Chapter ONE: Daniel Silverwhale

He crossed two streets and yet, there were no payphones or telephone booth in sight. Danny thought someone had hidden them from him, but that was stupid; those were his nerves speaking.

The thing was, he couldn't wait to dial up and tell his friends he was finally back, but at the same time, he wasn't sure what he was going to say. But the sooner the better, right?

"Damn it!" He thought when he swung his head left and right at the next corner and there was nothing there either.

That morning, rain had coated cars and glass windows in every shop and small business along the street with drops. Danny kept stepping on puddles whenever he took his eyes off the sidewalks, and he mentally flinched every time his own foot splashed water over the previous step; but otherwise he'd never find what he was looking for.

"One more street…" He promised himself looking at a bald man carrying wooden boxes from a delivery van. The man saw him staring and gruffly muttered something before rushing into the shop. "One more street, and I'll ask for directions."

He looked up to the left and –again– there was nothing, and when he was turning to look the other way, some guy came around the corner and they bumped on each other.

"Watch it!" Barked the boy, leveling a full glare down at him; he wore a blue sweatshirt with the hood over his head, a tuft of dark hair sticking out from underneath.

Danny stumbled a bit, but hurried to pick up something that fell from the hands of the stranger and slid on the pavement, it almost reached the ditch. "Sorry… Here." He said and handed over the small slipcase after he'd shook off the smear of muddy water and dabbed it up with the side of his jeans.

The boy hummed something but whatever it was, Danny didn't hear it. He was taking a step to the street when a hand gripped his wrist and pulled him back just in time.

Half a second later, a car zoomed by and sprayed water on both of them. "F-fuck"

"Damn, how are you still alive?" Snickered the hooded guy at the way Danny clutched his chest and panted with wide opened eyes.

The boy was few inches taller than Danny, and though he'd yelled at him, he didn't have the face neither the appearance of a bad person. Without the frown he wore when they knocked on each other he actually looked quite friendly and now, he didn't seem angry at all.

"Sorry about earlier. And thank you…" Danny spoke taking a step back; the boy noticed this and let go of his hand. The sparks of interest Danny had seen in his eyes faded at this. "Wait!" He said rather loudly when the other muttered 'Never mind…' and was starting he's way.

"I mean, there's something… Do you know if there's any payphone nearby?" He asked the first thing that came to his mind, but that's not what he wanted to know. In fact, didn't know why he stopped him in the first place, or why he felt his heart still racing.

"That's why you almost got yourself run-over before? You're kind of weird, you know?" The other snickered, and looked up and down the street. "OK, walk three blocks down this street and you'll see a parking lot next to the bank, then take your right and walk two more blocks and that's it. There is a park and you should find a payphone there."

Danny muttered the instructions since he wasn't too good with directions and when he was sure he'd memorized them, he turned to say thanks to the hooded guy but found him nowhere in sight. There was just wet sidewalks and blurry windshields and windows… And a bald man carrying boxes who gruffly muttered some swear and yelled "D 'you need something boy!?" before rushing into a shop.

The park was easy to find when you knew where it was. Danny internally face-palmed and swore; the parking lot next to the bank was the one where his mom parked the car earlier. If he'd crossed the street instead of going along with it, he'd have spared himself the walk and the embarrassment.

It was too early anyway, and he's friends might have been fast asleep. Now the sun shone bright from above. The few clouds left from the morning rain let pass warm sunrays and the moisture on the streets –and Danny's jeans– had started to dry up.

It was the perfect time when he –finally– approached the god damn payphone and took the speaker in his hand. But…

"Danny, is that you!?" Called someone from behind. Danny had already started dialing and put the speaker on his ear when he glanced over his shoulder.

He had waited since the day before to call his friends and now that he'd reached the payphone, he didn't want to lose any more time. "Yes!?" He asked back, first dialing the number and only turning to face the new stranger when he finished.

In front of him was a tall guy maybe one or two years older than him. An answering machine started playing the recorded voice of Mrs. Mainstream, when the boy Danny failed to recognize bolted towards him.

