After Dark

Chapter 14 - Mabel Unleashed

Dipper awoke on the couch when Pacifica stirred. The pretty blonde looked stunning even half awake with her hair frazzled. He placed his hands on her hip and kissed her neck. She giggled. Then Dipper turned around waiting for the teasing from his twin sister to come but was unable to find her. He sat up and said, "Mabel?" No answer. They were alone. Dipper sat up and looked at the arts and crafts table. Mabel had finished her project it looked like and Ford had stepped outside for more equipment most likely. Dipper took Pacifica's hand and walked outside to find great uncle Ford talking with Grunkle Stan. Dipper asked the grunkles, "Have you seen Mabel?" Grunkle Stan said, She just ran buy here a few minutes ago wearing some ridiculous, "costume or something."

Dipper was now worried once again. He cursed himself for falling asleep. "How could I have been this reckless," He said shaking with anger. "I was supposed to be keeping an eye on her." Grunkle Stan said, "She said she was going over to some person's house. Someone named Julian." Dipper's ears perked up at that. Pacifica said, "I'll grab my purse." Dipper nodded as he grabbed the keys for the truck off the table.

Dipper fired up the engine. The 5.7 liter V8 roared to life as Dipper turned over edged back down to idle speed. Dipper quickly shifted into drive moving out of the parking lot keeping an eye out for students as he navigated a couple of blocks up the street. Dipper parked next to the curb finding a free spot large enough to accommodate his fair-sized truck. He turned the engine off and hopped out. Pacifica was climbing down on her side. Dipper walked up to the door trying to calm his heart and his mind. She was fine...she would be fine.

He knocked on the door a little harder than he had meant to. One of the students came to the door looking surprised. He eyed Dipper and Pacifica not recognizing either of them. "Can I help you?" He asked looking from Dipper to Pacifica. Dipper spoke up. "A brunette freshman named Mabel came over here to find Julian, is she here?" Dipper held up his phone showing him a picture of Mabel The young man smilled. "Oh yeah, she showed up at the door a few minutes ago." Dipper pressed him further. "Can I see her? It's kind of important." The young man's smile faded. "Oh, she just stopped by looking for him. I told her he was down at Lou's Diner getting something decent to eat. Or at least that's what he told me."

One of the guys from the living room complained. Henry, you're letting all the AC out. Henry ushered them into the doorway landing linoleum. Dipper repeated himself. "So you don't know where Mabel is then?" He shook his head but then got a sly grin. "If you want my opinion Julian probably slinked off with her. He's had an eye on her for as long as I can remember. Doesn't want anyone to know though. Poor schmuck. He could have any girl on campus and he keeps following that girl around like a stray dog. I mean she's really pretty and those legs of hers...the guy breathed in a whistle of air through his teeth.

Dipper grabbed the guy by his shirt and said, "Listen here you little punk. That girl is my twin sister. You best search your sorry one-dimensional mind for some respect before I wring it out of you. Dipper let him go pushing him back roughly. Henry stumbled back. "Sheesh man, cut a guy a break. You should have said she was your sister right away." Pacifica said, "Their twins use your powers of deduction..." They turned around to leave when she muttered. "...However dull those powers may be." Dipper grinned. He could hear the other guys in the house having a laugh at Henry's expense. "Real ladies man here." The one guy said, "Henry said, "get stuffed Derick." The other guys laughed all the more till the door closed shut with a click.

Dipper got in the truck and fired up the engine. He searched the internet for the restaurant's location and followed the link for the GPS Navigation as it brought up his navigator. Dipper forwarded the navigation to the heads-up display device he had installed in the truck over the summer. The navigational information glowed up on the windshield from the projector device mounted to the dash as Dipper fired up the truck and tapped the accelerator. Pacifica snapped her fingers. "Why didn't you just search for Mabel's phone with the geotag?!?" Dipper grinned. "That was the first thing I checked. She left it in on her dresser on the charging dock apparently." Pacifica nodded. "Good thinking though," He praised her earning a soft smile from the pretty blonde. The dinner was less than a mile from Julian's residence, which made sense if it was somewhere he regularly frequented. Dipper shifted the truck into gear.