Sweater Town
Chapter 9 – The Star
By Starwin
Mabel's eyes jumped open. She gasped for air, her body covered in sweat and coursing with adrenaline. She just had the nightmare again, the Bill nightmare. Ever since she had returned from Gravity Falls, she had recalled in dreams the time Bill had threatened to kill her. So far it had only happen twice. Well, three times now. She had relived the horrible moment in perfect detail, held aloft in his lifeless, unnatural, hand. His ugly eye staring into her soul, projecting down an image of her shooting star. His fingers ready to snap her life away.
Even still, she had been lucky. The recurring nightmare was rare for her. Well, rarer, at least compared to her brother. She didn't actually know how many times Dipper had experienced that horrible moment in his dreams. She just knew that three of the times had been so bad he had come into her room crying and woken her up just to make sure she was okay.
Yet, this time had been different. The details were a little fuzzy but she knew it wasn't the same. The first and biggest part of what was different was where she had been. It had always, ALWAYS, taken place in complete, absolute, darkness. In her nightmare she found herself in an infinite void of hopeless despair. Dipper had confided in her - when they had talked about it - that his nightmare too was always in the same unending darkness. This time, it had taken place outdoors, in a forest of some kind. Things had gotten shadowy for sure, but it wasn't the same.
Stranger still, it had been a part of the forest she recognized. It was a location not more than an hours hike from the Mystery Shack. Even though the rest of the details were fuzzy, that location stuck out to her, stayed with her, sharp as glass.
But if she was honest, what was really bugging her more than anything else, had been Bill. Because the thing missing from the nightmare was the whole reason it was a nightmare. He hadn't threatened to kill her. That was the problem because that was what made it a nightmare! The demon threatening her life was why it stuck in her mind, why it stuck in her brother's mind.
She struggled to recall what he had actually said to her in the dream but everything was slipping away now. After a long moment of laying on her back she felt the last remnants slip from her mind. It was gone, all of it. Nothing left but the faintest whisper of, 'a nightmare' about 'Bill' that was 'different somehow.' If only that darn dream journal idea had worked for her!
It was then the strangeness of her surroundings began to tickle her thoughts. She was in bed, her bed. Blankets pulled over her and (she checked under the covers) still in the clothing she had been wearing yesterday, a skirt and undershirt, but no sweater. She had not fallen asleep in her bed since her sheets had been in the wash. She had drifted off downstairs.
She frowned. She was contemplating how she had gotten here, when her eyes spotted something that made her heart stop. In an instant she scrambled across her mattress and reached the opposite side of her bed.
No way. NO WAY!
Her hands trembling, she reached out to take her fully repaired and unblemished shooting star sweater off the side rail of her bed. Her mother had done it. Not just cleaned it, but fixed it! She didn't even know how that was possible! No… no she did know…
Absently she traced a finger along one of the repairs near the hem. It was possible because she had made it all up. It was the only real answer. She had damaged the sweater herself. She had undone the stitching after she repaired it. She just pretended Dipper was still alive and everything was fine and sweater town was real.
Gently, Mabel lay the sweater down in front of her and frowned. It had been a fantastic dream but it had been a dream. One she needed to let go of, one that needed to end. That was what her brain had been trying to tell her. She needed to stop going back because if she didn't decide to let it go, she never would.
Climbing off her bed, she gathered up her shooting star sweater and carried it to her closet. She opened the bottom drawer, the one reserved just for this garment. She folded her sweater neatly and placed it inside. She was done with childish fantasies. She pulled the mirrored closet closed, sealing away the sweater forever… or until she opened her closet again.
Her reflection greeted her, she was a sorry sight for sure. The injuries she had sustained were mostly faded now but still visible. Yet, her eyes looked sunken in, her body thin and even her skin appeared to have lost some of its luster.
She had been wasting away, stuck in her room, barely eating, only going outside when she absolutely had to. She had been lost in a fantasy world for days. It felt like she was really awake now for the first time in a long time.
However, she wasn't sure what she was going to do with herself now that she was awake. She hadn't been to school in forever and it seemed impossible she would ever go back. Painting, knitting, playing, anything she might once have done for fun all felt empty to her. She couldn't just spend the day moping in her room because she had done that for so long already. Also, more moping didn't really appeal to her. Maybe TV was what she needed?
Nope. The first thing she needed was a shower. Her body felt all gross. While her cramps had settled a bit from yesterday, they were still there, churning away. It didn't hurt so much as it just felt uncomfortable. Maybe her body had gotten it all out of her system?
She paused as she stepped out into the hallway. The door to - to the empty room across the hall from her was still open. The first thought that ran through her head was that her brother had beat her to the bathroom but - but that obviously wasn't the case. It was then she noticed something else about the room had changed, it was no longer a mess. Instead of clothing scattered over the floor there were cardboard boxes, loads of them. She took a step forward to look inside but she did not enter.
Not everything had been packed away but the packing appeared to be in progress. Books had been pulled off the shelves. Discarded clothing had all been collected. She noticed that the closet, in a mirrored position of her own, was open. Several boxes sat half-packed before it, stuffed with clothing. It was hard to tell from the doorway but she was sure the whole closet had been emptied.
And she didn't feel… anything. Not sad, not empty, not anything. She didn't have the need to run into his room and grab hold of his things, nor dump the boxes out on the floor and make it how it was. She just looked at the room, as if it were just a room, because that's what it was now.
Her eyes traveled the space but stopped on the desk. Of all the things in the room, the desk appeared to be the least packed away. Posters hug above it. The coark board her brother used to pin up articles and theories was still firmly in place. And his journal lay right in the center, not where she had left it the day before.
It was the first time she had felt anything for the room. Her parents could pack everything away. They could get rid of anything they wanted to. But not that. She wouldn't let them get rid of that.
Filled with determination, she marched across the floor, nearly tripped over one of the boxes and placed her hand on the blue, silver pine-tree, journal. She paused for a moment, her eyes fixed on it, then her gaze drifted ever so slightly to the blacklight that sat beside it. Okay, two things she wanted to keep. The blacklight didn't have sentimental value but it didn't seem right to have a journal and not have a blacklight.
She took both items and returned to her room but stopped as she stepped back inside. Where was she supposed to put the journal? The first thought that came to her mind was the drawer where she kept her shooting star sweater, but no. No it was too soon to open that again. Besides, that didn't feel right.
She looked over her room. It was slightly more of a mess than she liked. She hadn't even cleaned up the bits of construction paper from her ill advised dream journal creation of… a week ago? She had a desk too, but that was the wrong place to put it. No, a journal needed a hiding place.
She looked at her bed. She knew exactly where to put the journal, the perfect place. In a few quick steps she reached the head of her bed, pulled the pillow aside and slid the journal under it. She had to smile to herself. That was the perfect spot.
