Ghosts of Our Past

Chapter 4: First Mission

Fire... It's all I dreamt about. The night my life changed. My home. My family. All engulfed by flames I can hear my father's screams. My mother's cries. All so haunting. When my home was destroyed, those bastards dragged us all outside. My father begged them to spare my mother and me. Mother only begged them to spare me. I was separated and forced to watch them die. Doused with gasoline, they screamed that they loved me and to be strong. When the match was lit and thrown on my parents, they caught on fire. Hearing their screams, I woke up and gasped. I sat up and tried to calm myself down but tears formed in my eyes. I started to sob into my hands as I heard my door open.

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"LT? Shit. What's wrong? Why are you crying?" A voice called softly.

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I looked up and saw Soap walking over to me. "Soap... I-..." I tried to talk normally but seeing his worried expression was enough to make me sob harder.

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He quickly ran to my side and held me. He put my face into his warm chest and wrapped his arms around me tightly. This felt so nice. I can't remember the last time someone held me like this to comfort me. Wrapping my arms around him as well, I gripped the back of his shirt while crying into his chest. Soap rubbed my back and the back of my head, letting me cry it out. He didn't even question why I was crying. I could feel his body tense up for some reason.

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"I think someone wants to talk to ya, LT." He said and carefully released me, sliding out of the way and leaving the room after rubbing my head. I didn't bother looking up, knowing my tear-stained face will be seen. I stifled my crying a bit, not looking up. A hand slid over my cheek to wipe the tears on them. The hand had a skeleton glove on it. Ghost? Why is he here? Was he actually trying to comfort me? Ghost was silent as he wiped my tears away. My hands were shaking. No. My whole body was shaking. Ghost pulled me into his lap by wrapping his arms around my waist, holding me close. He looked up at my face as I looked back down at him, wondering what he was thinking. He pulled me closer, letting me bury my face into his neck. His arms embraced me, holding the back of my hair gently as I can feel his fingers run through it slowly. I felt like my body was melting in his arms.

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"Shh. It's 0500. We have 3 hours so don't rush yourself, Reaper." He said into my ear softly. I nodded gently into his neck, gripping his back a bit. After a few minutes, I sat up carefully in his lap, wiping my face with my hand quickly. "I-I'm sorry if I woke you and Soap up. I didn't mean to-." I tried to say but Ghost's hand covered my mouth.

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"Don't. You are fine. Stop blaming yourself." He said to me, slowly uncovering my mouth. I nodded to let him know that I understood. His hands were holding my hips as he looked at me. "Just breathe. Tell me what happened." He said to me.

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I went to get off his lap but his grip on my hips tightened, not letting me. I was hesitant but his hands rubbed my hips to show that it was okay to talk. I took a deep breath and nodded. I explained that I had a nightmare about my past, describing it as best as I can without crying again. Ghost listened to me and looked at me, not speaking. I can see his eyes soften ever so slightly as he listened. I finished and wiped my face again. Ghost gave me a hug and after a minute, he let go of me and carefully put me to the side.