"Mabel!!"
With a terrifying cry that shook Kipo to her very bone, Dipper surged forward and fell to his knees beside the shape, grasping at it with Kipo could only hang back in horror, her mind still reeling.
Mabel couldn't be... no, she just couldn't! It felt practically impossible, yet this horrible reality was pushing at the edges of her mind...
Suddenly, a breath of relief broke her out of her petrified state. Kipo focused in on the scene just as Dipper stood up, turning to her.
"It's..." his voice sounded raw, almost weak. He loosely gestured to the shape on the floor. "It's fine. It's not Mabel."
The relief hit Kipo like a hurricane, making her feel breathless and her knees knock together. A single tear dropped out of the corner of her eye. She wiped it away. "Oh... thank goodness. I-I'm so glad."
Dipper nodded. He didn't seem quite ready to speak yet, so Kipo edged into the room, nudging the object with her toe. Now that the horror was over, she could see that it was far, far too small to be a human being, even though Mabel wasn't that big to begin with. Now that Kipo was looking with a more rational eye, it was clear that the thing was very familiar to her: it was the same sandwich that had started this whole search, wrapped in what looked like one of Mabel's sweaters. It was now painted completely red, and had more of a mush state then a solid one. It kind of looked like a pile of mud, and the knowledge of where it came from just made it that much more unappealing.
But with her recent revelation, it was probably the nicest piece of art Kipo's ever seen.
"Where-?" Kipo turned to Dipper, who still looked like he was processing everything. He didn't seem able to even look at the sandwich. "Where do you think she is now?"
It was a fair question, as it was clear Mabel was no longer in the shed... Kipo rubbed the back of her neck, thinking.
"It is pretty late..." Kipo mused. "Do you think she's asleep?"
Dipper glanced at her, obviously confused, so Kipo continued.
"It could be that she came here and then went back to her house," Kipo explained. She nodded to the sweater. "Maybe she took off her sweater and went back and that's what Dib saw before. He must have just thought she was wearing different clothes."
Dipper blinked, thinking about that. Eventually, he nodded, straightening up. "O-Oh... yeah, that makes sense."
Kipo put a comforting hand on his back, and to her relief, Dipper seemed to relax, at least a little bit. He was shaking, Kipo realized.
Well. She wasn't much better. She was still kind of panicking; she could feel it in the depth of her stomach and in the back of her mind.
Kipo took a deep breath, and the two of them stepped forward, out of the shed and back to the town.
They got to the houses in only a fraction of the time that they left them. Not only where they not going in Mabel's strange, convoluted way, but they were also rushing through the streets. The scare they had early... plus the story Dib told earlier... Kipo needed to make sure Dipper's sister was alright as fast as possible, and clearly, Dipper was thinking the same thing.
Luckily, they had no interruptions this time, and got to the houses easily. Unlike with the shed, Dipper and Kipo didn't hesitate, barging into the house and up the stairs. Out of the corner of her eye, Kipo saw the sometimes beautiful, sometimes strange drawings on the wall. She paused for a couple seconds, glancing over the colourful walls, with not a spot uncovered, before quickly following Dipper up the rest of the stairs.
Kipo and Dipper slowed on the second floor, trying to be quiet, and eventually paused by the door to Mabel's room. For a second, they paused, glancing at each other, before Dipper finally to a deep breath, and pushed open the door.
It opened slowly, far too slowly, cracking open and revealing the colourful room behind it. Kipo and Dipper held their breath, before finally letting it out in a sigh when they saw Mabel sleeping, completely sprawled out with the blanket half across the room, somehow.
Kipo quickly slapped a hand over her mouth. She could feel a hysterical laugh bubbling out, but she made sure to stifle it behind her hand.
Suddenly, Dipper moved, deeper into the room. Kipo watched him closely as he took his sisters blanket, and gently laid it over her with a soft smile. Then she watched as he backpedaled, back to Kipo's side. They gave each other a quick look, before Kipo gently shut the door, and they started towards the stairs, leaving the house, and Mabel, behind.
When Kipo and Dipper closed the door to Mabel's room, Kipo realized that she was completely exhausted. She felt a strong urge to just lie down and go to sleep right there, but she didn't. She didn't do anything. She... couldn't do anything. She was paused in the middle of the street, frozen.
