On his way back into the shack, Dipper's mind was racing. He really didn't want to believe that what he had just heard was true, yet the dangers of dismissing it entirely were far too high. The fact that Robbie wasn't a human completely and utterly shocked him. Honestly, it confused him more than any of the discoveries he'd previously made in the town. Dipper wondered how he hadn't figured it out on his own. He knew almost everything about all things odd and supernatural, so naturally he would usually be the first to notice when something was off. But this time, apparently, was different. Of course Dipper could tell something wasn't quite right about Robbie, but he had instantly figured that the teen's cynical attitude was the cause of any bad vibes he was giving off. Plus, he was dating Dipper's crush, so of course there would be some tension there. He'd disregarded anything abnormal simply as jealousy or hatred of the older boy.
If Robbie wasn't a human, then what was he? He didn't really seem like he could be any type of mystical or supernatural creature that Dipper knew of. He actually seemed decently normal, aside from the aforementioned bad vibes. He seemed like any other teenage jerk, completely human. But if Robbie wasn't a human-if he really was something else- then would he try to hurt Wendy? What if he was just using her and pretending to like her so he could eat her brain or something? That was what Dipper was most worried about. There were just so many unanswerable questions, especially since he didn't have any idea what Robbie was. It seemed like the entire set was null.
As Dipper walked into the Mystery Shack, he was in a trance. There were so many things on his mind. All of a sudden, as he was passing the kitchen, a familiar voice forced him out of his thoughts. He stopped in his tracks and slowly began to turn around, hoping he was just imagining things.
"Oh my goodness! Well, yes, actually. I have! But coming from you, my sweet, it certainly means the most!" He heard the Southern accented voice say.
Dipper glanced into the kitchen to find not only Gideon, but his sister as well. And she was oddly up close and personal with their 'sworn enemy'. Dipper couldn't believe his eyes. Today was just full of surprises. He stomped into the kitchen, glaring at the younger boy who was hovering over Mabel. She was currently sitting on the ground, leaning up toward Gideon and playing with her hair flirtatiously.
"Mabel, what the heck is going on?" Dipper huffed.
Mabel flinched as she saw her brother, but made no attempt to distance herself from Gideon.
"Why if it isn't my dear old pal, Dipper Pines!" Gideon exclaimed, turning to face him. Almost all signs of former hatred were missing in his seemingly sweet voice, but the twisted smile on his face pretty much said otherwise.
"What are you doing here, Gideon?" Dipper growled, his glare becoming fiercer yet.
"Isn't it obvious? I just stopped by to apologize to your sister." The other boy said plainly. He inspected his nails for a split second, as if they were more interesting than the ongoing conversation. "And, it seems she still has feelings for me." Gideon added, blushing and looking over toward Mabel expectantly.
Mabel caught her brother's gaze and gave him a look that she hoped would explain everything. "Oh Gideon, love is so much more than just feelings!" She said with a giggle, back to her love struck act for the first time since she noticed Dipper had entered the room.
Gideon's cheeks darkened a bit. He glanced at Dipper as if to prove his point.
"This cannot be happening…" Dipper breathed. He had no time for this and he wasn't even sure what was going on, but it was kind of freaking him out. It appeared that his sister needed his help, though, so he decided to play along with her little charade. But it certainly would be helpful to get an explanation soon. "Listen Mabel, you know I want what's best for you. And I just can't let my sister date a creep like Gideon, okay?"
"But Dipper! I really do love him! If you even care about me one bit you'll understand!" Mabel whined, a bit over-dramatically.
Dipper looked between Gideon and Mabel and shook his head. "Gideon, do you mind if I talk to Mabel alone for just a sec?" He asked.
"Why go ahead! Do as you please, I'm sure my sugarplum has her mind set." Gideon said with a shrug, smiling a bit smugly and walking over to the table to sit down. He put his feet on the table and gave Dipper an almost menacing look.
Dipper tried to hide his frustration.
"He'll never tell me how to feel!" Mabel promised. She sighed loudly as Dipper dragged her from the kitchen and toward one of the shack's museum exhibits that was far enough away to be out of hearing range. As soon as they left the kitchen, Mabel instantly looked less energetic, and a lot less like she was in love. If anything, she looked extremely relieved to see her twin.
"Alright, explain." Dipper demanded, grabbing Mabel by the shoulders and staring into her eyes anxiously.
Mabel let out a deep sigh, this time sounding more exhausted than love stricken. She avoided meeting her brother's gaze. "Gideon. Love potion. Didn't work. Second book. I'm acting. And he's so…ugh!"She whispered tiredly.
Dipper's eyes widened.
"I thought we were done dealing with him, but of course nooo."
