June 17th
The woods echoed with a bloodcurdling shriek unlike anything ever made in a human throat as the Pine twins found themselves crashing through the underbrush, running hand in hand.
"Do you think its still following us?" Dipper panted to Mabel as they paused to catch their breath with their backs to the trunk of an enormous tree.
The shriek sounded again, louder and shriller and somehow even more terrifying than before.
"I'd say thats a yes!" Mabel replied as she pulled Dipper away from the tree and back into a run, their feet pounding through the debris of fallen leaves and hard packed earth in perfect synchronization.
This has been one hell of a week, Dipper thought as his eyes darted between the trees and up to the sky, seeking their tormentor and any place that might provide an opportunity to escape from it, and this thing is definitely not helping any!
"There!" Mabel hissed as she pointed at a hollow cut into the path by a dry creek bed, a thick fallen log across the space providing perfect concealment from above. Wordlessly the two made the jump and found themselves scrambling under the shadow of the log, each gripping the other in a tight embrace – their ears perked for the sound of their pursuer.
The shriek came again, closer than before and Dipper felt Mabel stiffen in his arms. Digging through his pockets he extracted an old antler-handled jackknife (a present from Soos a few birthdays ago) and slid the blade out – it was small, thin and almost certain to snap if he tried to do anything more violent than pry off a bottle-cap but he still felt better for having it. Less helpless. Mabel looked from the knife to her brothers face and he saw her jaw stop trembling. She nodded slightly and extracted her grappling hook from somewhere on her person and held it in her now steady grip like she was posing for an action movie poster.
Where does she find the space to hide that thing? Dipper wondered to himself, feeling somewhat lightheaded from the fear chemicals flooding his system. All thoughts were driven from his head when the shriek came again and he tightened his grip on the knife till his knuckles were white and he felt the screws on the handle digging into his palm.
Ok Dipper... calm down now. Fear is the mind killer. Oh god, I'm going to die and my last thought is going to be a quote from a science fiction book? I AM a dork.
"Dipper!" Mabel hissed, causing him to jump slightly, but he fortunately managed to strangle the embarrassing gasp before it could leave his throat.
"What?" he hissed back.
"That last one didn't sound as close... I think it might have passed over us already." Mabel replied in a whisper.
They both sat expectantly listening for nearly a minute before the next shriek came, this time noticeably fainter than before. Dipper breathed out a deep sigh of relief and felt his grip on the knife slacken. The immediate danger was passed... but now what were they going to do?
"Leaving right now could be a bad idea... we don't know if it might come back this way yet. I'd rather not risk making too much noise or moving out in the open if I can help it." Dipper whispered to Mabel, and she nodded. He was suddenly aware that she was still pressed tight to his chest with his arm around her and he could smell the bubblegum she'd been chewing earlier on her breath (she'd accidentally swallowed it halfway through their heart-pounding chase through the forest). Now of all times? Really Dipper? he chided himself.
"Yeah... good idea." Mabel replied. "So, how long should we wait here?" She shifted slightly, getting more comfortable in the cramped space under the hollow.
"Uhmm... I'm not really sure." Dipper said. "I don't really know much about the hunting habits of giant vampire bats. Honestly until today I wasn't sure there were giant vampire bats."
"We should have brought along the shrinky-crystal – that would have made short work of him."
Dipper groaned. "A pun. Now?"
"There's never a bad time for a good joke." Mabel replied primly. "Anyway why didn't we bring along any of that weird magic stuff that we packed? It took up a lot of valuable sweater-space in my suitcase and now its just sitting up in our room at the shack."
"I don't know... I can never figure out what to take and we don't have enough space to carry all of it." Dipper replied with a shrug. A distant shriek caused him to tense up briefly but he quelled the fear.
"We should get utility belts!" Mabel hissed excitedly. "I can knit us some when we get back home."
"Mabel, I'm not wearing a utility belt – thats just an even dorkier fanny pack." Dipper replied.
"C'mon, you could be like Batman. You love Batman!" she said, nudging him with her routine set of jabs and pokes.
