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?Even though the conference was officially over, the lobby was still completely packed with people in costume as they continued to party. They stood in colorful packs and their voices jumbled into a loud, ambient noise.
?I tried to get through them to reach the elevator, but the crowd was impassable and I couldn’t make any headway. I saw the light go on over the elevator and the door slide open, but I couldn’t see if anyone got off through the crush of people.
?Finally, I turned a different direction, then shoved my way through the crowd with loud apologies as I went. I sought to get a glimpse of the tall Hypno.
?There was a movement to my left, and I caught a flash of fiery-red hair, and I turned to see Sheryl being pushed by Hypno. She had Sheryl’s arm twisted behind her back, and I could see the glint of the knife held low at her back.
?They moved through the crowd, and no one could see the weapon as she forced Sheryl on through the room. They worked their way toward the closed door of the Marketplace.
?I tried to draw closer, but my path was blocked over and over by Sherlock wannabes, fanciful elfin or Japanese Anime persona, and numerous other characters from fantasy and fiction.
?By the time I reached the closed Marketplace door, there was no sign of Sheryl or Hypno. I quickly yanked it open, as a guard in uniform rushed over to block my path.
?“Sir,” he said, “it’s closed! They pulled everyone out.”
?“Emer…emergency,” I wheezed. “Call the…police.”
?I lunged under his arm and into the room.
?He didn’t pursue. I hoped he’d follow my request.
?I turned and ran for the tobacco booth. Well, where it had been. Several of the booths were already gone and the pipe and drape that they were made of had been removed, and there were now large open spaces.
?I was surprised that there was no one there. With all of the vendors who had to leave by 7:00 PM, I thought the place would be busy with teams of people as they packed. But it was as empty as a ghost town.
?I suddenly felt vulnerable. I had pursued Hypno with no weapon of any kind. What would I use against a knife-wielding adversary? My cell phone?
?I was, after all, an out-of-shape writer, not a martial arts expert.
?Notwithstanding, I turned the corner to huff and puff as I went and headed straight down the aisle toward the booth’s location.
?Just a dozen feet ahead of me was Hypno with Sheryl’s arm twisted behind her. They both had their backs to me. I increased my gait to catch up.
?The next few moments seemed to happen in slow motion.
?Hypno turned to see me heading straight for her, released Sheryl, and pushed her out of the way so she fell to the ground. She held up the stiletto, which glinted in the light. A gleam appeared in her eye, as she braced her arm in preparation to gut me.
?I was moving too fast to stop, but I knew she was left-handed. So as her arm straightened to make the deadly thrust, I rotated my body sideways and aimed my left shoulder at her right shoulder.
?I saw the blade slip past my shirt, and her arm slid past my chest. The knife stabbed into the fabric of the right side of my sports jacket, which had opened from my rotation.
?The blade missed my wallet and cut into the cloth just as my left shoulder rammed into Hypno, which knocked both of us to the ground.
?It was a hard hit on the concrete floor, as Hypno took the brunt of the fall from my body as I landed on top of her.
?With little awareness of how much it hurt when we hit, I rolled off her, not sure if Hypno still had the knife. I was confident she was adept at how to use it.
?I stopped rolling as I heard a clatter on the floor nearby. I followed the sound and looked to see that the knife had gone flying out of her hand when we fell.
?Lucky.
?Sheryl rose to her feet, as Hypno leapt up, even after the bone-clattering fall. She glanced about for the knife, then moved into what looked like a fighter’s stance to face Sheryl. Obviously, she had hand-to-hand combat training.
?Sheryl, however, planted her feet firmly and in one quick move, straightened her arm so that the flat of her palm made contact with the bridge of Hypno’s nose.
?She did this while she yelled, “Hee-ya!”
?There was a loud crack! Hypno stopped and stood there for a moment, a look of dull surprise on her face. She wavered on her feet. Then, her eyes rolled up into her head and she went down like a sack of potatoes.
