A Fresh Start Book 1

(Chapter One) - Damaged Goods

Just an update on the cover: The actual artwork is no longer available, however it was created by my good friend Lonnie O'Connell, and used with his permission.

Damaged Goods

Justin was a lanky, six foot two, brown haired guy, with alert but suspicious brown eyes, and tired of the boredom. In fact the monotony was absolutely ruining his attitude.

He would have much rathered to stir up some hate and discontent by starting a fight between a few people, without being pegged as the ring leader.

At this moment in time, he sat alone at one of the eight tables, located within the locked doors of the Maddison hospital, in Williamstown, NJ. It was known as Ward "B3", or to some of the local-yokels as, "The Nut Hut."

Justin had been waiting all mornimg for some entertainment to present itself, since he couldn't go outside to find any. His idea of fun was especially enjoyable if it came at someone else's expense, but there was little chance of that, since the other patients residing on the ward hadn't left their rooms as of yet.

The table he sat at was next to the front facing window, allowing Justin to peer out into the world from a third floor vantage point, the thick safety glass with embedded wire mesh distorting his view wasn't the only deterent to using the window as a means of egress. Solid iron bars were secured around the outside of all the windows with big steel bolts.

From his seat, Justin's eyes followed the slow progression of vehicles flowing east, and west along Main St. A few of them now and then turned into, and out of the parking lot. Some of the traffic was staff members, and others were visitors. And then there were the regularly scheduled deliveries, and pickups.

As Justin viewed his surroundings, all the while never letting on as to how perturbed he was growing internally, his mood continued to swing from bad to worse. The angry demon within waited patiently for the chance to take control.

His current predicament of being locked away, reminded him of a movie he once saw about a funny guy who died in a nut house.

His thoughts raced on at super speed, thinking of other movies, their relative similarities, and his fast paced real life escapades. But time seemed to be moving so slowly now.

For the umpteenth time, he looked at the clock on the wall behind the nurse's station, which read 11:42 AM. In some respects, he felt only minutes had passed since he arrived earlier this week, and then at other times, he had the feeling that he'd been cooped up here forever.

Everything was on a strict routine, from the three squares, to the activities, and even the order in which they took their showers. Soon it would be time for their afternoon meds, and Justin would palm them just like he'd done with his last few sets.

Justin felt he was here for the rest, and not to be turned into a zombie using creative medicine, as he liked to call it, although the judge's ruling said that he needed something to tame his behaviour.

A chime sounded at the nurse's station calling a disgruntled staff member away from her solitaire game, and Justin wondered what it was that could have pulled her attention away so easily. He found out soon enough.

Nurse Joslan walked over to the door of the ward that led to freedom, and slipped the key into the lock. With the turn of her wrist, and a slight tug, the heavy slate gray metal door, swung open on well oiled hinges.

"Get in here, and stop wasting my time.", said the nurse. With downward cast eyes, Rosie shuffled into the room, taking longer than nurse Joslin liked.

"I said get in here!", nurse Joslin yelled as she grabbed Rosies left arm, dragging her into the room.

Rosie made a small noise as she stumbled into the room. Putting her hands forward, she caught herself on the smooth white table where Justin was sitting.

Slowly she lifted her gaze to take in his face, although nothing really registered since she didn't know him. Justin stared back at the girl, holding her gaze for about thirty seconds, before she looked away again.

During that half a minute when their eyes locked on each others, Justin was overcome by the strangest feeling. He broke out in a cold sweat, a trickle of it ran down his back, and within the confines of his mind, he saw a vision of his own death... .

-=♡=-

Thank you so much for reading this chapter, I hope you liked it!

Please feel free to leave comments and your viewpoints about this story.

I will have the next chapter out as soon as time permits.