Title: Chasing Ghosts
Chapter Two: Meeting
Words: 5,028
Edited: 8.11.2014 – 14/3/15
Notes: I am so surprised at all the positive feedback I received, thank you all so much! I'll leave the replies for the reviews at the bottom of this chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I already have half of the third chapter written but other than that I've got nothing so I'm open to any suggestions you all have.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Lost Boys, though I really wish I did.

-0-

"I'll be cooking dinner tonight" Danielle said to Alan who happened to be standing outside of the shop as she was walking home from her shift, he looked positively delighted at the thought of a home cooked meal.

"What are you cooking?" Edgar asked curiously, having joined his brother at the topic of food.

"Lasagna, made completely from scratch"

"Sounds really good" Alan nodded, Edgar on the other hand said not a word

"So how's school" she asked

"It was alright-" Alan began

"Same shit different day" Edgar waved his hand

"You don't have to cook for us all the time" Alan said, changing the conversation "We wouldn't want to put you out"

"I always make too much anyway" she lied, making the correct portions for one is easy enough but considering neither of the boys ever had a home cooked meal she always cooked extra when she could. It was worth it in the end for their sakes.

"Liar – you just feel sorry for us" Edgar growled, taking on the defensive side as he usually did. Edgar took the cooking as a sign of pity, though he really didn't understand her actions at all.

"I don't actually" she replied in defeat, truthfully growing sick of the same argument over and over again "I don't feel sorry for you Edgar, but have you ever thought of what you would do if I didn't cook on occasion? Or tell you when you're running late for school? Because all I'm trying to do is be a good person and you make it really hard for me to do that sometimes"

It was the first time Danielle had ever really responded to Edgar's words; she usually shook them off with a small smile and let the boy have his say. To her astonishment Edgar didn't blow up at her words and instead just stood there looking quite surprised "She has you their man" Alan laughed "C'mon, brighten up, not like she's a vamp or anything so what's the big deal?"

"Nothing" the other brother grunted "When will it be ready?"

"Are either of you hungry?" she asked, they both looked like they wanted to say yes but shook their heads instead "In that case I'll start making it as soon I get home okay? I shouldn't be longer than an hour and a half at the most"

It didn't, an hour and twenty minutes later Danielle had sliced the thick meal into three servings, placing them into two bowls and leaving the third serve steaming with heat on the counter before walking down to the Comic shop below. As soon as she had walked through the entrance to the shop Alan was on her like a fly, thanking her before taking a bowl from her hand and eating a rather large mouthful. Walking behind the counter she handed Edgar his portion, as much as he seemed to dislike her he'd never said a single bad word about her cooking and that was not about to change tonight.

"Thanks" Edgar even sounded sincere, something that had never happened in the previous times she had made dinner

"s' r-ly gd" Alan was nodding in delight, barely chewing the food properly before swallowing it whole

"Where's yours?" Edgar asked, taking another bite

"At my place still, I wanted to come and give you your good before I started eating mine"

"You didn't want to eat with us?" Alan asked, looking a little put out at the thought

"I couldn't carry all three bowls, if I had tried that it would have ended very tragically" she laughed merrily

"You can if you want to" Alan suggested

"Well-" Danielle glanced at Edgar who was once again rolling his eyes, what a surprise

"Despite what you may think I don't actually hate you" the boy said

"All right, as long as I'm welcome" she grinned and a minute later was back in her seat, eating with the two boys who still hadn't finished their portions which really much of a surprise considering the thickness of the lasagna.

"You're such a good cook" Alan complimented "And you did it all yourself? None of the microwave stuff?"

"I really like cooking, it's a great way to pass time and I find I'm quite handy in the kitchen" Danielle replied, taking another mouthful "I'm cooking chicken pasta bake tomorrow if either of you would like some, I always make enough to last me throughout the week" That wasn't a lie, she really did make enough to last her through the week so she wouldn't have to cook again. Leftovers were the best.

