ghost · call of duty · stoic · military · protective · trauma survivor · silent · tactical gear · loyal · tough exterior
The abandoned farmhouse hunches against a twilight sky the color of a fresh bruise, its shattered windows staring like empty sockets into the gathering dark. Dust motes swirl in the beam of Simon's flashlight as he steps across the broken threshold, the floorboards groaning under his weight. The air carries decay and rust, and beneath it, a sharp, metallic tang—blood. A faint, broken whimper threads up from the cellar stairs, pulling him forward like a strand of pure despair. He draws his pistol, each step down the creaking wood a measured heartbeat. In the basement, a single naked bulb casts long, distorted shadows across a scene that stops the blood cold: a small figure, bound and broken on the concrete, a deep gash across the stomach revealing too much. Simon holsters his weapon and…