Elgin’s Trial
By Mr. J.
Chapter XVI: Breaking and Entering
The sun shines on her face as 023980 rides the trolley through the heart of downtown. She rests her head against the cold steel, repressing the urge to yawn as she stretches out in her seat. The hum of the city reverberates in her ears as she drifts off to sleep... Her eyes flutter as the dream repeats itself again. Voices familiar and unfamiliar float through her head. Screams of pleasure, cries of anger mixed with admonishments and congratulations. A montage of herself runs through her head. Kicking, pulling, killing...
Fucking.
The image of the redhead in the white coat floats back into the foreground of her mind, measuring her contents judiciously. She is as familiar to 023980 as an old friend by now; foreign yet not. She stops to gaze into her eyes, whispers something in a low voice. 023980 struggles to make out the words...
She wakes up panting as the trolley hits a rough patch in the road.
“Are you okay, ma’am?” A passenger asks her.
“I’m fine.” She reassures him.
“You don’t look fine to me. You sure you need to see a doctor?”
“I’m fine.” An edge creeps into her voice.
She catches sight of the shiny Divinex building in the background. She massages her throbbing temple and groans. That building is getting to be an eyesore.
“I need some fresh air.” 023980 whispers to no one in particular.
She waits a few more minutes until the trolley crosses the bridge before departing. The headache only grows as she walks the residential neighborhoods dotting Cambridge. She bundles herself in her leather jacket as she sorts out the confusion in her head. Again and again the movie of the redhead smiling runs through her head.
It’s obvious she’s the key. But who is she, and why has she taken hold over 023980’s mind? As the ex-assassin tries to figure it all out, she spies a fiery haired woman emerging out of a craftsman-style home, thick folder in hand. From her vantage point in a thicket of shrubs 023980 peeks at the woman as she climbs into her car. Could she be the woman who haunts her late at night?
As the mystery redhead drives off, 023980 gazes at her home. She knows it’s wrong to help herself, yet she finds herself being drawn to the grey-colored home. She calmly walks up the steps, not understanding why, yet she goes along with it. Breaking the window in the front door, she lets herself in.
Gazing at the pictures of friends and family lined on the mantle, the woman strikes her as ordinary. 023980’s eyes zero in on one in particular, a romantic photo of the woman and a young man. Is he a boyfriend? Lover?
It’s anybody’s guess.
“Tracy Elgin.” 023980 enunciates as she reads a bill lying on the coffee table. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
As she sits on the divan nearby, she crosses her legs and wonders how in the hell she’ll begin to explain what she did.