WARNING:
This story contains prolific use of swearing, blood and gore, sexual and graphic content. If you are not comfortable with this, then consider this warning before you continue reading.
Then again, you're not really supposed to be comfortable reading a horror story.
Viewer Discretion is advised.
Chapter 2: The Man in the Fez Hat
I lifted my head up, staring at the stocky old man who was pointing a shotgun at us from across the room, standing in the doorway leading to another room. From what I could quickly see, he was wearing a tattered business suit of sorts, as well as a red fez hat on his bald head. In the corner of my eye, I noticed Mabel subtly ready her knife.
"I asked you kids a goddamn question. What the fuck are you doing in my base?"
I put my hands up in a peaceful gesture. I wasn't prepared to die today.
"Woah, woah, listen, sir, we're just taking refuge in this place for now, at least until we can-"
"Find refuge somewhere else, boy."
The old man suddenly trained his gun on Mabel.
"And I see that knife you're hiding behind your back, little girl. Drop it or i'll drop you."
Mabel hissed at him. The old man wasn't expecting such an answer. He reeled back his head, switching his gaze to me.
"What the hell's wrong with her?"
"She's, uh...protective."
I looked over at Mabel, who was still keeping her fixated gaze on the old man.
"Just...drop the knife, Mabel." I said, motioning with my hand downwards slowly. She switched her gaze to me, and instantly her eyes glazed over with that same look of utter adoration and love.
"Only if you say so, Dippie."
Without another word, she dropped the knife. It clattered to the ground, resounding loudly throughout the cabin. As the old man saw the action, his tension dropped. He lowered the gun.
"That's great. Now leave."
I felt fear grip my heart as I heard the words.
"But sir, please-"
"Leave."
"No."
I turned to hear the objection from Mabel. The old man also heard it, and turned his head towards her, frowning.
"No? The hell you mean, 'no'?"
"I mean no. If we go back out there, there is a chance Dippie will get hurt, and that will not happen."
Her voice steeled, as did her gaze. She stared at the old man, who leaned back and raised his gun, clearly unsettled by her unwavering stare. His hands shook slightly as he thought about what to do.
"Fuck!"
He lowered his gun once again, holding it at his side as he pressed rubbed his head in frustration.
"Fine. You can stay here for an hour-"
"A day." I interrupted. He gave me a menacing look.
"Boy, don't test my patience."
"Sir, please! We need some time to rest before we can just go out. Please."
I stressed the last plea. Thinking of going back out into that wasteland right now made me sick to my stomach.
The old man stared me dead in the eyes. Finally, he let up, groaning as he waved his hand dismissively.
"Fine, whatever. I don't even know the damn time of day anymore. One day. Then you leave."
Relief flooded my mind. Finally, a safe haven.
The old man retreated back into the hall from whence he came, muttering to himself as he slung the shotgun sling over his shoulder. A couple moments passed before I heard his voice from down the hall.
"There's a couple beds upstairs. Go rest there."
It took all I had to stop myself from breaking down and crying right then and there. For the first time since I could remember anything, we had finally found refuge. I finally felt safe.
Well, as safe as I could be, what with a psychopath for my supposed sibling standing right beside me. I snuck a glance over at Mabel, who was just...standing there. Staring into the void. I almost didn't want to provoke her, but I had to inform her of the news.
"Mabel."
She didn't respond.
"Mabel!"
Finally, she snapped out of it. As she focused on me, I immediately regretted getting her attention. She smiled, her hazel eyes watching my every movement with an unsettling calmness to them. Fortunately for me, her pupils had returned to their normal size, but I wasn't sure if I liked her any better now that she had such an unsettling look.
"Um, so Mabel…"
"Yes, Dippie?"
"We can, uh, stay here for about a day. We're allowed the beds upstairs. Do you want to, uh...you know…"
Before I could finish my sentence, I saw Mabel blush.
"Wow, Dippie...I didn't know you were so forward with your requests…"
She's really fucked in the head, isn't she? I thought to myself.
"That's not...what I meant...I was suggesting we, uh, go check it out."
I shuddered as she sighed, seemingly disappointed that I hadn't actually just suggested sex...with my sibling.
Then again, maybe she doesn't know we're siblings. That might explain why she's been making such moves on me! I thought. If I tell her, she'll turn off from me.
"Hey, Mabel, you know we're siblings, right?"
Inwardly, I sighed in relief. Now that she knew this, things wouldn't be so weird-
She nodded. I was confused. She did just hear what I said, right?