Now what to do with the blacklight, hiding it was way less important. Somewhat awkwardly, she set it on the nightstand. It looked very out of place there but she guessed it was good enough for now.
Journal saved, Mabel continued where she had left off, heading back to the bathroom. Her body felt all icky, not surprising since she had slept fully clothed. She slept hot. A nightshirt had been her choice of sleepwear for years now because it was so good at keeping her cool when she needed it.
She stripped off her clothing, feeling her shirt stick to the dried sweat on her arms and torso. When she pulled of her underwear she was greeted with a ghastly sight. Right, oh, ick, that was icky. She hadn't changed pads yesterday at all. She peeled the thing out of her undergarment, folded it and stuffed it into the small trash bin.
The pad thing hadn't done a perfect job. Her underwear wasn't completely discolored but it hadn't remained unblemished either. She hoped washing them would be enough.
She turned the hot of the shower all the way up and quickly brushed her teeth while she waited for it. She didn't have to wait very long.
Once she was in, the hot water of the shower felt so good that she never wanted to leave. For some reason, it was always so easy to lose herself in the running water, to slip away just like she had to sweater town. Even if it wasn't real, it had been an escape. She let the water wash away her thoughts as it sprayed her in the face.
Maybe she could start going into shower town instead? She let herself imagine what that would be like. With hot water always falling from the sky. Billowing clouds of steam would drift across the smooth landscape. There would be dolphins flying through the sky, because, of course there would be. Giant rubber ducks you could ride around on. There would be a constant calm, soothing feeling all the time. And of course she would have to be naked.
Yeah, okay, shower town was maybe a bad idea. If she bumped into her brother there, that would be super awkward to explain to the made up version of him why they were both naked.
Nope. She was not going to think about that. She shut off the shower abruptly. Great. She had just ruined showers for herself.
She hurried out of the shower and dried off eager to get dressed as soon as possible. She gathered up her dirty clothing from yesterday (and a new pad) and made her way back to her room with a towel around her. She had the unfortunate luck to bump into her mother, who, Mabel was sure would chastise her for having fallen asleep downstairs.
"Good morning," said her mother far more brightly than Mabel had expected. There was a smile on her face but it looked odd somehow. Not forced or fake or strained. Just, not right. "Are you feeling better at all today?" Better wasn't the right word but Mabel decided it was close enough. She nodded. "I'm glad, yesterday looked like it was so rough on you.
"I'm going to make breakfast this morning, any requests?" Mabel frowned. Requests? Really? Her mother shook her head when she didn't respond. "Sorry. How about waffles? You haven't had those in a while?" Mabel nodded, although not emphatically. Waffles were fine. "Alright, see you downstairs when you're ready."
Her mother began to walk off and Mabel let out a sigh. That had been a perfectly normal conversation with her mother, she had half expected her mom to drop another bombshell -
"Oh, and you also have another appointment today," said her mom from behind her. Mabel slouched, there it was. "The results from your MRI are in. We have an appointment to review them this afternoon." Mabel nodded again, not acknowledging that she was okay with this, just that it was what she had expected. "Now, go get dressed and I'll get breakfast ready."
She did get dressed, opening her closet much sooner than the her of that morning had planned to. She picked out her clothing but couldn't stop her eyes from returning to the forbidden drawer over and over.
No. She wasn't going to hide in her fantasy world anymore. She was done with sweater town. In fact, she wasn't even going to wear a sweater today.
She closed her closet more forcefully than she had meant before leaving her room without selecting a sweater. She made her way downstairs. Breakfast was not ready when she arrived. Her mother was still preparing it. Mabel sat at the table anyhow, taking her usual place and trying to look anywhere but the chair across from her.
When she finally did look at the empty spot, she realized it hadn't been set. There was no placemat, no napkin, no silverware. Her spot, her Dad's spot - to the right - and her mom's spot - to the left - were all placed and ready. But Dipper's was not. Again, she didn't know how to feel about that. It was just a chair now, just like the room upstairs was just a room.
Her father joined them for breakfast. While she hadn't been looking forward to waffles, she did very much enjoy them, drowning them in syrup until they were just a sticky mess. She loved to fill each little pocket to the brim, before moving onto the next and doing the same. It reminded her of honey in beehives! And she was the queen bee come to eat it all up. There was also bacon, turkey bacon (obviously), that she also drown in syrup. Overall it was a good breakfast, an almost normal breakfast.
She also noticed that there were just enough waffles for the three of them, with only a half waffle left that no one had room for. That was when it sort of hit her. They were getting used to this, all of them. They were accepting it like it was real, like Dipper was actually gone. She finally, FINALLY, realized that he was gone. She realized that she wasn't a twin or a sibling anymore. She was just Mabel, just her. And still she didn't feel anything.
After breakfast, she made her way to the couch in the living room. She flipped on the TV, not bothering to change the channel. She took her spot on the couch, the spot on the right. The right… That had always been her side. Their rooms upstairs, she was on the right side of the hall. The car, she always took the right seat in back. Their beds in Gravity Falls, her's had been on the right. She had always been the right twin… which made Dipper what? The wrong twin?
She lay herself across the couch. She wasn't going to stay right. She was going to be both, all sides, every spot. She wasn't a twin anymore.
They didn't have to wait long before a doctor came to collect them out of the waiting room. He didn't lead them to an examination room. Mabel wasn't forced to wear some stupid hospital gown thingy. Instead, he took them to his office.
The room was how Mabel expected the office of a doctor to look. Several degrees and awards were hung on the wall behind the large oak desk. Two large windows let in the afternoon light. And three, not as comfy as she would have liked, chairs had been set out for them to sit in.
Her parents took the seats to the right and left, leaving her only the option of taking the middle chair. The Doctor smiled at her from behind his desk. He was middle aged, clean shaven and had curly brown hair, much like her's, just shorter. There were bright blue eyes behind his glasses that Mabel couldn't help but find reassuring.
"Mr. and Ms. Pines, thank you for coming," he said, shaking their hands. "And you must be Mabel?" She nodded. He smiled at her, but did not offer a hand. "My name is Doctor Locke, I'm a Neurosurgeon. I specialize in diagnosing and treating brain disorders. I've been doing this for almost twenty years." Mabel nodded, because, that seemed like what she was expected to do. "I've been looking over your test results and file for the past few days but before we talk about the them, I want to tell you a little bit about the process.
"We used a special machine call a Magnetic Resonance Imager. It takes very detailed, very tiny pictures of the inside of your body," explained Doctor Locke. Mabel remembered the very uncomfortable, very loud, machine she had spent hours in. "We use extremely powerful software, and highly trained specialist to put the pieces together. It's a bit like a complicated three-dee jigsaw puzzle. We do this a number of times, to ensure we have the most accurate results we can get."
