The day seemed normal enough, it was bright, sunny, hot, a typical summer afternoon. Mabel was rummaging through a box of sweaters, Dipper was reading a book in Stan's chair, Wendy was watching Soos attempt to eat a whole can of whipped cream, and Stan was cheating people out of their money at the Mystery Shack.
For once, Dipper didn't have anything to worry about, whether it be gnomes, zombies, or giant man-eating lake monsters, he didn't care, it was a nice day, and nothing was going to spoil it for him. He closed his book, and trotted upstairs, Mabel was trying on different sweaters, obviously trying hard to choose between her blue puppy, or her pink giraffe. When Dipper strode up, she looked at him eagerly,
"Dipper, what do you think," she inquired, her mouth turned down in a serious-yet-not-really manner, "Pink or blue?"
Dipper just blinked, "You know I'm not good with these things, Mabel. But I really like the blue one…"
Mabel held it up to her chest and looked in the mirror, she smiled and turned to Dipper,
"Good choice, my dear brother, I shall wear the blue puppy today." She giggled, her voice sounded like those people from Dowton Abbey. Dipper gave her a crooked smiled.
"Dipper! I need you down here, stat!" Stan's scratchy voice called from downstairs, Dipper rolled his eyes and started down the steps, Mabel following.
When they got downstairs, they were met with a very stern look on their Grunkle's face,
"Did you do this?" Stan growled, one of his hands holding a ripped up newspaper, Dipper shook his head, and Mabel did the same.
"Why is it so bad? Don't they make a ton of newspapers in town?" Dipper asked, his puberty voice cracking. Stan shook his head, and handed the ripped up parcel to Dipper,
"Read the date on that paper." Stan mumbled, walking to the edge of the store. Dipper skimmed over until he saw the date, and his eyes widened,
"1932?" Dipper exclaimed, looking over at Stan, "What are you doing with a newspaper from 1932?"
Stan said nothing, but shoved a box full of newspapers towards them. Mabel was the first to pull one out, her eyes darting through the page,
"1933, 1934, 1935? Why do you have all these?" Mabel repeated, putting one back and instantly grabbing another one. Stan once again stayed silent, and walked to the Shack's living quarters. Dipper scratched his head, why did Stan have all these? Why did he get so tense when one ripped? Dipper shook his shaggy brown head, vowing to not worry about this today.
"Mabel, have you seen Wendy?" Dipper blushed, knowing that Mabel would tease him. Mabel shook her head with a smirk,
"You scallywag, whaddya going to say to her?" Mabel inquired, one of her eyebrows raised in interest, Dipper blushed hard.
"Well…umm…I kinda just wanted to see…her…" Dipper cracked, his cheeks glowing a rosy red. Mabel smiled, her eyes bright.
"I love you…"
Dipper seem surprised by the unexpected comment, Mabel stood there her arms, outstretched. Dipper blinked gratefully, and stepped in and embraced her.
Soos and Wendy walked through the Shack door, and smiled in awe at the sibling love. Dipper opened his eyes, and gave a harrumph, causing Mabel to stop hugging.
"You two are so cute." Wendy chuckled as she passed the twins. Dipper scampered after her leaving Mabel and Soos alone.
"Mabel, can I tell you something?" Soos asked, his voice weary. Mabel looked at him, and smiled,
"Of course, what is it?"
"I've got a bad feeling…"
"Bad feeling? About what?" Mabel felt worried, her mouth turned in a frown. Soos looked around in a cautious fashion, and turned back to Mabel,
"Y'know when you get that feeling that something really bad is about to happen?" Soos whispered loudly, his eyes narrowing.
"Yea, I guess…" Mabel replied, beginning to freak out, Soos stood up straight as Stan stumbled outside to his car, then bent back to Mabel,
"I have that feeling…" Soos finished, turning and walking into the living quarters. Mabel blinked slowly, trying to comprehend what just happened. Mabel shook it off, and skipped around the store, humming a song.
