The Beast of the Backwoods
Both Dipper and Mabel made extra sure to remain motionless when Terrance's truck finally came to a halt and sputtered out for the night. They heard the rickety door open as Terrance lurched out, cursing to himself as he slammed to door and walked off.
"Are we gonna follow him?" Mabel asked in a whisper.
Dipper shook his head, "Are you crazy? He just got home, it's not like he's gonna just relax and transform or something."
"So how long are we gonna have to sit here?" Mabel questioned, "I have to go to the bathroom."
"Are you kidding me, Mabel?" Dipper groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Why didn't you go before we got in here?"
"I didn't have to go then!" Mabel nearly shouted back. Dipper jumped to clamp her mouth shut.
"Mabel, you'll get us caught." Dipper hissed as he laid down flat, "Take a nap or something."
"Dipper, we can't just sleep, we'll miss everything!" Mabel said, putting her hands on her hips.
"I meant you should sleep, I'm not missing this opportunity." Dipper retorted.
"Well then, let's go!" Mabel exclaimed, jumping out of the truck bed.
"Hey, Mabel, get back here!" Dipper called out in a hiss as he was forced to follow her. They darted the twenty yards through to Terrance's cabin. There wasn't much to see out here, only a flickering glow from inside one of the windows. Dipper could see his sister through the gloom, hunkering down below the window that emanated with light.
"Really, Mabel, you just had to run over here!?" Dipper scolded quietly. Mabel raised a finger to her lips.
"No, you can't just run around and do whatever you want! We are so close to figuring out this mystery!" Dipper said a bit louder. Mabel tapped her finger on her lips more urgently.
"Why couldn't you have just gone out in the woods and then have come back?" Dipper asked, not practically yelling.
"Dipper, shush!" Mabel hissed as there was the sound of Terrance bumping into something before he swore loud enough for them to hear. Mabel quickly popped up to look through the window and immediately came back down with her hands over her mouth, blushing heavily.
"What is it? Dipper asked.
"He's naked…" Mabel murmured, embarrassed for what she saw.
"Geez…" Dipper muttered, "What was he doing?"
"I don't know, walking around?" Mabel responded, still overcome by the experience, "I need a minute to get over what I just saw." She sat down against the wall of the cabin as she pulled her sweater over her head. Dipper gave her a worried look before taking a deep breath and took a glance through the window. His heart nearly jumped out of his chest as he noticed that Terrance was right standing there. Thankfully, he wasn't facing the window, instead he was arguing with someone inside. Still, it didn't really help that Dipper had to practically stare at Terrance's rear the entire time while he tried to see who he has talking to.
"Why did it have to be tonight?" He heard Terrance groan, "It's Loose Wednesday, goddamn it!"
"Loose Wednesday?" Dipper repeated, clearly confused.
"I don't have much time," Terrance stated, "I'll just go outside and get it over with."
"Uh oh," Dipper muttered, crouching down by his sister, "Mabel, we need to move!" It was too late as the door opened and Terrance walked outside, basking in the flickering light from within the cabin. He went out about twenty feet, standing in his front yard. Dipper took a moment to look at the piles of junk lying around. He could see old household appliances, car husks, and random strips of sheet metal. Terrance simply stood among the assorted trash, staring up at the sky.
"Dipper, let's go." Mabel whispered, tugging on her brother's shirt. Suddenly, Terrance turned around, staring at them. The glow from inside his cabin shone across his corneas, reflecting as yellow orbs. It almost looked like if you were to shine a light on a dog's eyes, that eerie reflection almost looked exactly the same.
"Wait, just like a dog…" Dipper thought, "A dog!? Oh no..."
"I can see you," Terrance called out to them, "I thought you wouldn't get into my business!"
"Look, Terrance, we're sorry!" Dipper cried, stepping into view with Mabel behind him, "We just wanted to check up on you!"
"You don't understand. There isn't much time." Terrance told them. Dipper could see the clouds parting to reveal the stars in the night sky.
"I know it was wrong to come here, but we-" Dipper began.