On either side her parents were nodding, she just looked straight ahead. Doctor Locke hit a few strokes on his keyboard and a second screen, positioned so that Mabel and her parents could see it, came to life.
The screen had a gray scale image of what seemed to be the inside of her brain. It looked a lot like other images she had seen over the years on tv shows. And, just like the shows, she couldn't make heads or tails of it. Ha! Heads.
"I want to draw your attention here," said Doctor Locke. A red circle appeared around a small white spot that looked like a chunk of fat in a piece of meat. "You see that spot that looks out of place?" Her parents nodded again. "In a healthy brain her age, there shouldn't be anything there, it should look like this." The image changed and another image, of a slightly different brain, appeared. The ridges and folds in the image didn't match exactly but the white spot was clearly absent. He flipped the images back. The white patch was now like a hole in the middle of her brain.
"So," said Doctor Locke, pressing the tips of his fingers together. "I don't want you to panic. It's good that we found this when we did but it does appear that your daughter has a tumor in her brain. About the size of a nickel," the doctor held up his hand, making a circle with his thumb and forefinger. Both her parents gasped in horror but Mabel just sat there, not sure how to react to the news. "Pressed up right against the Broca area of her brain. The part of the brain responsible for speech.
"Now, it's still fairly small, so it might be benign," continued Doctor Locke. "There's a very small possibility, it's just imaging distortion, I understand you have braces and that can interfere with the scan. There was also some weird interference the first time the tech tried, so there might have been a calibration error.
"That being said, I'm fairly confident these images are accurate. Even still, I want to do a second scan, just to be sure.
"If it is a tumor, you have some options, depending on what the second scan tells us. If it stays small, like this one appears to be, it can possibly remain without issue. But, if it has enlarged than there is the possibility it's malignant. Because of it's location, it cannot be surgically removed without significant damage." Mabel didn't feel super comfortable with anyone poking around inside her head anyhow.
"Is this what - " her mother began, but stopped, rephrasing her words. "Is this why she's having trouble talking?"
"It could be," answered Doctor Locke with a nod. "It's positioning is right to be the cause of her Aphasia. Tumors like this can also result in loss of memory, hallucinations and disorientation. It can also cause headaches, loss of appetite and fatigue as well. Has Mabel been sleeping a lot or skipping meals?" Both her parents nodded. It was like she wasn't even in the room.
"Alright, well, caution is the best way for us to approach this," said Doctor Locke after a moment of thoughtfulness. "I have you scheduled to use our second MRI machine today. It was just recalibrated this morning, so, there shouldn't be any issues this time. We'll see what the results look like and take it from there."
The doctor stood, offering his hand once more to her parents, obviously dismissing them. Mabel just slumped in her chair, a frown fixed on her face.
The second time in the big machine was just as awful as the previous time. Mabel was made to change into the stupid backless hospital gown again. And she was made to lay upon the uncomfortable bed for a long while as the machine thudded and clunked around her. AND she was made to turn over once again as the tech complained of interference. Man, these stupid braces! Although, even the tech seemed confused, muttering that the braces shouldn't have been an issue.
After far, far, far too long of lying uncomfortably face down, Mabel was finally able to redress and go home.
The car drive was almost unbearable. Not because it was in silence but because it was the opposite. Her parents fretted and worried the whole drive.
And of course, OF COURSE, the moment she had gotten into the car, her insides began to twist. Stupid body, all it did was turn on her. First the braces, then her period thing and now a brain tumor? Was she like some kind of punching bag?
Words floated over her that she only half listened to. Bits and pieces of the conversation made it to her brain but she largely ignored what was being whispered in the front seats.
" - have the results tomorrow - " her mother was saying.
"Will our insurance even cover - " asked her father.
"I can't lose… not her too…" wept her mother.
Getting home couldn't have come soon enough. Mabel was thankful to be out of the car, thankful to get away. Thankful to be back in her room. Her insides hadn't settled down. It felt like someone had taken hold of a spot just below her bellybutton and was twisting it all around. She hated this. She hated all of this!
She flopped down on her bed and her head whacked into something hard and unexpected under her pillow. She reached under and found the journal she had hidden there that morning. Why had Dipper kept it under his pillow anyhow, it was really uncomfortable. She ran a hand along it's cover before flipping it open and finding a random entry.
Tuesday, October 30th, 2012 - Coach Feratu
Mabel thinks that our gym teacher might be a vampire. There appears to be strong evidence to support this. One of our lunch ladies woke up in the gym with bite marks on her neck!
Here there had been a photo pasted into the book of said lunch lady, with two small red dots on her neck. Mabel remembered having printed this out for Dipper during their investigation. She smiled.
Furthermore, no one has ever seen Coach Feratu outside of Gym class, or outside, ever! We also found bats in the boys locker room, real life bats, not the baseball kind. And Mabel discovered an actual coffin in his office when she broke - found the door conveniently unlocked and totally didn't use a hairpin to force her way in. Mabel volunteered to skip class so she could tail him. I suspect her motives but agree that we need more intel.
She smiled even broader. She remembered ditching class to hunt a vampire. It had seemed like it was going to be so cool!
Unfortunately, after a few hours, Mabel discovered that the whole thing was a hoax. Which makes sense considering that Halloween is tomorrow. It looks like the coach is off the hook for now. We'll have to keep an eye on him.
She flipped forward to another entry and still another. But there weren't that many left. His last entry was Tuesday, November 13th. This one was about a haunted house a city over from them. Dipper had been collecting research on it for weeks but this was his first official entry. The last words on the page were:
This weekend I'm going to try and convince Mabel to come investigate it with me. It's been awhile since we had a real adventure together, and I think this would be great! Just the two of us, Mystery Twins!
She smiled sadly at the page. If things hadn't gone so wrong… She had dreamed what their adventures in the future were going to be like. She had seen what lay ahead of them, the excitement, the danger, the fame. They had been destined for great things.
Maybe she would go explore that haunted house on her own. Continue the journal, the work her brother had dedicated his life too. Maybe she could still do great things on her own! Yes. She wasn't just going to lay here like some lump. She wasn't going to just dream away her life. She was going to do something. She was going to do this!
She sat up in bed, just about ready to sprint out of her room, when her eyes fell on the blacklight sitting on her nightstand. She snatched up the handheld device and flicked it on over the page. There was indeed writing here but it was what she had expected. There were notes, extra details, a hidden smiley face that she herself had drawn in (she had hidden things all through Dipper's journal when he wasn't looking).
She flipped forward to the next page, a blank page. Green letters began to spread across the paper as the hidden entry poured itself out. It was dated for November 16th, 2012, that… that was the day after Dipper had died. She read on.