And Dipper wasn't doing much better. Kipo could feel him beside her, and he didn't seem to be able to move either.
The state of her friend finally broke Kipo out of her shell-shocked state. With considerable effort, Kipo managed to lift her feet to turn herself around, facing Dipper. She put a hand on his shoulder.
"D-Dipper?" she asked, quietly. Kipo winced at how shaky her voice was. "Hey... are you alright?"
Dipper started, looking over to her. Eventually, he relaxed, giving her a small smile. "Huh? Oh, yeah... I'm... I'm alright. I think I'm just going to go to bed, take a page out of Mabel's book."
Kipo let her hand fall, smiling back at him. She was relieved... she couldn't imagine this night was easy on him.
"Oh, well, good luck," Kipo said. It was really the only thing she could say.
"Are you going to go to bed, too?" Dipper asked, and Kipo blinked, surprised.
"Well, I think I-well, actually..." Kipo trailed off, thinking. On one hand, Kipo was completely exhausted, and her limbs felt like jelly... but on the other hand... "No, not yet. I don't think I can possibly sleep now, so I'll stay up a little longer."
Dipper nodded. "Yeah, that's true..."
They stood around in silence for a long minute, before it was finally broken by a big yawn from Dipper. Kipo's eyes widened in surprise for a quick second, before giggling to herself.
"You should get some sleep," Kipo suggested, an amused smile on her lips. "Goodnight, Dipper."
Dipper yawned once again, waving at her. "Oh. Yeah. Night, Kipo."
Without further ado, Dipper stumbled off, the obvious exhaustion making him trip over his own feet. Kipo winced, but breathed a sigh of relief when she saw she made it to his own door. With one last wave, he opened the door, and disappeared with a click that echoed throughout the street.
Kipo paused in the street for a second, before she started off, down the street and back into the town.
The place Kipo was heading to... it wasn't a place she went to often. Even though, at least right now, it was a crudely painted rock in a cleared-out spot in the field didn't matter, though the feelings attached to it did. Whenever Kipo came here, it always felt like whatever positive emotions she gathered during the day just washed away, and she was left feeling empty, thinking of things that only made her heart ache.
Would Adam have wanted to go find the other missing people with her? What would he have thought of Kai's project? What would he have thought about the other books at the library, the ones he (possibly) didn't get to read?
Kipo didn't know, and the fact that she would never know was painful, to say the least.
"Kipo?"
Kipo jumped, once again startled out of her thoughts. For someone who had more heightened senses then most humans people were definitely sneaking up on her a lot, far more often than probably necessary.
"Huh?!" Kipo only saw some odd spikey hair first, but that was usually enough to identify the mysterious person. "Norman! I didn't see you there, sorry!"
Norman shuffled his feet. "Oh..." he trailed off, and Kipo winced. But before they could delve into uncomfortable silence, Norman continued. "It's fine, I guess. Are you here to visit Adam's grave?"
Kipo blinked, and nodded slowly. "Uh... yeah. And... And you?"
Norman shrugged. "I'm usually here."
Kipo frowned. Well, that kind of explained why she could never find him in the town. "Oh. I see."
She didn't, but she really had zero clue about what else she could say. So the two sat in silence, for what was probably a very uncomfortable amount of time. Out of the corner of her eye, Kipo could see Norman gesturing and she could hear him whispering, but she tried to pay him no mind as she stared down at the grave in front of her.
Despite the fact that the rock weighed heavy of her soul, Kipo still couldn't believe it was real.
"Uh... Kipo?"
Kipo looked over, surprised. Norman wasn't usually a person to continue a conversation. Although, he usually wasn't one to start, them, either. "Um, yeah?"
Norman shuffled around. He was obviously nervous, and Kipo wondered why exactly he had decided to talk to her. Eventually, he motioned to the grave in front of him.
"Y-You... You were close, weren't you?" Norman asked. "To Adam?"
Kipo turned to him, and nodded. Norman hummed.
"Y-Yeah, well, you know, he said..." Norman tilted his head, as if listening to something. "He said-I MEAN HE WOULD SAY, i-if he was here... he would say that he shouldn't feel guilty. At all. It's... not your fault, what happened. And it wasn't Wirt's either, so neither of you should feel bad."
