The Mesmerized (4 page)

“Shit!”

Desperate, Minji searched for a way to
secure her child. Spying the potted plant where they’d taken cover
just a few minutes before, Minji started to aggressively elbow
through the people blocking the way. The immobile bodies resembled
statues not only in appearance, but also in their unrelenting mass,
making her task quite difficult. Squeezing between two females,
Minji arrived at the plant and set Ava next to it.

“Ava, if you can hear me, I’m going to tie
you to this planter so you won’t get crushed.” Minji spoke in
breathless words as she frantically tied the leash around the base
of the heavy pot. “I love you. I will be right back. I have to get
Daddy and Bailey.”

Attempting to return to Jake was even more
of a trial. As the crowd drew closer to the rail, it condensed into
a tighter pack. At only five foot two and a hundred-fifteen pounds,
it was a challenge for Minji to push past people taller and heavier
than her small frame.

Another step forward.

Heavy thuds and loud splashes followed.

From the midst of the crowd, Bailey’s cries
intensified.

The mesmerized were falling over the balcony
and second floor banisters and plummeting down the escalator into
the courtyard below. Terror energized Minji’s battle to get to her
husband.

“Jake! Wake up! Jake, wake up!”

Literally crawling over a large man blocking
her way, Minji spotted Jake in the midst of the heavy throng of
people within a few feet of the handrail.

Another step.

Minji screamed in horror when the people
against the guardrail scaled it and fell.

Heavy, meaty thumps and splashes
reverberated through the courtyard.

“Jake! Wake up! Oh, God, Jake!”

Bailey’s screams echoing around her, Minji
half-crawled, half-climbed over people that were so firmly
compressed she couldn’t squeeze between them any longer. Jake’s
tall frame and long blond ponytail helped him stand out among the
others. Resolutely, Minji fought her way toward him.

The crowd advanced.

More victims crawled over the wrought-iron
barrier. Minji averted her eyes while men and women fell to their
deaths. Unable to scale the railing, children were flattened
against the iron slats, faces bloodied and eyes staring as they
were gradually crushed to death.

Minji’s feet scrambled for purchase on hips,
knees, thighs, and bellies. Fingers digging into shoulders, arms,
necks, and hair, she scrambled in the direction of Jake and Bailey.
Her baby’s cries only added to her desperation.

“Bailey, I’m coming!”

Bailey’s splotchy face streaked with tears
peeked around the edge of the backpack’s frame. She let out another
hiccupping cry that sent a sharp splinter through Minji’s
heart.

Only a few feet separated her from her
husband and baby, but Jake was drawing closer to the opening to the
balcony area and the plunge to the floor below. Arms aching, hips
bruised, and leg muscles straining, Minji forced her body onward,
closing the gap between her and her husband. Bailey screeched,
chubby fingers straining to reach her. Minji caught the tiny
hand.

“I’m here, Bailey.”

Another step tore the mother and baby
apart.

More people toppled over the second floor
railing. Dark shapes hurtled from above, victims plummeting from
the third floor.

Hopelessness filling her heart, Minji
realized how close they were to the balustrade in front of them.
The arch to the balcony loomed overhead and Jake would reach the
rail in a few more steps. Minji didn’t care if the objects beneath
her limbs were human anymore: she had to save Bailey. Crawling
forward, she screamed Jake’s name over and over again. He never
looked toward her. Never acknowledged her presence. Her stomach was
a gnarled, twisted thing inside her, forcing Minji to fight to keep
focused despite the pain.

With numb fingers, she worked at the straps
and buckles of the baby backpack. Bailey stretched out her plump
hands toward her mother. It was disconcerting that the only sound
other than the waterfall was the shrieks of her baby.

Another step.

The large atrium loomed around her now. The
view from the balcony was breathtaking. The top of the villa was
actually a shallow pool that fed the waterfall and extended outward
for several feet in each direction from the edges of the balcony.
Water spilled over the face of the mock building into a narrow
basin on the first floor. On large pedestals at each corner of the
balcony were glowing decorative obelisks that rose to the height of
the third floor. The panorama of shops, the faux garden, and pools
of water made Minji a little dizzy. She was not fond of
heights.

