Puppets of Fate

Chapter 3

"Tragedy struck our town yesterday night, when local Mabel Pines' play was brought to an abrupt end. the young girl injured herself by falling on stage. It wasn't long before fire broke, burning down the theater before the fire-department finally managed to put out the flames. Witnesses reported that the fire was started by none other than Mabel Pines' twin brother, "Dipper" Pines. Relatives close to the suspect stated that the young boy had been acting strange throughout the day. Dipper Pines was found dead this morning, near the water tower, where he presumably ended his own life. The entire town is in mourning, for the tragic loss of the Pines family."

Mabel sat on her bed, Waddles on her lap, her hand covering her aching face, bursting into tears.

It had been a few hours since the police had called the Mystery Shack. As soon as she had been able to leave the hospital, she could already feel something was very wrong. But she couldn't believe it, her heart shattered to pieces.

Dipper, her twin, her best friend. Dead.

Dead because Mabel hadn't realised he was possessed.

Because she had decided her play was more important than her brother's needs.

Her selfishness had killed Dipper.

The pain was agonizing. How could she had been so insensitive with him? He was dead because of it. There was no going back.

Every single moments they had throughout the summer kept running through her mind. The mini-golf, the parties, the monster hunts, the adventures...

Now, all that remained were memories. Memories tainted by the blood of a dead brother, and the tears of a mourning sister.

The door opened, as Soos and Wendy came in. They were the first to visit her ever since Stan had come earlier this morning to tell her the news. The old man remained by her side during the first hours, and had just left a few minutes earlier.

As soon as she saw them, Mabel wiped her tears, trying not to look so...devastated.

- Wh...What do y-you want?

That sounded colder than she intended to, but she really wanted to be left alone.

Wendy came to sit next to her.

- We came to see how you're...

She paused, unable to finish her sentence.

"...How's your arm?"

Mabel glanced at the shoulder splint that was now immobilizing her left arm. According to the doctors, she would have to keep it for at least 6 weeks. She wouldn't be able to write draw, or even for the rest of the summer.

- T-That's not what hurts the most. She answered, tears running down her face.

Wendy and Soos exchanged concerned looks. Soos pulled a small paper out of his pocket before handing it to Mabel, his hand shaking a bit as he said:

- Look, Mabel...I...I know this really is not the time to show you this but... Well I found this note this morning...in my car. And the thing is: I think it's Dipper who wrote it.

She raised her head as her brother was mentioned, taking the paper in her own hand. As she was about to open it, Wendy's hand fell on her shoulder:

- Before you read it...I...don't know what happened with Dipper yesterday...why he did...

She paused, unable to finish her sentence.

"Whatever the reason for what happened, I want you to know...We're here for you, Mabel."

Wendy's words made the young girl felt more uneasy than she already was. Finally, she opened the note left in the car. It wasn't her brother's handwriting. But it wasn't hard to guess who had left it.

"Note to self: Possessing people is hilarious! To think of all the sensations I've been missing out on- burning, stabbing, drowning. It's like a buffet tray of fun! Once I destroy that journal, I'll enjoy giving this body its grand finale- by throwing it off the water tower! Best of all, people will just think Pine Tree lost his mind, and his mental form will wander in the mindscape forever. Want to join him, Shooting Star?"

Line by line, Mabel shivered, her hand shaking. As soon as she finished reading, she threw the note, enraged, before breaking down in tears between Soos's and Wendy's arms.

She kept sobbing, yelling that what had happened was unfair, that Dipper didn't deserve to die. That it wasn't his fault. If Wendy was able to keep herself together, trying to be strong for Mabel, Soos could not, and silently broke into tears as well.

They both stayed silent. Nothing was left to say. Whatever the words, nothing would change.

The harm had been done.

____

Stan sat in the living, the phone resting in his hand. When the police had first called, he didn't believe it.

Dipper hadn't come back after last night, and Stan couldn't leave Mabel alone after her fall. So as soon as he had heard the boy's name on the phone, he had jumped in his car to rush where they had taken his body.

"It can't be him" had he begged.

But when he arrived, his hopes were shattered to pieces. The dead body the police had found was indeed Dipper's.

Stan felt responsible for everything that had happened. He hadn't asked what had happened to Mabel when they got out of the hospital, out of fear she might still be shaken by her injury.

But he felt that if he did, maybe he could have prevented his death.

At this point, the police was convinced Dipper had committed suicide. That his paranoïa had driven him insane.

Stan couldn't believe it. Dipper's lack of sleep, his strange and sudden behavior, his death...Deep down, he knew that it was all connected somehow. How could he had not seen it before now?

The town weirdness had killed the boy. Everyone had noticed Dipper wasn't himself that night. So why hadn't he done anything?

The fire, the laugh...He could still hear it. It was haunting.

Had he stayed so much time obsessing over what was going down in the Shack's basement he couldn't even pay attention to his niece and nephew?

As he was drawn from his thoughts by Mabel's cries, he took a deep breath, gathering all the courage he could before dialing the twins' parents' number. He had to tell them. Could he really do it? What choice did he have?

As the phone rang, he muttered:

- ...Why couldn't you just listen to me when I asked you to be careful, kid...?

The ringing echoed across the room for a moment, before he finally heard:

"Hello?"