The Mesmerized (20 page)

“Ava, hold up,” Minji called out, though she
knew it wasn’t Ava scurrying up the steps.

“Minji,” Simone hissed, close on her heels.
“Minji, what’s going on? Why is she acting different from the
others?”

Minji pressed an index finger to her lips
while glancing at Simone. The other woman lifted her eyes to study
the little girl striding up stairs. Minji wasn’t sure Simone
actually discerned what was happening, but she fell silent and
simply nodded. It was difficult not to make noise in her heavy
boots, but the other inside Ava didn’t seem concerned that Minji
and Simone were following.

When they reached the second floor, Ava’s
tiny form was already halfway down the corridor and closing in on
the trio of men that were talking in hushed tones before a door
labeled SECURITY. Arthur was clearly agitated, while Alec appeared
annoyed. Jesse fumbled with a set of keys, his hands shaking. The
dark circles and deep lines around his face and mouth made the
nurse practitioner appear exhausted.

“What is she doing here?” Arthur asked when
he caught sight of Ava.

Alec leaned forward on his cane to gaze past
Arthur to observe Ava approaching. “Well, hello there.”

Ava did not hesitate in her rapid pace, her
shoes barely making a sound against the polished floor.

“I think this is it,” Jesse said, clearly
concentrating on the task at hand and not on Ava. He slipped a key
into the knob, rotated it, and smiled victoriously when the
mechanism unlocked. “Now we can check this out.” Jesse shoved open
the door.

A man lurched out, eyes glazed, mouth and
nose a battered mess. Disoriented, he crashed into Jesse, knocking
him to the floor. Alec made a grab for the man, but missed, lost
his balance, and fell to one knee with a pained grunt. Arthur
leaped out of the way of the bloodied security guard with a cry of
fright.

Careening across the hall, the security
guard smashed into Ava, sending her sprawling across the floor.
Minji rapidly handed Bailey to Simone and ran forward to help her
eldest daughter. The mesmerized security guard’s feet tangled with
Ava’s legs and he stumbled, one knee smashing into Ava’s torso
before he managed to stand again.

“Grab him!” Alec ordered.

Arthur didn’t obey, and cowered against the
wall.

Jesse lunged after the security guard, but
was knocked away by the man’s pin-wheeling arms. Thrashing about,
Ava attempted to get away from the guard, but the mesmerized man’s
feet remained interlaced with Ava’s limbs and his attempts to walk
only resulted in him kicking her.

Minji was almost to them when the atmosphere
turned frigid so fast, her breath misted and frosted her lips.
Invisible tendrils flailed through the corridor, slashing at Minji
and the others. Slender, icy whips nipped at Minji’s face and neck.
Though she couldn’t see the tentacles, their sting could not be
ignored. Wincing under the onslaught, she shielded her eyes with
one hand. The air writhed with unseen wisps of ice that left red
welts where they lashed Minji’s arms

“Ava, stop!”

A second later the guard started to bleed
from every orifice.

“No!” Minji shouted at the entity within
Ava.

Finally close enough to reach Ava, Minji
yanked her daughter away from the hemorrhaging man. The guard
pitched face first into the wall, his injured face making a
resounding splat, then slid to the floor leaving a long red
mark.

“Please stop!” Minji gripped Ava’s chin with
one hand and stared into the glassy eyes. “Stop now! He didn’t mean
to hurt you! No one wants to hurt you!”

In the next intake of breath, the unseen
assault ceased.

Relieved, Minji leaned heavily against the
wall, holding Ava close. “Thank you...”

On the floor near her feet, the security
guard gurgled on his blood, then was silent.

“No one wants to hurt you,” Minji said
again, her fingers combing through Ava’s curls. “I’ll help you. I
promise.”

There wasn’t a response from Ava or anyone
else.

Focusing on the others, Minji saw that they
were gradually emerging from their transfixed states. The attack
had rendered them motionless and blank once again.

Simone was the first to blink her eyes and
let out a low moan. Blood trickled from her nose, and she raised
one hand to her face. “I’m bleeding.”

In her arms, Bailey let out a desperate
sob.

“Me, too!” Arthur shrieked, wiping
frantically at his nose with his fingers.

