The Mesmerized (32 page)

In the Grand Canyon, Kristen and her family
remained crumpled corpses at the bottom.

In Texas, Ruben awakened to find himself
tied to a tree along with his sisters. In shock, he watched his
best friend unfurl himself from the sleeping bag laid out on the
ground beside them.

“Finally,” Chuck said.

“You found my sisters,” Ruben gasped.

“What’s going on?” Esmer demanded.

Chuck just grinned. “First time I ever roped
myself some humans. Hopefully, the last time.”

“We were like the others?” Ruben asked,
horrified.

“Yep. It didn't affect me though. So I
rounded you up and watched over you. It just took some time to find
you in the big crowd.” Chuck cut the three loose while Esmer and
Terry exchanged confused looks.

Once free, Ruben enfolded Chuck in a tight
embrace. “Thank you, brother.”

In Virginia, Rachel and Juan Carlos came to
with a start. Battered, bloody, and bruised, they stared at each
other, then the wall that had taken the brunt of their attempts to
escape the house while mesmerized. In a panic, they raced into the
rooms of their children to find them struggling to free themselves.
Once free, their reunion was joyous.

Across the world, the mesmerized were
released from their fugue states. Countries that had enough time to
prepare awakened to less chaos than those in North, Central, and
South America. The Unites States Armed Forces immediately sprang
into action. Early intel had allowed them to formulate a plan of
action before the event had consumed the world. The men and women
of the military had discarded their uniforms and been secured with
ropes to keep them from wandering off. Upon awakening, they ate,
drank sports drinks, put on their uniforms and mobilized.

Inside the bus, Jesse woke with a start,
looked around, and then swore. Witnessing the turmoil outside, he
claimed the medical supplies Simone had packed and immediately
hurried to help.

Jake roused gradually, lifted his head, saw
Simone holding Bailey, then looked down at the straps keeping him
in the wheelchair.

“Please tell me my wife has something to do
with this.”

Simone attempted to explain what had
happened as the roar from the crowd escalated. People were afraid
and pounded on the sides of the shuttle bus, crying out for
help.

Alec, Minji, and Ava emerged from the
facility’s delivery tunnel after disengaging the security on the
massive blast doors. They mingled with the crowd until they reached
the shuttle bus. Jesse, police officers, some military personnel,
and first responders that had all been part of the massive crowd of
the mesmerized eventually were able to calm the frightened people.
Using the shuttle bus as a headquarters, they attempted to reach
the outside world.

When Minji climbed onto the bus, Ava pulled
free from her grasp to run to her father. Already holding Bailey,
Jake snuggled his eldest daughter. After brushing away tears with
the heels of her hands, Minji cupped her husband’s face and
tenderly kissed him.

“Let me guess. You saved the world,” Jake
said, pride in his voice.

“She sure did,” Alec agreed, patting Minji’s
shoulder.

Turning about, Minji wrapped her arms around
Alec and gave him a fierce hug. With a smile on his lips, Alec
returned it before tugging Simone into the mix.

In the sky above the facility, National
Guard helicopters descended, their rotors slicing through the
warming air.

Help had arrived.

It was over.

Austin, Texas

The hot September air ruffled Minji’s bangs
and played with the dreads she had pulled into a high ponytail. The
purple was gone from her hair, and blue had taken its place. Ava
had picked the color. Dressed in a summer dress with white skulls
printed on a black background, Minji watched her daughters bounding
around the shaded backyard with their new pet. Jake had finally
capitulated to their demands for a dog and had selected one of the
many orphaned pets from the Austin Animal Center. The tall pecan
trees kept the worst of the bright sunlight at bay, but Minji wore
her cat-eyed sunglasses. She’d been light sensitive since the night
she’d peered into another world.

On the patio Jake expertly grilled fajitas
while keeping an eye on the kids. He still wore a leg cast and was
struggling to regain his strength.

The cellphone in her hand buzzed again and
Minji checked the latest text message from her mother. It was a
subtle hint for a grandson. Her mother was determined to live life
to the fullest now that she’d barely escaped death. Part of that
plan was to have Minji produce another grandchild, preferably a
boy.

