Chapter 20 The Dark Is Gone! I Am Here! Chapter Theme Song: I Am Not Okay by Deadfish [Iris’s POV] My mind automatically froze when he mentioned my parents. It was unexpected and I didn’t think he would care enough to ask me anything about my family. Seeing his sympathetic look, I quickly regained control of my emotions and made sure that my tone didn’t fluctuate as I related a little of my story to him. I didn’t need anyone’s pity, especially not from him. He stared at me for a moment and then took another sip of his coffee. Oddly enough, I felt extremely comfortable and safe in his presence. Most of the time he annoyed me, but his confident attitude calmed my frazzled mind. The fact that I was having coffee with the President of USK State in my living room was surreal. I had heard the rumors that surrounded him, and totally had him pegged for a heartless bastard that took kick backs from the mafia. But, when I first met him, I immediately thought that people must have been mistaken. Mr. President was too self absorbed to get emotionally involved with anyone and too much of a control freak to rely on any mafia boss to manage his businesses. I flinched as I heard the sharp crack of light that was followed by the roar of thunder. Shivering in fear, I tightly hugged myself. Taking a quick peek at the president, I found him munching on the cookies and drinking his coffee. I smiled while watching him. He looked like a little kid having his snack after school. Meeting my gaze, he looked like he was about to ask me another question. But before he could, my apartment went pitch black. My building had lost power. “Shit! This storm is getting worse. Miss Young, do you happen to have any candles?” My brain was telling me to answer him, but my mouth wouldn’t form any words as I felt my chest grow heavy. My breathing became rapid and I inwardly cursed as I realized that I was having a full blown panic attack. My vision started to blur and I rubbed the pain that was forming in the middle of my chest. I felt a fuzzy sensation all over my body as the blood drained from my face and I knew that I would start hyperventilating any minute. I had developed nyctophobia from brutal childhood incident and, when I was younger, I had learnt how to cope with my fear. It hadn’t acted up in years, so I thought I had been cured. Guess I was wrong. Memories rapidly resurfaced in my mind and the horrifying screams of a boy echoed in my head. Grabbing onto the arm of the couch, I gasped for breath… tears stung my eyes. I brought my knees up to my chest. Holding myself tightly, I rocked back and forth as I started sobbing. “Miss Young! Miss Young, are you alright? Why aren't you saying anything?” He reached over and touched my shoulder and inhaled a sharp breath. “A-are you crying?” I couldn’t clearly hear him over the loud screams that were replaying in my mind. My shoulders shook with sobs and I just wished the world would swallow me whole. I vaguely sensed him coming closer to me. He grabbed both of my hands and swore. “Jesus! Your hands are drenched. Do you have any phobias? Like a fear of darkness or are you an asthmatic?” My chest burned from the lack of oxygen and I sobbed even harder. Hot tears fell down my cheeks and onto his hands. Jerking his hands away, he stood up. “Tomato! Stressed Tomato! You can come out now and bring a candle!” Kneeling down in front of me, he took both of my hands in his and with a soothing tone, he said, “Miss Young, please don't cry. It’s okay. Everything is alright. I'm here. Can you take a deep breath for me, please? Please, Iris.” Through the haze, I heard him and I could feel him trying his best to calm me down. My lungs expanded and I inhaled deeply like I was taking my first breath. The screams started to subside and the fog in my head began to dissipate as I felt him gently rubbing my hands. For the very first time, I was being comforted through one of my attacks. I heard Tomato come out of my room wailing mechanically, “DARK! DARK! Mommy is afraid! Mommy is afraid!” President Gray snatched the candle and matches that my robot obediently brought. In seconds, a soft warm yellow light glowed in front of me. However, I was still having trouble bringing my emotions under control. Tears of frustration kept streaming down my face. I looked up at my employer and he seemed at a loss of what to do. His brows furrowed as he got up off the ground and sat next to me. Hesitantly, he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to his chest as he stroked my tangled messy hair. My heart started to calm down as soon as I felt the pounding of his heartbeat against my ear. “Shhh, it’s okay. Stop crying. It’s not dark anymore and you’re not alone. It’s alright, I'm here.”