Chapter 3

Desire's POV

"Everyone come down. Come taste this."

I watched as all 40 or 50 of my students came down to taste the duck I had just demonstrated in front of the class. I loved to watch their faces as they enjoyed it. I stepped aside and crossed my arms. It was a rare sense of accomplishment to see someone bite into your food and simply enjoy it.

One of my students smiled, "Oh my god this is the best duck I ever tasted."

Christina, my teacher's assistant walked up to me and smiled at the class, "Everyone take a look at the knife work from Mr. Page. First class..."

Another one of the students echoed the response, "Your knife work is on point Mr. Page. It's amazing...I never saw anyone slide up the duck and plate so quickly."

They called me Mr. Page but most of them were older than I was. I was in my mid 20s and I already had my own class at the local culinary school. I felt accomplished. I smiled trying to really enjoy this moment. I had been teaching at this school for a year.

I surveyed the room for responses. Happy. This is what I wanted. This was what I wanted my life to be like forever. As I surveyed the room I finally made my way to a face in the distance behind a group of students by the entrance of the room.

Wrath.

"No...NO!"

My students seemed surprised as I panicked. I didn't care. Wrath was standing there. I grabbed the butcher knife out of the duck. No. He couldn't have me. He couldn't take me back! He couldn't take me back! I immediately started to push through my students.

There was this huge sense of panic!

I kept running. I kept running past all the students.

Where was he? Where the fuck did he go!

I stepped on my tip toes. No Wrath was in the room. All my students were staring back at me completely shocked and confused however. I looked to the right. All I could see were students.

"Mr. Page, are you OK?"

"He was here..." I stated, "He was JUST here!"

I ran into the hallway. No one. Neither side of the hallway.

I couldn't have been imagining it? Could I?

Christina walked into the hallway, "Are you...OK..."

I wasn't so sure anymore. The class was looking at me like I had just completely lost my mind in the middle of my cooking demonstration. Maybe I had lost my mind. Wrath wasn't here and I had just completely made that up out of no where. I shook my head. I was safe. I was safe.

I had to calm down. I couldn't let this affect me. I had to keep a steady head.

"Class dismissed. Everyone go home and um...read over the cookbook. Take a look at chapters 5 and 6 where they discuss different ways to create a souffle. Write down any questions and um let me know about it..."

I started to pack my knives and clean the demonstration station after the class was dismissed. They cleared out of the auditorium.

I couldn't get Wrath out of my mind. It has been almost half a decade since I had escaped the Assembly. I had escaped and never looked back. I finally got my life back on track. I wanted so badly to go back home to my family but I knew the assembly would find me if I did. So I had to start over. I had to take on a new identity. I had to take on a new life. I had to forget who I was before and just become this new person. I finally was getting used to that but lately the images of Wrath had just started appearing. I started seeing him in the oddest places. I saw him at bus stops. I saw him at the corner store. Now I was seeing him in class.

Wrath was the son of Tom, the leader of the assembly. He also happened to be completely obsessed with me. Wrath was dead though. I knew for sure that he was dead.

"Are you feeling OK?" Christina asked again once the students had cleared up. She had been handing them reminders in the hallway, "Your hands are shaking with the knives."

I hadn't even noticed, "I'm fine. I'm fine."

"How about I clean up?" Christina stated, "Maybe you should get some rest...besides there is a handsome man waiting just for you in the hallway."

"A handsome man?"

Wrath.

"Can you actually clean this up. Actually, let me take one of these..."

"You want one of the knives?"

"Shortage at home..."

I put the knife behind my back and started towards the hallway. My nerves were getting the best of me. I was seeing Wrath. I knew he had died. I had seen the bullet, but I knew what I saw. I KNEW what I had seen back there. As I made my way into the hallway I realized who it was.

"Grayson."

He was a tall boy with dark skin and slanted eyes. His father was black and his mother was Asian, so they had given him a beautiful skin tone and beautiful eyes. He was actually a working commercial model and his face was his work. You could really tell it was when he looked at you. He was so sexy. He also had a short buzz cut and a slamming sexy physique. I watched as he walked over to me.

"Were you expecting someone else...baby?"

