Chapter 8

Can't Convince Her

"Wha-" Mabel began to question her brother, but was suddenly pushed off the log and found herself being pulled frantically in the direction of the shack.

"We need to leave! Now!" Dipper yelled, the fear now very obvious to Mabel. His hand had a death grip on her wrist causing her to grimace from the sting of skin rubbing skin, but she soon caught pace with him, easing the painful sensation a little.

They ran out of the forest and didn't stop until reaching the porch of the shack. Dipper hopped the steps, flung the door open, and pushed his sister inside, slamming the door shut behind them. They both doubled over, leaning on their knees for support as they struggled to catch their breath. Mabel, being in a bit better shape than her brother, was the first to find her voice.

"What...the hell...was that...all about?!" she exclaimed through her panting.

She glanced up to see a very pale-faced Dipper still struggling to calm his breathing. He was prone to getting panic attacks, and with his heart rate so high and labored breathing already a problem, she was worried about an episode hitting him right here and now. Better calm him down before all the questioning... she thought to herself as she reached over to rub his back in a soothing motion.

"Shhh...it's ok, we're ok now. We're safe here... Dipper?" She continued to try to calm him down as he slowly began to breath normally again. He stood up straight, took one look at Mabel's worried face, and decided he needed to sit down. They both needed to sit down.

"W-we need t-to sit. Here...let's g-go into the kitch-kitchen." He stumbled over his words, and his feet, as he made his way into the kitchen and pulled out a chair for himself and his sister.

Mabel knew this was serious. Dipper hadn't stuttered this badly, outside of talking to girls (herself not included), since they were little. She took a seat across from him and waited for him to speak first. At this point, she was pretty much at a loss for words, which was very rare for the older twin.

Dipper nervously rubbed the back of his neck, trying to organize his thoughts into what would be the most informative, but least insane sounding, dialogue. He decided he had better explain what happened in the forest, first. It made the most sense, after all, considering they had just come from there and Mabel would be wanting an explanation for why they ran.

He took a deep breath. "I went out to clear my head. I couldn't sleep, and it was the only thing I could think to do. I went to a spot I like to go to sometimes when I need to be alone and I must've dozed off or something. I had a nightmare. At least, I think I was dreaming. It was very real, but I remember waking up when I screamed."

Mabel looked at him, concerned, wanting to say something, anything, but respectfully refrained.

"I saw Multi-bear. Well, I'm pretty sure it was Multi-bear. There's only been one bear in Gravity Falls that I know of with multiple heads. He came slowly towards me and then stopped and leaned against a tree. He looked horrible, Mabel...I can't even imagine how it happened..." He paused for a long moment, staring down at the table, almost seeming like he couldn't continue.

Mabel reached out with her hand to comfort him, patting his arm gently to remind him she was there for him and would patiently wait for him to continue.

"Mabel...his eyes were- were gone. But not just gone, it was like they had been gouged out...all of them. And that's not all. His mouths, they had all been..." he drew in another deep breath, "...sewn shut."

Mabel's eyes grew wide with disgust as she listened to the gruesome details her brother supplied about what he had witnessed. When he got to the part about the bear trying to rip through the stitches to try to speak to him, causing blood to flow down his face, she nearly had to excuse herself because she felt like she was going to puke. Dipper caught on to his sister's discomfort with the conversation and paused to give her a break.

"Sorry, Mabes. I know it's gruesome, but I need you to know how serious this all is. I think Multi-bear was trying to tell me something...like a warning, almost. He was just about to speak when he became engulfed in flames and disappeared. And they weren't normal flames. They were blue."

"So the flames were blue, what is that supposed to mean?" Mabel questioned.

"Bill!" he forced out rather loudly, causing his sister to jump a bit in her chair. "He's behind this, I just know it!"

He hadn't meant to blurt out that name. It just…happened.

"But it was all just a dream, Dipper, wasn't it? And besides, we defeated Bill years ago. He's gone. Grunkle Stan and Ford...they promised we were rid of him."

Mabel's voice was laced with uncertainty; something her twin had picked up on, but tried not to think too much about. She was supposed to be the optimistic one, the one whose resolve for positive thinking would never falter.

