Family Time!
- Mabel's POV -
I let out a tired sigh, standing up straight from cleaning the countertops of the cashier area. I was in the gift shop, cleaning around the area. By now, my brother should be sweeping the floors. Looks like he's still sleeping. I sighed and turned, picking up the wet cloth. I walked through the hallway and into the living quarters of the shack. I halted and looked into the living room. I have just remembered, Grunkle Stan told me that he left to pick up some things this morning, and he's still not back yet. Well, at least we have Grunkle Ford here. Though, he is always down in the basement. Doing whatever he does.
I sighed and walked into the living room, looking over at the window. I froze, seeing something fall from outside. Something white. I rushed over and climbed on the chair. IS THAT SNOW? The ground was still green, however, the bits of snow from the sky were covering it slowly. OH MY GOD. I'M SEEING SNOW. I'M SEEING SNOW! I GOTTA TELL DIPPER THIS! I dropped the cloth and ran out of the living room. I rushed upstairs, tripping on some steps before heading over to the shared room. I opened it and halted inside, spotting my brother slowly sitting up. "Dipper!" I said.
"... Ughh, what?" He answered in a grumble.
"It's snowing outside!" I said excitedly.
"Oh. It must be early then..." Dipper said.
"Yes! Yes! It looks so pretty!" I smiled. I heard my brother chuckle to himself as I walked over.
"Well, at least it seems pleasing to look at." He said.
"Do you want to come to look at it with me?" I asked.
"No thanks, I think I've seen it a thousand times." He said.
"Too bad!" I quickly grabbed his arm and dragged him out of bed. "MABEL!" I heard him shout before I giggled to myself. I dragged him out of the room and down the stairs. I pulled him into the living room and down in one of the chairs. "Are you really not going to let me get dressed?" He asked in a grumble.
"You'll be fine with your PJs!" I said, rolling my eyes. I sat in the other chair and pulled the curtains away, staring at the snowflakes. I watched them rain down from the skies, watching every one of them land on the ground. I never got to see snow in the upper ranges of the mountains. I always wanted to know what they'll look like in real life. Not in some cartoon show or movie. I wanted to see the real thing. I wish my parents would have gone to one of the snow sports activities. But my mother was being much of a drug addict rather than a good one. At least my dad was good ... kinda.
He was the usual one taking care of us when he was around. My hands slowly close into fists. I begin to lean on the chair with my elbow. When ... he was around. Shivers started to come to me and make me feel cold. I squeeze my eyes as tears began to well in there. He's watching us, smiling at us with every successful step we take. Every movement we give in. He's there whenever one of us gets upset, always rubbing our backs. I rested my forehead against the glass. I'm finally seeing the snow, Dad! Just as I promised. "Are you okay, Mabel?" I heard my brother ask.
I leaned back and looked over at him. I nodded, perking a smile through my tears. "Yes. I am."
"... You sure?" He asked again, concern appearing on his face.
"... Well, I was remembering Dad." I said.
"... Oh right. I'm sorry if I don't really remember our parents." He said, sounding guilty.
"It's fine! It's fine. I can tell you what they were like." I said.
"That sounds like a good idea." He said, nodding.
"Good! Let's start off with Dad." I said quickly. "Dad was a huge supportive bear in our lives! Well, mines... But yours too when you were still with us."
My brother nodded his head, smiling slightly. I smiled widely before continuing. "He was always there whenever something was wrong with one of us. Always happy to have two hyper kids running around. Upon when you were taken away... he was mad for a while. However, he called our grunkles to check in and see if you were alright after that period. He once called every day until it expanded to a week. Work got in the way and other things. Upon when I turned 12 ... maybe it was 13 ... don't quite remember. I was listening to mother being... her usual self until she received a phone call. I was hoping it was dad." I smiled until my expression became a frown. "It was dad but ... dad got ... into a car accident."
