The Mesmerized (26 page)

“It’s not about innocence, Alec.” Minji
glanced at her sleeping baby at her side, her heart aching.
“Imagine a very frightened, powerful child that was taken from its
home and trapped in terrifying surroundings. Children have such a
limited understanding as it is, but imagine taking Bailey and
putting her into a world where she’s the ultimate power. All she
wants to do is get home, but these weaker things are preventing it
or even hurting her. What do you think Bailey would do?”

“Lash out.” Simone crossed her arms over her
breasts, nodding. “Children do have temper tantrums.”

“All this is caused by a
baby
?”
Twisting about in his chair, Alec rested his arm on the back and
studied Ava. “You honestly think it’s a baby staring out of her
eyes?”

Minji nodded. “A small child of its species,
yes.”

“It can hear us right now, you realize.”
Alec nervously rubbed his bottom lip. He was obviously trying to
wrap his mind around this new premise.

“Yes, it can. But I don’t know if it
actually
understands
us.”

“So why did it imprint on you?” Alec’s blue
eyes studied Minji thoughtfully, his gaze sweeping from her dreads
pulled into a bun on top of her head to the colorful tattoos
visible beneath her collarbone. “What makes you unique?”

Tenderly, Minji stroked Ava’s hair with her
fingers. “First off, I was immune. I was able to resist it. Maybe
that’s why it initially noticed me. Then I believe it started to
view me through the eyes of the mesmerized. It saw me trying to
save my girls. Most likely that’s when it identified me as a
‘mother’ or at least as a parental figure. So it watched me, then
tried to communicate.”

“All that mouth stuff, the noise.” Simone
lifted her fingers to her mouth, flexing them in imitation. “It was
learning to talk so it could communicate with
you
.”

“I do believe so.”

“Which would explain why the mesmerized only
acted like that when they got close to you. It makes sense,” Simone
decided, visibly impressed with this conclusion.

“So you just won huge brownie points when
you beat the hell out of Arthur, didn’t you?”

“Not on purpose, but yes. Now it sees me as
a protector. It wants to go home, Alec.”

“Those visions we’ve seen when we’re under
the attacks, is that its home?” Simone shivered at the memory.
“Because that place was terrifying.”

“Yeah, I think so. And if its world appears
that bizarre to us, then what does our world look like to it?”

“Hell,” Simone sighed. “Sheer hell.”

“So you think the attacks are defensive?”
Alec rubbed at the scowl on his face with his fingertips, obviously
attempting to come to terms with what she was saying.

“No, I don’t think they’re attacks at all. I
think it’s just crying out. It’s like Bailey having a tantrum. I
know this sounds crazy, but I don’t think it’s trying to hurt
us.”

“But it has, Minji. It has killed so many
already,” Alec pointed out.

“Not on purpose.”

“Maybe not, but my orders are clear.”

Simone gave Alec a sharp look. “Orders?”

“Yes. To close the door to its world and
to...eliminate the problem.”

“Kill it is what you mean.” Simone regarded
him with utter disgust.

“We don’t have a choice.”

“Yes, we do, Alec,” Minji objected. “We
totally do.”

“And what’s our other choice?” Alec asked,
his blue eyes meeting her gaze steadily.

Minji predicted neither one of them would
actually like her response, but said anyway. “Open the door and let
it go home.”

“No,” Alec said curtly. “Absolutely
not.”

“Why not?” Minji maintained an even tone in
an effort to not upset the
other
inside of Ava, but
projected the full weight of her anger in her gaze.

“My orders are to...do what I was told,”
Alec responded, visibly leery of speaking in front of Ava.

“If it wants to go home, let it go home.
Then it will leave us alone!” Simone slanted her upper body toward
Alec. “Isn’t that what we all want? If it goes home, we’re free. We
get our families back!”

“What if we open the door and something else
comes in? What if we make it worse?” It was understandable that the
man was bewildered and frustrated by their argument. “Can’t you see
how that’s a real possibility?”

“What does it matter, Alec?” Simone swung
one hand toward the smoke rising from the city skyline in the
distance. “How many of us are left? How many have died? If we open
the door and something comes through that finishes us off...”
Simone’s voice caught and she took a second to steady her emotions.
When she did speak again, her voice was thick and rough. “...maybe
it will be a mercy.”

