Hi guys! Thanks for being patient while I wrote this up. Uni work, illustration work and clients have kinda stolen my life, and any other time I have left over I like to remind myself that I do in fact have a social life! But I had a lazy Sunday and here is the next chapter! As always, if you enjoyed, review as it's always awesome hearing from you all.
And as always, I don't own Gravity Falls.
"M-Mabel… Come on, it's me! Don't you recognise me?" Dipper laughed nervously, saliva catching in his throat as he backed away, sticks cracking like tiny bones beneath his boots. His twin advanced further toward him, her eyes wide with anger, her small delicate hands balled into tense fists as a low growl rumbled from her throat.
"Mabel, it's your brother! Your twin!" Dipper gulped, a sour feeling rising in his chest as his back hit a tree, the bark cruelly digging into his spine and scratching his already sore skin. He raised his hands before him protectively, ready to stop the possessed woman as she prowled before him, the anger in her eyes akin to a wild animal. "Please!"
His pleas fell on deaf ears. With a primal scream, she launched herself onto him, fists flailing, fingers scratching, grabbing and pulling at his hair. "I WON'T LET YOU HURT THEM!" Dipper picked out from the intelligible growls and screeches that foamed from her mouth. "I WON'T LET YOU!"
Tears pricked behind his eyelids in pain as Dipper grabbed his twin's wrists firmly, holding them with considerable force by her side, only to feel her teeth sinking deep into the exposed flesh of his arm. He yelped in pain, a bead of blood dribbling out from the new wound that decorated his forearm, and he released her as he cradled his injured limb, scrabbling out from beneath her. The pines of the forest floor prickled threateningly into his flesh, scratching him as though the spirits of the forest themselves were fighting with his sister. Attempting to hold him.
To kill him.
Dipper found himself running from the scene, cradling his arm and yelling loudly for Soos and Grunkle Stan to come for him, praying that he was running in the right direction. Behind him, he could hear the sounds of his sister frantically running after him, her breathing ragged as she sprinted behind. He called for his Grunkle, and as if his prayers had been answered, Dipper's body quickly found metal. Wheezing, Dipper looked up, his ears pricked and his eyes wide with fear.
"Did you find her?" The old man looked him over with a scrupulous eye. "What happened to you, kid?"
"I definitely found her," Dipper gurgled, spitting a glob of saliva and blood onto the floor beside the truck. He slid down the cool metal, clutching his forearm with a vice like grip, landing weakly onto his knees. His heart hammered in his chest, the trees above him beginning to circle like some macabre merry-go-round. He was finally succumbing to the stresses and repeated injuries of the day.
"Whoa, DUDE!" A second voice burst through the fog of Dipper's mind, followed by a banshee-like screech, mixed horribly in with the snaps and shuffling sounds of a struggle. His eyes snapped open, facing the scene before him with a mix of horror and pity.
"HAMBONE! Mabel! Stop it! AAAOW!" Soos grunted, his strong arms wrapped tightly around Dipper's pursuer. She growled wildly, her soft brown hair tangled and her teeth gnashing, her delicate fingers scratching at the man's arms, leaving long red trails dragged across his skin. Soos gulped and winced in pain, but bravely held her tighter than ever to him, restraining her as best he could.
"Mabel! It's us! Stop fighting us, we're trying to help!" Dipper struggled to his feet, the figure of his sister struggling pitifully in the stronger figure's embrace.
"You'll hurt them… You'll hurt them…" She gurgled, looking up at his with those eyes. It seemed she was getting fatigued, her breathing slowing as her struggles slowed to a twitch.
"Careful there, slick," Grunkle Stan hobbled up to face his niece, looking over her with interest. "Eeesh, this is pretty odd. What on earth happened in there?"
"My family… you'll hurt my family…" She wheezed as a tear trickled down her cheek, her usual healthy glow lost in the sickly white of her skin. "I won't let you… hurt my family…"
Dipper hobbled over to the pair, Soos looking him over with concern. "Dude, you're pretty jacked up right now. Are you sure you wanna get close?"
Dipper nodded, his brow furrowed and eyes intense. "Let her go, Soos,"
"What? She'll like, kill you or something,"
"Let her go. It's okay,"
Soos nodded and hesitantly loosened his grip, allowing the woman to slump forward onto her knees, her weak body a mere shadow of the banshee she had been a few moments ago. She looked up at his with those possessed eyes, her own warm chocolate brown ones hidden somewhere behind the crazed blue puddles of light. Dipper dropped to his knees, taking his sister's head in his hands, gently bringing her face up to face him. She looked strangely young as he did so, reminding him starkly of that first summer they had spent in the small Oregon town.
