The Night Shift Chap1: werewolf GF fic (1 of 2)

               Dipper holds on to his sister's hand tightly, his eyes alert and wide as they go further into the woods. Confusion and doubt flood his mind as he felt for a moment that his surroundings were unfamiliar. Shaking his head, he walks at a faster pace, can't hesitate now.
Waddles brushes up against the twins' legs as he sticks close. Oinking as he hurries.
The pig seems uneasy as well; that can't be a good sign, Dipper thought. Or maybe he's overthinking this; the pig is an easy target for whatever is roaming out tonight.
Mabel grips tighter on her jar of fireflies. She has to be careful not to drop them in their rush home; she can't let their hard work go to waste.

His arm shaking as he kept the lantern far out. Grimacing, trying to recognize his surroundings. No way, he swears he kept track of where they were. They didn't go that far off after the fireflies, did they? He made sure during their hunting.
Well he might have gotten a little carried away with catching the fireflies, but he's not sure how they could have strayed off too far. He's confident he kept track of their location.

“You’re sure this is the right way back? It’s getting kind of creepy out here.” Mabel mutters.
“I’m sure it is...I hope.”
“You hope?”
“Just stay close to me and we’ll be alright.” He pulls her closer to his body, growing anxious.

Mabel turns her head away, moaning nervously as her eyes dart around. Feeling guilt sink into her as she heard the annoyance in his voice. She did wander off a bit while chasing after some of the bugs. They're just so tricky!

“Dipper, if it’s my fault we’re lost, I’m sorry.” her tone quiet.
Dipper turns his head to her, his eyebrows rising with his expression turning remorseful.
“What, no, you didn’t do anything wrong. Besides, if it makes you feel better, it’s kind of my fault. I was supposed to keep us from getting lost in the first place.”
“You mean you don’t know how to get back?” she exclaims, her tone showing a bit of distress.
“No no no, I do! It’s just…well, I didn’t think we would have this hard of a time getting back. Look, I do know the way; I just made a wrong turn…” he looks around anxiously, “A really wrong turn…a hopefully non-fatal…wrong turn.”
“We’re lost, aren’t we?” Mabel asks grimly.
Dipper stays silent for a moment, sucking in his mouth.
He reluctantly answers.
“Yeah...we’re lost.” he sighs. He closes his eyes as he inhales, calming his nerves. “But I’m sure we’re still pretty close to the shack…”

Dipper wanders off, only for a short distance, as he found the fallen tree an excellent place to rest against. He plops down while trying to get his thoughts together. Honestly he feels embarrassed about it. He should know his way back; it shouldn't be that difficult. Maybe he took a wrong turn or mistook a location for another?

He brings the lantern closer to his body, turning the knob to brighten the flame. Rubbing his bare arms, he's surprisingly cold. Most nights in Gravity Falls lately have been warm, but not tonight. And tonight is the night he just had to go and get them both lost. He shivers a bit as he hugs his legs; he's not going to let the cold distract him.

