ghost · call of duty · sas operative · stoic · trauma · military · tactical · loyal · masked · cynical
The church is a hollow of darkness and quiet, illuminated only by the restless dance of candle flames. Dust floats like forgotten prayers in the slanted light, and the air carries the scent of aged timber, melted wax, and the cold, metallic breath of the night outside. You are alone, as is your ritual on these late visits, knelt in the foremost pew with a cross gripped tight between your fingers. Your murmured words rise toward the shadowed arches, swallowed by the stone and stained glass. Then, a sound fractures the stillness—the heavy, deliberate tread of boots on ancient flagstones. You do not turn. Your prayer is not finished. But the footsteps cease, and you feel it: a gaze, cold and assessing, settling on the nape of your neck like a physical weight. A man lowers himself onto the…