Plans for the ghost hunt have been put on hold due to unforeseen consequences. I am currently stuck in bed, recovering. Both my left arm and leg are broken. Man I was lucky, it could have been so much worse!
I thought this would be wasted time and a lost opportunity, however, my sister has proven me wrong. She has been invaluable, bringing me research materials so I can continue to prepare. Not sure how long I'll be here.
Mable paused. What was this? It didn't make any sense? Could it have been dated wrong? No. No it came after the previous entry which matched up with what Dipper had been doing. This had to be the next entry.
But the date... There was no way he could have written it… This… this was freaking her out… But she couldn't stop, not yet. She had to know more. The page was divided into several entries, each dated a few days apart.
November 18th, 2012
Still stuck in bed but only for another day or so. Research continues. I wanted to keep this whole adventure a surprise for my sister until everything was ready, but she is practically living in my hospital room at the moment while I recover. So, I told her what I was up to and she couldn't have been more delighted to be a part of it. She is very much up for a good old fashioned ghost hunting stakeout.
November 20th, 2012
Back home at last, prep work continues. I've had to order some of the things I need online, but they should be here in time. We are only a few days from the weekend now and I can barely hold in my excitement! Not exactly sure what we're going to tell our parents about this. They think I should be taking it easy right now, although I am going back to school next week. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to take it easy.
November 23th, 2012
Getting around has been difficult but I'm managing. We're only a few hours away from the start of our adventure to Akrwuld Manor, the haunted house I've been working so hard on (see notes on page 42, 43, 51 and 52). Mabel has come up with the perfect excuse for our parents to explain where we are going to be all weekend. Camping. So simple I'm not sure why I didn't think of it. And technically, correct.
When they asked how I planned to hike in my current condition, she had the perfect answer for that too. 'We're going camping! Not hiking! Geeze!' We are kind of lucky our parents aren't really the outdoors types.
Preparations are almost complete. (See my ghost defense and survival checklist)
A silver mirror, scented candles, hol-E water (from ), my camera with night vision lens - Mabel scanned down the long list of items Dipper was bringing with - sleeping bags and food.
That should be everything. I can't wait for this adventure! This last week has totally sucked. I'm so glad my sister is here for me.
Mabel stopped at the bottom of the page. A brief glance to the next page revealed the actual adventure with the ghost stakeout but she had started crying and it was becoming impossible to read. Also, her brain was screaming at her. What the heck was this? This hadn't happened! None of this had happened!
Dipper had never broken either an arm or a leg, let alone both at once! She was absolutely sure that would be something she would remember!
Nor had they gone to a haunted house! She did vaguely recall Dipper mentioning that he was looking into something with ghosts a few weeks back… but, that couldn't be this same thing… could it?
She wiped at her eyes but the tears kept coming, making reading too difficult. She flipped the book forward. There was another entry hidden in the blacklight. She flipped forward again and found another and another and another.
This book wasn't blank at all. It was filled, all the way to the end with the last entry in February of 2016. Mabel could vaguely recall that her brother had gotten a second journal. No. No, that was a dream. This wasn't real.
She recoiled from the book like it was something foul. It dropped to the floor with a thud and its cover flipped closed. The book bounced once over and landed face down. Mabel could see something else, glowing faintly out of the reach of the blacklight still in her hand.
Slowly, she got off her bed and crawled towards the fallen book. She lifted the blacklight over it and a green five pointed star shimmered into view on the back with the words: Dipper and Mabel's Guide to the Unknown. Mabel dropped the light.
It was real. Hot-Belgian-waffles. It was all real.
Mabel paced back and forth in her room. She had turned on the strings of modified christmas lights that hung above her bed. They helped her think and they looked pretty. The journal lay closed and face down on one side of her bed. On the other side was her shooting star sweater. Yep, she had taken it back out. Not even a day. She hadn't made it one day.
She stopped her pacing and looked between them. She flicked the blacklight back on, pointing it at the book and the five pointed star appeared again. Mabel flicked the light off. Sprinkles-and-hot-sauce, it was real. Sweater town was real. And somehow everything her brother had written in his journal there, had made it here. No. It was the same journal, in two different places. Mabel felt her brain seize over the unreasonable logic she was trying to create.
No. More likely, she had made this all up. The doctor had said that the thing in her brain might cause memory loss and hallucinations. Wasn't it far more likely she had written all this and forgotten about doing it? Her eyes traveled to exhibit C, which lay open on the floor. Her dream journal, not written in invisible ink.
She had tried filling out more pages but there was just a single word repeating over and over. Dipper. She had even tried placing stickers and writing 'boop' as she put them in the book but that hadn't worked. She also used the blacklight on that book too, just to be sure it wasn't hiding anything from her. It was secret message free.
Her attention returned to Dipper's journal. Okay, so, she hadn't written this, that she could remember. It contained events that hadn't happened yet. Events that could never happen. Things like the adventure in the haunted house that she had read in detail but never experienced. It was real, like, really, real.
She was hesitant to read any further in the book, what if it messed up the timeline or something? Although her brain confirmed that was unlikely. Still, that wasn't the problem she was facing.
The problem now was what she was going to do about it. She had decided she was not going back to sweater town, she was not going to live that lie anymore. Her brother had fought so hard to save her from the fantasy world of MabelLand and bring her back to reality. Was she just going to throw that all away and live in a different make believe world the rest of her life?
Except, this wasn't a fantasy world anymore. She had proof. Or you're going crazy, her brain helpfully reminded her. She didn't listen to its advice. When had her brain ever helped her? It had already betrayed her by putting this stupid thing inside her head.
She knew what the answer was. What she needed to do.
She lifted her sweater off the bed. Just one more time. Maybe she could fix everything, she just needed to find him.
Mabel tried her best to pay the utmost attention to her entry into sweater town. She had fallen down the sweater hole many times but she had never really actively tried to wrap her thoughts around it. She had seen it, she had felt it but she had never truly experienced it. Before now it had been like staring out the car window at a field as they drove past. Now, it was more like she was walking the field.
The feeling of falling she had always come to expect wasn't falling at all. It wasn't floating or drifting or shrinking or anything like that. It was - was like she stayed perfectly still and the world bent around her, moved in a way that worlds didn't move.
She tried to pay more attention to her body, how it felt. She could sense all her limbs and where they were. She was curled up, legs tucked in tight, arms around her knees. She was just as she had been when she had crawled inside her sweater.
She stretched out, arms and legs extending as far as she could reach, though, not far enough to touch the walls of the sweater sky. She wiggled her fingers and they moved just like she expected. She wiggled her toes, and they at least felt like they moved. She was wearing socks so she couldn't see them.
Her eyes fell on her clothing. It was the same as she had been wearing, all except the sweater she was now inside of. Well, okay, she hadn't checked every last bit, but her shirt and skirt and socks all looked the same.
