"Welcome home!" Mia exclaimed, rushing to hug Ariadne. The embrace was tight, as if she hadn't seen her sister in ages, despite it only being a few days.
"I'm glad to be back," Ariadne replied, trying to relax. She noticed the faintest trace of unease in her sister's eyes, but Mia was always the more sensitive one. There was no need to worry yet.
"So, what's this surprise you and Mom have planned?" Ariadne asked, letting her bag fall to the floor as she took a seat beside Mia.
Mia hesitated, glancing toward the kitchen where their mother was. "She's just finishing up dinner. She wanted everything perfect for you."
Days later...
---
Everything felt... normal. And yet, it wasn't. There had been something in the air the past few days that made her uneasy. The tremors had stopped for a while, but the ground had been quiet too long.
As she sat there, the weight of the silence grew. The sky outside was a strange shade of gray, the clouds thick and swirling as if preparing for a storm. The faint hum of the refrigerator was the only sound in the house, but it was broken by a distant, rumbling noise that seemed to shake the very air around her. It was low at first, barely perceptible, but then it grew louder, the house vibrating underfoot.
Ariadne froze, her eyes wide. Not again.
"Did you feel that?" she asked, voice trembling.
Mia was already standing, her gaze flicking toward the window, then back to Ariadne. "Yeah. It's... it's happening again."
Ariadne's heart began to race. She moved toward the window, her eyes scanning the horizon. Everything appeared peaceful at first glance, but something was wrong. The ground seemed to ripple ever so slightly, as if the earth was holding its breath, waiting for something catastrophic to unfold.
"What do you think it is?" Ariadne whispered, her voice barely above a murmur.
Mia shrugged, her eyes wide with fear. "I don't know. But I've been hearing rumors... people are saying something's coming. Something big."
The ground trembled again, the hum of the earth growing louder. Ariadne's skin prickled, her instincts screaming at her to leave, but there was nowhere to run.
Just as quickly as it began, the rumbling ceased. The silence returned, but it was now a thick, heavy silence, one that pressed in on her chest.
"Is it over?" Mia asked, her voice barely audible.
Ariadne shook her head. "No... this doesn't feel right. We need to stay alert."
Before Mia could respond, the lights flickered once, twice, then went completely dark.
Ariadne's heart skipped a beat. She grabbed Mia's hand, squeezing it tightly. "Stay close. Something's happening."
Just then, the phone rang, its shrill tone cutting through the thick air. Ariadne quickly grabbed it, her fingers trembling as she answered.
"Hello?" she said, her voice strained.
"Ariadne, it's Mom," her mother's voice crackled on the other end. But there was something wrong with it...something off. Her tone was distant, cold. "I need you to listen to me very carefully."
Ariadne's pulse quickened. "Mom? What's going on?"
There was a long pause, the only sound being the faint static. Then her mother spoke again, her voice low and urgent. "There's a warning. There's something happening....something you need to know. Don't trust anyone outside the house. Whatever you do, don't leave."
Ariadne felt her blood run cold. She exchanged a quick glance with Mia, who was staring at her with wide eyes.
"What do you mean, Mom?" Ariadne's voice cracked as she tried to make sense of the words.
The line went silent for a moment, and then her mother's voice came through again, stronger this time. "It's too late to stop it now. But you need to get ready. Stay inside, and lock all the doors."
Ariadne's mind raced. The ground had just trembled again, the city seemed on the edge of something massive, and now her mother was telling her not to trust anyone?
Before she could respond, the line went dead.
Mia was at her side now, her face pale. "What's happening, Ariadne? Why is Mom saying we can't trust anyone?"
Ariadne didn't have an answer. Her mother had always been cautious, but never like this. There was fear in her voice, something primal and raw. And the way she'd said "don't trust anyone" stuck with Ariadne, gnawing at her insides.
"Stay close," Ariadne said, gripping Mia's hand tighter. "We need to lock up the house. Don't open the door for anyone. Not until we know it's safe."
The air in the house felt thick now, as though something unseen was pressing in from every corner. The lights flickered again, and the house seemed to groan under the strain of an invisible weight.
Outside, the sky was growing darker by the minute, and the distant rumble of the earth was growing louder again. But it wasn't just the rumbling. Ariadne felt a sense of unease that she couldn't explain, a feeling deep in her gut telling her that something was coming, not just an earthquake, but something far worse. Something that was already too far gone to stop.
The warning had been given. And now, there was no turning back.