Lucy

Prologue

New Orleans - October 28, 1929

"See that beauty over there?" James gestured across the bar, past multiple other ladies in sequined dresses to the single most enchanting woman he had ever seen. His closest friend, William, saw her after only a moment.

The woman was sitting at the far side of the bar, closest to the live music, drinking through a straw, and watching them both with obviously flirtatious eyes. She was inviting him over, James was sure of this.

"A beauty she is, James" William smiles, he can't take his eyes off of her either. James' grin fades and he looks at William seriously.

"I saw her first, you understand?" And with those final threatening words, James stands and leaves his friend, and makes his way towards the woman. He looks her over hungrily, raven black hair fastened in a perfect updo, a short gold dress, and matching heels. He felt more and more ravenous the closer he got to her. Her icy blue eyes were begging for him to be near her. This one was easy prey, he almost laughed to himself. 

Perhaps he was walking too slowly, but James blinked and William was by her side! He could kill his friend for this! The woman stood as William approached her and James gawked with his mouth wide open a few metres away. Everything else was fading, he couldn't see anything but his friend and the most beautiful woman in existence, together, talking and laughing. 

And then a very painful thing happened, the woman stood closer to William and put her delicate hand on his chest. Her eyelashes fluttered as she blinked ever-so-slowly (it seemed) at the man that had once been James' best friend. He was beginning to see red as William smiled down at her, having completely forgotten James, and the lovely lady smiled right back. 

And then the unspeakable. The woman gently bent William's head closer to her own, and kissed him, their lips passionately intertwined for what seemed like hours as James stood there and let the pure jealousy take over. Then the black-haired beauty looked straight at James, and told him with her eyes that she didn't really want William, she wanted him.

And that was all it took.

Within seconds, James was beating his disloyal friend to death. The screams of others couldn't stop him, the sound of the police couldn't stop him, nothing could stop him from finishing William off. 

Finally, when he was dead, James looked up to find that the woman he had briefly loved was gone, and he couldn't remember what had happened. He was being dragged away by the police before he even saw his own bloody hands. Before he even saw what he had done.