Northwest-Pines Mystery Hunters

Twenty Seven- Days Later

Gideon and I hurried along the road towards the tent of telepathy. Snow had gathered in the driveway as we got closer, and the sign from before had been knocked over and was peeking out from the snow.

"This can't be good," Gideon whispered. He peeked inside the tent. "Empty. She's in her dressing room." He lead me around the side of the tent to see a trailer. The door was open a crack and a faint purple glow came from inside. I could hear Pacifica humming to herself inside.  Anxiously, we tiptoed through the snow and Gideon knocked on the door lightly. "Pacifica?" The humming stopped.

"Gideon?" She asked, almost as if she were in a daze.

"May we enter?"

"Yes." Gideon opened the door and we stepped in. There were racks of purple clothing knocked over to the floor. Pacifica sat at a mirror, with a glowing purple hairbrush brushing her hair on its own. It had obviously been doing so for a while because her hair was almost straight.

"Are you okay?" Gideon asked softly. "Did Bill Cipher hurt you?"

"Hurt me? She asked. "He's helped me. And all I need to do is give him Mabel's amulet." Gideon stepped forward.

"Mabel doesn't have an amulet, Pacifica." Pacifica smiled.

"Yes, she does." She finally noticed my reflection in the mirror and her smile turned to an angry frown. "Why did you bring her here? Now she knows my plans!" I stepped forward.

"Hi Pacifica, I didn't hear your plans." She smiled.

"Good. Will you give me the amulet?"

"I don't have one." I reminded her.

"Why is she lying to me!" She yelled. "I need her amulet!" Gideon rushed me towards the door as Pacifica started screaming. The hairbrush flew into the mirror, causing it to crack. Gideon grabbed my hand and started running, as fast as he could, towards town.

"Can we slow down?" I asked once we were closer to Main Street. He stopped.

"You're right. I think we can take our time getting to our next stop."

"Where are we going now?" I asked.

"Northwest Manor."

I don't know what I was expecting from Northwest Manor. The cocky way Gideon had always described it gave me a pretty good picture though, and I recognized it as the house I'd seen when I was on the bus a few weeks prior.

"So this is where you grew up?" Gideon nodded.

"Let's just hope someday I'll never have to see it again." He rang the buzzer on the gates. "It's me. Gideon."

"Of course, Mr. Northwest. Your father would like to see you in his study." The man on the other side of the intercom said. Gideon inhaled sharply. Not quite a gasp, but almost there.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I asked, following him up the long driveway.

"It's the only idea." He said with determination. We finally entered the house to a huge room with a large fireplace and two staircases. A painting of Gideon with his parents sat above the fireplace.

"You look happy in that painting," I said, trying to be polite.

"I was more than just an asset back then." Gideon said, keeping his head down.

Okay, Edgy McNorthwest. 

We made our way upstairs to a large door. Gideon knocked.

"I am extremly busy." A stern voice on the other side said.

"It's me." The voice was silent.

"Come in."

Preston Northwest was a sinister looking man. He made eye contact with me, and just his look made me understand that he thought he was infinitely more important than me.

"So this is Mabel Pines. The girl you've been ruining your reputation for." I looked down at the ground.

"Father, I know I've disobeyed you but leave Mabel out of this." Gideon said firmly, stepping in front of me.

"Please, I only ask that the two of you help me." Gideon and I both looked at him, surprised.

"What could you possibly need our help for?" Gideon asked.

"As you know, each year we hold a party that some of the most important people in the world attend. However, one of the interns accidentally awoke a malevolent spirit in the Manor that needs to be taken care of."

"So you want us to be your exterminators before the party." Gideon said. "The party's in a week, you'll have plenty of time to find someone." Preston smiled.

"Maybe so, but the party has been moved to this weekend." Gideon gasped.

"Tomorrow night? You want us to try to capture this spirit before sundown tomorrow?"

"Of course not, that would be impossible. Which is why you'll be working during the party." Gideon shook his head in disbelief.

"And why would we do that?" Preston smiled his evil grin.

"Because if you defeat this evil by the party's end, I'll discontinue your lessons." Gideon's eyes widened. I suddenly understood exactly how Preston had power over him.

"And if we fail?" He asked.

"I'll just have to take matters into my own hands. Starting with you, Miss Pines." Gideon flinched and stepped closer to me.

"We can do it." I volunteered. Gideon looked at me, horrified.

"Are you insane? No!"

"It's too late. You've already accepted the challenge." Preston smirked.

"But if we fail, you might get hurt!" Gideon pleaded.

"So what? If we have the chance to help you, I'll gladly get hurt."

"And if you're s good detectives as the newspapers say, you shouldn't have to worry." Gideon grabbed my hand and led me out of the room and down the hall. He opened a door then pulled me inside and shut it.

"Is this your room?" I asked, looking around. "It looks... nice." Gideon nodded his thanks.

"Mabel, why did you say that?"

"Because I've finally figured it out. Whatever these lessons are, they're controlling your life. I want to help you more than anything, Gideon." He looked down at the ground. "Gideon?" I asked after a minute. Suddenly, he looked up and I saw he was crying.

"Mabel, my father is an evil man. I don't want to think about what he would do to you if we failed. That's worse than anything he could force me to do during practices." He wiped his tears with his sleeve. "You're the first genuine friend I've ever had. More than that, I've never admired someone more than I admire you." He started crying harder. I couldn't take it anymore. I ran forward and hugged him tightly.

"Gideon, listen to me. I could care less about what happens to me. I just want to help you. Because I care about you a lot too. You're the only person I've met other than my brother who actually understands me!" I started crying too. "We can do this. And if we can't, I'll figure things out."

"Mabel?" Gideon said after a moment.

"Yeah?"

"I don't know what I'd do with myself if you got hurt. My father's done horrible things to try to get me to use my amulet to his advantage, both physical and emotional. But truth be told, I couldn't go on if he hurt you and I could've prevented it. I love you, Mabel." I was quiet for a moment while I processed the information. Then I realized something that I had known for a while.

"I love you too, Gideon."

(A/N) AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA