「 The Professor & I 」VOLUME II

(317) Threat Issued

Lynn's POV

"The plant has been uncontactable and-" The President acquainted, albeit interrupted by Raven's unanticipated outburst.

"Give him whatever he wants! I just want Hank back!" Raven wailed hysterically and I failed miserably to curb her savage temper as she went madly berserk, sweeping all the items off the President's desk in a wild huff.

"Hold yourself together, Raven," the President pleaded with an earnest expression, surprisingly not the slightest infuriated.

"I just want Hank back..." Raven sobbed, cupping her face painted in smeared mascara and it simply ached, witnessing her uncharacteristic state of ultimate delirium perhaps even rarer than diamonds on earth.

"I want Hank back, Lynn. Tell him," she desperately begged, bawling her eyes out as she once again crashed into my lap, and I hugged her tightly, albeit with strength merely adequate to tame her shivering.

"I know, I know. And I want Charles," I consoled softly, wrestling to curb my own tears as hers vigorously washed down.

"But you have to calm down before we can figure this out," I encouraged in a shaky tone.

"I fully understand that you ladies must be concerned about the safety of your husbands," the President mentioned and I gazed up at him, harbouring a vague suspicion towards the seeming trueness of his compassion.

"But I am in no place to negotiate with terrorists," he asserted pensively.

"Especially not ones brazen as William Stryker," he rehashed with a solemn expression.

"Instead, I will assure you that I have sent my best men to that island," he declared in a steadfast tone.

"They will comb and they will search, and it is their order to bring back our hostages, most hopefully unhurt," he elaborated resolutely.

Despite his stance radiating with sheer confidence and his mind emitting nothing but an honest, positive, power, it was certainly insufficient to steady me—needless to say Raven. There I was, sweating to pacify her soaring discomposure and contain my own, when a series of furious knocks blasted through the door to ripple my already distraught train of thought.

"Shocking news, Mr. President," announced an anxious female whose swift entrance was accompanied by the brisk clicking of her heels.

Perfectly dressed for the formalities of an official government building, the older lady carried an elegant and meticulous air that suggested, together with the President's apparently amazed expression, that it was totally unusual for her to trudge in before first being called upon.

"I really don't think anything is capable of shocking me now besides you, Jackie," the President replied his personal assistant in a mildly joking tone.

"Just look at this," she insisted politely and Raven lethargically glanced up as the television was promptly tuned to Fox 5 News.

"Evidence of arson is glaring but authorities have yet to identify the culprit guilty of the ruthless act that left numerous injured and at least ten dead," the anchorwoman reported in a dramatic tone and the frozen image next to her zoomed to dominate the entire screen as it transformed into a motion footage.