Night Shift

Chapter One- Prologue

Her hands lightly traced the cracks in the glass of the mirror. Small shards embedded themselves into her fingertips, and the small beads of blood smudged over the cold surface. Penny could see her reflection staring back at her. Messy brown hair, pale skin, and cold, brown eyes holding that same lost and angered look with a flawed perfection. Slowly she raised her left fist. She inhaled sharply. Then she brought her hand down onto the mirror.

"Penny! Get off of me! God, are you sure everything is okay? You've held me against this wall for near enough five minutes and I said your name like a hundred times."
As Penny came back to reality, she took in her friend's appearance. Short blonde hair, bright hazel eyes, revealing clothing. Then she took a step back.
"Oh my God, Alice, I am so sorry, I don't know what got into me," she gasped, hands held over her mouth. Alice giggled a bit.
"Don't worry about it, you didn't hurt me or anything. Have you been sleeping well recently? You seem tired." Penny thought for a moment before replying. She didn't want to worry Alice, but they were meant to tell each other everything, no matter what it was.
"Well.. something just feels off. Like, I don't know what it is. But I feel like it's killing me because I can't figure it out. There's nothing going on with my life or anything, but I guess it must be the stress of the new job." She sighed, sitting down and laying her face in her arms with a somewhat bored expression. Alice's face instantly lit up as the worry was replaced with relief.
"Oh, it's fine! Trust me, it'll be gone in a week or so, and then you'll be completely worry-free."
"I work the night-shift. It's not nerves," Penny replied with a giggle.
"Oh.. well that's different. You just have to sleep when you can, I guess? I've never worked night shift so I don't know about that," Alice giggled too, and it soon turned into a full-on laugh as the two met eyes.
"I already told you this, didn't I? You're so forgetful. Anyway, I'm gonna grab some breakfast. What you want?"
"Bacon sandwich will be fine for me." Alice nodded, "But I can get it if you want,"
"No, it's fine. My treat." Penny smiled, standing up and making her way to the front desk. She repeated her order to the male at the desk, and then turned around to head back to her table, however she found her seat taken by a rough-looking man who was grinning at Alice, who had a rather uncomfortable look on her face. She inhaled deeply before calmly approaching.
"Excuse me, this seat's taken. You're going to have to find somewhere else to sit." Penny sternly stated, looming over the man with her arms crossed over her chest. He looked her up and down. A breathy laugh came from him, but instead of making a smart comment like she thought he would, he just stood up and left, leaving the two women in a state of deep confusion as to what happened.
"Who the hell was that?" Penny snorted, slouching down into her seat with some hesitance.
"God knows. Some druggie by the looks of it. At least he left.. thanks for getting him to leave. But I feel uncomfortable here now." Alice replied quietly, staring down at her hands as she twiddled her thumbs.
"Great start to a Saturday, huh. If I didn't know any better I would say that this was the start of a movie or something." Penny snorted, watching at the man exited the café with a sly grin.
The two managed to finish their breakfast in peace- apart from the nagging feeling that someone, somewhere, was watching.