Always (2/3)

25: a small white lie

25
Dipper

   I'd been nervous about her asking this question since I woke up that morning. I knew it would be one of the first things on her mind and I knew that I'd have to tell her the truth.

   I took a deep breath inwards and watched as her eyes focused on the slash marks on my chest.

   "It Marked you?!" She exclaimed. "What the hell does that mean?"

   "It's a long story, Pacifica." I groaned, running a hand through my hair as I often did when I was stressing over something. "Let me guess, you want to know the whole story?"

   She nodded fiercely. "Yes."

   "Very well," I mumbled. "This creature started haunting the woods of Reverse Falls right after you left. I cannot tell you the real name of it, because I do not know, but Mabel and I have grown accustomed to the name--"

   "Traqueur Magique." She interrupted. "Why?"

   "Because it tracks magic." I explained softly. "Traqueur Magique or, Magic Tracker."

   She nodded slowly. "When did you first see it?"

   "That would have to be the first time my sister and I came back for Winter Break." I said, thinking back to the day. "We had to be careful at the boarding school, couldn't exactly show the other students are supernatural abilities, right?"

   Pacifica nodded along, "continue."

   "But a few, maybe two, figured out why we looked so familiar and begged us to do some magic tricks at the boarding school." I continued. "How could we refuse? We had no idea that that creature was out there, much less a magic tracker set on our trail. We did a few tricks one night, nothing happened, of course the other students there loved it. And yadda yadda yadda." I shook my head, amused.

   "And then?"

   "Well then we were off for Winter Break." I explained. "Parents sent a limo to pick us up, obviously not wanting to drive in this weather themself. And that's when the weird shit started happening. Little things at first."

   "What sort of little things?" She leaned forward.

   "You know the feeling you get when you think someone's watching you?" I asked, knowing the answer was 'yes'.

   "Yes, of course." She said.

   "I can't say that I've ever experienced that sort of intuition." I explained briefly. "But when I came home from boarding school, when I'd talk short walks at night, to see if you were around, I got this strange, uneasy feeling in my chest that someone or something was watching me. But, of course, I couldn't place it."

   She nodded, "and then?"

   "Well, I stayed clear of the woods at night." I ran a hand through my hair. "Actually the woods in general."

   Pacifica scooted closer to me. "And you didn't think to tell me about this?"

   "You were in California." I shrugged. "What did you expect me to say? 'Hey Pazzie, the love of my life, I think someone's watching me in the woods. Merry Christmas'." I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "No, I don't think so."

   "I would've listened." She protested.

   "But what would you have done?" I asked. "There was nothing that could've been done. After that, well," I looked down at the floor, "well Will disappeared."

   "Wait, what?" She gasped. "How?"

   "That's something I can't tell you." I admitted. "Because I have no idea. At first I assumed it was because our contract was up, or we weren't around, or. . .other complications."

   "I see." She murmured. "And you assume it is because. . ?"

   "Because the thing tracks magic." I explained. "And it thought Will was the one, but it was just me. The first time I actually saw it, was the next summer. It was after a late-night show at the Tent of Telepathy." I winced at the memory. "Mabel and I were walking home, wanting to discuss other issues and she wanted to prod at my feelings for whatever reason. That's when the creature first appeared."

   "What happened then? Did it hurt you?" She whispered.

   "No, Mabel and I managed to fend it off." I quickly reassured her, not bothering with going into the details of the brutal fight. It would only worry her and I did not need that.

   "It was simpler than I imagined."

   Not even close to the truth.

   "And when we made it home that night, we stayed up the entire night making sure the damned creature didn't find us there.

   "And in that time we talked about what we knew and established its name; Traqueur Magique meaning 'Magic Tracker'. We'd figured out that it was only drawn to us because of our excessive use of magic." I finished explaining. "I can only assume that Will was Marked and taken back to his original dimension. Or he's floating around in the dark abyss Traqueur Magique comes from."

   "So this creature tracks magic that's used incorrectly —or magic that shouldn't be used at all— and takes it away?" Her eyes were wide with panic. "And now that you're Marked?"

   That was the exact reason I didn't want to tell her that story. It was because I knew she'd panic and freak out just like she was doing. The only issue was, I didn't have an answer for her question. "Honestly, Pacifica?" I shook my head, glancing away from her for a brief second. "I dunno."

   "What do you mean you 'dunno'?" She demanded. "You know practically everything there is to know about the creature but you dunno what will happen?"

   "I'm sorry, sweetheart, this is my first time with this sort of thing. Granted I should be used to strange, magical encounters." I scoffed. "And I did it to save you."

   "If it tracks magic, it wouldn't have hurt me." She frowned. "You would be fine!"

   "Actually it harms non magic users as well." I groaned. "But it might've killed you if I hadn't intervened."

   "Dipper," she whispered. "Promise me this isn't as serious as it sounds?"

   What could I do? Lie directly to her face? It would be a white lie, a small one. Perhaps it was the right thing to do at that moment.

"Pacifica," I took her hand in mine and squeezed it tightly. "It isn't."

   And I lied.