Cracked Glass chapter 3

Ah, chapter 3! Eddy's turn to tell the next part of the story!

Benny: This should be good.

TheElegantShadow- Demon Anarchy is not really much of a cult. I don't want to spoil anything else so no comment on that topic. Eddy not taking money does make some sense. If you had to either take everyone's money but end up in jail for kidnapping, murder, attempted murder plus armed robbery or not take anybody's money and get away, which one would you choose? Even the money and candy-obsessed Eddy would pick the latter.

Oh, and I almost forgot. Ryder has black hair and green eyes while Conrad has reddish-brown hair and hazel eyes. Sorry about that.

So Sockhead already started with the beginning. I'll go on with it.

Anyway, the next morning, Ed and I headed over to Double D's house to get him to go to this stupid emo meeting. We found Double D in his kitchen, making breakfast.

I walked over and said "Morning, Double D."

Ed bear hugged Double D and said "Good morning, Double D. Are we gonna speak with the brain suckers?"

Double D replied, stuttering "Well, fellows, I am not sure that this is a good idea. We don't know what we're getting into with these people."

I rolled my eyes and thought "Really, Double D? What about you recording and showing junk?"

I said "Come on, Double D. We're gonna be fine. Right, Ed?"

Ed replied "I'm ready to help the vampires, Eddy!"

Double D sighed and said "Fine, I will go with you two to this...meeting. But we should prepare for what's ahead."

I shoved my hands into my jacket pockets and sighed.

I asked "What are you talking about, Double D?"

Double D answered "I read the Demon Anarchy handbook last night before I went to sleep. According to its rules, we have to go through a fairly long period of training. This training has me concerned as we have to engage in conversation and trust those two boys we met just yesterday."

Double D had a point. If what he said was true, then that means that we have to trust those emo freaks who we've only known for a day. That doesn't just sound creepy, it feels creepy too.

Ed said "I like training, Double D. It's like what the army went through before they fought the tall Egg Monster."

Double D replied "That would be Godzilla, Ed and this type of training seems much different than that."

I said "Maybe but we're wasting time here. Let's just go to these losers and get it over with. The sooner we do, the faster we can set up our next scam."

Yeah, I can just imagine the loot we could have gotten from the suckers that day. Hell, I still do and maybe we could have done our scam earlier in the day. It wouldn't have made much of a difference.

We headed out to where we met Rocky and Colin yesterday. I'm glad Double D remembered what it was because I sure didn't and neither did Ed. I mean, those two didn't exactly give us a map or even just directions.

We saw them standing there but they looked different. They looked a little less like goths and a little more like normal kids. Ryder wore some black rock or punk T-shirt under a jacket with camouflage pants plus that dumb cap and his emo friend wore a dark blue shirt with jeans.

Ryder said "So you three actually decided to show up, huh? Lucky for you rejects, this is the first day of training. Enjoy it because it will become harder after today."

I scoffed and replied "You're in a goth army and we're the rejects? I don't think so, jerk."

Ryder raised an eyebrow and said "Since you almost didn't make it, yes. Anyway, our first day of training is to establish a bond between you grunts and us. That means we're gonna talk to all three of you."

That's all this training thing is? Just talking about stuff? If I wanted to, I would have hung out with Lumpy and Double D. But you know what, I didn't know the way back and none of us wanted to be beaten up again. Besides, I'll admit I was a little curious about this whole thing.

Conrad said "OK, we'll start. I'm Conrad Hayes and I have been a member of Demon Anarchy for 2 years now. I'm a 10th grade student and I'm good at fighting, apparently."

Ryder replied "I'm Ryder Jefferson and I have also been a member of Demon Anarchy for about 2 years. I'm also a 10th grader and I'm not too fond of pricks and stuck-up jerks. It's your turn, grunts."

The three of us looked at each other. Ed was excited, Double D was nervous as usual and I just didn't care. Sockhead, wanting to play diplomat, went first.

Sockhead said "I'm Eddward Kelner but my associates call me Double D. I enjoy knowledge and enjoy peace and order." before he looked at me and Ed.

Ed said "Greetings, vampires! I am Ed! I like gravy and buttered toast and movies and drawing."

Great. I'm the last guy left to do this stupid introduction. What am I supposed to say?

I said with my usual confidence "I'm Eddy Lachlan and I like money and jawbreakers. I'm a sly guy who sets up good scams."

