Assassins Absolutino 4
AA4
“Love...Love can you hear me?” I'm asking.
“He's passed out,” Urge tells me.
Urge is right. Love is passed out. It's clear that he took some damage. He may have used all his energy to make it here to tell us that Allure was taken. The more I think about it the more I get a little worried.
The fact that someone has our friend is creeping me out. I don't know who it is. I don't know what they want but I'm scared to death. I don't have many friends. Allure was more than a friend to me. She was more like a sister.
“It was just a matter of time,” Craving says.
It's odd how he says it. Craving is looking down at Love and I can tell that he knows something. I'm not the only one who thinks it either. Urge notices. Urge turns to Craving and the look my boyfriend’s face gives my best friend is something very clear.
“What do you know?” Urge asks him.
Craving doesn't answer. He just stands there completely stiff. Something is up with Craving. He wasn't always the most responsible one but the way he's acting is so strange. The fact that he is ignoring Urge right now just seems a little weird to me. Urge doesn't seem to like it. He grabs Craving up at that moment. He slams him up into the door as hard as possible.
Urge repeats himself, harder and louder this time, “What do you know about the attack Craving?”
There is a knocking on the door. People outside are getting antsy. They are wondering what's going on. I can tell that they are going to start getting suspicious if we don't do something fast. I know that I have to.
I hear Denny. He's calling out for me.
I tap Urge on the shoulder attempting him to get him off of Craving.
“We have to get out of here. People are asking questions,” I state.
“Fuck them,” is Urge's response.
“Urge. This is our life now.”
Urge hesitates. I know my fiancé well enough to know that it's not like him to care about what other people think about him. The fact is a bloody man showed up at my engagement party. People outside were freaking out. Pleasantville didn't really seem like the kind of place things like this happened. These people had no idea what me and my friends had in our history. Truth is I didn't want anyone in Pleasantville to ever find out who we really were.
Urge nods at the minute, “I'll carry love.”
“I got him, ” Craving replies.
Maybe Craving feels responsible or something. I don't know what it is. All I know is that he scoops up Love and puts him in his arms. I get the door to see a crowd of people standing there. Truthfully half of these people I didn't even know. Some of the people were just from around town. Pleasantville was a small town though. Word must have gotten out that it was a party and sure enough people felt welcomed to show up.
The stares on everyone's faces when Craving walks out with Love is interesting to say the least.
“Should we call the cops?” Denny asks, “Is that man OK?”
“He's fine,” I respond.
Craving makes a mad bolt towards the door. Urge is clearing a path for him through the crowd of nosy people in Pleasantville.
I turn to the crowd struggling to make this seem normal. Craving was too shaken to say anything to calm anyone down and Urge wasn't really exactly the social type. That left me. People are gathering around. I feel like this is probably the most excitement these people in the suburbs have had in their lives.
“Are you OK?” Denny asks me.
He seems legitimately worried. A few of Denny's friends have showed up and they seem to be standing at a distance. I'm assuming since they don't talk to me they are getting Denny to figure out what the hell is going on.
“He was in an accident,” I lie.
“More reason to call the ambulance,” Martina states.
A couple of people are nodding in agreement. Craving has left and I notice Urge has made his way back towards me. He is giving me a look telling me that it's time to go. I know Urge. He doesn't have the time to answer these people's questions. The problem is that I had the time. I needed to make the fucking time. These people were my life now. They were my neighbors. I had to make them feel comfortable.
“That actually won't be necessary,” I respond, “We are going to drive him to the hospital actually. I feel like it's quicker this way.”
“What about the car?” Martina asks.
“How about the guy?” Mr. Franklin states at that moment, “Listen. I don't know what kind of funny business you are involved in Tommy...”
“It's Thomas.”
“What?”
“My name is Thomas. Not Tommy,” I tell Mr. Franklin.
