A/N: Hello everyone! It's been a long time since I have update a chapter in this fanfic. I was very busy with my school work during the time I was writing this chapter, and then the Alisi Thorndyke (my loyal editor) was also busy with her own personal stuff. Since she was busy, she let me have the option to have her edit it the chapter next week, or I can just update whatever I have without editing it. Since I knew she's busy, I decide to just update it, but if you guys are concern about the grammar, then I'll notified Alisi Thorndyke to edit it in her own. Without further ado, let's read shall we?
Chapter 7: The Woods
Dusk has finally arrived with the Mystery Shack now silent. The former workers were putting the dishes in the sinks and close the small basement door. The older individuals were at the kitchen drinking soda as Mabel was located in the living room continuing to take care of Waddles. The still imaginary and cheerful girl was watching a romance movie with a man wearing a blue long shelves shirt and dark jeans giving a woman a silver nickel with a small heart to match her white dress.
"Oh Sweetie, it's beautiful," said the woman in joy.
"I know honey. I only bought this for you because you're the love of my life," spoke the man.
Mabel was heart warmed before seeing the two kiss in their affection for each other. While she was enjoy herself, she notice she hasn't seen her twin brother. Then, she thought it would be a good idea to go to the attic in case he already set his stuff in the old room they once lived. The room where they have share so much memory from finding mysteries to playing minigolf in the attic.
"Let's go check if Dipper has his stuff set so we can play another round of Bedroom Minigolf. You can still be the judge of the game," said Mabel to her pig.
Waddles oink in perhaps excitement with his owner.
"Alright then let's go..."
"Join us..."
Mabel hear an unfamiliar voice that doesn't belong to anyone else in the Mystery Shack. This was a deep and dark voice.
"Join us..."
This voice wasn't normal how it was spoken. It definitely doesn't sound like any voice she has ever heard. It was unaware that she stood up to search for the speaker of the voice along with Waddles by her side. The voice was strange, yet she felt like she needs to follow that voice.
Mabel went her way to the gift shop to check if someone must have been in without permission. Entering the gift shop, she turn the light switch on the see no one but old items still in the shop. Waddles oink to her to give the aware girl comfort from her awareness of a stranger in the place.
"Don't worry Waddles, everything is alright. I just need to check if someone is outside," Mabel suggested.
Her pet pig didn't like the idea as he try to pull her back with his mouth pulling her sweater back.
"Calm down Waddles, I'm not going to go outside if that what you are think minister. I'll check from the window where I'll be in here and where you can see me in no warm."
She walk forward to the window next to the entrance to peek through the old boards of the window. The young teenager scan the area in front of her, which was a bit dark with the lack of lighting in the porch for the shack. The lack of light came from two lanterns hanged from the ceiling of the porch. Mabel had difficulty trying to see through the dark, so the only thing she could see right was to add more light in the lanterns.
"Well I guess I have no choice but to go out and add light to the lanterns. I'm still going to be at the porch like my own base," whispered Mabel as she turn to her pet pig. "You'll watch for any intruder for me."
Waddles walk up to her causally to let the sweet owner reach for the doorknob. The first thing that happens was the cold air beginning to take hold of Mabel and Waddles while stepping out of the gift shop to the wooden porch. The wind blow through the wood as the breeze was pushing the leaves on the porch and Mabel's brown mane. Waddles shivered from the cold air unlike Mabel, who was protected by her sweater she made when she was back home. She then start to take out the lanterns from their hooks attached to the ceiling and place them softly to the porch.
"Where does Grunkle Stan have the matches?" questioned Mabel.
She look around the porch to check if the matches were at her area. The wooden bench that was also hanged to the ceiling start to hit the boarded window she didn't check. The girl back away from the bench as the sound was unsettling to her. The wind then create a strong blow to make bushes and the branches of trees shake.
"Join us..."
There that voice again. It was starting to get to Mabel.
"Join us..."
Something about this voice made Mabel curious enough to walk forward to the front of the clear space that was behind to the covered area of the woods. Waddles was hysterical to let her walk in a trance, so he tries to run up to her and pull her back, yet something was preventing him from getting Mabel back to the porch. His fears was worrying him for his owner, so he need to look for help back inside the shack. The young feminine teenager only hear the voice calling to led her into the woods.
Dipper place the tape recorder under his bed as he scan the mysterious book. His curiosity was trying to figure out what purpose does the book really have he could separate its use to other books that had the six-figured covered with numbers 1, 2, and 3. He was first hesitant to touch the book before he built the courage to touch the cover.
It feels strange according to Dipper as it wasn't much harden as most books should be. It was mostly soft before he opens the book to its first page on the right. The boy first thought of the page was mysterious as well for there was various of signs that could be written in Latin. The signs was oddly written as if it doesn't exist to this world. He has to see more pages throughout the book. The next two pages he flipped to was much stranger as this time it shows drawing of demons the the body portion of humans on the inside.