He leaned over and gave me a kiss on my lips.

Grayson was boyfriend. We had been together for about two years now. We lived together. We did everything together. He was my best friend and he was the person that I relied on now. I was happy with Grayson. I found myself stuffing the knife into the back of my pants when I realized I was him.

"I'm shocked you're here, didn't you have some photo shoot for Gap or was Abercrombie or was it..."

"Guess...Guess jeans. I canceled it."

"Why?"

"You'll see. It's a surprise."

He extended his hand to me. I had trust issues since I escaped the Assembly but not with Grayson for the most part. Grayson was the only one who had made it possible for me to forget my past.

Grayson started to lead me out. He walked with his arm over me. He always liked to kind of convince people that I was some sort of prize. I guess it was one thing that the Assembly had given me. I had amazing features. They had done top of the line surgery on me back in the day fixing every single flaw that I had. I knew however that I had to keep my life with Grayson under wraps.

The Assembly would want it's investment back...

We were in the car driving. Grayson had a nice little car. It was a two seat Porsche. I liked to stare at him when he drove. He was in his zone. How I had managed to get a guy like this I didn't know. Maybe it was my face at first but we had a deeper connection. He was actually the one who pulled me out of my paranoia. He helped me relax. He showed me what a normal life was and I loved him. I loved him for that.

He noticed me watching him and he leaned his chair back as though giving me a better view, "You like what you see, f?"

Dez. Dez Page, actually. That was my name now. I had literally just saw the name on the back of a magazine. I had taken on the identity. I producing tons of forged ids and documentation I was slowly becoming that life.

"I can't believe I'm here."

He laughed, "You always say that. Where else would you be but besides here with me sexy? You know you're mine, right?"

There were worse places. There were many versions of hell out there. Grayson didn't know anything about that though and I wanted to keep it like that. I loved his innocence. I loved the fact that he was so ignorant of the world. He just leaned back one hand on the steering wheel and the other hand slowly trying to hold my hand. He always did that. I had become odd about people touching me, even with Grayson.

I started to take his hand but noticed in the background a black car. It was a black Cadillac with tinted windows. Odd...

It had been behind us for the past 5 minutes.

"Grayson do me a favor, turn right here."

"You don't know where I'm even taking you."

"Just turn right please..."

Grayson did what I said and turned right. I looked behind us. The car wasn't following us anymore. I kept my eyes in the rear view mirror. Maybe it was a delayed response. Maybe not. In the next few minutes I noticed the car again. It was a delayed response.

"You mind telling me what's going on?"

"I think we are being followed..."

"Dez...what the hell are you talking about? Why would someone be following us? You got a stalker or something I don't know about?"

He laughed. Grayson thought it was a joke. If only he knew. If only he knew the lifestyle I lived before him. If only he had the slightest clue what kind of world I came from. He wouldn't be making this joke.

"Can you speed up?" I told him not laughing at the joke he said.

"Dez, is someone after you?" Grayson asked, "Is it someone from your past? You never talk about your life before you met me. You know you could trust me right? Right? Dez...are you even listening?"

I wasn't.

I had turned my body completely to see the car. It was still following us. Grayson made a left at the next street and then another left. The car was still behind us. This wasn't a coincidence. We were being followed. I knew that much for sure.

It couldn't have been a coincidence!

I had been found. I had been found. The Assembly was after me. They had to have sent Wrath.

"Grayson, I have something to tell you..."

"Well hurry up because we just arrived."

Grayson pulled over, "No matter what happens. I love you..."

The black car was coming up behind us. It was about to stop. I watched as it slowed down. I put my hand on the back of my shirt. I could feel the handle of the knife. I would have to protect Grayson when they came. I wouldn't let them take me. I wouldn't let them take me alive but I would make sure that Grayson had enough time to get away. They weren't after him. They were after me.

The black car didn't stop behind us.

It kept going. It drove right past us at that moment. Thank God.

"You mind telling me what that was all about?" Grayson asked.

I took a deep breath. I had this sigh of relief that the black Cadillac had driven past. My paranoia wasn't helping my relationship with Grayson though. I felt like I hoped I wasn't losing him.

