The embroidery needle glided through the fabric, a familiar rhythm soothing Helen Sanders as she stitched the final petals onto a delicate blue handkerchief. She paused to admire her work, laying it carefully on the small, sunlit table by the window. The daisy was perfect—crisp white petals fanning out around a bright yellow center. She smiled, humming softly as she picked up another thread.
Then, she heard the voice.
A strange, deep resonance that filled the room, vibrating in her chest. The words echoed in her mind as if she were in a dream: "A gracious gift I give to thee to use as such a will would please, but in 1 year there shall be 10 and one among crowned King of Men."
Helen froze, looking around, expecting to see someone else in the room. But it was empty. "What…was that?" she murmured, her fingers hovering over her embroidery. She waited, listening to the silence that followed, half-expecting the voice to speak again. But when nothing came, she shook her head and let out a soft, nervous laugh. "Just my imagination…"
She returned to her stitching, humming again to push away the uneasy feeling creeping into her mind. But just as she began to relax, something surged within her—a sensation like pressure building, a force welling up that she couldn't contain.
Before she could even comprehend what was happening, the energy exploded out of her, a shockwave that flung her backward with such force that she crashed into the far wall. The blast tore through her apartment, ripping holes in the walls and sending furniture and debris flying across the room. A terrible cracking sound filled the air as the ceiling buckled, showering pieces of plaster and wood down around her.
Dazed and terrified, Helen tried to scream, but as the sound left her mouth, another wave of force burst from her, sending cracks through the walls and floor. Windows shattered, and more of the ceiling collapsed, dust and rubble raining down as she scrambled for cover. Every inch of her apartment was breaking, falling apart under the power she had somehow unleashed. She barely had a moment to process it before another section of the roof caved in, sending her into darkness beneath the debris.
Outside in the hallway above, Jake was standing in stunned silence, trying to make sense of what he'd heard earlier. The voice was still echoing faintly in his mind, that strange proclamation replaying like a haunting melody. Around him, people were fleeing their apartments, yelling as they stumbled into the hallway.
"Come on!" Alex's voice snapped Jake out of his daze. He felt a hand gripping his arm, pulling him forward.
"Alex?" Jake blinked, shaking his head. "What's happening?"
"Something's going on, man!" Alex hissed, his face pale. "Did you feel that…that explosion or whatever it was?"
Jake opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, another tremor shook the building, the walls shuddering as more dust and debris fell from the ceiling. The hallway filled with frantic neighbors, all pushing toward the stairwell in a chaotic scramble to escape.
"Come on, Jake!" Alex urged, tightening his grip on Jake's arm as they tried to push their way through the crowd.
Ahead of them, the stairwell was already jammed with people, a bottleneck of bodies pressing forward. The air was thick with panic, voices overlapping in cries and shouts, the sound of shuffling feet echoing against the trembling walls. Somewhere below, a muffled crash sounded, and the floor beneath them gave a sudden lurch.
Before they could reach the stairwell, the floor beneath it gave way, collapsing in a violent cascade. People on the stairs and those crowded at the doorway fell, plummeting downward in a swirl of screams and debris as the entire building began to buckle inward.
Alex was one of the unlucky ones, caught in the stairwell's grip as it disintegrated. He lost his footing, his body pitching forward, but just as he began to fall, Jake, a few steps behind, lunged forward and caught his friend's arm. Gritting his teeth, Jake pulled with every ounce of strength, his feet digging against the trembling floor as he dragged Alex back. The two tumbled backward, landing hard on what remained of the hallway floor.
With no time to think, no time to process, Jake scrambled to his feet, pulling Alex up as the building groaned, seconds from total collapse. He tightened his grip on Alex's arm and ran toward the end of the hallway, dodging cracks that spidered out in every direction, sidestepping the holes that gaped where the floor had once been solid. Most of his neighbors were gone now—some had fallen with the stairwell, others he'd seen leaping from windows in frantic attempts to escape. But he couldn't think about them now. Couldn't let himself pause for even a moment.
As they reached the end of the hallway, Jake and Alex grabbed hold of the railing. They exchanged a single, silent look—a goodbye unspoken yet understood. And then, with a deafening roar, the building gave in, collapsing around them as the world was swallowed by dust, debris, and silence.