I guess that's not really my name either. That's not the point. Mr. Franklin is being annoying as usual and he's a natural bully. I think the guy believes he runs this town or something. Maybe that's why he invited himself to my fucking engagement party just to act like a dick head. What happens next is beyond annoying.
Mr. Franklin puts his finger in my chest, “Listen. I don't care what your name is. You owe us answers. And I think you're lying...”
A couple of people in the restaurant are turning towards me as well.
Urge rolls his eyes, “It's time to go.”
“He's not going anywhere,” Mr. Franklin responds.
I don't know what gets over my boss but he attempts to reach out to me and hold me back. He doesn't get that far. Urge trips him up and throws him to the ground in a matter of seconds. With an immediate ease the giant man is under Urge's shoe. Urge has his shoe locked into Mr. Franklin's throat. Mr. Franklin is choking underneath Urge. He's struggling to breathe. I'm starting to panic at that moment.
“Don't ever fucking lay a finger on my fiancé again,” Urge says.
“FUCK YOU!” Mr. Franklin yells out.
Urge's heel tightens down on Mr. Franklin. Mr. Franklin gags for air.
“Urge stop,” I state.
Urge ignores me. I see that look in his eyes. I've seen the look a million times. I knew it would be a problem if Mr. Franklin came here. Mr. Franklin had a big problem invading other people's spaces because of his size. Maybe it was also the fact that he was the owner of a majority of the diners in Pleasantville. He thought he was big shit and he probably was in this small town. Urge didn't take really well to threats, regardless of how big the guy was.
“Whoa. Get off him. He can't breathe,” Denny says before getting a little tough, “Hey! Hey did you hear me? I said he can't breathe!”
Denny and his friends take a few steps forward. They have Denny's back it looks like. They are going towards Urge. Big mistake. I get in the way of them and hold out a hand. I look at Urge. His blue eyes are the eyes of a killer right now. He's thinking about killing Mr. Franklin in front of all of these people. If anyone made the wrong move he would kill them too. I knew Urge. I knew those blue eyes. When they got cold in the way they were cold right now there was nothing that was going to stop him.
I get close. I know better than to touch Urge too fast when he gets like this. I approach him slowly and put my lips close to his ear.
“Urge look at me. Baby. Remember where we are,” I tell him, “Look at me. Baby. Look at me.”
Slowly I touch him. Urge turns to me. The coldness leaves at that moment. He takes a slight breath and releases Mr. Franklin who starts frantically gagging for air. I see a few people huddle over Mr. Franklin wondering what the hell the fight was about in the first place.
Urge grabs onto my arm.
“It's time to go.”
No one tries to stop us this time...
~
I can barely sleep that night. Craving stays up watching Love in one of the guest bedrooms to make sure he's OK. That night I have dreams that I am back at the Assembly. I remember the training. Those who didn't make the cut were killed. So many times I almost came close to losing my life. I wanted to move past that. I wanted to be a new person now.
“Shh...it's OK,” I feel a body next to me.
Urge is cuddled up next to me. He is spooning me. The morning sun is coming inside.
“Sorry...”
“Usually I'm the one who has the nightmares,” Urge states.
He's right about that. Urge presses his face down in my hand. It's so nice in a way waking up to him. His muscular arms are holding me. His breath is up against the back of neck. A lot of the times he puts his leg over me as though afraid that I'm going to escape in the middle of the night. Urge claims me like no one has ever claimed me before.
“Both of us lived through some bad things. Not just you,” I explain to him.
I say it with a little bit of an attitude. I know why. The way he reacted last night was beyond called for. Urge knows me well enough to know that right now I have an attitude with him. Maybe that's why he gets quiet for a while.
After a few silent minutes he whispers, “I'm sorry. I'll do better next time. I'll try harder not to resort back to my old ways.”
I turn around to look at him. He's still right in front of my face. My breath probably smells a little bit because it's morning but Urge never seems to care about anything like that. He doesn't move when I talk. He just stays there and probably inhales deeper taking every part of me in. The way he looks at me makes me feel like I'm the only man in the world.
