Dipper was paralysed. Horrified.
When "Bipper" had let himself fall, Dipper had tried to reach for his body. But he wasn't quick enough. He could do nothing more than hear the demon's laughter as he escaped from the body just before impact and disappeared.
Then came the loud sound of his body's bones breaking as it hit the ground.
Dipper had been helpless. He could only stare the corpse lying in front of him, covered in bruises, covered in blood..
His own corpse.
"No, no, no, no! This isn't happening, this isn't happening!"
He kept repeating those words again and again like a broken record. He started panicking, unable to calm himself, to say anything else
He had tried to get back into his body. But it wouldn't work. He couldn't revive it.
After an hour spent desperately trying, he finally realised it was hopeless.
He was dead.
As he finally gave up, he just stood there, paralysed in front of his corpse. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't look away.
Hours passed until his body was found by Nate and Lee walking nearby. He hadn't moved. Neither when the police arrived.
He wasn't even sure he was staring his body anymore. But he really couldn't bring himself to look away.
It wasn't until his body was taken away that finally, he was able to break free of this state. He had stayed several hours without moving an inch. Severals questions struck his mind:
What am I going to do now?
What's going to happen to me?
Aren't I dead? Why am I still here now?
Am I a ghost now?
How will I explain this to the others?
He felt his heart ache as he realised: his friends...How would they react to him being dead? and what and most importantly...what about his family? His parents, his great uncle...His sister…?
Stan and Mabel must had been worried sick not to see him return home last night, and now, they were going to learn that he was dead.
The strangest thing was that he didn't feel dead. But without a body, he wasn't alive. So he felt split between the two, unable to decide which was right to describe his current state.
Was it how ghost felt? Unable to tell whether they were alive or not?
There had to be a way to fix this, and he had to find it fast. Everything had turned out for the worst, but maybe, if he felt more alive than dead, that there might still be a hope to save himself? But how was he to do that? The journal had burned.
He could still see it all. The fire, the theater, his sister's play, ruined…
The puppets! If one of them had survived, he could be able to reach Mabel, Stan or even Soos, and tell them that he wasn't gone and that he needed help. It wasn't much, but it was worth the try.
Without any other idea in mind, he left the water tower, too afraid to be haunted by the memory of Bill throwing his body and the smoke from the fire to look back…
As frustrated as he was to not have a body, Dipper had to admit it was slightly more fast that walking on foot. In just a few minutes, he had reached his destination. He entered the theater. It felt uneasy. The seats, the curtains, all the accessories they had spent the week to work on, burnt to ashes.
There was nothing left of the journal either.
If I hadn't been so obsessed, none of this would have happened.
He shook his head, trying not to think about it, and started looking for a puppet.
He searched on stage, backstage, but there was nothing.
"Give up. It's no use" a small voice in his mind said.
He refused to listen to it. There had to be something. Even just a leftover sock. The fire couldn't have destroyed everything!
He searched, again and again. If he had been able do dig through the ruins, he would have done it.
Half and hour later, he finally gave up. Nothing remained of the mess he had made. Without any idea left, he resigned to go back to the Shack. The least he could do was watch over his sister, and who know? Maybe she had saved a puppet during the whole incident?
As soon as Stan entered the room, wearing an apologetic look on his face, Mabel already knew he wasn't bringing any good news. Wendy and Soos both waited for him to talk first.
- ...Look, can you give me a moment alone with the kid? He asked.
- Oh..Sure, . We... We'll be right outside if you need us.
The Shack's employees left the room, as Waddles went to sit in another corner.
Stan sat next to his niece. For a moment, no words were heard. It was the only break they would be given from this mess. Eventually, Stan begin to speak.
- ...So. How...How are you holding up?
When she didn't answer, he decided to change subjects.
- Does your shoulder still hurts?
- ...N-No...Not much now...
Stan let out a sight before finally talking:
- ...I just spoke to your parents… They...They'll come to bring you back home tomorrow.
Mabel suddenly turned to Stan :
- What? But Grunkle Stan! I-I don't want to l-leave n-now !
- It's not up to me to decide. Besides...It's for the best.
- T-That's n-not t-true ! The young girl retorted as tears filled her eyes.
He put a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down as he continued to speak:
- I really thought I could do it, Pumpkin. I really thought I could keep you both safe from the dangers of this town...But in the end, I couldn't even protect him.
- Grunkle Stan, t-this isn't y-your fault! ...y-you have nothing t-to do with this !
He let out a second sigh, before moving on:
- ...I'd like to know what I can tell your parents...or rather...What I can't tell them.
Mabel fell silent, as she understood Stan didn't have any other choice: Her parents wouldn't believe her if she told them the truth. How could they, if even her had trouble to understand this town?
Whatever she would tell them, they would blame Stan for not having taking better care of Dipper.
This was unfair. She didn't want to go away. But what else could she do?
She realised Stan was waiting for an answer. She wiped her tears, and told him everything.
She told him about the adventure in the bunker. About the computer they had found. About Dipper's obsession with cracking its password.
She told him about Dipper's dream, their argument and Bill's trap until their confrontation in the theater.
She started crying:
- I-I-If I h-hadn't been s-so obsessed b-b-by this stupid play, D-Dipper would s-still be...
Then she broke down again:
- I-I'M THE ONE….I'M THE O-ONE WHO K-KILLED DIPPER...G-GRUNKLE STAN! she yelled.
Stan took her in his arms, gently stroking her hair, holding her close to him.
This isn't your fault, Mabel...I should have never left you with this book...I should have know Dipper would end up putting himself in danger like that...That he would be messing with this stuff...He's too much like…
He never ended this sentence. But he didn't need to. Mabel wasn't listening anymore as she kept crying. So he kept her in his arms, waiting for her cries to fade away. Then he would tell the others about the parent's decision:
Mabel's summer was over.