"... Did he live?" Dipper asked, worry begin to appear on his face. It seemed he grew to liking how I described our Dad. I really wished he did, just so he could meet you today.
"... Once me and my mother got to the hospital, they told us ... he didn't make it. A stupid drunk driver crashed into him and killed him. And I hate how they get to live." I grumbled, my voice becoming upset. Silence waited for us, for a good five minutes. I looked up from the table to my brother. He appeared depressed as hell. Oh no- "Does that mean I didn't ... I didn't get to meet him ...?" He said slowly.
"Yes... But! He's still here! Right now, sitting with us!" I chirped. "His body might be gone and buried, but his mind and spirit are still here."
"... It doesn't ... feel like he's here." He said. "It's probably because you knew him better than I did."
"That's why I say this for the both of us. Dad loved us very much! He will never leave his children down here without seeing them grow first." I smiled.
"I guess that makes sense." He said, nodding. "Well, I hope I can feel him near me one of these days."
"I hope so!"
"... What about mom?" He asked. I drop my smile and stared at him. I don't even what to think of her. She's the reason that we were split up at a young age.
"Mom... was once kind and good. Until her ... addiction with drugs kicked in." I mumbled.
"... That is the complete opposite of what I was thinking." Dipper said, looking shocked. Do I tell him he was abused by her? I don't think it's a good idea...
"Yeah. I wished she dropped her drug addiction and be a good mother for once. She's still alive, living in her home." I said, annoyed.
"... Was she that bad?" He asked.
"Yes. She was. And I hate her for it." I answered quickly.
"... I guess it horrible ... but it doesn't really clear up the reasoning for us getting separated. I mean, it may clear it up for you, but ..." He trailed off.
"You want to know what happened?" I asked.
"Yes. It's been far too long and for me at this age, I want to hear what happened to me and why we were separated." He said, looking serious.
"...Okay." I said, letting out a sigh. "We were separated because ... because mom ... was a bit too violent that day. Well, she was sometimes violent and sometimes verbal whenever she was high. And sometimes... or most times... she would throw ... all of her sudden anger out on you." I said slowly. "She would always pretend as if I never existed during her moods... I wish she would have just ... focused on me instead of you."
"Either way, both ways are horrible as it is." Dipper said, anger appearing on his face. "Why would ... why?!"
"I don't know! She was lost in the mind. Even if I could try to bring her out of it, I couldn't." I said.
"... I thought that our mom would be just like ... Dad. Not some ... terrible person..." He said. "... That's ... so terrible."
"Yeah... Just try not to think much of it." I said.
"... Can't really think about it since I don't remember none of it." He said.
"Well, we were little kids! Of course, you don't remember it." I said. "And I'd like to keep it that way."
"... That sounded strange..." He said, eyeing me.
"It's a good thing! Nothing bad." I smiled nervously.
"... Alright." He said, still eyeing me suspiciously.
"There you guys are." We both turned to one of our grunkle's voices. Grunkle Stan was standing at the entrance, having an irritated expression.
"Welcome back, Grunkle Stan!" I said.
"Get back to work you two!" He hissed. I heard my brother grunt before I nodded quickly. We got up and did our separate things. Dipper had to get dressed while I went back to cleaning. Soon we were taking orders from Grunkle Stan. I wasn't bothered by them, however, my brother was.
I walked over to some shirts the next day, showing a customer. I smiled and waited for their struggles. Soon we both jump from Grunkle Stan's booming voice. "Gift Shop closed! Everybody out!" Soon the customer rushed over to the entrance.
"What is going on, Grunkle Stan?" I asked.
"This shack has been damaged!" He said, shutting the door hard.
"Uh, does that means we have to move?" I asked.
"No, no-"
"There's a leak in the roof of his room." Grunkle Ford said.
"Oh." I nodded. I'm not sure why he had to say it like that.
