Dead or Alive

Chapter 5: Trust

Mabel had nightmares.

This wasn't something unusual for her. She always had them, but nobody knew. Maybe Dipper knew, but if he did he never said a word about it.

Mabel didn't want anyone to know.

She was already a freak, there was no telling what would happen when her parents found out about what went on inside of her mind while she slept.

The nightmares started the night after Dipper died in the car accident. When she woke up the next morning and saw that Dipper was back, she couldn't believe it, and actually thought she was still having a nightmare.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Mabel had screamed and kicked in her bed sheets, hoping it would all go away. She prayed that when she opened her eyes Dipper would be gone.

Dipper had tried to calm her down, but failed.

Their parents soon found Mabel tangled in her bedsheets with bloodshot eyes and tears streaming down her face.

Even for a young girl who had just lost her sibling, this wasn't considered to be "normal"

                       .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

Mabel woke up with a gasp. She couldn't recollect her recent nightmare, but the heavy feeling in her chest still lingered.

She looked over to see Dipper once again quietly reading from the journal.

It was odd that Dipper hadn't noticed her short panic attack just seconds after she woke up. Mabel brushed this off and asked
"When did you come back last night?"

"I don't know...um, midnight maybe?" Dipper guessed, then snapped the journal shut just as he had the morning before and replaced it to its spot on the nightstand.

Mabel climbed out of bed and got dressed like usual. Just as she was almost finished putting on her shoes, she remembered that it was Saturday and she didn't have to work.

It felt weird not having to follow her usual schedule, so Mabel decided to head to breakfast followed by a visit to the gift shop anyways.

There was almost always something going on.

. . . . . . . .

Dipper decided to take the day to himself. While Mabel enjoyed her day off, Dipper took his time to explore the woods.

He'd read plenty from the journal to know that there were all sorts of dangers in the woods, but those dangers couldn't effect a ghost.

A sudden thought struck Dipper; he was basically immortal.

Dipper couldn't feel anything other than emotions. He couldn't feel pain, water, air, and neither could he smell anything. His legs never ached from long treks anymore, and now he hardly had to lift a finger if he even needed to lift anything at all.

None of this had ever really dawned on him just yet, so he wasn't sure exactly how to feel about all of it. All of these thoughts came crashing down on him and soon he was simply standing in the middle of the woods, staring into space while deeply lost in his own thoughts.