Chapter 6

Urge had just admitted that he was Tom's son. Tom was the leader the Assembly. He was that handsome middle aged black man that I had met when I'd first come here. He was the reason that we were were all here. I couldn't believe it but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.

“He's lying,” Passion stated, bluntly.

“He's not lying,” Allure responded.

Allure was smarter than Passion. I knew that for sure. She crossed her hands. Her thick Russian accent echoed through the dormitory. She had this cold look on her face; a silent, deadly Nikita.

“How do you know?”

Allure responded coldly, “Before I came here I was a sniper for the armed forces of the Russian Military. I was top in the country serving directly under the Defense Minister. For three years I trained. I should be the top in this class. I'm not. Urge is. He's done this training before.”

It all made sense now why Allure was so talented. She was in the military. I didn't think it was fair. She was in the military and I was about to go to cooking school to be a chef. Really? How the fuck did they choose me?

Allure accepting it seemed to make everyone else accept it too. It was clear that she was one of the strongest and people looked up to her. Passion eyes glared at him. She did it in a way that made me suspicious really.

“She's right,” he said, “I've done this training before...twice...”

“How the FUCK is that fair?” Passion went in.

I didn't understand how she thought this was about being fair. I didn't understand how she was even thinking right now. None of this was fair. Us being removed for our lives and trained as assassins wasn't fair.

“My father isn't a fair man. Or a good man. He doesn't work for any of the governments directly. He's sponsored by the worst men in the world. Once we get out of here we will become the bad guys. We will be the terrorists...”
Shit.

I knew we had been just drunk talking. I suspected it. I didn't see any government training their operatives by kidnapping them. I didn't see that happening.

“Why did you train multiple times?” Craving asked.

“ I never made the team. I was on Gluttony's team first. My codename was Greed then. The next time I was on Envy's team. My codename was Jealousy. This is my third time trying out for a team. Unlike the others I'm not killed if I don't make the team. I am just recycled through the process because of the fact that my father is the leader of this.”

I thought it was fucked up really. I thought it was all fucked up but I didn't say anything. I didn't have the chance. I was on my guard for some reason. I was on my guard because I noticed that Allure had a look in her eyes. I had seen the look before.

“Interesting isn't it Allure?” Romance stated.

“Yes,” Allure stated with a smile on her face, “Tom's son right here. Why don't we send a message to Tom. Why don't we let Tom know that I was the WRONG BITCH to kidnap. Romance, Glamour...”
Shit!
It was an attack.

Glamour was the first to try to go for Urge. She had jumped on the bed next to Urge and was attempting to leap on him. Urge wasn't moving! He wasn't moving!
I was though. I was moving before I knew my body would. I didn't know I was so fast. I found myself right in front of Urge before Glamour could get on top of him. I hit her midair, delivering a high punch to her abdomen.

She was tossed back by the impact.

Her body slammed into the cart behind her.

Romance was next. She followed up making an attempt to come at once she realized that I was defending Urge. I wished I had a knife. I didn't though. I had to pretend like I had one. For some reason I was holding my hand the same way that I would hold my knife. It made me feel more comfortable.

She came at me with long legs. She was barefoot and delivered kick to my face. It barely grazed me. I backed up. I was breathing hard.

Romance was strong! She was good at the hand-to-hand.

She came at me again not giving me the chance to really think about it. This time her leg tried to kick me in the stomach. I blocked it with my arm. I blocked another kick that was low trying to sweep me. She looked frustrated. I was getting to her. She started at me doing a jump kick that seemed like it was about to be aimed towards my head again.

I didn't know I was so fast as when I caught her foot. She let out a scream when she noticed she was mine!

I put my weight into her body, My palm slid to her knee caps. I put everything I could into the toss. I flung her body across the room further than I ever expected that I could. She flew on the floor sliding.

“Damn Desire!” Passion stated.

She was shocked. Hell I was shocked too. I hadn't realized that I had become so good at hand-to-hand. It had to be the fact that I wanted to protect Urge. I wanted to protect him with every fiber in my body. I was a lot faster due to my knife training as well. I could see openings a lot easier. I had taken out Glamour and Romance in just a few moves!

Allure addressed me with her thick Russian accent, “Don't do this. Tom kidnapped us. He took away our lives. Don't you get that? How could you defend his son? We can get even right now Desire. We can make him pay.”

Revenge was in her eyes. I could tell it was.

“You'll have to go through me if you want him,” was all that I said.

My voice was someone that I didn't recognize. I was cold, alert and ready. I wasn't that little boy who was scared of his own shadow anymore. I had been training for months to fight. My body was in the best condition it had ever been.