"AAAAH!" Danny screamed winning the attention of a few passers-by. The guy hugged him tightly and lifted him one or two inches from the ground. At the time, the speaker fell from Danny's hand and hit with a loud bang the metallic pole where the phone sat.

"Damn, where have you been? I missed you so much, I thought I'd never see you again." The stranger threw sentence after sentence still hugging Danny's stiffened body. "When did you come back? Wait till Joe sees you… and Sam he…"

Realization hit Danny when he heard the name of his best friend and Dog. "Jay!?" He interrupted and trailed his head back as much as the strong arms allowed him to, finally getting a better view of the attacker.

That couldn't be him, right? Last time he saw them, they were about his height and just a bit less scrawny than him. This boy towered by his side and Danny had to almost fully stretch his neck to take look at his face once he put him back on the ground.

Despite the stark contrast, when he peered reflexively at the boy's bronze eyes –with pinched corners caused by the wide smile that spread on his face–, Danny at last saw his friend. "Jay!" he yelled and hugged back, not as tightly as the other boy did, but full of affection all the same.

"You have a boyfriend you didn't tell me about?" Came the uninterested voice of another teenager; a voice that sounded exactly as Jay's and Danny peered from one side to see 'another Jay' coming their way. The only difference besides their clothes was a tiny scar on Joe's temple, next to the left eye.

"Hi Joe!" He saluted and Joe raised his sight from the cellphone in his hand to look at him; pulled his other hand out of the jacket and jerked the sun glasses off his face.

"Danny!?" He asked, and much like his twin, yanked Danny of Jay's hold to pull him in a tight air-depriving hug. "Damn, where have you been? We missed you so much, thought we'd never see you again."

Danny laughed light-heartedly at how much alike their thought lines were. He felt stupid for worrying about their reaction, or rejection; their friendship wouldn't be jeopardized by 3 years of distancing and loss of contact. Now they just had lots and lots to catch on.

And that they did. On a bank under a tree, they sat and talked for more than half an hour. His friends looked much different than what he remembered, but other than that, they still were the pair who'd always accompany Danny and Sam after school in the old house.

He'd almost forgot about Sam! But again, he wasn't expecting to find the twins this morning, at least not at a corner of the park. "Where's Sam?" He asked excitedly switching his eyes from one boy to the other.

Joe's face soured up, placed a hand on Danny's shoulder and sighed. "Oh, Danny, I'm so sorry to tell you this"

Between the twins, the shorter boy felt a knot climb up his throat. The inner corners of his eyes were starting to sting and he slowly shook his head 'NO' before Joe could continue. "A few days after you left and we took him home; he escaped the house…" He stopped to gently squeeze the shoulder with his hand. "We found his body on the way to you…"

"You're so full of shit." Jay barked, glaring at his brother for putting this weight on Danny's shoulder. And he knew the poor thing was believing every single word, most probably feeling guilty and all for nothing. "Don't listen to him, Sam's just fine at home waiting for us…"

Danny didn't even look back at him, he made a fist and shove it at Joe's chest with most strength he gathered from his seated position. "Asshole…" he said shoving the fist again and again. "How can you joke about something like that?"

Joe had started laughing out loud since the first punch; but Danny was unable to tell if it was because of having successfully fooled him, or because his blows did nothing but tickle the built-up bastard. He did flinch from time to time, though.

Once he calmed down, he glanced at Jay and noticed he's ears were slightly pulled back. He looked at the verge of grinning and Danny knew; this was the face he put when he was either amused, or thinking about some mischief. God! He missed these boys.

"What? He's too fat, that's why my punches won't hurt him." He blurted, and Jay joined Joe in the laughing. Danny took his eyes off him with a roll and stiffened.

Approaching from the corner where the payphone was, a lady with a pissed off face glared down at him. All the while, high heels made her movement through the uneven grounds of the park something funny to look at.

"Daniel Silverwhale!" She yelled once she reached earshot. The two morons by his side shut up immediately and Danny gulped. He was supposed to go back to the bank to find her once he'd talked with J&Jo, but he completely erased it from his mind and now here she was.