Free Bound by Sin: The Beginning of a Prophecy (Prophecy #3) by Stevie J. Cole Page A

Melissa. In every picture of me and Brooke we were laughing like idiots. The last picture was one of her and Gavin. They were sitting on the pier, and I guessed her mother had taken it a few weeks before when they’d gone to visit.
    As I stared at the pictures , I heard some man in the crowd talking to someone. “The police said they’d been murdered, shot in the back of the head.”
    A woman’s voice whispered, “Her boyfriend. They found them together, right?”
    My fingers gripped the sides of my skirt. I wanted nothing more than to turn around and tell them to have some decency. To not stand there behind people who loved her and discuss the gruesome details of how she’d died.
    The man lowered his voice a little more as he responded, “Yes. Whoever killed them wanted to make it hard to identify them. They said all their teeth had been pulled out of them. The police couldn’t even use dental records to ID them, and if that wasn’t enough they put them in his car and set it on fire. Burnt beyond recognition.”
    The woman gasped. “Oh, God! That’s terrible. It’s just so sad. So young. She had her entire life ahead of her. Such a sweet girl. Poor James and Claire. I just can’t imagine losing your baby. Especially not like this.”
    “I know. It makes no sense to me. Some people are just beyond evil. Satan himself had to have had something to do with this.” The man bumped into me as he tried to move away from the casket. “Excuse me,” he said, barely acknowledging the pictures strewn across the table I was standing in front of.
    I said nothing. I was fuming. How dare he stand there and talk about them like that. There was no emotion to what he was saying. To him , Brooke was just the daughter of someone he knew. Fuck him for his insensitivity. Satan? Really? How about it was just a fucking sick piece of shit that did this to them? I was still convinced that it had something to do with that damn club Ashley had taken us to. Something about that place just wasn’t right.
    Jared picked up the frame with Brooke and Gavin’s picture in it. “God, I’m so sorry, Constance. She was beautiful. Looked so happy.”
    Just then I felt a hand tap my shoulder lightly. “Constance.”
    Turning around, I saw Ms. Davis. The skin underneath her eyes was swollen and dark. Her cheeks looked sunken in and her eyes were drowning behind tears. Immediately, I broke down and fell into her arms. She hugged me tightly, rubbing her hand over my back.
    I pulled away from her, sucking back my tears. “I’m so sorry.”
    She placed her hands on each side of my face. “I know. I know how much she meant to you. Brooke loved you like a sister. You were always such a good friend to her. I just don’t understand… why me? Why my baby?” Her breath caught and she glanced over to the casket. “She didn’t deserve this – and that poor boy too.” She let out a few pitiful sobs before regaining her composure. “He was so nice, so in love with her. I can’t find any of his family to pay my respects to. I don’t even know what his arrangements are. This is just such a mess.” She stared down at the tissue in her hand, her fingers feeling along its edges.
    I had no idea what to say to her. Just as I opened my mouth to try to say something to her, a look of shock pulsed open her eyes. Her skin paled, her jaw trembled, and her eyes focused on something behind me. I couldn’t help but spin around to see what had evoked such a reaction from her. When I turned, my face almost brushed against the man standing behind me, the one that she’d been staring at. His presence was commanding, and without being aware that I was even moving, I stepped to the side. Staring at him, I couldn’t help but think he looked familiar. I couldn’t pin where I’d seen him, but somehow… I knew him.
    “Claire,” the man said. He had a thick and soothing accent I couldn’t identify.
    Ms. Davis stood, still frozen, just staring at him as though