“Fine...”

Allure started towards me. Allure was different though. She was a lot tougher than Glamour and Romance. She was probably tougher than the two of them combined. I knew that as she approached me. A part of me was sure that Allure was dangerous. A part of me knew that she would kill me if she needed to just to get revenge on Tom. Maybe she was right. Maybe it was the only way to get revenge on Tom. Maybe it was the only opportunity we had. I couldn't kill Urge though. I couldn't allow Urge to be killed either.

Allure stopped in her tracks though. I noticed why she had stopped. I wasn't standing alone anymore. Craving was right next to me. He was a lot bigger than I was. His fists were balled up.

“You'll have to go through both of us to get to Urge,” Craving told her.

She had stopped moving.

Allure laughed. It was a cold, distant laugh that seemed to have so much malice and hatred behind it, “You guys are idiots. Fine. Have it your way. Protect the son of our enemy. When Tom orders his zombies to put a bullet through your head it'll be your fault. You had your chance to make him pay. Just make sure that you sleep with your eyes open...”

She walked away.

Passion stayed surprisingly.

“Are you ok?” she asked.

I ignored her. I could care less if she stayed around or not.

“Get out of my face,” I said.

I continued to apply the ice to Urge. Passion knew I was stronger now than she thought I was. I think now they all knew that I was stronger by how I had handled myself against Romance and Glamour. Allure was a different story though. She was fucking dangerous and I knew that. Having her around wasn't going to be easy. She could come at me at any moment. That look in her eyes said that she wanted to come at me too. She wanted to do something and it was just a matter of time before she tried...

With the fighting that had gone on there was clear separation. Passion had rejoined Allure. The other two girls were licking their wounds and their egos on the other side of the room.

Craving had moved our beds closer towards the back locker rooms. Urge was in the furthest corner. I looked back at him as the lights went out which was usually the instruction that it was time to go to sleep.

“Thanks for protecting him,” I told Craving.

Ardor had gone to bed in the top bunk. Craving was standing next to me. Our eyes were half way looking at what the girls on the other side of the room were doing and

Craving looked at me, “Let's get this right. I didn't do it for him. I did it for you. Besides what's revenge going to accomplish? You know.? We'd still be here...”

He was right. That didn't make sense to Allure though. She was on the other side of the room. She was rocking back and forth. She looked like she would make a move any minute now. They were talking among themselves but I had no idea what they were saying. We were too far away. Allure was dangerous. She had danger written all over her.

“We should do shifts, at least for tonight. They seem worked up; they may try something.”

“I can take the first shift,” Craving offered, “You need some rest after kicking all that ass today and I saw you going extra had with the knife training...”

“No...I'll stay up first. Get some sleep.”

Craving nodded. He wasn't going to fight me on it. He walked over and cuddled with Ardor.

I noticed that Urge was still up. I couldn't help but to make my way over to him. I was standing over his bed for a second and he scooted over. He didn't offer me to sit down but him scooting over seemed to mean something.

I took a seat next to him. It was awkward being so close to him but I didn't mind.

“Why did you stop them?” he asked, almost in a whisper, “They deserve to be mad. They deserve to kill me...”

“Did you have anything to do with us being kidnapped?” I asked him.

“Of course not...”
“That's why then,” I stated shaking my head, “Looks to me like you are in the same situation as we are. What kind of man forces his son to do this?”

“A bad man,” Urge stated shaking my head, “You guys don't know what this is. It only gets worse...it never gets better.”

Urge was beautiful even with the scars all over his face. It was clear that even though Tom was his brother he wasn't above discipline. They hadn't killed him but they had beat him up real good. I didn't care though. He was alive. That was all that mattered to me. He was actually talking now too and not just saying the necessary words to get his point across. It was strange that he was doing this.

“Hopefully your face get's better,” I stated, “I might lose my crush on you. Allure might just get to you then...”
He laughed.

I was shocked. I was joking of course. Nothing could make me lose the crush I had on him. I had flirted before but he never took the bait. Now he was actually smiling as though he was amused. It was a warm smile.

“I can take her...if I wanted to,” he said.

“Why don't you want to?”

“I'm tired I guess,” he replied shaking his head, “I'm tired of going through this over and over. You know how many friends I've had. How many people I thought were good people that ended up dead?”

I could only imagine. I shook my head. I felt bad for him. Going through this once was enough. If I didn't make the team I would be killed. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing at least I knew that was the end. It was different for Urge. If he didn't make the team he wouldn't be killed. He would just be recycled into another team with another name. I couldn't imagine that. I couldn't imagine having to go through this kind of intense training over and over and over. I felt so bad for him.

