1987

Joey made her way onto campus, narrowly avoiding being crushed by students as they piled out of the train. She walked down the lake and across the bridge, walking towards the café, there was no way she would attend a lecture without first having a coffee. She started to become such a regular they greeted her by name, and she did not even need to say what she wanted, just needed to stand to the side as they made her cappuccino. She heard a banging on the glass behind her, turning around to see her friend, Rose waving in at her before turning the corner to come in.

"Morning." Rose said, she had to queue, she always changed her order up depending on what mood she was in, latte that morning, she was in a very good mood. "Morning." Joey replied, "How are you?"

"Very good." as Joey suspected. They got their coffee and started to walk towards their lecture hall, the started to speak of things that occurred during the weekend, Joey really had nothing going on, she had just been in work for the weekend, folding clothes, listening to customers scream at her over not having a certain item of clothing or the wrong size, the usual things that occur. Rose, however, had a very exciting story, she went on a date with a guy she met while she was in the library and by met, she had watched him for weeks wanting to make the move but was afraid, she called him her library boyfriend and then on the previous Thursday he asked her to watch his bag while he went to the toilet and the rest was history. Rose continued to blabber on about how the date went and how she got a little too drunk, but Joey zoned out, she was stressing about something else. They were going to get the names of the hospitals they were going train in. Joey had been on training twice so far, in Dunlock Psychiatric Hospital and a unit in a regular hospital, in a way she was hoping she would be able to go back to Dunlock, she loved it there, the patients were lovely and so were the staff.

However, she knew she would not like to work there permanently, the one she wanted to work for when she finished her degree was in Mountsack. Mountsack Psychiatric Hospital for the criminally insane, it had got her into wanting to do psychiatric nursing in the first place. As a young girl, she would drive past this hospital, on the way to her grandmothers' home. The hospital was blocked by a tall grey wall, so Joey had assumed that it had something secretive inside, she believed it was a playground that was only for good children and she was jealous. Her father would tell her she would have to be crazy to get in there, but she never understood what that meant until a few years later.

The hospital was only a few minutes away from her grandmothers home, she remembered how during her stays in her grandmother's, being out the back garden, playing with her cousins when she would hear this siren sound, it was long and droned on for hours, whenever it would go off, her grandfather would rush out, pulling the children in by the scruff of their shirts. While her grandmother frantically ran around the house locking the doors and the windows, the blinds would be drawn. The house would go into lockdown, with the family huddled around the tiny radio, listening to the reporter talking about a patient who had escaped a hospital, Joey would often sit there dumbfounded, wondering why a person who probably just hurt their arm would be so scary?

However, it wasn't until she turned thirteen when she found out about Mountsack, the hospital for the criminally insane, the hospital for the murderers who were too sick to stand trial, the ones who done such gruesome crimes that they were locked away and never to see the outside of the four walls again, shunned from society. But Joey was never afraid of them, she knew that they would not get far, only two had managed to escape in the twenty-one years she was alive.

Joey realised when she was fifteen, she wanted to work with the mentally unwell, to help them with their inner demons and from then on, she studied hard in school and went on to college to study psychiatric nursing. The reason she wanted to work for Mountsack, was due to the fact that the patients were so dangerous and she believed they would not be cared for like others would be, the mental health system in the 1980s was already brutal from what she had seen while studying and by being in hospitals, she believed she could make a change, even if it was as small as giving them compassion. Everyone could be helped, in her mind.

"Joey, are you listening?"

She turned away from her thoughts back to her friend standing in front of her. "Yeah, I am."

"What did I say then?"

She bit her cheek, "That you slept with him." Rose clicked her tongue and nodded, "Very well." They walked into the classroom, which was already full, she took her seat next to Rose before she turned her attention to the girl next to her, ready to tell about her romantic rendezvous. Joey was left to her own devices, her stomach was turning at the thought of where she was going, eventually, her professor strolled in, Joey got on well with her. She was a sweet woman, small and looked very gentle but she knew if someone were to annoy her, she would let them have it. "Hi Josephine." Martha greeted, using her full name. "Morning Miss."

Martha took her place at the top of the classroom, about to speak when a boy walked in, Joey eyed him, never seeing him before. He walked up to Martha, greeting her with a handshake, the began talking and even though Joey was near the top of the class, she couldn't hear what they were speaking about but Joey continued to watch them because she had nothing better to be doing. That was until Martha made a hand gesture towards her and the boy locked eyes with her, he stared at Joey intently, nodding to what Martha was saying but not taking his eyes of her. Joey awkwardly lowered her head and started to scribble down the date into her notebook, "Rose." she whispered. "What?"

"Do you know who he is?"

