Dipper had told her to go upstairs for a meeting. She wasn't sure on what it was about or what it was for, but usually 99.9% of the time, her brother was dead serious, so she figured it must've been really important.

It wasn't a family meeting, however, which is usually what the Pines' did, not one-on-ones like this unless it was some dark timing, like when Dipper had gotten his journal back halfway through the summer.

Mabel paced slightly in the attic, rubbing her arm as she waited for her twin to come up the stairs and break whatever horrible news it was to her. She didn't know or have any ideas on what that news could be either...a pen broke would be ridiculous, no pets died, the grunkles were fine...the only thing that seemed to be off was Dipper himself.

The boy was acting awfully jumpy around certain objects and he seemed to get less sleep as days went on and on. Mabel had noticed him  glancing at a sharp object with his pupils small and shrunken in fear. Knives were scary, but she had never seen him so afraid of knives before.

Then, there were footsteps coming up the stairs and no longer than a couple seconds later was her brother standing in the doorway, leaning on it before standing up straight and entering the room, closing the door behind and looking at the door to make sure nobody was there. His eyes were fixated on her.

The girl gulped and gave a nervous smile. "So, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about, Dippin' Dots?"

He looked up from the floor to her, wincing at nothing and going to shake his head but then changed the action to scratching his head instead, so she wouldn't notice. He stuffed his hands in his shorts' pockets then opened his mouth to speak.

"I wanted to talk to you about...the summer." He responded quickly.

"The...summer?" She questioned.

"The summer." He repeated back.

"I don't get what you really mean by that..." Mabel whispered, almost nervously.

"Remember the first day we came here..?" Dipper paused and gave a small laugh with...tears in his eyes? "I was so stubborn...and I ended up saving you from gnomes."

She gave a small smile. "Yeah...I remember that."

"...Through thick and thin you were always there for me, no matter what kinds of crazy stuff happened." He was now looking at the triangle window. "Thank you."

"Well, duh!!" She gave a small grin. "I'm not just gonna leave my brother. After all, I am the older sister. You need someone to look after ya!" She knoogied the top of his head with a small giggle.

Dipper shoved her hand off and stared at the floor for a minute before slightly chuckling. Mabel winced and the small smile she had on her face went to a plain face; a face of worry if you will. She went to tap his shoulder, but his head snapped up and looked at her, one eye with a slitted pupil and the other perfectly normal.

The girl yelped and stumbled backwards. "B-Bipper?!" She exclaimed in horror with wide eyes.

The boy shook his head no before twitching slightly and lunging forward, pinning her to the ground due to the unexpected movement. Dipper drew out a knife from his pocket and twirled it around in his hand before pointing it at her throat.

Tears slid down his face as he let out a maniac grin. Mabel screamed for help only for a second, because in the next second, she had a knife stuck in her throat, causing her voice to had get cut off. Blood seeped down the girl's throat as her eyes were wide and face blank.

The sounds of dropping liquid hitting the wooden floor played, as well as the sounds of sniffling. His hand gripped the handle of the knife as a shadow appeared on the wall. The preteen looked at the wall to see the familiar triangle staring right at him.

Dipper's face looked horrified and scared, but at the same time his mouth twitched into a small smile. The shadow put his hand on the boy's shoulder, and he could feel it.

Loud footsteps were heard coming up the stairs and the kid's head turned to face the door, that was closed, but not locked. Shouting of names were heard. The boy turned to face the shadow, which told him yes.

He had no choice.

The door busted open and two old men gasped and covered their mouth when they saw the sight. Dipper closed his eyes for a quick moment before opening them back up and staring them in the eye. Ford winced at the slitted eye and dead body, knowing whose work this was. The kid raised the knife and stared at it before glancing at the old men then twirling the silverware around. A cackle came from the boy's mouth.

"LONG TIME NO SEE, SIXER." An echoey voice came from the preteen's mouth.

"Leave.him.alone." Ford grumbled. "LAY YOUR HANDS OFF MY FAMILY AND QUIT HURTING THEM!!" He shouted at him.

"QUITE ON THE CONTRARY...I THINK HE MAY BE THE ONE HURTING YOU."

With a snap, there was one extra knife.

They twirled around.

One tear slid down his cheek.

And with a single throw, both knives were lunged at the old men.

~

October 15: 915 words