Nearby, Jesse managed to get to his feet and
pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes.

Alec sluggishly shook his head from side to
side, rapidly blinking his eyes. “That was a short, but fierce
one,” he said.

“It hurt. A lot.” Simone wiped a few drops
of blood from Bailey’s lips. She kindly held Bailey out for Minji
to kiss her cheek and whisper reassurances to the baby. “She seems
to be okay. I’ll keep holding her since you’ve got your arms full
with...” Simone stepped back, casting a wary look at the five year
old in Minji’s grip.

In fact, everyone was staring at Ava.

Exhaustion and frustration settled like a
hot, wet blanket on Minji’s shoulders. Staring into Ava’s eyes,
Minji sensed the
other
looking back at her. Was it so
intertwined with Ava that it had seen the security guard’s actions
as an attack on it? Or had it been protecting Ava?

“He’s dead,” Jesse said. Blood was smeared
across his lips and chin and he looked several shades paler than
before. Squatting at the guard’s side, Jesse seemed much older and
worn down than he had just the day before. “Like the
others...before.”

“His face was all beat up.” Arthur’s
nervousness made his tone hoarse and his actions jittery.

“From beating it against the wall.” Alec
pushed the door all the way open to the security room. The far wall
had a fair amount of dried blood on it. “He was trying to get out.
The room is soundproofed, so that’s why we didn’t hear him.”

“I should have checked,” Jesse said, guilt
slumping his shoulders. “I should have realized Charlie was here
when it started.”

“It’s not your fault, Jesse.” Simone’s
fingers lightly skimmed Jesse’s shoulder in a comforting gesture.
“You’ve been doing all you can and we all appreciate it.”

“But it’s not enough, is it?” Arthur
snapped.

The nurse practitioner cradled his head in
his hands, either because he was still woozy from the assault, or
in despair. Or maybe both.

“Shut up, Arthur,” Simone said, sounding
more tired than angry.

Studying Ava’s eyes, Minji wondered if the
little girl and the
other
were both listening. Could they
both see her? “We’re all doing our best,” she said, more to the
entity than Arthur.

“Whatever,” Arthur grunted in reply.

“I’m going to check the video,” Alec
announced, clearly done with the argument.

Alec shuffled into the security room, which
looked nothing like the ones on television. To Minji, it looked
rather low-tech. There were three computer monitors set up on a
long desk and each one had six small scenes playing on them. Once
seated at the array, he pulled up a program and set about searching
for the recorded video.

Arthur slipped into the room to sit on a
computer chair next to Alec while the two women lingered in the
doorway. Meanwhile, Jesse remained seated on the floor near the
guard. Minji wasn’t sure if he didn’t want to see the footage or if
he was just too overwhelmed by the loss of his co-worker to
move.

“How do you know how to do that?” Simone
asked.

Studying the screens, Alec answered, “I
worked security at an office building after I retired.”

“Sure,” Arthur muttered.

Alec ignored him and continued to work. “The
attack last night had to have been around six-thirty. That’s when I
had my accident. So this is the footage from about that time. You
were in the downstairs hallway, right?”

Jesse joined them and squeezed past the
women to lean over Alec’s shoulder. “Yeah. That’s about the time we
all saw Minji disappear.”

Alec dragged a window containing a paused
video across the screens onto the largest of the monitors.

“Then let’s watch,” Alec said, clicking
PLAY.

From where she stood, Minji watched the
black and white feed of her and the others in the hallway. It was
disconcerting to see herself responding to Ava calling out for help
while the others froze in place. It was very apparent that Minji
had been oblivious to the condition of the others as she excitedly
tried to communicate with Ava before realizing what was occurring.
Alec paused the feed when Minji stepped out of camera view. Rubbing
his chin with his long fingers, Alec stared at the screen.

“Well?” Arthur asked, even though the answer
was obvious.

“She’s completely immune.” Though he still
appeared incredulous, Alec confirmed what had been evident on the
screen. He replayed the scene again, leaning toward the monitor.
“She didn’t even flinch.”

“So what does that mean?” Arthur demanded,
eyeballing Minji with renewed mistrust.