“It's OK,” I tell him.
“No... it’s not. I'm a monster,” Urge states, “I'm trying to be something you want me to be but baby...what if I can't do better next time? I just have this urge to kill...”
It would sound so weird to other people but I understood Urge. Urge had grown up to be a killer. The way he had always been rewarded was through killing. To all of a sudden change that and become someone else wasn't an easy task.
“I was kidnapped when I was a teenager by the assembly,” I explain, “I wasn't born into it like you. I watched for a long time. I showed certain proficiencies that I didn't even know I had. Then all of a sudden they took me. I was Jonathan back then. You know what's scary sometimes about the past?”
“What?”
“I don't even remember it. I can't remember my mother's voice. I thought about looking for her but I can't. She thinks I'm dead and I think it's OK. Do you know that I had a boyfriend back then? When I was taken. I can't even remember his name...”
No matter how much I try I can't remember it. The Assembly does that during the first few months you are taken. They make you forget everything that you've ever known. They remake you into someone else. No. Not someone else. Something else. They turn you into a weapon. They turned me into the knife specialist Codename Desire.
I'm crying hard at that moment. I had family. I had friends. I had a boyfriend. All of that was robbed from me almost like it never existed.
“It doesn't matter,” Urge says, “Any boy you dated before me doesn't matter. You've found love. We have each other now. I'm your family now.”
Urge leans into me. He does the sweetest thing ever. He licks my tears. I laugh a little bit but I don't think Urge means to be funny. He probably doesn't mean to be sweet either. The reason I have the reaction I do to him is because he does these things without even knowing he does them.
“Man I love you so much,” I tell him.
“Nothing will ever get between that,” he explains.
Urge leans over and kisses me. His tongue goes down my throat. We are kissing hard at that moment. That's when he does something that he usually doesn't do. He leans me up against the bedpost and starts going down on me. He licks my nipples. He licks my sides. He keeps creeping lower and lower.
I look down and see Urge as he gets to my crotch area. The whole time his beautiful blue eyes look up at me. Then he takes my dick out. His pink lips pucker up and he starts to suck my dick. His mouth is warm. He uses teeth a little but not too much. I feel my heart thumping harder as he bobs his head up and down on my dick. His tongue slips up and through my pee hole. He tastes the precum in his mouth and swallows a little. He takes my dick out of his mouth and slaps it against his tongue. This isn't like Urge to be submissive but I know that he wants to make me feel better and this is making it work.
“Damn baby...”
He sucks me up harder and harder. I am struggling to maintain myself but he uses both hands to keep me pinned to the bed! His lips get tighter! Spit is dribbling down his mouth! The shaft of my penis is wetter. The friction is making things warmer.
“Cum for me baby,” he tells me, “Right in my mouth...”
That's all I need to hear. I release into Urge's mouth letting out a loud thick moan as I do it. I'm pulling at the bedsheets so hard as I deliver all my semen into his mouth. It goes down his throat and I watch Urge swallowing every last drop and jerking me off to make sure it all comes out. He tastes every last inch of me.
“Goddam...”
My heart is still beating fast. Looking at Urge I can't help it. The guy is beyond beautiful. That body and that face would make anyone just want to have sex all day.
“You're still hard,” he tells me, “Damn you're a challenge. I guess I'm just going to have to figure out a way to satisfy you this morning. And every morning after this for the rest of our lives.”
With that Urge takes off his shirt. He flexes his biceps and shoulder muscles. His eight pack of abs are popping out like some sort of work of art. His body literally looks chiseled. I realize that I love the idea of looking at this body every morning and knowing that he loves only me. With that Urge takes off his pants. He reveals himself to me at that moment. His dick is fully erect. He slides up between my legs.
His dick tip waiting at my puckering asshole as my legs rub around him. My ass is throbbing wanting to feel him inside of me.
That's when the door opens!
