The Haunted Love

Chapter 4

Later that day, Dipper had fallen into the basement with a crash. Thankfully Sabrina was around the portal at the time, helping Clayton dismantle it. “Would be best if you hid for now. I’ll go check on him.” He had said towards her as she nodded in understanding. Clayton then proceeded around the corner.

“Great Uncle Clayton!” She heard Dipper say, sounding rather apologetic.

“What did I say about coming down here? My work is far too dangerous for a single living soul to spend even one second in – wait! Is that a 38 sided die from Dungeons, Dungeons and more Dungeons?!” Clayton was fully stern but just a split second later, he got all excitable.

“Yeah! You – you know that game?” Dipper was rather eager to learn such a thing.

“With pen and paper, shield and sword -” Dipper would join in on this part. “Our quest shall be our sweet reward.” They both chucked after their epic reciting of the game’s tagline. Dipper then handed the dice to Clayton. “This is my favorite game in the whole multi-verse. I can’t believe they still make it.”

“They do!” Dipper replied excited, pulling out the rule book. “And I’ve been looking all day for someone to play with me.”

Clayton took the rule book from him. “My boy. Do you know what this means?” He then knelled down to his nephew’s level. “We must stop everything I’ve been working on at once. And play!” A huge grin appeared on his face. Dipper had one as well.

When Dipper fell into the basement, he had knocked over the jar containing the Cycloptopus along with Clayton’s journal he had been writing in. It took its chance to suddenly jump on Clayton. He quickly ripped it off. His hair was now a mess on the one side along with a patch of sucker markers up his face. “That’s gonna leave a mark.” He commented, still with his big smile.

Sabrina knew Clayton was a nerd at heart. So it didn’t surprise her when him and Dipper spend the afternoon playing Dungeons, Dungeons and more Dungeons. She’d watch them play from the other side of the wall, sketching out the scene when Clayton was rolling the dice between his six fingers. It was kind of mesmerizing in a way. After Dipper did a great move and they talked about how the game had changed, he hesitated to ask his uncle something.

“Great Uncle Clayton, I’ve been meaning to ask you. Where were you when you came out of that machine? And what have you been doing down here? Are you working on something behind that curtain?” He gestured towards the tan curtain above his head. Sabrina was just underneath that curtain so she paused her pen to listen.

His eyes went up in its general direction and moved around the room while he spoke. “Dipper, it is best if you and the family stay away from that subject. Honestly, I’m not sure any of you could handle the real answer.” His eyes landed on his nephew.

“But – But I can handle it.” Dipper protested.

Clayton suddenly lifted his finger. “Ah ah. But I can show you a little something I brought back with me.” He proceeded to pull out a small bag and shake its contents out. Out came a bunch of dice and a little black box. He picked up the black box and opened it, revealing the ultimate die. “An infinity sided die.”

“Whoa, that’s so cool. And impossible.” Dipper replied.

“This things are outlawed in nine thousand dimensions. You want to know why?” He pointed towards it. “Look at those symbols. Infinite sides means infinite outcomes. If I rolled it, anything could happen. Our faces could melt into jelly, the world could turn into an egg. Or you could just roll an eight. Who knows.” He shrugged before closing it shut. “But that’s why I have to keep it in this protective, cheap plastic case. Now – back to the game. You got Probabilitor on the ropes.” He placed it down beside the board in front of him.

It was nice to see that Clayton was trying to bond with Dipper. Even if earlier, it seemed like he was locking himself away from them on purpose. But it seemed they did have things in common now that she thought about it. They were both smart and very geeky. Who knew what would happen in the future between them. Sabrina hopped it was good.