The Three Predictions

It was lucky the funeral hall was in a bit of a remote area as the roads were barren enough for the truck to haphazardly make its way down them. It was a large truck fleeing from a crime scene with a rifle and two people with wildly different attitudes regarding the situation inside of it. 

Rin quietly buckled his seat belt as the trucker next to him tried desperately to get away from the fleet of cop cars chasing him. Their sirens were getting closer and closer.

"Shit, I can't shake them!"

The trucker was steering the wheel like a mad man. All the while, Rin simply stared out his window. 

"You should just hurry up and do whatever you're planning to.", his reflection said.

Rin shook his head out of frustration. Declining to speak first was supposed to be an effective negotiation tactic and yet he got nothing out of it. He cleared his throat

"So why were you trying to steal this watch?"

"Shut up, I'm trying to drive!"

The trucker yanked the wheel to the left causing Rin to recoil into his chair. Despite this, he pressed further.

"Not until you tell me what I want to know."

"Huh? Seriously, shut up! If I mess this up, we could both end up dead!"

No matter how Rin approached the situation, he'd get brushed off at every turn. It was starting to annoy him, and he didn't end up reacting in the safest way. 

Although the trucker was focused on the road, he was still aware enough to notice the sound of a window rolling down. When he finally turned to face Rin, he instinctively let out a scream at the sight of him dangling the pocket watch outside the window. 

"H-HEY!"

*BEEEEP*
The trucker's attention snapped back to the road just in time for him to swerve out of the way of an incoming car. Rin tightened his grip on the watch as his body violently jerked in tandem with the truck. They were entering a more populated area.

Rin's blood was pumping and hard as he kept mounting pressure on the trucker.

"Any more sudden movements like that and I might drop it." 

"What the hell do you want?"

"Just answer my questions. First, why do you want this and what even is it?"

The trucker didn't take his eyes off the road for a second as he thought about his answer.

"I don't know what that thing is, just that it's dangerous. And I want it because it needs to be disposed of."

Rin took a moment to think about what to ask next. His mind instantly thought back to the two men in suits he saw.

"Is anyone else after this thing?"

"Two organizations."

"Are you a part of one of them?"

"No, I'm... Well, you can say I'm a third party."

"Fine, just one more thing then."

He hesitated for a bit before asking his final question.

"Why was this in my dad's coffin?"

"Like I said, I don't know any of the specifics, but he was a scientist, right? He must have been involved in making that thing somehow."

Rin put his free hand to his mouth and looked away as he digested all he'd just learned. It was a lot to take in.

"You're almost out of time. Hurry up!", his reflection yelled.

"Shut up. I know."

He realized he'd said that out loud and looked back at the trucker to gauge his reaction, but the man was too occupied with the road to really care about anything else. Good thing he was as a car jumped out around the corner forcing him to swerve in a different direction.

As the trucker tried to turn though, Rin lurched over and grabbed the steering wheel. He twisted it in all sorts of directions sending the truck into a wild frenzy and careening into the side of the road. The last thing Rin did was clutch the pocket watch as hard as he could to brace for impact. 

The crash was brutal. It was a bloody mess. Rin could barely feel his limbs. The window in front of him was cracked beyond belief. The trucker next to him was completely unconscious. 

Looking around, Rin's eyes were drawn to the rifle sitting nearby. His arms were weak, but he reached for it anyway. There was no way he could risk becoming a last-minute hostage if the man next to him suddenly woke up. Despite all his efforts though, the best he could do was make it fall over. 

No other choice. He had to wait to be discovered. He couldn't even put enough force into his arms to unbuckle his seatbelt. So, with bated breath, he listened for something, anything and eventually, made out the sound of a walkie talkie and voices speaking through it.

"Suspect's vehicle secured. Completely totaled."

"...About time.", Rin said.

He started coughing furiously as he finally allowed himself to relax and his mind wandered back to the conversation he had with his reflection this morning.

"One. The funeral will be interrupted by a bald trucker trying to steal a crystal-clear glass pocket watch from your dad's coffin."

Rin struggled to keep his eyes open until his rescue. 

"Two. Men in black suits on the upper floors will fight with the trucker. But don't be fooled though. They're after the watch too."

For some reason as Rin's consciousness was about to fade, his life started flashing before his eyes. 

He saw himself sitting alone in a classroom as all the students around him talked to each other, his days walking home alone, and every time he had to come back to his desolate house and mother. 

Eventually, he was brought back to reality by the gleam of the glass pocket watch his right hand was still clutching onto. 

-A trophy, he thought. 

It was a reminder of everything he'd accomplished today. Comparing the rest of his life to this single afternoon, Rin couldn't help but let out a faint but uncontrollable fit of laughter. Not out of relief or even some sense of satisfaction, but a feeling of pure euphoria and adrenaline. 

He only simmered down because it hurt him to go any further and with the last of his strength slipped the watch into his breast pocket. As soon as he did, he heard someone call out. 

"Ah! There's another person in here too!"

Unable to keep himself awake any longer, Rin finally closed his eyes.

***

Several hours later, Rin woke up. Although tremendously painful, Rin managed to sit up. He looked down at himself and saw his body clothed by a hospital gown.

"You're awake..."

Rin looked to his side and realized his mother was sitting there. He didn't respond to her. The fact she was here at all was surprising to him. It wasn't like her to show concern for him.

She'd soon prove she was full of surprises though as she raised her hand slowly, almost as if to smack him. For a split second, he panicked. This was completely new to him even if it was only natural. After all, there wasn't a mother in the world who would let their child do what Rin did. 

He shut his eyes, bracing for impact. But instead of a smack, he felt a pat on his head. It was cold.

"You're a good boy. Protecting your mom like that..."

She lowered herself to meet his eye level. He looked up, steadily meeting her gaze.

"Thank you.", she said. 

A delayed reaction. 

"...You're... welcome."

She lurched back into her chair. The two drowned in silence for the remainder of their time together. And she only left him with one thing while clearing out. A folded suit. The same suit he wore today.

"For when you leave.", she said.

The door closed, leaving Rin alone. He curled into himself and clutched the bed sheets covering his legs. Pain shot through his body, but not from the crash. 

For the first time in a long time, Rin expected more from his mother and for the first time in a long time, he was utterly disappointed in her. 

Eventually, he let go of what he was holding onto and turned his attention to the suit sitting on the small table next to him.

He reached for it, pulled out the watch from inside, and stared at his reflection as its third prediction finally came to mind.

"Three.

The world will come to an end."