Minji lost her grip on the straps of the
backpack and almost fell. Catching herself on the shoulders of a
man and a woman, she kept herself upright. Again, she gripped the
backpack and struggled to free the child.

Beyond the heads of the transfixed people
was the awesome expanse of the corridor that led deeper into The
Palazzo to the casino. It made her head swim to see the thick crowd
filling the area below. Perched precariously on the shoulder of a
big man, feet planted into someone’s gut, Minji grappled with the
contraption. The entire time, she shouted Jake’s name, urging him
to awaken, but his profile remained impassive.

Another sharp step.

People clambered over the railing and onto
the ledge beyond it. Slipping on the slick bottom of the basin, a
few toppled off while others stood in the rushing water at the very
brink of the drop.

Jake was to the railing.

Minji dared to look downward.

Below, bodies were piled in the reddening
water. Both the ascending and descending escalators flanking the
waterfall were clogged with transfixed victims. The vast courtyard
was filled with people moving in the direction of the casino. Small
piles of dead bodies broke up the thick congregation. Those falling
from above were killing the people below.

“Jake, wake the fuck up!” Minji
screamed.

Bailey howled.

With one final tug, the straps released the
baby from the backpack into Minji’s grip.

In that second, Minji realized the
precariousness of her situation. She couldn’t crawl back over the
crowd while holding Bailey. There was no way she could lower
herself to the balcony floor and fight her way through the thick
press of flesh. She and the baby would be carried along with the
crowd and over the rail.

“Jake, please...”

Holding onto her husband like a monkey on a
tree with one arm and her legs while snuggling Bailey with her
other arm, Minji realized what she had to do. Past the railing was
the ledge at the top of the waterfall. She’d have to risk going
over the banister, avoid the people standing silently along the
top, and wade through the water to one of the pools on either side
of the balcony where smaller pedestals topped with decorative
plants stood along the raised edges.

“Jake, I love you,” Minji said, her heart
breaking. “Please wake up!”

Jake’s expression didn’t alter.

“Jake! Please!”

With her heart sinking, she recognized she
had no choice. There was no way for her to save her husband who
outweighed her by over a hundred pounds. The baby clung to her,
heels and hands digging into her skin. Minji gripped the cold metal
rail and inched her body over it. Terror plucked at her mind when
the sharp drop came into focus. Sickened by the sight, she hoped
the rubber soles of her boots would grip the slick surface below
the water.

“I love you, Jake, and I know you want me to
do everything I can to take care of our girls.” She was whispering,
but her voice bounced off the columns. The echo of her words
sounded accusing to her ears. “I don’t know how to save you. I’m so
sorry.”

The toes of her boots touched the bottom of
the basin and Minji cautiously released her weight onto them while
still keeping a firm hold on the rail which was slick with
condensation and sweat. Bailey’s wet face burrowed into her neck as
the baby blubbered with exhaustion and fear.

People blocked her way on either side. A
young Asian man stood precariously near the narrow opening that led
to the right side of the balcony. A cluster of young women in
bathing suits blocked her way to the left. There was no way she
could push past and not dislodge them. It was a terrible thing to
realize that the women would fall when forced to take another step,
but she couldn’t be responsible for their deaths, even to save
herself and her baby. It would be difficult squeezing past the
young man, but she had no choice. Minji scooted along the
railing.

Great, shuddering sobs of anguish threatened
to break free, but Minji knew she couldn’t unleash them until she
had both of her girls safe. Concentrating on sidling along through
the cold water while sliding her hand along the rail, she didn’t
dare look at her husband’s emotionless face or the dizzying drop a
few scant feet away.

“Hold on, Bailey,” Minji murmured.

