After Dark

Chapter 9 - Missing

Mabel returned from class to hear a frantic sounding voice coming from the kitchen. She shook her head trying to clear the sleep from her mind as she got up. She could hear Heather talking, and judging by the pauses she must have been on the phone. Mabel came around the corner into the kitchen seeing her pacing between the counters next to the range and the table. She could see Heather had a very worried look on her face. It then shifted to anger as she shouted into the receiver. "I don't give a damn who it's happened to before! I want my sister found!"

Mabel was taken aback by the out-of-character sharpness of the girl. Heather let out a choked sob before she said, "Just call me when you heart something...anything please!" Heather hung up now seeing Mabel standing wide-eyed. "What happened Heather? What's wrong?!?"

Mabel was already rounding the table to get near her roommate. Heather tried to speak. "It's my s-sister. She w-went out last night and n-never came back to her dorm. She's missing." Mabel gasped and Heather finally broke down crying as her defenses came undone. Mabel wrapped her arms around the distraught girl. "We'll find her Heather. Even if we have to recruit help."

Heather blew her nose into a tissue. "You're a right lot more help than the campus authority or the police.  "They said that I can't even file a missing person's report till she has been missing for over 24 hours." Mabel gave it some thought. "I can't make any guarantees, but I and my brother used to be really good at figuring stuff out. I'm going to call him up and see if he can help us. In the meantime, I'm going to start looking around. We can question everyone to figure out who has seen her last and go from there."

Heather mopped up her tears on her gray cardigan sleeves. "I don't know what I would do without you, Mabel." Mabel gave a dismissive wave, "It's no big deal me and Dipper will try our best to find her." She gave the poor girl one last hug and pulled out her phone to speed dial Dipper.

The phone rang twice before Dipper picked up. "Let me guess you ran out of coffee?" he asked with a good-natured teasing sound in his voice. Mabel said. "Heather's sister is missing. She didn't return to her dorm last night but the police can't do anything till she's been missing for at least 24 hours. I told her I would start asking around. Do you think you could come to help us? I know it's a long drive."

Dipper immediately kicked into his serious tone. "When? What happened. Where was she taken from and last seen?"Mabel asked, "So can you help us?" Dipper shifted the phone to his other ear. "Just give me a few minutes to clear things with Great Uncle Ford before I leave. He should be able to manage the rest of the analysis of the photos from the cave. It's mostly computer work at this point. Just waiting for results. I will call you right back ok?"

Mabel breathed out in relief, "Ok." Dipper hung up and Mabel waited. Mabel placed her phone on the table as she comforted Heather. About four minutes later her phone rang in her hands as his profile picture in her phone popped up. It showed him and Pacifica on the couch in the living room looking bright red as a tomato as he tried to block the camera lens with his hand. As the phone began to ring his ringback tone of "Superheroes" by The Script began to play as the lyrics belted out, "When you've been fighting for it all your life. You've been struggling to make things right. That's how a superhero learns to fly. Every day, every hour turn the pain into power-" Mabel picked up the phone as she scrambled for it.

"I'm here! Mabel said as she spoke into the mouthpiece. "I cleared it with ford and I told Pacifica I had to leave. She laughed at  me and said, "Dipper you two may be the mystery twins but if  you think you are leaving me behind on this one you and Ford have been huffing too many fumes down in the lab." Mabel laughed. "That sounds like our girl!"