An Eventful Day
- Dipper's POV -
"I can't sit on my bed and mope around!" I heard my sister say. I looked up from my book and over at her, circling around in the center. "I have to do something! We have to!"
I frowned slightly before closing my book after putting a bookmark in the place I was reading. I then set it on the end table. I turned to look at Mabel, her face still showed signs of sadness. "We're not giving up just because of that sudden reason! That just makes me want to put this kidnapper behind bars even more!" She said, continuing her rant.
"I'm not. However... seeing that the kidnapper is targeting us or anyone onto the case. I kinda don't want to involve anyone else." I said.
"... Yeah, I don't want them to have the same fate as... Candy and Pacifica... I swear they don't deserve that!" She said, sobbing slightly.
"None of those victims do." I said.
"Yeah. None of them..." She said, trailing off. Soon silence filtered in, answering our thoughts. What do we do next? We could check to see if there are any secrets hidden within the town... although that would lead us to get into trouble. What are we missing? We have the kidnapper or... minion luring the victim into a "date" and having the kidnapper capture them and have them lock up away somewhere. But where is the question? It could be at the kidnapper's house if it was a dumb one, however, the way they're doing this. The victims are not at their house. It's somewhere in this town... Wait. What if-
"Do you want to walk in the jungle?" I heard my sister ask, interrupting my thought process.
I looked up at her, nodding slowly. "Sure. Any reason you want to?" I asked.
"... I just... I have a feeling ... like we should go in there." She said slowly. "like something is calling me from there."
"... I was just thinking about that. Not the calling part, but venturing into the jungle to see if there are any clues left by the kidnapper. However, I don't think we'll find any." I said, smiling nervously.
"It's never too late to go." She said, turning away and getting ready. She soon left the room to the bathroom.
"... That is true." I mumbled before getting up to change clothes. Once I was done, I looked at the white eye patch on my end table. I walked over and grabbed it. I don't really need it anymore. I don't have the fear to hide my blind eye. I place it down on the end table and turned to the door. I really wished I wasn't half-blind... I let out a small sigh and exited the room. I headed downstairs and onto the first floor. "You're not wearing your eye patch!" I heard my sister gasped.
"Yeah. I figured it's time to let that fear go." I said, smiling at her.
"That's the spirit!" She said, hugging me. She then pats my back before saying the words, "Awkward Sibling Hug!"
"..." I blinked at her, confused and slowly becoming a bit awkward. She let go. "... Awkward Sibling Hug?" I tilted my head.
"... Yeah! Where we hug and pat our backs and say the phrase!" She smiled, looking a bit awkward.
"Uh... Okay." I said, looking away awkwardly.
"Yeah..." She trailed off, doing the same before walking away. "Let's go before we waste daylight."
"Good idea." I followed her out. We told our grunkles we'll be out of the shack. Soon we were on the path, coming closer to the walls of tall trees. Once we halted next to them, we entered in. Nature greeted us, allowing us to view its environment. I soon spotted a cloud of dust before instantly grabbing my sister and pulled her away from the transparent cloud. "Hey! What was that for?!" She said, glaring at me.
"There was a Cloud of Hypnotic waiting for you." I said, continuing to pull her in a direction that I was quite familiar with.
"What's... that?" She asked, easing her stare.
"It basically puts you to sleep instantly." I said. "Kinda like what our Hypnotics do." Nice to know the jungle doesn't welcome us, oh well.
"Oh. So sleeping clouds? Or... Uh ... I think that name is better than mines." She frowned.
I chuckled. "Sleeping Clouds, now that would make anyone raise a brow. Although are the clouds in the sky sleeping?"
"No idea. They're just floating, flying through the skies." She said.
"I guess so." I shrugged. "Then again they weren't even alive, to begin with."
"However, they do make our planet lively!" She said, giving me a look.
"I won't disagree with that, they do." I nodded my head. She smiled before looking ahead. We ventured into the wet environment, avoiding anything that would be a danger to us. We saw some footprints in the ground, making me question what kind of creature left it here. We continued on until I halted at the surroundings. I soon smelled something foul, a bit faint. I raised my brow, wondering where that scent was coming from. My sister soon picked up on it and followed the smell. I gulped and followed after, nervous about what comes next.
The stench was becoming clear as I grew disgusted. I covered my nose, thinking if it was a rotting animal or something. This jungle has many dangers, maybe a big creature left its food here. When we arrived at the smell, it did answer my thoughts. However, I didn't expect it to be a human. I quickly turned to my sister who ran over to a bush and threw up. I turned back to the body, widened my eyes. Okay, what in the world- how did this happen? Well, maybe the rumors are true about one thing. Or maybe that time where Kahlil told me a creature killed a human. Maybe that's its corpse there. However, he did mention it being a long time ago. ... So how did it even get here?
"There's an abandoned warehouse..." I heard my sister say.
"Abandoned warehouse?" I looked over at her. She pointed in the direction of the building. "Yeah, the jungle has already made its mark in it." Abandoned warehouse? What's a warehouse doing out here in the first place? I turned back to the corpse, staring at the gruesome wounds. However, they don't seem to be caused by an animal nor a creature with huge claws. I slowly approached it, wiping away the tears that begin to well up in my eyes. I looked closely, swallowing my throw up. There seem to be some bruises on the skin, as well as some lash marks. I didn't bother to look at it as I backed away and turned over to my sister. I walked over to her and sat by her. "Who... who was that?" She asked quietly.
"No idea, but they seem to be young. Younger than us." I answered back.
"... What if... Oh gosh, what if it's one of the missing teens?!" She said.
"Can't be! Unless..." I trailed off, recalling all of the clues. There were bruises and lashes on the body, along with some other wounds. They could possibly be caused by a human. Since they don't look to be made by an animal or monsters. I soon nodded to my sister. She soon looked over the bush before growing still. "... Dipper... Someone is approaching the warehouse..." She whispered quietly. I slowly looked over the bush, spotting a large figure in the distance. They seem to approach the warehouse in an overjoyed statement. See that they're bouncing around, excited for something. I tilted my head, curious as to what that is. We watched them enter the warehouse, soon waiting for a minute of silence. I snapped my head to my sister getting up and sneaking out of the bush. "What are you doing?!" I whispered.
"I'm getting a closer look!" She whispered back.
"No! What if he comes back?!" I whispered, almost close to snapping.
"I don't think he will. Come on. This could be some clues to the whole case!" She whispered, holding her hand out. I looked nervous before taking it.
"Fine. But we must leave if he sees us or if we spot him coming out." I whispered.
"Got it." She nodded. We headed over to the warehouse entrance, soon halting in front of it. What we saw was many boxes but no sign of the figure. Mabel took the first step in as I followed with my anxiety attacking me. Great. Just what I needed. We looked around, scanning the boxes with how much the light is giving us. I looked up and there was this huge hole in the roof. Such an old structure, why would that figure need to go in here? "Nothing seems to be suspicious... Maybe I was wrong." Mabel whispered.
"Or perhaps... This is what you just see." I whispered. She turned to me with a confused look. "Everything looks like it's normal and nothing out of the abnormally. Maybe this figure set up the picture like that. Maybe there's a hidden door or trapdoor for the clues." I whispered.
"Yeah. That would be a smart move from the Kidnapper's side." She whispered, nodding. Since there was a dead body next to the abandoned warehouse. I'd assume this kidnapper uses this warehouse to place all of the kidnapped victims. Well almost all of them, forgot one of them escaped. And since they used this Warehouse... that corpse must have been one of the teens. I frowned and crushed my fists with a sudden rush of rage. Does that mean we're down to 14 if we don't count Candy and Pacifica? Great. 16 missing teenagers.
Our heads snapped to a voice, however, it didn't seem like it was talking to us. "Come on." I whispered to my sister, pulling her towards the entrance.
"Alright." She whispered back, following my lead. Once we were out of the building we ran to the bushes, soon running deeper into the jungle. Soon we halted and panted. I swear, I'm not the best at running at all. I had to catch my breath before speaking to my sister. "That must be the Kidnapper's hiding spot!" I said. "And where they are keeping all of the victims."
"If that's the case, let's go to alert the cops!" She said.
"We can't unfortunately, they won't do a clean sweep of the entire building and besides we still don't have evidence yet. If we gathered some photos or videos of the place, then maybe we can call them there." I said.
"Then we should have taken a picture of the warehouse!" She said
"Not that! The hidden basement underneath the warehouse!" I said. "I don't know if there is one but we have to know if there is one."