She tried to move her head around, to look left and right and down. However, when she moved her head she was greeted with the oddest sensation. Her head moved, her eyes shifted, but the world stayed exactly the same. No matter where she looked the shrinking neck hole stayed perfectly center. The long walls of wool wrapped out around her, growing ever more distant.
It was like the world was painted onto her eyes and direction had no meaning at all.
Then, just like always, she felt her weight return. She landed with a soft thump in a sitting position. She payed special attention to her body this time as her descent into sweater town ended. She didn't feel it change but it was different. She could feel the tightness around her upper chest and the largeness of her flesh. She could feel her arm strange but familiar lenght. Her legs were harder to reason out because she was sitting. But she knew she was different than before.
She blinked against the bright light shining right into her eyes. There was something in front of her, people maybe? And, some kind of box thing, no, a couple box things. And someone was talking, talking to her?
"Hey, Mabel, don't leave us hanging here," said an all too familiar voice.
Mabel squinted, trying to sort out what was going on. She couldn't see very much against the light. She moved her fingers and felt wood and glass beneath them. Glancing down she saw a very thin tablet computer in front of her with words on it. One of her hands rested on the tablet and the other on a wooden table that she and - Mabel looked sideways and received a shock.
Dipper, a much, much older than she remembered Dipper was sitting next to her, an eyebrow raised in confusion. There was also a slight look of worry on his face.
"Dipper?" she asked, having no idea what the heck was going on or why Dipper was looking the way he did. She knew each time she came back they were a year older and she hadn't come to sweater town yesterday, so, it must be two years later. Dipper didn't look two years older. He looked many years older.
"Uh, alright, I think we're just going to move onto our next question here," said Dipper looking away from her and back out into the light. Mabel returned her attention forward too, only just noticing something down in the shadows below the lights. It looked like another screen that had glowing words scrolling across it. Mabel began to read to herself, but Dipper started speaking them out loud.
"Are you guys still planning on traveling across the states and fighting monsters? From: *SuperHatfan02," read Dipper. Her brother chuckled. Mabel still had no idea what the heck was going on. Who was Dipper talking to? Was there an audience out beyond those lights? If there was, they were being really quiet. "Yeah, I know we've talked about it a couple times. Mabel had a great idea about broadcasting the whole thing live and we're still working out the details. But there's the real possibility we might take this show on the road and travel the U.S., fighting monsters, ghosts and helping out where we can. Right, Mabel?" Dipper looked to her and she nodded. Dipper frowned.
"Hey guys, one more question here then we're gonna call it for today," said Dipper. "I think my sis might be getting a little worn out." New text appeared on the screen in front of them. "You wanna take this last one, Mabel?" She shook her head. Dipper didn't frown exactly, but the corner of his mouth twitched ever so slightly. "Alright, geez you always make me do the hard work!" he said jokingly.
"When is the next season of Guide to the Unknown going to start? From: *dipperIloveyousomuch," Dipper laughed. "Great name, thanks. Well," he looked over at Mabel, "the two of us have been really hard at work. And I think I'm okay to announce, stop me if I'm not allowed - " Dipper paused to let her answer. She just smiled weakly at him. He turned back to look into the lights. "Season two of Guide to the Unknown will start next week, at the end of July."
Movement made Mabel glance down at her tablet. What she had thought was static text had started to move at an alarming rate, scrolling by so fast she hardly had time to read any of it. She caught bits and pieces of it.
"OMG! NEXT WEEK!"
"MABEL I LOVE YOU! SAY MY NAME! ITS IHEARTMABLEFOREVER99!"
"Why isn't she saying anything?"
"Pine hat 4life!"
"New Season! New Season! New Season!"
"buy !"
"I love your vampire sweater! its so hot!"
"SPAM BOT HAS BAN USER cheapshirts"
"XDXDXDXDXDXD!"
Mabel looked up from the blur of crawling text, her head spinning.
"That concludes this live stream of Ask the Twins!" said Dipper. "This is Mabel," he pointed to her and paused expecting her to say something, it took her a moment to remember what.
"Dipper," she said.
"Signing off, see you all next adventure!" said Dipper, waving to the lights. Mabel did the same, trying her best to smile.
"And, we're clear dudes," said Soos from some place she couldn't see. Instantly the blinding lights switched off and she could see the three cameras that had been placed below the lights. One camera was pointed at Dipper, the other was pointed at her and the third seemed to be far enough back so it could get them both. "Great show dudes! You guys are blowing up! Your Chirper channel is getting flooded and Twitching shows us at peeking just over 2 million viewers for that."
"Cool, Soos, thanks," said Dipper. He was unclipping a mic that Mabel hadn't noticed until that moment from his shirt. "I need a word with my sister. Uh, can you clear the room for us? I'll find you when we're done and we can talk metrics, okay?"
"Sure thing, boss," replied Soos. "Alright guys, let's give them some space. Everyone take ten!" Mabel watched as almost a dozen people around the room, none of them she recognized, left whatever they were doing and made their way out. They chatted excitedly to one another. She had no idea what was going on.
A young woman, in her late teens maybe, who had been waiting off to the side started to hurry towards them. The first thing Mabel noticed about her was the shooting star ballcap she was wearing. What was her shooting star doing on a hat? That was so strange. The second thing she noticed was what looked like two metal sticks in her arms. One was colored pink and the other blue. Mabel was trying to figure out what they were.
"Thank you, Elena," said Dipper waving her away. "We won't need those right now." The young woman stopped, looked at the things in her arms then looked at Mabel in confusion.
"But doesn't - " she began.
"Thank you." Dipper repeated a bit more loudly, clearly dismissing her. The teen nodded, looking confused, then turned and left with whatever it was she was carrying. She wasn't more than halfway to the door when another tiny person rushed past her, a child. She rushed up to the table that Mabel and her brother were sitting at and to Mabel's great surprise the little girl hugged her.
"Uncle Dipper, Uncle Dipper!" cried the little girl. "Can we go on an adventure today! Please, please, please, please, please, ple-" the girl chanted until Dipper cut her off.
"Not today, Abby," said Dipper.
Mabel looked down. Wait. Abby as in Soos and Melody's daughter? Mabel had to look again. The little girl had on a blue ballcap just like Dipper's. Her brown hair was tied off in cute little pigtails and she was dressed in blue overalls with a pink shirt underneath. She looked… she looked so much older! She had only been one or two the last time Mabel had seen her. Now this girl had to be what, seven, eight?
She also looked oddly familiar, like Mabel had seen her before. Maybe she had been older last time, and Mabel was just remembering it wrong? It was hard to keep this time thing straight.
"Awwww, but - " she started to complain.
