Broken by Time

Glass

The name triggered nothing in my mind. It wasn't mine, but I liked it. It felt.. right. The cell boy hadn't said anything since I told him my name. Well, my new name. We sat in silence, until I'd listened close enough to realize that his breathing had evened out. He was asleep- for now. Slowly and very, very gingerly, I stood, my knees wobbling. I ensured that my weight was shifted entirely on my left foot- my right ankle still was in more pain than I'd ever felt before. Hobbling my way over to the old, rusted faucet, I collapsed in front of it and forced the knob to turn, the water slowly sputtering out. It only just barely trickled out, but that was enough for me.

I let the water pool into my gauntlets before splashing it into my face and scrubbing every bit of dirt and grime off, flinching at the icy steel now on my face. I then pulled my ebony-black hair, far duller than I'd like, over my shoulder to wash it. I held back a yelp of pain, dragging my fingers through locks knotted locks of hair. In silence, I went to scrub at my arms, rubbing the oil off before starting to watch the stains off of my clothes. It was the first time I'd really paid attention to my clothing since the crash.

Though they were torn, and my knees scraped beneath them, I wore old, black jeans, my top half covered by a light gray sweater. I stuck my hands into my pockets, ensuring that the metal didn't catch on any strings while I searched for anything that might be in my pockets. I found nothing. They'd taken anything I had off of me. My feet were bare, and when I took a closer look, my right ankle was painfully swollen. Cautiously standing up, unsteady on my feet, I took another look around the cell, inhaling the scent of rust. I gingerly reached out to touch the wall and steady myself, the metal of my gauntlets clinking a little harshly against the stone.

A voice sent me crashing to the ground, its smooth tone slicing through the silence of the air. "Up and at 'em already, huh?" I twisted my body so that I wouldn't fall on my ankle- it worked. My trembling ceased when I realized it was just the boy. He inhaled sharply through his teeth, having seen me fall. He didn't apologize, though. Giving a shaky sigh, I hummed, "Yeah." Silence ripped through the musty air of the cells.

"Hey, what's.." I trailed off, hesitating. The boy gave a gruff hum, encouraging me to continue my sentence. "Your, uh.. your name. What's.. your name..?" Immediately, I rushed to explain myself. "It's- it's just.. you know my name, and I- uh.. I don't know yours, and you're just right across from me, so we'll probably be.. talking.. a lot..? And, uh, I don't just wanna- call you.. you know.. like, uh.. dude, or something-"

He cut me off. "Jason. Jace. Jay. Whatever." A small, soft smile lit up my face for the first time since they'd brought me here. "Don't wear it out." He snapped lightly. "Okay, Jace." I mumbled, the smile stuck on my face as I stood back up cautiously, steading myself against the wall. Curiosity led me to the old, rusty mirror mounted against the wall. It was covered in dirt so badly that I was just a blurred shape in its glass.

I reached to my right hand, pulling the sleeve of my sweater down over the palm of the gauntlet. Maybe I could wipe it off, see the person that I'll eventually learn to call myself. Silently, I reached out to touch it. I felt Jace's gaze burning into my back. As soon as the fingertips of the gauntlets reached the mirror, though, the world seemed like it stopped turning.

It felt as if my hand was glued to the mirror. A searing burn erupted across my skin, and the mirror began to glow a harsh, bright white. I let out an anguished cry as the mirror began to rapidly decay and then clean itself, my pain fluctuating with it. I tried to wrench my hand away from the mirror, but nothing happened. I was stuck there. Repeatedly, I cried out, thrashing around, my ankle erupting into pain, as well.

I heard Jace quickly stand up, his feet scuffing against the concrete as he rushed over to the bars. "Aria?" He called out, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw his face for the very first time. In my intense pain, somehow, I filled my mind with his every feature as our gazes, one pained, one panicked, clashed.

His hair was a little on the longer side, a little roughed up, and a deep, chestnut brown. It was kind of flipped to the side, hiding the edges of his left eye. His eyes were a deep forest green, complemented by brows that were scrunched in worry. His jaw was rounded off, yet still sharp, lips chapped and parted- presumably to call out to me. His hands were scarred and scraped, his knuckles nearly white from his grip on the bars. Jace was tall- taller than I thought he was. I was right about his age, though- he couldn't have been much older than me.

I was snapped out of my split second of observation by intense pain. The mirror rapidly decayed even further, before suddenly shattering. The pain escalated, but this time, it spread to my entire body. Shards of glass rained down on my poor, beaten body, cutting me up further as I collapsed onto the ground, giving another fading cry of pain. My mind, body, and spirit gave out, hurdling into a state of unconsciousness.

( Woah, two chapters in one day. I'd love some feedback- this is my first time publishing a full story online that I'm really dedicating myself to. <3 )