"Can we not talk about it, not tonight? Please Grayson. Just not tonight."

He paused. He was hesitant.

"OK. But Dez, I love you. No one in the world knows you like I know you. No matter what happens and no matter what darkness you are running from; I am here. I will protect you."

Cute. I knew he had no idea what he was talking about. I knew that he wouldn't stand a chance against what was after me. Still the idea that he really thought he could protect me was really touching. I smiled.

Grayson walked out of the car. He walked over to my side of the car and he opened the door for me. That was the kind of person Grayson was. He was a hopeless romantic. He knew what to say. He knew what to do. I watched as he guided me out of the car with my hand.

"Where are we?"

"It doesn't look familiar to you?"

I looked around. It was a restaurant. There were colored lights outside of the entrance. There was an Italian name on the front. Grayson held me close. I could feel the cold shiver all around me. He didn't seem to skip a beat though as he took off his jacket and threw it over my shoulders. That was the type of person he was. He would give me anything even if it was a discomfort to him.

I held onto his coat wrapped around his smell. He smelled like summertime. I know that was a weird comparison but he smelled like a fresh beach and a pina colada. There was something about Grayson that always brought me to life.

"I'm sorry," I stated as we walked towards the restaurant, "It doesn't ring a bell."

"You ordered a salad and then examined it as if the waiter was going to poison you."

I laughed, "This is the first place you took me on a date."

It had been so long ago. The memories came back to me immediately though. I watched as the host came to see us. He opened the door to the restaurant. I was surprised the restaurant was so empty. It had been crowded the first time we came. As we walked inside I noticed something else. It was empty. There was no there. There was a single light in the middle of the floor that hung above a single table. The rest of the restaurant was pitch black.

I was stunned. I turned back at Grayson to see him standing there smiling from ear to ear, "Do you like it..."

"How did you set this up?"

"I bought out the restaurant. I wanted to make this special."

He took me up to the lone table lit up in the room. I was breathing heavily. It felt like like I was in a fairy tale or something. Grayson was so different from Urge. Grayson spoke with such ease. He knew how to move. He wasn't awkward. He was some sort of Romeo straight out of some fantasy or something. He guided me to the middle of the room and he pulled my seat out for me. He was a gentleman. I felt so important as he sat across from me and stared into my eyes.

"Remember when I first met you," he said, "I came up to you. I said you were handsome. You smiled. You didn't give me any play. You said you weren't over your ex. It didn't stop me, remember. Do your remember that?"

I couldn't believe he was talking about this but I smiled at the memory. I had thought Grayson was so handsome but no...I wasn't over my ex. I wasn't over the love of my life Urge who had I had left back at the assembly. I was still stuck on him. I couldn't get him out of my mind. Grayson was completely annoying at first. He wouldn't take no for an answer.

I laughed at the memory, "Yes, you told me you would wait."

"And you said that you didn't think you would ever be over him. Do you remember what I said back?"

"You said that you guessed we were both in an impossible situation because you would never get over my smile," I replied.

I couldn't help to smile at the memory. Grayson seemed to like it. He had a way of getting me to smile even when I didn't want to smile. He had done it years ago and he had done it again tonight.

"There it is. You know what? You know what's crazy ---crazy as fuck. Man, I still haven't gotten over it. I rented this entire restaurant and you know why? Because the first time I came here with you the entire room went away. No one existed in this world but you. And that's why this restaurant is empty right now, because nothing has changed. It's only you. So I have a question to ask you..."

At that moment Grayson got on one knee.

He pulled out a box.

He opened the box.

There was a diamond in it.

"Oh shit."

"Will you marry me, Dez Page?"

"Yes...oh yes..."

The world seemed to stop as Grayson leaned in and kissed me. I started to cry. Maybe it was the fact that this was what I always wanted. I had finally found the man that made me feel normal again. I had finally lived a normal life in the suburbs. I was happy. I was satisfied.

Footsteps...

Fuck!

I heard them. Grayson must not have heard them. My hearing was super-sensitive because of my training as an assassin. I could hear them sneaking. They were trying to be quiet.

I was aware of them even as Grayson hugged me.