"That'd be great" Alan said enthusiastically, for once Edgar offered no decline and put his bowl down so he could stand to serve a customer "He's coming round, don't worry about him, for some reason he thinks we're your charity case or something"

Danielle nodded at Alan's words; it wasn't hard to understand why Edgar is the way he is. She accepted it and moved on quickly.

"Wait we aren't right? Your charity cases?" he asked

"Alan, you're both my neighbours who need decent food, sleep, to attend school and to shower" she smiled, remembering that one time

"Danielle that was one time-" Alan defended

"One time too many" Danielle said, grin growing larger at the topic of conversation. Edgar actually snorted with laugher at her words - maybe he was coming around after all.

It was nearing on eight o'clock when she left with the three empty bowls; surprisingly she had even eaten her whole portion to herself much to the both of the boys' obvious disappointment. Once again, this time too busy with her own thoughts she found herself not watching where she was going when she walked out of the comic shop, mind running through the recipe and ingredients that she would need for tomorrow when she walked into someone, having absolutely no idea how she kept ahold of the three empty glass bowls as she stumbled

"I'm so sorry" she laughed "Usually I always pay attention when I'm walking on the boardwalk-"

"We've gotta' stop meeting like this" Danielle glanced up quickly and to her shock their stood the taller of the two blondes she had ran into a little over a week ago, his friend with the patched jacket was standing next to him "And from my perspective you're indeed in the wrong here" he mocked, though the grin he wore told her he was just playing around

"Yes, well at least I apologized" She smiled, hoping the boy would catch on to her jesting.

"Hey, I offered to help you up" he retorted, crossing his arms with a playful smile

"After I had already pointed it out to you, as I said it doesn't count" she laughed "Alas it doesn't matter, I walked into you this time so I guess that makes us even"

"Until next time of course"

"Well, let us hope we can avoid that" she said, walking around the two boys

"You need a hand?" the other asked, speaking for the first time, his voice was light and rather musical – or so she thought anyway. Danielle smiled at the kind offer but shook her head in decline

"I'm fine thank you; I just live in the apartment building next door" she nodded towards the apartment

"You gonna' come back down? Once you've taken those up" he gestured towards the bowls

"Probably not, I don't like being out here on the boardwalk at night" both of the boys looked surprised at her response, which was understandable considering where were

"Why?" they asked together in unison

"Too many people go missing around here for me to go wandering around here by myself at night" she replied with a sad smile "I don't really fancy being one of the next to go missing, adding yet another missing persons poster to the board of never ending faces"

"Smart" the shorter one nodded

"Well I'm going to take my leave" said ended, rather awkwardly "Standing on the Boardwalk with dirty dishes probably isn't the best look – even for me" She also didn't know either of these boys and the fact that they were extremely good looking made talking to them just that little bit harder on her behalf

"You're not going to tell us your name?" The taller one asked, Danielle shook her head and turned towards the direction of her apartment building with a smile playing on her lips

"You never asked"

-0-

"Wait, you're both having lunch here?" Danielle asked, still astonished at the sight of two brothers standing outside of her door "I would have bought it down for you"

"Parents actually decided to watch the shop for a while" Edgar mumbled "So why not"

The brothers had never been inside her apartment before; lucky Danielle had those spare chairs at the little dining table otherwise they'd all either be dining on the floor or the couch.

"All right, let me go grab a few plates, I won't be a minute" She said, turning and heading into the kitchen but watched as the boys gazed around the apartment, taking everything in before finally turned back to her.

"Smaller than ours" Edgar pointed out, though not rudely

"I don't need a bigger one, not really, I mean it's only me after all isn't it?"

"That's a point"

"You don't have a cross hanging anywhere" Alan frowned "We'll get you one"

"There isn't any need Alan-" she began

"What if a Vamp decides to come knocking on your door? You need to be prepared Danielle. We can get you a stake too just in case"

"Alright" she went along with it, after these past few months she knew not to argue with the Frog brothers when it came to Vampires, it wasn't very wise.

"Why don't you believe us when we talk about Vampires" Edgar asked, taking the plate of food she had held out for him, genuinely curious for her answer

"Because I have never seen one"

"Our word isn't good enough?"

