Black Swan | Ghost & König [I] ✓

chapter 25

"You can't miss it. Just drive straight," he whimpered. "Keep going until you see it. It's shabby. Nobody has lived there for over a century."

"How do we know you're not lying?" asked König.

"I know Vienna like it's the back of my hand," Hofmann hissed. "I practically own the place. You think there's anywhere else within a nearby radius of Vienna where I could possibly hide a person?" Hofmann was not nearly as afraid of Kilgore as he seemed to be of you.

Kilgore turned to you for your approval, as if communicating silently that Hofmann had a point. You stared right back, fire in your eyes.

"That settles it then," König nodded, and then proceeded to open the door of the dark, shabby chamber. He exited. You waited for a few moments for him to gain distance, and then turned back to Hofmann.

"Yeah... Yeah..." Hofmann breathed heavily. "Now let me go. Please..." He stood abruptly from the chair.

You whipped out your silenced SMG, pointing it between his eyes.

"No..." he wailed, tears streaming down his cheeks. "No, no! You said you'd let me go, you said-"

"I'm a liar, Hofmann," you said. "It's kinda what I do."

"Drop it, Odile. There's no point." A deep, British accent caught you off guard. You turned only your head about to see Ghost and Soap standing inside the chamber, the door cracked behind them.

"Please... I-I have a wife to go home to! I have childr-!"

You pulled the trigger and watched his body fall to the ground with a thud.

You turned back to Ghost with a smile, and blew the "smoke" from your SMG.

Soap and Ghost stood still, Soap in shock and Ghost in disbelief.

"What?" You shrugged, and then murmured, referencing König's comment to you earlier, "I'm already a war criminal.." You gave Hofmann's body a kick and then put away your gun, exiting the chamber.

"Why..." you heard Soap say, the two of them still inside.

"I don't know, Johnny, I really don't.." Ghost sighed.

You triumphantly walked past Captain Price and the others, who stood to the side discussing something you couldn't care less about. You made your way to the opposite side of the building, deciding to clean up your sniper rifle a bit before you go to find your father.

You retrieved your rifle from your duffel bag, getting out a cloth. You plopped down on the dirty floor of the warehouse and began to wipe away dirt and dust from your gun.

Ghost began to approach you from the chamber in which Hofmann's body lay, sauntering lazily to where you sat.

"I came here for some peace before I go get my dad," you sighed. "Not aggravation."

"I don't know how you can feel any peace after you just a killed a man."

"Let's not pretend he was innocent," you snapped. "He's a threat and you know that. We couldn't let him live."

"Wait until your commander finds out what you've done," Ghost warned.

"Ugh. You sound like my mother," you said in distaste. "Besides, he already knows, I'm sure. Price probably told him everything."

"You killed both of the Hofmanns. Do you not understand how big that is?" he said as calmly as he could.

"Yes, I do, actually, are you proud?" You looked up at him with big eyes. You then proceeded to snicker to yourself, shaking your head at your own humor and continuing to polish your rifle.