"Batman isn't real!" Dipper hissed.
"Oh sure, a man dressed as a bat fighting crime is so implausible but whatever the hell that thing chasing is us makes perfect sense?" Mabel replied, her voice tense.
"How can you joke around at a time like this?" he said indignantly.
"Its the only thing keeping me from screaming!" she hissed back at him her eyes flashing.
They both sat in silence for a few moments, their breaths short and harsh from their argument.
"I'm sorry for dragging you along with me," Dipper said quietly as his anger drained away, "I'm not doing so hot on the whole 'not letting anything happen to you' front right now, am I?"
The sound of regret in Dippers voice cut through Mabel's own anger like a knife, and she felt the tension in her muscles suddenly relax. Now keenly aware of how close they were pressed together she started to pull back from him but stopped herself. I don't really want to pull back, she thought, even if it is weird.
"You didn't twist my arm or anything," Mabel replied as she found herself snuggling in closer to Dipper, "I'm a big girl and came on my own. Someone needs to try and keep you out of trouble."
"Good job there sis." Dipper replied jokingly as he ran his hand absentmindedly up and down her back and she stuck her tongue out at him playfully in response. She's... um... really close in now. Should I move or... no, she just got in closer... What's she doing? Calm down, she probably just doesn't want to be stuck lying in rocks and dirt like I am. Ugh, that root there is just hitting all the worst spots. He shifted uncomfortably against the ground, trying to find a position that wasn't such a pain in the back.
"Dipper, you're not being a very good pillow when you're wiggling around like that." Mabel said, "When a lady rests on you a gentlemen should try and stay still. Thats like, cuddling 101."
"I uh... don't think I took that course." Dipper replied. Oh come on what was that? Was that a flirt? Are we flirting? Am I really that BAD at flirting? Shut up subconscious!
"Well, we may be stuck here a while. Maybe its time we catch up?" Mabel said.
"Catch up how?" Dipper replied warily. On cuddling?
"Well you've said it yourself... we haven't really hung out too much over the last year, so maybe this is just the chance we need to catch up on things with each other?" Mabel said.
"I thought we did that in the car on the way to town?" Dipper said. Ah, so NOT on cuddling then. Good. I guess.
"Oh c'mon, that was kids stuff. I'm talking the big deep down personal stuff! Hopes! Dreams! Secrets! Romance!" Mabel said, her voice growing more dramatic yet still cautiously hushed.
Secrets? Romance? Definitely not safe topics right now, Dipper thought. Still, it would be nice to just talk for a while without any distractions. Aside from the mortal peril that is.
"Well, I don't have any better ideas," Dipper said, "what do you want to know?"
"Ok, umm... why did you pick the college you signed up for?" Mabel asked.
"Not sure that counts as deep down personal stuff Mabel. As for the answer... I don't know, it was a good school and Mom and Dad looked really proud that I got accepted into it, so I just went for it." Dipper said.
"Thats it?" Mabel replied.
"Yeah... I don't actually care one way or another to be honest. I get that college is supposed to be this big adventure – but when you've been on actual adventures-" the sound of another distant shriek tore through the air causing them to both freeze for a few beats before Dipper continued in the same casual tone, "-with things like THAT chasing you, moving into a new dorm doesn't seem like such a big deal."
"Well why go then if you don't care?" Mabel said. "Its gonna cost our folks a ton of cash for you to do something you give less than a rats butt about."
"Well I could say the same for you and art school..." Dipper said before stopping in the face of Mabels glare, "...but that would be pretty hypocritical of me. I don't know, I guess I had just figured its the next step. Move out, get a degree, find a job and then just... grind on."
"You make it sound so depressing. Life can be an adventure anywhere Dip!" Mabel said cheerfully.
"I guess... but after dealing with all this stuff since I was 12 I don't think that the 'adventure' of filing papers at a desk for the next 40 years is going to be that mindblowing." Dipper said glumly.
"That got a lot darker than I was hoping for." Mabel said quietly.
