Experiment C-32 | Simon "Ghost" Riley

Five Minutes Late

It had been a few weeks since Ghost had begun to ignore Iris. She tried to talk to him as they passed each other in the yard or when they were in the same room, but his responses were short. When it was his turn to teach her something from her books, he only talked about that and ignored her questions about anything else. When she had to feed off of him, he'd call her from whatever she was doing and tell her to take what she needed. When she did, he didn't look at her or speak to her.

Two Days after The Bear Incident

Iris walked into the kitchen, freezing when her eyes met Ghost's. She swallowed harshly, "Hi, Ghost." she said timidly. "Hi." he responded firmly without staying long enough to finish saying the word. A pain spread over her chest as she watched him walk away.

That Night

Iris, Soap and Gaz were outside running around foolishly in the rain with Riley doing the same, barking as he pranced around them. Ghost watched from the living room window, his heart aching to be a part of this memory, but he couldn't bring himself to go outside. Iris was laughing, wiping her soaked hair out of her face when she looked at the house. She spotted Ghost in the window, and met his eyes, and she saw sorrow. She stopped only for a moment before Riley's barking ripped her eyes away from him.

Ghost watched as she looked away, intensifying the pain he felt. Why did he have to be so stubborn? His pride wouldn't let him give in; this is the decision he made, he has to stick with it. No matter how much it hurt him.

Later on in the night, Ghost was laying down in his room when he heard a knock at the door. Part of him had hoped it was Iris, while the other part prayed it wasn't. "Yeah?" He raised his voice slightly. The door opened and Soap popped his head in, "'ey Lt., wanted to check in with ya." Soap said concerningly. Ghost sighed quietly, "I'm alright Johnny." Soap stepped in his room, shutting the door behind him. "I haven't seen you say one word to Iris all day, or yesterday. You're not actually going through with this are you?" he said as he tilted his head. "I said I'm alright Johnny." Ghost said impatiently, wanting Soap to stop pestering him for information. "This isn't fair to her-" "Don't." Ghost interrupted him quickly, his chest radiating with misery as his breathing increased.

5 Days After Bear Incident

Gaz, Soap and Price were sitting with Iris at the island playing a card game they just taught her. Laswell sat off to the side watching after being away for a few days. Ghost sat in his room trying to ignore the lively noise in the kitchen, but no matter what he did, Iris' voice and laughter broke through the distractions every time. He tossed his phone aside, looking down at Riley who was laying between his legs with his head resting on Ghost's thigh. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Ghost asked as Riley looked at him wide eyed and wagging his tail lightly. He wasn't keeping Riley away from her, but he wanted company and locked him in the room with him. Riley would whine and perk his ears as he looked at the door when Iris' voice carried through the walls. Ghost tilted his head at him, "You're my dog, not hers." he said with a tinge of hurt in his voice. Riley groaned as he yawned. "Wow." Ghost laughed shortly before standing to let him out of the room. "Go." he said lightly, smirking under his mask.

10 Days After Bear Incident

It was nearly midnight, the house quiet and still as Ghost stood at the window in the living room, gazing out into the yard lost in thought. He heard a creak from the floorboards behind him. When he turned, he caught Iris' eyes and turned away instantly, too fast to look nonchalant. He sighed to himself as he looked back at the window. His chest felt tight, his heart ached immensely and had grown almost constant over the last few days. He felt so drawn to her, but he had to physically fight himself to stay away from her. He heard the floor creak once more, "Ghost, how long are you going to ignore me?" Iris' voice was soft, just under a whisper but he could still hear the hurt in her voice. It brought him more sorrow, he didn't want to be the cause of her agony... He was still too stubborn to admit out loud that he was wrong. Without a word, he turned and walked back to his room, leaving Iris in the living room. He didn't see the tears in her eyes as they followed him as he left her alone. Someone who she felt so drawn to, who she felt could be a source of her endless happiness, had now become someone she didn't know. And it tore her apart inside, and it started bleeding through, making it difficult to hide.