"Mabel, it's me," He implored. "You know me. We're the same, you and me. You wouldn't hurt anybody if you knew what you were doing. Would I?"
The girl gurgled in his hands, her breathing ragged.
"Mabel. I know you know who I am. That thing in the forest is not your family and those children are not yours. We have to give them back to their families,"
Mabel whined a little, shaking her head.
"You have a family, sis," He brushed a tangle out from her face, stuck to her skin by a thin film of sweat. "Me and Grunkle Stan and Soos… we all love you so, so much. Come back to us… please,"
The girl stopped struggling as she looked up into the face of the man holding her. His name… his eyes, his cheeks, that worried face he always pulled when she did something strange, the way his eyebrows knitted together when he was concerned... she blinked, squinting her eyes as hard as she could, shaking her head as her thoughts raced.
"Dipper?" She finally, and quietly lisped, her eyes sparkling with tears as she opened them and gazed into her brother's familiar visage. "What's…"
Her questions didn't finish. Arms stopped her speaking mid-sentence, the all-too familiar scent of her twin overcoming her as she buried herself into the embrace, snuggling into the soft material of his shirt. The two stayed that way for a few seconds, his injured arms warm around her small body as she realised all too quickly how cold it was and how little clothing she was wearing. They laughed as they rocked back and forward together, grasping hold of eachother's clothing as they wallowed in the relief that washed over them.
"Pat, Pat," They said simultaneously as they pulled apart, both wearing goofy smiles and with tears streaming unceremoniously from their now matching sienna eyes. It was then she felt warm fleece surrounding her, and realised a coat was now wrapped gently around her nightdress-clad shoulders, the heavy material rich with another familiar scent.
"Grunkle Stan!" She looked up at the old man gratefully, a bright grin pulling at her flushed cheeks in happiness and relief.
"Hey kid, thought you'd appreciate this," The old man gruffed, his own brown eyes twinkling at her. "Didn't think you'd pull through for a few moments,"
"Yeah!" Soos spoke up to the three. "Dipper was pretty cool, back there!" He looked closer in towards the young man, his eyes scanning his face in interest. "You're pretty messed up there, Dude. Gonna hurt in the morning,"
"I'm fine, Soos," Dipper smiled, despite the throbbing that spread through his sapped body. "Wait… where'd that thing go?"
"What thing?" Mabel cocked her head to one side inquisitively.
"Back In the forest Mabel, with the kids. It was controlling you, and made itself look like your ex so you'd do what it wanted. Where did it go?"
"You mean that… Marcus?" Mabel choked in surprise, staring directly behind him as though she were looking into the jaws of hell itself.
Dipper span around, his eyes racing to the spot where his sister was looking at, her features full of horror and her eyes wide with shock. She pointed to where a figure stood, the very presence of it seeming to reflect sickness and destruction. The figure that had once reflected the body of the man she had been with was now half-formed, its eyes bright with the same glowing blue that had burst from her own just moments before. Its head was held at an unnatural angle, the flesh torn and where exposed muscle and veins on a human would be exposed, bright blue seeped through. Its arms were unnaturally long, one dragging uselessly behind it as it shuffled toward the group, the other holding onto a nearby tree for support. A cloud of green buzzed menacingly behind the demonic figure, illuminating them with a sickening emerald glow.
"Dude, that's just freaky," Soos mumbled as he took a step back from the monstrous being.
"Mabel, where did you go? Your babies need you," the atrocious being rasped as it advanced. "Why are you with these horrible people?"
Mabel whimpered as she stood, her tattered blue nightdress fluttering at her exposed knees. "They're not the horrible people… you're the horrible one,"
"That hurt me, Mabel," The creature continued to hobble toward them. "That hurt me real bad. I guess you just don't love your family,"
"You are NOT my family!" She whimpered behind the strong façade, facing the creature. "Where are the children?"
The creature smiled cruelly, the final resemblances to Marcus dissolving slowly in a sea of bright blue. Eyes blinked behind the luminescent sea of blue as it arched over her menacingly.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" It grinned maliciously as it inspected her form. "It seems your dear, sweet brother has brought your memory back. The little shit,"
Dipper shot to his feet at the mention of his name, facing the creature. "I think we had a deal, Dippy," The creature turned toward the young man, whose fingers were buried in his shirt. "Come on then… fight me,"
Dipper leant down and picked up a rock, throwing it at the creature as hard as he could, soaring through its ethereal body, giggling almost childishly as it clattered against the bark of a pine tree, landing uselessly on the floor.
"Run," Dipper croaked at the family behind him as they scrambled into the truck, the engine already revving desperately as it geared itself to escape. "RUN!"