Disclaimer: All characters, events, and material related to Gravity Falls are owned by Alex Hirsch and Disney Channel.
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Warning: This story contains mentions of rape, mild language, and mild violence. This story, however, does not include incest or graphic description of violence. Please read cautiously if you are sensitive to this type of content.
Chapter One: I Can't Promise That
Another night, another bust. Dipper plopped face down on his bed, disappointed with how his plan to ask Wendy out went awry. Now he was stuck at the Mystery Shack on a Friday evening... alone.
Every summer since they were twelve, the Pines siblings were always shipped off by their parents to live with their great uncle in Gravity Falls, Oregon. Not that either of them had minded getting away from their hometown of Piedmont, California. Nothing was out of the ordinary there. After spending the first summer with their Grunkle Stan, both Dipper and Mabel practically begged their parents to stay. Neither of their parents could not understand their fascination with the place, but if they had succeeded in their plan of "giving the kids some fresh air", then they shouldn't question it and let them visit Gravity Falls annually.
So after inhabiting the strange Oregon town for the past few years, and solving a horrendous amount of bizarre mysteries, Dipper thought by now he would achieve at becoming Wendy's boyfriend. Even when Robbie had gotten booted out of the picture over a year before. Dipper figured it was still the age gap between them. Granted, it became less and less awkward as he got older- and taller- but the gap would never really close up. Wendy was now eighteen, and Dipper, at the age of fifteen, instantly became... jailbait. He knew he would never live it down.
Dipper sighed annoyingly into his pillow. Mabel said she was at a party with Grenda and Candy. She said she'd be home by ten-thirty. But now it was past eleven o'clock, and his twin sister still hadn't come back home. Worse yet, Dipper wasn't sure how much longer he could wait up for her. He was only a little tired, but he was feeling strange pains just below his stomach. It was enough for him to lie down on his bed and do nothing else for the whole time he waited for her.
Dipper must had dozed off because the next thing he knew, he was slowly opening his eyes to the sound of a door slamming. He glanced at his watch. It was just about a quarter after midnight. His eyes closed again minutes after he heard some hurried feet making its way up the stairs. Forcing himself to get up, he looked at his watch once again. Now it was twenty after. Did it really take him five minutes to wake up?
Dipper sat up and squinted against the darkness to peer on the other side of the room. Sitting up he noticed that the stomach pains he experienced earlier had dulled, but wasn't completely gone yet.
"Mabel?" he asked softly. The darkness remained still and silent, so Dipper swung his legs to the side of his bed and stood up. Taking a few steps forward, he looked more carefully at his sister's bed. All that was there was her pillow and comforter all lumped together, but no Mabel.
Turning himself around, he walked out of the bedroom. Taking a moment to look down either side of the darkened hall, Dipper detected no initial movement or sound. He stepped further out into the hallway. Promptly, he heard a shuffling noise coming from one of the storage rooms. Carefully, he made his way to the base of the attic's stairway, and quietly walked up.
"Mabel?" he faintly called out. He strained to hear through the darkness, since the little bit of light source didn't do much for his eyes.
There was a sniffling coming from a corner of the room. Dipper followed it until the outline of the figure it came from became apparent. His eyesight adjusted to the room's darkness, and underneath the moonlight that poured through the cracks of the boarded window, he was able to see Mabel. All he could see was the top of his sister's head poking out of the neck hole of her sweater. Her shoulders shuddered as she quietly cried.
"Mabel?" he whispered again. She didn't respond. She just kept crying. Dipper wasn't sure if she hadn't heard him or just chose to ignore him. Usually she would at least respond with, "Mabel's not here. She's in Sweater Town." This time, he got nothing from her. And that terrified him.
"Hey, hey..." Dipper soothed, placing his hands on her shoulders.
Her knees pressed into her chest, causing her skirt to flip up a bit. Dipper embarrassedly averted his eyes when he saw a flash of her underwear and tried to gently push her skirt back down, but then flinched when he became conscious of the abnormal stain blotched on the fabric. Parts of it were a dark, reddish-brown color. The rest of her underwear was soaked wet, perhaps with sweat. Though the bashful Dipper tried not look too closely, only enough to see that there was something wrong.
Any other time he would've thought she was on her period, but she just had a cycle last week- which he had only known about because he woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of Mabel's agonizing moans. Dipper recalled guiding her to the bathroom, so she could freshen up. Then he changed her bed sheets for her, tossing the old ones in the hamper positioned at a corner of the room. Once Mabel had come back into bed, he handed her a glass of water, a plate full of carrot sticks, a heating pad, and a couple of pain killers. The pair had stayed up for the next half hour until Mabel felt comfortable enough to go back asleep.
This time wasn't like that night a week ago. There was something that just wasn't right about all this. That's when he noticed the bruises and scratches trailing up and down her legs.
"Mabel- Mabel!" he half-shouted, trying to force her head through the neck hole. She grabbed his wrists, refusing to emerge from her comfort zone. He stopped struggling against her, and instead he whispered, "What happened?"
"G-gideon..." she muttered through her sobs.
"Wha-?" Dipper was taken aback. Why would she think that he was Gideon Gleeful? "Mabel, it's me. Dipper."
"N-no..." she moaned through her sweater before repeating, "G-gideon..."
Then the realization sunk in for Dipper, hard and sharp like a slap in the face. As soon as the shock had worn off, his eyes darkened.
"I'm going to kill him," he gritted through his teeth. He stood up.
Finally, Mabel's head popped out of her sweater. "No!" she shrieked, lunging herself at her brother. "That's just what he wants!"
"Well, good!" he shouted sarcastically, trying to shake her off his leg. "He should want to be killed after what he's done!"
"No!" she screamed again, keeping her grasp on Dipper's leg. "I mean, he wants you to go after him!"
Dipper stopped, and stared down at his sister in angry surprise. He lowered his voice. "What?"
"He wants you to go after him," Mabel reiterated. By now, she had calmed down long enough to explain. "He said it's his way to get his revenge on you..." She had mumbled the next part, so Dipper couldn't make out what she had said before she finished with, "...at the same time."
"What? 'At the same time' of what?" Dipper asked urgently.
"I said," Mabel spoke a little more clearly, fighting to hold back her grief. "It's his way of getting his way with me..." Her face twisted up, turning a deep shade of red.
Dipper dropped to his knees, and embraced her. Mabel's head sunk into his shoulder and wept. Her tears began to seep into the fabric of his shirt, seemingly stinging his skin when it soaked through. He ran his hand through her hair soothingly, which effectively calmed her. The sobs died down, and Mabel took long, deep breaths to regulate her breathing.
"P-promise me you won't go after him..." she whispered, but as soon as she pleaded, Dipper stood up.
"I can't promise that," he murmured.
End of Chapter One
Author's Note: This story wouldn't have been published, let alone written, if I hadn't stayed home for a couple of days to recover from a cold. If I had been well and gone to work, then this probably wouldn't have happened. Being sick, I watched some more episodes of this show (which makes a total of four now). I got inspired after watching, "The Hand that Rocks the Mabel". I thought of showing the darker side of Gideon's obsession.
Also, I promised myself to add this note to every fic I wrote about this subject:
If you or someone you know have been sexually assaulted, please contact organizations such as RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) - at rainn org, or their hotline number 1-800-656-HOPE. (However, I am not a member affiliated with these networks; my individual opinions are not directly reflective of the facilities).
16 September 2012