Phantom Falls

14: Understanding

The above artwork does not belong to me.

Mabel whimpered as the presence grew stronger. She could barely think, barely breathe. In that moment, she knew that the presence was going to kill her.

Just when she had accepted her fate, when the horrible feeling in her gut threatened to overtake her, the red eyes blinked and vanished. It was gone.

The air around them seemed to get warmer as they gasped for breath. "What was that?" Dipper whispered. He was still holding on to his sister's arm.

"I don't know, but it's gone now, right?" Pacifica was hugging herself, eyes wide with fear.

Mabel just slowly shook her head. "We're still being watched." Her voice was quiet.

It was then that the growl was heard again. Something grey-white and slimy stalked out of the trees, its massive shoulders flexing. It resembled a large, disproportionate cat, with serated fangs that were as long as a hand and seven-toed paws.

Mabel's face was pale with fear. Her legs shook. She held on to her brother's arm like a lifeline.

Swishing a long, faintly striped tail, it pounced, its powerful hind legs powering it towards the group. Pacifica screamed as Jack shot it with his gun. It backed away, skin steaming.

The creature snapped its head in Mabel's direction. She couldn't make a sound. This thing wasn't the shapeshifter; it was more beast-like, more primal. Its skin shone in the midmorning light as it paced closer to Mabel.

With horror, she noticed that it didn't have eyes, but milky white indents where the sockets should've been. The cat's nose was just a pair of slits, its eardrums simply holes in its head like a reptile's.

Another green blast fried the creature much worse this time. Maddie fired at it again and again, the ectoblasts driving it away. The thing limped and snarled as it fled, its oversized claws gouging the earth. Everyone was frozen. What was that thing?

The Fentons rushed the kids back to the Mystery Shack, all of them totally freaked out. Mabel had seen some scary things over the summer, but that creature . . .

She shuddered. It had been after her! Why? What did it want?

And what was the thing with the red eyes?

Wendy slammed the shack's door and locked it. She ushered everyone into the living room as Stan walked in. "Hey guys-- hold up, what's wrong?"

He followed them as they sat down. Pacifica was visibly shaking, and Dipper's arm was placed protectively around his sister. Jazz was barely holding it together. All she could think about was how awful that cat creature was.

"Where's Danny?" Maddie demanded. Stan scrunched his brows and started to wander around, calling Danny's name.

He came back from the another room with Danny leaning on him for support. Mr. and Mrs. Fenton gasped in dismay. "Says he got a fever," Stan muttered. "Jeez, kid, why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm fine, it's going away now," he mumbled. "But I'm more worried about you guys. What happened out there?"

Mabel shuddered as Dipper spoke up. "I don't even know, man. There was this . . . this presence, and then it was gone and a horrible creature attacked us. It was . . . it wanted . . ."

"It was after me." Mabel finished quietly. No one dared deny it. "I just . . . I don't know why . . ."

She looked up at Danny. He seemed to have frozen in place. The girl couldn't blame him, but she was little suprised at his reaction. It was as if she'd struck a nerve.

The boy plopped down on the couch. "I'm so sorry," he murmured. "This is all my fault. I was stupid, getting lost like that. You . . . you guys could have died." A quiet sob escaped him, but he wasn't crying yet. He looked up at his parents. "Please, don't ever go looking for ghosts in those woods again."

Mabel wasn't sure how to respond to that, but Maddie placed a gentle hand on her son's knee. "Honey," she said, "you didn't cause this. None of us knew that there were monsters lurking in those woods. We just wanted to find out what really happened when you got lost."

Danny mumbled something under his breath. His father squinted at him. "Look, son, just tell us which ghost was responsible and we'll--"

"It wasn't a ghost!" the boy burst out. "Don't you get it? It was me who got lost, me who put everyone in danger. Ghosts have nothing to do with it! I didn't see any in those woods!"

Silence. Mabel was shocked. She hadn't realized how responsible he felt for other people. He'd seemed like more of a carefree teen when she'd met him, but had that just been a disguise all along?

She remembered when Wendy had said that Pacifica was mean to everyone. Despite the fact that he'd never met his cousin, he'd instantly wanted her to get along with the Pines. "I guess I'll have to get her to stop doing that, then," he'd said. "Can't have her clashing with you guys."

Although it had taken a little while, he'd done exactly that. And every time they'd gone to the lake, Danny had kept an eye on everyone, even the older teens. Dipper had pointed it out to Mabel, but they hadn't thought much of it.

Plus, there was the fact that he was so respectful of their secrets. He'd seen Ford that one time, for just a second, but he hadn't questioned it. He didn't ask much about the journals, either. It was almost like he didn't pry out of understanding.

Finally Danny sighed. "I'm sorry, I just . . . I don't want anyone getting hurt, all right? Please."

The memory of the blood-red eyes came back to her in a flash. Mabel decided that she'd rather face another cat creature than that presence again.

Jazz finally spoke. "Danny is right, you guys. We shouldn't go back there." She looked around at her family. "Let's go home."

* * *

Danny curled up on his bed, anxiety threatening to overtake him. His fever was gone, but the pain and weariness wasn't.

He reached for his phone and called Sam. He'd left her and Tucker with Fenton thermoses, and he was hoping that they were handling themselves okay. He'd called them several times over the last eight days, but they'd mostly just told him to enjoy his vacation.

Sam picked up immediately. "Hey, Danny, how's it going?"

He felt a small sense of relief the moment he heard her voice. It reminded him of home, comforted him. "Well, not all that great." He told her about the shifter attack, and then the creature who had been after Mabel. He even mentioned Ford.

But he couldn't bring himself to describe his dreams aloud, not even to her. They scared him too much. Whatever the presence in the cave was, it was too familiar, too close to home. The only reason he couldn't figure out where he'd heard its voice before was because it was disguised in so many tones. It knew him, though. It knew him in some twisted way that he couldn't pinpoint, but was more intimate and understanding than anything anyone else could claim.

Sam tried her best to tell him that everything would be okay, that he could handle it, but she didn't know of the nightmares that plagued him. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the cave in the moonlight like some flashback of a battle waged in his mind.

Even as he hung up, Jazz knocked on his door. She proceeded to describe the whole trek through the forest, down to the last detail.

Meanwhile, her brother hugged his knees, thinking of lies and excuses to cover up his fear.

So I added a new pic to chapter 12, it's really cool and suits the chap better than the old one. If you look at it you'll see what I mean!