"Then how do we get back in without the guy finding us there?" She asked.
"... Well, we'll have to figure out how long they're in there and how long they get there. And I don't think we're both up for that task. We could try tomorrow however, I have a slight feeling that the guy spotted us or even heard that we entered in." I explained.
"How can you be so sure? Don't get paranoid over things!" She said, getting annoyed.
"I'm sorry! It just kicks in the wrong time! And remember we're working against a clever kidnapper. They could be silent and hearing their surroundings in case we entered in. Maybe ignore that spotting part... I'm not sure if it's possible to spot us when we were hiding in the bush." I explained.
"... I forgot. Yeah, I forgot this kidnapper was smart... I didn't think about that." She frowned.
"Don't worry. We'll think of something." I said.
"We could go at night!" She suggested.
"... We could... " I said, rubbing my chin quietly.
"We could test it tonight." She said. "And if we see the figure entered in...-"
"Wait a second, why don't we buy some cameras and set them up for recording?" I suggested, interrupting her.
"That's a great idea! Why didn't I think of that?" She asked the air as I chuckled.
"So that way we won't have to risk our lives out there." I said.
She nodded. "I guess we go get them today and set them up tonight?"
"We could do that. I'll make sure they're hidden from the Kidnapper's sight." I said, walking in the direction out of this jungle.
"Yeah! Oh, do we place them up in the trees?" She asked.
"I was going to do that, so yes." I nodded.
"Jeez, you guys plan so loudly!" We both flinched from the voice, thinking it was the figure who chased after us. However, I realized it came from above. I looked up to spot Kahlil sitting on a branch. "Don't worry, Mabel it's just Kahlil." I said turning back to my sister.
"Oh god, I thought we were goners!" She said, breathing again.
"Talk a little low so this figure won't catch you." Kahlil said.
"Sorry! However, I'm sure the figure didn't follow us." Mabel said, looking up at him.
"He's too fat to anyway." I said.
"Hey! That is mean!" She snapped at me.
"Oh excuse me. Do I have to be nice to the kidnapper?" I said, raising a brow.
"Well... no... but be respectful of someone's body!" She said.
"If the figure was that criminal type, then I wouldn't respect the idiot in the first place." Kahlil said.
"Criminal type?" Mabel eyed him.
"... Err, I can't really say the word. I'm not quite sure why." He said.
"That's an odd way to say it but it means the same thing." She said, shrugging.
"Anyway, why don't we get the cameras?" I said.
"I doubt you'll find anything on them, Dipper." I heard Kahlil say.
"We will! You'll just have to trust us!" She smiled.
"Yeah... You don't know what you're up against." He said. I looked over at him as he stood up. "Anyway, good luck. You'll need it." He added before disappearing into the trees.
"Thank you! Let's go." My sister said. She led the way as I followed behind. I looked back at her, getting a bad feeling about this all. I hope this works.
We headed into the town and for some odd reason, Mabel wanted to discuss this with a few friends. Mostly the ones who won't tell other people about our investigation. I didn't mind it as these friends could be trusted. We added Lee and Wendy to our group, waiting for them by the Jungle Falls Mall. Soon they arrived as we all head in. We went over the usual greetings and see how everyone was doing. Lee was doing alright, putting up with his mother was one thing however school was slowing him down. Wendy on the other hand keeps getting calls from Robbie, who I assume is her ex-boyfriend. She says along the lines, "I'm not going to go back to him. I know he can't handle me being with friends." Speaking of which, I want to see if Mabel broke up with hers.
Soon we left the mall after getting what we needed. "What are you guys going to do with those cameras?" Lee asked.
"Some picture event or contest happening?" Wendy guessed.
"Not really. We're going around 6 am or 5 am to set these little guys in the jungle near an abandoned warehouse." Mabel explained. Those two times seem good.
"Abandoned warehouse? Why?" Wendy asked.
"Well." Mabel ended up telling the whole discovery while I added or altered some things she got wrong.
"Oh! Well, I hope you catch what this kidnapper is up to!" Lee smiled.
"How can you be so sure it's a kidnapper?" Wendy asked, staring at us warily.
"We could have ... just jumped to conclusions but who else would go to an abandoned warehouse where no one visits?" I answered.
