.. rather tight skimpy clothing. I guess that was her husband's idea seeing as how my best friend would never even be seen herself in something less t...han pants and a regular t-shirt."Are you Hallow?" he asked seeming to look me over."Yes," was all I could mutter still amazed by the size of the house."Right this way," he said motioning towards the swirling staircase in the middle of the entry way.Up the stairs to the right, he opened a door which led to what looked like ... a library? It had a. The reality of the lines was not in doubt. Poised perfectly, totally enclosed in a calm shell of acceptance, I reached out for the lines again, for the second time. This time my conscious mind was ready for whatever the rest of my mind was leading me towards. I shifted my awareness towards the source of that pull, and stepped, without moving away from my existence.How do I describe what just happened? As a boy, just becoming a young man, its perhaps understandable that my mind can only think of. Ah ... question the wife?" Salim asked, after licking his lips in anticipation.Sergeant Mahdi recognized the gleam in his Lieutenant's eyes and relaxed farther. He would tell the Lieutenant about the girl, after whetting his appetite."Oh, we used the normal methods. Repeated rapes, at least until the men and I could no longer perform. Then beatings, hot needles in tender spots during rape, cutting tender spots, fingernails ripped off," the Sergeant said nonchalantly and shrugged. "Those methods. Relying on his training to keep him safe and to keep him alive, he just reacted. Trained to kill, he did what was he was trained to do and what came naturally. Unable to keep count, he lost count years ago of how many men, women, and children he had killed. When in the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Pakistan, with him a trained killing machine and watching their back, his mission was to defend his country and keep his brothers in arms safe from harm. Now, with his physical strength.