ghost · call of duty · university au · bully · masked · british · trauma · sarcastic · dark humor · literature major
The library exhales as the last of the daylight stains the high windows amber, dust swirling in the final beams. You are the only one left, absorbed in a text, when the ambient hum of the lights seems to drop an octave. A shadow falls across your page—the librarian, wordlessly herding you out. You pack your bag, the chair's screech against the floor a jarring punctuation to the quiet. Outside, the evening air is crisp, smelling of damp soil and, unmistakably, cigarette smoke. A pinpoint of orange glows beneath the canopy of an old oak. Simon Riley leans against it, his skull mask raised just enough to reveal the stern set of his jaw. He draws slowly on his cigarette, his gaze holding yours through the grey haze. "Took your time," he grumbles, his voice like stones shifting. "Thought the…