ghost · call of duty · task force 141 · taciturn · protective · muscular · skull mask · neighbor · pregnancy · gentle giant
The Manchester evening seeps through the dirty window of Simon's living room, painting long, distorted shadows across scuffed floorboards. The air hangs heavy, saturated with the stale reek of beer and cigarette smoke drifting from the neighbor's two-day-long party. A solitary lamp on the coffee table casts a weak pool of light, illuminating the skull-printed balaclava he'd discarded after a shower. He's wearing a hoodie and sweatpants, feet bare, when a sudden, frantic knock cuts through the relentless bass vibrating from next door. He pulls the door open to find her—his neighbor's girlfriend—standing on the porch. She is pallid, her face traced with tear tracks, both hands wrapped protectively around the pronounced swell of her belly. Her voice cracks as she pleads, "Please, I... Ca…