After taking a long look at the joined brothers, Dave could not stop himself from yelling, "Holy Crap!", or at least he would have if Alex hadn't swiftly clamped his hand over Dave's mouth. Dave got the message, but continued to gawk. Both boys watched as Kyle and Josh left their plate on the table and disappeared behind the curtains they pulled back. Finally, Alex released his hand from Dave's mouth, though Dave didn't really seem to notice that. He continued to stare at the spot where they last saw Kyle and Josh.
Repeating himself, Alex said, "And that is what happened to me."
Dave broke out of his daze when he heard Alex's comment. "You were like that... like... stuck to Kyle!"
"No, but he probably would have been better than the loser I got. I got stuck to one of Josh's friends... um... Dan or something. Let me tell you again... it was not a good time. It was very difficult, but me and him fought and wrestled our way out of the woods. That's how I ended up covered in mud." Alex took a breathe and looked at his foster brother's still shocked face. "So, do you believe me now?"
"Yeah, well it is kind of hard not to after seeing that." Dave slowly stood up and brushed the dirt from his pants. "How does that even work?"
"I'm not going to tell you the whole story again, but it has something to do with these two eagle necklaces that Kyle bought a few days ago." Alex said while standing up as well.
Suddenly, something seemed to click in Dave's head. "Wait, Kyle bought those. No... he couldn't be... those were supposed to be my birthday present."
"Huh?" Alex looked puzzled.
"Nevermind, I'll tell you later." Dave walked across the street to where his car was parked with Alex in tow. During the whole ride home, he still couldn't wrap his mind around what he had seen. But he was sure that if things had turned out differently, he and Kyle would have ended up joined at some point. He was positive that the chains, or at least one of them was going to be going to him as a present. Him and Kyle were going to have to have a talk tomorrow morning.