Kipo could feel a small smile tugging at her lips. It was kind of enduring, in a weird way. "Oh... well, thank you-."
"Also!" Norman continued, interrupting her. "He... He would have said that you don't have to worry about his body if you don't want to, and that the grave is enough if you don't want to worry about it... but he also asked if you could maybe fix it up a little bit so it looks... better?"
Norman titled his head again. "Er... I meant to say cooler."
Kipo blinked at him, hardly able to process any of this odd rambling. Eventually, she shook her head. "Huh... Well, I'll make sure to talk to Mira and Kai about that," Kipo told him, still taken aback. "I'll keep it in mind."
Norman nodded. He seemed to be getting into a groove now. "Right. Also, tell them that Adam cares about them a lot, and he wishes he could talk to them. Also, he cares about you and Wirt. Also, he said that most of what Mira says about Kai is a lie, and she's just saying all that to mess with him. Also, he said that Kai should start working outside, because if he get's any paler he'll look like A- er, a ghost."
Norman paused again, and after a couple seconds to check if he was going to continue, Kipo spoke up. "Oh... yeah, I'll tell them."
The two were quiet for a couple seconds. This time, when the silence was broken, it was by Kipo.
"Were you close to him to?" she ventured to asked. Norman looked confused at the question.
"What?"
"Well, you just seem to know a lot about him," Kipo cast her eyes down to the grave. "So, I was just wondering if you hung out when... when he was alive."
"When he was alive?" Norman repeated. He thought about that. "Well, not that much, really."
Kipo's eyes widened. "Really?" she asked. "You seem to know so much about him..."
Norman suddenly sucked in a breath, glancing to the side. "Huh? Oh, well, we had a couple of... of meaningful conversations... I guess... I'm good at guessing people?"
Kipo frowned. "Um..."
"Like... reading their personalities!" Norman was quick to explain. "And guessing what they say, and stuff?"
"Oh," Kipo said. "I- that's cool."
Norman shuffled around as Kipo watched him. "Yeah."
"It's pretty late," Kipo noted. "Are you going to sleep soon?"
"Huh?" Norman looked a bit startled from the abrupt conversation change. "No? Why?"
Kipo looked at the heavy bags under his eyes sympathetically. "Well, this might sound a little mean, but you look tired. You definitely look like you need some sleep."
Norman frowned, and Kipo hoped she didn't offend him.
"I just always look tired," Norman explained. "Whether I actually am or not."
"Oh," Kipo realized. "Well, are you tired?"
Norman opened his mouth, and then thought about it. "I'm fine, I think."
Kipo was about to ask what he meant by that, before she paused, sighing. "Well, if you say so. But I'm going to go to bed, so I'll see you in the morning."
Norman nodded, and Kipo turned around, heading back towards the town. She wasn't planning to stop again, but when Norman called out to her, she paused.
"Hey, Kipo! Wait!"
Kipo stopped, looking back around to him. Through the darkness, she noticed that he was fidgeting, a lot. "Huh? Yeah?
"Um..." Norman hesitated. "If... If I told you that Adam was here, right now... what would you think?"
Kipo tilted her head. "Here?" A shiver went through her as she said that. "Here as in 'in her hearts', or as in... as a ghost?"
Norman was fidgeting even more now. "Ghost."
Kipo thought about that. "Would that really be a problem?" she asked, slowly. Norman looked confused, so Kipo continued. "Well, ghosts aren't real, right? I don't think we have to worry about that."
To Kipo's chagrin, Norman looked disheartened. Before she could say anything, though, he turned away. "Oh... yeah, well, maybe you're right."
Kipo opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She didn't know what to say, so she just turned away. Hopefully she didn't hurt Norman to much.
As she went back into town, Kipo thought about their conversation. In all honesty, she was relieved. In some kind of odd, funny way, it really did manage to make her feel better, even if she was confused. She really did think she could go to sleep now, which was a relief.
But still. Even if she felt better from all of that, she couldn't get Norman's face out of her head. Hopefully, she'll be able to talk to him tomorrow, really talk, to make sure she didn't hurt him or anything like that. After all, even if SHE didn't believe in ghosts, doesn't mean HE couldn't. To each their own.
Right. Everything will be fine.