"I'm calling Soos again to fix it." Grunkle Stan grumbled, stomping his way over to the counter. I watched my other grunkle leave the room to his quarters. I tilted my head, looking back at Grunkle Stan. Who's Soos? I might stay awhile to find out. I decided to check everything to see if they were in place. No objects or items ruined. No nothing. I stared at the duck bear, poking its beak. I wonder how Grunkle Stan made or caught it.
I heard voices from the counter, wondering if the guy arrived. I backed away and rushed over. I halted and looked at a big dude, he has a cap on as his tools box was in one of his hands. He smiled at my grunkle before leaving through the hallway. I turned over at Grunkle Stan. "Who's Soos?" I asked.
"Oh, the guy? He's just an engineer. Nothing special about him." He answered, recounting his money.
I rubbed my chin before looking over at the hallway. I had an idea pop in my head, "Grunkle Stan! I'm going to the bathroom!" I said.
"Alright, don't take too long, or I'll fire ya." He said. I looked a bit worried before walking through the hallway. I followed behind the guy, creeping quietly. I peeked into the room and looked over at the guy. He set up a ladder next to the messed-up bed. He put one foot on a step and another on the other step. He reached out and took a look with his flashlight.
"Hello!" I said, walking in. Gosh, it smells in here.
"Oh, hello! Didn't see you there." He said, looking over at me. "What do you need?"
"Oh, nothing! I just wanted to say hi!" I chirped.
"Well then, hello!" He said, looking back at the ceiling.
"How are you?" I asked.
"I'm doing well! Can't believe this water pipe broke again." He said. "Is the ice breaking it?"
"If the ice is breaking it then somehow this house is getting colder. Which it isn't, so it might have burst overnight and then went back to being water." I heard my brother beside me. When did he get here?
"Oh right, I should be excepting a lot of calls from the citizens in this town. The weather station mentions that there might be a blizzard this winter." The guy said. "Also hello, Dipper!"
"Hi, Soos." Dipper said.
"You know him?" I asked.
"Yeah, he's the guy who comes in and fixes certain spots every part of our house. He's also a good guy." He said, appearing a bit tired. He must have just got up. Why does he keep sleeping in?!
"Oh. Well, I hope you won't be overworking yourself with these future calls." I said turning towards Soos.
"I'm not quite sure about the overworking thing. I love fixing things so it's a stress reliever for me. But thank you, little dude." He smiled, continuing to go back to his work.
"Let's leave Soos for now." Dipper said, turning away.
"Okay. It was nice meeting you, Soos!" I said.
"Alright! Uh... never got your name!" I heard him back.
"Oh, it's Mabel." I chirped.
"Gotcha, dude!" Soos said before I turned away, leaving the space. I walked out of the room and into the hallway, only to be met with Grunkle Stan. I frowned before putting on a nervous smile.
"Leave Soos to do his work and I thought you had to go to the bathroom." Grunkle Stan said, narrowing his eyes at me.
"Ooooo, you're in trouble." I heard my brother in the background.
"Oh, I'm not finished with you yet. Why you keep showing up to work late?" He said to Dipper. HA, EQUAL TROUBLE!
"Because I slept in." He answered. I turned around and glanced at him.
"That doesn't give an excuse to be late to work. What happens if you were really late for a real job?" Grunkle Stan asked.
"I would be warned off with a warning like I received last time. But if it's with you, I think you'll fire me already." Dipper answered, giving a dull expression.
"Exactly. Go get cleaned, I'm not ready to kick you out." Grunkle Stan said, turning away to go back to the counter.
"Of course, you're not." Dipper said.
"Don't make me change my mind, boy." Grunkle Stan said as my brother just chuckled as he grinned silently. I walked over to him, narrowing my eyes at him.
"Just letting you know, you will never be left out of the punishment circle!" I said.
"Of course, I won't. Don't think I don't know that already?" He said, turning to climb up the stairs. Smart butt much? I rolled my eyes and turned away, walking over to the gift shop area. I swear I don't know what's up in that mind of my brother's.
