An absolutely excruciating walk later Josh and Dave finally stood in front of Dave’s house. It was a large and old fashioned New England home; three stories in total with a large rose garden in front of it.
“Woah....” breathed Josh as he stared at the house, “you live here?”
“Yeah, has Kyle never mentioned I’m old money? Listen Josh, if we are save in the garden, can you help me get the backpack off now?” He was still wearing the upside-down backpack Josh had put over him to conceal him from passersby.
“Sure...” in a joint effort Josh and Dave removed the backpack from his head.
Dave grimaced “It was stuffy as fuck in there,” he used his hand to ruffle through his curly, red hair, which was plastered to his scalp and face.
“Well, it took us over an hour to get here,” mumbled Josh, glancing at his watch while Dave got his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door.
“Hey, Dave, you sure it’s alright to walk around here freely?” asked Josh as they stepped into the entrance hall.” What if any of your family sees us, they might freak.”
“Well if you are stuck to me for good they are bound to find out sooner or later,” Dave twisted his mouth, “and besides that, nobody’s here anyway; my sisters are at school, mom’s at her garden club meeting, dad’s working...fuck!” Dave slapped his forehead, “my brother’s visiting!” He was refereeing to his older brother, Trent, who was an officer in the Navy. “Aw man! He’s going to give me so much shit if he sees me like this!”
“Well, then we should leave,” suggested Josh.
“No, we just have to get to my room before he sees us. Don’t worry, I think he’s just in town to attend a wedding of one of his Navy friends or whatever, he should leave for that soon.”
“But...” Josh’s protest was cut short when they heard a door opening. Dave just had enough time to put the backpack over Josh’s head before his brother entered the room.
Trent, about five years older than Dave, looked very much like a older, taller and more muscular version of his younger brother, with the same red hair, only that his was shorn into a buzz cut. They had apparently caught him in the process of getting dressed for the wedding, as he was wearing navy blue dress pants and an undershirt.
“I thought I heard you talking, Dave,” he said, crossing his arms, “what are you doing out of school so early, buddy?”
“Uh... I’m not feeling well, so the nurse sent me home.”
Trent smirked, “Really now? The only thing about you that seems off to me is your fashion sense, is that seriously how you kids dress these days? And why are you wearing your backpack like that?”
He nodded at Dave’s clothes, a wild merger of the outfits him and Josh had worn when the chain had fused them. Their shirt was alright; Dave’s blue one and Josh’s white one had fused neatly into a light blue one, but below that they were wearing pants that were one leg blue jeans and one leg khaki shorts, two mismatching socks and one black boot and a red converse.
“Yeah, it’s how we roll these days,” mumbled Dave, “listen if you’re done critiquing my clothes, am I excused to go to my room?”
Trent cocked an eyebrow, “Hey there, no need to get defensive about that, I was just yanking your chain.” He gestured towards the stairs, “Run along, but be careful if mom gets home.”
Dave nodded and, together with Josh, started to walk towards the staircase.
“Hey, wait a minute, Dave!” called Trent after them.
Dave spun around, tearing Josh with him and almost knocking the backpack off before they managed to stabilize again. What could Trent want from them, had he seen Josh?
Trent walked towards them and took the eagle pendant into his hand, examining it.
“That chain....” he traced the engravings in the eagle’s wings and belly, “that’s old Persian script. I think I recognize it from a book I bought when stationed in Oman last year.”
Dave could feel Josh gasp in their shared lungs. “You do?” he asked his brother.
“Yeah, there was this little shop close to the base me and some friends went to occasionally. The old man that ran it sold all sorts of weird artifacts and talismans and stuff like that. He also sold books about magic, I became friends with him and he had his son translate one of them for me. The book and the translated notes are up in dad’s study if you wanna take a look at them. But I warn you, the English is not the best.”
Dave nodded, he could barely contain his smile, maybe he’d get free from Josh after all!
Trent was still examining the pendant, “Were did you get that anyway?”
“My friend gave it to me for my birthday,” lied Dave.