"Not today, Abby," Dipper repeated slightly more harshly and the little girl fell quiet. "But we can go tomorrow, alright? Early in the morning. Wherever you want." Abby seemed to brighten at this. Mabel hadn't noticed it before but the little girl produced what appeared to be a journal from somewhere.
For one moment, Mabel thought it was their great uncle's journal, with the six fingered hand on it. It was a similar maroon color, and a gold foil emblem on the front. But instead of a six fingered hand, it was a eight pointed star, with the number 1 in the center. Mabel couldn't help but smile.
The little girl flipped it open and pointed to a page. Mabel smiled even broader. The entry was written in crayon and had copious amounts of stickers spread across it.
"This one, I want to go to this one again!" cried Abby . Mabel read the title, Floating Falls. A waterfall that goes up into the sky and lets you float! Was as far as Mabel got before Dipper interrupted again with a laugh.
"Yes, alright Abby, now me and my Mystery Twin need to talk," said Dipper, rubbing her head through her ballcap. "Run along and find Melody, I'm sure you two can do something fun today, alright?" Abby pouted a little but finally nodded.
"Okay, Uncle Dipper," said the little girl at last. She gave Mabel another hug, then she gave Dipper a hug, then she scampered off.
Mabel watched her go, feeling more than a little confused. How had she gotten so big? Mabel looked towards her brother, seeking answers. She also noticed that he had put his hand on her shoulder at some point to keep her from standing.
"She's like family," said Dipper, and Mabel felt lost for a moment. What? "She used to call you Antie Mabel, but you told her that made you feel old. Usually she just calls you big sis." OH, right. Yeah, she guessed Soos was probably like family now after all they had been through. That was cute.
Dipper motioned for her to get up. She did so but got caught on some kind of wire. Her brother reached out and unclipped a mic from her sweater neck. With a bit of alarm, Mabel noticed which sweater she was wearing. Her fuchsia shooting star sweater. It was only the second time she had ever seen it in sweater town.
She ran a hand along it. There were no rips or tears anywhere in the garment. It looked brand new, well cared for, fuzzy, soft and everything she remembered and loved about it. Her eyes glanced up and she frowned. She was wearing it twice?
Dipper coughed and she was pulled out of her thoughts. He was still waiting for her to stand. She got to her feet and saw surprise in Dipper's eyes for just the briefest moment. He looked down at her legs, as if expecting to see something strange. She looked down too but beyond her pink skirt, they just looked like legs.
Dipper took her hand and led her out of the line of sight of the cameras. Her eyes and brain were still adjusting to just what the heck was going on, trying to take in all the unfamiliar stuff around her. Until, she realized it wasn't unfamiliar at all. The room dressing might have changed, but this was the Mystery Shack. Actually, this was one of the main attraction rooms that had housed the sashcrotch (and apparently it still did, it had just been placed off to the side) for so many years.
It wasn't surprising she hadn't recognized it. The room looked very different now. The table they had been sitting at had a wall painted a passive white-ish color behind it. There were no oddities in here, just equipment. Monitors, computers, wires and cameras to name a few. This place looked like some kind of movie set or something.
"Blueberry Muffins, Other Mabel," whispered Dipper as they came to a stop off to the side of the room. Mabel's eyes refocused on her brother. She nodded. "You're back… everyone thought, I mean, it's been so long." Mabel tilted her head to the side, so long? It had been a day, two at the most. Time might work a little different here but - "Five years," said Dipper in response to her unasked question.
She felt her mind go blank. No. No that wasn't possible. She had just missed one day. But Abby… she was so much older now...
"So, I guess there might be some catching up to do," muttered Dipper. "Look, I've got some cleanup to do after the show, okay? Why don't you go wait in our room, alright? Hold on, I need to - uh, talk to the staff. Elena is a great aid but man she can't leave you alone for five minutes! And we can't have her… She needs the day off, I'm going to go give her the day off. Just give me a second and then check to make sure the coast is clear and you can head up to our room. Alright?"
Mabel nodded, feeling confused and overwhelmed. She had an aid? Her eyes glanced around the unfamiliar surroundings. There were laptops and monitors and all sorts of equipment Mabel didn't recognize. It was like a whole production or something.
Following behind Dipper, he led her to the hallway. Sure enough, the girl named Elena was waiting out in the hall, still clutching to those strange colored poles. Mabel tried to figure out what they were but Dipper closed the door behind him before she could get a proper look.
"Hey, Elena, walk with me," she heard Dipper saying. Mabel waited until his voice faded then she poked her head out the door. There was no one in the hall. Why had she needed to wait until the coast was clear? Hadn't she just been sitting in front of a camera filming to, Soos had said two million people? It was a number too big for her to really comprehend.
She made her way out of the room. She was trying to piece together what the heck had just happened, what the heck was going on. Most of all though, she was trying to rationalize five years later. Her brain hurt just trying to work it out. Dipper looked so much older.
Mabel stopped walking then turned and darted to the nearest bathroom. It was still where she remembered it, although, a whole lot cleaner. She made her way to the mirror and looked at herself. Yep, she definitely had on her shooting star sweater, she was surprised it still fit. Something about her face was wrong, not just the older part but - she ran a finger along her rosy cheek, the red smeared - she was wearing makeup. When had that become a thing. She had only ever played around with it before but it was just for fun. She didn't recall ever having had it on in any previous visits.
Her own face also looked older, but it always did. She had never gotten used to the face she saw when it looked back at her in the glass. Was she taller, heavier, thinner? She couldn't tell. She looked like she remembered she should look but - jumping from a thirteen to… what was she now, thirty? No, no that seemed too old.
Mabel left the bathroom and climbed the stairs to the attic. About halfway up she thought that if they were so much older it was very unlikely they would still be sharing a room. But Dipper had said go wait in 'our' room.
She pushed open the door to the attic and was astounded by what she saw. Almost nothing had changed from how she remembered it. There were only three major differences. One, both their beds were much larger, though still pushed to opposite walls - she smiled, still the twin on the right. Two, desks had been added at the foot of each bed. There was a third thing too, she just had no idea what it was. Something else had changed, something was missing... but here at the same time.
Dipper's desk was covered in notes, papers and research and a general untidy mess. Mabel's desk was clean and neat, with only a closed lid laptop sitting in the middle. Briefly, she considered checking out the laptop, but no, later maybe.
She stood between the beds, deciding which one to sit on. Finally she picked her own. After sitting on the mattress she realized her desk had a chair. She could have just picked that but sitting in her bed felt more comfortable, more natural.
She didn't have to wait very long before Dipper showed up. He looked a little less calm than he had downstairs. He stopped at the door to the room, taking a deep breath like he was about to confront some terrible beast. Was she a terrible beast? Was her brother afraid of her?
