CHAPTER 27: HER EYES

From the crack in the door of the medical room, Selene could see that Smith was trying to harass Hannah who was unconscious from the anesthesia. There she was, looking furious, her hand firmly gripping the walking stick she was using to walk.

Just as she was about to enter, a man walked over and stopped in front of her.

"What are you doing here?" asked the man, who turned out to be Caelum.

However, Selene didn’t say anything and just stared into the medical room. That made her immediately look over and see how Smith was removing Hannah’s clothes.

"Time to enjoy the reward for my hard work in this crazy prison," Smith said as he kissed Hannah’s neck.

Without saying anything, Caelum kicked the door to the infirmary wide open, much to Smith’s surprise.

BRAK!

"Over my dead body!" said Selene angrily.

She took a firm grip on her walking stick and smashed it straight into Smith’s face. The doctor was knocked back, with a bloody nose. However, Selena didn’t care.

She beat the doctor several times, even though he begged for mercy.

"You really like to r*pe girls, huh? Drugging them and then using them without their knowledge!" she said in a loud tone.

Selene looked like someone 180° different. She immediately looked towards the doctor’s desk where she found the scaple.

Her gaze filled with hatred, without thinking, her intended to stab Smith in the neck before Caelum restrained her wrist.

"Enough! He hasn’t had time to do anything yet. Leave him to me," Caelum said firmly.

She clenched her hand into a tight fist, grasping the scaple before releasing the scapel from her hand.

Caelum immediately called the other prison guards over the walkie talkie. Selene, meanwhile, turned her head to where she was unbuttoned but still wearing a bra.

The look in her eyes was so empty, as if it reminded her of the past.

Flashback

In the late afternoon, it was raining heavily in South Zondalian. Selene was walking home after she had shopped for ingredients for dinner. Armed with only an umbrella, she walked down the street that was already a bit dark due to the late afternoon and the clouds.

"It looks very quiet today because it’s not like usual. Since it’s cold, I thought making a warm steak would taste good," she said with a smile as she looked at her shopping bag.

As she passed through the deserted streets, she heard the voice of a child shouting in the vicinity.

"Help! Help me!" shouted a girl, who could be heard faintly nearby. The sound of the rain covered the girl’s voice.

But Selene could still hear her screaming and crying, which she thought was quite loud.

"She’s in danger!"

She looked around her, searching for the origin of the voice. Not caring if her clothes were wet, Selene continued to look for the origin of the sound.

Until a final cry made Selene’s instincts seem to rise sharper.

"MOMMY HELP!"

She turned her head sharply to a narrow and dead-end alley. Salene ran as fast as she could into the deserted and dark alley. Until she found a 10 year old girl, lying on the ground with a battered face.

Her school uniform was falling apart, leaving her half naked in front of the man on top of her.

There were bruises on her body as well, and the man who did the heinous thing tried to run away.

However, Selene, who was already furious, picked up a nearby brick and threw it at the man’s head until he fell down.

"How dare you desecrate the innocence child," she said in a tone that was so cold and calm yet so horrible.

She sat on the man’s body and smashed the brick in her hand against his head several times.

Using the girl’s socks, Selene gagged the vile man’s mouth to prevent him from making a sound.

Once the man was lifeless, she threw the bricks into a ditch and dressed the dying girl.

She was even willing to rip off her long skirt just to cover the girl’s body, then carried her to the front of the hospital. Leaving her there, Selene made sure the nurses came to rescue the girl.

After a few people noticed the girl, they immediately rescued her and brought her inside the hospital. Meanwhile, Selene just smiled and left.

Flashback End

She dressed Hannah, making sure she didn’t find out about this incident so she wouldn’t be traumatized or scared.

Her anger had peaked at the memory of the past, and Selene felt that she couldn’t let this happen again.

"You’re a good girl. I won’t let anyone hurt you," she said gently as she rubbed his head.

Not long after, Caelum returned and he saw Selene, who had already dressed her cellmate.

"I’ve taken him to the isolation room. He’ll be there for a few days before I deport him back to the main land," he said.

His brown eyes then looked at Selene’s right thigh where her pants were starting to turn red. It turned out that because of the fight earlier, Selene had used her right leg to walk, leaving a few stitches exposed.

"You idiot, I told you not to use your leg first. But why did you still do it?" he asked in annoyance but he tried to remain calm.

"Then let that damn man keep touching her? I can’t let that happen!" she replied.

Caelum narrowed his eyes, noticing how Selene raised her tone. It was unusual for her to do so.

"He’s lucky that you’re here. Otherwise, I’m not sure if his body parts would still be attached properly or not," she said with a dark chuckle.

"Sit down," he ordered.

"What for? I-"

Before she could finish speaking, Caelum pressed Selene’s shoulder to sit down and he examined her thigh.

In front of her, the Chief Warden knelt down to examine the wound. He cut the bottom of Selene’s pants down to her thigh and exposed the loose bandage.

With a serious look on his face, he immediately took some antiseptic medicine and a fresh bandage to treat the wound.

"Your stitches have closed a bit, but the sudden movement caused it to re-injure and bleed. I will close the wound, so stay where you are," he said.

She watched as Caelum knelt before her while treating her. His hand gently touched her thigh as, for a moment, Selene felt her heart racing.

The man’s touch did not look hungry to touch further. But it was gentle and caring. It was clear that he only wanted to treat her wound and not to seduce her.

As the anger in her subsided, it turned into a feeling of admiration and respect for him.

’How could a man like you want a monster like me?’

******

When Caelum was treating Selene’s leg, he took off her shoes and even went as far as ripping off the woman’s pants so that he could treat the wound more easily.

He seemed very relaxed, but in his mind he was admiring the woman in front of him.

Even though her leg was injured, but she still took the time to fight someone who made a mistake.

’She herself made a big mistake by killing many people. But she did it out of concern for the children,’ he thought.

Caelum did not understand when he started to admire the woman in front of him because all he knew was the strict rules of the prison.

All he knew was rules, rules and rules. Until finally, Selene came along and seemed to change his life just because of the first smile he got from her.

A smile that he had never seen before, including with Selene’s case.

Of the many cases he had heard of in his prison, this was the first time he had heard of a case of such magnitude. Because a woman loved the children around her too much to be considered her own.

Caelum realized that Selene’s crime was unjustified. However, Selena’s reasoning made perfect sense - to protect the children. Moreover, all of her victims were child abusers.

’Everything was neat and structured before she came into my life. But now...’

He raised his head, looking into her eyes that were looking straight at him as well. Selene’s signature smile was painted on her beautiful face and with her smooth white legs, she gently pushed Caelum’s shoulder.

In his eyes, there was a sudden desire when he saw that smile on her face again.

His right hand, no longer wearing a glove, gently touched her calf.

"You were playing with dangerous fire, do you remember that?" Caelum asked as Selene pushed him with the tip of her foot.

As if teasing him, Caelum fell for it this time.

"Then burn me once more, my dear," Selene challenged him again, not realizing that he was on the verge of sanity.

"This time make sure we burn with pleasure."