September 2, 2012. Gravity Falls, OR
Dipper had curled himself up in his blanket, covering every inch of his body. It was exceptionally cold out, and he assumed Mabel was doing the same. He fell asleep quickly, though, the familiar sounds of the shack settling around him acting as his lullaby.
All was quiet.
Everyone was asleep. Even Stan. Soos was staying there for a while, as his abuelita had broken a leg and was in the hospital. Stan had told him to use his bed, and he slept in the chair in front of the TV. Soos was a light sleeper, and little sounds of the house setting would stir him out of his sleep. Once he felt like everything was safe, he would go back to sleep. But then he heard something come from the twins' room. He slowly got up and crept up to the attic. He was relieved when he got there.
"Mr. Pines? Are they doin' ok?"
"Shhhhhhh..." Soos figured Stan didn't want to wake the twins. He shrugged and started to head back to Stan's room, when he saw a light flickering at the end of the hallway. He walked over and screwed it all the way in, fixing the flickering. Of course, after he fixed one thing, he always found something else. He saw a fluctuating light just around the corner. Luckily, when he found it, it was just Stan's TV. He was asleep in front of it, and he must have forgotten to turn it off.
Wait... He was asleep in front of it. Then who was...
Soos raced back up the stairs and slammed the attic door open.
Stan heard the scream and sprinted up the stairs. He kicked down the door, only to find Soos wasn't there. Dipper was asleep, and Mabel was sitting up, rubbing her eyes.
"Grunkle Stan, what's going on? I thought I heard a scream..." She stifled a yawn.
"Everything's fine kiddo." He walked over and ruffled her hair. Something warm and wet came off onto his hand. He looked at the liquid a few seconds before a few more droplets landed on his hand and Mabel's head. The pair looked up slowly, horrified with the sight above them. Soos was on the ceiling, mouth agape and stomach slashed wide open. Mabel shrieked, and Stan was paralyzed in shock. He didn't stay frozen for long, though, as Soos' body erupted in flames. Mabel's screams increased to frequencies only dogs should hear, until Stan shook her into silence.
"Mabel! Take Dipper outside!"
"But-"
"Take your brother outside as fast as you can! Don't stop, don't look back. Go, Mabel, go!" Mabel jumped off of the bed and dragged Dipper out the door, waking him up.
"Mabel what's-!" Mabel shoved him out the front door.
"Mabel! Get out of the doorway!" Dipper screamed at his sister, who faced the inside of the house.
"Come on Grunkle Stan, come on, come on..." She muttered softly. Glass cracked from the heat beside her, but Mabel wouldn't budge. "GRUNKLE STA-" The window beside her exploded, and she was lifted into the air and carried out to the lawn, Dipper close behind.
Sirens wailed, and the firemen sprayed down the shack. Stan, Dipper, and Mabel sat on the hood of a car, the twins wrapped in a shock blanket.
Their parents were in that fire.
Their parents were in that fire.
Their parents were in that fire.
They had found out when the firemen had went into the house. They had found Soos up in the attic, or rather, what was left of him, which was to be expected. But they also found the remains of two others, later identified as Mr. and Mrs. Pines. They had probably gotten there early to surprise the twins, it was supposed to be their last day in town, after all.
But no. Now Grunkle Stan had legal custody over the two, and… Well, they were gonna be here a while.