"It's not that your word isn't good enough Edgar, I just find it difficult to believe what someone, or anyone tells me unless I've seen it for myself. We're talking about Vampires here, as far as I am concerned you read about them in the pages of a book"

"So you don't believe in God?" Alan asked, taking a big bite of the pasta bake

"No, I don't. If they day comes where I die and I find myself in heaven I'll drop to my knees and pray. But I can't put my blind faith in a book like that, I tried but I just couldn't do it" she said with a shake of her head and a small frown

"That's a good point" Alan admitted

"I'm open to everyone's opinion and I will respect their opinions of course, but I just can't do it"

The three ate the rest of their food, their time was spent exchanging small chitchat here and there before Edgar got to his feet, collected the dirty dishes and walked towards the sink – to Danielle's surprise he began washing them "I can do-"

"You cooked" Edgar interrupted, not letting her finish what she was going to say "I'm doing the dishes, don't complain"

"Alright" she said as she held her hands up in defense before Alan also stood to his feet

"I'll dry" he said, accompanying his brother by the small kitchen sink

"What time are you both heading back to the comic shop?" she asked

"Soon, around one o'clock, I don't want to leave them alone too long" Edger said, annoyance lacing his tone

"What do you do anyway?" Alan asked, looking around the room "You hardly ever leave here; you don't have a TV or well, anything"

"I read" she said simply with a shrug of her shoulders, gesturing towards the bookshelf which was already overflowing with books that she didn't have room for

"Read? Like books?" Alan grimaced

"Yes, like books" she laughed "Is that so crazy"

"All you do is read?" Edgar clarified

"Well, I draw sometimes" she admitted "Not very often anymore though, I prefer to read"

"Do you have anything we could see?" Alan asked

"I have my old school portfolio under the couch, I think-"

But Alan had already walked over towards the large couch, was on his knees and searching for the old portfolio before she could finish her sentence. Danielle hadn't even touched a pencil since she moved here all those months ago; the portfolio had been sitting there for quite some time collecting dust. Thinking about it now she wondered why she had even bought it with her in the first place.

"Ah, here" he pulled out a large A3 sized folder "Come have a look Edgar" his brother sat beside him on the couch and peered at the first drawing as Edgar opened it "You drew this?"

"Yeah, beside English it was the only subject I ever took a good taking too"

"Man look at this" Alan said, pointing towards the newest page

"No shit" Edgar laughed "That looks so real, this is a drawing? You drew this?"

"Yeah" she said faintly, walking towards the couch and looking at the eye she had drawn barely weeks before she packed her bags and left

"This is like picture perfect" Alan said, running a finger over the top of the plastic

"I'm actually really impressed" Edgar grinned "Who knew you'd be this good at something"

"I'm a good cook!" Danielle laughed

"Yeah but that isn't really a cool skill you know?"

"So you'd prefer my cooking to be terrible?" She asked, rising an eyebrow as she did so

"No"

"Then cooking is definitely a cool skill"

The Frog brothers flipped through all 20 pages, looking at each drawing back to front. Alan showered Danielle with compliments on most of the work inside and Edgar often joined him. She hadn't drawn something since she was in school, though she still had all of her equipment; all different types of lead pencils, charcoal pencils, ink, paints, stencils, watercolors and even some chalk. She liked things that took up hours of time which art had a way of doing as did reading; she enjoyed starting something and then hours later realizing that she did indeed waste all that time, but look what she created while doing so, something beautiful.

The boys left at 1 o'clock as they said they would, leaving the portfolio open on the couch instead of its old place underneath it.

-0-

"What'd you do for the rest of the day?" Alan asked, pushing his empty bowl aside for the second time that day

"I read the rest of my book and then I heated this up" Danielle grinned at the empty bowls

"You lead an interesting life" Edgar commented, and she found that it was actually quite nice to not hear his usual tone laced with sarcasm

"I know, are you jealous?" he laughed at her words, an actual laugh – she was shocked "Edgar, did I just make you laugh?"

"Don't make such a big deal about it. Alan you want ice cream?" Edgar changed the conversation quickly, but that didn't stop her smile.