"Wait, wait, what about book two?" Her brother asked, letting go of her but still looking into her eyes desperately. Right now, any information about the books was all he really cared about. As much as he loved his sister, he had no time for dealing with her guy problems when so much else was going on.
"Gideon has it. He used it to make a love potion, but I didn't fall for it. I pretended to drink it, so now he thinks it worked." Mabel clarified, seeming a bit less exhausted now, but starting to sound irritated. She looked up at her brother, her large brown eyes meeting with his identical ones almost like she was looking into a mirror. They stared at each other for a moment, and they could see the distress and anxiety in one another's eyes.
Dipper glanced away and distanced himself from Mabel a bit, trying his best to sympathize with her. Obviously, he wasn't the only one who had a rough day. "And what, may I ask, were you planning to achieve through that?" Dipper asked as calmly as possible.
"I just wanted to stall him until you got here! He has some sort of new magic amulet thingy." His sister explained.
Dipper groaned and shook his head. "Of course." He muttered, mostly to himself. He turned away from Mabel and began to pace thoughtfully. After a moment of planning, he turned back toward his twin. She looked at him hopefully. "Well, what do you want me to do?" He asked. Though he had already come up with a plan, it was poorly developed and he couldn't bring himself to work on it any longer. It certainly wasn't fail proof. If Mabel had any ideas, they would be incredibly helpful.
"I dunno…You're Dipper. You always have an idea. Right?" Mabel pointed out.
Dipper huffed. "Well, alright, I do have a plan. But, it may or may not work out. Just…bear with me here, okay?" Dipper told her. "Maybe if you try to act creepily obsessed and overly attached for a while we can get Gideon out of our hair for at least long enough to come up with a better plan. Guys, even creeps, don't tend to like clingy girls. Plus, the love potion does have to wear off eventually. Most, if not all, basic spells are generally temporary. Then you can call it off and he'll just think the potion wore off." He explained.
Mabel let out an exasperated sigh and gave a slight shrug at his suggestion. "Any plan is better than no plan." She agreed, trudging back toward the kitchen. "Leave it to me to have more abnormal, boy problems…" She added quietly.
Dipper followed after his sister, and he couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed with himself for not being able to come up with a better plan. Mabel was right, he always had a plan. In fact, he usually had a whole list of them. But his sister's boy problems were way out of his league at the moment, especially with so much else on his mind. The main factor holding him back, besides his distraction, was the amulet. Attempting to destroy it would just be far too risky at the moment. The last thing Dipper wanted was to risk getting his sister hurt. But if Gideon was in love with her, especially if he thought she loved him back, Mabel would be safe…right?
As the twins reentered the kitchen, they found Gideon sitting patiently at the table with a warm smile on his face. From the way he looked, you would have never guessed that he was completely insane and had just used a love potion on his unrequited love. He looked normal, innocent even. Mabel ran over to him, her eyes glistening with joy. Dipper had no clue how Mabel could make herself look like that for someone like Gideon, especially when she had seemed so annoyed and tired just seconds before. He supposed his sister was just a good actress with enough natural charm and flirting experience to pull it off.
"Dipper says he won't get in the way of our love anymore!" Mabel practically cooed, her voice full of bliss.
Gideon's smile widened, this time aimed mainly toward Dipper. "Why thank you, Dipper Pines! That is so very kind of you!" He exclaimed. He turned his attention back to Mabel. "See, true love does overcome all obstacles." Gideon told her.
Mabel nodded quickly. "Of course it does! Especially if it's ours!" She cheered, as if it was the most wonderful thing in the world. "Now we can go on dates every single day, talk about our feelings and be together all the time!" The young girl added excitedly. Maybe a bit too excitedly, actually; she even did a little hand motion to go along with her statement.
"How splendid!" Gideon giggled, smiling at Mabel's silliness.
"And then we'll run off and get married! Maybe when we're like 16! I can't wait to be Mabel Gleeful! I'm getting gleeful just thinking about it!" Mabel said, seeming absolutely thrilled. She put her hands on the younger boy's face and smiled widely at him.
Gideon's expression changed to one of confusion and worry. He couldn't tell if she was joking or not. There was something deadly serious and determined in her tone behind her happiness.
From the other side of the kitchen, Dipper watched the ongoing scene, trying to conceal his amusement. Gideon glanced over at him nervously, and Dipper just shrugged as if saying 'Look dude, you got yourself into this mess'.
Mabel tried to get Gideon to focus his attention back on her. "We can have like five whole kids! Named Lucy, Edmund, Peter, Susan and Gideon Jr.! …I chose that last one 'cause it seemed majestic enough to go along with the others! They may be the kings and queens of Narnia, but you're the king of my heart!" She continued. "Ooh and we'll live in a huugee mansion and even own a bunch of horses! I can't wait for our future together! Fairytale ending! Yay!"
