Welcome back, all. Before we get started, I would like to inform you all that there is actually a dark contract comic made by my girlfriend at her tapastic page, /twolfcomics. It's called Scarlet Contract, and it centers on another contractor named Scarlet during the three year gap between books one and two. Check it out, now back to the show.

"C-Cindy?" asked Dwayne to his increasingly impatient captors.

"C'mon, Wilson," said Eddy, who walked up to the pinned teen. "Rack that pile of goop you call a brain. You know where she is."

"W-well, actually, I uh, don't-" Dwayne winced as Eddy's fist pounded into the wall next to his head, leaving a web of cracks in the stone. "I-I swear, man. I mean, I did bring her here, b-but not for the usual reasons…"

Eddy leaned into Dwayne's face. "Then why DID you bring her here?" he hissed. "And before you lie to me, just know that there are at least 23 different ways I can cause life altering damage to your body and mind right now." Eddy let a Cheshire grin spread across his face. "#17 is my personal favorite."

"Okay, okay!" Dwayne sputtered. "I-I had a few…debts to some people. They were gonna kill me unless I gave them somethin they wanted. Wh-when I asked em, they said they wanted a person. They had a human traffickin ring, and they wanted new flesh, so I…"

Eddy stepped back and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Wow…just wow," he mumbled.

"I swear I had no choice!" Dwayne shouted.

Ed turned to Eddy. "So what do we do with him?"

Eddy looked up at Ed, then back to Dwayne. Eddy pulled out his revolver and pressed its considerably large barrel to Dwayne's head. "You're gonna go to the police," Eddy growled. "You're gonna turn yourself in, and you're gonna tell them everything you know. We'll know if you did any differently, and we will find you."

"E-everything?" asked Dwayne.

"Everything." Eddy holstered his gun and walked away. "Enjoy the nuthouse, Dwayne. Ed, put him down, let's go." Ed swiped his hand to the left, causing the arm of stone to crumble into dust. Dwayne landed on his butt and stayed there until Eddy and Ed were gone.

Eddy and Ed made their way back across the train yard to Double d, who was now standing in front of a completely cleaned out train car. Double d turned around to face his friends. "Cleaning crew just left," he said. "Find anything from our friend Dwayne?"

"He sold Cynthia up the river to be some crime lord's cock sock," Eddy said as he pulled out his phone. "We're gonna need to sweep all of the human trafficking channels in the city. With any luck, she hasn't been shipped out of the city yet."

"There's only one person who'd know all of that in a short amount of time," said Double d.

"And I'm looking him up right now," said Eddy, who's phone was now turned to GPS. "Looks like he's in 4th and Lancaster today." Eddy hung up his phone. "I can get there the fastest, I'll get back to you when I find something."

"We'll look up what we can in the meantime," Ed said with a thumbs up.

Eddy returned the thumbs up before creating another portal in the side of the train car. "See you both in a bit." With that, Eddy jumped through, and the portal closed behind him.

"So," said Ed. "Wanna grab some lunch?"

Double d smiled, adjusting his coat. "Of course."


The first rule you pick up when you become a contractor is that the world is WAY bigger than you originally thought, and much bigger than you. Though mankind's stumbling has all but erased their mark on the world, remnants of beings ascended far beyond human comprehension still linger to this day. Some lie in the folds of reality, preparing for their return to the mortal plain. Some have long since moved on, abandoning this universe as a lost cause altogether.

And some can be found behind the door of a bakery on 4th and Lancaster. Or at least, that's where Eddy's destination was today. Eddy stepped up to the door of "Dorian's Fabulous Fruit Pies", checking his GPS one last time. Reassured that he'd come to the right place, Eddy placed his fist to his mouth and cleared his throat. He then took that fist and knocked on the door five and one quarter times (you won't believe how long it took him to figure that one out) and said "Aperi, Culus!"

