The Man Who Knew

The Man Who Knew

It felt kind of weird, dreaming the same dream as before. But what could one do? Dreaming again and again of his friend getting murdered by someone. He woke up, tried to recall what he had seen. It was so disturbing yet he remembered a vivid image of the Murderer! The shock and surprise caused him to change his clothes and drive to Edward's house.

He was very upset. He came to his house, into his room, and without letting Edward speak anything, he narrated the dream to him and... and then ... there was dead silence for a solid 2 minutes. Then Edward was like... "William!!!! What is it, man? How come you're so upset? And what's the hurry? Come sit!" He patted himself on the head and sat on the couch and again, narrated the dream to Edward. But instead of a shocking response, Edward smiled for a moment and responded, "William! You gave it too much thought, then you dreamed again! Look at me! I’m fine! And I am comfortable with my neighbors, my friends, and everyone else! You can dream of anything. This is nothing but a dream! It has nothing to do with reality, does it?” William looked at him and frowned, asking him a counter-question. "Isn't it odd I dreamt of someone murdering you? And I dreamt it not once, not twice, but thrice!". Edward looked at him, moved his head in a no, and left the room, leaving William distressed... He moved out of the room and came to Edward. Sat with him and tried to convince him that this dream might mean something, but Edward declined. He looked at William, who knew that this dream had some relation with them. It means something. Edward was fed up with it, he said, "William! It ends here, you don't have to say it to anyone. Leave it! Okay! ...... Come on, let's go out to eat something, I bet you have eaten nothing? William looked at Edward to say something, but he stopped him. William shook his head in a no and they moved out of the house, smiling.

Weeks later, William, James, Oliver, and Elijah planned to go out for dinner together. En route, they planned to surprise Edward. Laughing and talking, they reached Edward's house. Upon exiting the car, they noticed something strange about the house. It was dark and shadowy, while the front door was wide open as well. They looked at one another and came into the house. One by one, one step at a time, they stared back and forth until they entered the dining room. There he was, Edward, with his head upon the table. William looked at him and said, "I guess, he is asleep!" James came near and touched him... But no response. He looked at everyone and moved Edward back...... But... But.... he was........ Dead with his throat cut open! Someone had murdered him. But there was no blood to notice. They all looked at Edward in extreme shock while tears shed through their eyes. William moved back, screaming, and fell down. They all cried. James moved back and started weeping. William looked at Edward and he remembered the dream, but he knew it was not the right time. Oliver called the ambulance and James called the police as well. The ambulance took the body for post-mortem, while the police started the investigation. All the friends gave their records, and William also mentioned the dream. But, it felt weird that even the police denied accepting it. The officer laughed, declaring it nonsense. William looked at him with a sigh of helplessness. The police had sent the case to the court where the trial had begun. A week later, the court ordered their arrival. The police had caught the murderer. Who had demanded a big sum of money as a loan from Edward, which he had refused to give him? The refusal angered the murderer to where he killed Edward, grabbed his money, and ran away. But the police had caught him.

The murderer’s face had shocked William. He stared at him and found a resemblance between him and the vivid image which he remembered. And moments later, he realized the man in his dream and the man standing in front of him were the same. "What a coincidence!" He thought. William spoke about the dream in the court as well but again they even the court refused to declare it as true. They thought that Edward's death had made William mad. William became quiet. After the trial had ended, the court found the accused guilty and sentenced him to death. The friends were happy that the police had caught the murderer and that the murderer had met his fate. But William felt sad too…. As days passed by, Edward became a part of the past. William knew no one would believe him, so he never spoke about the dream again. And the other friends never discussed it either.

A few months later, William dreamt about two of his other best friends who had gotten injured in a plane crash. But they had luckily survived, yet they got murdered in the hospital. His previous dream had come true, he thought, so what if this one does too? And a thought flashed in his mind. No one is going abroad. This thought had calmed him and he forgot the dream. Until one day, when his friends invited him over to lunch, where they shared their plans. Oliver and James were both going abroad to study. At first, he thought they were joking, but they were dead serious!

William remembered the dream again! He intended to tell them, and he did. But of course, they didn’t listen. “It’s nonsense!!!” Oliver stared at William and left the room. James looked at Oliver, who slammed the door shut then he looked at William and replied, "Look, they're dreams. They have no connection with reality!” William tried to speak. but James stopped him. And time passed till the moment came when Oliver and James were leaving for their flight! They all were happy! Except for William, who felt worried. He still believed his dream might be true. But he prayed for their safety, and in a few moments, they boarded the flight. A few minutes after, William and Elijah heard the plane crash news because of some technical issues! It was very disturbing, as it was the flight that James and Oliver had boarded. They went back to the airport. Soon the search operation had started. Almost a hundred and fifty people had boarded the flight. There were dead bodies and blood everywhere and you could hear painful cries miles away. But luckily, some had survived, including Oliver and James. But their condition was pretty serious.