Things were certainly escalating quickly. Gideon wasn't sure to how feel. His feelings were quite conflicted, really. The girl he was desperately in love with was planning their future, yet it kind of creeped him out.
"Uh…Now, Mabel, let's not get too ahead of ourselves just yet." Gideon suggested with a laugh, despite his sudden discomfort.
Mabel pouted and removed her hands from his face. Gideon looked a bit relieved. "Why not, Giddy? Don't you wanna be with me forever and ever?" She asked, her voice serious and quiet, as if she had been offended by his suggestion.
"Well, of course I do! Goodness, Mabel! But, I do think we should take it a tiny bit slower, okay? No need to discuss marriage just yet. We have plenty of time." He told her, standing up and patting her on the back. He gave her an uncomfortable smile and glanced at the clock. "So, how bout I pick you up for our first lunch date at say, tomorrow around one o'clock?"
"Tomorrow around one o'clock." Mabel repeated with a silly smile on her face.
Gideon laughed and looked at her hopefully. "Simply charming." He muttered, shaking his head and grinning. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, my sweet."
"I'll be thinking of you every moment we're apart!" Mabel called after him as he left the kitchen.
Gideon didn't reply.
As soon as they heard the door slam shut, Dipper burst into laughter.
"That worked! It actually worked! Nice job, sis!" He said between laughs.
Mabel blushed a bit. "Don't speak of it." She muttered.
Dipper grinned and shook his head. "Alright. Well-"He began, attempting to change the subject.
Mabel cut him off, giving him an icy glare. "DIPPER, I SAID DON'T SPEAK OF IT!" She snapped.
Her brother gave her a questioning look. "I wasn't going to..." He muttered.
"Oh? Then please continue." Mabel said as sweetly as possible, giving Dipper an innocent smile.
He rolled his eyes. "Okay, well, I made an interesting discovery today." He explained with a grimace.
"Besides the fact that Gideon is a total psychopath?" Mabel asked expectantly.
"Right." Dipper half-laughed.
"Ooh! What is it?" His sister asked, suddenly eager for a subject change. She sat down at the table and motioned for Dipper to sit across from her.
"You know that jerk, Robbie?" Dipper asked as he sat down, a bleary look on his face.
"Wendy's boyfriend? Yeah, I know him. Sadly." Mabel nodded, looking a bit displeased.
"Well apparently he's not a human. Weird right?" Dipper told her.
Mabel's eyes widened.
"But that's not all. He has book four. And he borrowed….or more like temporarily stole against my will, book two." Dipper added.
Mabel looked shocked, but her expression soon changed to curiosity. "Do you think he might be a zombie? That could be interesting! I hear zombies give the best hugs!" Mabel giggled, not seeming too phased.
Dipper shook his head. "What? Well…maybe. I don't know. He doesn't even know yet. I just…I'm really worried about Wendy." He said with a frown.
Mabel stood up and walked around the table to give him a quick pat on the back. "Don't worry, bro-bro. True love can prevail over any obstacle. Everything will be just fine!" She told him with a grin.
Though Dipper wasn't sure if Mabel meant his and Wendy's 'love' or Robbie and Wendy's, he gave his twin a slight smile. "I hope so…" He whispered.
It was a warm, humid day in Gravity Falls. To most of the tourists and inhabitants, it was just another average summer day. But Dipper Pines knew better than to think any day of his life would be normal ever again. Today would just be yet another terrible day filled with worry, anxiety and lots and lots of planning.
The discoveries of the previous day were still on his mind, but they were merely afterthoughts in comparison to his most recent worry. He had a nightmare, or more likely a vision, and it wasn't pretty. Though it wasn't quite the same, it worried him just as much as the very first vision he had, where his sister had died. What worried him most, however, was how vague the dream was.
It took all of his willpower to keep from telling Wendy about his vision as soon as he walked into the gift shop. He thought it would be best, since she would definitely be getting involved eventually. He wanted her to be as prepared as possible. So when Robbie walked into the gift shop, Dipper figured he finally had someone to consult on the matter, especially since Robbie was also involved. As soon as the teen was near enough to him and Wendy, Dipper began to laugh nervously. He was even more anxious than normal.
Robbie gave him an odd look, and opened his mouth to say something, but Dipper cut him off.
"Ha-Hey Robbie, buddy. Want to come hang out in the 'great outdoors' or…whatever for a sec?" He asked, raising his eyebrows in hope that Robbie would get his drift.
Robbie shrugged, slightly confused, but somewhat understanding. "Alright." He said. "Sure. Let's go."
"Have fun, you two!" Wendy called as they exited the shack.