Rose looked up, "No, I've never seen him before."

"Strange."

"It's probably her son."

They both looked up at them again, he was leaving, he looked over at Joey once more, he gave her a small smile and walked out of the room. The class proceeded as normal, they were learning about medication administration, nothing they already didn't know but it was a repeat, just to make sure it was drilled into their heads.

The hour finally came to a finish and Joey was waiting for Martha to tell her where she was going, she got around the class, Rose being excited that she was heading to Dunlock. "I'll meet you outside." Rose smiled before walking out, already lighting up a cigarette. "Josephine." Martha called, she picked up her bag and headed to the front. "Okay." Martha started, "I have gotten conformation from where you are going, as you are one of the best students that I have and considering that you've gotten great reports from the other hospitals, I felt like I needed to challenge you."

Joey raised her eyebrow, about to question but Martha cut her off, "I know this is going to be slightly difficult considering what this hospital holds, but I think it would be beneficial for you. The hospital itself only allows students to train with them if they are exceptional, so that's why I've chosen you. It's a great opportunity."

Martha paused again, looking at Joey, her face in utter confusion. Martha chuckled to herself, "You're going to Mountsack."

"I'm what?" Joey questioned in disbelief, "Mountsack." Martha repeated, hoping that the girl in front of her did not faint. "I think you're capable Josephine." Joey nodded not knowing what else to say, she wondered if that was the conversation her and the boy were having earlier, deciding on whether she was able to go in. "Thank you." Joey finally managed to get out, the next class had started to come in so it was time for her to leave, "No problem, if there is any problems do not hesitate to contact me."

Joey left the room, almost crashing into other students walking in. "Joey." Rose called, trying to catch up to the girl speeding out of the building. She swirled around, pulling the cigarette out of Rose's lips, taking a drag before she could speak. "What's going on with you?" Rose asked, trying to get the cigarette back but Joey was not having it. "I'm being sent to Mountsack."

Rose's eyes widened, "Mountsack?"

"Yeah, she thinks I'm capable."

"Well done, my god, that is amazing, are you scared?"

Joey thought for a moment, was she scared? Slightly, it was going to be a different vibe. Even if she didn't think she would be afraid of the patients, it was still a highly dangerous place. But she had convinced herself she was going to be okay, Martha would not have sent her otherwise. They went through the rest of the day without much incident, Joey thought about how her family would react to the news, they already had their issues with her being a psychiatric nurse in the first place and since they lived near Mountsack, they would cause uproar if they knew where she was heading. But she did not care. She had fallen out with them long ago, when she first got the place in college and they caused a huge fight over the Christmas break, leaving Joey crying, her mother and her grandfather roaring at the others. None of them were on speaking term over this. She could not grasp why they could not mind their own business, but it was three years ago, she was over it.

She got home, running in to tell her mother where she was training, her mother was delighted for her because she knew how much she wanted to work in there, how she was so interested with the hospital. She could not wait.

She decided to head out with her friends to the pub to celebrate, of course some of them were mocking her, saying that she was going to murdered and all other gory stuff that they could come up with. Joey was sipping on a beer, when one of her friends Billy piped up from the opposite side of the table. "Isn't Mountsack where that serial killer was in the 1930's?"

"There's lots of serial killers in Mountsack now."

"Yeah, I know, but wasn't he like extremely bad?"

"Probably," Joey said, "But most are, that's why they're sent to Mountsack."

"Yeah but wasn't he like a monster or something?"

Joey rolled her eyes, "Would you ever shut up? I told you not to call patients that." Billy sunk into his seat, "I meant an actual monster." he whispered to himself, hoping that he wouldn't annoy Joey any further. They all continued into the early morning, Joey stumbled home, barely able to open the door, she couldn't figure out how to turn the key, it wasn't until her brother opened it and she went crashing onto the floor, she moaned in pain, "Fuck." she slurred.

Her brother stood over her laughing, "Jesus, not even on the job yet and you've already gotten drunk over it."

"It wasn't that I just had too much."

He shrugged, "Fair enough. Please don't throw up on the stairs again, I'm not dealing with Ma screaming tomorrow I have an exam I need to study for."

"Noted."

She clambered up the stairs, taking her makeup of and getting into bed. She was in college the next day, but she felt as she probably wasn't going to attend, but she needed to in case Martha thought she had a breakdown. Lying there with her thoughts, she could not stop thinking about the boy and not being able to understand why he stared at her like that, she was probably overthinking it and he was just getting a look about who the new girl training was. She couldn't sleep and soon enough the room started to spin.

She did not vomit on the stairs this time, but she did not make it to the bathroom on time. She had a new issue at hand, the carpet was destroyed.