Mabel was so excited she could barely keep herself still. She kept bouncing around the house and talking about her new plans to anyone that could hear her. She was so hyped about what she was going to do that she didn't even sleep that night. Bill understood why the twins had felt so annoyed when he had had that caffeine rush a few days ago. It was really infuriating.
She went online and searched for universities where she could study fashion and/or design, and after some extensive research through the webpages of some of the best schools in the country, she found one that fulfilled all of her personal requirements. They were still accepting applications until the end of summer and all she had to do was create some outfits and present them to the Admissions Committee. She dedicated the entire morning to designing a wide variety of clothes, making sure they were perfect enough for the Admissions Committee. When she finally decided she was happy with her work, it was time to start bringing her designs to life.
"You really think they're good enough?" Mabel asked her brother expectantly as he leafed through the drawings on her aptly-named 'Fashion Portfolio'. "I really want to impress the judges."
"Mabel, these are perfect." Dipper assured her for the umpteenth time. "Trust me, they'd be crazy not to accept you."
"I really hope they do. That school sounds really good and they have an awesome fashion program." She said as she walked around the room, nervously tugging at her hair. "I soooo want in!"
"If it's really that good, they might be very strict about who they accept." Dipper commented as he closed the portfolio. "These look great, but if you really want to get in, you might have to bring your A-game."
"My A-game, heh?" Mabel pondered, rubbing her chin and gazing into the distance. "I need something different. Something so amazing that will blow the judges away! But what?"
"I might have a suggestion for that." Dipper retrieved one of the journals from under his bed and flipped through it, stopping when he found what he wanted. "Here we go, magic yarn!"
"Magic yarn?" Mabel inquired as she peeked over her brother's shoulder.
"Says here that if you make anything out of it, it will magically adapt itself to the wearer's body and change its color according to their mood. If you use that, you'll definitely be a shoo-in."
"I love it! But isn't that technically cheating?"
"Is there anything in the rules that says you can't use magic?"
"No."
"Then there you go." He turned the page. "The journal says you can find the magic yarn near the gnomes' territory, over at the northeastern side of the forest."
"I'm already there!" she declared as she swiftly pulled on her sneakers.
"Just be careful, OK?" Dipper advised as he closed the journal. "Ford and I have been monitoring the eastern side, and there's something really weird going on over – "
When he looked up she was already gone, so he released an exasperated sigh as he pulled his laptop onto his lap and switched it on, reaching for his headphones as he waited for the device to come to life.
Mabel skipped through the dense woods as she looked around, occasionally glancing down at the smartphone in her hands, the compass app she had installed guiding her through every turn. She followed the compass's needle where it pointed towards the northeast, hoping to find the place where the magic yarn was.
Her attention was deviated when she saw a deep and dark cave that she didn't recall ever seeing before. She walked towards it for closer inspection, when she noticed there seemed to be some words scratched onto the outside wall. She traced her index finger through them as she read what was written aloud.
"'Beware the Black Beast of Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh.'" she declaimed, bursting into laughter when she finished. "That's a funny name."
Her giggles were interrupted when she heard loud growling coming from inside the cave. Mabel's smile fell and her eyes widened as she took a few steps back. Whatever was in there growled again, this time even louder. She gasped when the creature finally appeared, relief instantly washing over her.
It was just a white rabbit.
"Aw, what a cute little bunny!" she cooed as she knelt down in front of the small animal. "What were you doing in that cave? You better head home, I think there's a monster in there."
Mabel moved her hand towards the rabbit to pat it on the head when it suddenly tried to bite her. She quickly pulled back her hand and stared at the rabbit in shock, the small animal showing off its pointy teeth as it snarled at the brunette. Mabel was horrified to see that its teeth had red stains on them, as if it had been recently feasting on some innocent woodland creature.
"N-nice bunny…" Mabel stuttered as she slowly pushed herself up and stepped back, her hands raised in front of her in a defensive way. "You wouldn't hurt me, right?"
The rabbit kept snarling as it launched itself at her. Mabel was able to dodge it by just a few inches and ran off in the opposite direction, not even bothering to check if it was chasing her. The rabbit watched her run off and then hopped back into the cave.
Mabel kept running, not wanting to risk becoming the meal of a carnivorous rabbit. Panting heavily, she looked back to see if it had come after her. She found she wasn't being chased, but then she felt herself lose her footing and rolled down a steep cliff. The fall wasn't too big, so she landed on the dirt ground without taking much damage.