"I don't think it was a dream, Mabel. The reason why I had us run from the forest was because I saw the paw prints. After the flames dissipated, there were only paw prints left in the dirt where he stood. When we were hugging on the log, I was facing the direction where I saw Multi-bear in my dream, and when I looked at the ground...they were actually there."

Mabel's face paled. "So it wasn't a dream, then?"

"I'm thinking it wasn't. I don't think it was exactly real, though, either."

"What the heck does that mean?!" Mabel was purely confused now, forgetting about how scared she was just a second ago.

Dipper always did marvel at his sister's ability to change emotions rather quickly, even if it was a bit mentally tiring for him to keep up sometimes.

"It means that it really happened, but not in our reality. It may have been that my mind crossed over into a parallel plane of existence through a dream, or something like that. I'm not sure. All I know is that the paw imprints were really there, and I think I'm supposed to take the whole weird episode as a message, or as a warning of some sort."

"Whoa… This is very strange, but what kind of message or warning is it?" Mabel still looked confused, but at least she wasn't flat out dismissive of what her brother had said.

"Like I said, I think Bill might be involved somehow. It seemed like the Multi-bear was trying to tell me something but was consumed by the blue fire before he could get anything out. It was like he was being silenced," Dipper said solemnly.

"Well, I see why you wanted to run now. So, why were you out there, anyways, this late at night? You know that's not a very good idea. I know all the supernatural creatures and monsters are gone, but there are also wolves and mountain lions to worry about!"

She had taken on the chastising tone of an over-protective parent. Dipper got a bad feeling in the pit of his gut. Something told him his sister's attitude was beginning to veer from concerned to condemnatory.

"Yeah, I know. It wasn't a very smart thing to do. I get it. But I told you, I couldn't sleep. And here's the weird thing: I had been going over all the things in my mind about Belle that seemed to be, well, odd in nature. I couldn't help but think that she, somehow, has some sort of connection with Bill..." he trailed off as his mind quickly tacked on another similarity- their names. "Oh, man! I didn't even think of that one."

"Think of what one?" his sister queried.

"The fact that their names are so similar!"

"Oh, come on Dip, that's a bit of a stretch, even for you."

Dipper went on to lay out all the things he had thought about earlier that night; the oddities and unbelievable things about Belle. By the time he was done, Mabel was hardly convinced, saying all he had was strange coincidences and circumstantial evidence, at best. Needless to say, Dipper was extremely disappointed in his sister's skepticism.

He was clearly deflated. "Well, I knew this would be a waste of time. You still don't take me seriously."

"No! That's not it, it's just that it seems like you are wanting there to be a connection, like you're looking specifically for it. I'm sorry, Dip. I just don't see it."

"So you think I just made up the paw prints, too?"

"No, I believe you! It's just...I don't see a connection with Bill, that's all. I'm sorry, bro-bro. Please don't be mad."

Mabel was genuinely distraught over the situation, but her distress was directed at her brother's state of mind, and not over the events Dipper had been discussing with her for the last half hour. He knew his sister well enough to know that for a fact.

Dipper decided he had heard enough. He knew he wouldn't be getting anywhere with his sister, at least not tonight. He knew it wouldn't do him any good to argue with her. That would only upset her and ruin her party.

"Don't worry about it, Mabes. I'll just put it all on the back burner. I'm tired. I'm gonna try to go to sleep now. We have a big day tomorrow and I don't want to look like I haven't slept. Ok?" he said as he yawned and slowly raised from his chair, being careful to not squeak the legs on the floor.

"Thanks. I just want you to be happy and have a good time tomorrow."

She could see her brother still looked a bit forlorn, but decided to leave it alone for tonight. It was late, and there was a lot to do in the morning. She climbed the stairs back to their room, Dipper following close behind. They each went to their respective sides of the room, not even bothering to change, and dropped into bed. Neither had trouble falling asleep.

Yes, I know this one is short. I should've combined it with the last one, but wanted to get chapt. 7 out earlier. Next one should be longer.

To answer a reviewer's question: We're soon getting to the part of the story I originally wrote over three months ago…the part where Belle reveals who she really is to Dipper and her intentions. That will probably come out after chapt. 9, but no promises! This story was never really planned out, so it kinda has a mind of its own. But it will be soon…promise!

Thank you to those who have commented. It really does help.