“You'll make it this time,” I stated crossing my arms, “You're the best.”

He should be as many times as he went through this.

“I'd like...I'd like you to make it as well...”

“You would?”

He sighed.

Urge sighed, confessing me to me, “The last time I was in training I promised myself that I wouldn't get to know people. That is why I've been distant from you. That's why I've been distant from everyone.”

“You saved me though. If it weren't for you I would have been killed for stealing that gun,” I stated.

He nodded.

“You owe me now. It's your turn again to save me again,” he said.

He was talking about the endurance challenges. He was talking about the fact when he saved me after he saved him. It was getting kind of amusing though. We just kept saving one another over and over. I just wished that meant something though. It made sense why he didn't let me in.

I just wished he was letting me in now, even a little bit. This was the most that Urge had ever said to me.

“No I saved you from the girls remember?”

“That does NOT count. I told you I could take them.”

“Fine. Fine. I owe you.”

Urge was smiling, “Well I'm about to go to sleep. Tired as fuck. They beat the fuck out of me back there man. But Desire...”

“Yes?”

“I'm invested in you now. You better make it...”

I got up off my cot. I let the words sink in. In the night I just stayed up watching as Urge went to sleep that moment. For some reason it meant so much that he was saying that to me. The words hit me like a ton of bricks.

Someone was invested in me and I was going to make it.

“...So the moderator just takes away my gun. Allure starts laughing. She's so high and fucking mighty I swear to god,” Ardor was saying.

It was the next day and we were in the mesh hall Allure clearly wasn't around or there was no way that Ardor would be talking like this. Ardor was telling Craving and I stories about his horrible experience in gun training. He always had a horrible experience. It kind of made sense. He used to sing and dance before this. He was on his way to Broadway. This wasn't the kind of life for him. Then again I was a goddam cook. I don't think I had much room to be speaking.

“I don't mind Ardor,” Craving told his boyfriend.

“Are you serious? She's a pompous little bitch. She thinks she's can't do any wrong. Can't take her goddam Russian accent. Communist cunt. I swear that's what she is goddam it. Stuck-up Slut! She thinks she's good at everything.”

“Maybe it's because she is good at everything.”

“Why you taking her side?”

I tried to laugh. Craving started to apologize to his boyfriend but truth be told Ardor was just having another one of his gigantic whine fests. He was complaining and it was annoying as shit. I looked over to my right not realizing that someone was walking up to us. There he was...Urge. Urge had the sexiest face on that I had ever seen him make. Damn this boy was beautiful. Tom was a fucked up individual but he knew how to do make one thing that was right.

That thing happened to be Urge.

“Can I sit, you guys?” Urge asked.

Craving gave me a look. I knew Craving wasn't the biggest fan of Urge. Hell Ardor wasn't a big fan of Urge either. No one was a big fan of Urge. The thing about Urge was he wasn't a likable person. Now that he was Tom's son, people just seemed to straight up want him dead. For some reaosn he seemed like he was at least trying.

“Sure,” I stated.

I knew I was going to be the only one to agree.

It was awkward seeing Urge actually try to join a group. He seemed shy and nervous. He seemed completely out of place. I thought it was so cute. Guns and blood didn't make this guy shy or nervous but being around other people in a social setting did.

Ardor went on bitching about Allure before starting to bitch about Passion. I wasn't even listening at a point. I was just looking at Urge.

I smiled at him.

He gave me a half smile back...very Urge-like.

I was paying so much attention to the fact that Urge was around that I didn't notice the person walking up to me. It was Sandy...Wrath.

My heart stopped and everyone stopped talking including Ardor. Ardor was in mid-sentence when he stopped and just stared.

“Desire...I would like to speak to you...if possible.”

He was so strange. He was such a strange person. I had to admit he was attractive though. The sandy hair and the slim beach body.

I got up at that moment.

A voice came almost so low that it was a soft whisper on the bench, “Don't do it.” '

It was Urge. He hadn't even looked up at the table at Wrath and I but I knew he was talking to me. The look on his face was serious again. He was such a socially awkward person not seeming to know how to communicate with people at all.

Urge wasn't the only one on guard. Craving had gotten up from his seat. He looked like he was just waiting for the word to do something serious. Wrath seemed to find it funny how my friends were guarding me like that. He actually laughed. He had a cold odd laugh. He had a stare that was SO similar to Urge that it was scary. They were twins in the eyes almost. The stare was so intense that it seemed to go right through me.