If you were an average passerby on that particular street of New Orleans that day, you wouldn't have seen the door opening for Eddy, nor Eddy stepping inside. In fact, you would've forgotten there was ever a teenager in a two piece suit standing in front of the door to that bakery. You would've just gone about your day as normal. Because, even if you aren't aware of it, some deep, instinctive part of your brain knows what just happened. And that part of your brain knows what's best for you.

As for Eddy, the door closed behind him, leaving him in the "Bizarre Bazaar". A sprawling city of boxes and crates that stretched into the horizon. Some boxes were stacked on top of each other until they towered several stories high, and others were simply just that big. Through the streets between these towering containers; clipboards, stacks of paper, and various items adorned with price tags floated about to unknown destinations. An endlessly organizing marketplace ready to supply any form of demand.

"Ah, the Vera boy," came words that seemed to ignore his ears and instead slither directly into his brain. Eddy turned around, coming face to torso with the master of the Bazaar: Lockjaw. A long, snake-like creature with equally long, bony claws for arms, no discernable legs that could be seen past the mangled disheveled rags on his body, and a gnarled, twisted, but unmistakably human face with a sewn up mouth. Lockjaw looked down at Eddy, rhythmically tapping the tips of his claws together. "It's always nice to do business with the contractors."

"Hello Lockjaw," said Eddy. "Creepy as always I see."

"As if you would expect any less," said Lockjaw, who gestured for a glass of wine to float into his hand. "So, how can I help you today? Finally come for that thermonuclear toaster oven? We're having a sale. Half off." Lockjaw held the glass to his neck, which opened its toothy maw for the alcohol to flow down.

"Actually, I'm here for information," Eddy said while reaching into the pocket of his coat. Eddy pulled out a small handful of glowing blue jewels. "I believe this will suffice as payment."

"Chrono crystals? Oh, you shouldn't have." Lockjaw gathered the crystals out of Eddy's hands and sending them away with a wave of his hand. In truth, Lockjaw already knew what Eddy had come for, and had already discerned the answer. "I have heard the name Cynthia Taylor on the minds of a local crime boss in this city. She, and many others were offered to me, but I've been keeping them on hold. Somehow I knew your company would come snooping about soon enough."

"Thanks for that, lockjaw," said Eddy with a curt bow.

"The girl is being held in a warehouse down by the docks. A pleasure doing business with you. Now get out." Lockjaw held up a bony finger to the door, which creaked open for Eddy. Eddy gave Lockjaw a wave goodbye and walked out of the store.

However, once outside, Eddy found that he was now several miles across the city. "What the-Hey, lockjaw!" But it was too late, the door closed on Eddy, knocking him down on his ass. The bizarre bazaar had moved on. "Fan-fucking-tastic," Eddy grumbled as he got up. Eddy pulled out his phone to check his GPS. He was now a good 20 miles across the city from where he'd went into the bazaar, and the GPS's of Ed and Double d put them about 50 miles away. Eddy rubbed his eyes and groaned. Too far away from where Double d and Ed were to make a portal, and it was still too bright outside to safely shadow travel there. Eddy switched his phone to the call function to ring up a taxi. "Kicking it old school, I guess…"

"Leaving so soon?" asked a figure from the alley behind him. Eddy froze, almost dropping his phone. Instead, Eddy put the phone away and turned around slowly to face the figure. Despite Eddy's internal hopes, it was exactly who he thought it was. Behind the rags and dirt and grime was the very reason Eddy was in this mess in the first place. "But we have so much catching up to do, I'd hate you to leave."

"Kevin…" Eddy snarled. Kevin let out a throaty, menacing chuckle as he drew a switchblade. Yep, Eddy still hated this shit-hole of a town…


During the first year of their time at Trotz, there were two sure-fire places you would find Double d when he wasn't on a mission; his room or the library. Eddy guessed correctly on the latter, finding his sock-headed friend sitting at a small desk in his own private corner of the labyrinthine gothic library. Despite the echoes of the soles of Eddy's shoes hitting the tile floor, Double d hadn't noticed him come up behind him. Double d was hunched over a piece of paper, his back blocking whatever he was writing from Eddy's vision. "Yo," he said to get his friend's attention. Double d practically jumped out of his seat with a startled "EGADS!" Eddy reeled back a bit from Double d's outburst. "Um, I can come back later."

