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Chapter 12



We were in the weight training room. Everyone had made it to Rank 5. For the first time no one was killed off. It felt good because Rank 4 was so hard that I was sure I was going to be losing a friend. If it wasn't hacking we had to learn another language or learn how to communicate effectively. It literally was the hardest rank so far. I was glad we all somehow passed. I considered all these people friends now.

No one knew what Rank 5 was...not even Urge. Supposedly Rank 5 changed all the time. We were all just getting mentally prepared for it. We worked on endurance. We practiced our hacking. We practiced our weapons. We worked out. That is what we were doing now. We were working out. Urge was across the room. I noticed he wasn't alone though. Love was standing there in his face trying to chat him up.

I felt annoyed and jealous. Love wasn't getting the clue. Wasn't he a trainer? He had already made the team. Why the fuck was he even in here? It had to be for only one thing. Urge. He was all in Urge's face and Urge looked highly annoyed.

“Hey kid...”

It was Craving. We were across the room on the treadmills. Craving joined me on the treadmill next mine. I hardly noticed him coming up. My eyes were stuck on Urge and Love across the room and the conversation they were having.

“Hey.”

“So...”

“So what?”

“Last night right,” Craving stated, “I mean I fell asleep but I was hearing some...sounds come from in the shower. They were deep man grunts. Now. Call me crazy but you and Urge were the only guys around.”

I got red in the face.

“We were...practicing our infiltration skills.”

“Oh. Right. Right. Of course. Infiltration right. Sounds like Urge has been infiltrating you a lot lately huh?”

I laughed. I was caught red handed. Ever since we had passed Rank 4 a week ago Urge and I had been having sex at least 5 times a day. I didn't know I was so attracted to someone that I could go like that. We literally never stopped having sex. Urge seemed to be wanting to make up for old times and I was more than happy to give him sex whenever we got the chance. With all this down time between ranks we had a lot of time alone and a lot of time to fuck.

“So the rumors are true?”

“Rumors? This place had rumors?”

“Yes. I was shocked. Allure overheard the moderators finally breaking character and whispering about you and Urge having actual sex to pass Rank 4. Supposedly no one has gone that far...ever. No one has gotten perfect scores either. ”

The moderators whispering. That was crazy! They were fucking robots.

I nodded. I couldn't lie to him.

“They are true.”

“Supposedly Urge put it down on you.”

“Maybe that's why Love is all of a sudden all over Urge.”

I was looking across the room. It was clear what Love had wanted. He wanted a piece of Urge. The look on his face was saying it all. He was asking Urge to show him techniques to lift. Urge looked resistant to even talk but he was still showing him. I was fucking annoyed.

“Don't worry. I heard them talk it's awkward as fuck. Are you jealous? Oh my god. You are...that's so cute. Urge, the only male moderator, is making you jealous.”

“Urge isn't a moderator, stop it,” I told Craving, “But I get what you are saying. He's stiff. Urge doesn't understand jealousy. Those kind of things are new to him. It's Love I'm worried about. Love is probably trying to take advantage of how naive he is.”

“You need to go over there. I wouldn't let that fly is all I'm saying...”

He was right. Fuck that. This Love guy was getting on my last nerves. He had that hot little Spanish accent going for him. He thought he was some kind of Enrique Inglesias or something. He was really going hard on my Urge.

I walked over towards them and I felt like I had back up when Craving was at my side. I knew Craving would at least have my back. As we approached them I heard a little bit about what they were saying.

“You should teach me your skills with the shotgun.”

“Actually the pistol is my weapon of choice.”

“Oh huh? I'd love to see your pistol.”

Love was really over here being such a hoe. I could see his eyes make contact with me like a deer caught in headlights when I walked over there.

I crossed my arms, “His pistol isn't for display.”

Love didn't seem at all intimidated when he saw Craving and I approach him. A part of me just wanted to fight him right here and now. He was beyond disrespectful especially if he had heard that Urge and I had sex. Even if he didn't think we were a couple he should have known that there was something going on between us. It was clear that something was going on between us...even to the moderators.

Love's head twitched to the side, “Oh well actually we never know. There are only spot for 4 people on Team Lust. There are only 5 of you. So, I'm sorry to say but you may not be making the cut and then I think his pistol is definitely up for display.”

