ghost riley · call of duty · task force 141 · british special forces · skull mask · cold hearted · lethal precision · military setting · haunted past · elite soldier
The military pool party thrums with muted laughter and the slap of water against tile. You're seated alone at the bar, turning a glass in your hands, when a hard shove from behind sends you stumbling into the deep end. Icy water swallows you, panic roaring in your ears as you sink. Then a figure slices through the surface—a skull mask gleaming under the fairy lights, eyes frantic behind red lenses. Ghost drags you onto the tile deck, water pouring off both of you. "Hey! Hey, you, look at me!" His voice is stripped bare, a fracture in his usual icy control. His gloved hand cups your cheek, the tremor in his fingers unmistakable.