Double d whipped around to face Eddy. "N-no, it's fine, really, you just startled me," he said. "Is there something you need?"

Eddy shrugged. "Nah, not really. Mostly bored, wanted to see what you were up to." Eddy stood on the tips of his toes to look past Double d and see what he was writing. "Writing a letter?"

Double d swerved back around and threw himself over the paper. "O-of course not," he sputtered out. "A-and who would I write to, if I was?"

Eddy cocked an eyebrow, crossed his arms, and tapped his foot. Double d sighed and dropped his head. "I was…writing a letter to my parents," he said. Before Eddy could warn him about the rules against such communication, he continued. "I know we're not allowed to, that's why I don't send them. But I…I miss them so much, okay?" Double d turned back to the desk and stared longingly down at the letter below him.

Eddy laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I know I…I miss my folks too," he said.

Double d didn't look up, merely continuing to stare at the letter. "We're fugitives back home, Eddy," he said quietly. "No matter how many times I say it out loud, it doesn't feel any more real."

Eddy pulled up a chair and sat next to his friend. His hands laid limp on his knees as he searched for something to say. "Well," he finally said. "If we're lucky, they'll give up and move on with their lives."

"Some of them, maybe," Double d practically whispered. "Others aren't that lucky…"


After a year and a half of being trapped in the armpit of Louisiana, abandoned by everyone he knew and a failure in his goal, here was his prize, just standing in front of him, in his alley, in a two piece suit. His black hair was neatly combed and a groomed moustache crowned his lips. But it was him, undeniably. Kevin circled around Eddy slowly, waving his blade around. "You've done well for yourself," he said.

"Wish the same could be said about you," Eddy replied as he loosened his tie and cuffs.

Kevin chuckled. "Yeah, the little dorky's moved up in the world."

"Meanwhile you're still the same entitled jerk-off jock as ever, only now I believe the outside matches the inside." Kevin lunged forward, holding the tip of his knife against Eddy's cheek. The little bastard didn't so much as flinch. If anything, Eddy looked bored. "Can we hurry this up? I have actually important stuff to take care of."

"You have some nerve calling me a bastard," Kevin growled. "I'm not a murderer like you. At least, not for another few seconds!" Kevin drew back the knife and thrust it at Eddy's torso. Before Kevin could even register what was happening, he was thrown against the wall of the alley. Kevin shook his head to realign the planet, but when he looked up, he only found the barrel of a very large revolver greeting him.

"Wow," said Eddy. "I actually used to be afraid of you." Eddy pressed the barrel closer against Kevin's head, pushing his head against the wall. "Like I said, I have important stuff that needs doing, so I'll be brief: Give up. Give up on me, double d, and Ed, and go home. I'm fully aware of what I've done, but it's out of both our hands now. The best thing you can do is forget you ever knew me." Eddy holstered his pistol in his coat and pocketed his hands as he walked away. "It's over Kevin. Goodbye."

Kevin forced himself to his feet, not content to let 3 years of searching and suffering go to waste, now that the goal was finally right in front of him. "Jimmy is dead because of you," he said. Eddy stopped, but did not turn to face him. "And for that, I will hunt you to the ends of the earth."

Eddy turned his head halfway to him. "I know…" With that, Eddy walked out into the street, right as a taxi pulled up to meet him. Kevin could only watch as the man responsible for tearing his life apart stepped into a cab and drove away, leaving him in a cloud of smoke.

Kevin's legs gave out from under him, sending him down on his butt. He watched as the cab drove further down the street and rounded a corner, disappearing from view. His hand, in the process of trying to push him to his feet, found a decently large discarded shard of glass laying on the ground. Kevin looked down, seeing his reflection in the glass. For the first time in years, he took a really good look at himself. Kevin almost felt like chuckling.

He failed years ago. The memo just arrived late…