MindEscape

Chapter 4

"I may not have known you for long, Dipper, but...you are a terrible actor. Your thoughts are plastered to your face like a neon sign, so why don't you just fess up what's on your mind?" She snapped. Danny furrowed his eyebrows, stepping forward to stand in between Dani and Dipper.

"Whoa, Daniele, calm down. Leave Dipper alone." He instructed. Dani crossed her arms and glared at Dipper. She didn't like the way the boy looked at Danny and her, as if they were just some mystery to be solved, so problem to be fixed. As if they were just another page to add to his stupid journal. Ignoring Danny's instructions, Daniele narrowed her eyes at Dipper.

"Why should I? He clearly has a lot of questions, and he obviously doesn't like not getting all the information, but.." Dani walked closer to Dipper. "I get the strange feeling that you're keeping something from us. That's rather hypocritical, don't you think?" Her voice was filled with defensive venom as she jabbed Dipper in the chest with her pointer finger. Danny looked from Dipper to Dani. He glanced at Mabel, wondering if she knew what Dani was talking about.

At contact with Dani, Dipper backed away, "Secrets? What? No, I never asked about what happened. I just wanted to know about ghosts!" He agonized. At first he was nervous, but quick thinking provided him with a valid argument and his voice stiffened.  "You're the one who brought that up! Everyone has things they don't like talking about!" He protested, "If you ask me, you should stop pushing your cousin. Maybe he wants to keep things to himself like I do!" What was Dani trying to do? From this experience he learned which halfa he trusted most.

"Guys!" Mabel was next to Danny. She didn't like where this argument was going, it might result in her brother doing something stupid with his book. With that kind of knowledge at his disposal, he could do all sorts of things. Just like her, when his mind was set, there was no changing it without consequence.

Dani put her hands on her hips, ignoring Mabel's call. "I didn't tell him to tell you guys! I just wanted to know why he wasn't! And I wasn't even talking about that! I'm talking about all the other millions of questions running through your head! All the questions you asked Danny about ghosts and half ghosts and the Ghost Zone!" She exclaimed, spreading her arms again. She crossed them, glaring at the boy. "And if you weren't hiding something, you wouldn't have freaked out so much!" Dani sneered. Daniel stepped in between them, giving Dani a look.

"Daniele, quit it." He snapped, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Dipper's right." He added, thinking about what the teen had said about everyone having something they didn't like to talk about. Only, Dani didn't think that was what he was talking about. Her arms dropped to her sides and she looked at her feet for a moment.

"Fine." She muttered. With a flash, she was in her ghost form, and her head snapped up to glare at Danny and Dipper. "Take his side over mine!" Danny blinked, confused. Dani was never like this. What was going on? Had his disappearance really shaken her so? Seeing the scene of his torture must have been traumatic for a girl Daniele's age, but...why was she acting this way?

"Dani..." Danny began. Daniele shook her head and turned away.

"No, it's fine. I get it. Secrets are meant to be kept." She said quietly, the anger gone from her voice, crossing her arms again. She looked back at Dipper, her eyes beginning to water. "I'm sorry. I just..." Dani glanced at Danny before looking back at Dipper. "He's like a brother to me, and... I thought he was dead... I saw his insides on the walls, quarts of ectoplasm stacked to the ceiling, impossible amounts of blood within each..." Dani shivered and looked at her feet. "Could you imagine if it was Mabel's blood on the walls and in the vials?" She pointed out.

Mabel made a disgusted sound, envisioning her own blood stacked to the ceiling as Dani had described. "Eww..." She frowned, making a face.

Dipper looked at his sister, Dani was right, but if such a thing happened to Mabel it probably wouldn't sting as much, Bill was not family and he would be the one inflicting pain on Mabel, he knew it. The worst part was that triangle would have no reason to see his sisters insides other than his sick idea of entertainment. He wiped away the sweat that was forming on his forehead, "You're right... I wouldn't be able to live with myself." The teen shook his head. They were playing the guilt game and he had lost. That was ok, he usually did.