I wanted to lunge forward. I wish I had a knife at that moment. I would stick it right into his suave ass neck. Who the fuck did this dude think I was?

The look I gave him seemed to say it all. I wasn't playing this. I really didn't have time for this kind of stupidity with Love.

Craving seemed to find this enticing for some reason, “Why don't the two of you just get naked, oil up and go to the wrestling mats. That way I can shoot my pistol off a few times.”

Urge on the other hand just seemed confused.

“Why would you bring pistols to a wrestling mat? I'm confused.”

He was clueless.

Craving started laughing all of a sudden as though making fun of just how clueless Urge was when it came to social things. He had no idea that we weren't really talking about guns. I elbowed Craving harder this time in his abs making him squirm a little bit.

Luckily just at that moment Romance came in.

“Hey guys...Lust wants to see us. I think she's going to announce what we have to do for Rank 5.”

Good.

We had been waiting.

We started walking down the hallway. Truth was I was upset. I was beyond upset. I just wished that Rank 5 had something to do with fighting. I wished Love was involved. I just wanted to take knock his face in. I wanted to put him in a headlock and see if his cheer leading ass could somersault his way out of that.

“You OK?”

I hadn't even noticed Urge right next to me. He was walking down the hallway. Love wasn't too far. He was on the other side of the hallway still walking with us. Urge had to have been referring to my face. I had never been really good at hiding my facial expressions. Even now that I had reconstructive surgery on my face it still seemed to give me away every single time. Urge had been staring long enough to notice. Right now my face was grimacing.

“I'm fine.”

“You don't seem fine. I'm concerned. You look stressed and when you stress it stresses me out...”

“Why don't you get your little Latin acrobat to play with your gun...relieve some stress.”

“That doesn't make sense. Play with my gun? What? Oh. Oh shit. Fuck. You guys weren't actually talking about real guns were you?”

I walked away. I was annoyed more than mad at Urge. I knew that he didn't have the best social skills. He didn't have friends to joke around with and be sarcastic with. He wasn't used to saying words that meant something else. He was awkward as shit. It was what I had fallen in love with but at the same time it was what had gotten me so annoyed right now. I could see Love in the corner of my eyes. His face was just staring at us, almost plotting.


We made it to the room where Lust was and I still couldn't get it out of my mind. It was one of the rooms that we used to do our linguistics training. Some of the places we met were so random sometime. I knew that this probably had nothing to do with linguistics. Love decided it was best if he took a stand right next to Lust as if she needed him there. The more I noticed him around the more he annoyed me. He had this look on his face as though he was above us or something because he was already on the team. Maybe that's why he thought he could just step in and try to fuck with my relationship.

“You guys are all wondering what Rank 5 is I assume,” Lust began as soon as everyone was in the room, “Rank 5 is going to be a competition. Think of it as capture the flag.”

“Capture the flag?” Allure asked.

“Yes against another training team. You will be brought to a special arena. The moderators will be watching you on screens to see how you perform together. The top four will make the team since I have four openings on my team.”

“That's it?” I heard Romance laughing.

There were whispers around the room. It seemed a little minor. I could have sworn I saw Romance and Craving give each other a pound in the middle of this. I noticed Urge's face though. It hadn't moved. It was still cold. I think at that moment I realized there had to be more to this then some capture the flag against another group of trainees.

“Weapons will be involved. Real weapons,” Lust stated.

There she went.

“Wait. So is...killing...killing allowed?” I asked.

Lust nodded, “It'll probably be impossible to capture the other teams flags without killing.”

My mouth dropped. I had never killed anyone before. The idea of it was ridiculous. Everything I had been learning until now was leading up to this. It was leading up to Rank 5. I was going to finally become the assassin. You can learn to fight like an assassin. You can learn to think like an assassin. You can learn to act like an assassin, but when it came down to it in order to be an assassin you had to kill.

The cheers and whispers quieted. The room got serious. It got dead serious.

“What happens if we don't win?” Allure asked.

Lust shook her head, “You already know the answer to that.”
Fuck.

