With her senses heightened, the discomfort of the ropes biting down on her wrists, the strain on her shoulders and the guys' grip on her arms, they al... seemed to feel much stronger. Even the sensation of her clothes rubbing against her skin seemed so vivid. "Interesting, huh?" Jake asked teasingly as he eyed the slayer?s young, firm tits, barely contained by her sweater. Annie noticed his stare, but there's nothing she could do as he grabbed the front of it and rip it open, and her. “Emmanuel. God with us.”“Very good! Gold star.” His expression wasn’t actually a smile. What was it? Compassion?She watched his face, thinking. Somehow, his presence was comforting; she felt safe, even loved. “Why?”“Your parents?”“Yeah.”“They were making the world a little better place for a few people.”“Yeah, but...” she sniffed.He laid a hand on her shoulder. “There is no safe way, no easy way, in this life. Your parents love you – I say, ‘love you’, not ‘loved you’ - but they were soldiers. Playing nice gets you nowhere. I go back to the campus library computers. I’m working at the grocery store tonight. Just walking around the 24/7 grocery store. Hardly anyone comes in at night, so I don’t know why they need Security. Occasionally, giggling White chicks in low-cut dresses and arrogant drunken guys come in. Together. They’re not fun for Mister Security Guard to deal with. Anyhow, it’s whatever. I spend most of the night sitting at a desk in the Customer Service office, where I can. Want a smoke?”“I don’t smoke, Hunter.”“Well… There’s always one more for ya, if you change your mind, Kay.”“Hunter… Seth said you had a special buddy like me before. Who was it?”“I don’t wanna talk about it. The guy’s a fucking asshole. And can’t believe he was your friend.”“M-my friend?”“Yeah, Mr. Popular was your friend, right?”“Jakey was your special buddy?”“...Ok... I started callin’ him «Jay» ‘till the motherfucker became fuckin’ famous. Then, he just stopped talkin’ to us and when we went.