Both of Minji’s parents had survived, though
they had been severely dehydrated when they awakened and spent a
few days in a medical rescue center. Lily had forced her husband to
pull off the road and open the windows just before the event had
struck. The Nordims’ plane had performed an emergency landing and
the Swedish couple had endured their time as mesmerized strapped to
airport chairs. Sadly, Jake’s sister was among the missing in
Sweden, while Minji’s brother had nearly lost his life when he’d
fallen down a flight of stairs. He was still in the hospital.
Nearly a third of Minji’s clients were either dead or on the list
of the missing. Lady Bird Lake and Lake Travis had been filled with
the dead and were still off-limits. Every day, boats dredged the
murky waters seeking more victims.

Jesse’s family had lost half its members and
his girlfriend was listed among the missing in Mexico. He was busy
helping with recovery efforts in Las Vegas and it was helping him
cope with his losses.

Simone’s family also survived. Her oldest
son had been immune and taken care of the rest of his family. It
was weeks before Simone made it home due to the massive damage to
the country’s infrastructure. She’d stayed with Minji and Jake in
Austin before Alec had been able to wrangle a ride for her on a
military transport.

Arthur Freestone was listed as one of the
missing though his wife and children survived. After seeing
Arthur’s call into the network, a policewoman had located his
family and helped them to a safe place before the event had reached
the area. Arthur’s death weighed on Minji, but at least he had
managed to save his family.

Out of all the people she’d spent those
strange, horrible hours with, it was Alec that Minji felt closest
to. In retrospect, she suspected he’d lied to her more than she
wanted to admit at the time and he’d never told her anything about
his personal life. They never had a chance to really talk about
what they’d seen for Alec had been whisked away by the military
within hours after the end of the event.

Later, when she’d been questioned by the
authorities, she stuck to the story he’d instructed her to tell and
never deviated. He called her a few times, but their conversations
were always guarded. When he’d called to tell her he wanted to drop
by and see her for a short visit while on his way to San Antonio,
she’d been both excited and apprehensive.

“Ava, be careful with the dog!” Jake called
out, waving his tongs. The hot breeze sifted through the long blond
hair that she loved so much.

The doorbell pulled Minji’s attention away
from her phone and she set it next to the glass of cold sweet tea
on the patio table.

“That’ll be him,” she said, and pushed up
onto her toes to give her husband a kiss.

“Ask him to stay,” Jake urged. “It’ll be
nice to have another guy in this estrogen filled house. Even the
dog is a girl!”

With a smirk, Minji pulled open the back
door. “Boo hoo! But I’ll try.”

The refreshing air conditioned air dried the
sweat beading her tattooed shoulders as she walked through the
single story house to the front door. The Nordims lived on the east
side of Austin in an older home that Jake was slowly refurbishing.
Decorated with Minji’s original artwork and a mix of antique and
Ikea furniture, it was a home Minji loved, but it no longer felt
safe. But then again, she didn’t feel safe anywhere anymore.

Opening the bright red front door, Minji
smiled at Alec.

“Long time no see, man of mystery.”

“Not so mysterious,” Alec assured her. His
cane tapped against the dark wood floors as he entered. Glancing
around, he grinned while aiming a finger at a Mexican Day of the
Dead skull sitting on a bookshelf. “Just what I imagined.”

“I will take that as a compliment.” Minji
shut the door and waved him toward the back of the house. “We’re
barbecuing. Jake insists you eat.” She wanted to talk to him in
private, but her stomach was in knots and she was tempted to delay
their talk.

“Sounds good, but I can’t really stay
long.”

“You can take a fajita taco with you
then.”

“That I would love,” Alec replied with a
wink.

“So why the visit if you don’t plan to stay
long?” Minji escorted him to the black leather sofa decorated with
brightly colored pillows with classic movie monsters on them.

Alec took a seat and leaned forward so his
elbows rested on his knees. “Well, I’m a little parched, so could I
have something to drink first?”

