Mabel's Reality

Time for Tea

Fear can't hurt you anymore than a dream. However, this IS a dream, the fear is real, and it's right behind you. All you have to do is turn around...

"No!!!" Mabel gasped as she sat bolt upright in bed. She shakily clutched onto the covers, her entire body trembling.

"Mabel! Are you alright?" Dipper said running to her side. From head to toe she was drenched in sweat and her skin was pale and clammy. Putting her hands over her face, she shook her head back and forth without stopping. Unnerved by her strange behavior, he tried his best to comfort her. "Mabel, what's wrong," he asked.

He heard her let out a soft sob before whispering, "Is it still there?" He froze in shock at his sister's words. Was what still there, he asked himself. Mabel continued to cry with her face in her hands. "Is it still behind me?"

Dipper looked at the wall behind her, it was bare save for the few posters she had hung up. "Mabel, there's nothing there," he said reassuringly. Her head snapped up and she turned around, her eyes searching for an unknown fear.

"It, it was just a dream," she mumbled in surprise. The young girl breathed a sigh of relief, but little did she know that this nightmare was the first of many more to come.

Several days later, the stress of the countless restless nights had clearly begun to show...

Mabel trudged down the stairs and into the kitchen, where she sleepily bumped around in search of breakfast. Grabbing an empty bowl, she poured the contents of the milk carton into the cereal-free container. "Whoa, Mabel. Are you okay?" Dipper asked as he watched the milk overflow the bowl and spill off the table. "You don't look so good." As she slowly looked up from the table, her ragged appearance startled Dipper. Dark circles had formed underneath her eyes and her once energetic personality had been drained.

"I'm fine Dip," Mabel said groggily. Setting aside the milk, she tried to stifle a yawn as she lazily stirred her spoon around in the bowl before her. "I'm, yawn, just tired. That's all." Every night for the past few nights, Mabel had experienced a new nightmare, each more terrifying than the last. She had tried staying awake by drinking Mabel juice, but when she did fall asleep she found that it made her nightmares worse. However, despite the influx of new horrors each night, every dream ended the same.

Each nightmare always began at the Mystery Shack where one of her worst fears was waiting. Usually it ranged from having to go home early, losing Waddles, or a project she had worked on for a long time being destroyed. More often than not though, it was Dipper and everyone she loves telling her how much of a nuisance she was. Upset, she would run out of the Shack and into the forest crying. As soon as she entered, the trees would close behind her and she'd find herself lost in the middle of nowhere. That was when a cute woodland animal would come into the clearing and transform into a hideous creature. As it chased her, Bill would appear and offer a deal for a way out. Although Mabel was terrified of what came next, she always rejected his deal.

This was the worst part of the dream: everything disappeared. No Bill, no monster, just her in the dark alone. Well, almost alone... Have you ever had that feeling on the back of your neck that someone else is there, watching? Have you ever had that dream where you can't move but you know that something evil is behind you? Mabel has, and every night that ominous terror has gotten closer and closer and closer.

Mabel shuddered at the thought of what it could be. Thinking she was cold, Dipper threw a blanket over his sister's shoulders. "Mabel, you're burning up," he said placing the back of his hand against her forehead. She weakly tried to swat his hand away. He gave her a sympathetic look before helping her up. "C'mon, you're going back to bed," he stated leading her up the attic stairs.