Chapter 19: Bitten
'An interleague of Vampires have been searching for a new Queen mother to lead their fledgling pack of blood suckers for centuries, but when Gideon wishes with a stranger for the secret to winning Mabel's heart, she is chosen as the new queen of the pack!'
'I'm leaving here with my sister and there is nothing you will do to stop me!" Dipper sneers at the southerner as he points the constructed shrinking device in the southerner's direction while holding his shrunken sister, whom is trapped in a glass jar, in his other hand. "You've gone too far this time Gideon! Mabel is not some play thing for your amusement and in case you're not aware, kidnapping is illegal in this state!"
Still convinced that Stanford and Dipper are standing in the way of he and Mabel's non-existence relationship, Gideon resorted to luring Mabel out of the shack and shrinking her with the plans of keeping the girl in a doll house of his creation. However, not being very discreet about his plan, Dipper was able to trace Mabel back to the Tent of Telepathy where she was being held captive in a glass jar before being planted into Gideon's crudely constructed doll house he made for her. However, that was just phase one of the bigger plan.
And that is how the standoff began…
"You may have won this time Dipper, but you better remember one thing." Gideon begins, his hands still in the air in surrender. "You're not always watching Mabel and at any time, she's up for grabs! I plan to take every advantage that I can when the moment arises."
Hearing Gideon's threat is making Dipper's blood sizzle! While the chubby boy does have a point that he can't always keep his eyes on Mabel, considering what happened today, he's going to do his very best because there is no way he's going to allow his sister to become a mock doll Gideon's demented doll house!
"If I were you, I'd be careful of what I say!" Dipper threatens. "Or have you forgotten who has the power here?!"
"Could someone let me out of here?!" The tiny Mabel screams from inside the jar. "It smells like orange soda and dirty gym socks in here!"
"Now I'm taking my sister and I'm leaving!" Dipper reiterates. "Stay away from her or else you'll have to deal with me and believe me, you will want to avoid that at all costs!"
"This isn't over Dipper Pines!" Gideon hisses. "You may have won the battle, but you have not won the war!"
"Oh I think I have." Dipper responds, now pointing the flashlight away from Gideon and backing away from him.
Quickly turning on his heels, Dipper now exits the tent and hops into the mystery cart. Setting the jar next to him, Dipper secures it in the seat belt and puts the key in the ignition.
"Dipper, get me out of here!" Mabel impatiently requests. "This jar stinks!"
Hearing his sister's shout, Dipper looks down at her and grins.
"Come to think about it, I kind of like you like this." Dipper laughs, now pulling away from the tent. "I may just keep you like that, which would make me the older brother and you, the little sister. For once, I get to be in charge."
"That is not funny Dipper!" Mabel screams. "I want to get out of here right now! I'm the alpha twin and you know it!"
"Not right now you're not." Dipper laughs as he continues towards the shack.
Tent of Telepathy
Having been defeated by Dipper once more, Gideon's anger reaches dangerous heights, him now smacking the crudely constructed doll house and it's accessories off of his vanity top.
"That wretched Dipper!" Gideon screams. "He's always ruining my plans, especially with Mabel! I have had enough of him and the only way I'm going to be rid of him is to put him out of his misery for good!"
Roughly opening the top drawer to his vanity, the chubby boy pulls out his two book and slams it on his vanity top. Just as Gideon opens the front cover of the book, a chill runs up his spine followed by a cold wind entering the area, which causes the boy to halt in reading his book. His angered expression now changes to one of concern as a dark force enters his dressing room, right behind him.
"Oh no." Gideon whispers as he wraps his arms around himself. "I recognize that wind. That could only mean…"
"Gideon Charles Gleeful!" A husky voice booms to him as the color now drains from his face. "I cannot tell you how disappointed I am in you! We had a deal and obviously you don't remember the terms and conditions of such a verbal agreement!"
Slowly turning around, Gideon now spots Fang, the leader of the Interleague of Vampires with whom he made a deal with as Fang promised Gideon the secret in winning Mabel's heart. However with this promise came a condition Gideon had no choice to agree to if he wanted his wish for Mabel's heart to be fulfilled….
"I had her here, but her brother…" Gideon's sentence is abruptly cut off by Fang's continued argument.