"I know... its probably just the 'being stuck under a log hoping not to die' thats doing it. Ok, give me another one – this time I swear I won't be such a downer." Dipper replied quickly after he saw the small frown that came to Mabel's face after his gloomy confession.
"I'm holding you to that Captain Sourpuss." Mabel said. She screwed up her face in concentration for a second before a glint came in her eye and she asked with a grin, "Alright, next question- whats the farthest you ever got with a girl?"
"What? Oh come on!" Dipper replied indignantly.
"Dipper, we are in the sacred shadow of the Honesty Log here – you are honor bound to tell the truth."
"This isn't something you talk about with your sister." Dipper said. Even, or maybe especially, if you have been having un-brotherly feelings about her.
"Maybe not, but you also said I'm your best friend – and best friends talk about this junk all the time! Hows that for logic?" Mabel said triumphantly.
"Iron clad." Dipper said through gritted teeth. "Ok... to answer your totally inappropriate question... not too far... like 2nd base, maybe 2nd and a half."
"How do you even get to 2nd and a half?" Mabel asked.
"You get tagged out before you reach third." Dipper replied.
"Hah... sports metaphors." Mabel chuckled.
"Well how about you? How far along the bases have you gone?" Dipper asked. Do I really want to know that?
"Uh.." Mabel hesitated. I didn't think this through, she thought cursing herself.
"C'mon best friend – the Honesty Log and I are waiting." Dipper replied teasingly.
"Well... I uh... I never quite reached home." Mabel said, suddenly feeling very shy.
"Oh... so you never..?" Dipper asked slowly. I was almost sure that she had.
"No! I mean... no. Didn't even do much on third to be totally honest." she said quietly.
"Why so?" Dipper asked.
"I don't know... I dated a couple of guys-" Mabel began.
"You dated a dozen guys." Dipper said, cutting her off.
"It wasn't a dozen!" Mabel said shortly, giving him a small yet painful punch in the arm. "Anyway, none of them were really the One, you know? I mean, most of them were pretty nice but I didn't really feel like I wanted to go that far with them... so things usually ended when they started wanting to get... you know, hot and heavy. I said 'no' and then they'd go." she said the last part in a quiet sing-song voice, sadness evident in her tone.
"They broke up when you didn't want to get physical? No offense Mabel but you've got a horrible taste in guys." Dipper said indignantly. When we get back home I'm looking some of those jerks up... well, maybe not that big guy from the football team but DEFINITELY some of them.
You have no idea, Mabel thought as she found herself feeling what she was sure was too comfortable lying here in her brothers arms. Ever since the afternoon of the 'cheer-up' hike Dipper had gotten out of his funk, but Mabel had found things had seemed to be changing between them. Her jokes and teasing with Dipper had become more frequent... but also different from normal sisterly teasing. She found herself hugging him more, and poking him and just generally finding excuses to touch him. He hadn't objected to it either and had even wrestled around a bit with her like they hadn't done in years. Just last night she'd given him a kiss on the cheek before bed, something she hadn't really done since they were children sharing a room, and she'd lain under the covers with her heart beating hard in her chest and her mind racing as she came to the realization that she'd been treating Dipper the way she normally treated guys she liked. She found herself looking at him more and sometimes she'd catch his eyes and knew that he was looking at her too, and not the same way he used to. What's happening here? Am I really feeling this way about Dipper? Does he know? Its not just me... he's acting different too... but is he just reacting to me or does he feel it too?
Things were quiet now in the hollow under the log and Mabel glanced up to see her brother looking down at her and this time when her eyes met his he didn't look away. Maybe I am feeling this... she felt her lips part and felt his muscles tense up around her as she started to lean in closer to him, their faces drawn toward one another. So what if I am? She thought. Its not anyone's business who I like...
The thought was driven from her head by another screech which seemed to fill the whole world and the rustling of branches and leaves around them. The twins sat frozen, their muscles cramping from tension before they were finally able to relax again after nearly five minutes of silence had passed. Well that killed the mood, Mabel thought both relieved and regretful. I almost kissed him right now... God, what would he even think? This is NOT being a good sister Mabel.