"Mabel, did you hear me?"
"Yes, Dippie. I know we're siblings. I've known this entire time."
"But...you love me? As in sibling love, right?"
"No. I love you."
...
I felt sick. Really sick.
"You...you wanted to...do that...with me...knowing we're siblings…?"
Her hazel eyes continued to stare at me, unwavering as she answered.
"I don't care, Dippie. I've felt an intense love for you since I saw your wonderful face. Everytime I see you, I feel a euphoric sense of happiness that washes over my entire body, over my mind. Nothing else makes me this intensely happy besides being with you."
She took a step closer. I didn't move. Her hazel eyes dilated as she got closer, her smile widening.
"I can't get rid of this feeling, so I just accepted it. I want to marry you, Dippie. I want your time, your devotion, your love, your babies…"
She took another step. I still couldn't move. Her eyes dilated even more, her smile turning into a terrifying grin filled with rapturous delight.
"I want to feel your flesh press against me so hard that I get bruises. I want to be so close to you, I want to crawl into your skin. I want to taste every drop of sweat that comes out of your pores, every drop of blood that you lose."
She leaned in close, so terrifyingly close, and whispered in my ear.
"...I want you to be mine."
….
…
…
She leaned back, holding her hands behind her waist as her grin receded back into a small little smile. Her pupils returned to their normal size, but her unflinching gaze kept focused on me.
"I don't care what obstacles are between us, Dippie. I will break them all down if I can love you, unconditionally. I love you, Dipper."
I couldn't. This was too much. I turned around, staggering over to the corner of the room.
I fell to my knees and vomited onto the ground below.
I can't do this, I can't do this, I'm scared.
I wanted someone, anyone to rely on. Someone who could just come up and comfort me, to tell me that everything would be alright.
I wanted to wake up from this nightmare so bad.
I looked down at my hands. They wouldn't stop shaking.
This had to be a nightmare. It had to be. There was no way something this sickening was real.
...
I took a moment, trying to calm myself down. I could feel a few tears streaking down my cheeks, but I wiped them quickly. I couldn't risk Mabel seeing it and coming over trying to comfort me. She was the last person in the world I wanted to see.
"Dippie? Are you okay?"
I screamed inwardly upon hearing her call out for me. I mustered up what willpower I had to hide my horror.
"Y-yeah...the-the raccoon just-just didn't, you-you know, process well in my stomach."
I heard her gasp.
Shit.
"I KNEW it! I should have cooked it longer-"
More the opposite, I thought subconsciously.
"-Damn it, you're such a fuck up, Mabel! You're such a fuck up!" She yelled in anger.
Suddenly, I heard slamming. I turned my head around to see her smacking her head against the wall repeatedly.
"STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!"
"Ma-Mabel, stop!"
She stopped, turning to look at me with teary eyes. Blood was pouring from a wound on her head.
"I screwed up your food, Dippie. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry…"
I couldn't handle this much longer. I just came up with the closest excuse I had.
"N-no, Mabel, it wasn't your cooking that was the-the problem, I just, you know, have digestive problems…"
Mabel looked up at me, both blood and tears streaming down her face. Her lower lip quivered as she looked me in the eyes.
"R-really…?"
"Yeah! Y-yeah. Just my...digestive tract...you know…?"
Her shuddered breaths stopped after a few moments. She looked back up at me, smiling. Her tears had stopped, but the bleeding from her head didn't cease.
"Oh, i'm so glad, Dippie."
I couldn't keep up the act any longer.
"I'm gonna head upstairs to rest." I mumbled, swiftly heading for the stairs as Mabel continued to stare at me with those hazel eyes, holding her bloodied carving knife idly and standing there.
I staggered up the stairs and into the room. It was a small room, with two beds pressed up against walls that were bent at an angle and led up to connect at the ceiling. At the other end of the room, about ten feet away, a triangular window looked out over the woods. Oddly enough, the room sparked a familiar feeling within me, as if I was experiencing Deja vu…
Within moments, however, it faded.
I walked over and looked through the window. The woods, the trail leading to this shack, the totem...everything looked so familiar, yet didn't spark any memory in my head.
Everything must have looked great at one point. From that picture I had seen, it looked like everything was during good times…
Not anymore. Whenever I looked into those woods, all I saw was danger. A chance for some hidden creature to catch me unaware and rip my guts out.
