Bullied [5]

That night, Brianna couldn't sleep at all. Aside from the loud snoring of her cellmates, she couldn't erase the voice that rang in her head before.

It was a girl's voice, high-pitched and crispy. Brianna had no doubt about it. What she couldn't fathom was the feeling of nostalgia, even though she had never heard that voice before.

Where did it come from? Is she being haunted? She gulped and looked around the dark room. The only source of light illuminating them was coming from the small barred windows and the glares of bulbs inside the prison hallways that peeked through the thin gap of the door and closed indoor window.

She heard a rustling sound underneath her bed. All her skin made a standing ovation, and she held her breath as she very slowly lifted her sheet and covered her face. There was no way she'd entertained whatever was making the noise below her. They say that if you pay attention to the ghost, then the ghost will make sure to return it.

Brianna tried to sleep.

Thankfully, when she opened her eyes again, it was already bright.

She rubbed her eyes and stretched her arms after. Then, she sat up and found Melissa down beside her bed, peeking through under it. Brianna folded her sheet while asking the woman, "What are you doing down there?"

Melissa didn't budge. She was grabbing something underneath Brianna's bed, but she couldn't bend fully because of her round belly. Soon after, she sighed in defeat and straightened her body.

"Ahh!"

Brianna leaped away from her bed. She was utterly shocked at Melissa's face. Someone giggled above, and the two, looking up, saw Bianca with a twitching cheek, clearly suppressing her morning laugh.

"What?"

However, when Melissa furrowed her brows and asked that question, Bianca couldn't contain her thunderous laughter anymore. The inmates in the nearby cells all jolted awake from the terrifying alarm in the form of a sickening madwoman's laugh, and soon crowded on their door, trying to find out what happened inside Brianna's cell.

Alice got woken up as well. She rubbed her eyes and covered her mouth instinctively as if her hands knew better than to stop her curses from leaving her lips. She swallowed her morning water and asked groggily, "What happened?"

Melissa looked confused as well. She turned to Alice with a bewildered look, only for her face to serve as a sink for the gurgling Alice.

"PWAH!"

Soiled water splashed on Melissa's face.

"HAHAHAHAHHA! HOOOO!" Bianca was clapping hard as she laughed. She even rolled in her bed and kicked it, making Alice who occupied the lower bed quickly stand from her bed, fearing that the furniture might break.

Melissa was enraged, "What the hell? Are you f*cking kidding me?!"

She pushed Alice back on the bed and even tried to grab her hair, but Alice shouted, "Look at your face! What happened to your face, girl?! Why is your face like that? Are you trying to kill us from la…haha…laughter?"

Alice broke into laughter as well. Melissa touched her face, 'There was nothing wrong?'

Aside from getting wet, her nose, eyes, and lips were still there! Alice must be pranking her. She seethed in anger again.

Bianca's voice caught Melissa's attention. "Ooh, it's not coming off. I guess it was permanent. Hahaha, nice tats, junkie. Hahahaha!"

After hearing that, Melissa quickly ran to the toilet and took the small jagged mirror she sneaked out from the warden's office that time she volunteered to clean the room. Her eyes widened in astonishment after seeing her face.

"AHHHHH!"

Melissa gripped the broken mirror tightly until her palm bled. Her face had a huge drawing of an inverted penis! The balls were on her forehead, inked wholly, while the length past her eyes and cheeks like a joker, then met on the middle of her chin in an amazingly symmetrical half-circle. A dot was even visible just below her lower lip resembling a mole. When she blinked, her eyelashes fluttered as if the air blew inside the pants and swayed the curly hair.

Melissa grabbed the bottle of water and poured it on her face, then she wiped her forehead with great force, but even after all the dirt was exfoliated and her skin reddened, the black ink wasn't fading at all.

"AHHHHH! NO!!!"

It was still six in the morning.

Count time will be conducted thirty minutes after six. Then, the breakfast call will be at eight. After that, the inmates would go to their routines; those who have jobs go to their work; those who were scheduled for a specific order like group cleaning or weeding the field will be monitored; and those who have money and free time will end up participating in the recreation programs offered or entertain themselves in the recreational facilities inside prison.

Brianna had decided to work in a handicraft-making program. The inmates who worked there were getting paid for the number of products they could make. The program offers a wide variety of products that can be produced traditionally, so Brianna, who had skills in knitting, chose to work on bonnets, scarves, and knitted gloves.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Melissa slammed the sliding door of the toilet against the wall and screamed, "WHO DID THIS?!"

Brianna's shoulders jumped in surprise. Alice firmly shook her head, and Bianca just chuckled and cupped her chin as she looked up, imitating a wise man thinking about deeper meanings. Slowly, her creased forehead went straight again, and her eyes twinkled in realization.

"Who was the last person who slept last night?" Bianca inquired.

Alice quickly commented, "I fell asleep while the two of you were bickering about who would do the cleaning today, right?"

Melissa nodded, "Yeah. I heard you snoring already before I went to sleep. Then, the only two left…"

Her words stopped after realizing who the culprit might be. Still, Melissa couldn't contain her anger and ended up shouting again, albeit in lowercase, "You bitch! I'm doing whatever—

"Hoi, junkie. Don't put the blame on me. I fell asleep as soon as you did. The last person who fell asleep here is the little devil."

Bianca jumped from her bed and leaned on the wall, "Right~, little devil? You were still mumbling to yourself last night before I fell asleep. What did you chant? Hm? Praying for a ghost to appear and avenge you?"

Brianna stiffened. She was indeed the last person to fall asleep last night, but she wasn't the one who did that to Melissa! In the first place, she didn't even know what the drawing was, what it meant, and why it was funny!

She opened her mouth to deny the accusation, but Melissa's large build was already on her, punching her face enough that her ears rang and she momentarily turned deaf.