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Joan clutched at her brown hair, sighing in despair. She had been running around all morning, trying to prevent what was about to come. Maybe she had finally lost her mind.
“Don’t say things like that, Joan. It will only bring bad luck.”
“Joan…why don’t you drink some water and take a good rest? You sound very stressed.”
“That sounds ridiculous. Do not go around saying spewing things without any context.”
“Young lady, we aren’t a publishing house. However, I can point you in the direction of…”
Joan scoffed. She didn’t blame them. Had she been in their shoes, she would have ridiculed anyone who claimed to have had a “premonition” too.
Ridiculous indeed.
She was a responsible young woman in her mid-twenties, soaring through life in a corporate office that filled her pockets with thick cash every month. Everything was as normal as it could be.
But Joan was not okay.
She simply wanted to warn the world about the impending doom.
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“Darling, I am a little worried about my sister.” Susan said as she sat down on the chair beside her husband, who raised his eyebrows in question.
“Joan?” Logan questioned, placing his cup on the table. “Why, she looked fine yesterday.”
Susan bit her lip. “Yes, but…”
Logan frowned slightly, moving to place a hand on his wife’s folded ones. “Susie dear, tell me what’s wrong.”
Susan sighed. “Joan called me thrice this morning claiming to have had a premonition of some kind.”
Logan chuckled. “She must be playing her mind games with you again. You know how much she loves doing that.”
Susan’s ginger locks shook in tandem with her head. “She called me three times, Logan. She sounded desperate. The Joan I know is nothing like that.”
Logan brought his hand back to his chin, rubbing on his stubble. “I wonder…” He turned to look at the worried figure of his wife.
“Would you feel better if we paid her a visit?”
Susan nodded eagerly, much to his amusement. Their sisterly bond was something he never quite understood, but that didn’t stop him from being in awe of it.
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“Ms. Joan, your sister and her husband are here to see you.”
“Of course, I’ve been waiting for them.” Joan whispered hoarsely into the intercom. “Send them up to my office.”
She typed up a new sentence furiously, as her mind flooded with the images of the chaos which was going to ensue in a few hours. The least she could do was to write up a proper article worthy of being released on air.
“Joan, you’re supposed to be resting!” Susan exclaimed as she walked in briskly through the door, hands on her sister’s shoulders in an instant. Joan sighed. “I’m okay, Susan. Just let me write up this final draft for tomorrow and I’ll go back to resting right after.” She lied through her teeth.
“This is one fancy office, Ms. Baker.”
Joan turned to find a familiar black-haired young man inspecting her office with a profound interest, eyes flitting from corner to corner with curiosity. She frowned, turning back to the computer screen.
“Why, thank you for the productive compliment, Mr. Allen. Now, if you don’t mind, I have an article to type up before I deal with your rubbish.”
Logan laughed heartily at her comeback. “Your mind is still as sharp as ever. Though,” he rubbed his chin in thought, “you should have this place inspected sometime. With the amount of paperwork strewn around, it definitely calls for an inspection. Feel free to give me a call anytime, I shall arrange a discounted price just for you.”
Joan turned abruptly to glare at her brother in law. “Susan, ask him to kindly keep mum before I decide to throw him out.”
Susan shook her head at their banter before pushing Logan out of the room. “We’ll be in the lounge. Call us when you are finished.”
Joan waved a hand in dismissal.
Joan typed away furiously, putting in as many details as she possibly could, to intricately explain her visions.
“Joan, Susie is quite worried. I’d appreciate it if you’d open up to us a little.”
Joan sighed before turning to face the man standing by the doorway. “I thought I asked you to leave.”
Logan sighed and took a seat opposite Joan. “Look, Joan, I don’t know what is going on with you. If you expect me to cheer you up, the best I could do is take the two of out to the theatre.”
“I’m fine, Logan.”
“Then cheer up.” Logan huffed. “There is no point in teasing you when you look so gloomy.”
Joan rolled her eyes and shooed him away.
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“See? I told you she looks fine.” Logan exclaimed, flopping onto the couch rather unceremoniously. Susan frowned at him before taking a seat facing him. “She seemed stressed. Besides, did you see the heading of the article she was writing?”
Logan looked at her curiously. “No, I don’t make it a habit of snooping into the work lives of others.”