Minji understood Simone’s sentiment, but
didn’t agree with it. “The entity accidentally entered our world
through an open doorway. I don’t know exactly how it works, but if
it’s partially open, what’s stopping something else from coming
through?”

Alec lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “Who
knows? Maybe something else has. How can we even tell? All those
involved in the project are dead.”

“What about all the mesmerized?” Simone
asked. “The ones walking toward the facility? If you...eliminate
the problem, won’t you be eliminating them, too?”

Alec averted his eyes, his posture slumping.
“I don’t want to do that.”

“Then we don’t,” Simone said vehemently. “We
open the door and let the child go home. Then we shut it and hope
to God in Heaven everyone wakes up.”

Minji unequivocally agreed with this
opinion. “If we can find a way to do this without anyone else
dying, we have to do it.”

The retired soldier sorrowfully regarded the
black smoke rising from the Las Vegas skyline as he rubbed his
hands together, almost as if he were washing them. “I killed people
in Afghanistan. And they weren’t just men who wanted to shed
American blood. There were young boys armed and ready to kill. One
of them shot me multiple times before I killed him.”

“Sweet Jesus,” Simone whispered.

“I’m so sorry, Alec.” Minji knew her words
couldn’t bring real solace, but said them anyway.

“The reason why I was shot and two of my men
killed is because the soldier who initially spotted the boy
hesitated. Later, he pleaded for my forgiveness because when he
spied the boy –who killed two people and wounded three others – he
identified him as a child and not a threat.” Alec directed his gaze
at Ava again. “I see the child, Minji. I see the threat.”

“Alec...” she started to protest, but the
steadfastness she saw in his eyes caused her to falter.

“Let me finish, Minji. If I could go back in
time and disarm that child and send him home to his mother and save
his life and the lives of my men, I would do it. In a heartbeat.”
Alec straightened his shoulders. “We’ll try to send it back. And if
that fails...well, we’ll do what I was sent to do.”

Simone bobbed her head once. “Fine.”

“Thanks, Alec,” Minji said gratefully.

The possibility of a peaceful resolution was
welcomed, but twinges of fear and doubt pinched at her nerves.
Tilting her head to gaze into Ava’s eyes, she hoped the other
within her would realize they were trying to help. Maybe then it
would release the mesmerized and stop the slaughter.

***

The drive was long, boring and made her
drowsy, but Minji resolutely drove on. Alec and Bailey dozed in the
seat behind her, the man and the baby both snoring. In the rear,
Simone was checking on Jake and Jesse. Ava stood next to the
driver’s seat, the leash knotted around a pole to keep her securely
at Minji’s side. The young mother hated that the entity in Ava
refused to remain seated. Its stubbornness was reminiscent of Ava,
which was just one more confirmation that the entity was a
child.

The highway sliced through the Nevada desert
under a cloudless blue sky. The mountains loomed in the distance
beyond the flat land spotted with desert foliage and herds of the
mesmerized. It was the first she’d seen of the victims since they’d
left the city. A large gathering sprawled across the road ahead
forcing her to bring the vehicle to a gradual stop. Clutching the
steering wheel, Minji frowned at the commotion in the center of the
road.

“Alec, wake up! Something’s wrong!”

“What?” The military man was instantly
awake. “What is it?”

Simone hurried up the aisle clasping a water
bottle in one hand. “What’s wrong?”

A large cluster of the mesmerized gathered
around a big blue truck blocking the shuttle’s passage. From the
way the top of the cab was bobbing side to side, it was evident
that the mesmerized were rocking the pickup.

“What the hell?” Minji checked Ava, but the
blank stare was unchanged. A rapid study of her husband and Jesse
revealed they were sedate as well. On the road, the mesmerized were
in an uproar. Over the idling engine of the shuttle bus, she could
hear inhuman cries issuing forth from the throng.

Simone gripped the pole near the steps to
the front door and leaned over to peer out. “What are they
doing?”

“Have you seen anything like this before?”
Alec stopped next to Simone, pressed his palms against the ceiling
to steady himself and slanted forward to watch.