Tom wasn't playing any games. The idea that he used so many resources to have us all come here only to have us possibly be killed on the final rank blew my mind. This wasn't smart. This was a waste of resources. Even if we didn't pass rank 5 we could probably still be extremely useful to him. Maybe we weren't though. We were all expendable to Tom. The only ones that were above being killed through these ranks were his sons.

I turned over to Urge. He was looking out, completely focused. It gave me strength. If I could just have a little bit of the focus and determination that he had I would be fine.

“It begins tonight. If you are here by tomorrow you will be assassins. You are dismissed. I suggest you guys go get some rest,” she stated, “Except you...Desire. I'd like you to stay here for a second.”

I had been almost halfway out the door when she had stopped me. Urge had stopped as well as though wanting to wait for me but I shook my head. I turned back and walked back into the room. Lust was on a desk in the front of the room. She had taken out her compact mirror. Lust was so feminine. She was one of those women that just seemed she didn't have a masculine bone in her body. The way she sat on the desk and crossed her legs. The way she applied makeup while flicking her wrist extremely gently. You wouldn't think this was an assassin. You would think she was some Jessica Rabbit impersonator.

Love had just been standing there until Lust dismissed him. He walked out of the room giving me this knowing look. I knew something was up.

When he left the room Love spoke with a calm, yet disturbed demeanor, “You achieved another perfect score on test. Love told me that you and Urge got...very, very intimate. Is that true?”

Fuck. That was what this was about.

I took a deep breath. Lust didn't worry me. A part of me wasn't worried about how she would react. I was more worried about having to face this. I knew this would come back to me but I just didn't know how and I didn't know when.

“Yes...we did.”

“You care about him. It's clear,” Lust stated shaking her head, “He cares about you too. That is clear as well. It's too intimate. Too obvious. Too stupid. You know you and I have something in common. You know what that is? Do you, Code name: Desire?”
“No ma'am...”

“We care. I care about my team. Have you wondered why Love is the only one on my team and I had four open spots?”

“Yes. I assumed the others died.”

“Yes, but have you thought about how or why?”

“No...”

She paused. Lust seemed to remind me of a cat at times. She seemed to have this distant nature about her that at times made you think she wanted to be close. Then when she did get close, she got too close. It felt as though she was invading my privacy.

“I pissed Tom off. I turned down his sexual advances. I was young, naive. I thought I had a choice in these things. My body, right? Silly me. When I did that, Tom decided to take away the thing that meant the most to me. My team. He didn't just take them away. He gave them to his son Wrath as play things. I assume you know what happens to the people that become Wrath's ...play things.”

“Yes Ma'am. I know.”

I was aware. The horrible images came back to my head almost immediately as I remembered. I tried to shake them out. They didn't go anywhere for a while.

“The motto of my story is this. You don't fuck with Tom. You shouldn't, but it's too late isn't it? You did. It seems like he already has his eyes set on you?”

“Why do you say that?”

“The team you are going against should have been a team of four, but Tom matched us with Gluttony. His training team has 10 people.”
“Ten! Against 5?”

It was clear now. It was clear that Tom had wanted me dead.

“Yes. I warned you. I care. You remind me a lot of myself Desire. I want you to be on my team. If there is a miracle that can happen where you get through this...please do it.”

The words were kind but I knew what Lust's true meaning behind this was. She was trying to warn me. She was trying to warn me that Tom was after me. As if the regular competition wasn't enough I had done the very thing that I shouldn't have done.

I had pissed Tom off.





Night came too quickly. I hadn't been able to sit the entire time. My palms sweat. I felt nauseous. I avoided everyone and paced the halls the Assembly. The moderators had come for me too soon. They came for me way too soon. They gave me black tights to wear and a tight fitted black shirt. I felt like I was wearing swimwear or something of that matter. When we were called in we couldn't bring anything. I felt naked without the knife that Urge had given me. I was the last one to be escorted in by the moderators. The sealed the door that we came in from. The room was plain reminding me so much of the minimal aesthetic that I had become accustomed to. There were two entry ways on the opposite wall. There was clock that was counting down ten minutes hanging between the two entry ways. There were cameras...everywhere. I had not seen that many cameras in the Assembly but this room was outlined with them. There were cameras at the two entry ways as well. I figured that was how the moderators would know what was going on in this. There was a flag in the middle of the room. I assumed that was our team's flag.