Susan tutted at the subtle dig at her. “We’re not missing anything, are we?”
Logan leaned back into the couch, flapping open the newspaper, one eye still on his wife. “What did she say to you in the morning to have gotten you so frantic?”
“An earthquake…”
Logan raised an eyebrow. “She saw an earthquake in this premontion she talked about?”
Susan nodded timidly. “She sounded so desperate, insisting that we leave country that instant. She said the earthquake would destroy everything around us. Do you remember that 20-storeyed skyscraper under construction a few towns away?”
Logan nodded, somewhat intrigued.
“She said she saw the entire structure come crashing into the ground, flattening the houses beneath it to a pulp.”
Logan scoffed. “That sounds ridiculous. I have seen the base during construction, it is one of the strongest structures around. There is no way that humongous object could crash in the way you described. Besides,” Logan continued, settling back comfortably into the couch, flapping the newspaper once again, “all of that is nothing but a hypothesis. Joan has always had the most vivid imagination among the three of us.”
Susan nodded, slightly relieved at the explanation. “That does sound somewhat plausible.”
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Joan let out a huge sigh as she typed the final word. All was left to do was to hit publish.
Her finger hovered over the button for more than a minute before she removed her hand to place them on her lap, lost in thought.
The first tremors are supposed to hit in an hour, she recalled. Considering the epicentre was a few blocks away, near the skyscraper under construction, the first ones would already seem huge. She crossed her arms, reconsidering her options.
She could have fled country long back, except that she had nowhere to go. The upcoming earthquake would be so huge that the consequent shockwaves would affect the ocean, bringing with it a massive tsunami, bigger than anything the world had seen before. Her country would not be the only one facing major losses. Certain ruin would befall their entire continent.
There would be major landslides in the mountain areas, causing the roadways to be blocked, and people would get crushed under the ruins of buildings as they toppled over. The ground would crack open, swallowing anyone in its way.
Joan knew everything.
Yet, she was entirely powerless.
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“Ms. Clairvoyant, care for some tea?” Logan asked, a sly smile on his face, as Joan trooped into the lounge, exhausted after publishing her article on an online portal. According to her calculations and the approximate amount of research it would take on the approaching calamity, the article would be discovered in approximately a week.
On the other hand, she really didn’t have time for Logan’s nonsense.
She huffed and seated herself on the chair beside her sister. “No thank you, I had my share of tea this morning Mr. Inspector.”
Logan shrugged nonchalantly. “Have it your way.”
Susan sighed, exasperated by their incessant bickering. “I’d rather you two stop fighting over frugal issues. Joan,” she turned to look at her sister earnestly, “could you tell us something more your premonition from this morning?”
“So that you can ask me to see a psychiatrist because you’re worried I might be hallucinating?”
Susan shook her head fervently while her husband snickered. “Joan, I am simply worried about your health. Please don’t take it otherwise.”
Joan shrugged. There was no point in being rude to her lovely sister and not-so-lovely brother in law when they were about to die a few hours from then.
“Susan, would you and Logan accompany me to the safehouse then?” Joan questioned. “I’d rather not lose you in the upcoming calamity.”
Susan smiled shakily at her before turning to look at her husband, a silent question in her eyes. Logan shrugged wordlessly, sipping his tea.
Joan sighed at their reaction. “I promise you, I am not a psychotic serial killer on the loose. I will not kill you, so would you please trust me this once?”
“It’s not that we don’t trust you, Joan.” Logan replied from behind Susan. “Your statements are not making a lot of sense-”
The ground shook and the vase on the nearby shelf clattered to the floor, breaking into millions of tiny pieces.
There was pin-drop silence for a moment before Susan scrambled back into Logan’s waiting arms. Logan stared at Joan with furious confusion in his eyes, watching as the latter pulled out an antique pocket-watch from her coat pocket and sighed. “We have exactly 3 minutes before the major quake hits.” She looked up to face the only two people she called family. “What will it be? Would you like to be buried inside my house or would you like to take a chance and-”
“Where is it?” Joan raised an eyebrow at a frantic Logan. “You said there’s a safehouse. Where is it?”
Joan sighed. “It can barely be called a safehouse, if I’m being honest. At the most, we will be able to hold out till the structure collapses.”
“That’s more than enough for now.”
