Vain (The Seven Deadly 1)

“You can’t be serious.”

“I’m deadly serious. Now, follow me.”

He led me toward a covered area and found a thick rotting stump, picking it up as if it weighed nothing and setting it against a still-standing tree.

“This is your target,” he said, checking the barrel and unloading the gun of all bullets.

“Why are you removing the bullets if this is a shooting lesson?”

“Because there are a few rules you need to recognize first, and I think you’d be more comfortable holding an unloaded gun.”

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.”