The others were already there. They had gathered around a table that was set up. The table had duffel bags in it. I noticed almost immediately what was in them. Weapons.

Allure was immediately speaking out to the rest of us with her heavy Russian accent, “We start in ten minutes. There are weapons in these bags. By now you all know what you specialize in. Grab your weapons and gather around in the middle of the floor.”

“Who made you boss?” Craving asked.

“Do you want to be?” Allure asked waiting for an answer. When she got none she immediately turned and said, “Exactly. Do what I say. We need a game plan.”

I didn't know how the others felt about follow Allure's lead but personally I felt comfortable. I had seen her as one of the top people on the team. She was also the only one of us who had military experience in her former life.

I wasn't worried about Allure. I was worried about whether or not there were knives in those bags. Please let there be. A part of me was concerned that maybe Tom would take them out. Maybe he just meant to completely cripple me.

“I like these,” Craving said pulling out his assault guns. Romance was behind him. She was already punching the air jabbing after having tapped up her hands. That was all the weapon she usually required.

Urge already had two pistols that he shoved in his tight black pants. They fit him extremely nice. I had to admit even now in the moment where I was scared for my life I could still find time to appreciate the form that was Urge. He was beyond the sexiest man I had ever known in my life.

“Pay attention,” Allure stated, grabbing my attention, “We won't have any of that today. OK, Desire? Here are some knives.”

Thank God!

I looked over as I saw what they had. There were several throwing knives which I stuffed into my tights. Then there was a big knife that looked more like a butcher knife. I held that in my hand. I slashed the air. It wasn't as sharp as the knife that Urge had given me. It was a little heavy as well. It would have to do though. I didn't have much of a choice.

Allure gathered us in the middle of the room. She had a map in one hand that she had gotten from the bags and she had a sniping rifle in the other hand which was definitely her specialty. She crossed her arms and looked up at the time. Five minutes. My palms were sweating. Craving was breathing heavy. Romance was pacing back and forward. Urge. Well Urge was just standing there with this cold look almost like a moderator would.

“It looks like a damn maze,” Craving said, “Fuck. I hate mazes...”

“I hate dying even more,” I replied.

“You got a point...”

Craving had been right about the fact that the map looked like a maze though. It was ridiculous.

Allure spread the map out and pointed down at it, “There are two paths. We are going to have to break up. I'll stay here and set up a sniping rifle to protect the flag. I think that's the best defense we can have. If anyone gets past you guys on the two paths I'll cap them.”

“What about the rest of us?” Romance asked, “How do we decide which path to take?”

“We'll have to split up,” Allure stated shaking her head, “Two on two. See the short path is tighter. It looks like the walls may be smaller. There are a lot of curves. We need our melee specialists in there. That means Romance and Desire. The other path will allow for more shooting. So Craving and Urge can go there. Both path should lead to a room just like this with a flag. We capture the flag...game over. Is everyone OK with this? ”

“No...”

We turned to see that it was coming from Urge. It was uncommon to see Urge speak in front of a whole group. He was always that silent one. When he did speak it was almost like seeing Big Foot or something. Everyone turned to him and was paying close attention. I could tell from Allure's face that she didn't like the idea of being said “No” to.

“Excuse me?”

Urge repeated slowly with no facial expression, “No. I'm going with Desire. I'm not going to be separated from him.”

It was cute honestly. I struggled not to smile. I understood fully well what Allure meant by the plan. It made sense to have melee people go down the tight path. It would be hard to shoot accurately in a path like that. Still the idea that Urge wanted to be with me was causing me to blush. The fact that he was saying it in front of everyone just seemed to put a smile on my face.

“We don't have time for this,” Craving said looking up at the clock, “Two minutes. Two minutes we need to start heading out.”

Allure shook her head at Urge, “This is the best plan.”

“I don't care what the best plan is,” Urge stated.

Urge was being short and blunt. I knew he wasn't gaining any social points right now. The others looked highly annoyed that we were sitting here talking about this right now. Craving was even tapping his foot. I didn't blame them but at the same time I knew I would probably feel more comfortable with Urge as well.

Allure turned to me, “Desire. I don't know how to explain this better to your robot boyfriend. A little help here?”

I grabbed Urge.

I took him on the other side of the room away from everyone else.

