Chapter 9
Wendy was silent for a while. She had been writing furiously while Dipper had described his nightmares to her, and the second she was done, she put down her pen and looked at the drawings like they were about to bite her.
"Sorry. I know they're pretty dark," Dipper said, staring at the floor like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
"This stuff…this isn't stuff that your mind could just come up with. Something else has got to be doing this," Wendy thought hard, her forehead wrinkling as she did. Dipper couldn't help but think she was kind of cute when the did that.
"That's what Ford and I were thinking when we were tossing is around earlier. I called it an entity. It's not a person, that's for sure, and it's definitely not Cipher."
"Dipper, you aren't going to be able to handle this for much longer," Wendy warned him, looking directly into his eyes. "Thoughts like this…they can really mess up a person's mind. You need to be careful."
Dipper considered this. "That's probably true. But I can't keep it from happening if I don't even know what's causing it."
"It's not Cipher. It sounds like this…thing considers itself as Cipher's guardian or boss, maybe. Or just something that has a lot more power than Cipher ever did. They obviously know each other," she replied, going back to her pages and scribbling. "It sort of sounds like what you're talking about is a broader version of the mindscape."
"That's what it told me. It said that it was much more capable of manipulating the mindscape than Cipher was. And it said something about sending Cipher to take care of us." Dipper scooted closer to her, peering over her shoulder so he could see everything she was writing. "And that the zodiac wasn't a concern to it."
"I can't imagine it would be. But if Cipher marked us with it, it's got to mean something. You said that it's a way for Cipher to keep tabs on us? Maybe this entity's using it, too."
"Wow. Why didn't I think of that?" Dipper's face blanched. "Then that means it's seeing all of you guys, too."
"Yeah, maybe, Dipper," Wendy shrugged. "But you really don't need to be thinking about that right now. You need to sleep, man."
Dipper looked back down at the floor.
"Dipper?"
"I can't keep doing this," Dipper breathed heavily. "This thing is after you now, too. I have to go, I have to get back to Ford's lab and try and figure this out." He stood quickly and headed for the door, but before he could open it, Wendy pounced on his back, wrapping one arm around his neck and the other around his right arm.
"Dipper Pines, you get your ass back over there," she said firmly.
"Wendy, stop. Please. I have to figure out how to stop this," Dipper begged.
"You aren't the only person in this town who knows their way around some weird shit, you know," Wendy replied. "It's not a bad thing to lean on other people."
"I think you're leaning on me," he groaned, trying to shove her off, but she was a lot stronger than she looked. "I just can't sit here and wait for this thing to come kill us all."
"I didn't know this place did live music!" Mabel yelled to be heard over the country song. "I love country!"
"Best kind of music there is," Beckett replied with a smug little smile on his face. "Wanna dance?"
"You're damn right I do," Mabel laughed, and Beckett grabbed her hands and swung her in a circle.
They must have danced for hours, because by the time they got tired, the band was packing up and the restaurant was getting ready to close. The two of them sat down on the barstools, laughing and sweating profusely.
"So I've gotta ask. Were you around that one summer when all that crazy stuff happened?" Beckett asked, pushing a small pile of salt around the bar table.
"Which one?" Mabel chuckled. "You mean five years ago when Cipher tore a hole in our dimension?"
"Okay, wait. Back up a sec. All I knew was that a bunch of strange crap happened that summer. You know what happened?"
"It's a long story," Mabel smiled up at him. "Maybe we should find somewhere that's not closing."
"Wendy. Finally I've gotten through to you."
"Wha- what's going on?" Wendy felt like ice water was running through her veins. She couldn't see anything at all, she couldn't feel her body, and it made her really uneasy that she couldn't see who was speaking to her.
"You know me already. Don't lie. You remember the time we met."
"You're… you're the thing that's been messing with Dipper's dreams? Why?"
"Not just his dreams. Ford and Stan's, too. Mabel's probably next. I just find it…charming to visit the minds of the people that intrigue me most," the thing chuckled. "But I find it interesting that he's the first one you mentioned. Why do you think that is?"
"Dipper's my best friend, and you're destroying his mind," Wendy yelled. "Why wouldn't I?"
"No, darling, I don't think that's the reason. I think perhaps there's another reason."
"There's no other reason. Leave me alone." Wendy did her best to turn her back to the thing, but she couldn't feel which way her body was moving.
"Oh, you're more stubborn than I originally thought. Breaking you is going to be fun, Wendy. Now go on back to the real world. I'll see you sooner than you think."
Wendy gasped as she jolted from the mindscape back into the real world. A sick feeling of dread settled in her stomach.
It had found her, too.
