"Hello?"
"Hey," I said with a small smile. "Um… you're Jelda's mother, right?"
The woman standing in front of me looked old, probably in her mid-sixties, with short gray hair and kind eyes that had clearly seen better days. It was obvious she had been crying for hours, maybe days, because the skin beneath her eyes was dark and tired, and her hands shook slightly when she held the door open. Whether that came from age or from lack of sleep, I couldn't tell. Either way, it didn't look pleasant.
Her face also looked… just wrong. Along with her voice. The poor woman had to be like that since her daughter died. Crying nonstop, I suppose.
"Yes?" she asked. "Who are you?"
"Aceston Walker," I said, pressing a hand to my chest. "I was her friend, ma'am."
"Ah…" She nodded slowly, then gave me a broken little smile. "Hello, Aceston. I'm Hatche."
"May we talk, ma'am?" I asked. "In private?"