"Dipper! You need to get out of here!" Terrance shouted, sneering at him. Dipper could see those long teeth of Terrance's in the flickering light. His fingers were curling over and over, seemingly more spindly than usual.
"Those eyes, the teeth, I know what Terrance is!" Dipper exclaimed in terror, everything coming together.
"Dipper?" Mabel asked urgently, pulling on her brother's jacket.
"He's-he's a…" Dipper drifted off. Right on cue, a pale light began to descend through the treetops.
"Run! I won't be able to stop it!" Terrance screamed, dropping to his knees.
"Dipper!" Mabel yelled, tugging even harder. The light of the moon fell across Terrance's shaking form. He lurched back as if someone had pressed a hot brand to his back. His mouth opened all the way as he screamed in agony, his teeth visibly extending.
"He's a werewolf…" Dipper murmured in shock, "Terrance is a werewolf!" He screamed, stepping back as the older teen roared at them, the long teeth and glowing eyes becoming more prominent on his face.
The Pines twins watched as one of Terrance's shoulders jerked back, a distinct cracking noise sounding off of the trees as the teen bent forward. His other followed suit as Terrance's screams became more louder. His long arms flailed as thick muscles began to bulge, his fingers digging into the ground as they realigned into claws. Terrance thrust one of his arms up, the twins catching sight of the sharp nails sprouting from his fingertips. Slamming, his hand back down onto the ground, tears could be seen streaming from Terrance's eyes as his face started to change.
Dark brown fur the color of Terrance's hair crept up his neck, swarming around his face. A series of cracking sounded off as his mouth and nose began to extend into a snout. His nose shrank while his jaws extended, his lips stretching to reveal his full maw of sharp teeth. Two pointy ears sprouted up out of the top of the shaggy hair on his head. Finally, the sclera in Terrance's eyes disappeared as his irises expanded, leaving them spheres of wicked yellow. With a pain-filled howl to the heavens, Terrance the werewolf had fully transformed.
The vicious beast began to stare down the Pines twins with a glare of feral rage.
"Okay, we can run now." Dipper squeaked as he and Mabel sprinted off into the darkness. They could feel the huge monster as much as they could hear him as he bounded towards them, snarling at his soon-to-be prey. The twins ran past Terrance's truck, its transformed owner reaching one of his long arms out for Dipper, missing by a hairsbreadth as the curved claws raked the rusty hood of the truck. There was a flash in the gloom after this, allowing Dipper to catch sight of the haunting sneer of the werewolf in the windshield. Darting left, Dipper snagged hold of his sister as they sprinted into the thick forest.
Terrance the werewolf was still right behind them, growling as he swung both of his massive sets of claws at the Pines twins. Mabel yelped as one of the nails tore free a lock of her hair, nearly causing her to fall as they dropped off a little dip in the terrain. Though Dipper caught the trunk of a tree growing up out of the ridge as he slipped, Mabel unfortunately rolled down and hit the ground with a whimper. Terrance didn't have much luck either, as his feral state of mind had caused him to run right off the drop with abandon, causing him to fall headfirst into the undergrowth.
"Mabel, are you okay!?" Dipper cried, running over to his sister.
"Ow, yeah, that wasn't a very soft landing…" Mabel groaned as her brother helped her up.
"I think Terrance got knocked out." Dipper commented, staring at the unmoving shape in the brush several feet away.
"What do we do now?" Mabel asked, looking quite frightened.
"Well," Dipper said pulling the journal out of the back of his pants, finding it a quite convenient place to store it while on the move, "I need to read up on werewolves first…" He flipped to a page that he had marked with one of Mabel's stickers, finding the sketch of a snarling lycanthrope illustrated in striking detail.
"Wolfsbane, silver…" Dipper murmured, reading the listed weaknesses, "'The wolfsbane plant, when properly processed, can create a liquid substance that can burn lycanthropes on touch and is lethal if exposed to their bloodstream. I have heard accounts of Native American tribes planting wolfsbane around the edges of their territories to keep potential lycanthropes out. This only applies to transformed lycanthropes, however, as those who are not transformed will only experience discomfort and anxiety when near a wolfsbane plant.'" Dipper recited from the Author's notes.