The press of the bodies against the rail
made it difficult to maintain her grip, but she was determined to
reach her destination. Stealing a look at the Asian young man
wearing a Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt, Minji noted the blond tips of his
hair and the earring in one ear. He was so close to her, she could
smell his cologne. Like her, he was just another tourist enjoying
his vacation and now his mind was held captive as he stood at the
precipice of the waterfall. Turning completely sideways to avoid
touching him, she continued on her precarious journey. Her bottom
brushed against the young man’s hand when she squeezed past him.
Sucking in her breath, she tried to not tangle her feet with
his.

If another attack came before she reached
safety, she’d be knocked off by the people climbing over the
balcony. Nearly blinded by tears, Minji glanced toward Jake. His
handsome face was devoid of all emotion, life, and personality. It
was his features, but none of his spark was evident in them. It was
as if the essence of her husband had been stolen away, leaving an
empty vessel.

The cold whisper of another attack slithered
along her skin like a fine mist. She had to get out of the way of
the mesmerized or be taken down with them. With one last great
effort, Minji sloshed into the side pool and leaned against a
pedestal with relief.

A second later, the loud clap of many feet
striding forward resounded. The Asian boy and the lady sunbathers
disappeared from view.

In horror, Minji watched Jake and the others
along the rail scramble over the iron barrier in a confusion of
limbs. Jake’s wide stride took him further than some of the others
and he came to a stop at the very edge of the fall. An older woman
in high heels lost her balance and fell into Jake.

Together, they plunged downward.

*Cowering beside the obelisk, Minji cradled
her baby to her breasts while struggling not to look downward, but
she couldn’t resist the urge. The scene at the base of the
waterfall filled her with despair. The dead clogged the shallow
pool, their blood turning the waters red. Much to her relief,
however, the bodies had formed a cushion of wet flesh that Jake had
apparently struck before rolling over the lip of the fountain onto
the floor.

Minji didn’t even want to consider what
would have happened to Bailey if she hadn’t freed the baby in
time.

Jake rested on his side, one arm twisted
beneath his body. The bloody water slithered across the floor,
making it difficult to discern if any of it was his. From Minji’s
position, she was unable to determine if he was alive or dead.
Whispering fervent prayers, she shivered in the cold, damp air. She
couldn’t accept that Jake was dead. He was too strong, too vibrant
to leave the world so easily.

Bailey sniffled loudly, her tear-streaked
face tucked under her mother’s chin.

The courtyard and upper levels were packed
with people transfixed by the unknown influence. There was no one
to help her out of her predicament. The precarious position she
found herself in coupled with her fear of heights twisted her gut
into ugly, painful knots. Sliding around the obelisk, Minji waded
through the pool feeding into the waterfall. A thorough examination
of her situation revealed that she could not safely make it to the
second floor via the escalator. It was too far away. Climbing back
over the rail wasn’t an option either. The crush of bodies on the
balcony would never allow her to pass. Pacing in a small circle,
the water sloshing against her bare legs, she sorrowfully came to a
conclusion. She couldn’t check on Jake or Ava until the massive
crowd had exited the area. Hopefully, Ava was still tied to the
planter and out of danger.

Another explosion of sound resounded through
the atrium as the crowd advanced. More individuals spilled over the
second floor rail and into the crowd below. The smack of flesh
against flesh was the only sound that emanated from the jumpers and
those they landed upon. Other than Bailey’s sobs, none uttered a
sound.

Minji stepped to the edge of the platform
and peered at the spot where Jake had fallen. He was tucked against
the rim of the basin and out of the direct flow of the crowd, but
the people who had landed on the stack of bodies had tumbled over
him. One woman slowly climbed off Jake and rose upright.

Minji nearly wept with relief. If others
were surviving the fall, perhaps Jake had, too. Maybe he was
knocked unconscious, but alive. She would find some way of saving
him. Of saving all of them.

A second later she sensed something akin to
an invisible tendril slide over her body. It briefly flailed
against her temple, and then surged past her.

“What the hell?”

This time when the crowd advanced, it did
not halt. The human river continued seamlessly, each step in sync,
echoing throughout the resort. People dropped from the upper floor,
while others tumbled over the waterfall or scaled the second floor
banister to fall into the throng beneath. On the escalator to the
right, a group plummeted into the congregation below in a silent
avalanche of bodies.