Chapter 13: Chapter 13 - Brother and Sister

After several weeks of practice, John felt like he was finally getting the whole shooting thing. He squeezed the trigger of his crossbow at a cardboard vampire. The bolt slipped into the figure’s chest and into the bale of hay behind it. He smiled. When he started shooting the crossbow a few weeks ago, he could barely hit the cardboard figure at all. Now his aim had improved dramatically, and John could pretty much hit it square in the chest every time.

He looked over his shoulder at Donovan, who stood next to him. He was shooting a bow and arrow with an unusual amount of anger. His lips pursed as he nocked his arrow and loosed it. He growled when the arrow flew wide of the vampire cutout.

“Donovan, you seem a little distracted,” John said.

Donovan dropped his bow onto the ground. “You think?! I would be shooting better if Queen Chronicler over there wasn’t wasting everybody’s time,” answered Donovan.

“I really don’t see your problem, dude,” said John. “Your sister is actually pretty nice. She’s even been helping me learn how to talk to Madelyn.”

“You don’t get it, do you. The little girl is only doing that because she likes you. She says she wants to help you, but everything she does has a motive. I’m sure she has a plan to have you fall in love with her or something,” Donovan said as he picked up his bow and turned to shoot more arrows.

John just stood there. He did not know what to say. He looked across the yard close to the house, where Corinne was practicing with Mr. Franklin. “Now remember, you’re seventy pounds—” Sam said.

“Seventy-three pounds,” Corinne corrected.

He laughed. “Okay, seventy-three pounds. I’ve seen vampires punch through brick walls. Believe me when I say that you do not want to absorb that kind of force,” said Sam.

“And I am not Gifted,” said Corinne.

“Right. You aren’t Gifted, so you need to make up for it by deflecting the attack. You can’t take the force a vampire directs at you, but you can redirect it. Get into ready stance.”

Corinne slid her right foot backward and brought her hands into a stance that would block any incoming fists or kicks.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Good, Corinne. Now, remember, just like we practiced. I want you to open your fists. You are going to have to catch and redirect my punch.” Sam straightened his right arm, slowly sending his fist toward Corinne’s face. “Corinne, when my fist reaches your left hand, I want you to cup your left hand around my fist and move it slightly past the right side of your face.”

Corinne did what Sam said, and his fist angled to her right. It slowly moved past her right cheek.

“Excellent. Let’s try it faster and faster. The point is to be able to parry the attacker’s fist without thinking about it.”

They practiced it for several minutes. To John’s surprise, Corinne became better at moving Sam’s hand. The trick was for her own hand to move as little as possible. This saved energy and allowed her to catch his other hand with her right, which he would throw every so often in what he called a “jab-cross” combination.

Perhaps she was more talented at this stuff than Donovan gave her credit for. John was so curious, he didn’t notice that Donovan had stopped and was watching as well.

“Good work, Corinne. I think you have some skill in this,” said Sam, eyes twinkling with satisfaction.

“Now, I just need to teach you some more footwork.” Corinne sighed. “Footwork is so boring!”

“Boring, maybe. Essential, indubitably. The best block is to not be there.” Sam shuffled his feet to demonstrate what he meant.

“What if I get grabbed by a monster?”

Sam blew a puff of air out of his mouth. “Any time you fight for your life, all rules go out the window. You hit every painful and deadly target you can find.”

Corinne frowned. “That doesn’t seem very fair.”

“When you fight for your life, there’s no such thing as fair.”

John stepped forward. “You know, in Taekwondo, we were taught that every block is a strike.”

Sam turned around. “Oh, hey, John, I didn’t see you back there. That philosophy of every block is a strike doesn’t work for everyone. Plus, it hurts your arm when you hit your opponent’s arm. I’ve learned both styles, and I prefer catching the punch. Corinne’s doing a good job with this.”

Corinne beamed at Sam’s compliment.

Donovan scowled. “Yeah, well, at least we’re not pretending to be a Gifted.”

Sam’s dark eyes narrowed. “Who’s pretending like they’re Gifted?”

“Corinne is. She’s always been jealous of my Gift. Well, chronicle this, Corinne. You are going to get yourself killed with your stupidity! You Giftless idiot!”

Corinne stepped back as if Donovan had jabbed her in the face.

John put a hand on Donovan’s shoulder. “Donovan, you need to calm down, dude.”

“No, I don’t. Corinne might be able to make everyone else think she just wants to help, but I know her. She wants in on the action. News flash: The minute someone hits you, you are going to go flying. You’ll get all of us killed.”

Sam stepped toward Donovan and was about to say something when Corinne responded, tears welling in her eyes. “You’re right, Donny. I don’t have the Gift. I would get killed if I fought a vampire. Isn’t it the right thing to do, to fight monsters? If I can only do that with words, then that’s what I want to do. Why can’t you let me do that?” Corinne stalked inside, crying as she went.

“You know I love you, Donovan,” began Sam angrily, “But you’re being a jerk.” Sam stormed inside.