The Hunger was getting worse.
Omnivores had it lucky. They could and would eat anything. Even regular carnivores had a simple task—find anything that they could kill and eat. But the Hidebehind was a much more specialized predator. His long life had taught him that humans, and humans alone, would satisfy the Hunger. How it ached and tore at him! Right now all he wanted was to wash his arms to the elbows in warm blood! To tear into the tender, delicious viscera of his prey. Other, lesser creatures could take the meat and bone; the entrails alone sustained the Hidebehind.
Of course, the foul Treekillers were his favored human prey. Their murderous ways could not go unpunished. They had a large encampment to the north, but they were too wary, too well-guarded, so he had to expand his hunting grounds or starve. Worse, they had alcohol in copious amounts; even a small bit of that vile substance in the innards would spoil his meal. So he had drifted south. The thick forests made for perfect cover, and he could come and go as he pleased.
When he had first come south, he had found and stalked a boy in a hat for several hours, but ultimately decided to find other prey. The Hunger wasn't as strong then, and the child was clearly no Treekiller. But time had passed, and his desperation had increased. Though there were humans enough in Gravity Falls, they all seemed to avoid the woods instinctively, and it had still been months since the Hidebehind had eaten.
Tonight he had finally found new prey. A girl in a sweater, walking in the woods alone. She was small, and no Treekiller, but she would be enough. Her entrails would sustain him until he could find more suitable prey. The attack would be easy; she was too little to put up a real fight, and she was alone. He had checked the surrounding woods very thoroughly. No human would hear her scream.
Right now she was in a clearing, which made getting close difficult, but he didn't need to get too close. Just had to attack from cover and surprise the girl before she had a chance to run. He slipped from tree to tree until he was directly behind her, then tensed himself to cover the distance. The girl paused and looked around nervously, as though if sensing his presence, but she didn't see him. Three bounds would do it, maybe four if she spooked. Then he'd be tearing out her-
"Don't you dare."
The Hidebehind looked up, only to find a gnome scowling down at him. He hissed his reply to the little bearded man, his voice the sound of breaking twigs and wind through the trees.
"I don't care," the gnome replied, "I'll have you know that that is my QUEEN down there. If you so much as hurt a hair on her head, we'll turn you to mulch!"
The Hidebehind narrowed his eyes. The gnomes could be powerful if angered. And this one had a brown beard, not a white one. Darker coloration generally meant a more dominant gnome, so this one could likely make good on that threat.
"Look, I'm not heartless," the gnome said with a smirk, "How about this? I'll show you where Manly Dan lives. You like to eat lumberjacks anyway, right? He doesn't keep alcohol in the house, so nothing to repel you there."
The Hidebehind smiled.
Wendy flailed clumsily at her alarm clock, not bothering to open her eyes. She found it, and hit the snooze button, but it continued to buzz obnoxiously. Throwing it across the room relocated the noise, but didn't diminish it.
Do I actually need this stupid job? she thought, opening her eyes to slits. Her stomach growled, assuring her that she did.
She got up and, got dressed, and went to cross the room to the door, only to have the floor creak ominously under her feet. Hesitating, she tested it, setting one foot down and slowly increasing the weight on it until she felt the ground start to give. Fuck. That crash she heard last night must've been that beam in the livingroom finally giving way, and now there was nothing holding up that part of her floor. Her dad was always smashing into the damn ceiling when he was home, and every now and then one of the support beams came down. Of course, he could put them back up into place with one hand, but that only worked when he was home to do it. Right now he was away at one of his week-long logging shifts, and wouldn't be back for a few more days.
Muttering under her breath, Wendy tossed a rug across the unsupported area to remind herself it was there. She backed up against the window, then sprinted, clearing the dangerous ground with an athletic leap. ...She more "slammed into the wall on the other side" than "stuck the landing", but still, the leap itself was very impressive and athletic. Dipper probably would've fainted at the coolness if he'd seen it. Smirking at that thought, she pulled up the hatch that led to her attic bedroom, and climbed downstairs into the rest of the house. The living room was dark, so she tried to flip on the light, only to have nothing happen. Looked like Dad was late on the bill again.
Wendy glanced at the clock, then did a quick inventory of the pantry and fridge. They had half a jug of milk, four cans of soda, a package of lunch meat, two eggs, a quarter-loaf of bread, and half a box of cereal. The eggs and cereal should be enough for her three brothers for breakfast, and there looked like there was enough meat and bread for them to have sandwiches for lunch. At least they'd be able to finish off everything in the fridge, so nothing would go bad with the power out.