I couldn't look out the window any longer. I walked over to the bed on my left. There was a picture of a sailboat hanging on the wall to the side of the bed. Behind the bed on the wall, there were a pair of binoculars and some unknown animal tooth, as big as my hand. I took both off of the nails they hung from. There would definitely be use for both of them.
I crawled into the bed. I didn't have enough strength left to pull the covers over my body. On the spot, I drifted to sleep quickly as I stared at the picture of the sailboat.
What? Where was I?
I was in a dark room. I couldn't see anything beyond two feet. I searched around with my hands, trying to feel for something.
"Dippie…"
I heard that voice before. It was Mabel.
"Mabel? Mabel, where are you?"
"Dippie, the monsters, they're coming!"
"Wha-what? What monsters?"
"THEY'RE COMING, DIPPIE! I HAVE TO PROTECT YOU!"
CRUNCH!
I screamed in pain as I felt my left knee suddenly cut off. I fell over, blood pouring out of my dismembered leg.
"OH GOD! OH FUCK! MY FUCKING LEG! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
I was in agony, gripping my leg as it continued to spurt blood out from the wound.
"Dippie, stay still, please!"
I looked to my right to see Mabel standing over me, raising a bloodied axe high over her head. She brought it down on my right knee.
CRUNCH!
I let out a bone-chilling scream of pain as the axe severed my right leg from the knee down. Blood began to spurt out of that wound as well, staining the contentless floor below.
"FUCK! MABEL, STOP, PLEASE! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!"
I continued to shout and plea at her, but she brought it up again, then down.
CRUNCH!
I couldn't scream, but instead gagged in horror and shock as my right arm was severed from the elbow down. I watched as it splat against the floor, dripping blood from the open wound. I could no longer feel my right hand. It was absolutely terrifying.
"Just...one more…"
She walked around to my other side. I couldn't protest. My throat was dried out from the screaming. All I could do was watch in horror as she brought down the axe again.
CRUNCH!
Again, I made choking noises as I saw my left arm severed, bleeding profusely. I was laid against a wall in unimaginable pain. I heard Mabel drop the axe and bend down, looking me in the eyes. I could see her crying.
"Don't worry, Dippie...you're safe from the monsters now...they can't hurt you…"
She came in and wrapped her arms around me, sobbing unrelentlessly as she muttered to herself.
"Just stay with me, Dippie...stay with me…I'll take care of you…"
Slowly, I felt my conscience slip away from me as the massive amount of blood loss started to affect my brain. I felt Mabel's tight grasp around me begin to fade away as my nerves stopped working. My brain was shutting down…
I closed my eyes…
I woke up in a cold sweat, panting heavily. I looked down at my arms and legs quickly. They were attached. My heart was racing violently.
"Dippie? Are you okay?"
I looked over to my left, seeing Mabel sitting on my bed and watching me with those hazel eyes, filled with concern.
"What happened? Did you have a bad dream, Dippie?"
Her knife was laid next to me. It was so close…
I could kill her, right here. I could kill her, and then that nightmare would never have a chance of happening.
…
…
…
No. I couldn't do that. I couldn't lose hold of my morals. I didn't want to be anywhere on the same level as the animals in this world, including Mabel.
"Yeah...I had a nightmare."
"What was it about?"
I couldn't look at her. My eyes would betray the answer.
"Just...some animal tearing into my guts or something."
I had to make the answer seem realistic. Then again, nothing was realistic in this twisted world.
Suddenly, Mabel leaned in, embracing me as she pressed her head against my chest.
"It'll be okay, Dippie. I'll protect you from any harm that tries to come your way."
If only you knew, I thought to myself.
However, her hug felt...familiar. It was the same familiarity I had felt when I entered the room. It faded within seconds.
She released me, but kept one hand on my leg as she stared at me, smiling. Once again, I felt unsettled by her unwavering stare.
Crreaak.
Within a second, Mabel snatched the carving knife from the bed and stood up, pointing it at the opening door.
"Jesus Christ! Put the damn weapon down, kid!"
Mabel didn't skip a beat.
"What do you want?" She asked, her eyes trained on him.
The old man grumbled, then walked in through the door fully. I could see two plates in his hands, both with a sandwich and a cup of water on them.
"I...brought you food. Figured you guys might be...famished."
My heart lifted as I looked at the food. Finally, a decent meal. Mabel, however, didn't care about that.
"We already ate. Now leave."
The old man's face contorted in anger.
"I brought you little shits some food. That's more goodwill than you'll ever receive in this world."
He began receding back into the hall, but I was not having that.
"Wait!"