"Yeah man, sounds good – I want chocolate"

"Just wait til' the crowd dies down and I'll go get some"

"I can go for you" Danielle offered, though Edgar shot her a look that she was all too familiar with

"We can get it; you don't have to buy it for us"

"I wasn't offering to buy it for you Edgar. Actually I think you could actually shout me ice cream seeing as I've made dinner and lunch for the past day"

"Alright" he gave in easily, handing her a ten dollar note from the register "Two chocolate cones with double scoops and whatever you want"

"I'll be back" she said, pocketing the note as she left for the ice cream run. As she walked into the crispy night, enjoying the cold air on her bare arms she headed in the direction she thought the ice cream stand was, vaguely remembered walking past it once or twice before on the few times she had ventured out into the Santa Carla nightlife.

A couple of minutes later she had indeed found it, though she had absolutely no idea how she was going to carry three ice cream cones back to the shop all by herself, something she hadn't thought through very well about until that very moment.

"I thought you said you didn't go out on the Boardwalk at night?"

Danielle jumped with fright and turned to see the blonde boy with the patched jacket from the night before and week before; she shook her head at the coincidence but smiled nonetheless

"I don't" She replied honestly "I'm on an ice cream run for my neighbors and myself"

"You gonna' be able to carry it all?" he asked

"You know I was just thinking that myself" she laughed, shaking her head "Guess I didn't give that problem much of a thought when I left"

"I don't mind helping you out" he grinned while shrugging his shoulders a little

"I don't want to put you out" she insisted, though the help would save her two trips

"I don't mind" he really did sound sincere "Really"

"Okay, well, as long as you don't mind - just give me a second and I'll order" Danielle turned back to the ice cream cart looked at the selection they had to offer and after only a moment walked towards the little with her choices in mind "Can I please have two double scooped chocolate cones and a double scoop of strawberry and vanilla?"

The man nodded before getting the orders ready.

"You know I've never seen you around here" the boy said "How long have you lived in Santa Carla for?"

"Three months" she said while meeting his eyes "What about you?"

"A lot longer than three months"

"Well that was a poor answer"

"Couple of years"

"See? Now that wasn't so hard was it?"

"That'll be nine dollars ma'am"

Danielle returned her attention back to the ice cream clerk and handed him the ten dollars that Edgar had given her earlier, she let him keep the change. The boy took Danielle's ice cream while she carried Edgar and Allan's.

"I'm guessing by neighbors you meant the kids that run that comic shop?" he asked

"Yeah" She nodded, thinking of the two brothers "They're quite the characters. Where's your friend? Every time I've run into you you've been together"

"Who? Paul?" he asked

"Well, I'm not too sure what his name is"

"Yeah that's Paul you're talking about. I don't know, probably off scaring some poor girl"

She couldn't help but laugh at his words and the honesty that was probably behind them. The rest of the walk was quiet, but it wasn't an awkward silence. Funny enough she found herself enjoying the Boardwalk at night, it was just so different from during the day that she couldn't help but appreciate all the fun and joy around her and not to mention the lights.

"So when you said you didn't go out at night, you've been around the Boardwalk at night before right? Apart from going to get Chinese and ice cream of course"

"Nope" She answered honestly, his eyebrows rose at her response

"How can you live here and not have gone out at night? That's crazy"

"Am I missing out on all that much?" she asked

"Yeah, well maybe, it all depends on who you're with"

Both arriving back at the comic book shop, Danielle gave Alan and Edgar their chocolate ice creams before retrieving her own, licking up some of the icy goodness that was now dripping down the side of her cone - Edgar and Alan on the other hand were too busy looking at the blonde stranger, something that didn't slip past her as she continued to eat her ice cream.

"I'd introduce you but I still don't know your name" Danielle blushed slightly, glancing to the blonde once more

"You never asked" he grinned

"I'll see you both later, thank you for the ice cream Edgar" She smiled at the brothers before heading towards the exit, the boy followed suit and before she knew it they were both standing outside of the comic shop once more.

