Work Text:
Mabel felt like she was walking through a maze. Her own home had been twisted into a much larger form of itself. Like…like a mansion. Every room was bigger than it should be, and the hallway was longer than it should be. Not only that, but it was pitch black.
When Mabel reached the living room, she flipped the light switch. The room was immediately engulfed in light, much to Mabel’s relief. But the fact that nobody else was around unsettled her. “Mom? Dad? Dipper?”
No answer came from her family. Where were they?
“Maybe they went out and forgot to tell me,” Mabel told herself. It wasn’t entirely unusual. To get her mind off of it, Mabel headed back to her room and went about knitting an already half-finished sweater. Slowly, the robin egg blue yarn pulled together as she worked. The rhythm of it made her worries dissipate. Just for a little while.
About an hour later, her door swung open, and her twin stepped in. “Dipper! Where have you been, bro bro?”
“Had to dispose of something,” Dipper replied. But his voice seemed…off. It was high pitched, nothing like his usual tone. Puzzled, Mabel asked, “What kind of th-” She stopped short, and her eyes widened with horror. “Is that blood?! What happened to you?!”
Dipper looked down at himself. “Oh, heh, guess I better wash this off.”
Why did he sound so emotionless? “Dipper, wait.” Mabel stopped him. “Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Then whose blood is this? Dipper, how did this happen?” Mabel’s heart was racing.
Dipper said only one word: “Savanna’s.”
Savanna was a girl who frequently picked on Mabel, but nobody seemed to believe Mabel when she told them, as Savanna acted like an angel around everybody else. The only person who believed Mabel was Dipper, and not just because he’d seen it happen a number of times. Countless instances of ‘I can’t believe you wore that ugly sweater today!’ Or ‘your teeth are too crooked, guess those braces aren’t working, huh?’ or just ‘loser loser loser’ and a whole book of other insults. Neither of them understood why Savanna was so cruel.
But despite all of that, the idea that she’d been hurt horrified Mabel. “What did you do to her?!” Mabel screeched.
“Nothing you should be concerned about, Shooting Star.”
Mabel paled, shaking her head wildly. “N-n-no! T-that’s impossible!”
Slowly, Dipper turned around, and he grinned. His catlike eyes glowed an unnatural yellow. “Bipper?!”
Bipper grinned wider. “Miss me?”
“Get out of my brother’s body!”
“Ha! You think you can stop me this time? You’re outta your league, Shooting Star!” Bipper sneered. Mabel turned her eyes to the door. She had to warn her parents. Who knows what he would do to them?!
Just like her Grunkle Stan taught her, Mabel left-hooked her possessed twin in the face, breaking his nose. Bipper shouted in pain and outrage. The distraction gave Mabel a window of opportunity, and she bolted to the door.
The door slammed shut.
“NOT SO FAST.” His voice was low and demonic. Mabel pulled on the knob. “Let me out!” She slammed her body against it, intent on breaking it down if she had to. Bipper spoke coldly from behind her, “You’re not going anywhere.”
Mabel looked over her shoulder. Bipper’s eyes were a livid red, and his smile had twisted into a scowl.
“Why are you doing this?” Mabel asked, her voice breaking.
“I had the perfect set-up for Pine Tree’s death, and you ruined it! You kicked me out of this body!” But then Bipper smirked. “Not that you could do it again. There isn’t another soul for this body after all. Ha! You should’ve seen Pine Tree’s face when I scared him…to death.”
“Nonononono! You’re lying!”
“I’m not lying.”
“Yes you ar- ack!” Mabel coughed, as her brother curled an ice cold hand around her throat and squeezed. She couldn’t make a sound. Her throat was too restricted. Hazy dark spots appeared in her vision.
With inhuman strength, Bipper pinned Mabel to the wall, and withdrew a knife from behind his back. It still dripped with blood. Savanna’s blood.
“Now hold still,” Bipper ordered, before he raised the knife high above his head. Without a second’s hesitation, Bipper drove the blade into Mabel’s chest-
“NO!” Mabel involuntarily screamed as she shot out of bed. She was drenched in cold sweat, and she shivered. Mabel looked out the attic window. Early sunlight shined in, bathing the room in a warm orange glow. The door opened, and Dipper poked his head in. “Mabel? Woah, what happened? You look like you saw a ghost.”
“I wish,” Mabel murmured, hugging herself. She looked up, her tears blurring her vision. Although there was more than enough light, she could still feel the oppressing darkness in her oversized house. She didn’t know how it was possible, but everything had been warped out of proportion. It was as if she’d found herself in Wonderland. Like she had been Alice after she drank from the little bottle labeled drink me.
Dipper knew that look. His sister had a nightmare again. They both seemed to have them fairly regularly, and they wished more than anything that the horrific dreams would go away.
Dipper crossed the space between the door and his sister’s bed and sat down across from her. “What was it about?”
He didn’t need to clarify. Mabel gulped. “I-I was back home, except our house was bigger. A lot bigger. A-and it was so dark! I thought I was all alone, so I went back to my room to calm down. Eventually, you walked in, and…and you had blood all over your clothes! Your back was turned, and when I asked what had happened, you said you had to dispose of something.”
Dipper knitted his brows together in confusion. “What was it?”
“Savanna,” Mabel said quietly. “After that, you turned around, and…and…” Mabel burst into tears, and she said through hiccuping sobs, “But it wasn’t you! It was Bipper!”
Dipper felt a surge of anger go through him. Even after Bill’s defeat, he was still tormenting his family. It had been a whole year since the near end of the world, and the memory of it stuck.
“You couldn’t come back, because you were dead too! Bill scared you to death! I was by myself with that stupid nacho demon in our massive and dark house, and there was nothing I could do about it! He was too strong for me to fight him!”
“I know, Mabel, I know,” Dipper murmured. “But Mabel, we defeated Bill. I know your nightmares seem real, but I promise you they aren’t. None of that happened. We’re safe, and Savanna’s safe.”
“O-okay,” Mabel said shakily. “I mean, as awful as she is to me, I still don’t want anything bad to happen to her!” Mabel scrubbed her eyes.
That was one of the best parts of Mabel’s personality: she could see the good in everybody. Even the people who seemed to hate her. She wouldn’t wish any harm upon anybody.
“It’s all okay now. I promise,” Dipper assured her. He held out his fist. “Mystery twins?”
Mabel smiled and bumped his fist. “Mystery twins.”
THE END