Urge jumps off me and takes and mad dash to the side of the bed. At first I think it's because of embarrassment but then I see he's drawn out a pistol from underneath the bed. He has it pointed at the person who has walked in on us. Urge is butt naked in the middle of my bedroom with a gun.
He realizes who it is just when I do.
“Craving, what the fuck?” I state, “Can't you knock?”
My best friend is standing at the door. He has this worried look on his face. I want to punch him for walking in on me and Urge. We weren't teenagers anymore. I was a grown ass man and I needed my privacy even if Craving and I were best friends.
“It's important?” Craving says, “Is he still going to keep that gun pointed at me? I didn't come here to kill you Urge. He's really not going to lose his gun is he? Desire---please get your psycho to stop pointing the gun at me.”
Urge isn't budging.
“Urge...” I state.
Urge lowers his weapon. He gets up. He has no shame of his nudity. Craving looks him up and down at that moment.
“Now I see why you don't care about the personality,” Craving says studying Urge's body, “You are literally dating a hard piece of wood. But at least it's carved out in all the right places.”
I laugh a little but Urge gives me a hard look and I go mute. He's not entertained by Craving even if it is some sort of backwards compliment. Truth was Urge's body put all of us to shame. Craving and I used to work out all the time back at the Assembly hoping we would just get a fraction of Urge's perfect body. It never turned out that way.
Urge could care less if anyone else finds him attractive. He walks over to the bed and wraps one of the extra sheets around his waist.
“Desire I'll let you catch up with your friend,” Urge states, “I'll go check on Love.”
“Actually you might want to stay. This involves you as well.”
Craving's face gets serious. I'm shocked actually. The guy is never serious. Maybe that's why Urge walks over to the dresser and leans up against it.
“What is it?”
“Can he put on a shirt?” Craving asks me, “It's kind of distracting when your boyfriend looks like that. I'm going to need to get on a diet. Do you know people use photo shop and can't even have a body like that...”
“Craving!”
“Ok. Ok. Listen. The attack that happened with Lust and Allure...it wasn't the first time.”
Urge and I exchange looks. I'm shocked by this. I've talked to Craving here and there throughout the years. He never mentioned anything about any attack.
“What?” I ask.
“I didn't want to tell you,” Craving explains, “I didn't want you to worry. We always got through it. It would be random places but we always made our escape.”
“How many times have you been attacked Craving?” I ask.
Craving gets silent.
He starts thinking about it! He's really THINKING about it.
“Dozens. These people are relentless. Movie theaters. Malls. Laundry mats. They attack everywhere and anywhere,” Craving says, “Never to kill. If they'd tried to kill us we'd probably be dead now. They want to take us.”
My heart is racing.
“Why didn't you tell me?” I ask Craving.
I'm a bit pissed. Why the fuck would he keep something like this from me?
Craving shrugged, “You sound like Love. He thought it was a good idea for us to go into the woods hiding like you and Urge. You and Urge never got attacked. I just didn't want to. I wanted to be...I don't know...”
“Normal?” I ask.
Craving nods, “Normal.”
I understand completely. There is this reasoning that I get with Craving that probably goes right over Urge's head. Urge just stands there seeming confused but I get it. Craving didn't want to go into hiding. He wanted to live his life the way he wanted to live it.
“Who are they?” Urge asks, “Is it the Assembly?”
Craving nods, “I think so. No one else is so relentless. Every few months they find us no matter where we go and what we change our names to. They track us. They find us. They attack. We always get away. Last time I talked to Allure she was worried they were onto her. She was right.”
Urge shakes his head. He's judging. I can tell.
“You're all idiots. We can never be normal,” Urge states.
Urge looks over at me. I know that face. It's that “I told you so” face. I hate that face. I look away at that moment. I'm pissed off that someone is proving Urge's point right now. I get butterflies in my stomach. I found a place where I'm safe. I'm happy here.
“We're safe here,” I explain.
“Are you fucking listening to him?” Urge asks me, “Coming here was a mistake! Being around other people was a fucking mistake!”