Simone shook her head while Minji said, “No,
never.”

“Are they attacking it? Or is it just
blocking their way?” Simone asked.

“The people at The Venetian tried to grab me
this morning, but I think it was to return me to the girls.” Minji
clasped her hands together and tucked them under her chin as she
scrutinized the scene. “Are there people in the truck?”

“I can’t see anyone, can you?” Adam’s
fingers drummed against the roof, his eyebrows lowered in a
thoughtful pose.

“No,” Simone answered. “There’s too much
glare on the windshield.”

A loud pop startled Minji and it took her a
second to realize it was gunfire. Moments later, more shots
followed, and above the crowd, geysers of blood appeared. The
mesmerized responded by swarming over the vehicle like ants. The
shooting continued and there was a bright flash when someone kicked
out the windshield and the glass caught the sunlight. Two figures
scrambled onto the hood of the pickup truck dressed in Army
fatigues.

“Shit!” Reaching under his jacket and shirt,
Alec pulled a handgun from a holster hidden at the small of his
back. “I need to help them!”

“You have a gun? You didn’t tell us you had
a gun!” Simone exclaimed.

“Don’t rag on me,” Alec tersely replied.

Outside, the two people, a man and a woman,
struggled to maintain their balance on the rocking vehicle while
shooting and kicking away the mesmerized reaching for them. Minji
took hold of Ava’s hand and tried to get her attention. “Stop it.
Leave them alone.”

Ava’s only response was to stare past her at
the rampaging mesmerized.

“Alec, you can’t go out there anyway.
They’re acting like zombies!”

“Simone, back off. I have to help them.”
Alec opened the door to the shuttle bus.

Gripping his upper arm, Minji tugged on him.
Alec swung toward her, blue eyes boring into hers.

“The mesmerized are not going to stop their
attack and bullets aren’t slowing them down. You can’t help them,
Alec.”

“Minji, I have—”

“Oh, shit!” Simone cried, flinging out a
hand as though she could somehow stop the unfolding drama. “He
fell!”

Minji shot out of the driver’s seat when she
realized only the woman remained on top the truck. The female
soldier was backed onto the roof and the mesmerized were swarming
over the hood and bed. Though she was obviously screaming, her
voice was drowned out by their disturbing cries. Horrified, Minji
watched as the woman was dragged off the cab and disappeared into
the throng.

“Fuck!” Alec roared. “Fuck!”

“What are they doing to her? What are they
doing to her?” Simone screamed.

Bailey let out a bleat, then started to
wail.

Minji swiveled about to calm her baby, but
instantly froze. Ava was staring at her with a small smile on her
lips.

“Moommy,” she said.

Pressing her freezing fingertips to her
face, Minji resisted the urge to grab the little girl and shake
her. It was difficult to find her voice, but she said, “Stop
it.”

Ava’s eyes flicked toward the gruesome
violence outside the shuttle bus. Lifting one hand, she pointed at
the scene. “Moommy.”

Returning her attention to the frenzied
mesmerized, Minji seized upon Ava’s comment and snapped it into the
puzzle she’d been piecing together in her mind. “Oh, my God!”

“They’ve stopped,” Simone whispered in a
fear laden voice. “Why?”

Like a wave crashing onto the shore then
retreating into the sea, the mesmerized stilled, then staggered
away from the pickup. There were so many it took several minutes
before the sad scene around the vehicle was exposed. Numerous
bodies haloed by pools of vibrant red decorated the long strip of
asphalt. The desert wind kicked up dust devils that danced among
the dead like wraiths.

“I need to go see what the hell is going
on,” Alec said, then exited the bus.

“Simone, can you watch the girls?”

“Be careful, Minji. This isn’t a good
sign.”

Leaving the other woman to deal with the
crying baby, Minji sprinted down the steps and out into the bright
sunlight. Despite the time of the year and the clear skies, the air
was freezing.

Further along the highway, large herds of
the mesmerized continued to cross over while the group that had
attacked the truck resumed their hike into the desert. None of the
mesmerized took notice of the man with the cane and gun. Minji
shadowed Alec, shivering in the cold.