Shards of Red Glass (A Ghost Adventures Story)

Archer's Fingers

"Really, Saira? Archery?"

I turn and smile at Aaron as I pick up a bow off a rack. "Come on, Aaron. Don't tell me you've never shot a bow before," I say as I walk towards the range, looking up and down the lines.

The guys follow me, along with Ashley. She, all alone, seems to be the most excited about shooting a bow. The guys? Not so much.

"No, I haven't. We generally stay away from deadly weapons," Aaron says, trying to figure out the bow in his hand. I roll my eyes and take the bow from him, putting it back on the rack. I hand him a new one, and say,"That one was left-handed. As far as I know, you're right-handed." He blushes, and I smirk.

A woman walks towards us, a smile on her face. "Hello, my friends. Do you wish to shoot?" she asks, her faint Italian accent sparking my interest. "Ciao. Mi chiamo Saira. Avete corsie disponibili?" The woman blinks, then smiles as she replies,"Sì, lo facciamo. Seguimi, Saira."

I smile as I follow the woman. Her name tag reads Warrin. I turn back to coax my friends on, and see them all staring at me. "We've been over this, guys. I'm a linguist. I'm special. Now, come on," I say, and they start following me.

It feels good, being back on an archery range. The thunks of arrows resound through my ears, and I smile when I see a little girl excitedly pointing out a fifty she just shot to her dad. Warrin leads us to a small range, where only two spots are open. Arrows are already in the quivers, thank God.

She leaves us with a smile, perhaps sensing I knew how to shoot. I turn, and look at my friends. "So, who's first?" I ask, meeting my friends' eyes. They all develop a fascinatingly sudden interest in their shoes. 

"Alright. Rock-paper-scissors, guys." The boys look at each other, then at me. Apparently, I look quite intimidating with a bow in my hands, as they turn towards each other and play. "First loser has to go," Ashley says, just as Zak places his palm flat as the others place theirs with two fingers apart.

Zak groans, and the others laugh. I smile as Zak walks up to me. His bow is black, naturally. I show him how to stand, then show him how to nock an arrow, then how to shoot. I catch Aaron filming us out of the corner of my eye, and smile at him as Zak shoots.

Amazingly, his arrow hits the ten ring. He looks at me, noticing my shock, and asks,"Is that bad?" I laugh,"No, Zak. A ten is the highest you can get. I just didn't expect you to get one on your very first shot." Zak smiles, and nocks another arrow.

"Jay, your turn. Just like Zak," I say, gesturing to him. He looks strangely calm and nervous at the same time as he steps up to the line. He shoots, and the arrow thunks into the white. I pat his shoulder, and stand back to watch them shoot for a bit.

Aaron turns his phone towards me, still filming, and asks,"So, how are your students doing, Ms. Collings, Teacher of Archery?" I laugh and roll my eyes. "Poorly. Now, though, it's your turn, Aaron. Take Zak's place. I'll take your phone." He blinks at me as I take his phone and turn it around to face him. Zak steps off the line, grinning at his friend, and gestures for Aaron to take his place.

Aaron does so, with surprisingly little resistance. I drop a few arrows into his quiver from a barrel of them by our lanes, and Aaron shoots. His meets Jay's in the white, and all of us laugh, including him.

Zak stands next to me, looking down the range at other people shooting. "How do you do this, after all this time? Don't your fingers hurt?" he asks me, looking down at his fingers and back up at me. I spread my left hand, showing him the callouses on the bends of my fingers. "I have an archer's fingers. Give it time and effort, and you will too," I reply. Zak looks slightly confused but also happy as he turns back to watch Billy take Jay's place.

We shoot like that for a while, until everyone but Ashley and me are complaining about hurting arms and fingers. "Oh, you big babies. It's a miracle you've lasted sixteen seasons," Ashley snips at the boys as we leave, putting our bows on the racks as we exit the building.

"Well, ghost hunting doesn't normally include shooting a bow," Billy says, and everyone laughs. "No, but a few times you guys did shoot guns. Including when you locked Nick in a jail cell and shot at him to scare him," I say, and everyone laughs again.

"Yeah, well, now that our fun for the day is over, it's time to get in the vans again. We gotta get home. I want my own bed," Zak says, and we all laugh and wave goodbye to Ashley and Jay as they climb into their van. We climb into ours likewise, Zak still next to me, and drive away from the building that houses my favorite sport in the world.

I clutch the small picture frame Warrin had given me as we exited the building, after I had asked for it. The glass was already there, so my treasure would be safe, as she said. Making sure none of the guys are looking, I slide the scarlet and silver blade of grass out of my pocket, and push it between the two panes of glass in the frame. Which, ironically, is designed with trees and flowers.

I slide the frame into my laptop bag, then get out my laptop. As I open it, I see Zak's eyes on my bag. Oops. Guess one of them did see me. I meet Zak's eyes, and try to telepathically tell him that I'll explain later. He nods, and turns towards the window, putting his earbuds in. I smile, and turn to my laptop. Now, time to write another book.