"So... um... to continue on the catching up; what have you always wanted to do?" Dipper asked, to break the silence.
"What like a job?" Mabel replied shakily.
"No... I mean more like – like what is something that you've always wanted to do, something that you would want to do at least once in your life." Dipper asked.
"What, like before I die?" Mabel asked.
"Sure, if you want to put it that way." Dipper replied.
Mabel thought carefully before responding, "Travel. I'd love to go see the world... all those big crazy places that you always see in the news or magazines or whatever. I would love to go out and check that stuff out."
Dipper smiled, "Thats a pretty good dream."
"Yeah, but it ain't gonna happen if we become bat-food." Mabel said quietly.
"Well thats not going to happen! I'm not letting any bat hurt you, no matter how giant. We're getting out of here right now... no more hiding." Dipper said fiercely. The old knife looked small in his fist, but his grip on it was firm and there was no shaking in his voice now.
Still the bravest guy I know, Mabel thought, even if he is kind of dorky.
"I'm going to go out first," Dipper said, "and if the coast looks clear you follow after me, ok?"
"What? Do you think I'm going to let you use yourself as bait!" Mabel said indignantly, "What kind of wuss do you take me for? We go out together or we don't go out at all."
"It's too risky- I don't want you to get hurt!" he hissed back at her.
"I don't want you getting hurt either you idiot! That's why we're going out together – we can watch each others backs that way. We're partners here, I'm not your sidekick." she responded, her voice firm.
Dipper felt a sharp response rise in his throat but he silenced it. She's right... we'll have a better chance if there's two sets of eyes watching out. He saw the determined set of Mabels jaw and the way she held her grappling hook in a practiced grip (she'd gotten a lot better with it and hardly ever accidentally broke things now) and felt something stir inside himself. She's brave and she's beautiful and I'm crazy about her and I don't care if that isn't a normal thought to have. Might as well be honest with myself now since I might not be around for much longer... though who knows since ghosts apparently exist?
Wordlessly the twins slid off one another and positioned themselves under the hollow, like sprinters taking their starting positions. They glanced briefly at one another before digging in to take off.
"I love you Mabel." Dipper said quietly. There... I said it. Maybe she doesn't know exactly what I meant but it still feels good to say it anyway.
Mabel felt a strange lightness when she recognized the tone of his voice. Thats not his normal 'I love you'... "I love you too Dipper." she said with feeling. I think I really do too.
With a grin on his face Dipper burst out from under the hollow and scrambled up the creek bed, his eyes darting around behind him. No bat in sight! With a grunt of effort he pulled Mabel up the embankment when she began her climb and the two of them started to run again before Mabels grip suddenly tightened like a vise on his hand and she pointed forward wordlessly. He followed her finger and saw a huge black form like a human-sized cocoon hanging from a thick branch in their path. Leathery wings began to open wider than he could have imagined possible and he found himself staring into flat yellow eyes the size of golf balls as the creature cocked its head toward them, a blood red tongue darting out to run over fangs that were each larger than the knife in his hand.
It had been waiting here for us the whole time, Dipper realized with his heart sinking in his chest.
"Clever girl..." whispered Mabel in a terrible fake Australian accent and Dipper couldn't suppress the snort of nervous laughter that burst out. All panic had left him now and he felt strangely revitalized by his sisters joke.
The creature opened its mouth wide and let out an earsplitting shriek that seemed to rattle Dippers brain in his skull but he was now long past the point of fear and had come all the way around again toward near-suicidal bravado. Kneeling in the leaves of the forest floor Dipper pulled out a fist sized stone and hefted it carefully in his hand before drawing his arm back and letting it fly with all his strength at the bats head. To his surprise the rock connected with a hideous CRACK sound that echoed through the trees and the beasts wings beat frantically as its grip on the branch slackened, sending it crashing to the forest floor. Acting on pure instinct Dipper grabbed a wrist-thick branch up from the nearby debris pile and charged while the creature was still stunned, gripping the length of termite gnawed wood like a baseball bat. If I can finish it off now we're saved! Before he could reach it though it had already scrabbled up, using its wings like a pair of long forelegs and it hissed at him with a mouth full of jagged yellow fangs. He could see the muscles bunching in its freakish limbs as it tensed to spring at him.
