The gun felt heavy in his hand, not unlike his emotions. But Mark knew it was time to push them back. He had to concentrate on his target right in front of his face.
"Keep your shoulders straight and your arms too. Position the gun right in front of your chest and hold it with both arms. Watch me" En had a similar model to his .22 calibre, a little bigger than his standard one.
Mark had no idea how he had missed that but then again, he was consumed in his emotions and forgot everything else when he did that.
En's pose looked professional, his arms and body straight and tight. Mark moved to copy him but something he did must be wrong for En's face had a frown aimed at him.
"Not like that. Your arms need to be higher" the voice was accompanied by a pair of hands that positioned his body the right way. Mark felt like he was a doll without control over his actions as he followed En.
Once En was done, he took a step back and then another till he was effectively behind Mark and out of his vision range.
"What am I supposed to do now?" Mark asked, not yet dismissing his pose.
"Now? You're supposed to shoot. Look at the target and pull the trigger" was it supposed to be like that? No additional instructions? No guide? Just shoot?
"Don't overthink and just shoot. You can't freeze up" En was still speaking when Mark felt himself pull the trigger. He was not conscious of pulling it and yet the sound echoed inside his ears.
His body jolted from the recoil of the gun which was much more than he could have anticipated. It almost made him fall down but he somehow managed to regain his balance as well as not drop the gun in the process.
He looked at the shot he had fired which had missed its mark by way too much. In fact, it had hit the target on the other range instead of his own.
"Not bad for your first try. Fire a few more so that you get a feeling. The monsters in the field are much bigger but they also move so you definitely need practice" Mark's ears were still ringing. It felt scary, firing the shot.
And yet it felt liberating. Like a feeling of power, he finally grasped in his hands.
He did not need much more probing after that to empty his shot. He shot for well over an hour and by the end of it, his arms felt like lead - refusing to cooperate.
This might be the most physical he had been, his usual way to annoy was words over the expedition.
"Be careful out there and keep your gun with you. Hard times are approaching" En warned him when it was time to leave. The day was still bright but the shooting session had taken much out of Mark.
Not to mention En had his own duties to perform. So, it just felt right to part ways. Both were aware of the implication of those words and yet both ignored the elephant in the room throughout.
"I'll go now" Mark did not look En in the face when he left the room. He just exited with his brain filled with thoughts.
The firing had done something for him which he had not expected it to do. It had cleared his mind and Mark felt able to think much more clearly than before.
And his mind brought up a few valid points right in front of his mind. First of all, he was sure his death had something to do with this whole mess. That was the only reason he could think why they would not tell him anything at all.
Another thing was the weird coincidences he had. It might have been a fragment of his imagination but he could say for sure that the monster had frozen for a moment when he wanted it to stop the most. Those animals, those monsters - he could feel them.
Somewhat. He was still not sure about that but that was why he wanted to experiment. He wanted to see if that was a coincidence or perhaps something more than that. He wanted to experiment.
But wanting to find a monster was out of the question. Power or no power, he would die before help could get to him. He needed an alternative.
Perhaps a normal animal first. Animals had always been rather easily compelled by him. He had always thought it was because he had charm, but maybe there was something more to the whole story.
Maybe he was gifted in that sense and he had just chalked it up as being good with animals?
He could hear some street dogs in the vicinity which made him gulp but also curious to check it out. He could feel his blood pump through his body at what he was about to do.
Mark let his feet carry him over to the park where he could hear street dogs. There was a pair, a skinny pair which looked rather malnutrition. Mark felt his heart stir seeing that.
Sights like this had always affected him, seeing abandoned animals and hence he always carried treats with him. He could go over and give them the treats.
Or he could test out his hypothesis, his brain whispered.
He had no idea what to do but he wanted to try. He could recall feeling anything particular or doing anything special. But that did not mean he did not want to try, rather he did not know what to do.
All he wanted was for those dogs to come to him and sniff his hand to ask for treats. He wanted them to come over, but how could he ask?
Mark felt the cold snout of a dog touch his hand and snap him out of his thoughts. His body gave a reflexive twitch as he froze and his feet almost gave up. A wave of fear travelled down his body as he felt his legs give up.
Stay down, his mind was a mess as he whispered but then he blinked his eyes.
The dogs sat right in front of him, their bellies touching the ground and following the basic command of stay down.
Mark was sure they were not trained, they were stray dogs and he hadn't said anything too. Were they following his commands or was it all a coincidence?
He could not actually conclude anything since dogs were smart and could tell a lot by the body language alone.
Maybe they had sensed his fear? So he decided to try again. Just in case he was no to something, he could use it very much.
Come here, Mark whispered inside his mind. It was a soft plea, hardly any force behind it at all.
The dogs ignored him and he just sighed. Of course, it was not going to be that easy. In the first place, he was not even sure if he had any power or if it was all a result of his brain playing tricks on him.
Maybe he was overthinking it all.
He took out the treats he kept inside his bag for strays and shook the box. With an excited bark, Mark felt the dog pouch at his hand.
He patted the dogs as he opened the box and poured a sizable amount of dog biscuits on the ground for them to eat. They dove with a happy bark, their tails wagging behind them.
Mark let out a smile, his eyes softening. After his disastrous week, it felt almost calm to be here. It felt serene to be in such good company with the dogs.
Once the treat on the ground was finished, he could tell that the dogs wanted more. Already, they were starting to sniff around his hand looking for more.
He had already packed the box and put it away inside his bag. This much he gave them was sufficient to get all the nutrition they required in one turn. Any more would not benefit them at all and yet the dogs looked for more.
"It's enough. I have no more" Mark pushed the snout of the dog who came too close to his bag. He could tell that the dogs had guessed where the treats had disappeared to. They were way too smart for their own good and Mark quickly picked up his bag.
The dogs gave out a growl of frustration but otherwise did not do anything. This was a regular occurrence for Mark so he did not make anything of it. It was moments like these that made him suspicious that the dogs should have attacked but they didn't.
They were obedient as if tamed. Mark stood up once he had secured everything and with a final pat and a goodbye to the dogs turned around to go back. He had spent enough time here already and his body was not feeling too good.
Plus, he was hungry too and the time for lunch was operating.
Suddenly, something wet touched his hand. His body froze as the image of the monster flashed right before his eyes. It felt like a foreign fear took over his body and his brain was being taken over.
Monster, his brain whispered as something compelled him to turn around.
There were no monsters but the same two dogs following him through the park. His body relaxed a little seeing those two and yet his mind could not erase the image of the monsters he had seen at all.
And right before his eyes, he saw the fur on the dogs explode, their shape change and their very being change. His brain cashed but his body moved as the dogs behind him changed their whole shape and structure - becoming the very monsters that were haunting his thoughts.
It was no longer the night and darkness that brought about such dangers for now they walked the day hours too.
And the only thought inside Mark's mind was - had he caused this change?