She lifted herself up with a groan, dusting herself off as best as she could. She had a few scrapes along her arms and legs, but nothing too serious.
"Aw, geez…" she complained, trying to make out her surroundings. "Where am I?"
She had never been to that part of the woods before. It seemed darker than the rest of it and the air felt heavy for some reason. Most of the trees were either dead or broken and there was absolutely no grass on the ground, just soil. She decided it would be best to keep going, so she followed the only visible path through the trees.
If only she had noticed that her phone had fallen from her pocket and she had left without it.
If only she had seen that the compass was now pointing East.
She pushed away some low branches that stood in her way as she kept walking, hoping to find a way out soon. She had the weirdest feeling that she was being followed, and the sound of the wind blowing through the trees didn't help. Her eyes darted everywhere, expecting to see someone or something watching her. At one point she could've sworn she had heard something run past her from behind, but she figured it was just her imagination.
She froze when she heard what sounded like snarling around her. Had the rabbit followed her all the way there? No, it couldn't have! Turning around and looking down, she confirmed that the rabbit was nowhere in sight. But if it wasn't the rabbit, then what was making that sound?
She turned back towards the path to keep walking, when something jumped in front of her. Even if it seemed vaguely human-like, it was absolutely hideous. Its skin was taut against its body, it exhibited spinal disfiguration, giving it a hunchback-like appearance, it had razor-sharp teeth, limbs which looked longer than usual and no hair.
It stood on all fours and released a high-pitched shriek before launching at Mabel, who only had time to scream before starting to run for her life.
"'Dear Shooting Star'… No, too formal… 'Hey, Shooting Star! How's it going?'… Too casual… 'Yo, Double S, what up?'… Urgh, that's even worse!"
Bill crushed another piece of paper in anger and tossed it behind his back next to the other crumpled paper balls. He had isolated himself in the roof and was trying to write a heartfelt letter to Mabel in hopes that that would make her finally fall for him, but after being up there all day and writing about thirty failed attempts, he was starting to think he wasn't that good at creative writing.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he conjured another piece of paper with a pen hovering over it, ready to start writing as soon as he thought of something good enough. He had just gotten an idea about what to write when he got a weird feeling in his gut, one that he didn't like. He quickly conjured the gold-framed mirror he had used when he arrived and zoomed in on a particular part of the globe.
What he saw confirmed his suspicions and made his heart sink.
"Oh no."
Mabel felt herself gradually run out breath as she kept running through the forest as fast as she could. She could still hear the creature chasing after her, its heavy breathing and low growls sending shivers down her spine. Turning her head around, she saw the creature was leaping from tree to tree to try and catch up to her quicker. This made her panic even more. If that thing was able to jump that well, how long would be it until it pounced on her?
Suddenly she realized she couldn't hear it anymore; all she heard was the sound of her feet hitting the ground. She looked back and saw the creature had disappeared without a trace. She kept looking around as she slowed down, inspecting every inch around as she slowly walked backwards.
After seeing that the thing was clearly nowhere in sight, Mabel released one of the deepest sighs of her life, holding her chest to try and calm her rapidly beating heart. She turned back around to keep moving, when she saw the last thing she wanted to see right then: the creature was now right in front of her, hanging upside down from a tree.
They both shrieked at the same time and the thing took a swing at her, its sharp claws slicing her right side and sending her rolling across the path. Her back hit the edge of the cliff where she had fallen from earlier and she released a groan as she held onto her side. She pushed herself up with great difficulty and gasped when she looked down at herself: she was bleeding abundantly, the red substance rapidly soaking her now torn yellow smiley face t-shirt. The creature slowly approached her on all fours, snarling menacingly before launching itself right at her. Mabel shut her eyes tightly, waiting for the impact…
Only it never came. Instead she heard a whack and what sounded like someone falling flat on the ground.
She quickly opened her eyes and saw what had happened: Bill was standing in front of her, holding his cane over his head with both hands. She also saw the creature was lying on the ground a few feet away, visibly stunned. Clearly Bill had smacked it on the head before it could land on her.
"Back off, you freak!" Bill threatened, his cane disappearing and being replaced with a blue flame on each of his hands. "Don't think I won't hurt you!"
The creature released another shriek before pouncing towards Bill. The blond launched the flames in his hands and they engulfed the thing completely. It ran around screeching for a while before it dashed in the opposite direction.