"Is there any around here?" Mabel asked, peering into the gloom.
"We don't have time to look, Mabel," Dipper informed her, "Let's get out of here before Terrance wakes up." They scaled back up the incline they had fallen down from, walking back towards the cabin.
"How do we get back home?" Mabel asked, her question fell on deaf ears as Dipper continued to read the journal.
"'Silver, like wolfsbane, is another deterrent for lycanthropes. However, not only is it in more frequent supply than wolfsbane, it is proven to be highly more effective. Studies have shown that continuous exposure to silver on a lycanthrope's skin can cause permanent scars to form. This may prove to be a way of identifying one, almost like the branding of cattle, though this is significantly more inhumane and something I do not condone.'" Dipper muttered another section from the journal entry.
"Dipper?" Mabel called to her brother, tugging on his arm.
"What? Oh, right, I'm sorry, Mabel." Dipper responded, coming back to his senses.
"How do we get back?" Mabel repeated her question.
"Hmm," Dipper mused, glancing at Terrance's truck, "I don't suppose you want to drive several miles through the backwoods in order to get back the Shack, would you?"
Mabel slammed her fist into her hand with a determined look on her face, "Let's do it!" Though it took some work, the twins clambered up into the truck.
"Oh, look, how convenient, the keys are in the ignition." Dipper said sarcastically as he got into the driver's seat.
"The plot thickens!" Mabel commented, extending her hands outward dramatically. Dipper tried turning the key, only for the engine to cough and sputter.
"Of course, that had to happen." Dipper grumbled with a roll of his eyes.
"Uh, Dipper, we got a bigger problem." Mabel informed her brother, pointing into the woods as a pair of yellow eyes peered from the darkness. Terrance crept forward in his massive werewolf form, realizing that his prey was now trapped.
"Come on, come on…" Dipper muttered frantically, turning the key over and over. Terrance got ever-so closer, his massive body arching up as he regarded Mabel's terrified face.
"I really wish Terrance would've been a vampire instead." Mabel whimpered as Terrance got a foot from the truck and stood up on his hind legs, standing nearly seven-and-a-half feet tall, a growl coming from his throat caused the blood of the Pines twins to run cold.
"Come on!" Dipper screamed, shoving the key forward as much as he could. Finally, the engine jumped into action, the headlights flaring on suddenly. Terrance was surprised from this, stumbling back with a shocked yelp.
"Dipper, let's go!" Mabel screamed, "He's blinded!"
"Sorry, Terry, but we gotta borrow this!" Dipper called out, grabbing the shift knob before realizing he wasn't pushing the brake down.
Another thing: He was half of a foot too short to reach the pedals in the first place.
"Mabel, hold down the brake!" Dipper ordered as Terrance snarled, regaining his senses. Mabel lunged down below, slamming both hands onto the gas pedal.
"Wrong pedal!" Dipper shouted as the engine roared loudly. Terrance let out a deep barking noise as he took a step towards the truck, as if accepting an issued challenge.
"Sorry, sorry!" Mabel responded, shoving in the other pedal instead. Dipper, who was already gripping the shift knob with a white-knuckle grip, ripped the transmission into drive.
"Okay, now hit the-" Dipper began before the passenger window shattered, showering him with pieces of glass. Terrance's long snout began to lean in from outside, his pupils flaring at the sight of Dipper.
"THE GAS! HIT THE GAS!" Dipper screamed as Terrance went to lunge for a bite. Mabel obliged immediately, the trunk plowing forward to catch Terrance by the neck. As the truck began picking up speed, Terrance let out a yelp as he came free, falling out of sight. Dipper's heart jumped as he yanked the wheel right, steering the truck out of the way of Terrance's cabin.
"This is kinda like when we escaped from the gnomes in the golf cart!" Mabel called up to him.
"Yeah, but this is a lot harder than that!" Dipper replied, now whipping the wheel left to avoid an oncoming tree, "You need to be ready to switch pedals, Mabel, we don't want to be constantly going full speed." He maneuvered the rickety truck around the cabin, catching sight of Terrance bounding towards them, having recovered already.