“Did I mistake that stump for another one? I doubled-checked; maybe it was at that turn with the poison ivy. I was scanning the path the whole time...”
Hearing shoes scrape against the dirt, he sighs. Noticing Mabel from the corner of his eyes, he turns away until she’s out of view.
“I know. I screwed up, and to make it clear I’m not mad at you at all. I mean, I’m supposed to know where we are.” he laughs sheepishly.
Smiling, she pats his shoulder.
“Hey, cheer up bro bro, don’t be too hard on yourself. We all mess up sometimes!”
“This is a bad time to mess up with that thing out there.”
“It only just got dark. It shouldn’t be out that soon should it, at least according to Grunkle Ford?”
“True…though I don’t want to risk it. And there’s the fact we don’t know where we are, and if we went deeper in the woods instead of going back.”
“We would have known. You messed up but not in a super bad way. I say it’s a tiny mess up.”
“You’re right; we haven’t been wandering for that long. Just have to think where we are.”
Mabel sits down by him, grasping his right shoulder.
He turns his head to greet her with an awkward smile, but it fades from his face as he is met with concern.
“Mabel? Are you feeling ok?”
“Dip you’re freezing.”
He turns quiet, a nervous smile forms. Dipper can’t hide it from her.
“Yeah, it’s kind of chilly tonight for some weird reason. I’m fine, don’t worry about me.” his teeth chatter.
She stares at him suspiciously as she squints.
“You so are freezing!”
“I don’t know why! It’s usually hot lately! At least you have your sweater…and Waddles has hair, or fur, or whatever.”
Mabel smirks.
“It’s because you’re wearing shorts.”
Dipper scowls, giving a groan.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you warm!” she snuggles up to him, smiling with her visible braces.
This is making Dipper uncomfortable to say, he tries to scoot away slightly, but she responds by scooting near him.
He just has to accept her kindness.
“More itchy than warm.”
“Do you still have that roll of yarn I asked you to keep in your pocket?”
“What?” Dipper did wonder why she asked him to hold on to such a thing.
“Can you please hand it to me?”
“Uh…yeah, sure.” He takes it out of his vest pocket, handing it over.
“Thank you! Waddles, come here!” she calls the pig, fiddling with the yarn as Waddles sits in front of her.
“Wait, are you…?”
Dipper starts to make sense of her actions.
“Yep, I'm making him a leash. When I'm done, he's gonna help us find our way back to the Mystery Shack!” she chirps.
Dipper raises an eyebrow.
“Are you sure that’s going to work? I mean, he is just a pig…”
“Come on, have faith in Waddles!”
“I do, I just don’t think pigs can find their way home like dogs can…”
“Have faith in Waddles! Have faith in the pig!” she chants.
“Alright, geez…I’m sorry for sounding like a jerk. I have one hundred percent faith in Waddles.”
“I knew you did all along…” she giggles playfully as she shoves Dipper. He gives her a small smile in response.
“So wait, did you know something like this would happen?” Dipper motions towards the yarn.
“No, not really, I just told you to hold onto it just in case it did.”
“That means you knew something like this would happen.”
“Hey, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared. I can take care of myself too bro-bro.”
Dipper frowns.
“Don’t give me that look! I’m not saying I knew you’d get us lost, just that I wanted to make sure we could get home if you did! Come on, cheer up!”
She pokes her brother in the face in an attempt to drain that sourness out of him. But she doesn’t get a smile out of him.
In fact, he looks like he's silently judging her.
“You’ll get over it.”

~-~-~-~-~


               After a minute or so, Mabel finishes her leash. It shouldn’t have taken as long as it did but Mabel wanted to keep that knot tight and secure.
“I’m done!”
Dipper lifts his head and his vision is met with a soft object. Recoiling as the ball of yarn bounces off his face and rolls to his feet. He gives his sister a playful smile as he tucks it back in his pocket and rises to his feet.
Mabel picks up her jar, her brother giving an unsure glance as he grabs the lantern.
She only smiles back.
“Alright Waddles, show us the way to freedom!”
The pig oinks and tugs on his 'leash,' yanking Mabel. She stumbles, and the jar slips a bit from her other hand, but she manages to catch it. She nearly falls to her knees, scrambling back with the jar safe in her hand.
Dipper chuckles with an amused expression.
“You’re sure this will work?” he laughs quietly to himself.
“Of course it will! I told you to have faith in Waddles.”
“You didn’t have faith in me about getting us back.” he says, with a hint of sarcasm.
“Yes I did! Lighten up Dipper!” she smirks.
He playfully bumps her and she does the same back to him.
They stay by each other’s sides, letting Waddles lead the way.