Joan looked at Logan who was clutching her sister close to him like his life depended on it. She sighed.
“Alright, follow me right now.”
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Joan was harshly pulled into an impromptu hug by a very flustered Logan as the world around them shook in all its might. Susan whimpered at her side, clutching the sleeve of her shirt, scared to move even an inch from the preposterous position they were caught in.
The closet to their right swayed precariously while the chairs and the table had collapsed long back.
It was only a matter of time before the ceiling collapsed in on them, leading to their inevitable death.
Joan held her two favourite people close, gripping on the hems of their garments tightly.
“Susie, for the love of all things otherworldly, I love you with all I possess.”
Susan shook her head rapidly. “Stop, Logan. Do not make it sound like the world is ending.”
“Joan,” Logan stopped to take a deep breath, “I’m sorry I always ridiculed you and didn’t listen even after you insisted. I truly apologise.”
Joan patted the top of his shaking head gently. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Um…” Susan whimpered, “I am not very good at extempore.”
Amidst the fear choking her throat, Joan managed to let out a shaky chuckle at her sister. “Sister dearest, you don’t have to. As for me,” Joan cleared her throat as she held them closer, “I would rather die side by side with you two before I get crushed in rubble by myself.”
There was a huge explosion somewhere nearby and all of a sudden, the world went dark.
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19th October, 20XX
“Ms. Joan, you have visitors.”
Joan trudged wearily to the common area to meet her favourite visitors. Her dreary spirits were lifted as soon as she saw the familiar ginger and black heads of her sister and Logan.
“You two never fail to visit every other day. I must have led a virtuous life before I was born.”
Susan giggled at her sister’s words. “Oh Joan, your sense of humour never fails to make me laugh.”
Joan shrugged as she sat down opposite the couple. “I would say your sense of humour has not gotten any better over the years.”
Logan smirked, making Joan frown at him.
“Anyways, so tomorrow is D-Day, huh?” Logan questioned, sombering the mood in an instant.
Joan shrugged, picking absentmindedly at her nails. They were not going to start believing her all of a sudden after admitting her to the psychiatric ward two weeks ago.
“The doctor said your hallucinations are not getting better even with the medication.” Susan probed gently, afraid to upset her sister any more than she had to.
“They are not going to get any better, you know?” Joan smiled at them, a lost look in her eyes. “I just hope that when the time comes, I can die by your side. Speaking of which, you will be visiting tomorrow, no?”
Logan sighed, while Susan smiled softly, taking Joan’s hands into hers. “We will come visit whenever you want us to.”
Joan nodded at the affirmation. “Good. Then make sure you reach here by 3:27 pm in the afternoon tomorrow. I want you two by my side when the big one hits.”
“Sure, we’ll be here.” Logan replied, while Susan nodded with a smile on her face.
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20th October, 20XX
The world watched helplessly as the dust that was once Joan’s home was swept away by the ocean.
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26th October, 20XX
The news reporter cleared his throat as he prepared himself to announce the biggest news of the century to a world that had lost to itself.
“At 3:30 pm on the 20th of October, we witnessed the world’s worst natural calamity to date. A massive Earthquake struck…”
Gerard turned off the TV with a huff as his sister pulled at his sleeve. “What?” he snapped at the girl who pouted in reply.
“Play with me…Chloe said you’d play with me if I annoyed you.”
The boy rolled his eyes. “Why won’t Chloe play with you?”
The girl tapped her chin, deep in thought. “Oh!” she exclaimed, “I didn’t think of that!”
Gerard chuckled at her innocence before shooing her away to her elder sister’s room, finally leaving him in peace as he trudged up the steps to his bedroom.
He swung on to his chair and flipped open his laptop to continue with his “research” on the biggest event of the century – The Advent of Doomsday.
He sighed as he skimmed through the articles one after the other until his eyes caught on to one in particular.
He frowned at the date of publication – 5th October, 20XX. More than a couple of weeks before the big earthquake hit. Author – Joan Baker.
He clicked on the article and his eyes widened till they were about to bulge out of his eye sockets as he read through the entire article in the span of a few minutes.
“Holy…”
Then his breath hitched as he came on to the final closing statement of the article. It was one simple line, but nevertheless, it sent chills down his spine.
They told me it was a hallucination. I wish I could have lived long enough to claim: I told you so.
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