Quiet Mornings And Loud Nights(Ghost Simon Riley)

37-Starting over

Hello friends! I'm hoping to write a little more and get this story to a happier ending. This was written a while ago but I should be able to draft and finish some new things this week. Thanks for sticking around to read! Much love, Otterpaws<3

Five months. That was how long Simon was gone. Soap was still missing and Aspen was alone. He celebrated holidays alone, his birthday alone, and went on missions alone. He isolated himself from everyone, including Price who tried to talk to him a lot. He was barely cautious in missions anymore and got injured fairly often. His carelessness got him shot and stabbed in almost every mission, but he didn't care. He felt there was nothing left for him in the world. By now he was over Simon but he never forgot about him. Every night he would lie awake imagining Simon's arms around him and the comfort he was missing.

As for Soap, he wasn't even sure where he was. He left the base and took a lot of his things with him. He had been living pretty well in a few different spots, moving every so often if things got expensive. He ended up finding a great job as a bartender and made the bare minimum to live alone. He missed his old job every day, the thrill of chasing enemies and working with a team was something he valued. Now he served drinks and told jokes to people who needed an escape from life. He hadn't changed much other than growing his hair out a bit and flirting with customers every so often.

In Simon's case, he was using his skills to take out bad people. He would take jobs from people who wanted enemies dead and he would kill them. It was like bounty hunting but it was not as fun as it sounded. He made pretty good money off of the jobs and found a place to stay. He had a small apartment with a balcony to stand on when he needed a smoke. He invested in decent guns and held onto his personal knives for obvious reasons.

They all lived very different lives.

Simon still wore his mask but anytime he wasn't working he would take it off. He was careful of not being followed or tracked because the last thing he wanted was to get in trouble with the law. He had been followed only once but he knew they were there and led them toward a dark alley. The man couldn't even confront him because Simon had already reacted. He was always on his toes and that time he threw a knife at the man's chest which hit him directly. While he was stunned, Simon shot him quickly with a silenced pistol as to not attract unwanted attention. The amount of kills he racked up was staggering and the community could always recognize him when he collected jobs or payments. Whenever he was in public he had a face mask or something to cover his nose and mouth. Nothing too special because he definitely didn't want to stand out.

While working one day, Soap caught wind of Simon's work because a customer seemed particularly scared when he entered the bar. The man asked for the strongest drink they offered and John gave him a special rye whiskey. The man downed the drink in three seconds which made Johnny furrow his brow in concern. He leaned towards the man and made eye contact trying to reach him.

"You alright lad?" His thick accent surprised the man but he replied quickly.

"There's someone or rather something that's been following me. I- I- they are like an animal stalking its prey. I'm scared-" the man looked down at his name tag, "Johnny I don't know what to do."

"What did they look like? And why the hell are they following you?"

"I'm a wanted man, in debt you could say. I think there's a target on my back. As for the man, he was wearing all black and had a-"

Suddenly the glass of the bar window shattered and a bullet flew through. It hit the man directly in the head with dead accuracy. The bullet didn't hit Soap and whoever took the shot was careful enough to avoid collateral damage. Soap got down and laid on his stomach to avoid anymore shots. He heard the mans body slump to the ground and other people screaming.

"Everyone keep yer arses down!" Soap yelled from behind the counter. He got up slowly, staying crouched to protect his head. He peeked over the counter to check if the sniper was still active and saw a silver glint from a nearby rooftop. He waited a moment, then peeked again seeing that the sniper was gone.

"It's safe to get up now. Someone call the fucking police!" He yelled out at the people who were still on the ground.

The man who had been shot was in a pool of blood on the floor. Soap went to his side to investigate and noticed immediately that the wound was a clean shot. Whoever had done this was skilled with accuracy down to the centimeter, and could identify their target from the back of their head. Soap hadn't seen that kind of skill outside of the SAS or military. Strange.

On the other side of the city Simon was collecting pay for the bounty. A woman behind a desk was taking care of the money and finances for local bounty hunters. Simon had the sniper slung over his shoulder and his hands were in his pockets. Surprisingly his mask didn't intimidate the woman as she began asking him the basic questions.

"Confirmed kill?"

"Yes."

"Were you spotted and or followed?"

"No."

"Were police informed?"

"I believe so."

She typed a few things into her computer then looked for the offical police report. Reading through it she noticed something strange even though the report was technically still developing. She furrowed her brow and looked up at Simon who was growing concerned.

"It says here that the main witness recalls someone with prior military experience and dead accuracy. It mentions the bullet type and possible gun makes. My God I've never seen anything like this before." She breathed as the information appeared on the page.

"How would anyone be able to identify all that?" Simon asked, desperate for an answer.

"It says the witness didn't use their name."

"Just pay me for this one. I'll be back." He grumbled.

The woman handed him an envelope of cash then said, "be careful out there."

Simon grabbed the envelope and left without another word. The only way anyone could know he had military skills was if they were ex or current military. He felt a strange feeling in his stomach that wasn't quite butterflies but more of a worry that something more was going on underneath this case.

Thanks for reading!
Literally wrote this in class on graph paper- here we are :)
See you soon🦦❤