               After a few minutes or so, Dipper starts eyeing his surroundings. A look of surprise covers his face; his expression is less tense.
“I recognize this area; we’re actually not too far from the shack!”
“See? He knows his way back.”
“Hey, I didn’t mean to sound rude about the idea a while ago, I’m just unsure.”
“I wonder why they even call them fireflies…”
“Huh?” He turns to her with a puzzled expression.
“I mean, why do they even call them fireflies? They don’t even set things on fire.”
“…Because they can make their own light?”
“So why not light-flies, or glow flies, or lantern flies? …Well, I guess those don’t sound as cool as fireflies.”
“There is an actual bug called a lanternfly, but they don’t glow at all.”
Unaware of their surroundings as they spoke to each other, the pig perks his head, sensing something as he gazes into the distance.
“That’s dumb, why even call them lanternflies?”

Waddles backs away, shaking all over.

“I don’t know, but they call firefly larvae ‘glow worms’.”
The pig starts to turn in circles anxiously, oinking in distress.
“Do they actually glow?”
“Yeah!”
“Then I hope my fireflies have babies! Heh, glowing worm babies.”
“Maybe I’m thinking of those blue cave ones…”

Waddles oinks loudly and scratches at Mabel’s leg. The twin’s eyes both go down at the pig, both of their expressions curious and concerned with the pig’s strange behavior.
She glances at her brother, confused, and kneels to the pig.
“Waddles what’s wrong? We aren’t going to stay here silly…”
Dipper studies his surroundings as Mabel tries to calm Waddles. He’s got a hunch, just a hunch. A bad hunch that the pig might be sensing something they can’t. Something very dangerous; if he’s wrong he probably just sounds like an idiot.

He does, however, hear something moving from afar. His posture turns stiff, furrowing his brows.
“Mabel…”
“What is it-?”
He shushes her, she steps away in surprise. Reading Dipper's expression, her own grows serious, and she leans back to him.
“What is it?” she whispers.
“Do you hear that?”
She rises slowly, listening.
A low rumbling is faintly heard close by. Grunting...and running through the forest at an incredible speed based on what it sounds like.
“Yeah…” Mabel answers nervously. “What was that?”
“I…I don’t know…just, stay near me.”

The source of the noises seems to change direction each time the unknown creature makes them.

“Can you see it?”
“I can’t see anything Dipper!”
“I think it’s circling us…we should just keep moving, we’re almost there anyway.”
“Kay…come on Waddles, keep going,” Mabel whispers. She tugs at Waddles' leash, but he's reluctant to move, paralyzed by fear.
“Waddles please.” She nudges him, but he refuses to budge. She gives him another gentle push, finally taking a small step.
“Yeah, that’s a good pig…” She coaxes the pig, doing the best she can despite feeling herself grow tense. She can feel Dipper wrap his fingers around her arm. His shaking body did not help her feel any safer to be honest.
Waddles seem to share the sentiment. He jumps forward in an attempt to flee, but the leash tightens around his neck. A surprised squeal escapes from the pig. The twins cringe and Dipper feels his body turn numb. His sister staring at him with apologetic dread; he can only respond with an uncertain look on his face.
A loud, furious-sounding growl comes from the forest, and it sounds very close.

“Go go!” Dipper whispers with urgency.
They make a break for it. Sticking around is not a good idea and judging from what the two heard. Whatever it is, it sounds enormous.
“Is it following us?”

Something grunts, pants, and makes what even seems to be a low-sounding roar not far off behind them.

“Oh shoot!”
“What is it?”
“That thing Great Uncle Ford warned us about, maybe?” his composure starting to fail.
A louder roar reverberates through the woods.
Dipper nearly chokes on his own breath.
“It sounds like it’s behind us, is it?”
“This is not a good time to look back!”
“It takes a second-” Mabel is cut off by her own startled cry as she slips and falls into a bush, vanishing from Dipper's sight. From his perspective, it almost appeared that something dragged her away. With Mabel no longer holding his leash, Waddles flees in a panic, constantly squealing as he runs off into the woods.


               Dipper’s eyes widen, his heart skipping a beat. Did…did something attack her? She’s not –
His mind races with all sorts of terrifying thoughts, and dread overwhelms him, and he can't think clearly.
“Ma-Mabel!” he screams. “Mabel, are you hurt?!”
“I’m down here!”
She sounds close…and she said ‘down here’?
Dipper snaps out from his fear and runs through the bush, stopping abruptly and backing away when he comes upon a ledge. He almost slips but falls onto one knee and manages to clumsily stand up again. He raises the lantern in front of him, revealing a rocky ditch.

