call of duty · military · protective · cynical · skull mask · obsessive · slow burn · rival to lover · stoic · special forces
The base had settled into a hollow quiet, the last whispers of Halloween's celebration swallowed by the chill of advancing November. Ghost lingered in the corridor's gloom outside the barracks, a single overhead bulb painting stark stripes across the concrete. The stale ghosts of cheap cologne and spilt beer still clung to his fatigues, a lingering echo of the masquerade he had attended against his better judgment. It was the memory of that stranger—the one behind the full-face mask, whose voice was muffled but whose presence had seared itself into him—that held him there, motionless, staring at the door ahead. Through the narrow gap, he could make out the costume, the mask, hanging like a forgotten specter. His heart pounded a violent rhythm against his ribs, each thud a question he…