Bill panted heavily as he watched the creature run away, making sure it didn't come back. Mabel didn't remember seeing the demon that angry since they foiled his plans to destroy Grunkle Stan's memory. It was scary to see him this upset.
"Good riddance." He muttered before kneeling down beside Mabel, his angry expression replaced with a worried one. "Are you OK?"
"Yeah…" she replied as she tried to lift herself up. "I – "
A sharp pain ran through her side and she fell back down onto the floor with the loss of her strength. Bill gasped and rolled her over, his eye widening when he saw the five deep gashes on her body.
"What did that thing do to you?!" he exclaimed as he started to panic.
She felt herself start lose consciousness. The last thing she saw before her eyelids fell shut was Bill picking her up and starting to run out of the forest with her in his arms.
"OK, I got the key to the prison, now I just have to make sure the Grunt doesn't find me." Dipper declared as he hurriedly clicked on the WASD keys of his laptop's keyboard.
"PINE TREEEEEEEEEEE!"
He nearly fell off his bed when Bill kicked the door open and ran in with a bleeding passed-out Mabel in his arms.
"What happened?!" Dipper exclaimed, pushing his laptop off of him and pulling off his headphones as he quickly leaped from his bed. "What did you do?!"
"It wasn't me!" he replied, panting heavily with a look of pure fear on his face. "She was attacked by a Wendigo!"
"A Wendigo?!" Dipper picked up the journal he had used earlier and rapidly flipped through it. "Are you sure?"
"I know what a Wendigo looks like." Bill declared as he carefully laid Mabel on her bed. "I've encountered them before. They're just as vicious as I remember."
"That must be what's been roaming around the eastern side of the forest. I warned her not to go there."
"A little late for that now, don't you think?" Bill snapped, almost growling at the brunet.
"Here we go, Wendigos." He said when he found the page about the creature in question. "Doesn't say anything about a person who's attacked by them transforming into one of them, so she's safe."
"Safe?! She's bleeding to death!" Bill shouted. "We need to get her to the hospital!"
"She'll never make it in time, she's lost too much blood!" Dipper retorted as he checked his sister's pulse. "She's getting weaker."
"Then get Sixer! He's got to know how to fix this!"
"He's not here. He went grocery shopping with Stan to make sure he doesn't bring back nothing but junk food." He checked the journal again. "There's got to be something here that can help her!"
"There is. Stand back." Bill pushed Dipper away and leaned over the passed out brunette.
"What're you doing?"
"You're gonna have to trust me on this."
Dipper was reluctant to trust Bill, especially about such a delicate matter as his sister's life, but there was nothing he could do. She was bleeding at an alarming rate and if her injuries weren't mended quickly she could die. He sighed and nodded, allowing the demon to proceed.
Bill took a deep breath as he removed his gloves and pulled Mabel's t-shirt to expose her wounds, hoping Time Baby hadn't taken away the power he needed to use to help her. He gently placed both his hands over Mabel's injuries and closed his eye, focusing all of his energy on that one spot, which soon started to glow a bright shade of blue. Bill gritted his teeth and started to sweat as the gashes on Mabel's side gradually started to disappear.
Dipper was amazed about the demon's healing ability. He had no idea he possessed such power, and wondered if had ever used it before on another living being. His astonishment increased when he saw that, as the injuries were disappearing from his sister's body, they were appearing on Bill's, fresh blood quickly staining through the demon's tailcoat as he grunted in pain.
As the last of Mabel's wounds faded away, Bill collapsed on the floor in exhaustion. He had lost all the color on his face and was having trouble breathing, his coat almost completely soaked in blood.
"Are you OK?" Dipper asked as he worriedly looked over at the demon.
"I'll… I'll be fine." He said between breaths, his eye slowly opening.
Mabel suddenly shot up, taking deep breaths with a look of horror on her face.
"What… what happened?" she inquired frantically as she looked around confusedly.
"Mabel, you're OK!" Dipper exclaimed as he hugged his sister. "I was so worried!"
"Dipper, what's going on?" she looked down as she noticed Bill lying down on the floor. "And what's wrong with Bill?"
"You're not gonna believe this." Dipper released her and sat on her bed. "You were attacked in the forest and Bill saved you! He brought you here and transferred your injuries onto himself!"
"He… did?"
She looked down at herself and saw her t-shirt was torn and stained with blood, yet she didn't have as much as a scar. She ran a hand through her smooth skin as the memory of that afternoon's events started to come back to her.