It isn't that steep and is rather small, but at the bottom he finds Mabel. She's still alive, but she's holding her bleeding ankle. She also has a thin cut above her right eyebrow. Other than those injuries, she seems to be ok. Mabel tries to crack a small smile, her jar of fireflies still intact and close to her.
“Mabel, you’re alive!” he chokes on his words a bit.
“Of course I’m alive, silly.”
“Are you alright; what happened, did that thing attack you?”
“I’m fine…well, mostly, my ankle hurts to move and I bumped my head. And what do you mean what happened, you saw it happen!”
“Uh right, that was instinctive. Was it because of-”
“Nah, I just slipped and fell down, I didn’t even see it.”
He sighs, emotionally drained. He lifts his head, closes his eyes, and his shoulders droop. He gives her a relieved smile.
“Where’s Waddles?”
“He-He ran off.”
“All alone with that thing out there?”
“I’m sure he’s fine! He’s survived worse. He probably made a run for it home. L-Look let’s get you out first.”
“I hope he is.” She raises her voice. “Waddles come back to mama!”
Dipper waves his arms, shushing her with grit teeth, his eyes large from panic.
“Give me a sec! I said you first, we’ll get him later. Now stay quiet that thing is still out.”
He lowers himself, steadily sliding down the slope. He carefully reaches out.
“Here, I’ll help you up…” he reaches for her hand.
Mabel manages to grab his fingers gently…


               A dark shadowy blur flies into the scene with lightning speed.
Their reaction was slow, its appearance being so sudden that they couldn't process what was happening for the first few moments.
Dipper’s being turns numb, frozen in place as he attempts to make out the large figure, his brain sort of locked up there.
Mabel saw the sudden terror in his eyes, confused as to what he was making that expression for. She gains a sense of dread; she can hear something zip through the air. Her skin going cold, she spots a shadow from the corner of her eye heading right towards them. Her hand squeezes her brother's, bracing herself.

Dipper lurches backwards away from her, yanking her arm.
She wanted to climb up with him, but she isn't even given time to react.
A heavy force rams into her from the side, and the air is forced out of her lungs. Sending her rolling across the ditch.
The boy crawls back away, flinching, screaming as the shadow tears her away from his grasp.
“Mabel!”

Mabel screams as she feels pressure being applied to her, being tossed around in the dirt. The weight grew lighter briefly, and during that moment, she found her chance to act. Scrambling away from the unknown creature, she felt a pinch then something sharp digging into her skin. She attempts to kick at whatever is grabbing her. And it cuts into her back.
“Dipper what the heck are you doing? Help me!”
She rolls over, kicking at the figure. It quickly drew away, and she can make out what looks like a large clawed hand in the darkness.
It dives back at her. A large mouth full of sharp white fangs, unmistakably, clouds her sight.
She screams, pushing herself out of the way. Its fangs gnash inches away from the side of her face. The air seems to get stuck in her throat, choking; she forces herself to swallow.

She wasn't thinking, but she was desperate. She has to defend herself, but there are not many options on how or what she can protect herself with. The second it popped into her head, she acted on it. Risky and probably stupid after witnessing the size of its jaws in action; those are some mean-looking chompers. Those fangs are huge!
Still, she had to do something, even if it looks stupid.

Dodging the creature’s jaws, Mabel hurls her body onto its face, holding its jaws closed tight. Fingers from her right hand dig into the monster’s cold nose, pulling it back.
Yelping and giving a louder snarl, it lashes at her with its claws.
From the sound of its angry noises, it’s definitely not a bear.