14 Days After Bear Incident

Iris sat on the roof while everyone else ate lunch inside. It had been raining off and on all day. With the weather gloomy, like she preferred, and with everyone except Ghost asking her questions she didn't want to answer, she went up to the roof to get away from them. It made her feel uneasy to ignore everyone but she couldn't bear to hear another question about Ghost. She hadn't wanted to do her lessons. She nearly refused to look at the skies last night when Soap, Gaz, and Price tried to cheer her up. She hugged her knees to her chest tighter the more she thought about the radiating pain in her chest that had grown to be nearly unbearable. Iris tried everything to make it go away, but nothing eased it. Riley made her forget about it for a moment when she played with him. She couldn't bear to cut off Riley, he had done nothing wrong yet he was another reminder of Ghost.

Gaz looked around him, "Where's Iris?" he asked. Soap glanced at Ghost for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. "She's probably outside somewhere." Price responded, his tone holding a tinge of sadness. Everyone in the house knew what an idiot Ghost was but any time someone brought her up, he'd shut the conversation down or walk away. The house hadn't been the happy environment it had been, now it was quiet and almost gloomy. Just like any other time, Ghost stood up when he head her name and walked out of the room. All eyes watched him walk out and to his bedroom. Gaz looked at Soap and Price, "I can't take much more of this." he said as he shook his head. "Ain't fair to Iris." he continued. Soap nodded his head, "Yeah, but he won't listen, stubborn bastard." Soap continued, feeling sympathy for Iris was easy in this situation, but Ghost was his best friend. He was torn. "He better come around soon, or he's going to regret it." Price slightly threatened. "Come on, sir, you're too old for that.' Gaz joked. Price shot Gaz a look, "That's not what I meant."

17 Days After Bear Incident

Soap knocked on Iris' bedroom door as he stood with Gaz. "She's not going to answer, she hasn't for days." Gaz whispered lowly. "I know, just thought I'd try." On the other side of the door, Iris laid in her bed, tears soaking her face. Riley let her use him as her pillow as he always did, "Riley, I can't do this." she whispered. He looked at her and licked her face lightly. She pulled away, "No, Riley" she smiled through her tears briefly.

Soap and Gaz walked quickly back downstairs, feeling the anger they had felt growing over the last two weeks hit a boiling point. "Lt., we need to talk." Soap demanded. Ghost had been sitting in the living room with Price watching TV. "About what?" Ghost responded with a low tone. "You know damn well what." Gaz spat. "Iris. This is bullshit and you know it." Soap raised his voice as he looked at him, his eyes begging Ghost to get a grip. "I don't know what you're talking about." Ghost stood quickly, making his way to the front door. Gaz stepped in his way, "Yes you do. She's bloody miserable, won't even look at the stars anymore because of you." Gaz shouted as he pointed in Ghost's face. While this was a horrible mistake for others, Ghost let it slide since it was Gaz and because he had a damn good reason to treat him this way. "Simon, they're not wrong." Price said as he stood. "I know..." He said quietly. "Then go fuckin' talk to her. She's miserable, and so are you." Soap said, still raising his voice slightly. Ghost nodded, "Nothing I say will make this better..." Ghost said as he avoided everyone's eyes. "You don't know that, Simon." Price responded. "Just go talk to her." Soap demanded softly as Gaz nodded in agreement, "Anything you say is better than ignoring her."

Ghost walked up the stairs, his mind racing with what he should say. Sorry I'm a fuckin' idiot, you didn't do anything wrong. Sorry I'm an asshole, you don't deserve this. As he walked, the tightness in his chest grew, panic spreading over him. What if she rips my head off? I'd deserve it. He stopped outside her door, hovering his hand over the doorknob until he dropped it, second guessing himself. Ghost took a deep breath, and knocked lightly, "Iris?" he said softly. There was no answer, but he heard shuffling in the room. He recognized it as Riley running around when he whined. The sound of his whimper made Ghost worry and he opened the door. His eyes widened as he saw an empty bed and open window as Riley was perched up on the sill, looking outside and back at Ghost, whimpering once more.

Iris sat up in bed, looking at Riley for an answer, but of course, didn't get one. She smiled at his empty headed innocence. "I need to get away from him... Or here." A thought crossed her mind. Iris got out of bed, pacing the room, internally fighting with herself. Leave and it won't be a problem anymore. He can't ignore me if I'm not here. Everyone will get mad at you. They'd forgive you faster than Ghost would, for whatever it is that you did. Iris remembered when Price talked about a lake that was a ways into the forest. She pet Riley roughly, "I'll be back later..." she said softly. Five minutes later, there was a knock on her door...