This isn't going to end well, Dipper thought in the back of his mind as he braced himself for the bats charge and held his crude club at the ready. However before the bat could act Dipper heard the familiar bursting sound of Mabels grappling hook firing and saw the thick metal barbs suddenly tear into the creatures left shoulder. He darted his eyes over toward his twin and saw that she'd taken position next to the trunk of a tree and had wrapped the other end of the chord around the trunk tightly.
"C'mon! I'm not sure if its strong enough to hold him!" Mabel called as she waved Dipper over frantically and he ran quickly toward her with the bat lumbering after him in enraged pursuit.
"We're going to find out if it can in a second!" Dipper called back to her when he reached her and she took his hand tightly once more as they pounded forward. Suddenly they heard a short pained shriek and a thump and turn to see the bat stumbling and brought short, the rope of the grappling hook stretched taught between the branches of various trees and leaving it unable to move forward. It stared and shrieked at them in rage and futility as they stood panting just beyond its reach.
"Hahaha! We're alive!" Mabel shouted triumphantly, throwing herself at Dipper and wrapping her arms around his neck. He lifted her up and spun her around laughing in exhilaration as well, all the fight-or-flight chemicals flooding his body making him feel more alive than ever. Everything felt better; the breeze in the trees, the leaves crunching underfoot... and Mabel in his arms. They stopped their "still alive" celebratory dance and stood panting and holding one another. Dipper looked down at her face and saw her eyes shining, her cheeks flushed and hair thrown out of place with a few leaves stuck here and there in its glorious chestnut brown length.
To hell with it, Dipper thought before he suddenly pulled Mabel close to him and brought his lips to hers. She stood frozen for a second before he felt her arms grip him even tighter and her own lips began to kiss him back fiercely. It was longer, more passionate and wetter than any kiss Dipper could recall from recent memory, and made his disastrous makeout with Wendy seem like getting a peck on his cheek from an elderly aunt. This is happening, he thought as he felt Mabels bubblegum flavored tongue running over his lips, this is happening and she's kissing me back and I don't want it to stop. He twined his fingers through Mabels silky hair and she moaned into his mouth in return and brushed her nails up his spine, which made him shudder even through the thick canvas fabric of his jacket. They broke their kiss, panting and stared deeply into one another's eyes.
"So..." Mabel said, "this is happening."
"Do you want it to stop?" Dipper asked, braced for any answer.
"No. Hell no." Mabel responded huskily before she pulled his face down to hers and kissed him so aggressively that it nearly sent Dipper stumbling back a step. The dam had burst and all the tension that had built up between them came flooding out, taking them both along with it.
A shriek broke them out of their sudden reverie and they both turned and saw the enormous bat foaming at the mouth and tugging hard at the length of the cord binding it to the trees with a look of pure animal madness in its eyes.
"We should go." Dipper panted, turning back to look into Mabels eyes.
"Yeah... good idea." She said. A sudden frown creased her brow, "What about my grappling hook though?"
The sound of branch snapping echoed like thunder as the giant vampire bat inched itself closer toward the siblings and they both took off in a dead run.
"I'll buy you a new one!" Dipper yelled back as they made their way clumsily through the thicket.
–
It was hours later now. The twins had returned to the shack, tired, covered in dirt, leaves, bruises and scratches and completely out of breath. Stan had grunted a greeting to them from his seat by the television and informed them that dinner was in the fridge and they had nodded gratefully before heading into the kitchen to eat, starving from their recent exertion. Neither had spoken of the kiss since it had occurred, or had even said much beyond hushed arguments about which direction the Mystery Shack lay as they wandered through the forest.
She probably just wants to put it behind her, Dipper thought, it was a spur of the moment "I'm still alive!" thing, right?
