Strange phenomenon

Four days later, Brianna and Bianca were released.

There was a calm atmosphere between them as they walked together to their cell, shocking their fellow inmates at the seemingly progressive relationship.

Aside from solitary confinement, they were also given the usual punishment of helping with the cleaning. However, Brianna was the only one who always complied. When it was time to clean the toilet, Bianca was already missing.

Brianna sighed as she scrubbed the floor tiles. After that conversation, Bianca never brought up that topic again. However, she still ended her tale when Brianna asked one time.

'So, I made it real. I literally became the bad luck. Guess what happened next? Heh, they stopped blaming the dead old woman and accused me instead.'

Bianca's words dashed in Brianna's head again. She stopped scrubbing and just crouched, thinking how tough the woman's life must have been.

"She grew up in an orphanage, huh? Come to think of it, Dad used to support several children's foundations when I was younger. I remember volunteering to give gifts to the kids too. I wonder why he stopped though. I couldn't remember the reason…"

Her words stopped when a memory came back to her unintentionally. It was some time after her father stopped supporting the foundations, that her mother left and abandoned them.

Brianna was eleven years old when her parents got divorced. Six years later, her father brought home Freda and the ten-year-old Byron.

She wondered why her mother chose to leave, and she resented her for that. Now, thinking back on it, her mother must have found out about her father's infidelity.

"Staying in that mansion must have been so painful for her…"

Brianna continued cleaning after that. She erased all unnecessary thoughts in her head and just focused on scrubbing. An hour later, she finally made the bathroom shine just like a newly polished shoe.

She wiped her forehead using the back of her hand and huffed loudly.

"Who would have thought I have talent in cleaning? I had never done this before but I performed like a professional!" She proudly scanned the shining shimmering restroom and felt satisfied.

Then, she walked out and locked the door, making sure that no one would be able to use it again. The inmates knew Brianna was in charge of cleaning the toilets, so to spite her, they would use it barbarically, shooting shits off out the bowl or spitting on the tiles anywhere.

Sometimes, Brianna even wondered if she was really in a women's penitentiary or in a mental hospital instead.

When the lunch call rang, she wearily sauntered to the dining hall and lined in for food. Unlike the first time, the food managers quietly poured her portions.

Melissa and Alice never dared to talk to her again if it was not necessary. Although Alice's smirking face still haunted her and boiled her temper every time she thought it was really her who drew on Melissa's face, Brianna held back and just ignored them as well.

Bianca would occasionally tease and annoy her, but a month passed that they weren't getting into a fight. She heard that Bianca's last victims were still recovering in the infirmary due to their broken bones.

So, no one dared to pick a fight with her as well.

Brianna continued to watch her covertly and report to the guy whose name was still unknown to her. However, she didn't brood over it as long as she received the money. Because of that, she didn't need to work, and she could buy the things she needed without getting robbed again.

A month passed peacefully.

Brianna was scheduled for cleaning again, not as a punishment but because of the regular cleaning schedule of the inmates. Their prison number was to clean the administration building along with another two numbers.

However, it seemed that the majority of them were just chatting and really not working properly.

Brianna glanced around the surroundings, looking for a particular person. She cleaned and tidied the cleaning tools, before looking in a different place for Bianca.

However, her free time was wasted in vain. She gave up searching for her and just went on pulling the weeds in the backyard of the admin building. From her position, she could see the side façade of the chapel, but the entrance was hidden from her sight, so she couldn't see who entered and exited.

And because of the stained glasses, she couldn't see the inside.

'Maybe that woman's praying again,' Brianna thought to herself. She glanced at the female officer standing at the edge of the administration building, monitoring her with sharp eyes.

Even if Brianna wanted to excuse herself for a moment and check the chapel, the guard seemed unapproachable and looked inconsiderate, so she didn't try to ask for a few minutes break.

She kept pulling weeds indignantly. It wouldn't have been so boring if someone was with her, sharing casual and random talks, but because of her records, it seemed that the officers were isolating her from the other groups, in case another fight broke.

Another hour later, the guard came to Brianna and spoke, "That's enough for today. Go back."

Brianna nodded. She stretched his arms upward and groaned. Her body became so stiff and a bit toned. Just when she was picking up the black garbage bag full of plucked weeds, the rain poured so suddenly.

Brianna, "Huh?"

The sky was just so clear and just as blue as the sea, why did it pour suddenly?

Brianna quickly picked up the pace and ran underneath the building's roof. She looked up and even flinched at the lightning that flashed at the sky followed by a deafening thunder.

Her eyes widened after they adjusted from the sudden flash, and saw the sun, unbothered by the rain and lightning, and unhindered by any clouds.

'Does that even make sense?' Brianna gawked at the sky.

The rain didn't seem to stop soon, so she grabbed the roll of the garbage bag in her uniform's pockets and tore one, then she draped it over her head and shoulder, before running back to the path away from the chapel.

She was already at the front of the recreational gym when she noticed the ground darkening. Did the sun finally hide its face? Brianna wondered as she looked up.

The raindrops trickled down her cheeks, but her eyes were covered by the garbage bag she held above her head, so she properly witnessed that phenomenon without blinking.

Her pupils dilated at the reason of the dimming surroundings.

Amidst that sudden downpour, in the clear blue sky above, the sly moon was slowly devouring the proud sun.

Brianna's vision blurred and her eyes felt so hot and burning. She let go of the plastic bag and slowly touched her eyes with her quivering hands.

The rain washed away the thick color of blood on her hands, but the strong, distinctive metallic smell was emanating from her eyes.

Upon realization, she screamed at the top of her lungs.

However, her agonizing scream was drowned by frightened shouts.

"AHHHHH!"

Both screams echoed in that darkened place. Once the mischievous moon finally revealed the bright sun again, two bodies were found unconscious. One with bloody eyes, and the other, a mutilated one.