“Don't curse at me Urge,” I respond.
Urge stops talking. I know he's pissed but he needs to watch his tone. He takes a few deep breaths but at least he calms down. I'm kind of mad that Craving had to break this to Urge. A part of me wishes he had told me this in private. I can see Urge going back to his old ways almost immediately. I refuse to be dragged back into the woods living off the land for the rest of my life.
“I'll fix this. I'll find Allure and I'll kill them before they can find you,” Craving states.
“You know where to find them?” I ask.
“I'll start at the airport. I'll get clues. They aren't the only ones who can track. I'm leaving in an hour,” Craving states.
“I'm coming with you,” I reply.
Urge gets up, “The hell you are. I'm not going to have you in danger without knowing who our enemy is...”
“I'm not going to let Craving go by himself.”
“I'll go with him,” Urge responds, “You stay here. You watch Love. We can't leave him alone. We don't know who is out there.”
I agree. Reluctantly. Truth is I trust Urge more than I trust myself when it comes to fighting. I know that if it did come down to a fight Craving would be in better hands with Urge. I just hoped that Urge didn't end up being the one to kill Craving.
I watch Urge get dressed to leave. For some reason I see the excitement in his eyes. He wants to do this. I think the few days he's been in the suburbs he must be bored out of his mind or something. Maybe this was good to have him go out and do some reconnaissance and I wasn't talking about following middle aged women in the grocery stores who were looking at his butt. I think Urge needed something like this.
“Urge...” I state.
I'm at the door. Craven has a duffle bag. Knowing Craven his guns were in it. I wait until Craven walks out of the door and I turn to Urge.
“I know. I'm sorry for cursing at you but I need to let you know. If we don't figure out who the threat is then we don't have a choice,” Urge explains, “We have to go back...”
I take a deep breath. I knew he was going to say that. I knew he wasn't going to let it go.
I nod, “Ok.”
“Ok? You sure?” Urge says.
I nod, “Yeah. Go with Craven. Find out who the person is though. OK?”
Urge nods, “Ok.”
“And Urge?”
“Yeah?”
“Look out for Craven,” I explain, “He's not himself. He smiles a lot but I think he's going through what you and I are going through. The past is fucking with him.”
I keep thinking about Craven falling off the chair flat on his face at the engagement party. That wasn't normal at all. I look outside and Craven is waiting for Urge. He has a duffel bag in his hand.
“I can't believe you have me looking out for that idiot,” Urge states.
“That's our idiot though.”
Urge rolls his eyes, “Your idiot. Not mine. You're my idiot.”
Urge gives me a slight teasing laugh before leaning over and giving me a kiss. He throws the last case of ammo into his suitcase. With that Urge puts on a baseball cap and walks out of the door.
“So how was it living with the man himself all of those years?” Love states.
Love and I just leave the hospital. Love is still the same. He's short...probably one of the smallest boys I know. I have to admit that he is handsome though. He is slimmer than Craving, Urge and I. He doesn't look like much of a threat. He looks like some bitesize Latino that you'd probably say “aw” too if you saw him walking around. Don't let that fool you though. Love was an assassin. He had more experience than all the rest of us at that. You would never be able to tell by the way he leans up and gives me a knowing smile like a gossiping school girl.
“Living with Urge. It's complicated...” I reply.
I'm pushing Love through the streets of Pleasantville. We get him a wheelchair because his knee is sprained. I think he would have done well enough with crutches but he's being a drama queen. Love has always loved being a little dramatic at times.
“You're lucky. He kept you safe,” Love states, “Better than what I can say about the rest of us. Craving is so reckless. You have no idea.”
“What happened between you two?” I ask.
Love pauses. Usually you can't stop Love from telling his personal business. After so long that we haven't been around each other I knew that he would love to go on a walk around the neighborhood and talk about it. It gets weird when we get to Craving though. He shuts down almost like he would rather talk about anything else.