Wrath gave me his hand. He was soft and gentle, almost completely opposite from what I expected.

“I'll be back,” I told them.

Urge finally turned his head and watched me leave with Wrath.

“I'd like to show you something,” Wrath was telling me.

I was nervous. I was scared.

“You tricked me. You brought me here...”

“I don't choose the targets but yes it was my actions that finally brought you here,” Wrath told me as we walked through the hall, “I know you won't ever forgive me for such a thing. I would like to you to though. I'd like you to forgive me.”
He was being so gentle. It was so different from all the things I had heard about him from Lust. Sure he looked crazy how he always stared at me from across rooms and things. Sure he had kidnapped me. I wondered if forgiveness was something that was in my cards though.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Yes...”

“Rank 1 was a knowledge test. Did you cheat on that test for me so that I could get a perfect score.”

“Of course.”

He smiled at me as though that was the most normal thing in the world to do.

“Why?”

“You was tasked with grading by the Moderators. You weren't do so well on it. I decided to help you,” he stated and smiled, “You would have been dead by now if I hadn't.”

I stopped. The thought of what he did weighed heavily on me. Maybe this guy wasn't so bad at all. Maybe Lust had gotten wrong. Maybe the way people stared at him as though he was the scariest thing in the world was just a misconception. He kept smiling at me. I could tell he seemed happy to be walking with me. I wondered why.

“What do you want with me?” I asked him.

“What do you mean? You're mine.”

His face changed. That was when I realized he REALLY was the crazy motherfucker that Lust was telling me about. I started getting nervous almost immediately.

“Excuse me...”

“You're mine. You're all mine,” he stated nodding, “From the moment I saw you I knew you were mine. Don't you get it. Normally procedure is to watch someone for a month before stealing them so not to compromise the mission. You were a little different. I watched you so much longer. I watched you for years. Two years. Two years I spent in your shadows. I watched you shower. I watched you have sex with that thing you called a boyfriend. I hid under your bed. I hid in your closets. I watched you cook, every single day. I tasted all your food when you stepped away. My favorite dish was your scallops...”

“Oh my God.”

I stopped walking. I wanted to run back. I was scared for my life at that moment. Why the fuck did I walk over here. This motherfucker was a stalker! HE was crazy. I kept thinking before I was kidnapped about all the times something was out of place. I used to think it was nothing. I used to think it was just my imagination. A lot of the times I thought I was home alone. That was impossible, I had thought. It was impossible!
“ “I know right, isn't the best opener to our romance?” Wrath asked.

“I should go back.”

I started to walk away but immediately I felt Wrath grab me. I tried to toss him. I tried to lock my legs around his right leg and toss him but it didn't work. He didn't even budge. He just held onto my shirt leaned me forward and shook me violently as though shaking out any will I had to do something stupid. Then he used his arms to tie me up. I NEVER had my hands twisted around so quickly as he did it.

I had thought I was powerful. I had thought I had learned to defend myself after all this time but Wrath was treating my body like a toy.

“Why would you leave?” he asked, “Isn't that rude? I wanted to show you something. I wanted to show you something special...”

My heart was racing. I wanted to scream but I knew no one would hear me except the moderators who were in the hallway. What would they do? They had noticed us scuffling in the hallway but they didn't seem to give the slightest fuck.

I was freaked out. I was nervous.

Wrath pulled me into a room after a while. The room was completely black. There was this strange noise in the room. There were these moans.

“Oh my God. OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!”
“I know! Surprise. Do you like?”

I couldn't believe my eyes. There were people in front of my hanging from hooks. I thought I was in some sick twisted fantasy. About five people my age were hanging from these hooks that were stuck in their bodies. They hung upside down. Next to them were students just like me. They had on their gray scrubs and tennis shoes. What they were doing to the people hanging upside down was what was scared the fuck out of me.

They were flaying them!

“No. Oh my god, no...no...”

It was worse then anything I could ever imagine. I never imagined in my life I would see something so vile. I never imagined in my life I would see something so disgusting.

They were flaying them like you would a dead animal, peeling back their skin. All of the people hanging upside down were still alive. One boy was so bad that he had no skin left all except on his face. The person cutting him went deeper. Deeper and deeper. I could see bone. They were AWARE of what these students were doing to them the entire time. None of them screamed. It was like they had no more will. They just let out these low, sad moans.

I wanted to cry for them.

I hit the ground...too weak to stand.

There were dogs on the ground. The dogs were Rottweilers. The Rottweilers licked up the blood of the flayed victims as they hit the ground.

