The Mesmerized

“He’s doing it, too!” Arthur gasped. “Making the same faces and noise.”

Simone glanced at Ava, then the guardsman. “Exactly the same.”

One look confirmed that they were both right. Resting her elbows on her knees, Minji leaned forward to rest her head in her hands. What did it all mean? What was happening?

“Oh, shit,” Arthur said. “The kids are going into the lake.”

“Turn the channel,” Simone ordered. “Turn it!”

Visibly shaken, the young reporter was in tears when the camera zoomed in to witness the mesmerized entering the glimmering water.

“Turn the channel!” Minji echoed Simone.

Bailey looked up at her mother, concern etched onto her tiny face, her toy held in mid-air.

Arthur set aside his meal and scrambled to comply. It was a relief when the terrible image and the reporter’s cries disappeared, but it was swiftly replaced with yet another scene of despair and death on a different channel.

“I’m done,” Simone declared. Setting her empty salad bowl aside, she stood and brushed off her pants. Slightly limping in her high heels, she walked to the far side of the room, pulling her cellphone from her jacket.

“Turn off the TV,” Minji said.

Arthur hesitated, then obeyed.

Minji didn’t want to say what was on her mind. The knowledge that the young, emotional reporter would enter the lake and drown with the children if another attack happened weighed on her shoulders.

“They did start telling people to stay inside their houses and not get in cars,” Arthur remarked.

“But people weren’t listening. You saw the footage of the traffic jams. People attempting to outrace what they can't escape.” With a frustrated sound, Simone shoved her phone back into her jacket pocket.

“Maybe it’s over.” Arthur paced before the big black screen. “Maybe the last attack was it. There haven’t been anymore.”

“It’s not over, Arthur!” Simone slammed her hand against the glass window. “Look outside! They’re still walking! They’re still under the control of whatever this is!”

“What is it?” Arthur shouted back. “What is it? What’s doing this to us?”

“Well, it’s not biological,” Jesse said.

Like before, he’d entered without notice.

“How’s my husband?” Minji asked immediately, her heart speeding up.

Jesse cast a reassuring smile her way. “He’s resting. I have him sedated along with all the rest of the patients that didn’t make it out of the building. Ten in total.”

“But he’s going to be okay, right?”

Jesse nodded. “In time, yes.”

Relief flooded through her, wiping away a good chunk of her fears. Yes, she still had to deal with the fact that Jake and Ava were mesmerized, but her husband wasn’t going to die.

“You said it’s not biological,” Simone said, her dark eyes watching the silent, gruesome parade outside. “Why?”

“Because if that news report is correct, there is a distinct boundary after each new attack.” Jesse leaned back against the receptionist counter, resting his elbows on it. “Germs, viruses, anything organic, aren’t going to just stop spreading,” he snapped his fingers, “just like that.”

“Maybe it’s sound waves. Maybe the terrorists just can’t transmit that far in one burst. They have to let the machine recharge or something.” Arthur looked slightly pleased with himself for forming that hypothesis.

“Why don’t you just suggest aliens at this point?” Simone said, her tone caught between serious and mocking.

With a shrug, Jesse pushed off from the counter. “Whatever is behind all of this isn’t important in the here and now. Speculation isn’t going to help us. We have to deal with our present circumstances.”