“Let's just say you are lucky you ended up with Urge. You're lucky he kept you safe.”
Love stares away. Weird.
Love always had a crush on Urge back in the day. I was well aware of it. They even had a slight thing when Urge and I weren't together. It was the past though. It was history. It didn't bother me. I ended up with Urge and Love ended up with Craving. That's all that mattered.
“Luck?” I ask, “We were in the woods away from mankind. Luck had nothing to do with it.”
Love shrugs, “You never know Desire. I mean Thomas. Allure intercepted a message from one of the assassins. He killed himself before he could finish but supposedly three of them found out where you were hiding. They were headed there.”
“Three assassins?”
“Yeah. Supposedly were going to make out like they were just hiking and then take you guys in,” Love tells me, “Can you believe it? We were going to warn you but Allure figured Urge had it under control.”
I pause. The three men in the forest. Could it be?
“Hey Love?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you not tell Urge about that?” I ask.
Love gives me a suspicious look, “Trouble in paradise?”
I pause.
“Let's just say I'm not as lucky as you think I am.”
Love nods. We are so different as far as people but I think we get it. Relationships are complicated. Whatever is going on between him and Craving is just as complicated as what has been happening between Urge and I.
I end up back at the restaurant. We walk there. Love doesn't seem to mind making a slight detour from our walk. He keeps saying how much he likes Pleasantville. I didn't really figure him out for that kind of person. Love was loud. Before he was an Assassin he used to be in the circus. I figured now that the Assembly was gone he would have went to do some performances in Vegas for some exotic circus covered in glitter and body paint. I didn't think Pleasantville was really the place for a guy like him. I'm wrong.
“I can get used to this. Sexy business men are everywhere. What is the name of this place?”
I shrug, “I don't know. I mind my business.”
“The name outside. It says Steele. Maybe they make steel. Or at least men with steel dicks ha. These are the kind of men you start a family with. Not the kind we are stuck with,” Love states and laughs.
I roll my eyes, “Pretty sure Steele is the name of the owner or something.”
He's looking around at the guys at the corporation. They definitely are sexy to say the least. We walk past Denny and his friends. I watch as Love winks at them. Denny waves and gives a slight smile. I pretend like it’s nothing but when he starts walking towards me I keep rolling faster away. The last thing I wanted to do was have a conversation about what happened last night at the engagement party.
I head into the backroom of the diner and shut the door behind me.
“Everything OK?” Martina asks me.
“Everything is good,” I respond, “Martina this is my friend um...”
Fuck. I didn't know a name for Love.
“Enrique,” Love says, probably pulling the name out of his ass.
“Hola, como estas?” Martina asks Love.
“Bien, y tu?” Love responds.
The two start going back and forth in Spanish for a few minutes. Whatever Love is saying to Martina is getting her to blush a little bit. Love is a flirt. Man or woman didn't matter to him. You put Love in a room with someone and he was most likely going to try to seduce them. That's just the kind of person he was. That is what made him so dangerous back in the day. He was good with his words. He could go undercover, get close to someone and slit their throat without them knowing.
“Sorry to interrupt,” I state when Love reaches over to kiss Martina's hand in his rico suave way, “Martina do you know where Mr. Franklin is. I wanted to talk to him about what happened last night.”
“He's upstairs in his office,” Martina responds.
“I'll head up there.”
Love gives me a wink, “Go ahead. I'll stay down here. Keep Martina company.”
Craving would be pissed that I was letting Love run wild but truth was he had just brought a date to the dinner yesterday so I wasn't too worried. The thing about the people at the Assembly is that we were all bisexual or at least had bisexual tendencies. It was one of the requirements for the assassins at the assembly. It wasn't beyond normal for Craving or Love to be with each other one minute and then with a girl the next.
I'm actually glad to get away from Love for a minute. It's not that he's annoying but he can definitely be a lot to handle especially after years of living with Urge who barely spoke at all.
I head upstairs and knock on Mr. Franklin's door.