“It simply means she’s immune.” Alec
swiveled on his chair to look at the women in the doorway.

At first, Minji thought he was studying her,
then she realized his attention was directed at Ava. Minji fully
expected him to question her about what had transpired with Ava
during the attack, but he remained silent.

“So what now?” Jesse asked.

“You get ready to leave,” Alec answered.
“And so do I.”

“You’re just going to follow the
mesmerized?” Simone eyed him doubtfully. “With a cane and your head
all stitched up?”

Alec shrugged. “Yep.”

“Okay, then I’ll need Arthur to go get the
shuttle and bring it to the front of the building,” Jesse decided.
“Simone and Minji, you can help me with supplies.”

“I’m not going out there by myself!” Arthur
frowned at Jesse. “What if they’re...you know...not peaceful
anymore? That guard kicked the little girl around!”

“He stumbled over her,” Jesse retorted.

“I don’t know, it looked like an attack to
me.”

“Arthur, I need your help!”

“Don’t be an asshole, Arthur,” Simone
snapped.

The argument devolved into shouting voices.
Minji reclaimed Bailey from Simone and stepped into the hallway,
dragging Ava by the hand. Closing her eyes, she listened to the
bickering, but didn’t really hear the words. It was time for her to
make a decision about what she was going to do. Should she go with
the others, or try to find out what was happening and stop it?

“What was she saying?” Alec’s tone was
lowered significantly to avoid the others hearing.

Opening her eyes, Minji saw him leaning on
the doorjamb next to her. She hadn’t even heard him approach.

“Help me, Mommy,” she answered.

“Do you think it was Ava?”

“I don’t know.”

“Or the other thing? Inside her?”

“Maybe.”

“I know you’re probably planning to go with
the others once they stop fighting, but I need your help.” Alec
rubbed his thin lips together and his blue eyes implored her to be
cooperative.

“With what?”

“To get to the epicenter of the event.
You’re the only one truly immune. That makes you invaluable.”

“And my girls?” Silent tears slipped free
from her lashes to slide along her cheeks.

“Simone can care for them until we’re done,”
Alec replied somberly.

The argument in the security room was
starting to simmer down, so Minji lowered her voice. “If you want
me to help you, then we need to talk.”

“Agreed, but away from the others.”

“And you’re going to tell me why you’re
really here. Maybe not in the medical center, but Las Vegas. You
were sent here, weren’t you?”

The lines around Alec’s eyes scrunched up as
he studied her with an intensity that was unnerving. “You’re very
smart.”

“And you’re very evasive.”

Alec’s eyebrows twitched upward.

“You need me, Alec.”

“The world needs
you
.”

“Then tell me what you know,” Minji
answered.

“Okay, but not around...” He looked
significantly at Ava.

The words hurt, but Minji knew they were
wise. Her heart felt encased with the concrete of despair. In
silence, she nodded.

Gathered in the break room, the four adults
and two children were far away from the bloody scene outside the
security room. Bailey sat on Simone’s lap playing with her necklace
while Ava stood next to Minji with her head tilted to gaze at her
mother.

Why was the other always watching her? Minji
suspected she knew, but the conclusion she’d come to made her very
uneasy.

“It’s better that she goes rather than me,”
Arthur said, gesturing toward Minji, “since she’s immune.”

Minji rolled her eyes, but didn’t argue.
Alec had devised the perfect plan to separate them from the others
so they could have their talk. Sadly, it entailed her leaving her
daughters to accompany him on a quest to retrieve transportation
and fuel. It pained her to admit that it was best if they spoke
away from Ava and the entity watching and listening through her
eyes and ears.

“You’re a coward,” Jesse said to Arthur with
contempt. When Alec had pitched his revised idea for acquiring
transportation, Jesse had immediately offered that Arthur join Alec
in Minji’s place, but Arthur had instantly shot down the idea.

“Maybe I’m just good at self-preservation.
Plus, you need me to help you get your precious patients wheeled
out and ready to go. Which is a complete waste of time and
resources.” The fear inside Arthur was slowly festering into
belligerence. His tone was always hostile now.

“I should go then,” Jesse said to Alec.
“You’re wounded and Minji has kids.”