She wouldn't get her paycheck until tomorrow, though, so they'd have to figure something else out for dinner. Stony Davidson worked down at Shredder's Pizza. Maybe she could confuse him into giving her a pizza for free. Failing that, she'd just grab her old crossbow out from under her bed, and see about poaching some dinner for them. For now, though, they were all set. Dad got back from the logging camp on Monday, so he'd hopefully have been paid and they could stock up on food and get the power turned back on.
She grabbed one of the sodas and headed out the front door. On her way out, her axe laying by the front door caught her eye, so she grabbed it too. It was small, excellently weighted, and when she swung it it felt like an extension of her arm. It'd been a gift from her dad back when she was five or six. Her brothers had each gotten one too, of course, but theirs were heavier and bulkier and felt weird in her hand. This one was hers. Plus, the handle on it was thin enough that she could slide it through her belt loop and carry it that way, which is exactly what she did.
The walk from Corduroy cabin to the Mystery Shack would take about half an hour, but at least this time of year the temperature didn't suck. The sun was coming up, painting the woods in inky black shadows and vibrant red beams. Typically by now the birds would be "singing" (more like yelling) their little heads off, but for some reason they were quiet today.
Wendy's stomach growled at her again, so she opened the soda and took a swig. That helped a bit. She hoped that today would be a "hang around the shack" day for the twins, not a "run into the woods and leave me standing at the register and staring into space" day. It was incredibly boring without Mabel's random dance parties for no reason and Dipper's muttering under his breath.
Tcktcktcktcktcktcktcktck
Wendy spun around, trying to place where the sound had come from. It was probably just a stick falling, or wind knocking one branch against another. It was probably nothing at all. So why was her heart racing all of the sudden? At this point, she had two options. Either keep walking along this secluded trail, like a boss, and get to work on time. Or, she could try to cut through the woods, get to the main road, walk along that, and show up to work an hour late. Mr. Pines would totally understand that a stick falling in the woods had given her the creeps so she had to take the long way around.
After a long moment of consideration, Wendy decided that she wasn't a fucking six-year-old, so she turned around and kept walking.
She couldn't shake the feeling of being watched, though. She'd heard Dipper comment on feeling watched in the woods once or twice, but before now she'd never really got what he meant. It was intense, and the longer she walked, the worse it seemed to get.
Tsksksksksksksksksksksk
The sound stopped Wendy in her tracks, and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. It came from the left this time. It was birds. It was wind. It was a stick falling. It was a frog. It was something small. Something harmless. Something that didn't require her heart to be racing like this.
Tsksksksksksksksksksksk
This time from her right. Okay, fuck it. If she was going to be jumped up on adrenaline this morning, might as well committo it. Moving very slowly and deliberately, Wendy pulled her axe from her belt loop, and removed the leather blade guard from it. The cold metal glinted in the morning sunlight, which soothed her nerves a bit. Whatever was making that noise, she could handle it. She was a motherfucking Corduroy.
She turned her head slightly, trying to scan the trees behind her without being obvious about it. Movement flickered at the very edge of her vision. She didn't bother trying to see what it was, just threw herself hard to the side. Something heavy crashed to the ground where she had been standing an instant earlier.
Before Wendy could regain her footing, it hit her hard from the side, knocking the air out of her. Whatever this thing was, it was strong, and it was fast. A huge hand that felt as if it were covered in cold bark wrapped around her ankle and lifted her into the air with a dizzying jerk that made her vision darken at the corners and turned the world into a heady blur. She curled instinctively, trying to protect her innards, and felt sharp claws dig into her arm. With her other arm, Wendy swung her axe as hard as she could, and felt it connect with a wooden thunk. There was an intense feeling of vertigo, and then sharp pain as she hit the ground. The creature grasped at her legs again, and she rabbit-kicked as hard as she could. There was a satisfying snapping sensation through the soles of her boots.
As soon as it had begun, it was all over. Wendy sat up, blood roaring in her ears and pouring out of the deep cut in her arm. The creature was gone. She hadn't seen which way it had fled. Hell, she hadn't even clearly seen what it was. All that remained on the ground were a few scraps of black bark, and her axe. Black, tarry sap coated the blade.
Wendy tore the sleeve off of her flannel jacket, and used it to bandage her arm, then did her best to clean up her axe. That accomplished, she glanced at her watch, then started back down the path at a quick trot. She was going to be late if she didn't hurry, and right now she wasn't up for a lecture from Mr. Pines about it.
Monsters always had, like, the worst timing.