Counting Stars (Mabifica)

Chapter 35

Dipper Pines hesitated, his hand held in front of the wooden door of Wendy's house. Of course, she'd moved out of her dads house and into a small apartment near the edge of town. He had walked up about three flights of stairs to get there. Trying to hide the fact that he was wheezing, he knocked on the door. As his hand touched it, it gave way, creaking open. Dipper stepped into the room. It was a mess, furniture turned upside down, pillows thrown across the room and papers scattered everywhere.

Dipper walked in further, trying not to panic. Her window was smashed and there was blood underneath it, staining the beige carpet slightly pink. Dippers heart sunk and he ran towards the window, leaning out of it careful not to cut himself on the sharp glass. Outside was another pool of blood, still fresh by the looks of it. Dippers heart skipped a beat, it looked as if there was break in, or worse, a monster had taken her...

Running as fast as his legs could carry him in his already tired state, he made his way outside and to the pool of blood. He crouched down to inspect it closer, narrowing his eyes to focus on the small pieces of glass in it. There was something else, Dipper couldn't quite make it out. He decided to ignore it, instead standing up and spotting a small trail of blood leading into the woods. Dipper reluctantly followed, deciding it was safer then going back to the shack without Wendy and facing the wrath of Stanford Pines, he could be scary when we wanted to, he was tall and had six fingers, and the fact that he had a metal plate in his head still made Dipper shudder.

He followed the blood trail until it stopped beside a large tree. The tree was also covered in blood, it looked as if the victim had climbed up it. Dipper looked up, disappointed when he saw no red hair peeking from behind the leaves. Nothing. He'd have to keep moving. The brunette glanced around, trying to look for any signs of human contact. He noticed footprints heading west, deeper into the woods and decided to follow them. They looked like boot prints.

Once again, he set off, more slowly and cautiously than before. He kept his eyes straight ahead of it, only glancing to the sides when he heard a noise. He had no weapons, he was useless on his own. As he walked on, he saw a large clearing he had never seen before. Which was strange as he could've sworn he knew the woods like the back of his hand. He stopped walking and bent behind a bush, peering through the leaves.

There was a fire burning, high and bright, smoke flowing into the sky and disappearing into the trees. On top of the fire was a stick with what looked like a fish tied onto it. The stick was held up by two large stones and accompanied by a log that looked like a bench. There was also a sleeping bag, a dark blue one that looked slightly torn but still useable. All this and still no Wendy. Dipper sighed and stood up from his hiding place, giving up on his search.

Something cold touched the back of his neck. He started panicking, instantly tensing his muscles and standing straight. It felt like a weapon, possible a knife or a gun. Well, he had been intruding. But at least he had an excuse.

"Turn around" it was a female voice, familiar yet not quite. It was quite deep, deeper than he remembered.

He felt the pressure on his neck go away and he slowly turned around until he was face to face with his captor.

"Dipper!?" The redhead smiled and pulled the smaller boy into a deep hug.

Once they pulled back, Dipper scanned Wendy, looking for the injury that has caused her to loose so much blood. Now that he thought about it, she did look a lot paler than usual. She was dressed in a white tank top, her usual green flannel tied around her arm as a bandage. The was a large rip in her top at the bottom, stained pink with blood.

"Are you OK?" Dipper asked, worried whether or not his old friend had enough strength to head back to the shack.

Wendy nodded but Dipper wasn't sure he believed her. He followed her into the camp, sitting on the log while she turned the stick with the fish on.

She frowned "its kinda burnt... I was gone for too long" she took out a bottle of water and chugged in down, before passing it to Dipper.

Dipper took it politely and took small sips. "So, what are doing out here in the woods?" The question had been in his head for a while now.

Wendy shrugged, eyes never leaving the fire "well as you can see" she gestured up towards the sky "its the apocalypse, Bill's back! I got attacked by a weird eye bat hybrid creature and my only escape was my window. Before I jumped I managed to grab a sleeping bag and some supplies and I've been here ever since".

It had only been a couple of hours, half a day at the most but already her life has been turned to hell.

"Oh, this wasn't Bill, he's with us" Dipper blurted "apparently there's this other demon called Tad or something who's got the pin now".

"OK, not sure if I believe you, but whatever" she gave Dipper a warm smile, massaging her wounded arm as she goes on "so, what brings you here, to my humble abode?"

"We need your help" Dipper said quickly "it's urgent, this could mean saving the town or killing everyone slowly and painfully" Dipper may have been exaggerating but it got the message across to wendy. She nodded. Dipper ushered her towards the shack.

They were running out of time....

(Edited)