sinister

The return

The next day, Sorscha was cleared to go back to working in the baby room. She was excited to be back but everything reminded her of that awful day. The day she lost her entire world. She put on a brave face though. She was on a half day timetable for her first week back, just in case it was too overwhelming for her.

Carly and Winter were also working in the baby room with Sorscha on this day. Charlotte was covering the start of her shift for her so they wouldn't actually be working together. Carly and Winter were doing their best to support Sorscha, a lot of things had changed in the past few weeks. There was always something changing in the nursery.

Charlotte had returned to the toddler room after Sorscha had begun her shift. In the toddler room was Marjorie and Jodie. Marjorie had always hated working in the rooms but the past few weeks she had really stepped up. She knew that she had to do this for Sorscha.

Charlotte noticed how Jodie was just making things more difficult for Marjorie so she was glad she was back to cover Jodie. “My love, thank god! Jodie, why don't you go see if Chef needs help?” She said as she gestured towards the door. Jodie wandered cluelessly towards the kitchen and immediately Marjorie looked relieved. “She ate 7 crayons.” Marjorie said in disbelief. Charlotte couldn't help but burst out into laughter, “Did she at least take the wrappers off?” Marjorie gave her a frustrated glare which only made her laugh more.

Autumn and Siobhan were in the office on this particular day. Siobhan had been spending a lot of time at the nursery so that Marjorie could cover in the rooms. It was really awkward in the office because Autumn didn't like Siobhan, but it was okay. As long as the work was completed, that's all that mattered.

Siobhan had even managed to make a friend. She had befriended the local Detective Chief Inspector Vivian Shield. Vivian's son Jamie attends the nursery so they frequently cross paths. They ended up having coffee together a few times over the past few weeks. Siobhan loved this. She finally had met someone that could see past her icy demeanor.

On this particular day Charlotte, Carly and Sorscha all had their lunch break together. They went into the kitchen, collected their lunch from Chef and went up to the staff room to sit down and have a chat. The staff couldn't have their phones in the rooms so they all would spend their lunch break catching up on anything they had missed.

Charlotte opened her phone to several messages from her girlfriend Mia. She was asking her how her day was going and saying she couldn't wait for their date that evening. She had even asked how Sorscha was getting on. She really did care about everyone despite the attitude she presented to the outside world. Only Charlotte got to see the true her.

Carly had loads of drama to catch up on from the group chat with her friends and Sorscha had a few texts from her Irish family checking up on her. They really did care about her they just couldn't come down to England to see her at the current moment. They all ended up catching up with each other for the duration of their lunch break before they had to return back to working.

As the day began to come to a close and parents were collecting their children, Charlotte suddenly began to feel very sick. Her head was spinning and her chest was getting tighter. Initially she tried to ignore it and carry on with the parent handovers. It just kept getting worse. Her body was going numb, she was sweating and she could barely keep her balance.

Marjorie noticed this change in Charlotte. “Are you alright, my love-” She tried to say but she was cut off by Charlotte collapsing onto the toddler room floor. Thankfully there was only one toddler in the room at this moment, Vivian's son Jamie. Vivian was also in the room and luckily she had first aid training. Marjorie ran to the office to get her phone and she called for an ambulance and for Mia. Charlotte had been poisoned. She was clinging to her life, they didn't know it yet but it was already too late.

Poisons the weapon
That makes little sound
Death will now beckon
Can the killer be found?

One fatal dose
That’s all that you need
The killer is close
But does their heart bleed?

Authors note - Poem credits to DyingStars123 x