- Dipper's POV -
Am I counting down the days we've been in the house? Probably. Is it fun? No. It isn't. Well, maybe, I don't know. All I can say is that it's been a week since then. And to be honest, I think it's alright. Kinda. I don't know if I'm being honest. At the same time, spending time with family is enjoyable, however, I miss venturing into the jungle. I'm having mixed feelings through these past days.
I sighed and stared down at the homework I need to do. I just don't know what to feel. I lift up my head and looked over at the book. The book that I took from Gideon. I tilted my head slightly. I grabbed it and moved my homework sheets away from me. I crossed my legs on the bed and place the book on my lap. I stared down at it, eyeing the texture. It felt rough and old as if it came or passed down from family generations. Or it could have been founded in the jungle or somewhere hidden. Either way, I want to know what's on this book.
I opened it, reading the first page of the book. : ️ Warning! ️ Any enchantments within this book can be permanently damaging towards any living being if they are used on them. :
Enchantments? Now, I thought all of this was fake. Until the whole, invisible unnatural pull pop up and people mind-controlling people. I flipped a page and scanned through all of the information before diving into some of the enchantments. I ended up stopping on a few that seemed suspicious. : Ainrashbwing. An enchantment that changes the object from basic to magic. It is a tool to use to control other living beings. If used correctly, great corruption could come over anyone :
Ainrashbwing ... That's not a word but a word that makes my brain think. I place the book down on the bed and went to get paper out of my binder. I grabbed a pencil and started writing the word into different writing. Soon I figured out what it spelled. Really, Brainwashing? At least it was an attempt at creating a word. So... Gideon must have used this enchantment on his shirt pins. ... So, does that mean ... What Cole mentioned about those pins admitting small purple dust cloud into the air ... Could it be the enchantment change its color or ... particles in the chemical? I could get deep into it, but that's not the importance now.
Maybe that lets us know the difference between a normal shirt pin and an enchantment touched shirt pin. Just ... How are we going to get everyone away from the shirt pins? I don't even know if we could destroy them all. This plan might be useless if we don't think of something else.
The only thing I could think of is literally setting his whole tent ablaze. But what if he has backups? That could be what that abandoned warehouse is for. And those boxes we saw. Could we set the building on fire? Why do I want to set everything on fire lately? Let's not do that... My eyes trailed onto the book, thinking of something. I grabbed it and flip through the pages. : De-Enchant. An enchantment that reverses or removes the effects of the enchantment. : A grin appeared on my face as I read down on how to cast this enchantment. : To make this happen: the object needs to be enchant touched by the specific enchantment, the user needs to be bound with a magic touch, and they need to say these next lines. "esrever ruoy cigam."
Hmmm ... this could work.
"Hey Dipper." I heard my sister's voice.
"Hello, Mabel." I greeted back, tapping on the book with my finger.
"Whatcha doing?" She asked.
"Looking through Gideon's book and coming up with some solutions." I answered.
"What are those solutions?" She asked, sitting next to me.
"Well. From what I know. We thought that Gideon put something in the chemicals of the air fresheners in the shirt pins. Unfortunately, that isn't the case. When I looked through this book, I came across an enchantment that enchants objects to be under the spell of brainwashing folks. It alters some appearance changes from the original design of the object. I have found a way to get rid of all of the shirt pins. Just hope that Gideon doesn't have this enchantment written down." I explained.
"Wow. The mysterious spell came from that? And that's what Gideon's been using?" She said.
"Yep. We just gotta keep it away from him at all times. That means no taking it out of the shack." I said.
"Good idea. So, what is that way of getting rid of the shirt pins?" She asked.
"De-Enchant. An enchantment that removes another enchantment. It would come useful in this case, however ... the user needs to be magic touched or something." I said, frowning.
"Magic touched? Does that means they need to be touched by magic from a magic source for the enchantment to work?" She asked.
