The Mesmerized

“Maybe.”

“Then it killed the security guard because he was hurting Ava. It’s watching through her eyes. It sees what she sees. It chose to kill the guard to protect Ava, or maybe just itself.”

“Possibly.”

“It sees through the eyes of the mesmerized, doesn’t it?” Minji persisted, stopping to face Alec.

“Yes,” he said, his blue eyes meeting her gaze directly.

“It knew you. When you walked into the hospital, it was so afraid it recoiled and let my daughter speak for just a moment. So, which facility were you at? The first or the second?”

Alec exhaled slowly, staring past her, one hand on his hip and leaning on his cane.

“Alec, it knows you. Why does it know you?”

“I don’t know,” he answered.

“So you weren’t at the second facility?”

“No, I was at work at a hospital when the event hit. I saw a lot of people die and there was nothing I could do. If it can see us through the eyes of the mesmerized, then it did see me. Just like it sees you, Simone, Arthur, and Jesse.”

Alec was lying and Minji knew it. Though he looked at her directly in the eye and did not waver in his response, she could feel the lie beneath his story.

“Bullshit,” Minji declared. “Bullshit!”

“Minji, I need you to just do what—”

“No! I won’t. Not until you tell me why it knows you!”

“It’s not important!”

“Yes, it is! Because it’s afraid of you, but it hasn’t killed you. I want to know why. I want to know right now!”

“It has tried to kill me!” Alec blurted. “It tried, but I have a limited immunity and it couldn’t do it.”

“First or second facility, Alec?”

Raising his eyes, Alec fought for control of the emotions that raced across his face, transforming it into a much older version. “The first...”

“Fuck!”

“It killed everyone but me. I was security there, stationed in the monitoring room. A friend of mine pulled a few strings to get me a job after I retired. I wasn’t cleared to enter the main building. Security worked out of another building monitoring the fences and the entrance. I didn’t see the creature or the attack. I just saw everyone around me die. I was terrified. I went blind and I could feel it battering on my skull, trying to kill me, too. I must have gone under the influence of the attack, fallen, and hit my head, because I came to hours later. I couldn’t get into the facility because everyone who had security clearance into the building was already inside and dead. I immediately called the Army. My story remains the same after that point. I was told to locate the scientists from the second facility that had been sent to Las Vegas. Even if they’re dead, we can use them to get into the first facility.”

“So it does know you.”

Alec rubbed his face with both hands. “Yes, it knows me. It probably saw me through the eyes of the other people in the security room with me.”

“And it doesn’t trust you.”

“Probably not.”

“Dammit, Alec, it does trust me.”

“I know it does. I’ve seen how it watches you. That’s why I need your help. It doesn’t see you as a threat. I’m not sure why, but that’s a good thing.”

“But I came here with you!” Minji wanted to shake the man. “It could doubt me now.”

“True, but it’s a risk we have to take, right? To save your family and the entire world?”