Mystery Kids

Mystery Girl

Dipper clutched his book bag close to his chest. If there was one thing that book had taught him over the years, it was this: Trust No One. And sitting in a bus full of complete strangers, he wasn't about to start trusting them out of the blue. He felt a sudden sting on his shoulder. Mabel had slapped him.
"Lighten up, Dippingsauce!" Ah, sibling telepathy. Of course Mabel knew exactly what he was thinking. He slouched back into his seat.
"I'm just not as trusting as you, Mabel. Any one of these guys could be a monster in disguise, or after the journal! Maybe even both!" Mabel rolled her eyes at her brother's remark.
"Weirdo." She stuck out her tongue.
"How close are we, do you think?" He leaned across Mabel to look out the window.
"About 2 minutes." She turned her head sideways to look at his watch. He sat back into his seat. After a moment, Mabel announced, "I'm bored!"
"Hey bored, I'm Dipper!" He laughed as she shoved him playfully.
"You know what I mean, derpface!"
"I know, I know, me too."
"Wait!" She pulled out her phone and squished their faces together, snapping a picture.
"Whaaat are you doing?" Dipper rubbed his cheek after she released him.
"Tumblr!"
"You do realize there's no service here, right?"
"Oh... Oh yeah..." She looked a bit saddened, but she cheered up in an instant. "Oh well!" She reached into their bag and pulled out her knitting needles and a ball of blue yarn. Dipper reached for the bag, only to have his hand slapped away. "Say the magic word."

"Abracadabra." Dipper said sarcastically, which Mabel responded to by throwing his sketchbook in his face. Which, probably not incidentally, was what he was reaching for.

The bus screeched to a halt, and dumped the passengers. It was just the twins' luck that they had arrived with a group of tourists. A couple who might just be on their honeymoon based on their level of clingyness, a skinny teenage girl, a pregnant woman and her son, a girl with dark magenta pigtails who wouldn't stop staring at Dipper, that sweaty guy- wait, what? Dipper snapped his head over to look back at the girl with the pigtails, but she had vanished completely. He looked through the crowd for her, but no. It was like she was never there. A shiver ran down his spine, as he felt warm breath on the back of his neck. He clenched his teeth, whirled around and saw... Nothing. Was he just imagining it all? He turned back as he heard the front door open.

"Welcome to the Mystery Shack, folks!"