The Tenth Night
Rae Edison
Rae always found driving a therapeutic experience. In her mind, there was absolutely nothing that could compare to rolling down both windows and letting the fresh evening air run through the confined space in her small car. The wind that whipped her hair around her face was refreshing and comforting after a full day of being stuck in a stuffy office with a broken AC unit. With her eyes trained firmly on the road, the trees seemed to whip past her at lightning speed. She wasn’t even driving that fast – after all, her trip was only taking her one town over – but the world always seemed to leave Rae standing. She had watched the past twenty-eight years of her life flash past in lightning motion, wondering when the whole whirlwind would stop and allow her to breathe. As of yet, it wasn’t showing any signs of allowing her a rest.
It was at times like these, with nothing but the whistle of the elements as accompaniment, that she would doubt her actions. After all, murder was a crime punishable by death in cases and deep down, she did think herself a terrible person. She wasn’t born to watch the light drain from someone’s eyes. She hadn’t trained herself to let go of her doubts as some of the others had. She felt bad for what she did, simple as that.
Rae had always been blessed with a rational mind, however, and justifying her actions was almost effortless after nine years and nine lives lost at her own hands. Every single member of the tiny group had reasons for including the names on their lists and oftentimes, the people included didn’t deserve the life they were living. Heck, the people on her own list didn’t deserve anything. If she had her own way, she would have every single one of them lined up against a wall and shot, execution-style. She felt bad, but she was doing something that would help the general public for years to come. She was ridding the world of pests.
She was effectively pest control. Sure, that was it. Pest control.
The battle of heart and mind ended as Rae’s concentration was drawn elsewhere. Dusk made it more difficult to see the lines, but expert parking was included in Rae’s impressive arsenal of skills and the Mercedes purred almost effortlessly into one of the only spare parking spots. The coffee shop was packed and completely inconspicuous. If someone tried to listen into the conversation, they sure as hell wouldn’t be able to hear anything.
A quick glance across the parking lot confirmed that she was the first to arrive. The streetlights had already clicked, providing Rae with a neon-harsh view of the entire lot. It would be impossible to lose anything or anyone in the artificial light. For some reason, this made the paediatrician more comfortable. She knew that the people she was meeting would have their minds set on getting to one person, but it didn’t stop her from panicking at times. The more populated the area, the easier the meetings were.
An audible growl almost made Rae jump, before she grinned sheepishly and placed a hand over her empty belly. She hadn’t eaten all day but with at least ten minutes to spare before anyone arrived, she would be able to quell the monster that hid deep in the recesses of her stomach before the meeting got into full swing.
In fact, Rae was so focused on food that she didn’t even notice the dog-eared piece of paper fall from her pocket and trap itself under the tyres of a car.
It was at times like these, with nothing but the whistle of the elements as accompaniment, that she would doubt her actions. After all, murder was a crime punishable by death in cases and deep down, she did think herself a terrible person. She wasn’t born to watch the light drain from someone’s eyes. She hadn’t trained herself to let go of her doubts as some of the others had. She felt bad for what she did, simple as that.
Rae had always been blessed with a rational mind, however, and justifying her actions was almost effortless after nine years and nine lives lost at her own hands. Every single member of the tiny group had reasons for including the names on their lists and oftentimes, the people included didn’t deserve the life they were living. Heck, the people on her own list didn’t deserve anything. If she had her own way, she would have every single one of them lined up against a wall and shot, execution-style. She felt bad, but she was doing something that would help the general public for years to come. She was ridding the world of pests.
She was effectively pest control. Sure, that was it. Pest control.
The battle of heart and mind ended as Rae’s concentration was drawn elsewhere. Dusk made it more difficult to see the lines, but expert parking was included in Rae’s impressive arsenal of skills and the Mercedes purred almost effortlessly into one of the only spare parking spots. The coffee shop was packed and completely inconspicuous. If someone tried to listen into the conversation, they sure as hell wouldn’t be able to hear anything.
A quick glance across the parking lot confirmed that she was the first to arrive. The streetlights had already clicked, providing Rae with a neon-harsh view of the entire lot. It would be impossible to lose anything or anyone in the artificial light. For some reason, this made the paediatrician more comfortable. She knew that the people she was meeting would have their minds set on getting to one person, but it didn’t stop her from panicking at times. The more populated the area, the easier the meetings were.
An audible growl almost made Rae jump, before she grinned sheepishly and placed a hand over her empty belly. She hadn’t eaten all day but with at least ten minutes to spare before anyone arrived, she would be able to quell the monster that hid deep in the recesses of her stomach before the meeting got into full swing.
In fact, Rae was so focused on food that she didn’t even notice the dog-eared piece of paper fall from her pocket and trap itself under the tyres of a car.