“Come on.” He answers me with a wave over his shoulder. I guess I can bribe him with brownies more often.

“Why don’t we use those arrows?” I point to the small bag hanging on the wall by the crossbow.

“They are silver tipped; I don’t want you shooting me with them.” He answers, not looking back at me.

“Why silver?” I ask as I follow him out the training room.  We walk around the training building and at the back are five dummies with targets on their chests. We walk a good distance away before Jaxson answers me.

“Silver is poisonous to most of our kind, some of us are immune, like Freddy. But nearly every type of supernatural will die if you hit them in the heart with silver.” He tells me.

“How did you find out Freddy is immune?” I ask. I don’t think that Jaxson would have tested it on him.

“Let’s just say that Freddy is a nosy child. I nearly lost it when he was five and came into the lounge holding two silver swords that he found. Both his hands were cut and he didn’t get ill from it. Freddy kept those swords and practises every day with them, he is pretty good now.” He tells me and hands me the crossbow.

I lift it up slowly because it’s heavier than it looks and Jaxson shows me how to hold it right. I try it ignore how good it feels when his large hands cover my hips and turn my body slightly to the side. I let Jaxson load an arrow as I watch how to do it and then get into position.

“Right, try to aim at the target, when you’re ready, you fire the arrow like a gun.” He tells me, showing me where to press the button. I breathe in Jaxson’s wood like scent to calm myself before he moves away. The first three times I shoot, I miss the target altogether and I hear Jaxson’s chuckle.

“No worries lass, I still get my brownies for this wasted time.” He says as I load another three arrows. I ignore him or try to as my anger builds. I close my eyes this time, just listening to the forest and then move my body. I don’t know what happens but I feel a peace quiet fall over me as I fire the next shot. I fire all three before I realised I’ve done it and Jaxson’s deep voice snaps me out of my dream-like state.

“Winter, how the hell did you do that?” He says, wonder filling his tone. I look back at him as he looks around the empty training yard. I blink in confusion when I see all my arrows have hit the target. Dead centre.

“I don’t know,” I mumble as I put the crossbow down.