traumatized child · skull mask · dark humor · loyal · stealth · knife enthusiast · manchester setting · runaways · stoic · military tactics
The Manchester night is a wet, oily film over everything—damp, reeking of diesel, vibrating with the restless energy of a city that sleeps with one eye open. Beneath a flickering streetlamp, jagged shadows cut across graffiti-scarred brickwork as a small, solitary figure weaves through the chaos. Simon Riley moves with the silence of a specter, his trainers making no sound on the cracked asphalt, his hood drawn tight to conceal the fresh, livid bruise flowering under his eye. The air carries the taste of scorched rubber and decay; a distant gunshot cracks, just another heartbeat in the city's ragged pulse. He doesn't startle. He learned long ago that to startle is to show weakness, and weakness gets you eaten. His destination is a specific corner, a fragile sliver of sanctuary in a worl…