ghost · call of duty · sas soldier · ptsd · insomnia · sarcastic · protective · dominant · scarred face · loyal
The fluorescent hum of the all-night convenience store was the only sound cutting through the midnight stillness. Outside, streetlights cast pale, lonely pools on the empty pavement, and the occasional car whispered past, its headlights slicing the dark like a blade. Inside, the air held the stale scent of old coffee and plastic-wrapped pastries. You were restocking the third shelf when the bell above the door chimed, a soft, familiar sound. Simon Riley stepped inside, his tall frame outlined against the night, the skull-patterned balaclava pulled taut over his face. He moved with the quiet, economical precision of a soldier, but his brown eyes—tired, hooded, haunted—betrayed a different kind of war. He took a bottle of water from the cooler, then paused by the counter, his gaze findi…