“Want some sweet tea?”

“Absolutely.”

Minji took a few minutes to grab tea for
Alec and one of the first tacos off the grill. When she returned to
the living room, he took both gratefully.

“So?” Minji sat in the chair across from
him, tucking one foot under her butt and crossing one leg over the
other.

“I just wanted to let you know that you
won’t be questioned anymore even though you’re going to hear a lot
about an official inquiry into the matter by the government.
Everything has been resolved behind the scenes. The rest is just
bread and circuses to placate the media and let a bunch of
politicians grandstand.”

“Are they going to tell everyone what really
happened?”

“No, they won’t. Even though Russia, China
and the European Union are pointing at the United States demanding
answers, what they’ll get is an approved pack of lies.”

Minji shook her head in disbelief. Already
there were wild theories surrounding the event. The fact that the
mesmerized appeared to be drawn to the Nevada desert had ignited
the fervor of the conspiracy nuts. Of course, in this case they
were right about secret bases and experiments. Most were convinced
the event happened due to alien technology.

“Who’s taking the fall?”

Alec chuckled. “Honestly, they’re just going
to say they have no idea why it happened and vow to sink billions
of dollars into finding out the cause.”

“And what about you?”

“What about me?” Alec took a long sip of his
iced tea.

“Did they give you a reward? A medal?
Something?”

“Something.”

Minji rolled her eyes.

“I’ll be okay, Minji. So will you. I’ve seen
to it. There were feathers ruffled over me not following my orders
to the T, but it actually worked out that we didn’t set off the
bomb. Imagine if they had to explain why they nuked an area in
Nevada and killed hundreds of thousands of American citizens.”

Fidgeting slightly, she said, “You pointed
that out to them?”

“Of course.”

“Who are you really, Alec?”

“I’m just a guy.”

“Bullshit.”

Alec smirked. “I’m no one important.”

“More bullshit.”

Alec took a big bite of his taco and made a
point of chewing.

Growing somber, Minji leaned forward,
checking to make sure the girls and Jake hadn’t entered the
house.

“What is it, Minji?”

“There’s something I haven’t told you. That
night I wanted to, but it was all too fresh and raw. I was a little
overwhelmed.”

“I know. I saw that thing. I still see it my
nightmares.”

“Me, too. Anyway, I thought about telling
you then, but I started to doubt myself. Besides, we were both
caught up in the aftermath.”

Alec nodded.

Eyes burning with emotion, Minji braced
herself to reveal what had her waking in the middle of the night
screaming in terror while Jake tried to comfort her. "I’ve
struggled about whether or not to tell you this. A part of me feels
by divulging this information I’m somehow making it more real. Like
the words themselves will give it life. But...I can’t...I can’t
pretend it’s not real anymore.”

“Minji?” Alec touched her hand lightly.
“What is it?”

Lowering her eyes and pressing her lips
together, Minji listened to the sounds of her daughters playing and
her husband calling out to them. She’d fought diligently to be able
to hear the joy in the voices of her family again and did not want
to ever face losing them in the future. “Since you’re no one
important, can you make sure the other not important people know
something?”

“If it’s,” he shrugged a little,
“important.”

“That night the mother spoke to me. Not in
words exactly. Not even in images. It was in a way I can’t even
explain, but I know she spoke to me.”

Alec nodded. “Okay. What did she say?”

“She thanked me for returning her child, and
as a show of appreciation she was taking Arthur because he’d tried
to hurt my child.”

“That’s not your fault,” Alec said swiftly,
attempting to console her.

“I know that. I do. Arthur made some bad
choices. But maybe we all did because she said one other thing. One
last thing.” Minji pressed her trembling hands to her lap to steady
them. “Alec, we should have destroyed the facility. We should have
destroyed the equipment and everything inside.”

Clearly alarmed, Alec bent toward her,
anxious to hear her words. “Minji, we both agreed on the best
course of action.”

“We were wrong, Alec,” Minji rasped. “So
wrong.”