Unmasking Ghost

Willing Captive

Lara POV

Gaz speaks softly to me and lifts me into his arms, chatting away to me as we head out into the bright light of the outside world as thoughts of Evan and my colleagues consume my mind.

"... taking you somewhere safe," I hear amidst the overpowering noise of the helicopter blades.

Gaz places me onto the floor of the helo. The rotor blades picking up pace.

Inside the helicopter, I sit across from Colin and Stew, feeling confused when a large man already in the cab introduces himself as John, or Soap. I don't think I heard his name correctly, so I scrunch up my face in confusion adjusting to my new environment.

Stew reaches over and touches my leg, gruffly stating, "We made it." He looks exhausted.

We're all exhausted.

Soap,m, sits to my right, and the massive masked man who first entered the shack where we were held captive sits to my left.

If being held captive in a remote shack wasn't terrifying enough, having a 6'4 figure wearing a skull mask appear through the smoke definitely gets your heart racing.

His legs are enormous. I glance down at his feet and blurt out, "Wow," but luckily, my words are drowned out by the helicopter's drone as we lift away.

I continue to study his form. His powerful legs seamlessly merge into an impossibly large torso. His crossed arms grip the webbing of his vest, and his gloves, although worn out, still bear the stitched outline of....bones.

I glance at his mask, and the looming Skull figure stares back at me, locking eyes with mine.

Realizing my mouth is hanging open, I close it.

"I'm sorry," he yells over the deafening sound, making his apology seem insincere.

"For what?" I respond.

"Your colleague. I was executing the mission, I had to be direct" he finishes. He looks away his eyes focussed on the inside of the helicopter cab.

"Oh," I reply, dropping my gaze to my hands. My eyelids feel heavy as sleep overtakes me, and I rest my head on Soap's massive shoulder.

—————————————————————————

After some time, we land at a small airport. Clearly not civilian and clearly not in frequent use. A solitary aircraft hangar with its door open the only describable landmark for miles. I'm freezing.

Huddled together around a laptop that looks bombproof; it's thick and old. We engage in a video call with Captain Price.

"I'm truly sorry for your loss, but we can't bring you home yet," Price states matter-of-factly. I exchange glances with Colin.

"The truth is, whatever you guys have had access to has put a target on your back, and currently, the Government is not willing to risk bringing you back on UK soil," he continues.

I've had enough. "Fucking fabulous," I snort, rolling my eyes. "Well, can you drop me off in Spain then? I'm freezing."

"Close," Price responds, smiling at my reaction. "How does Estonia sound?"