"Silence!" Fang demands. "I do not want to hear excuses! You had the perfect plan and yet you still let her slip through your fingers! Need I remind you that we need that girl to revive our dying race! She'll make the perfect queen mother for the young fledglings within the race! Mabel is beautiful, young, nurturing, but most of all, she is ripe. The fledglings will love her."
"What would Mabel do for them as their queen mother?" Gideon inquires in confusion.
"She will be their main food source and their leader." Fang calmly replies. "As the queen mother, she will nurture the young and guide them until they are able to go out and feast on other living beings without her. With each feast they take, not only will they become stronger, but she will become unstoppable! This is why I have chosen Mabel to lead our fledglings and revive the race, but I see that depending upon you for such an easy task is proving to be quite a chore!"
"You can't blame me for this!" Gideon defends. "It's the boy, I mean that brother of hers! But not to worry as I have the perfect plan to get rid of him so he won't stand in the way of our plans for Mabel anymore!"
"I have no interest in listening to your conflicts!" Fang replies, his voice full of rejection. "It appears that if I want this job done, I have to take matters into my own hands!"
"What do you mean?" Gideon asks, fear creeping into his tone as Fang begins approaching him. "If you just give me another chance, I promise I will have her back!"
"I gave you plenty of chances and through those trials, you did not prove yourself to be capable of handling such a simple task!" Fang replies as he continues nearing the boy with Gideon cowering in fear of the vampire. "I am not very happy with your performance, which is why I have chosen to handle this matter myself."
Now reaching Gideon, Fang reaches out and harshly grabs the boy around the neck, lifting him off the ground. Gideon grabs onto Fang's wrist in an effort to loosen the death grip the undead has on his wind pipe.
"Fang..please.." Gideon chokes out a plea. "I..promise..I won't..fail..you again!"
Tightening his hold onto the mortal, Fang now cracks a grin and bears his fangs with his eyes shining a crimson red.
"All I ask is for another chance!" Gideon continues pleading.
From outside the shack, an ear piercing scream can be heard that results in several birds fleeing from nearby trees.
Mystery Shack (Attic)
Having gotten in past Stan, Dipper and Mabel are in their attic bedroom with Mabel still in the jar on her nightstand as Dipper has yet to regrow her.
"You know Mabel, I may just re-arrange the closet and make room for my things." Dipper jokes. "Yep, I don't think you'll be needing the space anymore. So I'll just shrink your wardrobe down so at least you'll have something to wear while you're micro-sized."
"Dipper! You better not touch my clothes!" Mabel screams to the top of her lungs. "Regrow me right now!"
"In time, in time." Dipper laughs, now approaching the night stand and picking up the jar containing his tiny sister. "I'm just enjoying being the older brother. You know something Mabel, I've always wanted a little sister and what do you know, I finally have one!"
"That's not funny!" Mabel screams. "Dipper, you better get me out of here right now and regrow me or else, I'll show my friends the pictures of you kissing Mermando!"
"I was giving him reverse CPR!" Dipper replies with irritation.
"You know that, but do they?" Mabel slyly asks with a grin. "The longer you make me wait, the longer I'm going to enjoy blackmailing you!"
Sighing, Dipper tilts the jar and empties Mabel onto her bed. Reaching into his vest pocket, the younger pines grabs the shrink device and aims it in Mabel's direction. Pressing the on button, Mabel is now regrown to normal size.
"I thought that might get you." Mabel laughs, now getting to her feet. "It always works."
"You promised me that after what happened at the lake that night that conversation was not to be brought up ever again." Dipper says.
"And I meant it." Mabel laughs. "I just knew that you'd regrow me if I threatened to show Candy and Grenda that photo I took of you giving Mermando CPR."
"Ok, I admit that was pretty good." Dipper lightly laughs, Mabel now pulling him into a hug. "You got me."
"Thanks for saving me back there Dip." Mabel thanks him, continuing to hug her slightly younger brother. "I've never seen you be so fierce before. It was so amazing!"
"Well, I'll do anything to protect my sister." Dipper replies as Mabel releases him. "Gideon really crossed the line with shrinking you and then planning to put you into a doll house, a badly constructed one at that!"
