THE FIRST SCROLL.

"Broken. Scarred. Disfigured. All of these couldn't describe what he felt. Couldn't contain in text, the pain he was passing through." A voice read to the classroom of children that sat on mats in a circle around the source of the voice who was a young lady, dressed in a black skirt accompanied with a stainless white shirt, a gold wristwatch and black shoes. She took a deep breath and continued.

"He stared into the patch of the sky he could see through the broken roof and prayed in his heart for a saviour." At this juncture, the bell rang, signalling the end of the class as well as the end of the school session for the day. "And that's the end of today's class." The teacher said, closing the book with a loud thump.

"Ugh." The children groaned, as a collective as they begrudgingly got to their feet one after the other, helping to clean up by folding the mats and rearranging the class. Within a matter of minutes, the class was back to its original structure and the teacher walked to the door. Afterwards, she had the children line up and then handed their homework over to them as each one stepped up and out of the class.

Soon, she was left alone and she shut the door. She turned around and walked to her seat upon which she slumped and gave out a huge sigh. She then sat up and began arranging the papers on her desk while her mind travelled into a different world.

"I kind of wish my life was a fairy tale. I wouldn't have to suffer so much if it were." She eventually muttered to herself, her expression forlorn and filled with pain.

"Is that so?" A smooth tenor suddenly asked. She raised her head in response and turned to smile at its source. A young dark skinned man, carrying an afro-fade style on his head with his coffee brown hair. His face bore no blemish as his skin was very smooth and toned. The dimples on his face from his smile, accentuated by the pair of full lips with the bottom bearing a light pink shade and his lovely and warm brown eyes. Three different shades of brown all danced with the light as he blinked. In short, he was handsome and well built as beneath the janitor uniform lay a chiselled and well defined muscle structure. He was a hulk, although he bore no abs, yet didn't have a pot belly.

"Jerome. You shouldn't sneak up on me like that." The teacher said, her smile brightening as he walked into the classroom, dragging along a mop and a bucket as well as a vacuum cleaner. "What if I have a heart attack?"

"Simple. I'd save you." Jerome said as he carefully placed the mop beside a desk and walked to the teacher's table. "Besides, every fairy tale princess needs a prince charming to come rescuing in times of trouble."

"Sadly, I'm no fairy tale princess. And I don't have a prince charming." The teacher replied with a sigh and looked on through the window, staring at nothing in particular yet a longing filled her eyes.

"Sam. Be careful what you wish for. You never know just who may be listening." Jerome said with a brief look of seriousness as his eyes glowed.

"If you say so. Anyway, I'll be taking my leave now. See you next time, Jerome." Sam said as she picked up her bag and walked out of the class. Before shutting the door, she blew a kiss at Jerome and blushed as she waved.

.....

"I still wish I could live a fairy tale life. But then, I might as well just get used to the sufferings that come with this one." Sam said and looked up as the sun seemed to vanish before her eyes. She saw dark clouds gathering and quickened her steps to her car, an Audi A6.

"Excuse me. Are you Miss Samantha Argent?" A voice called, stopping Sam in her tracks, a few steps away from her car. She turned around and saw two people. One man and one woman, both dressed in black suits.

"Yes. That's me." Sam said as she tensed up, preparing to run away at the slightest hint of danger. One thing however remained on her mind. Just how did they get there? She could have sworn that the car park was empty when she walked in. Even at that particular moment, she couldn't hear their breathing. Their chests didn't even seem to be moving.

"Good. We need you to come with us." The woman said as she took a step forward. Sam reflexively took a step backwards, causing the woman to stop in her advance. "We aren't going to hurt you. Just come with us. Once you do, you'll get answers to the questions on your mind."

"I'm not going. Stay away from me." Sam spoke, suddenly recalling something from her past. "Did he send you?" She then asked, anger filling her voice as the dark clouds swirled around and the wind began to pick up. " Answer me." She yelled and a bolt of lightning struck one of the cars a few meters away from Sam.

"I'm tired of this bullshit. Let's just take her already." The man in a black suit suddenly spoke, breaking the silence. He then moved, blitzing across the distance and crossing it in an instant. To Sam, he had disappeared and then reappeared behind her. And before she could even react, he struck. He chopped at her neck, knocking her unconscious before hoisting her onto his shoulder. He then looked up at the skies and nodded.

"Let's move." The man said to the woman as he walked into the shadow of a wall and disappeared. The woman sighed and did the same and the car park was left looking just like it was before, except for the smoldering and burning heap of metal that was once a brand new car.