“I want you to pretend this is a real-life scenario. Don’t stop and think just shoot as if it’s you or them and your goal is to survive,” Judas explained.
Owen removed the gun from the casing and loaded it up before passing it to Bri who then walked over and offered it to me. I accepted it gingerly, still not on board with this whole debacle.
“And what is the reason I’m doing this?”
“Think of it as an evaluation,” Owen answered. “We need a general idea of how you’d do during the real thing.”
I’m sure I didn’t need to tell them I had no intention of participating in some kind of shootout, but hypothetically if Judas and I became an official item shooting someone wouldn’t be beyond the realm of possibility.
I aimed the muzzle at the ground and checked the safety before turning towards the target area. “I’m not dressed for this.”
I let the accusation hang in the air.
“As hard as this may be to believe when someone wants to kill you, it’s not going to matter what you have on.”
Brianna and Owen hid their grins as I walked away from the three of them. Stepping into sawdust in heels was the equivalent of walking barefoot across sand. This would be the first and last time I asked Judas what I should wear.
Ignoring the feel of the floor literally seeping into my shoes, I focused on my task at hand to get it over with. I’d gone shooting plenty of times before but none of those occasions placed me beneath the scrutiny of Judas' hawk-eyed stare. I damn sure wasn’t in a dress and heels like some kind of femme fatale in an action movie.
I corrected my stance and grip on the gun, preparing to knock this out. He told me to shoot as if I was aiming to kill and don’t stop to think.
That was easier said than done when he was essentially breathing down my neck.
If it was my skill level he wanted to assess, I’d give it a go. I steadied my hand and was just about to shoot when Judas’ voice rang through the air.
“Wait.”
“What now?” I questioned exasperatedly.
He turned and said something to Brianna, who gave me a quick smile before pulling her cellphone out.
and pulled the trigger twice, striking my first target once in the upper chest area and again in the throat. Thinking quickly, I knew I’d have to take out the next person on my immediate left.
I went for that target and managed to put a hole in the right side of their chest. Each pull of the trigger had gunfire booming in the large room. My palm was sweating by now. I took a mental breath and tightened my grip, mentally adding and subtracting the bullets I had left in the magazine. There were two crates remaining.
Had I been working with a fully loaded clip I could have gotten a little trigger happy, but I only had three bullets remaining and wasn’t a perfect marksman by any stretch of the imagination.
I’d gone to the range to better my self-defense, not in anticipation of trading rounds with someone trying to kill me.
I aimed for what would be the knees and managed to strike the lower calf. If this were a real human that surely would’ve given them a slight pause. That would be all I needed to make a run for it.
I put another bullet in the last target's stomach and then slowly lowered my arm back to my side. After ensuring the muzzle was pointed at the ground, I turned to face my silver-eyed devil.
Bri gave me a few claps and smiled brightly as if I’d just accomplished some great task.
“You’re much better than I anticipated,” Owen remarked, sounding oddly relieved.
Judas regarded me silently, his expression unreadable. I glanced down at the gun remembering I had one bullet left.
This wasn’t a revolver with empty chambers to spin and try your luck. If I aimed at him and pulled the trigger, he would take a hit.
It would be a reckless thing to do with Owen and Brianna were right here. I wouldn’t be able to waltz right out the damn door and then sub consequently leave this semi-prison.
Loathed as I was to admit it, I wasn’t sure I wanted him dead. The idea of him being in physical pain wasn’t registering well with me. Why couldn’t I simply hate this man? There were so many emotions to sort through that I was beginning to feel suffocated.
When my eyes returned to Judas’ he was looking at me with a twisted smirk. Suddenly pulling the trigger seemed like a brilliant idea. He was in front of me before I could dare act on the thought.
His hand wrapped around my wrist with enough force that if he wanted, he could easily snap the bone in two. I made sure my finger wasn’t anywhere near the trigger to make sure there was no chance of the gun going off.