               Dipper whips his head to the direction of her voice; he had rushed back for the lantern. He can’t make her out well in the darkness. He hopes his decision didn’t cost him. He slides back down the slope, the lantern swinging in his grasp.
The light of the lantern reveals the scene much more clearly to him; his eyes grow larger, his mouth dropping open as he sees his sister trying to fight back at the hairy beast.
He does not stop, not even showing a bit of hesitation. Dipper's teeth grit, his brows furrow as anger builds up within him. It does not replace the fear, but it adds to his rage.

“Let her go!” Dipper screams.
Taking a flying leap, he jumps onto the creature's back. One arm wraps around the beast's shaggy neck, squeezing. Dipper's Nails dig in the beast's skin; he beats the lantern against the beast's head with his free arm.

The second blow hits the beast between the eyes. It gives a deafening roar, swinging away from Mabel. Her grip loose, she willingly let go of its face, falling to the ground and scrambling away to avoid being trampled.

The beast swings quickly to the right; in his panic, the lantern slips from Dipper's grasp as both hands latch on the creature's fur, clinging tightly with his life.

Mabel springs to her feet, watching the struggle; she recoils away slightly. The large animal swings her brother around, jaws wide open as it snaps in an attempt to remove the small boy from its back.
Her brother’s limbs were nearly caught in those!

In his attempt to hang on, he had unconsciously climbed further up the creature's neck, getting a close up of the creature's pointed flicking ears. He can't let go; it just doesn't feel like a great idea right now because likely he's not going to get away safely. The loud growls and sheer size don't seem to help his confidence of escaping cleanly, that and the fact the beast might go straight to tearing him to shreds after what he pulled.
He doubts it will let him leave alive after tackling it.
During the struggle, he tears at the creature's fur wildly. His right hand, grabbing whatever is in reach, catches the beast's ear.
It swings its head to the left; something catches Dipper’s leg. Squeezing it with incredible strength, he tries to kick at it to free himself, but he’s easily torn from the beast’s back.
Hanging upside down as he dangles from one leg, he flails around while swinging his fists at the beast.
And then he saw its eyes.
He stops, allowing himself to go limp. Chills spread through his body as the piercing eyes stare right through him.
The beast, the beast’s appearance; it looks exactly like...
“No way…”

Vision becomes a blur as the beast throws him to the ground with a surprised cry from it. Its enraged roar blares right by him. His ears ringing, his eyes shut as he hit the ground.
His chest throbs, and he finds himself unable to cry out for her.
Hearing is difficult; eyes snap open. The first thing he sees is Mabel lying in the dirt, close to him, her form still but visibly breathing. Movement from the corner of his eyes alerts him; his eyes dart towards it, catching the beast tearing off. Its shadowy figure vanishes into the woods.


               Dipper's figure lies still, waiting, thinking, confused.
It just left; he should feel relieved, but it felt too easy. The beast was swift and way bigger than the two of them; it should have no problem whatsoever dealing with them. And yet it fled from something it could kill on the spot. He shutters, glad it didn't end that way.
Why is he even trying to think of something that terrible?
He cringes, squeezing his eyes shut.
Luck, either good or sheer dumb luck, is certainly playing in their favor.
Probably incredibly dumb luck in his perspective.