"I remember now!" she gasped. "I was attacked by this really ugly thing! It slashed my body, and then Bill shot fire at it, and… I don't really remember the rest, but Bill saved my life!"
"Twice!" Dipper added, holding up two fingers. "I wouldn't've believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes."
Mabel jumped off of her bed and knelt down next to Bill, whose new wounds were still seeping blood.
"Thank you so much, Bill." she said with a bright grin. "I can't believe you'd risk your own life for me like that, but I really appreciate it."
"Don't mention it." Bill replied weakly, giving her a small smile.
"Are you going to be OK?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine. My healing factor's already kicking in." he lifted his clothes to show the blood had stopped flowing. "It might take a bit longer, since these gashes are really deep."
"Thank you so much. I owe my life to you."
Mabel leaned down and gave Bill a kiss on the cheek. The demon's face flushed uncontrollably and his eye widened as he stared incredulously at the brunette, whose cheeks were also a bright shade of pink.
"KIDS, WE'RE HOME!" Grunkle Stan shouted from downstairs. "I BROUGHT FRIED CHICKEN! AND MR. DOWNER OVER HERE BROUGHT RAW FISH!"
"IT'S SUSHI!" Ford retorted. "IT'S CONSIDERED BRAIN FOOD!"
"I guess it's time for dinner." Dipper declared as he stood up. "Come on, Mabel. And thanks again, Bill. We really owe you a big one."
Mabel hooked her arms under Bill's armpits as Dipper grabbed his ankles, both of them lifting the blond demon up and dropping him onto the brunette's bed. It wasn't a very easy task, since Bill was heavier than he looked, but they managed with their combined strength.
Dipper cracked his back and gestured his sister to follow him as he walked out the door. Mabel gave Bill one last smile before walking out of the room with her brother. They could both hear their great-uncles arguing over which of the two meals they had bought was best, but as she followed Dipper down the creaky stairs towards the kitchen, Mabel couldn't stop a big smile from appearing on her face as she remembered what happened. The evil Bill Cipher, the insane dream demon who invaded Grunkle Stan's mind, stole Dipper's body and attempted to kill her and her brother countless times, had saved her from impending doom. The thought alone made her heart skip a beat.
Bill sighed to himself as he thought about what he had done, feeling his wounds closing at a painfully-slow rate. If he hadn't felt that Mabel was in danger and saved her when he did, not only would she have been killed, but his entire plan would've gone down the drain. Surprisingly enough, he had been more worried about the first consequence rather than the latter.
As soon he felt his strength had returned, he waved his hand over his clothes and made the blood stains vanish. He lifted himself up by the elbows and ran his fingers on his cheek as he thought about the kiss she had given him. He grinned as he remembered the warm feeling of her soft lips against his skin. It had felt so nice… He wondered if he could ever feel that again, if she would ever do it again.
Mabel tossed and turned in her bed. She was wide awake and it didn't look like she was going to fall asleep anytime soon. Every time she closed her eyes she saw the creature that had attacked her earlier, showing its razor-sharp teeth at her just before pouncing. She was tired and sore, but no matter how much she tried, she just couldn't fall asleep.
She sighed and stared up at the ceiling, allowing her mind to wander. She remembered how Bill had saved her and how grateful she was for that. But something was bothering her, something that she had just realized was off. A question that popped into her head and of which she needed to know the answer.
"Bill?" she whispered, moving towards the edge of the mattress and looking down. "Are you awake?"
"I am now." The demon yawned, his head appearing from under the bed. "What's wrong? Did you have another bad dream?"
"No, I just can't sleep. I keep seeing that thing's face staring at me."
"Want a glass of warm milk? I heard that helps." Bill snapped his fingers, the aforementioned item appearing in his hand.
"Actually, I think I need to talk to you. Think we can go somewhere a bit more… private?" She looked over at Dipper, who was sound asleep in his bed.
"Sure."
He floated over to her and gently placed his arm around her waist, holding her close. Mabel felt her cheeks burn slightly and closed her eyes as he snapped his fingers, feeling herself being transported. She opened her eyes when she felt they had stopped, and saw they were now on the roof. She couldn't help but gasp when she saw how beautiful the night sky looked. The moon was full and shining brightly, with hundreds of stars shimmering around it.
A gust of wind blew through them and Mabel involuntarily wrapped her arms around herself. She had forgotten she was still in her nightgown.
"Cold?" Bill asked.