Dipper sat on his own bed across from her, although, his eyes flicked over both his chair and her bed first. Mabel had the distinct impression he had been trying to decide where to sit as well.
"So," said Dipper, knitting his fingers together. He was rocking slightly in a way she had never seen him do before. "So…" his eyes snapped up to her. "I missed you, you know." That, that hadn't been what she was expecting. He had missed her? He wasn't mad she had been gone so long? He wasn't angry she was here now?
"What happened? Why didn't you come back?" asked Dipper. She frowned at him, really? He blinked hard and shook his head. "Sorry, it's… it's just been, so long, I forgot… you still can't talk, right?"
"Dipper," Mabel said with a slight shake of her head.
"I mean, beyond that," said Dipper. She nodded. "Right… right, guess I'm never going to know…" Yeah, that was probably true, there was no way she could relay all that had happened to her over the past couple days with head shakes. "Big stuff first then…" whispered Dipper. "They, they - uh, they're gone, Mabel." Mabel cocked her head to the side, no idea who had gone where. Could Dipper have played the pronoun game any harder?
"Ford and Stan," admitted Dipper softly. "Two years ago, a month apart."
Oh…
OH!
Tears were crawling down the sides of her face. She was gasping for air as her breath choked out of her in sobs. NO. OH NO. NO NO NO NO NO.
She felt her brother's arm around her, holding her tight as his words sunk in. She hadn't even noticed him come over to her bed.
"I'm sorry Mabel," whispered Dipper. She turned her face into his chest and buried her tears against his shirt. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't - I wasn't going to tell you. But starl - Original Mabel, she insisted you should know, if you ever came back." Mabel just clutched at Dipper's shirt, still sobbing into it. If only she had come back sooner, if only…
No, they were alive and fine in her world. The sobs didn't stop but they became less of a choking hazard for her. Dipper patted her on the back.
It's a dream, remember, a fantasy, no matter how messed up it all is, this isn't real.
She finally managed to bring her uncontrolled sobs under control. Tears were still leaking down her face, she couldn't stop them, but they weren't completely debilitating.
"It was hard - hard on everyone," said Dipper. "Great Uncle Ford left us the Mystery Shack and we turned it into our production studio and our home." She was finally able to put her finger on that third thing about the room she hadn't been able to place. There was no luggage. They weren't visiting Gravity Falls anymore, they lived here.
"I guess that's the next big point, so, you remember that UsTube thing?" he asked. She nodded, of course she did. "Right, right, well, uh, that continued to grow. That's our full time job now. We make mystery solving videos together. Not just for UsTube anymore but also ComFlix and we're in talks with Bisney Animation Studios to produce a cartoon series of our adventures.
"We have to change our names obviously, we've been leaning towards Alex and Ariel instead of, you know, our names. You think, I mean, Original Mabel thinks, my character should have a nickname instead of using his real name, just like I do - but I don't know… And we're going to have to change the city name too. I was thinking Boring Oregon," Dipper shook his head. "Sorry, I'm rambling a bit, maybe I should back up a little?" Mabel nodded, still trying to absorb everything her brother had just said.
"Okay, so, I think you were last here in our second year of college, right?" asked Dipper. That sounded right? Mabel nodded. "We made it to our third year and decided to drop out. Our UsTube channel was exploding and we just couldn't keep up with school work and continue to produce videos. Mom and Dad obviously wanted us to stay but when we explained that at our current income we would be able to pay off our student loans in two years, there wasn't a lot more reasons for them to argue with us."
Mabel frowned, that didn't sound like their mom at all. There was no way she would ever let either of them drop out of school. Although, Mabel hadn't been to school for a long while now, maybe it wasn't so far fetched…
"After that, we just kept making videos and we just kept becoming more popular. We were wrong about paying off our student loans in two years though. It was only six months. We've been able to hire a full time staff, buy equipment and go on trips to remote locations. I mean, this thing is huge. We're huge!"
Mabel continued to nod, it was way too much to take in.
"We just kept living here after college. We did try moving out once but well, that didn't go so well. We came back here after only a couple months,," explained Dipper. "I mean, you know we never really got along with mom and dad…" That was a bit harsh but… accurate. "Soos and his family live here too, you met their oldest, Abby. They also have a son,. Soos Jr, he's three and a half. Soos is head of our production staff, he handles a lot of the technical work. But he also makes guest appearances on the show as Mr. Mystery from time to time."
Mabel nodded, she would like to meet them all at some point. She had seen Abby this morning but she had never even met their other child. She also wanted to see their staff, her aid, Soos and Melody, her friends, everyone. Although, right now, she was a bit more curious about her and her brother.
She poked Dipper softly in his chest. He looked at her perplexed. She poked herself, then raised her hands in a questioning manner.
"I mean, we make videos," said Dipper. She rolled her hands as if to say 'and?' "That's a full time job, Mabes." For five years of stuff, he had given her a woefully inaccurate account. Her eyes slid past him and over to her laptop. She might find answers there. Of course, she might also find horrible comments there too.
"Thinking about looking at her computer?" asked Dipper, following her gaze. Mabel smiled mischievously. "I don't know her password." Mabel blew a raspberry at him. 'Pfft' she knew her password. Probably. "Yeah, you probably don't know it either… Look, how about instead of poking around in her life we get outa the house or something. Not an adventure, just an - excursion."
Actually, that sounded kind of good. As curious as she was about her other life, that wasn't the reason she had come back. She had come back because… because of something she needed to see. Something she remembered from a dream. She nodded.
"Great. Wait here and I'll go grab us some snacks and stuff. There's a great spot out by the lake that -" began Dipper but she was shaking her head. "Not by the lake?" She shook her head again. "Did you have someplace else in mind?" Nod. "Alright," said Dipper with a shrug. "Let me get us lunch and then you can lead on.."
Dipper returned with a reusable grocery bag, packed with sandwiches, fruit slices and soda from downstairs. The food looked professionally made too. As Dipper showed her the assortment, her's was turkey. Nice. She didn't see, but strongly suspected that Dipper's was tuna. Dipper led her out the back and she noticed that they oddly didn't bump into anyone on their way out.
Not that she minded too much. It wasn't like she could say anything to anyone, anything that would make sense. Maybe that was why Dipper was trying to get her to avoid everyone, he didn't want them to know she was here? Why did he care?
They set off. Dipper taking them on the shortest path to the woods before letting her take the lead. She wasn't sure why she wanted to lead. She wasn't sure why she was going where she was going. But she was. She had to.
"Man, I haven't been out this way in forever," said Dipper as they climbed over a small hill. The trees were thick here and Mabel could hear the sound of flowing water in the distance. This was the right direction for sure.
After another hour of hiking, Mabel signaled them to stop for lunch by a stream. Her eyes ran across the ground, over the stump and the fallen log. It was just how she remembered it. Just as she had dreamed it.