Once they were out in the parking lot, Dipper let out a deep sigh, slightly less tense than he had been when Wendy was around.
"Robbie, I think we need to join forces to make sure Wendy stays safe." He blurted.
Robbie looked surprised. "Wait, what? Why wouldn't she be safe? There's always been weird stuff going on here, but it's not like she's in danger…" He mumbled skeptically.
"She's just…not safe. Trust me." Dipper insisted, making a dramatic hand motion in hope of somehow proving his point.
"Well why not, wise guy?" Robbie asked, shaking his head.
Dipper began to pace nervously. "Now nothing is safe and she might get involved and I just don't want her to get hurt!" He rambled, his voice shaky.
"Please tell me you…Just-explain." The teen growled, getting tired of Dipper's vague explanations.
"I had a dream. But it was really blurry and it made no sense and I…I have no idea what to expect." Dipper began. "I just know you and her are going to be fighting against…something. And I have a weird feeling it involves this thing that's hunting down my family."
"Well that's real helpful, isn't it?" Robbie muttered sarcastically. "And of course, it always involves you!" He added, pointing at the pre-teen accusingly.
Dipper rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well it usually involves you too, zombie." He retorted.
Robbie scoffed. "Who said I was a zombie?" The older boy asked. "Last time I checked I wasn't dead. And I don't have a craving for brains either…"
Dipper scowled. "Well what are you then?" He asked. "Zombie made perfect sense to me. It would explain a lot about your appearance…and-and why you wear so much body spray! Plus, you wrote 'zombies rule' inside Thompson's car." He pointed out.
Robbie rolled his eyes. "You really want me to explain all that? I wear body spray because I think it smells nice, genius! I wrote 'zombies rule' because…Well, I hang out at the cemetery a lot, okay? And, like I said, there's plenty of weird stuff in this town. I've met tons of zombies. They like me, I guess, 'cause I'm not a human or whatever. So there's this joke that I'm the 'king of the zombies' and I have a 'zombie army.' But it's no big deal, really." He explained with a shrug. "As far as my appearance goes, no zombie could ever be this amazingly attractive. So that's a pretty lame guess."
Dipper was becoming impatient. "Just tell me already." He groaned. "There are more important matters at hand!"
"Okay, jeez, calm down. I thought maybe you could figure it on your own, seeing as you're the geeky smart type. But noo. Whatever." Robbie teased. "I'm a vampire, okay? Well a 'dhampir' anyway. I'm a half-blood: Half-vampire, half-human. I guess I can live with that." He said. "It kinda clears some things up, I guess… like why I've never met my dad. So…whatever." The teen added quietly.
After a bit of awkward silence, Dipper finally spoke up. "Wait, so do you like…Crave human blood or anything?" He asked. His previous vampire encounter had been less than pleasant, and this just added to his worries. But hopefully, he'd know what to do if Robbie ever tried to hurt Wendy. If half-blood's weaknesses were the same as vampires' anyway.
"Pfft- No. Don't worry, kid. I'm pretty much normal." Robbie insisted. "Maybe my senses are a bit better than most peoples', but other than that…"
Dipper smiled, a bit relieved. "Apparently your definition of 'normal' is different than mine." He joked.
Robbie rolled his eyes and suddenly walked over to his car.
Dipper watched him curiously, until he came back with a large red book in his hands.
He gave it to Dipper and half-smiled. "This was pretty dang helpful, and you're lucky I'm actually going to give it back." He said.
Dipper snatched the book quickly, just in case Robbie was only teasing him. He protectively held the book tightly to his chest, still skeptical about Robbie's intentions.
"I should probably keep the whole vampire thing from my sister for a while..." The younger boy said, a bit randomly.
"Why?" Robbie asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.
"I guess you could say Mabel's got a thing for vampires." Dipper replied with a slight grin.
Robbie let out a little laugh. "Well then, as weird as that is... You think we should tell Wendy?" He asked.
"About what? Mabel's vampire fetish? Wendy better not have any competition there. It's my sister we're talking about here." Dipper said with a scowl.
Robbie looked shocked. "What? No! Not that! Just…everything! If we want to keep her safe we can't leave her completely oblivious. I mean, like…we do have to tell her sometime." He stated.
Dipper nodded slowly. "You're right…" He said.
Robbie sighed quietly. "Well, whenever you're ready. I'll be here all day." He said with a shrug, walking toward the shack.
Dipper watched him leave, shaking his head in disbelief. "Half-vampire…" He whispered. "Just great."
A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update! I promise chapter 5 will be published very soon. Thank you to everyone who followed, favorited and/or reviewed! I've really enjoyed writing this and would love to hear your thoughts on the story so far. Happy Holidays everyone! I'll be back sometime next week with a new chapter.