William, who had dreamed of the same incident weeks ago, couldn't believe what had happened. He was not in the condition to tell, despite his friends being in the hospital, too. The plane crash made many people cry, destroyed many families, and had caused many deaths! And for those who survived, it was no less than a miracle. William and Elijah thanked God for the safety of their best friends, but William was still afraid... Day and night William would stay there. He would not leave them. He was afraid that someone might kill Oliver and James as in his dream. Elijah would come to visit, stay for a while, and leave. While the hospital had become a permanent residence for him. One night, James started choking. He was immediately taken to the ICU. His BP was dropping and the oxygen intake was becoming difficult. A nurse informed him about James. He woke up and rushed to the Intensive Care Unit. He kept walking outside the ICU. He was consistently worried about him. James's condition worried him so much. He even forgot about Oliver, who was in the Emergency room downstairs. Soon James’s condition got better and William took a sigh of relief. After a moment or so, He intended to check on Oliver. Coming downstairs, he entered the emergency room. But Oliver wasn't there. He moved forward and found Oliver on the floor beside the bed. He rushed to him, but Oliver laid there motionless. He was all covered in blood. Someone had stabbed him with a dagger in the stomach. William was trying to wake him up while calling the doctor. The doctor furiously came inside as this was a hospital, but the next scene made him shocked. Blood and blood, blood everywhere. He rushed to Oliver..... looked at him. Checked his pulse, but shook his head in a big no. William looked at him with wet eyes and looked at Oliver, screaming, “OH MY GOD!...... OLIVER!!!........... This is a hospital. How can this be???” The doctors and the hospital staff stood still, all surprised and worried! “How can this happen??? Why him??? Why me???” He kept thinking and ran towards James. But he was fine. “Thank God!” He said and sighed. The body was taken, and the police assured William and Elijah that the murderer will be caught. Soon, his funeral was arranged. They attended Oliver's funeral and went back to the hospital. All this time, Drew was kept unaware of Oliver’s death because of his poor condition. But after the funeral, he was informed about him. And as he listened, tears shed through his eyes while he stared at William, who kept giving him hope. And staring back at him with wet eyes. They had lost another friend.

James had survived a plane crash and his health was improving. It was a miracle! The staff had shifted James into the general ward because of his improving health. William and Elijah were quite happy and satisfied for James, who had gone through a lot and survived, but when they would remember Oliver and Edward, they would just cry... “When you’ll get better, we’ll celebrate!” Elijah spoke quite in a joyous way. “Soon!........... Soon!” said James. William looked at them, smiled, and he remembered the dream but he ignored it, for James was alive. “It might be a coincidence!” He thought. Late at night, they all talked and enjoyed themselves together. Moments later, Elijah left, leaving James and William behind. “I’m going to go drink some water...... I'll be right back,” William spoke while opening the door and he left the room. On his way back, he saw the cafeteria. They were serving fresh fruit juice. He intended to get some for James and himself and so he joined the queue. 15 minutes later, it was his turn. He headed back to James with two juice boxes in his hand. But to his surprise, James was not in his bed. “That’s strange...”, thinking this, he put the juices aside and called out to him while looking here and there. Searching for him, he opened the bathroom door and……. and there he was, in the tub, full of blood, motionless. William stood there, frozen. While strange thoughts kept flashing in his mind he moved forward But James had no breath; he had left. Like the last time, the hospital security staff was blamed. Weeks ago, another person, their friend Oliver, was also killed. But no one knew how this had happened. Unfortunately, the culprit couldn’t be caught, as the police paid little attention. Oliver's culprit was also not found because of a lack of attention to the case. The hospital was charged a fine for their negligence, which they paid. And that was it...

William was mad. He cried and cried, he just kept thinking, "Why Him??" And the dreams and the deaths of his beloved friends had killed his sense to think clearly. Day and night, he would sit in a corner of the house, recall the dreams and the deaths of his friends, and cry. William's state had worried Elijah, so he moved from there with Willam. Thinking that a new place and a new environment might change him. Soon, they moved to another city. Things changed, William's condition got better. Things became normal.

But a year later, William started dreaming about an earthquake. That took place where they were living and destroyed half of the city. The earthquake hit on 20 February, which was only a few weeks after. He woke up, but he didn’t want to tell anyone because of his previous experiences. He ignored them. But the next day he dreamt it again and the next day again. In his dream, he was running here and there. Informing people to evacuate the place and inform others too, otherwise, they’ll all die. Spread the words “Evacuate the city”. It was funny, but this dream appeared strange. It pressurized him so much, he told Elijah. Elijah was already fed up with his strange stories and refused to listen to anything. William knew it can be some warning sign. Though he was hesitating, he shared what he had seen and the warning words on social media. And whenever he would go out and to whomever he met, he warned them to evacuate the city as soon as possible. Elijah told him to stop doing this nonsense, but William was afraid. And so Elijah left him and shifted to another house. But William continued to spread the message. He wanted people to evacuate as fast as they could, he wanted them to save their lives. But William could convince no one. People started thinking he was mad. How can someone dream something and it comes true? People laughed. He had become a joke. Some even posted memes relating to him and the date he had shared 20 February. But days passed, the date was near, but his effort could convince no one. Yet he kept on trying, hoping someone might listen. Soon the day came. The morning passed as usual. People believed William was crazy as nothing had happened but in the evening the earthquake hit and it was disastrous, destroying half the city just like Alan had dreamt. It was recorded as 9.1 on the Richter scale.

People were shocked. Eyes were wet. William knew it might be real. He was hoping for them to listen, to save their lives. But his effort wasn’t effective. William was severely targeted for creating such hype about something that people believed was not true. Everyone was embarrassed by themselves, who didn’t listen to such a pious man trying to save thousands of lives. Till the last day, William tried but even his best friend, Elijah, had left him believing it was just nonsense. But in the end, he could not survive the disastrous earthquake himself. William was buried with protocol and a statue with a banner in its hand “Evacuate the city” stood in the central park in his honour. He lost his life to save thousands but he, himself was targeted by millions. He had a premonition, but no one trusted him. In his honour, the government titled him, “The Man Who Knew”.

By Eman Waseem