               Cracking his eyes open, sliding his hand to hers, the fingers lightly grip her sleeve.
The ringing leaves his ears, finally hearing Mabel panting, so she’s ok much to his relief.
Groaning, he rolls to his knees, lifting his tired body. He crawls up closer to his sister, placing a hand on her left shoulder. Mabel curls tighter into a ball, shivering.
Under his breath, he says her name softly, eyes filled with worry.
“Mabel? This might sound insensitive but we got to get going fast.” He tugs at her arm.
“Ow! Don’t pull at me!” Mabel winces from his hand.
“Oh sorry, are you hurt? No that’s obvious…are you like really hurt or just sore hurt?” racing through his words.
“I think…” She steadily gets to her seat; she struggles to stand but sits back down with a cringe. “Just sore, a little bit sore. He got my back pretty bad.”
“Let me have a look at it.”
Gently helping her sit up and supporting her, he scans her back.
“Ow ow ow!”
“Sorry!” his voice low, Dipper grits his teeth, cringing. “Oh man…” his hands stroking her back as he studies the sweater.
She freezes up, flinching. Her expression disturbed.
“Uh…What’s wrong? ‘Oh man?’ what do you mean by that? Is it bad, am I bloody?” her tone rising by each word, increasingly anxious.
“Shhhhhh!” He covers her mouth with his right hand but she tears it off in disgust.
“Ew, not with those sweaty hands, use whispering talk.”
Dipper’s nervous eyes check his surroundings.
Mabel grows uneasy, slouching as she turns herself around.
“Dip…”
She whimpers as her ankle stings.
Dipper flinches and grabs her shoulders.
“Shh, its ok, it’s ok.”
“Is it bad?”
“Yeah it’s bad.”
“H-how bad like can you see my spine-”
“No not that, Mab…your back is fine, it’s just scratches. You’re not seriously hurt; it left huge holes in your sweater so it just looks worse than it is.”
“Could have told me than be over-dramatic about it!”
“Didn’t mean to freak you out.” He peers over his shoulder. “That thing is still out there and that’s why we can’t hang out too long here. I don’t know if it’s coming back and I don’t want to find out.”
Dipper rises to his feet, walking carefully over to the lantern.
Mabel chuckles.
“Bro, I punched that thing in the neck, it can’t be that dangerous. He’s got to be pretty dumb if it does.”
He glances back at her as he kneels for his hat.
“Ha really? When did you do that?”
“Aw you missed it? It’s when I saved your butt from the wolf guy. Heh, you looked like a sock monkey dangling-”
His eyes widen; he springs back up as worry replaces his amusement.
“You saw its face too?”
“Well yeah…I got a better look when I kept it from eating me. I had to pull on its nose backwards so it wouldn’t. It’s cold nose.”
Both stare into each other's eyes; their expressions gradually turn to horror.
Mabel stutters, asking.
“Is it a werewolf or something?”
Dipper’s eyes go to the ground, uncertainty visible on his face.
“It…It shouldn’t.”
Dipper spins around, eyes darting in every direction as his composure fails. His eyes lock onto the jar, and he sprints over without hesitation.
Mabel sinks in her place, peering to her left briefly as she lightly grasps at her hair.
“This isn’t right, no way…” He speaks quietly to himself, his voice shaking.
“Dipper, don't get vague on me again. I did see it; I'm not making it up.” She glances at the sky; the dark gray clouds aren't helping the atmosphere. “The moon isn't even full, so it can't really be one right?”
He pauses after retrieving the jar, staring blankly back at her. Searching for the right words, he fights with his doubt and paranoia, but he's unsure how to answer her.
He doubts his answer will be any sort of comfort.
“It may? It looked like one, I’m not sure!” he spits out.
“But you’re the expert on weird! You said you saw it too didn’t you?”
He runs back over to her, his panic becoming more apparent.
“I did, I saw its face, it just a wolf’s head! It even sounds like one. We heard that growling back there! You heard it too right?”
He grabs her hands.
“It sounded like an angry dog.”
He squeezes his eyes shut as his body slumps.
“Dipper come on; just say what you’re thinking.” Mabel snaps her fingers to gain his focus.
He lifts his head, opening his eyes.
“It shouldn’t be a werewolf, there’s no full moon, and yet something like one still showed up. I really don’t want it to be a werewolf. But it looks exactly like one, and if it really is then we’re in a lot more trouble.”
“Maybe it’s a different breed or a mutant?”
“You…” he blinks, visibly afraid, his eyes grow big, “Did that thing bite you?” his voice falters.
She is taken aback by this; Mabel thinks to herself before responding.
“N-no. That’s not something you can miss.”
“Mabel, tell me. Did that thing bite you?” there’s panic in his voice.
“I wouldn’t lie to you.”
One of Dipper’s brows rises; he stares at her with concern.
“I wouldn’t lie to you about this! Come on you know me. Look…”
She pulls up her sleeves; her arms are bare, clean.
Dipper lifts her arms, inspecting them carefully.
Mabel frowns, holding her breath, her cheeks puff.
Running his hands down her arms, he can’t feel any wounds or suspicious markings.
“No sign of any bite or injury. You’re good, you’re good.” he sighs.
“Told you bro.”
“Just making sure, like I really think you would hide that.” He bumps her teasingly. “But if you did I would understand…or not.”
“I get you goober.”
He leans away from her, scanning the area once more, his expression turning stern.
“We got to get out of here, I doubt it’s done with us, werewolves can take a lot before going down. At least normally they do, it ran off even though it could of slaughtered us right there. Or it’s a wimp.” He whispers, gathering his things.
“Nah he doesn’t like stinky prey.”
He glares at her, holding the firefly jar in hand, he recoils away.
“You know I can leave you out here.”
She snatches the jar from his grasp, her smile unchanging.
He clutches her hand securely, pulling her from the ground as her shaky legs stand, taking a step. Already, he notices she’s wobbling, struggling as she limps away at a slow pace.
“You can’t even walk!”
“I can handle it.”
She hops another step.
He’s not buying it.
“Not very well.” Dipper’s voice is stern yet soft.
“It’s just sore…”
Dipper sighs; he gently takes her arm.
“And still open for an attack, here I’ll help you, just hang on to my right shoulder.”
He lifts her left arm and puts it over his right shoulder, helping her walk. He retrieves the slightly broken lantern, having to turn the knob to relight it.
“Geez it’s pretty cracked.”
Mabel smiles.
“Thanks Dipper…” Mabel slightly leans against him as they both struggle to move.
Mabel winces as her foot hurt at each limp, moaning as she forces herself to keep going. Dipper tightens his grip on Mabel's arm; she found it reassuring, protective.
“Hang on, we’re almost there…I recognize this area.”
“After fifteen times, you better be right. Oh, hey that’s where I saw the snadger the other day!”
“So I’m right?” Dipper smirks.
“I’ll say no so you won’t be smug…I hope Waddles made it back alright, I’m worried about him.”
“Well his hoof prints are right there, looks like they lead back.” He glances at the prints briefly.
“Yay! See I told you, he knows where home is! I don’t know how you can forget that!”
His body goes stiff, she beams, staring at his eyes, but her smile fades as she recognizes that paranoid look.
His hand slides to her shoulder, his fingers digging into her. She looks around but finds nothing of interest. Did he forget something? Mabel gives him a push but he does not react. He pulls her closer to his body.
“Dipper?”