He looked up from his reheated stew and saw Mabel meet his eyes briefly before she dropped them back to her own bowl of food. Why did I have to go and do it? It seemed like a great idea at the time since I'd just survived a monster attack... but now... what if I messed things up between us forever? She kissed me back though. She kissed back and we only stopped because we were worried about getting eaten. Dipper wasn't sure which prospect scared him more; the idea that she didn't reciprocate his feelings, or the now very real possibility that she did. Either way... things will be different.
Dipper excused himself from the table and took a long hot shower, reveling in the feel of the water running over his sore muscles and wincing at the touch of cheap soap on his various scrapes and cuts. That was way too close. If Mabel hadn't been there with the grappling hook I'd be dead by now. We're always saving each other though... I owe her my life more times than I can count... and I've saved her a few times too. I hate seeing her risk herself, but she's right. We're partners here.
He dried himself off and made his way to bed silently, lying back on the horrible old mattress and staring up at the familiar mold patches on the ceiling. He heard the rush of water through the pipes below as Mabel took her own shower and he tried, with difficulty, not to picture how she looked now with the soapy water running over her. Curse my teenage hormones.
It wasn't long before he heard the sound of her footsteps coming up the creaking stairs and he felt his throat go dry and his heart catch in his chest. What if she hates me now? What if I really did mess everything up? What if she won't want to be there to be my partner on weird adventures, or joke around with me about dumb stuff or even want to hang out at all anymore? What if I really have lost her now...
The door creaked open and he turned to see Mabel standing in the frame by the light of the old oil lantern, her hair in two damp braids and wearing her colorful pajamas covered in cartoon pigs. I got those for her last Christmas, Dipper thought to himself absentmindedly as she closed the door quietly and sat down on her own bed across from his, facing him. For a moment there was silence.
"You know, you're a pretty good kisser Dip." Mabel said.
"Um... thanks. You too." he said back. Silence ticked on for a few beats. Say something you coward!
"Heh... awkward." Mabel said with a short chuckle before she continued. "So.. how long have you... felt.. this?"
"A while now. Sorry." he said quietly.
"Sorry for what?" she asked.
"For feeling... un-brotherly things about you... I know its weird or wrong or whatever... Just.. sorry."
"Well in that case I guess I should be sorry too. For feeling un-sisterly things about you."
"You do? I mean... you are? Or you did?" Dipper asked, his heart suddenly racing in his chest.
"Yeah... except I'm not sorry. I don't think you should be either." Mabel said, boldness creeping into her voice.
"So... you don't think its... wrong?" Dipper asked slowly.
"Maybe it is. But it doesn't feel wrong to me. Not in any way that matters." Mabel said, and Dipper could see on her face just how much that admission had meant to her.
"I don't really think that it feels wrong either. Maybe I should, but I don't. I love you. I've always loved you, but I'm in love with you too now. I'm not sure when it started... but it feels strong and real and I don't want it to stop." Dipper said, his voice growing stronger as he felt the weight of his secret lifted away.
"What should we do about it?" Mabel asked. Her voice was casual, but he could see the way her hands were toying with her bedspread nervously.
Now or never, Dipper thought to himself. The rusted old bedsprings creaked as he sat up and got to his feet, coming toward her slowly. Mabel looked up at him, her eyes wide and Dipper felt his nerves jangling as he took in the sight of her. He'd faced monsters, demons, gnomes & the fearful spectacle of Grunkle Stan in his underclothes but nothing so far had filled him with as much panic as the sight of her face looking at him expectantly now. He reached out and cupped her chin in his hand before bending down to plant a kiss on her lips, slow and gentle with none of the adrenaline fueled ferocity of their earlier exploration and he felt her soft cool hands reach out to stroke his face as she responded with intensity. The kiss broke off slowly and he smiled down at her, a true happy smile like he hadn't been able to feel in days.
"Want to go out with me?" Dipper asked, playfulness in his tone but also an honesty there that made Mabel's own heart skip a beat.
"Yeah. I'd like that a lot." she replied with a big goofy grin of her own before she pulled him back to her for another, longer kiss.
The cursed wax head of Larry King looked on from the vents with confusion before rolling off back through the innards of the house. Kids these days.