They were all around us. There had to be about 8 people behind me. Behind Grayson there were more. They were hiding. Silent movements. It was an ambush!

It was a fucking ambush! How many assassins had the Assembly sent.

"Get down!" I told Grayson.

I pushed Grayson away from me. He seemed shocked that I was so strong when he fell back into the chair. Just at that moment someone was coming up behind me. I could feel there hands almost at my shoulder.

I didn't hesitate.

My back thrust into them, surprising them. A hand dangled over my shoulder. I grabbed the hand. He was mine now. He was mine!

I tossed the hand over my shoulder flipping the person through the air. In the following seconds as the body was flipped right in front of me I had managed to grab the knife tucked in the back of my shirt and before he even hit the floor the knife was at the man's throat.

"SUPRISE!!!!!!!!"

The lights in the restaurant had flickered on. I looked around.

Not assassins. No. they were far from assassins. They were familiar faces. Some of my colleagues were there. Some of the models that Grayson worked with were there. The majority of the people that were in the restaurant however were Grayson's family. They weren't even local family either. Some of these people were his family from far away. He had only shown me pictures of a lot of them. They must have flown in or something. Grayson's parents were there behind me. His dad had an open mouth. Grayson's mother had a glass but she dropped it.

It shattered on the floor.

Grayson was shaking his head in shock, "Dez...Dez...that is my grandfather..."

There had to be about 40 people in the room. All 40 of them watched as I had a KNIFE to Grayson's grandfather. I had it pressed. The old man was standing there breathing heavy looking like he was a minute away from a heart attack. My face got red. I wanted to run out of there. I was so embarrassed. I could see his mother not too far away. She looked stunned.

How the fuck could I have made this mistake?

Grayson had thrown a party. It was an surprise engagement party. It was supposed to be a celebration but it had ended up with an ambulance being called. I had dislocated his grandfather's arm when I tossed him over my shoulder. I never was so embarrassed in my life. I just felt completely shocked. Everyone kind of came over to give me a weak congratulations after that. A part of me knew that I had fucked up. I knew as soon as I saw everyone leaving as soon as they had said their piece.

I found myself walking outside trying to see where Grayson had disappeared to. I hadn't seen him since I tossed his grandfather.

"I think you are making a mistake," his mother had said.

I was spying on them before I knew it. I was extremely quiet. I knew they wouldn't hear me coming up. The majority of the guests that Grayson had invited had left probably because of how awkward things had become.

"I love him Mom," Grayson told her.

"He is...honestly I don't know what he is. Do you see what he did to your grandfather? Grayson, sweetie. I know you like the strange but there is something...wrong here. Doesn't it concern you even a little bit."

"It was an accident. Does Dez concern me? No. He doesn't. What concerns me is that you aren't being supportive. That is what really gets underneath my skin."

"He doesn't have family, Grayson. Even you told me that he is cryptic about his past. I just worry. I just worry that you don't know what you are getting yourself involved in."

I stopped listening. A part of me knew that Grayson would stay there and argue with his mom on my behalf but a part of me just wished it wasn't like that. She had a point. Grayson didn't know what he was getting himself involved with. A mother always seemed to know. She was wrong though. I did have a family. I had a family somewhere but I couldn't go back to them. It was no doubt Tom had his people all over her. If I ever went back home he would find me almost immediately.

When we got home Grayson was laying on his stomach. He was silent. The room was dimly lit. Grayson had decorated the house like the American dream. I told him that I just wanted to be normal, so he gave me that. He had decorated the house like every normal house would be.

I sat on his back playfully but Grayson was acting like he was reading a book. I knew that he wasn't paying attention to me on purpose. I knew that he was upset. He had defended me to his mother but I knew that he wouldn't let this go. I wanted him to. I just wanted to forget who I was. I wanted to forget all the training I had. It was impossible though. I was a weapon. I couldn't help it.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked.

"No."

He was lying.

I found myself trying to get him to break out of it. I slowly pulled his pants down. Grayson had one of those fat muscular asses. I wanted to try something different. Usually he did me but today I wanted to see what he tasted like. I found myself going down there head first licking at the tiny short hairs right outside of his ass before getting deeper. I put my tongue in the crack of his ass. I licked around in circles. Grayson was paying attention to me now. He had stopped reading his book and instead started moaning.