               Dipper's gaze remains locked on ahead. But, it might be just him being on edge or seeing things, but something shifted around from afar to his right. He can't tell for sure, but he thought he saw light faintly.
He glances at her, uncertain. Fearing sudden movement might give them away. His breathing grows heavy. He turns his head slightly, feeling chills again.
“Dipper, we’re gonna run into it if you keep stopping.” She shakes him, peering in his direction.
He inches away; his intense gaze softens as his head turns to Mabel.
“I-It’s nothing.”
“You thought it was something. You don’t act like that and say it’s nothing.”
He squeezes her hand, giving her concern. A gentle tug from Dipper pulls her closer to him and moves her in front of him; he doesn’t take another step forward until she’s practically glued to his chest.
“R-right just stay close to me.” he keeps his voice quiet.
“I think that’s taken care of.” she says with a tiny laugh.
“I thought it was the wolf but…I feel like he should have attacked by now.”
“Maybe it’s something else?”
A twig snaps loudly.
The twins freeze, staring in the direction of the sound.
“M-maybe it’s a raccoon…” Mabel stammers.


               A massive blur flies from the woods.
As its form appears in his sight, Dipper throws his body to the ground, forcing Mabel down with him as he keeps her lying flat. The beast barely misses them; Dipper can feel the rush of wind blowing from the creature flying over him.
Its angered roar blasts in their ears as it passes by; Dipper cringes from the sound.
He did not even have to check; he still manages to hear the beast collide with the ground.
Sticking around even for a second feels like a bad idea.