“Urge, let's just do Allure's plan.”

“My dad is up to something. I fucking know it. I want to be next to you. I need to protect you?”

“Have you seen me with this thing?” I asked holding up the knife, “Exactly. I'll be fine. Let's just do it.”

He was hesitating, “Fuck man.”

“Please Urge...for me.”

“Fine. Whatever. Look though, come closer. Let me tell you something. Closer still. OK. Listen if we are about to win and Romance is still alive you have to take her out.”

“What?”

I couldn't believe what I was hearing right now.

“There are only four spots on the team. The fifth person will die. I'm not trying to risk that fifth person be you. Allure is staying back as sniper and she'll be too far to kill if we have to. I'd kill Craving but I know that would upset you. Clearly, Craving is your best friend. That leaves Romance...”

I shook my head.

“I don't know if I can do that Urge. Craving is my best friend but I still consider Romance a friend.”

I turned to Romance. She had always been cool. She was a flirt just like Craving. We had started off in two separate groups but we were in the same group now. I respected her. I actually had come to like the tall Amazon looking woman. The idea of killing was still so...unnatural to me. It scared the fuck out of me.

Urge shook his head, “Look if it comes down to the wire and Romance is still alive, it will come down to you and Craving. Allure and I are the best performers. If Romance is still alive and you have the chance of being the fifth...I will kill Craving.”

My face wrinkled up.

“You can't be telling me you will...” I came closer at that moment, “You can't be telling me right now you plan on killing my best friend if I don't kill Romance.”

“If it saves you I'll do it,” Urge stated.

He wasn't playing. He had that look in his eyes. It was the look I had seen him have in the very beginning when he went after Carnal. Urge wasn't afraid to kill. Urge wasn't afraid to do what had to be done. A part of me understood his logic but a part of me didn't think it was possible. As if I didn't need anymore pressure.

“God...”

That was all that I could say. I was praying that something happened. I was praying that somehow I wouldn't have to make that decision.

Urge leaned in and kissed me. The kiss was hard. The kiss was passionate.

“You will pass Rank 5, no matter what,” Urge stated.

A horn.

“Time to begin!” Allure shouted from the middle of the room. She had gone behind the flag almost immediately and was setting up her sniping station pointing at the two doors.

I saw Romance. Looking in her eyes I felt guilty almost immediately. She was waiting for me at the tighter entrance. I ran over to her taking my butcher knife with me. I looked back to see Urge and Craving go into the other entrance. Craving gave me a light smile and winked at me. Urge didn't do anything. He just stared at me. I knew what the stare meant though. His eyes made their way to Romance. He wanted me to get rid of her when the time came.


Romance and I was walking down a path. The path zigzagged. It was a really small hallway indoors. I wondered if we were underground because there were no windows. The only lights were the flickering lights over us.

“Can't believe we made it this far,” I told Romance, “There were twenty of us...twenty...”

I didn't know why I was beginning to talk. Maybe it was the nerves. Maybe it was because I just figured were about to be attacked by the other team any moment now. They had more people. I was worried about all of us really. What were the chances that all of us would make it out of this alive? The chances were so low.

She turned to me and smiled, “I didn't think you'd make it, to be honest with you.”
I raised an eyebrow.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” she laughed, “I mean I was a kick boxer before this. Craving did football. Allure was in the military. Urge is the son of an assassin. And you are...well...you're a cook.”

I sighed, “Yeah crazy right.”

“They should have named you Code name: Chef Boyardee or something,” she stated.

I would have laughed if I wasn't so nervous. Instead of laughing I just smiled. I was looking down the hallway. We turned to the right. We headed straight. We had to make another right, then a left. The hallways were bare. There was nothing in them.

“You got jokes.”
“I respect you though,” she stated, “Honestly. I want you to know that. I think it's important to know that I respect you. You know? No matter what happens, I want you to know that.”
She was really stressing it. I smiled back at her. It may have been that moment when she was saying what she was saying to me that I realized I couldn't kill her. I would have to talk to Urge. We would have to find another way. Maybe it was possible all 5 of us could live. Maybe if we did things the right way we could all make it out of here alive.

Anything was possible. Right?”

