Mercedes sighted down the barrel of her gun like Woofer had taught her and fired off another round. One hundred meters away, the paper target died as the bullet ripped another hole in its chest. She smiled to herself, proud that her skill was improving. But, once again, her thoughts turned to that night six months ago and the smile disappeared. She remembered how proud she was that she swore she would never willing harm another when she first stepped into the darkness. But the shadows leave their mark on you, no matter how hard you try to avoid it. And for her, the wonton killing of all the prostitutes, just because she and her friends had talked to them, still wore heavily on her soul.
After that night, she realized that her naïveté about the harsh realities of her new life would lead to her or, even worse, her friends getting killed. The image of Marcus laying on the street, bullet holes in his coat, still sent a shiver down her spine. So she began preparing. Training herself so she would no longer be a liability to her team. It wiped out most of her savings, but it was worth it. She no longer felt that she wasn't a runner like the others. She felt a part of the team now.
She unloaded her Élan, then made her way to the exit of the shooting range. She still needed to get home and change for dinner with Marcus later that evening. That was one good thing that came of that night, at least. Her relationship with him had become more serious and they've been leaning on each other for support. He'd been helping her with her training and she'd been helping him with Olivier's curse. It could have been much worse, of course, and for that she's grateful that it's only an addiction, but it still was an obstacle between them.
She paid up at the counter for her time on the range, then stepped outside the building just as the sun was slipping below the skyline to the west, giving a false dusk to the area. Getting on her bike, she kicked it into high gear and tore off into the easterly traffic, the shadows darkening and lengthing ahead of her.