"Oh...god..."

"You like that?"

My tongue got deeper into him. I pulled the ass further apart. My hands separated them and I held the ass cheeks apart. Grayson's moans got louder and louder but then all of a sudden he pulled away. He grabbed at the waistline of his pants and he pulled them up.

"I'm not in the mood right now," he stated.

Grayson had never turned down sex. He was always the one who initiated sex honestly. The fact that he was turning down sex now felt like a blow. It was clear that he was pissed.

"OK, say what you have to say."

"You assaulted my grandfather."

"I thought he was attacking us. I thought he was coming at us..."

"That's the problem," Grayson stated shaking his head, "This isn't the first time something like this has happened. You remember what you did to the UPS guy right..."

I had made the UPS guy piss his pants once when I threw a knife at him for opening the front door unannounced.

"Look. I just don't like surprises."

Grayson shook his head, "Troy...who are you? You can't just ignore this anymore. I want to know what this is about. Who are you? Please tell me."

I turned over in bed. I laid in there. My back faced him. Usually we cuddled at night. Usually things were a little warmer than they were now. Right now everything was cold.

"If I told you...I would have to kill you."

Grayson didn't say anything else about it. I wasn't sure if he thought I was joking or if I was telling the truth. I knew that regardless of whether he thought I was joking or not, the dynamics of our relationship was changing. I had to figure out how to save it but I wasn't sure. My 'normal' life which I had fought so hard to obtain was unraveling slowly but surely. I looked down at the ring that Grayson got me. I wouldn't let it go. I couldn't let it go.

The next day class wasn't the same. I was supposed to be demonstrating how to make a proper souffle. I didn't even need my knife set but it was there anyway. There was something wrong in the room and I knew just by glaring around the room once that they had found me. I had not been imagining it. I had not been imagining what they they'd found me.

"There will be no class..."

"We have off today?" Christina asked.

"Christina you will be filling in for the rest of the semester. Something has come up."

Something was wrong in this room. I could feel it in my bones. I felt them before I even saw them. I felt them watching me. I felt them scattered around the auditorium watching me with baited eyes.

They waited.

They were lions gathered together to take me down.

They waited to sink their claws into me and drag me back into that lifestyle.

The students started leaving the room. They seemed excited that there was no class today but more confused that I wouldn't be teaching for the rest of the term. I looked over at Christina who walked over to me. She seemed the most confused. She had been a good assistant this school year. I would miss her. I would miss most the way that she admired me. She admired me for my cooking. She admired me for the one thing that I was put on earth to do.

"Mr. Page, I don't understand," Christina started, "You are the youngest and most talented chef in the school. Why would you just quit midterm?

I didn't look back at her. My eyes hadn't raised up as of yet. I was examining the blades underneath me. I was looking at them. All my knives laid out. I had been preparing for this moment. I never went too far without my knives.

Cleaver knife, bread knife, boning knife, chef's knife, carving knife and the paring knife were polished and right below me.

"Leave. Close the door," I told her.

Troy Page was usually warmer to Christina. Troy Page was a lot kinder to Christina. I wasn't Troy Page at this moment though. I had to remember this other personality that was inside of me.'

Code name Desire...

Christina walked out of the room almost seeming upset that I spoke to her like that. She would forgive me someday. It was for her own good that she had left like that. She did what I said walking out of the room and closing the door behind her.

All my students had left the auditorium but there were still 4 people. They had scattered on each corner of the auditorium. Maybe they thought I wouldn't have noticed them scattered around my students like that but I had.

"Oh my god. You really are alive! Desire!"

It was Craving. He was in the front seat all the way to the right of the auditorium. He started towards me. He had a smile on his face. He looked like he was about to embrace me.

I took out my carving knife before he got withing 3 feet and pointed it at him without even looking at his face. He stopped in his footsteps and put his arms up.

"Stay back."