“I respect you too,” I stated, “We are in this together.”
She smiled, “No you and your boyfriend are in this together.. Your boyfriend and you are too cute by the way. I used to have a little crush on you. I'm not going to lie...”

“I wouldn't have guessed,” I told her.

She smiled, “The flirting didn't give it a way? I just wanted to fuck you real good. I wanted to use a dildo on ya....”

“Too much information.”

“Hey we might be dead in a few minutes. Might as well tell you. But anyway. I think you two are cute. I think it's rare when someone finds the one. I think everyone notices your chemistry.”

“I'm glad. We aren't in a relationship though. It's impossible for him to be in love.”

“Really?”

“That's what he says.”

“No. I doubt it. I think he loves you already. He just doesn't know what love is yet.”
Her words were comforting. I figured she may have been trying to comfort me. Maybe it was because we were about to walk into something so dangerous. I had no idea really. All I knew was that I appreciated it. It's so weird how people bond in the worst circumstances.

Footsteps!

“Shh...you hear that?”

I stopped her. We were about to turn another corner. There were footsteps. They were moving fast. Two...four...six. Six pairs of feet. Fuck. Lust had warned me that Gluttony's team had 10 people. I could hear them coming towards us. They were light. They were fast.

“Is it the other team?”

“Gluttony's trainees, yes.”

“What do we do?”

It was strange hearing Romance asking me what we should do.

“Stand up against the wall, trip up as many people that run around the corner as possible,” I whispered to her, “I'll throw my daggers at the rest.”

I only had three daggers though and one butcher knife.

Romance did what I said. She moved on the other side of the wall. I stood in the center of the hallway. I would be the first thing they saw. They wouldn't be able to see her. They were moving fast. They would completely miss her. They had to. This had to be the best plan. If we didn't take them by surprise we probably didn't stand a chance in hell of the two of us taking down six people.

If Romance tripped one or two of them, I could throw my daggers at three of them. I was good with the daggers. I would hit my targets. I didn't have my chain attached though. I would not have the chance to retrieve them once they were out of my hands. That would leave 1 person that would still be coming at me. I had my butcher knife. It would be a fight from there. I would have to kill the guy quickly to help Romance with the other two she had tripped up.

That was the plan.

That had to be the plan.

I waited. Almost with amputated breath. I felt so cut off from the world.

Footsteps. Closer. Closer.

“NOW!” I screamed.

Three of them came around the corner. My first knife hit the first one dead in the head. Yes! My other two daggers came out of my hands relatively quickly. They hit their targets. One in the throat and the other one in the head again. Maybe it was the idea that I had just killed that I seemed to be transported somewhere. I was panicking for a minute.

It was life or death now, Desire!

Snap out of it!
Pay attention to what was going on! Had my weapons killed my targets! Had they killed my targets? My eyes were across the other side of the room. I hadn't meant to hit the throat of the one victim but it was good enough. He was gagging bleeding on the side. The other two that I hit were females. One heavy looking female and the other smaller shaped more like Passion was.

I had three down!

Yes yes!

“I'm sorry...”

The voice was coming from Romance. Three of the six Gluttony team members had fallen down dead but I had paid so much attention to them that I hadn't realized what was going on. Romance was still standing on the wall. She hadn't tripped the others.

She was just...standing there! The other three Gluttony members walked right past her. They walked RIGHT past Romance even after noticing her standing there.

“What the fuck are you doing!” I screamed out.

Romance shook her head, “I'm sorry. I really am. Tom approached me. He said that he would make sure that I survived if I let them kill you. I'm so sorry Desire.”

She was crying. It didn't mean anything though.

She had turned and had ran away around the corner proceeding the maze without me.

That didn't matter either.

This was a set up.

The three of remaining members of Gluttony's team were walking towards me. I was completely outnumbered. They all had weapons. One had a spiked club. One had a metal chain. The last one had a a spear. There eyes were intent on killing me.

It's strange the things you think about when you are afraid for your life. It's crazy the things you remember. I remembered Lust. Maybe if I had thought more about this warning I wouldn't be so surprised by Romance's betrayal. Maybe if I spent more time thinking about this warning I wouldn't have been surprised that I was now outnumbered with no one around that could possibly help me.

I remembered how she pouted her lips and warned me about what I shouldn't do.

You don't fuck with Tom.


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