something that should be wanted to you" like a stubborn brat, Bree placed her hand on Andrea's.
"You're obviously in pain, bottling it up isn't the best way to deal with it, you should let it out, detective Jim loved you dearly, why can't you show him how much those feelings were reciprocated now?"
Andrea didn't wait for another word to leave her mouth, she pulled Bree in for a hug and sobbed loudly.
Simple words from Bree were enough to crumble her walls to dust, maybe all she ever wanted was for someone to tell her those exact words, someone that wouldn't find crying an act of the weak.
Bree softly padded Andrea's head and hugged her tightly, she didn't say a word, Andrea would probably want her to be quiet, she only patted Andrea's head and provided her a shoulder to cry on.
For now, it was all Bree could give her, but she knew Andrea deserved much more.
The sun was hanging in the middle of the sky, if anyone were to be walking barefooted, their feet would've been red from pain, the ground was burning hot.
This particular small hill in the woods was filled with maple trees, and a few peach trees, the Sunlight, accentuated the colours from the trees, giving it a noteworthy appearance, it was a sight worth beholding.
Ten feet away from this beautiful garden-like hill was a wooden shack, poorly built. It must've been a very old building because some flowers already grew on it, making everything look a little magical.
A teen, with jet black hair loosely falling over her shoulders drooping right above them stopped for a moment and gazed upon the scene.
It was surely a beautiful sight.
This teen, dressed in black jeans and a simple tank top and jacket was none other than Bree.
She had followed the direction detective Jim gave to her before he died to find this place.
For a moment nothing made sense, how could a man as burly as detective Jim, a man that wouldn't stop to admire the flowers in their garden would find a place so surreal, Bree never saw detective Jim to be the type that concealed his love and admiration for flowers and beautiful sceneries.
But then, not everybody was what they seem to be.
Bree continued walking and stopped in front of the wooden shack, it was locked from the outside with a huge padlock, she fished out the key from her jacket and opened the lock.
The place wasn't as bad as it looked, nor as beautiful either, it was dirty.
Bree nodded her head, detective Jim was certainly not someone that appreciates beauty, he must've stumbled on this place before, finding it inconspicuous, he decided to erect a wooden shack to keep all his secrets.
Aside from the trash that Bree would be cleaning, there were a lot of papers, some pictures pinned to the wall, a map and a journal.
Bree walked to the pictures, she couldn't recognize most of them, but the ones she could, she knew them perfectly well.
There was a picture of Andrea, the captain of the Police, Lucy's parents and a slim good-looking man, he had curly hair and dark skin, he looked like someone from Mexico, he was the man Andrea was accused of killing and over the picture was the mark 'X' with a red pen.
Beside it was another good looking man, he had fair skin and short hair, grey eyes and soft gaze, Andrea looked exactly like him but more feminine.
Andrea's Father; Richard.
And over his picture was the same mark 'X'.
Bree looked around again, paying more attention to the papers and the small brown worn-out journal resting on the chair.
"No one can find this place..... no one"
Bree thought.
This place held the future and past of Andrea.