Jumping to his feet, he pulls her up with him roughly. His hands leave her shoulder and grab her wrist as the lantern swings wildly.
Dipper tugs at her arm as his feet scrape against the ground, but she starts earlier with a bolt and finds himself yanked as they clumsily make an escape.
“It’s not a raccoon! Go go go!”
“You jinxed it, you totally jinxed us!” she cries out.
“I know and we should shut up!”

Speeding through the woods, trees fly past them as blurs; thankfully, they haven't run into any obstacles yet, but there's still the problem of that beast behind them. Dipper is short of breath and his heart racing; he doesn't know if he can last much longer.
He can feel Mabel's hand getting loose in his grip, and the sweat sure isn't helping. It's that ankle; tough as she is, it's wearing down on her. Dang, he should have carried her back.
Her hand fights to stay in his grip.

They can hear that thing behind them.
Its paws or hands pound against the dirt. That thing is tearing after them.
Is it catching up to them? Mabel is afraid to even look back; she doesn't want to meet its jaws again. Besides the fangs, its breath stunk.
Her ankle is killing her. How much further?
And her brother’s hand is getting slippery…
Her foot slides to her right.
Darn it, she shouldn't have even thought about it; this night is entirely against them!


               Dipper feels her weight pull down at his arm, his eyes turn to her.
“Mabel!”
She swiftly gets back on her feet, taking a leap ahead.
“I’m fine, don’t stop…wait.” she comes to a halt.
“Wait?”
Dipper stares at her in disbelief as he starts pulling at her arm, starting to run.
“...Where’s the wolf?”
Dipper opens his mouth to answer, but peering behind them, she’s right.
It isn’t there anymore.
Where is the wolf?
“Heh puns.” she smiles to herself.
“It’s…where did it go?”
“I didn’t see it but it was behind…”


               That was their mistake. That moment was enough for the creature.
They let their guard down.
It roars by their ears, increasing in volume.
They see the terror in each other’s eyes, knowing what is coming next.
Mabel’s eyes drift upwards, growing wider.
Seeing the creature's face up close once again, it had run in front of them.

Dipper understands what’s unfolding before them; he stares back at her sorrowfully.
They’re going to meet that thing’s teeth…one of them at least.
He’ll make sure of that.


               Mabel sees for that brief moment, his eyes turning apologetic. He jumps, leaping at her, and his hands grab her shoulders, dropping the lantern. He spins her around, and she feels his body throw her towards the dirt. His hands shove her head under his chest as she falls to the ground. Forcing her to curl into a ball.
Dipper’s body covers hers completely.
And he begins to scream horribly in her ears.

Dipper felt the sudden force, like being hit with a truck. At least he thought what being hit by a truck would feel like. His shoulder feels as if it's on fire as something sharp enters it. Even though taking the blow is his intention, he still reacts with shock and confusion. But he understood what's happening around them with terror. The fabric from his vest audibly tears.
Mabel’s eyes stare into his with horror, worry.
She tries to scream out a 'no,' but he hears nothing over the snarling and his own screams.
The pain is unbearable. His right arm goes numb. He tries to pull his arm away but the creature holds it tight.


               Everything within his vision moves fast and blur as he's torn away from her; knowing the danger, he had to release her.
She tries to grab at him but only catches the air. Dipper helplessly reaches out, knowing it's futile. His body becomes lighter as he flies through the air; the earth rushes into his vision.
His chest slams hard against the ground, the air knocked out of his lungs. He gives a wheeze as he struggles to breathe, his head snaps up.
Eyes are met with Mabel’s, but he hardly gets a chance to act.
Immediately after she came into his sight again, his body is pulled away from her.
Screaming her name, he claws at the dirt as he’s dragged across the forest floor.
His eyes welling up, the pain coursing through his body is too much to bear. Choking on his own words, he screams for help as he's taken to who knows where.
The world becomes a blur, and his arm throbs as pressure attacks it again, his body floating above the ground as it seems to go flying with the creature, carried off.
Everything goes black, and the sounds, including his own voice, fade to silence.