He flipped to another set of pages seeing differences of the normal eye and a "demonic possession" eye, a figure badly scratched around it's body, more signs and strange cipher he could tell due to it's different custom, and many more to make him sweat and his heart jumping out of his chest. So much disturbing imaging has taken his breath before the last page he saw woke him up from his panic. This image was the actual book itself with the demonic goat face awaken with it's eyes yellow and it's mouth open wide with sharp teeth.
"This is nuts. The book might be dangerous to have," Dipper thought while having the book in his hands.
He place the book on the wooden floor in fear for the page still in his view. The one half mystery twin begin to panic to his instinct to close the page. For some reason, he could felt the dark force from the book when he was looking at the page. Dipper could see the cover with eyes or sharp teethes.
"I think there was a reason why Grunkle Stan didn't!" Dipper quietly shouted in fear before walking out of the room.
When he was about to go downstairs, he noticed something crawling upstairs towards. Je could give it full details among the dark stairs, yet it was big, round, making weird noises, and is... pink? Dipper start to walk down each step slowly before this pink figure appears to be Waddles in a panic. The brother of the owner quickly when to Waddles to calm him down. His oinks was loud to pierced his eyes, yet the rest couldn't heard due to there own business having a good time.
"What's wrong Waddles?!" whispered Dipper with the pig slowly calming down from his hands rubbing against the soft skin.
For quite a while, Waddles begin to oink in a more quiet panic state. Dipper never understand pig like Mabel, yet Waddles spat out a piece of clothing he was familiar with.
"Mabel?!"
The teenage girl was not aware of her action to follow the voice of whoever is calling in the woods. Evening with her large sweater, the breeze of the wind continues to give Mabel chills up her spline. She look over the trees surrounding her to see nothing but the shade of green and brown of the woods and darkness in between the area from dusk.
"H...Hello?" questioned Mabel as her voice echo through the darken woods. "Is an... anybody there? I want to know if you're there."
Her voice was shaken in fear and her lips quiver from the coldest the woods was in. She look around her surroundings again while a wolf howl was heard in the distance. She didn't want to stay alone in the woods any longer, for this brought fear to herself. All she could wish was having Dipper by her side to keep her company in a time like this, just like last summer in this Oregon town.
"I think Dipper could help find this person. He's an expert in these mysterious phenomenon."
Mabel take a few steps back where the Mystery Shack should be with her legs cold, yet she thought she heard something moving through the ground. She check her surroundings again while seeing no sign of movement. She turn around to continue checking her surroundings, only to be attack by nothing but branches and wheat.
Dipper held a flashlight before him and and was running through the woods as well in search of his dear sister in panic. He didn't want anything to happen to her and he could blame himself for spending his beginning summer studying a strange book in the attic instead of spending time with his sister.
The teenage boy continue running the woods to search for his twin sister before a scream echo through his surroundings stop him in his tracking.
"Oh no," he whispered in fear of his sister in danger. "I'm coming for you Mabel!"
He start to run again to where he heard the scream of his sister. Every time he take a step in his trail, he continue to hear the screams throughout the woods. He begging to himself that he could save his sister in time to prevent anything else to happen. He wasn't focus while running as he bump to a figure. He fell and look up to see the person he needed to save.
"Mabel!"
He saw her badly damaged as scratch marks was in her bare legs, her sweater, and her face. He couldn't handle the hurt Mabel before him, yet Mabel got up and pick him up in a rush.
"We need to run now!" shouted Mabel in panic before holding her brother's hand to pull him back to the Mystery Shack.
As the two was running, an unseen force was chasing them to prevent them going to the Mystery Shack. Both twins run fast as they can, afraid of what was attacking Mabel. The two can hear something chasing them. As they continue to run, the Mystery Shack was several feet away.
"We're almost there!" Dipper addressed to the hurted Mabel.
They finally reach to the porch of the gift shop, but Dipper tried to open the door. He was confused at first since he was the last person to walk through the door, and he didn't lock the door.
"Dipper, open the door!" panicked Mabel while looking back to the woods.
"Join us!" shouted the voice in the woods.
Dipper tried again, but he still couldn't get the door opened again. He look back to see a darken figure rushing towards them. He couldn't see it clearly, but he knew his sister and himself was in trouble.
At a quick action, he smash his elbow to the glass of the door. He then reach his hand through the broken glass and reach for the doorknob. As he finally reach for it, the figure was almost few feets away from the twin. Dipper finally open the door and pull his sister in before he close the door again. The force outside of the Mystery Shack paused and grunted in defeat before it retreat to the woods.