Chapter Five
"Dipper?" Mabel asked after Stan left the room. Dipper sat on his bed, mumbling about the journal once again. He would have to either retrieve the journal from Stan or to figure out this mess on his own. "You have bags under your eyes," Mabel said.
"I'm not tired," Dipper snapped. He felt more tired coming out of the nightmares than when he would go into them.
"Will you tell me where you got those bruises?" Mabel asked.
"No…" Dipper trailed off.
"Dipper, if it was a monster, I can help you," Mabel said. "I can try and get Grunkle Stan to give you back your journal."
"Yeah…" Dipper trailed off again. "Something like that." Mabel frowned. She had never seen her brother like this. She didn't know how to fix this.
The next morning when Mabel woke, she could see that Dipper was in the exact spot she had last seen him.
"Dipper?" Mabel asked again. She felt like all she had been doing lately was worry about Dipper – something she rarely did. "Maybe you should go downstairs and have some breakfast?" Mabel suggested.
"That's a good idea," Dipper agreed quietly.
He got out of bed for the first time in forever. Walking together, the twins made their way to the kitchen where they sat at the table.
"I thought I was gonna have to send Soos up to you with breakfast," Stan said when he saw Dipper following behind Mabel.
"I thought you wouldn't ground me and take my journal over something so stupid," Dipper muttered under his breath.
"I'd give it back if you'd just fess up and tell us who did that to your neck," Stan said. Dipper ignored him. "Kid, if you don't tell me what's going on, I've got no choice but to call your parents."
"What?!" Mabel exclaimed. "No! You can't call them! They'll just make us go back home!"
"I hate to break it to you, Mabel, but that might be what Dipper needs," Stan said. "Whoever's doing this is here. They won't follow Dipper back to California"
Yes they will, Dipper thought.
Dipper ate the breakfast he was given in silence before returning to his room.
"Grunkle Stan, do you think Dipper was with the person doing this when he disappeared yesterday?" Mabel asked.
"I don't know, sweetie," Stan said. "But your brother needs to get out of dodge. I'm trying to protect him from the person responsible, but if that doesn't help…"
"You'll have to call our parents," Mabel finished.
"It's for the best, Mabel," Stan reminded.
"I know…" Mabel trailed off. "I'm just not ready to go home."
"I know, but if this person is hurting Dipper, they could hurt you too," Stan reasoned.
"Hello?" Mrs. Pines asked when she received a phone call during the day.
"Ariel?" Stan asked. "We've got a problem."
"What kind of problem?" Ariel asked.
"Someone's hurting Dipper."
Ha! I'm totally using Alex and Ariel's names for Dipper and Mabel's parents! I mean, they were the inspiration for the Pines twins.
In addition, I didn't finish another one of the other chapters, I just seriously felt like I had spent too long away from posting.