“Mr. Franklin...”
I knock again. I open the door. Mr. Franklin is in there talking to someone.
“Thomas. There you are. We need to talk about last night.”
“That's exactly why I came in here,” I state, “I wanted to apologize for---I'm sorry...I'm being rude. Did you want to finish up this meeting?”
The girl who Mr. Franklin is talking to is standing in the middle of the room. I'm already pissed that I have to come in here and apologize for what Mr. Franklin probably deserved. I didn't want to do it in front of someone else.
Mr. Franklin looks annoyed that the girl is there, “I'm sorry but we aren't hiring young lady. You're going to have to come back later. I have to talk to my employee.”
“I received the notification a few months ago that you weren't hiring. I'm sorry, I just decided to try to re-apply.”
“Well you go through the manager. I'm the owner. You're in luck. There he is. Hand him your resume.”
“I don't have a resume actually but...”
“Then stop wasting our time,” Mr. Franklin shuts her down.
Mr. Franklin is such a dickhead. I feel bad for the girl. She is young probably around Martina's age. She looks a little nervous too. I walk over to her and give her a smile.
“You said you applied a few months ago. It was probably before I started. How about we just start with your name and maybe set up a time we can meet...” I respond.
Mr. Franklin gives me a look. He doesn't like me going over his head with things but like he said. I was the manager. He was just the owner.
The girl gives me a warm smile, “My name is Martina Garcia.”
I can hear a pin drop at that moment. Mr. Franklin is the one who breaks it up with a little bit of laughter or something.
“What is this some sort of joke? Another Martina Garcia? Small world. I didn't know that was a common name especially in Pleasantville. Thomas what do you? Thomas? Thomas what the hell is wrong with you? Thomas!”
I leave.
I run down the staircase. I'm running past a few people. I make it into the lobby. Just as I make it to the lobby I see Denny and his friends. Denny waves me down in an attempt to try to stop me. I ignore him and keep going.
I get to the diner.
I open up the door.
She's standing there. She's sitting on Love's lap. Love is flirting heavy with her.
“Get off him,” I state.
She looks over at me. She doesn't have any weapons but we are in a kitchen for god sakes. There were weapons everywhere. Only one of us were going to get out of here alive. I knew that much.
“What's up with you...” she starts out.
She almost looks believable. Almost. Her innocent eyes and her smile. She almost got away with it. Hell she had been getting away with it for so long.
“Cut the act,” I respond stopping her, “The real Martina showed up. She's upstairs wondering if we are still hiring. Supposedly the position she applied to a few months back was filled. She got a call saying that she didn't get the job.”
Love's eyes get wide. He doesn't see it happen but within a matter of seconds the girl shoves a syringe into his leg. It must be potent because Love falls over and he's knocked out. The syringe is empty though when she gets off of Love.
She makes her way to the middle of the room.
“You know who I am?” she asks, “Interesting.”
She stretches. She cracks her neck. She's preparing herself. She had been prepared this whole time with that syringe she gave Love. I wonder if the syringe was really intended for me and I wonder when she was going to try to use it. Maybe she was waiting for me to drop my guard like Love just did. He was an easy target though. A guy in a wheelchair.
I wasn't going to be so easy. I move to the door and lock the door behind me.
“What's your codename?”
“Does it matter?”
“I want to know who I'll end up killing,” I respond.
She laughs, “I've always thought my codename fits me. It's an insatiable greed. A desire to gain and hoard wealth. I'm also greedy when it comes to my kills.”
There is something about her. I've fought others before but she's different. She must be part of the ones that came after Allure. She's here now for me.
“Your name?” I ask again.
“Codename Avarice.”
Avarice ties her hair in a bun. She's ready to fight. I look on realizing this would be no normal fight. This girl was good. One thing doesn't make sense to me though.
She had worked in this job a few months ago.
“You knew,” I realize, “You knew I was going to come to Pleasantville somehow. You knew before I showed up. You've been planning for me all along...”
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