“Isn't this great?” Wrath asked me, “We have something in common see. That's why I wanted to show you this. You know what my specialty is? Guess...oh come on. Don't just look there surprised. Guess. You're not going to guess? Huh? It's ok. I'll give it to you. I'll do anything for you, you know? Well here it is! Look how sharp it is. Its the knife. Just like yours is. I thought you would like to see how I was teaching my students knife work.”

Knife work?

Me and him had nothing in common. I had no idea things like this happened in this place. I thought I was in hell before. I was wrong. There was a different hell. There was a hell SO much worse then anything I could imagine. I thought a moderator was the devil.

No...Wrath was the devil. Wrath was the only devil there ever was.

My voice was weak hidden by tears, “These are your students?”
“Prospective, silly,” Wrath stated, “You see Lust just shoots the people who don't make it. How basic and boring is that? I use the people who don't make it to the next rank to teach the ones who do. Isn't that so much better? Huh. What do you think, Desire? Isn't this much better than Lust?

He was sick. He was deranged man.

“Teach them what?”

He laughed, “I told you silly. Knife work! You should have been on my team. You and me with our knives. I love the way you cut things. I have the biggest crush on you. We could have done great things, you know?”

I couldn't take it anymore. I wanted to vomit again. I wanted to cry. I kept looking away. I kept looking away until Wrath turned my head.

“I know. It brings you to tears doesn't it? You never seen anything so beautiful? It's amazing. I knew you would like it. I knew this would make your day. I know, it's too soon for marriage between us. It's ok. This is just the beginning of us. I'll show you beautiful things like this all the time when we get married. We'll flay things together...”

I was hyperventilating. The smell of blood and flesh was making me want to pass out. Wrath's students that were doing the cutting didn't even seem to be phased by it. They must have been doing it for such a long time. They had become maniacs. They had become crazy. This could never have been me. This could never have been me.

“Listen I'm on Lust's team. I'm going up for her team. I may not even make it. Maybe...maybe you shouldn't plan for the future just yet.”

There was no other way to talk to someone as crazy as Wrath. I had to try to reason to him. Wrath was whispering something to himself all of a sudden. I wanted to cry again. I felt like if I didn't keep my cool I'd end up like one of these people hanging from hooks.

“Lust doesn't deserve you. She's weak. You know her whole team is dead except for her protege. That's why she is recruiting for four people. I am just recruiting for one. It should have been you. It's ok. I'll still marry you. We'll have kids...and teach them how to cut.”

“Can I leave now? Please?”

He seemed confused. He literally seemed confused. I tried to get up and I was kicked in my shins! I was kicked so hard that I came crashing down on the floor. He was strong. He was fast. He was probably faster then Urge. I hadn't even seen him coming. I had never seen someone move so fast! It was almost not human how fast he had kicked me!

“No. I want to spend time with you,” he told me.

“We should wait,” I stated shaking in every part of me, “We should wait, you know, for a while. Until I'm done with training. Until I can use a knife really really well. Then we can use our knives together. You know. Wouldn't that be so much better?”

I would say anything to get out of this room.

“Oh my god. You're SO right. See, that's why I love you...”

He'd let me go.

I walked into the room horrified. The others had tried to say something to me. Craving had called me over to him. I didn't say anything back to them though. I just kept walking. I walked until I went to the back of the bathroom area.

I laid down on the bathroom floor and I cried.
I cried and I cried.

When I looked up it was Urge there. Had he known? Had he known this entire time what kind of person Wrath was? Urge didn't have any emotion as he stood over me watching me. Urge wasn't the type of guy to pat me on the back. He wasn't the type of guy to whisper sweet words of endearment to me. He wasn't the type of guy to baby me and tell me that everything was going to be ok.

Still I felt some sort of support there. He stood over me almost like a guardian angel or something. He let me get it all out and him being there just seemed to be the most.

It was then that I knew him just standing there was Urge's way of showing that he cared.

When I finally cried so much that I couldn't cry any longer he nodded at me, “I told you not to go. Stay in the back here and cry. I'll keep guard. I'll make sure that no one sees you. Make sure you let it out. Whatever Wrath showed you today, make sure that you let it all out. Make sure that you cry until you can't cry anymore. It's important that every tear is gone. Ok. Let it go. Because in the morning you'll never cry again. I'll make sure of it. You'll never cry again.”

I nodded, weakly.

This was his way of showing compassion and I wouldn't have had it any other way....

He stood at the door standing guard. He wouldn't let anyone see me this weak.

“In the morning your training intensifies.”