"Is this the place?" asked Dipper as he opened his daypack. She nodded. "It's nice. I like it." He handed her a sandwich and a root beer.
Mabel had been right about the sandwiches. Dipper did indeed have tuna, and her's was indeed turkey. She had guessed completely wrong about the drink though. It wasn't root beer. It was actual, nasty, real beer. Not what she had expected on her first sip.
With a choking cough, she spat it out, looking at Dipper in alarm. They were way too young to be… oh, no they weren't. Well, he wasn't… she wasn't?
"You okay there, Mabes?" asked Dipper with concern. "I know it's a little warm but I didn't think it was that bad." He took another sip of his. She tried her's again, it smelled awful. Why did anyone drink this stuff? It tasted… well, not good. Not horrible. It was like drinking smelly bubbly water. She frowned after the second sip. "If you don't want it, I'll finish it. I brought water too if you want that."
She nodded, handing off the glass bottle and gratefully taking the refillable metal canteen instead.
They finished lunch with few words. Dipper was busy eating and she, well, she didn't have a lot she could say. When they were done, Dipper packed away their trash, including the two empty bottles, into the day pack. Then they continued on.
It wasn't much longer until they reached the glade that had been in her dream. She couldn't say why she was going there. She didn't know what she was hoping to find. And even if she found what she expected to be there, what was she going to do about it. There wasn't really a plan in her head. It was more like - like she had to do this. Like this was important.
"Something doesn't feel right," whispered Dipper. She had just noticed it too. She wasn't sure what had been off until her brother spoke. The forest around them had gone silent. No birds chirping, no insects buzzing, just quiet, emptiness.
Then she saw it up ahead. From this distance it just looked like a rock.
"Maybe we should turn back," said Dipper, grabbing her arm. "This place… something's wrong with it." Gently, she pulled free of his grip on her arm, instead, taking his hand. She urged him forward and Dipper nodded, concern in his eyes.
She could tell that as they got closer, Dipper had noticed the odd shaped rock ahead of them. His steps slowed, and he dragged behind her.
"Mabel… no, no way, that's… that's," stammered Dipper. They were finally close enough to make out the familiar triangular shape. "Mabel, it's Bill!" cried Dipper, shaking his arm at the statue just ahead of them. His other hand still gripped hers tightly. "Why the heck are we out at a statue of - "
His eyes suddenly flashed to her. His gaze was filled with fear and suspicion. He yanked his hand free and backpedaled away from her.
"No, no, no," whispered Dipper. "No, you aren't Mabel at all!" That caught her off guard, of course she was. "OH! I'm so stupid! Bill! It's you! It's always been you! There was no 'Other Mabel!' It was you taking control of her from the start!"
Her eyes went wide. What? No! She was shaking her head. No, Dipper had it all wrong.
"How could I have been so blind! This whole time, everything, it's just been a trick to lure me out here?" cried Dipper. No! No! That wasn't it at all! She rushed towards Dipper to grab him. But he stepped away, his eyes flashing dangerously and she stopped.
"Was this what you wanted? To mess with me?" asked Dipper. She kept shaking her head. "To mess with my sister and our lives?" No, Dipper had it all wrong. She hadn't -
"Ha! Not even close, Pine Tree," came a high pitched voice that echoed all around them. Mabel and Dipper both froze. Slowly their eyes turned towards the statue of Bill. "Oh no, it's Bill! That's what you're both thinking, right?" The twins stood as still as statues, not daring to move or speak or even breathe. "Hello, I'm talking to you Pine Tree. I would talk to your sister, because she isn't the stupid one but I think we both know her answer."
"You can't be real," said Dipper. "We beat you, we erased you. You're gone!"
"Ha! You think a little thing like erasing me from existence can stop me?" said Bill's disembodied voice.
"Uh, yes?" answered Dipper with a shrug.
"WRONG!" shouted Bill, and the whole forest shuddered around them. "I just had to get free of the meat prison you locked me up in first. Of course, now I'm just stuck - Look, I'm getting off track. I know why you're here, why you're both here." Dipper looked at Mabel, his stare still icy. "She wants her brother back and you want your sister back. Am I right?"
"I have my sister," whispered Dipper coldly.
"Sure you do, kid," laughed Bill. "Anyhow. All you have to do is shake my hand and I can make it happen. Anything you want. Anyone you want. Just come on over and take it."
"Do you think we're stupid?" asked Dipper.
"Yes?" answered Bill, sounding slightly confused. "I thought that much was obvious. But that's not the point. I've got infinite cosmic power! I can give you anything you want!"
Dipper took a few steps back over to Mabel and grabbed her around the shoulder.
"I already have everything I want," said Dipper. She felt herself blush slightly. This… the way Dipper had grabbed her, the way he was talking, it made her feel so strange.
"Yeah, I'll bet," said Bill his tone flat and disbelieving. "You keep telling yourself that. And how about you, shooting star? You have everything you want?" Mabel looked away. "That's what I thought. Come on, you know why you're here, what it is you want to do. Just shake my hand and I can make it all the way it's supposed to be. Just how you want it to be."
Mabel bit her lip. Then she shook her head. Never, she would never make a deal with Bill. She grabbed Dipper's hand and began to pull him away. The laughter returned.
"Don't worry, you'll be back, the both of you," shouted Bill's voice in her head. Mabel kept walking, kept pulling her brother further away.
They kept going in silence for almost thirty minutes. It wasn't until the sounds of chirping birds and babbling brooks returned that Dipper finally tugged them to a stop.
"Mabel," said Dipper, his voice low. She didn't turn to look at him, instead wrapping her arms around herself. Dipper put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. That - I know it's you in there. I was just freaked out." She didn't say anything. She heard Dipper gulp. "How - how did you know…" he trailed off. "Did you know we would find Bill out here?"
She closed her eyes and nodded. Stupid. Why had she brought them out here? Why had she payed any attention to that nightmare at all?
"I tried to ask you a long time ago," said Dipper. "And - well, I think my Mabel knows but she won't tell me. Why are you in sweater town?" She finally turned to look Dipper in the eyes. She tried to will her thoughts across, to make him understand without saying. "Still don't have the twin telepathy thing," joked Dipper with a smile.
She sighed. Then she poked him hard in the chest.
"Ouch," said Dipper. "What was that for." She poked him again, maybe a little harder than before. "Okay, look, I'm sorry I asked." She sighed in frustration. He could be so thick sometimes. "It's getting pretty late, we should head back to the shack. I've got a lot of work to get done." Mabel just nodded and followed as Dipper led the way back.
She spared one last glance behind her towards where the statue of Bill lay, where it had spoken to them, drawn them in like a honey pot. She could never make a deal with Bill… but still… could he really give her brother back?