Ryder looked at the three of us and replied "Let's review your intros, first with Double D. It seems good and it shows your strengths but you're lacking something in it. As for the big guy, his was alright but the vampires thing won't earn him any favors in this organization. Shortstop, I only have one thing to say about yours. How are your scams good?"

I gritted my teeth. My scams were good. Maybe I didn't like a lot of dough but that wasn't my fault. Double D and Ed were to blame for that. Anyway, I wasn't going to take a cheap shot from some loser dressed like an Army rockstar wannabe.

I replied angrily "They work since people are interested in them. I'd like to see you do any better, hotshot!"

Ryder smirked and said "A challenge from a grunt? That ought to be good. Come on, Conrad. Let's show these three how to pull off a real scam." before he and Conrad walked away towards the cul-de-sac.

Of course, we followed them. Double D wanted to see how it would turn out, I wanted to watch them crash and burn and Ed wanted to see "the vampires feast in the sunlight."

Ryder and Conrad were in the cul-de-sac setting up a stand out of wood. I had to admit they were doing well at setting it up. It looked like they almost knew what they were doing. The keyword is almost.

The two of them then headed into my house and into my kitchen and started taking out bowls and food. What the hell? First, they taunt us and now they're messing up my house! This sucks so much.

Now Ryder and Conrad had a bowl of chocolate goo that they asked to taste us so the three of us tasted a spoonful of it. Hey, free food is free so nobody is gonna turn it down.

Double D swallowed his with some trouble and said "I don't mean to sound rude, Ryder but this tastes horrid!"

Ed swallowed his with no problem and said "Chocolaty!"

I spat my spoonful out before I laughed and said "You're planning to serve this gunk to people? I can't believe I actually thought that this stuff would worry me."

Ryder rolled his eyes at me and replied "Look, we're gonna add some more sugar into the stuff and put it on top of or inside some cakes or cookies. That will solve things."

I shrugged with a confident smile on my face. There was no way that they could do this. But, still, I shouldn't have been so cocky. I didn't know that much about either of the guys and for all I knew, they could have pulled it off.

Two hours later, they had their cookies and cakes ready and some of the new chocolate gunk still in a bowl. Ryder made us taste the stuff again.

Conrad asked "What do you three think of it?"

Ed answered "This tastes great!"

Double D said "I have to agree with Ed. This does taste good. The warm, sweet chocolate should complement the soft, fluffy cake and the soft, chewy and delicate cookie."

I shrugged and answered "It tastes OK but I still think you guys won't be able to sell any of those and make money off it."

Conrad smiled and replied "We'll see. Come on, Ryder. Let's start putting these on plates and get them outside on the table."

They put the cookies and cakes on plates and started putting them on the stand along with this homemade lemonade they made. I honestly wanted to see how they would do because they might fail, like I said or they just might do it.

Ryder shouted to the kids walking by "Hey! Any of you want cookies?"

The kids headed over to the stand. It was Johnny, Jimmy, Ed's bratty sister, Nazz, Rolf and Shovelchin.

Jimmy asked "Are those cookies?"

Conrad nodded and answered "We have chocolate chip and snickerdoodle. Plus, we have cake and lemonade."

Sarah crossed her arms and asked "How much are they?"

Ryder answered calmly "Cookies are 2 bucks each. Cakes are 4 bucks each and the lemonade is $2.50."

Kevin said "How do we know you're not going to be like the dorks? They go and do scams like this too."

Conrad replied "Look, we're just trying to make some money. Do you think we'd ruin that with bad food?"

The kids seemed hesitant. Were they that uncertain of wanting cheap treats? Pretty soon, they got their cash out and exchanged it for cookies, slices of cake and lemonade. By the time the two of them were done, they had at least 20 dollars in their pockets. I was surprised. By making decent desserts and setting prices a little higher than the ones you'd get at a store or bakery, they managed to make a somewhat good amount of money.

Ryder said "Eddy, now that is how you do a scam."

I nodded, smirking and replied "Not bad but you're still not as good as us."

Conrad said "We're gonna see you three back at the location to start your actual training."

Ryder interrupted that with "Yeah and you better be ready because these other grunts don't seem like pushovers."

Double D, Ed and I split up from there and headed to our houses. What would this training be like, anyway?