Vain (The Seven Deadly 1)

He was right.

“Okay,” he continued, “first rule’s you always handle a gun as if it’s loaded, even if you know it’s not.”

He handed me the gun and I reached for it with a shaking fist. I took it and held it in my palm.

“It’s heavy.”

“In more ways than one.”

“What next?” I asked, staring at the cold piece of metal laying flat in my hand.

He fixed my grip and pointed the gun down. His hands were warm and my breath caught a little. “Next rule,” he said, “always keep a firearm pointed in a safe direction,” he explained softly. “If you accidentally fired it, we’d want the bullet to avoid others.”

“Okay,” I wheezed.

He removed his hand from mine and I found I could breathe more easily.

“Next. Always keep your finger off the trigger and outside the trigger guard,” he said, pointing to the section of metal that protected the trigger. “Until you’ve made a conscious decision to shoot, keep that finger off the trigger.”

I nodded and gulped. His finger barely touched mine, but the world seemed to have disappeared around us. His breaths matched mine, but I was positive he was only nervous about teaching me how to shoot.

“Anything else?” I asked, breaking the trance.

Dingane shook his head and stuck his hands in his pocket. “Yeah, uh, where was I?”

“Trigger.”

“Yeah, uh, next rule is to always be aware of your target, backstop and beyond. Make sure with one hundred percent certainty that your line of fire is clear of people and property. Don’t take anyone’s word for it. You’re the only one responsible if something should happen, so make sure it doesn’t.”

“Sounds good.”

“Okay.”

“Okay, what?”

“Check, Sophie.”

“Oh!” I exclaimed, realizing what he meant.

I handed him the gun and circled my target, recognizing that nothing laid beyond my line of fire for miles besides grass and the occasional tree. I returned to Dingane’s side. He handed me the weapon once more and I pointed it toward the ground carefully and made sure my fingers were nowhere near the trigger.

“It’s clear,” I told him.

Dingane physically twisted my body toward my target stump then stood beside me.

“Since this is your first time shooting, I’d recommend you hold the gun with both hands.”

I positioned my hands the way I thought I’d seen guys on TV held it. “Like this?”

He laughed. “No, uh, like this,” he said, grabbing both my hands and positioning them properly. “You should always grip high on the backstrap. This’ll allow you leverage when the gun fires and it’ll prevent it from recoiling into your body.” My hands started to shake a little and he steadied them with his. “Your other hand should rest on top of this hand, right under the trigger guard and cup the back of your trigger hand.

“You’ll need to stand with your feet and hips at shoulder width,” he explained, moving close behind me, flush with the back of my body, sending electric shocks careening through to my toes.

I spread my feet apart and stood still, staring at my target. Dingane didn’t say a word but slowly used his feet to spread my own a little farther apart. My breath hitched in my throat.

“Comfortable?” he whispered in my ear.

I swallowed. No. “Um, yes.”