He stopped in the doorway. I looked to Mabel, who looked back at me, holding no hostility for me as she did for the old man.
"I...want to eat that."
"Okay."
There was absolutely no protest from her. She followed my directions without question. It was not a relationship I wanted to have with my sibling, but it paid off this time. She lowered the knife and walked over to sit by me, keeping an eye on the old man as he walked back in.
"Erratic psycho…" He muttered under his breath as he placed the food on the dresser. As he did, he was about to leave once more until I stopped him again.
"W-wait, sir. I'd, uh, like to talk to you, if you don't mind."
He hesitated for a moment, then went to go sit on the opposite bed, looking out the window of the attic bedroom. I began eating the sandwich, savoring the natural flavor it had. It was much more preferable than the stuff we ate on the trail, but I wasn't about to say that in front of Mabel.
On that thought, I noticed Mabel wasn't eating her meal. Though I was terrified of her, it pained me to see someone who was so dysfunctional as a human. Not only did she not eat most of the time, but she didn't take care of herself. Her eyes had small sacks under them, a result of deprivation of sleep, which was also clearly affecting her behavior as her brain lacked the proper rest it needed. Her hair was knappy, and she didn't smell good at all. From the way she ignored her sandwich, I wouldn't have been surprised if she was suffering from a bit of malnutrition, as well.
"Mabel, you should eat the sandwich."
"...Okay."
She walked over and picked up the plate and carried it back to the bed. She began eating and drinking, but continued her unwavering stare on the old man.
As I watched her eat, my heart ached. By this point, I knew that when she did things, they were only done if it involved me in some way, whether it was an order by me or involved my well-being and protection.
However, I decided to put that matter aside, for now. I turned my attention to the old man.
"So, uh...what's your name, sir?"
The old man was silent for a moment, turning his head away from the window to take a look at me.
"...Stan."
"Oh..okay. Nice name."
He grunted at my response. I wasn't sure how to take that, so I fell silent. The conversation was starting to turn awkward.
"How...how long have you been here, Stan?"
"...A week, maybe. That's about as much as I can remember."
I was surprised to hear this. It seemed I wasn't the only one who was dealing with this whole memory situation. However, I decided to stave off from that until later.
Surprisingly, Stan posed a question for him, answering with a low, rumbling voice.
"How long have you two been on the road?"
"A we...A week."
Stan's eyes seemed to soften as he heard this.
"Jesus."
"Yeah."
A couple moments of silence passed.
"I'll congratulate you on living this long. I haven't gone out too much, but from what i've seen, it's hell out there."
Another couple of moments of silence passed. I decided to point to his hat.
"Nice, uh, cap you got there."
He looked up, grabbing his cap and taking it off his head, inspecting it in his hand.
"...Yeah. Not really sure why i'm wearing it."
I shrugged.
"I think it looks...fashionable...on you."
I was surprised to hear a slight chuckle from him. It was a rarity to hear any sort of heartfelt laughter nowadays. The sound was comforting to me.
"Thanks, kid."
He put the cap back on. After a few more moments of looking out the window, he sighed, finally getting up.
"Well, I'm gonna head back downstairs, maybe go out scavenging for a little bit."
I was concerned by the last statement.
"It's extremely dangerous out there. You sure you don't want us to come along and help?"
He waved his hand at us.
"No, no, no. You rest here for now."
With that said, he began to walk out of the room. He stopped before he entered the hall.
"I'll be back in a little bit."
Then he left.
And I was left with her.
Mabel looked over at me, smiling.
"I'm glad he's gone for now. Another potential threat to your life, gone momentarily."
I was already missing the conversation with Stan.
"Alright, well, let's just get some rest for now, Mabel."
She stared at him for a few more seconds before answering.
"...Okay, Dippie."
A few seconds passed by. She was still sitting on my bed, staring at me.
"I meant go rest on the other bed."
"Oh. Okay."
She got up, walking over and sitting down at the bed across from me, but kept her eyes on me. It was starting to get on my nerves.
"Could you stop staring at me, please? We got a window here, why not look out of it?"
Even across the room, I could see the sadness in her eyes as she broke eye contact. However, instead of staring out the window like I suggested, she began staring at the ground, into the void once again. I sighed, curling up into a ball as I put my head down.
"I hope this nightmare will end soon." I muttered to myself.
Little did I know, it was only beginning.
Author Notes: New chapter uploads will come in every other day. Some days I may stutter on demand, but I will have an explanation for those days. Stay tuned for more content.