"Actually Dipper, there was more to the story than what you heard." Mabel begins, now taking a seat on her bed. "After he took me back to the tent, I overheard him talking to these vampires about a deal he made with them over me. I couldn't hear everything, but I do remember hearing something about turning me over to them after he regrew me. So I'm guessing he only wanted to put me in that doll house until his deal was complete with them. Although I do have to admit, the leader is kind of cute!"
Taking in what his sister just told him, the younger pines feels his anger make a rapid return as he balls his hands into fists. Shutting his eyes tight, his entire body frame begins to shake violently as his temper takes over.
"He…said…that?" Dipper voices as he opens his angry eyes.
"Dipper, calm down." Mabel says, jumping up and engulfing the boy in a bear hug in an effort to try and calm him down. "You saved me which means we no longer have to worry about that."
"I'm…going..to..murder..him!" Dipper continues, now pushing Mabel off of him rather harshly and heading for the door. "He's dead meat! It's one thing to kidnap you, but you turn you over to vampires on a pact he made with them is going TOO FAR! I'm going to rip him to pieces and don't you try to stop me!"
"Dipper stop it!" Mabel yells, now grabbing Dipper's wrist. "You don't have to go after him! I'm fine all thanks to you! You would only have something to worry about if I were still at the tent, but I'm not! I'm safe now so would you please calm down?!"
"Ok, so explain to me why you so easily lured away from here so he could get his hands on you hmmm?" Dipper counters. "None of this would have happened if you weren't so easy to distract!"
"Ok, I will admit that was my fault, but you know I can't resist vampire novels." Mabel shamefully admits as she scratches the back of her head. "That was the twelfth book and I don't have the twelfth book yet. I've looked everywhere for it, but couldn't find it and I just thought that someone dropped theirs."
"Mabel, who would just randomly leave a book like that out in front of the shack?" Dipper continues interrogating. "Especially a book that someone knows that you like without there being some kind of strings attached? Would you for once think things through?!"
"I already admitted that I messed up, what else do you want from me?" Mabel fusses.
"For you to stay here while I make that tent and Gideon's house an empty lot!" Dipper threatens, now grabbing his '3' book off his bed.
Grabbing her brother's wrist again, Mabel brings him to a halt once more.
"Dipper, listen to me!" Mabel speaks angrily, her facial expression matching her tone of voice. "You will do no such thing! While I appreciate the gesture, it's not necessary! Now you're going to stay here while I go to the shop to clean up and while I'm gone, don't you think about going after Gideon! It won't prove anything if you do!"
Mabel now exits the room and heads down the stairs while Dipper stands in the middle of their bedroom. With Mabel back to full size, she is now back to being the slightly older sister and in charge.
"Mabel's right." Dipper sighs in defeat as he plops down on his bed and sets his '3' book next to him. "What would going after him prove anyway? While I want to get back at him for what he did to Mabel, it wouldn't do any good if I hurt him. I would be no better than Gideon if I did, even though it would teach him a lesson."
Sighing once more, Dipper removes his hat and lies down on his bed. Settling onto the lumpy mattress, Dipper can feel his body relax with all feelings of anger and stress melting away instantly.
"I think I'll just rest for a little bit." Dipper yawns as he closes his eyes. "Yep, I'll catch a couple of Z's and wake up refreshed. With Mabel back here, she's safe, sound, and happy."
Within seconds, tiny snores can be heard coming from the younger pines as he enters the land of dreamers.
Shack's Shop
Mabel has begun sweeping the floor of the shop. Due to the major traffic that comes in and out of the shop daily, the floor accumulates a large amount of dirt as a result. While working their shifts daily, neither Mabel, Dipper, nor Wendy thinks to sweep the floor after the tours and with Soos remodeling the shack's roof, sweeping the floor of the shop is the last thing the handyman thinks about. And Stan, well, doing chores is something he pays someone else to do for him!
"This floor is filthy." Mabel complains as she continues sweeping the hard wood floor. "And why is it so warm in here?"
Halting her sweeping, Mabel walks to the shop's door and opens it, putting the door stop in front of it to keep it open. Feeling the fresh yet slightly muggy air enter the shop, a small smile forms on the girl's face.
"Much better." Mabel nods, now going back to her sweeping.