"On second thought, let's try to go full speed most of the time." Dipper corrected as Terrance's massive, animal-esque body came flying in for a second bout. Due to the speed of the truck, however, the werewolf only managed to collide with the side of the bed, snagging onto the edge with one of his claws. Dipper steered the truck onto the narrow trail of a road that led out of Terrance's property. As for the werewolf himself, the beastly teen managed to grab hold of the truck with both claws now, managing to wrap his legs over the side of the bed as he gradually made his way towards Dipper inch by inch. Dipper glanced over at the side mirror to see the nightmarish beast closing in.
"This might get a bit bumpy!" Dipper called out, slowly drifting towards the edge of the trail, the trees lining it getting closer. One tree dragged itself down Terrance's back, causing the enraged werewolf to falter, one of his claws coming loose. The second tree smashed right into Terrance's shoulder, causing him to slide down the length of the truck's bed, a screeching sound from the claws dragging through the chassis of the truck caused Dipper to shudder.
"Okay, this should be it…" Dipper muttered, as another tree approached. Terrance, already stunned, recovered just in time to be hit directly by the tree at about fifty miles per hour. The cracking sound resulting was so loud that Mabel flinched from her position down by the pedals. Terrance's large body finally came loose off of the truck, collapsing somewhere on the dark trail.
"Dipper, what happened?" Mabel called up to her brother as he centered the truck back on the middle of the trail.
"Terrance fell off," Dipper informed her, "I really hope we didn't kill him or anything…"
"There's no way we could've done that, right?" Mabel asked, clearly worried.
"N-No, Mabel, he'll be fine. It was only a tree…" Dipper murmured uncertainly.
"A tree hit him while we're going, like, a hundred miles per hour!" Mabel cried in a panicked tone, "There's no way we didn't kill him!"
"We're fine, we got away, we'll check on Terrance in the morning as soon as we get up." Dipper responded, worriedly rubbing the steering wheel. They drove in uncomfortable silence back to the Shack, the twins making sure that the truck had slowed down to reasonable speeds so they wouldn't appear too suspicious. When they arrived, Dipper parked the truck by the totem pole and killed the engine. Without a word, the twins went up to their room and got ready for bed. Neither of them could fall asleep soundly as they laid in their respective beds.
"I feel so stupid…" Dipper murmured as he stared at the ceiling.
"It's not your fault, Dipper." Mabel told him, turning to look at her brother, "You didn't know Terrance was going to turn out to be a werewolf."
"Well, I had my suspicions," Dipper retorted, "I did have 'lycanthrope' listed as something Terrance could be."
"Well, at least we know now." Mabel replied, offering a smile.
"Yeah," Dipper said, bringing himself to grin a little, "At least I was right in a way."
"Just because Terrance is a werewolf, doesn't mean we can't be friends with him." Mabel pointed out, "We can help him the next time he transforms, however we can."
"I think the moon is done being full this month," Dipper responded, glancing out the window to stare at the pale orb in the sky, "Which is a good thing for Terrance, dude's had a rough night."
"It must be so lonely, living like that…" Mabel murmured.
"I'll bet it is, but we'll fix that," Dipper stated, smirking over at his sister, "Because we're going to help him just as you said, right?"
"Right!" Mabel responded ecstatically, laying back down, "Gosh, that made me feel so much better."
Dipper chuckled as he got comfortable, "Good, hopefully, Terrance is alright, though."
"Yeah…" Mabel whispered, "Goodnight, Dipper."
"'Night, Mabel." Dipper said, turning away from his sister. In truth, he was obviously still concerned with Terrance's wellbeing. Even though he was a giant beast, Dipper still theorized that blow should've knocked Terrance out, if not kill him. With the probable disrepair the truck was in now, with all the scratch marks and the broken window, Terrance didn't exactly have much to wake up to tomorrow. Though Dipper wasn't the best at raising people's moods, he knew for a fact that Mabel was quite the expert. Terrance could use some positive reinforcement after having "Loose Wednesday" canceled on him, whatever that was. Dipper eased into his sleep with the hopeful thoughts of helping out Terrance first thing in the morning, ignoring the churning anxiety in his gut the best he could.