"Yeah. Seems like it, but ... How are we going to find a magic source to do that?" I asked.
"No idea..." Mabel mumbled. "Especially when we are grounded under this rule still."
"Right... the stupid rule." I said.
"It's not stupid! Infact, somewhat Soos has been coming over lately to check on us." She said.
"That's because he's checking on the house. But then again, he can be childish whenever it comes to friends." I said.
"See? He cares about us!" She chirped.
"Yeah... anyway, I gotta write down this enchantment on a piece of paper." I said, grabbing my paper and pencil. I begin writing the enchantment spell, down the needs, etc.
"I hope it'll work once we find this magic source or something..." I heard my sister say quietly.
"Yeah..."
"There you guys are." We both turn our heads over to the door of the room. Grunkle Ford was standing in the entrance, eyeing us down.
"Yes? Did Grunkle Stan needed us again?" Mabel asked.
"No. It's nothing of his terms. I need to talk to you two." He said. "Down in the dining room." He added on before leaving. We both looked at each other, wondering what he wants. I closed up the book with the paper in it and place it on my bed. I followed my sister who was already out the door. We traveled down the staircase quietly and over to the dining room. "Take a seat guys." We heard his voice. We obeyed and took them. We sat across from our grunkle, looking nervous, wondering what he needs to discuss.
"A question has been trailing on my mind since the incident. Why were you guys looking for the kidnapper?" He asked. We blinked, quite surprised he asked this question. I was about to answer until Mabel handled it on her own.
"We want to bring justice to the kidnapper. They've been making lives worse for the missing teens that have been gone for over five years. They need to be stopped." She said.
"So, you two been doing this cold case for the last..."
"Month. Almost two months." I said.
"Over a month... You sure you guys know what you are doing?" He asked.
"Yes! I'm sure we know. We've been discovering all sorts of new things that no one seems to see but us." She answered.
"And somewhat, we understand them better than most folks." I said.
"... I suppose... I could lift the rule up to only exploring the town to collect any data for this case." He said. I frowned, clenching my teeth.
"Uh... one problem about that..." Mabel said nervously.
"It's not in the town. It's in the jungle." I said.
"In the jungle? Where exactly?" He asked.
"The abandoned warehouse you saw." I answered.
"In there? Well, you did mention before that there was a trapdoor. Seems like a logical place for the kidnapper to hold their victims' hostage." Grunkle Ford said.
"Yeah, and we need your permission to go there and ... finish the case." Mabel said.
"Not on my watch. The jungle is known to control the human mind. Once you're in its territory, it's not letting you go." He said.
"But-"
"It is also dangerous." He said, cutting Mabel off.
"I do agree with you with it being dangerous. But we do take measures and know where to go in the wet tall woods. We avoid those dangerous places and continue to ... explore the jungle." I said.
"Wait. You guys have explored the jungle?" He said, looking shocked.
"Yes! We have. We didn't follow you in the jungle. We followed you when we spotted you." Mabel said.
"All this time?! When did you start doing this?!" Anger rose within his voice.
"... Well, I kinda went against your word a few months ago..." Mabel said, smiling nervously as she put her fingers together.
"Mabel!" He slammed on the table, making me flinch.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have!" Mabel frowned.
"Shit. I suppose you went along with your sister. Didn't you?" He hissed, glaring at me.
"... I... went in with someone." I said, frowning slightly.
"Someone?" He asked, confusion spreading across his face. "If someone walks into the jungle, their mind is lost to the aura of the jungle. That can't be possible."
"Well, it is. Surprising isn't it?" I said.
"I don't believe you." He said coldly. Of course, you don't.
"He's right about someone being with him." Mabel said.
"Who is this someone? Someone f-cking crazy or stupid enough to enter the dangerous jungle?" Grunkle Ford cursed.
"Kahlil isn't f-cking stupid." I cursed, anger rising within me. Calm down, Dipper. I don't need to go after my grunkle.