"A little bit, yeah." Mabel replied as she rubbed her arms.
Before she knew it, Bill had unbuttoned his tailcoat and placed it over shoulders. She just stared at him in awe, whilst he just smiled at her.
"There. Wouldn't want you catching a cold." He stated and leaned back. "So what did you want to talk about?"
"It's about what happened earlier."
"You sure you wanna relive that? Any other person would've wanted to forget all about something like that."
"I don't, but I just wanted to ask you something about it. Something I didn't really understand."
"Shoot."
"Why did you save me?"
"What kind of question is that?" Bill cocked a brow, staring at the brunette with a quizzical expression. "I had to save you! You're were about to be mauled by a Wendigo!"
"I know, and I'm really thankful for that, but I need to know why." Mabel moved closer to the humanized demon, looking pleadingly into his eye. "You've always had it in for me and my brother, so why save me from certain death instead of just leaving me there?"
He looked down at the slightly pouting girl, her eyes shining brightly under the moonlight. Bill's heart almost melted just from looking at her.
"Well, I couldn't just let you die!" he crossed his arms and looked away from her, hoping she wouldn't notice the slight blush on his cheeks. "I love you too much for – "
He slapped his hands over his mouth, his eye widening and his previous blush spreading across every inch of his face when he realized what he had just said. Mabel just stared at him, her eyes also wide as she tried to process what she had just heard.
"Did you just say you… love me?" she gasped.
Bill avoided her gaze at all cost. What had he just done? How could he let that slip?! If only he still had the power to travel through time, he could go back and stop himself from spilling the beans like that.
"I-I… I…" he stammered, stiffening when he felt Mabel move closer.
"Bill, it's OK. In a way, I already knew."
"You… did?" he inquired hesitantly, slowly turning to face her.
"You've been trying to put the moves on me all week." She smiled, a bright shade of pink on her cheeks. "At first I thought you were just playing with my emotions, but now I know you really mean it."
Bill gulped when Mabel moved even closer and placed a hand on his, their arms touching and their faces mere inches away. His cheeks felt so warm he was afraid she could feel the heat irradiating from him.
"And for the record… I feel the same way."
His eye widened so much it felt like it was about to pop out of its socket. Had he heard correctly? Did she just say she… reciprocated his feelings?!
"Y-you… you do?" he stuttered, staring incredulously at her.
"Uh-huh." She nodded, her blush increasing as she nervously tugged at the coat around her. "I almost can't believe it myself, but after all you've done, I've really come to like you. You seem to have really changed, and that's – "
She was suddenly interrupted when Bill closed the gap between them by pressing his lips against hers, cupping her cheeks to keep her in place. Her eyes widened almost to the size of dinner plates as she processed what was happening. Bill was kissing her. He was really kissing her!
She closed her eyes and returned the kiss, running her fingers through his hair. It had been so long since she the last time someone had kissed her like that, she had almost forgotten how good it felt. And Bill was a surprisingly good kisser. She wondered if he had done that before.
One of Bill's hands moved from her face to the small of her back, pressing her body against his. He had never felt such a wonderful sensation in all his years of existence. The feeling of Mabel's lips against his was intoxicating and he couldn't get enough of it.
Much to his dismay, Mabel had to pull back in order to catch her breath. She panted heavily with a large smile across her face, looking a bit dazed. Bill couldn't keep himself from chuckling at how adorable she looked.
"I take it you enjoyed that." He grinned, running his hand across her arm to hold her hand.
"You have no idea…" she replied sluggishly, unable to keep her eyes focused.
"We should head back. The sun's gonna rise soon." Bill declared as he looked over at the horizon, noticing how the color of the sky had begun to change. "Pine Tree will rip my head off if he wakes up and you're not in bed."
He snapped his fingers and teleported them back onto Mabel's bed. They laid there in each other's arms for what seemed like hours, listening to their steady heartbeats until they fell asleep, the brunette's head nuzzling against the demon's chest.
AUTHOR'S NOTE (PLEASE READ)
Oh, how I adore references... *rubs cheeks*
This chapter was time2dancecpj's idea. She suggested that Mabel could get into trouble with the supernatural and then Bill had to save her. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. :)
I apologize if I messed up the details about the whole college admissions thing. I'm don't live in the States and the process is completely different where I live, so all I wrote was based solely on research.
And yes, Dipper is playing "Amnesia: The Dark Descent". I think it's the kind of game that he would definitely play. x)
