Page 57 of Scarred King

“Elena, open the fucking door,” Liam knocks again and I close my eyes and mutter.

“Newton’s third law—”

“I can’t understand what you’re saying,” he sounds concerned.

I ignore him and continue muttering. “Newton’s third law is also called the law of action and reaction… in every interaction there is a pair of forces…”

“You're hysterical, Open the door and let me help you,”

"The third law is also called the law of action and reaction, when two bodies interact with forces…"

"Open the fucking door already!", he raises his voice but I'm already in another world.

“The size of the force on the first object—”

“You try,” I hear him say in the background.

“Elena,” Johanna’s gentle voice almost brings me back to my black world, but I continue.

“Equals the size of the force on—”

“Newton’s third law,” she giggles. “Open up and we’ll talk about it the way we like.”

“The second object. Equals and reverse in its direction to the force exerted by the second body…"

“On the first object.” she finishes my sentence and I burst into tears. I feel my two worlds have collided. My magical, enchanted, and rosy world has been sucked into a black hole of a shocking horrific world that’s waiting out there for me.

“Don’t cry,” she begs. “Please open the door for me.”

I rock back and forth, my body starts seizing up and I cry harder.

“Move!” I hear the insistent voice and the door is kicked down. I shut my eyes again and start muttering from the beginning.

“What happened here? What happened to her?” the sweet voice sounds scared.

“Come on,” I am being pulled out of the stall and forced to stand up. My body is wobbling, and the man who put me in this situation puts his arm under my armpit. He pulls me along with him. We walk out to the bar and my weeping turns to wailing.

“Walk us out,” he requests. I think some men are walking behind us, escorting us. We go out to the street and I am put on the motorcycle. He puts the helmet on my head and sits in front of me.

“Tommy, the bar is open,” he says firmly. “Those bastards won’t interfere with our business.” I don't hear the answer, I hold on to his waist and rest my head on his back as he starts driving fast, so fast that my head slams against his back every time he shifts gears. Finally, he stops, raises his arm towards the wall, and the garage door opens.

“Come with me,” he says softly and gives me his hand. I don’t have the strength to refuse. We go inside and he takes me immediately upstairs. He sits me down on the bed and takes a bottle of liquor out of a dresser's drawer. “Drink.” he orders, and I take a small sip. “More,” he orders again, and I take another, longer sip. He removes my shoes and my jeans, and lays me down on the bed. “Go to sleep. You’ll feel better tomorrow.”

I put my head down on the pillow and close my eyes. “It’s all your fault,” I hear myself saying all choked up. “You should have kicked me out of that hellhole the first time I walked in.”

“I tried,” he says painfully.

“Not hard enough.” I answer accusingly and recite the third law again. Minutes later I'm in dreamland.

24

I look at the clock on the dresser and jump out of bed. I have a half hour to get to the university. I rub my forehead when I realize that last night was not just a bad dream. I’m part of a real-life horror movie, there are people out there who want to get rid of me. But this isn’t my world… I shake my head. I’ll go back to my sane world now, and in time everyone will forget about me. I shower quickly. Take my backpack out of my suitcase and go downstairs. Liam is talking quietly with a man holding a gun, and they both turn to face me.

“Good morning,” I say as I walk to the counter to take my computer. I put it in my backpack and shove my wallet in as well. My smashed cellphone is lying on the counter. “I’m going now,” I mutter and start towards the door.

“How do you feel?” Liam asks, concerned and starts following me. I turn my head towards him and see that he’s still wearing the clothes he was wearing yesterday.

“Great. The best ever. And now, if you don’t mind, I don’t want to be late to my first class.”

---