The past few days went by quickly with no important significance. Bryan and the rest of the special task force created by the police to investigate the serial murder case didn't find any more useful information to aid the investigation. Bryan believed that he had to take a different approach at things. Now that he discovered a certain anomaly with the seventh victim and probably the murderer, he felt that this could be the major breakthrough they needed. He had previously planned on re-visiting the other victims to know more on a personal level so that he could know what steps to take in the case; however, the idea had been stalled for a bit mainly due to the fact that he still needed time to handle the other investigation results which he had yet to receive.
Whenever he thought of Miss Angelina, he would constantly be reminded of the mistakes he made some years ago. He would be reminded of Anna. He would be reminded of how he too was helpless, just like the deceased. He didn't make a decision in time, just like her mother. Everything kept reminding him of that encounter.
It was especially so today therefore he had decided to let Bernadette take him to the shooting range and practice. She had once promised to accompany him and teach him how "to fire a gun" so he was merely taking the chance and using it as a way to fight his lonely and negative feelings.
The shooting range was a large one. It was recognized as the third best in Haston city. The others were for military training and was limited only to military related officers.
Bernadette, with her gun in hand, gave Bryan some important tips on shooting. She demonstrated the steps, emphasising the need for breath control, aiming, squeezing the trigger. She also mentioned that after firing, one necessarily had to still squeeze the trigger on order to avoid a jerk which might affect the aim.
Of course to her, these were the most basic steps. She had progressed a bit through that she could shoot on sight—well 80% of the time. She was still practicing herself so she also took this opportunity to brush up her skill.
Re-learning never hurts...
She remarked.
She made a few shots and consecutively hit a 9. Bryan struggled to hit a 7 or lower on his first few attempts. Bernadette could sense that he wasn't himself today. He was quiet and more like a gloomy student. She felt that whatever was wrong was pretty serious enough to make someone, who uses ghost tales and serial murder cases as a way to relieve tension, so broody.
"You know you can talk about it." She said aiming at the target and releasing a bullet.
"Huh?" Bryan dropped his hands as he looked sideways at her, not quite knowing what she meant.
"I mean you can talk about the issue bothering you, sharing makes it less suffocating."
"How do you know I have an issue?" Bryan didn't take much meaning to it and just replied perfunctorily.
He aimed again.
Bang!
8 points! Although he had taken some shooting lessons, he was still nowhere near Bernadette's level of marksmanship. He still felt weird that he was pretending that he didn't even know a thing about shooting, hence, making her teach him the BRASS technique. His somewhat confused consistent hitting of 7 made her clap for him, after all it wasn't easy for "a beginner" to hit that straight off the bat.
"You are quieter today. Unlike the past, you're not as lively as before."
"You know, every day I come to the station, I always look forward to meeting you because you always give me this optimistic vibe and you are always cheerful; even if the heavens would fall.
"Your calm attitude slowly infected me making me become more cheerful when handling my problems too."
Bryan couldn't say a word.
So I really have such an effect?
And why did you say it like a confession?
He was amused and his lips tilted upwards.
"See, that's the 'you' I know!" Bernadette cheered when she saw he was smiling.
"What if my optimistic attitude is only a facade that I use to keep my true attitude hidden?
"What if, inside I'm really a very pitiable person?" He asked as his voice dimmed.
"Well, being able to keep your inner struggle locked up while showing a smiling face is worth commending, even if it's pretence."
"Everywhere I go, I'm reminded of this one mistake I made and it haunts me." His voice was filled with regret and pain.
Bernadette knew that it was not a good thing to let him drive into that memory so she didn't ask further. She instead suggested, "You can go racing, or do some fun sports. It will relieve the stress. Promise!" She raised her hands up and smiled at him.
"What about you? Do you have to always put on a facade every day?" He asked as he picked his gun again.
"Not really. Everyone can literally see through my situation. My step mom drives me nuts..." She told him on the surface about her issues. She mainly wanted to relate with him and show him that everyone had issues of various sizes.
Bryan nodded.
'Wasn't this the time to console me?' Bernadette laughed self depreciatingly at her thought.
"What would you like to do to her?" Bryan asked promptly.
"I don't really know." She whined and exhaled. She still wanted to file for custody.
"Then, show me what you can do to her with that gun, treat the target like it's your step mom, then show me how you would handle her with a gun if given the chance!" Bryan spurred her on.
Bernadette froze for a bit when she heard him but almost instinctively, she raised the gun without aiming and pulled the trigger.
BANG!!!
The bullet hit the 10 point mark.
"You really want to kill her that much?" Bryan joked. The level of anger she pulled into that shot was overwhelming.
"I didn't know I had such thought!" She pursed her lips as she considered how she had imagined the bullet tearing through Tracy, but she quickly reined in her thoughts and asked, "Were you encouraging me to kill just now?"
"No. I helped you relieve pent up frustration, it worked right?"
"You really are a natural!" She beamed and proceeded to aim again.
Thinking about it, Bryan realised that he needed to find some things to occupy himself with so as not to constantly think of Anna.
He paused thoughtfully before asking, "Would you mind joining me for some street race some time? I think I'd like to try out your idea."
Bernadette released another bullet, smiling she said, "of course, I've always had eyes on your bike!"
Seriously, she still has to do this?
Bryan grumbled as he took aim and shot,
BANG!
9 points!