Craving seemed hurt. I might as well have stabbed him from the look of confusion on his face. I had never pointed a knife at him before. He knew what I was capable of doing with my knives however. I was cook, that was true but I was one of the deadliest assassins when I had my knives.

"Desire...it's me...I'm your best friend."

It hurt to threaten him like this but I knew that I wasn't going back...no matter what.

"I'll kill you if you take another step, Craving."

"That wouldn't be smart."

The person who was talking was Allure. She was all the way in the upper left hand corner of the Auditorium. She had a sniper's rifle in her hand. It was a full sniper rifle that she had taken out of a gym bag. The rifle was perched up on the desk and aimed towards me. They had brought the heavy machinery. I looked in the reflection of the chef's knife that I had pointed at Craving. A red dot was right in the middle of my forehead.

"So they sent the entire team. How interesting," I replied.

Allure was in the upper left hand corner. In the same column towards the front was Love. He didn't seem to have any weapons but I knew love was a tricky little bastard. There was a reason he had sat up front. It would be hardest to hit him if I threw my knife. Love used to be in the circus and was a master of evasion. He could contort his body in ways that I'd never seen before. He was more comfortable flipping through the air than he was walking on his own feet. He would be a problem....

I had to move. I had to think of something fast. Allure's dot was right on my head.

"Don't make me do this, Desire. You know I don't miss."

She was right. She didn't. She was the best sharpshooter in the Assembly. I looked over at the other corner of the room. It was him. It was my ex. I tried not to stare at him too long. My heart was racing the most when I saw him. I turned away though before I could look too deeply into his blue eyes. I knew I would get lost in them if I did. I couldn't get lost in them.

He was sitting there quietly, as he usually did. He hadn't changed even a little bit in the last 6 years. He was still Urge; awkward, quiet and dangerous.

Craving seemed to be off his guard. Maybe it was because of the fact that we were best friends at some point. He did the dumbest thing. He moved closer towards me holding his hands up. Did he forget that I was a killer? Had he lost his edge? No...Craving was smart. By the look of it Urge must have never told them that I escaped. He must have told them that I was still alive. I knew why Urge did it. He didn't trust anyone. He was trying to save me. Now here he was with the rest of them trying to bring me back.

Never!

Craving was experienced and he had come close...much too close. Experience didn't mean that he was any less emotional when it came to me.

"Wait, Allure! What the fuck!" Craving was antsy and clearly upset, "You brought your rifle? Have you lost your mind? This is Desire! This is our friend---"

Before he said another word I had managed to run up behind him. Allure had shot. She had shot her gun at me. She hardly ever missed her targets even as fast as I was. She must have been trying to startle me or something. The shot was muffled but it was still loud. Luckily it was the early morning and not a lot of people were in the school.

I was behind Craving now.

I had a sharp paring knife at his throat.

Love was on his feet now. He looked like he was about to come at me but he was wary. He must have noticed that I was ready for him. I had taken two knives out. One for Craving and one for him. I knew the tricky little bastard would get up. I was worried about that. I would have to be precise when I threw the knife at him. I would have to be lucky. It would be hard to hit him and I would have to make sure the knife I threw at him killed him.

Urge still hadn't moved. He still hadn't said anything.

"I will not go back."

"Desire. Please. Please calm down. It's me...it's Craving remember?"

"What's happening right now is that I will have walk out of here with Craving. If you guys follow me, I will slit his throat. If you think that I have gotten soft in these years we've been apart you are wrong. I've been practicing. I've been ready for this. I am leaving town."

A voice came from the door, "I'm sorry. We can't let you do that.

Heels.

The heels clicked several times as the decadent Lust walked into the room. She had grown even more mature, classy and posh in the years that came. She had on red lipstick and looked like some sort of small waist cartoon character. She walked close to me but she wasn't like Craving. She was smart enough not to move too close. She took off her gloves and shoved them in her pocket.

"I'm not going back," I told her and turned to all of them. My eyes connected with Urge finally, "You'll have to kill me."

It was the showdown I knew was coming and I was prepared for it no matter how many of them I had to take down.

If I had to I would kill Lust, my mentor. I would kill Love and Allure. I would kill my old best friend Craving.

And I would take him down...Urge....the love of my life.

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