"Maybe the construction workers. Maybe they're planning to take it down." She said.
"They can't when there's a tree growing within the building and with vines taking over it." Mabel said.
"They can just cut it down." She said, behaving abnormally. It was like she was forcing this whole new character onto herself.
"The tree is tall. I'm sure you don't want a tree falling down to hit any other trees!" Mabel said.
"The nature itself will be fine." Wendy said, crossing her arms.
"I mean... Cutting down a tree is hurting the environment." Lee said, looking nervous.
"Exactly! The figure who walked into the warehouse. That could be the kidnapper we need to catch!" Mabel said, growing irritated at Wendy.
"You know... Why do you guys risk your lives to do this? We have the cops for this." She said.
"The cops won't do anything! They can't even figure it out!" Mabel said, raising her voice.
"Calm down, Mabel." I said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Maybe they're taking their time with this case-"
"Taking their time? TAKING THEIR TIME?! I don't think they're taking their sweet ass time! How long have these teenagers been missing?!" Mabel shouted.
"Calm down, Mabel!" I heard Lee said.
"Why should I? So I can keep quiet and do nothing?!" She hissed at him.
"Shut it." I hissed, snapping in my sister's face. That shut her up. I turned to look at Wendy.
"As I said before, you guys should just drop it." She said. "It's too risky."
"We're already risking our lives for it. And I believe it's already too late to turn back." I said.
"You are really determined to solve this case." She said.
"Yes, we are!" I heard my sister say.
"I mean someone has to. We can't just let the kidnapper just die once they have lived out their lives. The teenagers might be dead by then." Lee said.
"If that's what it takes then let it be." Wendy said. You're really acting suspiciously with your behavior. Knowing that I've seen this somewhere else, I know this is not how the real Wendy acts. I held my sister back from jumping at her.
"HOW YOU CAN BE SO CRUEL?!" Mabel shouted. "These are teenagers, missing people we're talking about! Not wasteful trash!"
"Wendy. Can you please leave us?" I asked.
"Alright." Wendy nodded and walked away. Although, by the looks of her face from before, she wanted to say something about it.
"What was that about?!" Lee asked, rushing over to Mabel's side. He helped her relax as I let go. I looked around the area, trying to spot something out of the ordinary. I snapped my eyes over at some bush rushing before spotting a person standing up from it. It was quite a distance from where we stood. The person turned to stare at me for a moment. They soon rushed off. I narrowed my eyes and looked back at the group.
"I swear, Wendy needs to change her mind." Mabel hissed.
"That wasn't the real Wendy." I said.
"What?" The two said, looking at me with a confused look.
"Someone is using Hypnosis to try and take minds of other folks. And by how this played out, she was hypno by somebody." I said.
"You gotta be kidding me?" Lee said, looking surprised.
"Are you telling me that the kidnapper minions are doing this?" Mabel asked.
"Well... They could be since I saw someone watching us. Couldn't get a good look at their face." I said, frowning.
"Great. This is just great. They are mocking us with every move we make." Mabel said.
"This is bad news." Lee frowned.
"Lee. I want you to walk with somebody that you trust back from school and home. I'm not quite sure if the kidnapper is targeting you specifically however I want to be sure." I said.
He nodded quickly. "I will make sure, Dipper."
"Do we go now?" Mabel asked.
I took a look at the time on my phone, 1:48 PM. Not yet for sure. I shook my head before looking back at Lee.
"I should return back home." He said.
"Do you want us to walk you home?" Mabel asked.
"No thanks. I'll rush back and make sure I'm back." He nodded before turning away.
"Well, it was nice hanging out with you!" She called.
"You too!" He called back, speeding up his pace.
"... What ... the kidnapper has his minions watching our every move..." Mabel grumbled.
"Of course." I said, sighing.
"... Let's take a break." She said, walking back home.
"Okay." I said following behind with the bag. "Um... Mabel?"
"Yes?" She responded.
"Have you broken up with your boyfriend?" I asked.
"... I-I totally forgot! This case has been holding my head since yesterday. I'm sorry! I'll do it sometime this weekend!" She said, although her statement seems to be off. She turned to me with a nervous smile. I narrowed my eyes, staring at her.
"... Please do it." I said.
"I will! I will." She nodded quickly before turning away. I frowned, feeling like I was lied to.
End of Chapter 47