With her back turned, the older pines doesn't notice a small brown bat fly into the shop. Seeing the girl sweeping, the bat begins making its way over to her.
"That took less time than I thought it would." Mabel says with a nod as she observes the clean floor. "Now that is a clean floor."
Just as Mabel is about to put the broom back in the corner of the room, the brown bat now flies in front of her and startles her.
"Oh hi little guy!" Mabel greets sweetly to the bat. "You gave me quite a scare there. You sure are cute and as much as I would like to play with you, I have work to do so maybe a little later ok?"
Walking around the bat, Mabel continues to the corner of the shop to put the broom back. Seeing the girl's back turned and the skin on the left side of her neck exposed, the bat now sprouts tiny fangs as it begins making its way towards her.
Attic
Dipper is still in a peaceful sleep as he now turns on his right side.
"Oh Wendy, that's how I like my grilled cheese sandwich." Dipper speaks with a wide smile. "I want a soda with that too if you please."
Continuing to enjoy his dream, a blood curdling scream now rips through the building, jolting Dipper from his sleep and out of bed.
"That was Mabel!" Dipper panics, now darting out of the room. "Hold on Mabel! I'm coming!"
Quickly sprinting to the shop, Dipper runs in and finds Mabel laying on her back on the floor. Rushing over to her, Dipper frantically begins trying to get her to respond to him.
"Mabel, are you ok?" Dipper panics, continuing to shake her. "Mabel, I heard you scream! Mabel, speak to me please!"
"Why are you shouting?" Mabel weakly speaks, now opening her eyes to see the panicked brown eyes of her twin's. "I'm right here."
"I'm sorry." Dipper apologizes. "I heard you scream and when I came in here, you were laying on the floor. Are you alright? Did Gideon come back and attack you?"
"No, he didn't." Mabel weakly replies as she sits up in seating position.
With Mabel sitting up, the younger pines now notices two small bite marks on the left side of the girl's neck. Confused by the markings, Dipper touches her neck, which causes the girl to hiss in pain and smack away his hand.
"Mabel, those marks on your neck." Dipper begins. "They're bite marks! Bite marks that look as if they came from a vampire, but that's impossible as vampires can't come out during the day. What happened to you?"
"I'm not sure exactly." Mabel replies, now getting to her feet and turning to her twin as she rubs her neck. "I came in here to sweep the floor and while doing that, a brown bat flew in here, but I doubt if it did anything as it looked so harmless."
With Mabel facing him, what Dipper notices next causes his mouth to fly open.
"Oh…my..." Dipper stammers.
"What?" Mabel asks, noticing her brother's mouth hanging open. "What's the matter Dipper?"
With no words spoken, Dipper grabs Mabel by the shoulders and drags her to the mirror by the door.
"Mabel, I think that bat you said you saw bit you!" Dipper panics. "Because you have fangs!"
Focusing her vision, Mabel now gazes into the mirror and notices that she does indeed have vampire fangs!
"Oh no!" Mabel shouts as she touches her newly developed fangs. "Dipper! I'm turning into a vampire!"
Outside of the shack and sitting on a nearby tree branch, Gideon has overheard Dipper and Mabel's conversation about Mabel's transformation.
"As you can see Dipper, I kept my word." Gideon snickers, now bearing his fangs. "You left your dear sister unguarded and when the moment arrived, I made sure I took advantage of it! Once Mabel's transformation is complete, I can't wait to see the look on your face when the sister you knew becomes one of the undead!"
Bursting into maniacal laughter, Gideon now transforms back into a bat and flies off in the direction of the tent of telepathy.
TBC…..
A/N: So what do you guys think of this teaser? Does this have potential to be a full length fic? If you think so, let me know and if I get enough positive feedback, I'll begin working on developing the rest of the story!
And due to chapter 12 of The Wrath of Catherine still being in development, chapter two to Prophecy's Light will be posted this upcoming Saturday instead and trust me when I say, it's going to be a mind blower!
However, come next Saturday, it'll all be well worth the wait as chapter 12 will be explosive in more ways than one! I do not fail to deliver as you've all come to find out! *smiles*
Next story entry: She's rich, she's popular, and everyone in town fears her, but does she have all the luck? For Pacifica, anything is possible! Stay tuned for the Luck of the Northwest!
Review Please!