Westwood Heights, Florida

It's been about a week since John's body was found and the love of her life was pronounced dead. Not just that, she found out that he was murdered and the murderer was still on the loose. Brielle's entire life just seemed to be spiraling out of control. All she wanted to do was hide at home with all the curtains closed and drink her grief away. No matter how much she drank or what she ever did, she just couldn't seem to get the picture of John's lifeless body out of her head.

The male's cold body laid on that freezing metal slab in the morgue. Brielle felt herself gulp and her heart began to race as the coroner slowly removed the sheet just enough for her to see the face of the man who laid beneath. All hopes in her hoped beyond hope that her husband was still out there and alive. Brielle didn't want to identify this body. John just couldn't be dead. Though the immediate second she saw his face, she dropped to the ground and burst into tears. That was the moment that single-handedly changed her life forever.

Because of this she stood in a funeral home wearing black clothing with her dead husband lying in a casket. Everyone who ever loved or cared for John trotted in and out of the room saying their goodbyes and apologizing to Brielle for her loss. If I hear one more person say "I'm sorry for your loss," I swear I'm going to lose it. The one apologizing should be the motherfucker who took him from me. Those words got lost in her mind, causing her to briefly zone out and turn on auto pilot. For about twenty minutes now she was lost in thought and shaking hands with John's visitors. Brielle hadn't even realized what she was doing anymore.

Brielle just wanted all of this to be over so she could go back home and drink her grief away again. Not like it would ever work, but it would give her something to do, give her a way to let her emotions out. It's not like there was anyone in her life who care for her. Not once did she hear anything from anyone on her side of her family or her friends. The only things that left the lips of her deceased husband's family were, "I'm sorry you lost John." That was it. Nothing to comfort her, no one telling her that they would be there for her if she ever needed them. Just nothing. Brielle was alone in the world and there was nothing she could do about it.

As Brielle stood there by the casket hearing the apologies from John's loved ones, she noticed a man step into the room. A man she has never once seen before. If John knew him, she had no idea. As far as she knew, she has met everyone John spent any amount of time with. Maybe this man was just someone from his past, or just a stranger who wanted to show up at the funeral for some creepy reason. She had no idea. Either way, it was time for her to speak to the male.

He made his way through the crowd and up to the casket. Brielle noticed him looking down at John with a sense of thought on his face. After a few brief moments he removed his attention from her dead husband towards herself and introduced himself. "I'm Joseph Larkin. I was John's good friend from elementary school. You may not have heard of me, it was a long time ago, and I moved during the summer before 6th grade. Despite that, I felt the need to come here. We may not have seen each other for over 15 years, but John and I were friends. The pain for you must be immense. I'm so truly sorry for your loss. I do hope you rejuvenate. More so, I hope that John's killer is to be sent to a lifetime of prison."

The entire time the male was introducing himself and explaining to her why he had made an appearance, Brielle couldn't seem to shake this feeling that there was something strange about this man. Of course it was probably because she didn't know the man and he showed up at a very traumatic time in her life. Brielle had her guard up. Josif was most likely who he said he was and just wanted to pay his respects to an old, childhood friend.

Brielle gave a friendly nod of her head at his words and glanced over at her husband for a quick second before she returned her attention back towards the man who was introduced as Josif. "Thank you," she responded. Of course there was more the female could have said but she was just all worn out from coming up with things to say to everyone. And out of nowhere a blast from John's past shows up in front of her. Finally the distraught brunette managed to muffle up a few words. "No, um, John has never mentioned you. But thanks for coming," Brielle stated with a sigh.