It was eight in the morning when the Pines twins woke up, running out of the Mystery Shack to hunt down Terrance now that it was daytime out. Unfortunately, the golf cart was still wrecked from their first supernatural encounter with the colony of gnomes.
"How're we going to be back over to Terrance's?" Dipper questioned.
"We can drive his truck again," Mabel offered, "It worked last night."
"But, Mabel, this time we could be spotted pretty easily in broad daylight." Dipper countered.
His sister pulled out something from within her sweater, "Here, put this on."
Dipper raised an eyebrow as he stared at the item, "A fake mustache? You can't be serious."
Mabel shrugged with a grin, "No one will really have time to look inside and get a close look at you, Dipper! Come on, it'll work!"
"I'm twelve-years-old, Mabel. I'm lucky I got us out of there alive last night. All because I used to watch how dad would drive back home, in fact. I couldn't possibly do it again!" Dipper retorted with a dramatic sweep of his hand.
"Hey, I helped, too!" Mabel stated, placing her hands on her hips.
"I know, Mabel, and we both survived as a team. It's just I don't want to make this any harder than it has to be, y'know?" Dipper explained.
Mabel raised a brow, "Wouldn't driving make it easier?" Dipper opened his mouth to argue but found that he had been properly bested. He slowly shut his mouth as he pondered a response.
"Yeah, I guess you're right…" He said after a moment, taking the fake mustache and putting it on, "I guess a few miles won't kill us."
"With your steering, I wouldn't be surprised!" Mabel joked, shoving her brother lightly as they walked over to the truck. Dipper chuckled, pushing back as they got to the driver's seat door. Both twins clambered in and Dipper started the engine after a few attempts.
"Okay, let's get out of here before Grunkle Stan sees us." Dipper stated, causing Mabel to hold down the brake pedal and flash her brother a thumbs up, signaling him to shift into drive. Once the gears had changed, they pulled away from the Mystery Shack. About five minutes later, they turned out onto the tiny trail that lead to Terrance's cabin.
"That wasn't so bad, I think your mustache worked, sis." Dipper told his sister to make her feel accomplished.
"Sure it did," She responded, "My plans always work!" The drove slowly down the trail, looking along the treeline for any signs of last night's struggle.
"Think I found where he fell off." Dipper announced, easing the truck off of the trail as much as he could. Mabel helped him park and the two siblings clambered out to assess the damage. They spotted the birch tree that apparently knocked Terrance off of the truck the night before, the trunk missing a large chunk about four feet up from the base. After that, a section of the vegetation could be seen visibly flattened from their position. The twins crossed the trail to inspect the crushed stalks of the tiny plants that grew along the path. They walked down a little slope to find a figure was lying in the grass fifty feet away.
"Terrance! Are you okay!?" Dipper called, running towards the fallen teen. They heard a weak groan, almost sounding annoyed.
"I'm naked." The twins heard the teen grumble. Mabel instantly stopped and turned around.
"Uh…" Dipper thought for a solution, "Here, I'll just lay my vest over your, uh, waist…" He took off his vest, looking away as he carefully laid it over Terrance's groin. The teen was calmly lying in the grass, simply staring up at the sky with a somewhat look of annoyance.
There was a moment of silence, "You two are the biggest idiots I have ever met." Terrance said with a small shake of his head, not even bothering to look over.
"I said we were sorry!" Dipper responded as Mabel walked up to his side, "We weren't exactly expecting you to turn into a werewolf."
"So that's what I am…" Terrance murmured, "It has a name…"
"Well, yeah, haven't you heard of werewolves before?" Dipper asked.
"How many times do I have to tell you?" Terrance retorted, clearly irritated, "I haven't really had the chance to learn much lately."
"Why is that, exactly?" Dipper questioned, "You haven't really told us anything about you."
"What, you think just because we're chums or something I'm just gonna tell you my life story? Be serious." Terrance huffed.
"Fine, it's not like we drove out to see how you were doing." Dipper grumbled, crossing his arms.
"As you can see-" Terrance began before stopping, looking over at the twins, "Wait, what did you say?"