"Apparently he is if he's been doing it for a long time." He hissed.
"He's not! He actually knows his way through the jungle!" Mabel said.
"I'm starting to think you guys made this person up to try and get me to lift up this rule completely." Grunkle Ford said, glaring us down. My stare soon turned into a glare. What? Excuse me?
"No, we didn't!" Mabel said, looking surprised.
"What in hell mind made you come up with this guess?" I asked. "I know for the fact that my boyfriend isn't f-cking fake. So don't pull that shit with me."
"Dipper... calm down..." I heard my sister whisper to me. Nevermind being calm, I can't stay silent for one minute if he's talking shit about him.
"... The guy you were dating, isn't made up?" Grunkle Ford asked, staring at me.
"Why would you think I made up a person just to cure something I was lacking?" I asked, glaring at him. "He's real. He's been showing me the jungle for the past five months. That's why I arrived at the shack injured. Besides, you saw him before! Why would you think HE'S MADE UP?!"
"Dipper..." I heard my sister whisper.
"Okay kid, calm down. I get it." Grunkle Ford said, backing off. You better get it or I'm not trusting every word you say. I ease my stare and relaxed.
"So. The guy been showing you two the jungle?" He asked.
"Yes. Kahlil knows what lies beneath and on the branches of the tall trees. He knows where the Resting Grounds is, the crystal biome... the tiny people tribes ... all of that." Mabel said.
"... Resting Grounds? I'm guessing a lot of bodies is there." He said.
"The exact opposite of the way your thinking. The Resting Grounds is a place for all of the critters in the jungle to rest and ease their minds off of the stress or anything that's been on their minds." I explained.
"Interesting..." Grunkle Ford said, nodding slowly.
"Yep! A lot is discovered within the jungle. Hey, there's maybe new things we haven't discovered!" Mabel chirped.
"Don't forget the things we discovered recently." I said.
"Oh right! That frozen pond. OH RIGHT, THAT IDEA." Mabel said.
"Frozen pond? And what idea?" Grunkle Ford asked.
"There's a frozen pond somewhere in the jungle. It froze a creature until it somehow ... broke out. Don't worry, we were hiding when it happened. Just ... strange how it didn't freeze completely..." Mabel said.
"My guess is that it may be sub-ice or fake ice. I don't know about it being fake. It is ice..." I trailed off.
"Dipper it's a pond. It once held water in the crater." She said, staring at me with a look.
"Yeah, but does a regular pond freeze you instantly?" I asked.
"No... It doesn't." She said.
"A pond that freezes you instantly?" Grunkle Ford asked.
"Yeah. Though I'm guessing it doesn't after winter officially begins which was December 10th." I said.
"Interesting... These adventures you guys take are more than I could handle." He said.
"Yeah!" Mabel chirped.
"What was the idea that you had, Mabel?" He asked.
"Oh, I was thinking if we could ice skate on it. But since... you know ... we're under the rule that you put up. I don't think we'll be able to do it." She answered. Yeah... As much as I want to feel happy that I don't want to have to ice skate, I feel sad. We sat here for a good minute or two until our grunkle said something.
"Alright. Knowing the dangers and dodging them left and right, I think I can trust you guys enough." He said. You didn't trust us before?- Well, we did break your promise so... I do understand your lack of trust in us.
"Really?" Mabel said.
"Yes. As long you guys come back safely, this rule can be lifted." He said. Smiles slowly appeared on our faces as happiness rose within us.
"Thank you!" Mabel chirped, getting out of her seat quickly just to hug him after walking around the table. "I promise we'll come back here safety!"
He hugged her back as I got up from my seat. I walked around to join in. We soon let go, allowing Grunkle Ford to stand up. Well, that worked, we can continue the case now. Oh, wait... which day does Mabel wants to do that ice skating?
...
I am not prepared for that day.
End of Chapter 56