Shattering Glass (Ashton Irwin)

Chapter One

My alarm shocked me out of my sleep at 6:30 in the morning, blaring the annoying sound of a ringing bell. I hit it sharply, cutting the wretched sound short and climbed out of bed, getting into my shower. I let the warm water wake me up more hummed softly as I rinsed the shampoo from my short dark brown hair, hoping the shampoo wouldn't take out the bright purple streak I had put in it a few days before.

I blow dried my hair quickly, hoping I wouldn't miss my bus if I took too long. I put on my white white uniform and my most comfortable pair of flats, not knowing how long I would be standing at my new job.

I brushed my teeth quickly and gave my cat a quick kiss goodbye and left my small apartment, locking the door behind me. I swept my bangs out of my eyes and watched in horror as the bus rode right past me. "Shit," I muttered under my breath. Whatever. I was less than 10 minutes away from my new job anyway.

I reached my destinantion is less than 10 minutes as predicted and stared at the big, black oak doors before entering, wondering if I had made some kind of mistake. I prayed I hadn't.

"Miss McCarthy?" I jumped at the sound of my name and turned to face the person whose voice it came from. She was shorter than me, at least 5'2, with her light blonde hair pinned up under her uniformed hat.

"What? Oh, hey, I'm Victoria, how are you?" I held out my hand, shaking hers. I cursed myself mentally for being so stupid on my first day at work.

"I'm fine, I'm Rebecca, the head nurse. We spoke over the phone the other day." I nodded in recognition. A woman had called to inform me that it wasn't going to be a rehabilatation center I would be working in. It most definitely would not be at all. But I had no other job to turn to.

"Yes, I remember. So, where do I get started?" I asked her awkwardly, following her down the long, dark hall.

"You'll mainly just be giving the patients their food, breakfast if served in a half hour actually. Just... Well, try not to get too close to them. We try to care for our patients equally here at St Elmer's Home For The Mentally Ill, but... so people you just can't change. Ah, here comes Helena now, she'll tell you everything else you need to know. Oh, but under any circumstances are you to enter Room 59. Under any circumstances."

And just as quickly as I saw her, she was gone and replaced with Helena, leaving me thinking to myself, 'Well, that was weird.'