Reverse Falls: Welcome to the Show

11] Stage Fright

The twins stood behind scarlet curtains, arming themselves with smiles that would soon glow in the resplendence of the spotlight. Instead of excitement, all Mabel could feel was the same overwhelming fear that she hadn't felt in years. But it was back.

Mabel's palms grew slick with sweat and she could feel her makeup smudging under her eyes from the dampness that had appeared seemingly from nowhere. Wait, she thought. Am I crying?

This can't be happening, Mabel thought. She wasn't going to let it happen. It was not going to happen. She wasn't going to cry on stage.

But the voices were so loud. They canceled out her thoughts. They were the voices of their previous audience that had come back to haunt her.

Freak.

Monster.

"Mabel," Dipper's voice broke through the static.
"Mabel? Are you okay?"

Mabel felt the floor disappear from beneath her feet. She was falling. . . The voices had taken control. It was like a nightmare, one that she hadn't had in a very long time, one that had come back to haunt her. Cold seeped through her clothes and into her skin until it felt like her very bones were quaking in fear. The smell of mildew filled her nostrils. Mabel felt the sick feeling grow larger in the pit of her stomach

. . .

Gideon wasn't sure what to do or where to go. He soon found himself flinging open random doors in hopes that his dad would be standing there. He hoped that his dad had nothing to do with the journal or the twins- whatever it was that they were up to. Gideon hoped that his dad was nothing more than ordinary.

"Gideon, calm down!" Pacifica exclaimed. "Someone's gonna know something's up when they hear us barging around like this."

"I don't care," he snapped. "I just want to find that stupid book so that those twins don't do anything stupid with it."

"But how can you be sure that they know what they're doing with it?"

"I don't know. . . but it's what I'm trying to find out."

Gideon reached the end of the hallway and immediately recognized the dressing room door that he and Pacifica had entered just days before. He knew it in his gut that the answer would lay behind that door. The only problem with this was that an employee, a tall, pale boy with jet black hair and an abundance of acne was guarding the entrance.

"Paz," Gideon whispered. "You gotta distract that guy."

Pacifica frowned. "How am I supposed to do that?"

The employee's walkie-talkie buzzed and a muffled voice said, "get to the stage! Miss Pines just fainted!"

After the call was cut off, he immediately left his position at the door and ran down the opposite hallway back to the auditorium.

"Boom. Distraction done. Now let's go!"

Pacifica grabbed Gideon by his sweatshirt sleeve and dragged him down the hallway and into the dressing room. The lights were off and there was a draft that chilled the air, creating an eerie feeling. Gideon felt against the rough surface of the peeling wallpaper for a light switch, then turned the lights on.

Staring back at them was a gaping entrance to what looked like a cave or tunnel system. The bookcase had been swung open, most likely in a rush. Books had fallen and scattered on the floor along with loose paper and random nicknacks.