WARPED

Chapter 1

"Here we go."

Hazelle Krimms's jaw dropped as her two friends, Jocelyn Swanson and Lucy Glint, screamed. The three friends stared at the TV screen as the credits to their show, Gravity Falls, began to roll. Silence filled the living room like a poisonous gas.

"I WILL NEVER GET OVER THAT CLIFFHANGER," Jocelyn declared angrily, whipping her long dark braid over her shoulder.

"Seriously," Hazelle agreed. "I've watched this ending like five times already, and I still can't get over it!"

"It's like Alex Hirsch wants to completely annihilate my emotions." Lucy rubbed her hands up her arms. "Yo Hazelle, pass me dat blanket."

Hazelle rolled her eyes and threw a folded blanket into Lucy's face. It was an unusually cold September night. The news reported winter was coming early this year. Outside, it was quiet and dark, brittle with snowflakes caked into thick clouds and whistling winds. But inside Hazelle's house though, it was bright and cheerful. Nearly empty boxes of Chinese take-out sat on the couch, along with bottles of soda and Jocelyn and Lucy's coats.

"Man," Jocelyn gushed with a grin and a stretch. "I looooove Gravity Falls."

Hazelle and Lucy laughed and agreed. One of the highlights of the marching band competition season not starting until next weekend was all the free time the three of them had. Ever since their freshman year, color guard had tied them together into great friends, and the love they shared for Gravity Falls was just another layer of rope to the knot, especially after the season finale last August.

"Ooh!" Jocelyn cried out. "Do you think the website was finally updated?"

Lucy's green eyes bugged. "LET'S FIND OUT."

Hazelle flung herself into the swiveling chair to her desktop computer and brought up Google Chrome. With Lucy and Jocelyn huddled around her, she typed in "searchfortheblindeye dot com."

The screen went black, and then a floating image of Bill Cipher appeared, his gold glow bursting hauntingly off the screen. Hazelle felt chills tumble down her spine. Ever since first discovering the mysterious website through Tumblr at two in the morning last month, the uneasy feeling every time she visited it hadn't left.

"Check the code," Jocelyn said.

Nodding, Hazelle clicked the code that hung under Bill. It decoded itself to read: "OCTOBER FIRST."

"Same as usual," Lucy commented, playing with a curl.

"But how about his coding?" Hazelle murmured.

She right-clicked on Bill and chose "Inspect Element." The image's coding flashed onscreen, showing Bill's shape made up of letters. A message was scattered about Bill's coding, practically screaming, "TWO MORE DAYS VIEWERS. ARE YOU READY."

Lightning hummed under Hazelle's skin.

"Oh god," Jocelyn said.

"That is so creepy," Lucy mumbled.

"GUYS. October first is Monday," Hazelle said, pushing her glasses up her nose. "We're gonna be in school."

"Unless it's, like, a midnight thing," Jocelyn suggested.

"I dunno though," Lucy said. "Alex Hirsch said it himself: this site isn't associated with Disney at all. It can't be real."

"Ugh." Jocelyn smacked her hand to her forehead. "ALL I WANT IS SEASON TWO! IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?"

"What if though?" Hazelle said, smiling a little. It was cool to think about—your favorite TV show coming to life! Being real!

"It's not something I want to think about," Lucy said with a shiver.

"Yeah." Jocelyn gave Bill a pointed look. "Bill's freakin' scary."

Just then, Lucy's phone beeped. "My mom's here."

Jocelyn and Lucy left together after tackling Hazelle in a hug. With shouts of "See ya, Monday!" they ran across Hazelle's lawn and into the car in front of the house. Hazelle waved them goodbye, the cold still lingering on her fingertips as she shut the door.

Hazelle returned to the computer and logged into Tumblr, curious to see the updates on the "gravity falls" tag, and if anyone else was freaking out over the infamous October first being just two days away.

The tag was, indeed, exploding.

"just two days guise!" wrote one blogger. "but searchfortheblindeye hasnt updated at all. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN!?"

Hazelle frowned. No new updates? But . . .

She switched tabs back to searchfortheblindeye dot com, but it had changed back to the update from two weeks ago. "LOOK OUT FOR ME VIEWERS. TICK TOCK."

"What the hell?" Hazelle whispered, eyes wide. "Whoa . . ."

It must have been a trick of the light. The bouncing of pixels from the TV off the computer screen. But Hazelle could have sworn she saw Bill wink at her, and glow just a little bit brighter.

No way it actually happened, though.

Right?