"Dipper!" I look up from my journal as my twin sister bounds into the living room. She's wearing her normal broad grin, but there seems to be an extra light to her eyes, meaning that she's either excited or hiding something.

"Yeah Mabel?" I say, closing the old, worn book and setting it on the floor. She begins jumping lightly, making an imprint in the shag carpet.

"You'll never guess what I found!"

"Buried treasure?" I guess. She rolls her eyes, not breaking her grin.

"Please, Dipper, I thought we did that last week." She grabs my arm and pulls me off the armchair, dragging me out to the yard.

"I could've walked, you know," I say flatly as dust flies up, making me cough.

"This is too important for you to walk! Everything is at stake here! Any move might shatter it's entire being and leave it to float off into the universe!" I roll my eyes; I love my sister, but she can be full of baloney at times. The fact that there was a slice of baloney stitched on her sweater didn't help. She raises her arms dramatically as she goes on and on about the force of whatever the thing she was about to show me, dropping me in the dust of the driveway. "The world could be impacted from the sheer magnificence of what I am about to show you!" I raise an eyebrow.

"And I can't walk. Yep, that's logical." She ignores my comment, running excitedly over to the bushes. I hold a hand over my eyes and squint to see her in the golden midday summer sunlight.

She squeals after a moment of rummaging in the bushes and pulls out a little black figure. The figure squirms excitedly in her arms and she giggles, pressing her nose to the little creature. Skipping back over to me, she puts the thing on the ground. I am suddenly aware of what it is: a puppy.

I sat up as the small dog bounds over to me, standing on it's hind paws and licking me cheeks as it climbs into my lap. I laugh, picking up the tiny animal and cradling it. It nuzzles into the crook of my arm and gives me another lick. As I switch arms and wipe the saliva off my wrist, I take notice of it's color.

It's pattern is rather strange; it is blacker than the night itself, with blood-colored marks dotting it's ears, tail, and back, as it it'd been dipped in red paint. I eye it curiously as it wiggles out of my grasp and runs over to Mabel as she approaches us.

"Isn't he adorable?!" The puppy paws at her arm with his tiny claws, biting her affectionately. My eyes widen as it sinks it's little teeth into my sister's arm. The animal's teeth seem a little bigger than they should be; puppies don't usually have really big front teeth, do they?

I shake the thought out of my head as I watch Mabel stand and run around the yard, the little dog chasing after her cheerfully. My gaze wanders to the Mystery Shack, where I swear Waddles is staring out the window, giving the puppy a dirty look.

Do pigs get jealous? I can't help but wonder. A rubber ball suddenly hits me in the head. I look towards it's direction and suddenly get blindsided by the puppy. I laugh and look up at the small canine standing over me. It barks cheerfully, and I reach up and scratch it's tiny head. "Hi there, little guy," I coo at it. "You want the ball?" The dog barks again, hobbling back on its paws and showing off it's extra-long teeth as it pants.

I toss the ball back over to my sister, and the dog follows happily, dashing away. "So what are you going to name it?" I ask, standing up. My sister tilts her head to the side, putting her hand on her chin as she thinks. The ball hangs loosely out of her other hand, just out of the reach of the puppy, who was bouncing to get it.

"How about Skippy?"

"Or Fang," I suggest, remembering the dog's teeth. Something is throwing me off about those teeth. They don't seem…normal.

"Or Princess!" Mabel counters, bouncing eagerly.

"How do you know it's a girl?" Mabel bends over to look under the dog.

"Oh…" I snicker.

"How about Duke?"

"Or Seal!" I wonder about that option. Where did Seal come from?

"If you wanna name him after an animal, why not name it something cool?"

"Like Sloth?"

"Yeah, no." The puppy comes running back to me, and I bend down, scratching it's head. "How about Bob?" Mabel sighs.

"This is going to take forever." Her face lights up suddenly, and I know automatically that she has an idea. "How about Duke Seal Von Skippy-Fang the Third?!" I was never going to remember that name, but my sister looks really happy, so I choose that name. She lets loose another squeal. Seal (I decide to simply call it that.) runs around us in circles, barking madly, making us both laugh. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Waddles giving him another Death Glare, and I'm really hoping that someone gets him out of that window; pig stares are seriously creepy.

Suddenly, an awful roar comes out of the forest, making the pine trees sway. I protectively pick up Seal, holding him against my chest. He responds by wiggling his way up my shirt and licking the side of my chin. His tail wagging is making it hard to hold him.

A huge red and black beast leaps out of the forest, about as big as a van. It stalks it's way over to us on it's immense claws. The entirety of it is covered with hardened skin that looks like armor, with patches of onyx fur covering anything unarmed. It lets out another roar, nearly blowing us to the ground. Seal squirms uncomfortably, and I can hear him whimpering. I hug him closer, and he buries his little head in my neck.

The beast opens it's jaws, leaning towards me. I am paralyzed. I want to tell my sister to run, but no words come out.

It clamps the tips of it's teeth around the back of Seal's head, pulling him out of my arms. I want to reach out and pull him back, but I stop myself. Mabel lets out her own whimper. I can't help feeling disappointed as the beast shoots us both an angry look through it's red eyes and turns back into the forest, carrying Seal with it. Seal is still whimpering, and I think I feel my heart break; there is nothing sadder than hearing a demon puppy whimper while being dragged away from it's friends by it's monster of a mama. I can't be the only one who thinks this.

Mabel and I sadly turn around, walking back into the Shack. Mabel begins to sniff, and I put a hand on her shoulder, guiding her back into the house as the floor suddenly takes her focus as she begins to cry softly.

I'm trying my best to ignore Waddles' extremely smug look as we walk back in.