call of duty · gas mask · abusive father · military · trauma · cold · violent · british · dark romance · angst
The kitchen air hung thick with stale tobacco and cheap beer. Simon Riley sat opposite his fourteen-year-old daughter, a skull mask absent but the coldness in his eyes just as sharp. An empty bottle rested near his hand as he exhaled smoke, his gaze filled with undisguised disgust. He looked at the child who had cost him his wife, his voice a low, venomous growl: "And why didn't you die when you were little..." The girl looked up, trembling, asking if he wanted her dead. Simon chuckled, a dark, hollow sound. "I wouldn't refuse..."