"Ah – look who it is! Girl-with-no-name!"

Following the voice Danielle found who she now knew to be Paul, dressed exactly as he was the last time she had seen him in that navy blue jacket and tight beige pants.

"Hi Paul" She grinned

"Well that's just not fair" Paul frowned "Marko have you been gossiping about me?"

Marko. His name was Marko. She found the name interesting, having not heard of a Marko before – Mark's, sure – but not Marko.

"Me? Nah" Marko shook his head "Never"

"Well I still don't know your name and it's unfair that you know ours" Paul grinned, throwing an arm around Marko shoulders

"Danielle" she said "My name is Danielle"

"Lovely name, suits you" Paul nodded with a wink

Danielle didn't really know what to do now; she was never great at making friends or even conversation for the matter when it came to people she didn't know very well "Well, now we're all introduced. It's nice not having to be run into or to run into you but I think I'm going to be heading off"

"You're not joining us?" Paul pouted "Why not?"

"I-" she paused "We just met and you'll soon find me to be incredibly boring I'm sure of it, I don't think I'd be much fun if I was to hang around"

"Yeah you do! We've run into each other, twice might I add, so of course we know each other. You should let us be the judge if you're so boring or not"

"Let us show you around" Marko said "C'mon, you haven't been out here at night before and I don't think you're gonna go get yourself kidnaped or murdered with us around are you?"

Paul snorted at his friends words; Marko elbowed him in the ribs in return.

"Okay, why not" Danielle smiled, eyeing her ice cream which was now nearly gone – apart from the cone which she refused to eat.

"Great!" Paul said

"Let me bin this first-" she said as she rushed over towards the nearest bin, desperately trying to think of an excuse that she could use to go back to her quiet apartment and to her unfinished book – though she'd read it before. Twice.

"C'mon, don't want you changing your mind" Paul said, steering her away from the comic shop and towards the heart of the Boardwalk. As they made the journey the crowds began to grow bigger and bigger by each minute and after the first three times she stopped thanking Paul when he would steer her back towards where he was so that she never got lost in the sea of people.

"Carousel?" Marko asked

"Carousel" Paul grinned, now steering Danielle in the direction of the large Carousel. It didn't take them long to reach their destination and when they did Paul pushed his way to the very front of the line.

"You shouldn't cut lines Paul" she scolded, but she couldn't help but smile at his childishness "It's not very fair"

"Don't stress, they won't say anything" Paul scoffed, sounding very sure of himself

"You're very sure of yourself aren't you?" she asked, though Paul only grinned in return and offered no reply. When it was their turn to ride the Carousel Paul lifted her up by the waist and sat her down on the horse like she weighed absolutely nothing – which she certainly did not and couldn't help but squeak at the sudden action.

"Calm down" he laughed, now leaning against the horse she had been seated on with Marko flanked the other side

"I'm calm, but a little warning never hurt anyone" she laughed

"I'll remember that next time" said Paul

"Who says there's going to be a next time?" she asked

"After tonight girl, you won't be able to get enough of us" Paul shook his head

"And you're so sure of this?"

"Definitely" he winked and she laughed once more, wondering how on Earth she ended up riding the Carousel with two strangers she had just met. It's not that she wasn't looking forward to the carousel ride; she just thought it a little childish for someone her age and was surprised when she found herself enjoying it as much as she did – basking in the colours and the scenery flying around her.

"C'mon girl" Paul went to lift her down from the horse but she had jumped down without his aid, he rose an eyebrow at the action and shrugged before grabbing her hand and pulling her off the Carousel and leading her towards the band that was playing tonight down on the beach. Every Saturday night a different band played down on the sand and tonight it was a rock band that Danielle didn't know the name of which was no surprise seeing as she rarely enjoyed music by itself let alone some of the local acts they always had playing around here. Paul was nodding his head to the music and jumping from one foot to the other along with the beat, he looked completely in his element.

"Don't mind him" Marko spoke up, having barely spoken since Paul had joined them earlier "He's strange, but you get used to it"

"Heard that Marko" Paul called over the music "And I'm not strange"

Marko rolled his eyes while she smiled – though both of the boys stopped in their steps quite suddenly, a look of deep concentration across their faces. They both looked as if they'd just had a run in with Medusa – without the stone of course.

