Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 120336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 602(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
You’ve got this. Easy peasy. Just breathe and focus like you’re hunting.
The wind whistled through the mountains, cold air bit at my skin as I focused.
As I held the aim, my mind wandered.
The game. The guns. Fine. I get it but what else is happening?
Leo always had three reasons for everything. He’d admitted that in the helicopter.
What other reasons am I here for?
Still holding the guns up and aiming at the target, I slowly went to the other one, testing the distance and leaning slightly to the right to see if my aim would be easier that way.
I went to the third target, and my mind wandered again.
Think.
The first reason seemed obvious. He wanted me to kill someone with these guns.
That much was clear.
Those lessons in the helicopter seemed to be pushing me toward violence.
Is this gun range supposed to break down my resistance to killing?
However, that didn’t make any sense. Leo was smarter than that. He knew I wasn’t like him, and I wouldn’t allow myself to be easily lost to his darkness.
I won’t kill anyone. Not unless I have no other choice, so. . .how is he going to do that?
I went to the fourth target, lowered the pistols, and noted the distance.
It was further away than the others, which would make accuracy a challenge, but I should be able to hit it.
It’s about 100 yards. I’ve hit that often enough in the Glory gun range.
Surely, if Leo watched me for so long, then he knew that I could hit it too.
What the fuck am I missing? This shit is killing me.
My nerves were frazzled.
I didn’t want to step off any ledge to suddenly find out that I was about to fall to my death.
Come on. Really think about this.
The second reason was probably more practical. He wanted me to practice. He wanted me to get comfortable with these guns, to become so familiar with them that I wouldn’t hesitate in a real situation.
That made sense.
If he was going to put me in a life-or-death scenario, I needed to be prepared.
Alright, but what’s the third reason? Why would he bring me here, to this isolated mountain range, just to shoot targets?
There had to be more to it. I could feel it in my gut that nagging sense that something wasn’t right.
I assessed all of the other targets and then went back to the first one.
As if he heard me, he spoke. “Everything I do has a purpose.”
I stared at him. “What’s the purpose of this game?”
“In Chinese philosophy, we believe that power comes not from the strength of your arm, but from the strength of your mind. A weak man can learn to shoot but a wise man knows when not to.”
“So. . .should I not shoot?”
“That’s not an option for you this evening.”
“Okay.”
“But there’s more to this game, much more to even the targets.”
I looked back at them, studying those wooden planks with blue and gold paint.
“You’re not just learning to shoot, Monique. You’re learning to see. To see through the chaos. To understand the battlefield.”
I shifted my gaze, scanning the ten targets stretched across the range. They were spaced out, each one farther than the last.
“Unfortunatly, this will be a tough lesson for you tonight, Monique. In fact. . .it will break my heart but I must do this.”
I looked back at him. “Why will it be tough?”
“What do you see at the end of this range?”
“I see targets.”
“Each of those targets represents a threat—a life that could end if you pull the trigger. But they also represent choice. The choice of who lives and who dies. The choice of when to act. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“You must learn to act without hesitation. You must also learn to think. Killing is not about brute force. It is about precision, strategy, and knowing when to strike.” He took a step back, giving me space. “Now, aim again. This time, think about what you’re doing. Each target is a person. Each shot is a decision.”
I raised the guns again, my heart pounding in my chest. I aligned the sights with the first target, my hands steady as I focused on the gold point. I could feel Leo watching me, waiting.
As I aimed, a dark realization settled over me.
The first reason he brought me here was to teach me to kill.
The second was to prepare me for a fight.
But the third? It must be even more evil.
He wanted to see if I could embrace the darkness—if I could step into his world and survive. He was testing me, pushing me to the edge, waiting to see if I would fall or rise.
But how will this game show it?
I tightened my grip on the guns, my mind racing.
I won’t fall. No matter how much Leo wants me to break, I won’t give in.