"We-" Dipper started before Mabel held his mouth shut, "We rode here! On our bikes!"
Terrance narrowed his eyes, "Bullshit, you said you drove here! Don't lie to me!"
"You're the one who asked…" Dipper said quietly with a roll of his eyes.
"We had to take your truck, Terrance!" Mabel told the teen, "We're sorry, but you were going to kill us!"
"I wasn't going to kill you," Terrance replied through grit teeth, "I was supposed to be far away from everyone before I'd turn, but look where that got me."
"Well, now we know." Dipper stated, crossing his arms, "And we're going to help you."
Terrance let out a bark-like cackle, "If I could stand, I'd hit you for saying something dumb like that!" Dipper grimaced with a mix of anger and fear, but his possible retort was interrupted by Mabel.
"Wait, why can't you stand?" Mabel asked.
"Think about it, I just turned back into a human from being a monster, all of my bones feel like they were just broken and shoved back together again. Not the best idea to be getting up, now is it?" Terrance replied in a cold manner.
"What's your deal, man?" Dipper asked angrily, "You just snap all the time on whoever says something to you."
"That's because I haven't slept in days!" Terrance shouted to the heavens, looking almost insane from the bags under his widened eyes stared up at the sky, "It just keeps getting worse and worse."
"Take a day off." Mabel muttered quietly, almost too soft to hear.
"I can't…" Terrance groaned, relaxing again, "I'm just a guy in a poor town that doesn't really need my services. Conveniently enough, when they do, they just pile it on me like there's no tomorrow. I can't complain, though, because when work gets piled on me, that's a good thing." Dipper and Mabel exchanged a sad glance.
"We're sorry, Terrance, we didn't know." Mabel told him softly.
"I tried jumping off a cliff once," Terrance muttered quietly, seemingly ignoring Mabel, "Guess the beast inside of me was tougher than I thought." The look the Pines twins now shared was one of shock.
"Hey, man, everything will work out." Dipper tried to reassure the older teen.
Terrance slowly looked over at him, "You guys know why Wendy hates me?"
"Because of that forest fire you set off a month ago, which makes sense, because that lost a lot of revenue for her father." Dipper responded, showing that he understood what Terrance meant.
"Mostly," Terrance replied, "But there's a rumor going around about a monster in Gravity Falls. It's causing property damage, attacking livestock. They call it the 'Beast of the Backwoods'. Wendy's dad, that idiot Manly Dan, is leading the hunt to kill the thing. I'm a prime suspect for keeping it as a pet or something because of how suspicious I apparently am. That's another reason why the cops check on me. I just lie and tell them I haven't seen a thing, they can't prove I'm involved."
"So do you actually have a monster as a pet?" Mabel asked.
"No, Mabel, don't you see?" Dipper responded, resting his hand on his sister's shoulder.
"See what?" Mabel replied.
"Terrance is the Beast of the Backwoods." Dipper stated.
"Exactly…" Terrance sighed, "Can I trust you two to keep my secret? I don't really want to get chased out of town with torches and pitchforks just yet."
"Of course, dude, your secret is safe with us." Dipper told their older friend.
"Locked down." Mabel stated, making the gesture of zipping her lips and throwing away the key.
"Good, I think I can finally say I have some friends." Terrance said with a sly grin.
"You can count on it!" Mabel cried enthusiastically.
Terrance chuckled, "Okay, we got off a bit off-topic, so what exactly did you guys do to my truck?"
"Uh…" Mabel deadpanned, looking over at Dipper who rubbed the back of his neck, "It's more like what you did to it."
"Oh god…" Terrance groaned, "How is it that I've been up for not even ten minutes and things are already in a rut?"
"Well, let's get you up," Dipper said, "You don't want to just lie here all day, do you?"
"I'd love that, actually. I'll get up, though, just give me like, twenty minutes," Terrance said, closing his eyes, "I need some sleep."
"Alright," Dipper conceded, sitting down next to the sleeping teen, Mabel joining him, "You deserve that much." For once, Terrance found himself falling asleep with a smile on his face, actually excited to see what the new day would bring...