"Hello?" she asked, receiving no response from either boy but a moment later they both shook their heads in sync

"Sorry" Marko grinned "Lost in thought"

"I seemed to have joined him" Paul laughed "Though I hope it wasn't about the same thing, that'd be crossing a few lines"

"Stop man" Marko shook his head "Just, stop talking"

"You wanna meet the rest of the gang?" Paul asked and Danielle couldn't help but grow nervous at the thought of meeting even more new people

"Um-"

"You'll be alright, I mean you've already half met when you think about it" Paul interrupted, but Danielle had absolutely no idea what he was talking - she couldn't remember meeting anyone else apart from the two blondes that were already in her company

"When did such a thing happen?" She asked in confusion

"When I ran into you that night, David and Dwayne were there as well"

"I didn't take any notice of them" she said as she tried hard to remember what the other two had looked like, the only thing she remembered about that encounter was being knocked to the ground and Marko and Paul's faces – barely believing that it just had to be the two boys she had been staring at earlier that very night.

"It's all good, can't blame you" Paul grinned widely

"Well, you did run into me"

"I was talking about how you were obviously distracted by my devastating good looks girl" he grinned, she could barely contain her smile

"You're definitely delusional then" Danielle replied, smiling as she caught Marko's little hidden smile.

"Well, well, I didn't think we'd be seeing you around again"

Danielle looked into the direction of the new voice and found another blonde with spiky white hair and dressed in a large coat that covered most of his body - he looked Danielle straight in the eye and she suddenly felt like he was reading her like one of the many books that she owned.

"I wish I could say the same to you but I apologies, I don't recognize you" she confessed, offering the newest boy a small smile

"Names' David – that's Dwayne" he pointed to Dwayne who was standing just a little behind him – a tanned boy with dark hair, his bare chest was only covered by a denim jacket.

"Danielle" She said, introducing herself to the other two boys

"Well it's nice to meet you Danielle" David said, his tone was flat with no emotion, it was hard to decipher "And what exactly have you all been up to on this fine night?"

"Giving Danielle here a tour of the Boardwalk, never seen it at night before" Paul explained

"Really Danielle, now that's interesting, and how long have you lived here?" David asked

"Three months" she replied honestly. If David's blank and forward façade bothered her she didn't let it show, something David thought was quite interesting.

"And you've never been out at night before?" his eyebrows rose "I find that hard to believe Danielle"

"Only if I'm in dire need of food" she shrugged "Other than that I avoid the boardwalk at night"

"Why?" he asked bluntly

"Too many disappearances" she replied simply "I would prefer if my name didn't end up on the list"

"Smart girl" the third blonde nodded, a smirk playing on his lips

"I like to think I am" Danielle smiled "Anyway, I should be heading off-"

"But we didn't get to give you the full tour" Paul pouted

"I can't do roller-coasters" Danielle smiled, turning to face the tallest of the three blondes "They make me feel funny, but thank you for tonight, it was fun regardless"

"I'll walk you back?" Marko offered

"You've done more than enough for me tonight, but thank you for everything" Danielle smiled at Marko and gave him a little wave goodbye before turning to the two boys she had just been introduced too "It was nice meeting you both, maybe I'll see you around again sometime"

"You too Danielle" David said, still with that blank look on his face.

The girl smiled regardless, his demeanor seemingly not affecting her whatsoever.

-0-

Review Responses:

PoisonBones: Thank you, I'm glad you liked the first chapter. I love Marko's jacket! If I had the money I would definitely buy a replica.

AnnieK1994: I will update as soon and as much as possible, though I didn't think this would receive this much good feedback, I better kick start this story into gear : - )

BeautifulResurrection: I know that feeling when you get into story and it's left half completed, I will try my absolutely hardest not to do that!

ZoopBooper: That means so much to me as I am very self-conscious of how I write, thank you very much! I will update as much and as quickly as I possibly can.