Dipper slumped when Wendy had pushed him away so she could talk to Robbie. He went outside, and was tossing pebbles at a tree. A door slammed behind him as Robbie walked to his bike, catching Dipper's eye,
"'Ey, kid, come here for sec, would ya?" Robbie growled, his eyes menacing. Dipper strode cautiously to him, and puffed out his chest. Robbie shoved a note in his face that read
Field by the Water Tower
5:30
Be there
Dipper blinked, and returned his gaze to Robbie who simply said
"Be there."
At 5:30, Dipper found himself at the tiny field that held the Water Tower, he looked around but nobody was there. As he turned to leave, a raspy voice called from the shadows,
"Where do you think you're going, twerp?"
Dipper spun around to see Robbie emerge from under the Water Tower, a small jewel around his neck,
"Robbie! What do you want?" Dipper said, his voice cracking from fear. Robbie chuckled, and then started laughing. The small jewel began to glow, and Robbie's eyes did the same. Robbie thrust his arms skyward, and Dipper was lifted off the ground, covered in a reddish glow.
"W-What?!" Dipper screamed, as he was tossed skyward. Robbie then pulled his arms down, and Dipper fell to the ground, smacking his head against the hard ground. Dipper attempted to get up, but fell, his hat now soaked in blood. Robbie walked up to Dipper, and bent down to him,
"You'll never be good enough for Wendy, you're just a dumb, useless kid!" He yelled in Dipper's ear, and kicking him in the stomach.
Dipper let out a raspy, breathless cough, and a little blood trickled down his lip. His head wound had bled, staining the grass a dark red. Robbie stomped his foot on Dipper's hand, and turned away, walking to his bike. Dipper tried to yell, but nothing came out but an airy whisper. Nobody would find him here, he was dizzy, and his vision was blurring.
Am I going to die? Dipper thought, tearing up, he gave a soft sniffle, and tears escaped down his cheeks and on the grass below. I don't want to die…I wanna see Mabel, and Stan, and Soos, and Wendy…I can't die! I can't!
Dipper gathered enough strength to thrust himself upward, and he got to his knees. But that's as far as he could go, he couldn't find enough strength to walk. His rummaged through his pocket, and didn't feel the note. I must've dropped it on the way here
A little later, at the Mystery Shack, Mabel and Wendy were playing Go Fish,
"Hey, Wendy, have you seen Dipper? He left around 5:30 and never came back…" Mabel asked, pulling a card from the stack. Wendy shook her head,
"Probably took a walk," She replied, absentmindedly, her eyes focused on her cards.
"Yea, but for five hours?" Mabel worried, "he hates the dark…"
"Wait, five hours?" Wendy looked at her watch, "it's ten already? We should look for him!"
Mabel and Wendy got to their feet, Mabel grabbed a flashlight, and they went into the woods. Mabel was beaming things with her flashlight when it came upon a tiny piece of paper, she walked up to it, and picked it up.
"Huh, that's strange…" Mabel handed it to Wendy, "Read this."
"Maybe we should check by the Water Tower?" Wendy suggested, her sight focused on the parcel.
"Yea, but we better hurry, it looks like rain…"
So the girls made their way towards the Water Tower, Mabel searched around, her flashlight catching everything. Wendy called her over, and pointed at the ground,
"The grass seems darker here, beam your light." Both the girls caught their breath when they saw what was there,
Blood.
Mabel began to scour the field, calling Dipper's name, her eyes filling with tears.
"O…..over….he….here…." The tiny call came, it barely was heard. Mabel followed it and screamed when she found her poor brother. He was lying on the ground, his left eye blackened, blood trickling down his lip, and head, his hat was stained a bright shade of red, and Mabel did dare to remove it.
"Wendy!" Mabel cried, tears spilling down her cheeks, Wendy staggered over, and fell to her knees. Dipper gave short, ragged breaths, and his head was still bleeding.
"We have to get him home!" Wendy said, Mabel grabbed one of her brother's arms, and hoisted him up. Dipper hung limply in Mabel's arm, his breath coming out at a fast, raspy pace. Mabel nearly cried out, her brother was dying from blood loss, and they were far from the Shack.
"Dipper's going to die…"