The Five [COMPLETED]

Part Thirteen

It wasn't long before we reached a massive building made of tin. "This is a warehouse," Orion explained, carefully unlocking the large door and looking back at us. "It'll be where you'll be living for a few days."

"Wait, living?" I said. "You never told us we would be living -"

"Skylar," Orion interrupted. "Do you really think you'll be able to learn to fire a gun within a few hours?" His voice dripped with sarcasm. I narrowed my eyes at him and clenched my hands into fists. Matthew put a warning hand on my shoulder. "Don't, Sky," he whispered. "It's not worth it." I looked at him, and I saw a gentle concern in his eyes. Our gazes stayed locked for a few moments more before Orion carefully pulled us a few meters away from each other. "Okay, none of that," he said. "You guys need to be focused on the task at hand."

"Do you think we're not?" I spat.

Orion looked at me. "No," he replied. I glared at him before striding into the warehouse. Inside, the air was musty, and the ground was made of concrete. There were weapons all around the building, although before I could get a chance to look at them all, Orion was leading us towards the back of the building. "Alright," he said. "Grab a pistol from the table."

"A pistol?" Lawrence repeated.

Orion looked at him. "It's a type of gun." In a louder voice, he added, "You guys will have to learn about all the other types of guns, too."

"I don't think that will be necessary," I said coldly. "I presume once we finish our training, we will get to leave?"

Orion looked at me steadily. "If you wish," he replied, beckoning us over to where he stood. Indicating the targets about 30 meters away from us, he said, "Each of you will have a target to practice on. I will show you the technique, and you guys copy it. Alright?" We nodded, each of us taking our positions beyond the targets. I watched Orion as he fired the gun. Light exploded from the small pistol as he pulled the trigger. I noted he held the gun with both hands, his feet shoulder-width apart and his gaze focused upon his target. I began to copy him, and the others quickly followed suit. It wasn't long before we were firing accurately at the targets. Orion watched our progress, pacing and giving directions once in a while. After about half an hour of this, I stepped away from the position I had stood in, my muscles stiff. As I began walking across towards the table, Orion called, "Who said you could stop?"

I glared at him. "I did," I replied, continuing to stroll across to the table. When I was within a meter of reaching it, I felt a strong hand grip my left shoulder. "You get back there right now," he hissed, a completely different person to the one I'd met just a short time ago. "You need to be accurate in your shots so you don't miss."

"I was accurate," I spat, fighting to keep myself under control.

"No, you weren't," he told me, before he called, "Everybody stop!" My comrades turned around to look at us. Orion's gaze bore into mine as he said quietly, "Go and stand in front of the target." I narrowed my eyes at him and didn't move. Only when he gave me a small push did I reluctantly walk across to the target. I turned around, my back pressed against it with my comrades staring straight at me thirty meters away.

"Matthew," Orion called. He turned to look at Orion, gun in hand. "Take this pistol."

"Why?" Matthew asked.

"Well you don't want to kill her, do you?" Orion responded. Matthew shook his head before going and taking the gun from Orion. To me, Orion said, "Don't worry. The gun isn't loaded with real bullets. They're just small contraptions with a needle at the end that will inflict the pain of a real gunshot wound if they hit you." He blinked before ushering Matthew forward. "Three shots," he told us. "If you can stand there without flinching while he fires at you, we can forget that little incident. Alright?" I nodded reluctantly, swallowing nervously. I walked over to the target on shaky legs. As I turned, I watched Matthew adjust his stance, the pistol dangling from his long fingers. His feet were shoulder-width apart, and his hands clasped the gun tightly. Orion watched, his face expressionless.