All was quiet in the mindscape of Dipper Pines. Little woodland creatures scurried amongst themselves while fireflies danced in the night. A full moon was hanging overhead and bathed the forest area in a luminous glow.
"A perfect night", Dipper said to himself.
The nineteen year old walked the familiar path that led to a gothic style mansion. This was where all of his memories were stored. Over the years Dipper had perfected the art of going into his mindscape and exploring. Unfortunately this prevented him from getting any sleep at night, causing insomnia throughout his adolescent years.
Dipper opened the large front door of the mansion and entered. The foyer resembled a dark mansion from the Victorian era, with marble walls and floors. Dark oak pillars decorated the area and a grand stair case with a red carpet led up to the second floor. Resting on pedestals on either side of the staircase stood two brass eagles.
Dipper gazed upon the foyer with familiar admiration and began to climb the stairs. At the top of the stairs stood a door that led to another room filled with thousands of doors. Like in his Gruncle Stan's mindscape, behind each door contained memories and dreams. Dipper liked to explore this part of the mindscape but did it with caution because there were some memories, a specific few from high school, which were better left alone. That's why he created a room to store these memories and keep them locked away.
Dipper had just reached the top of the stairs and was bent on going into the dream hall when he heard something coming from the foyer. The boy quickly turned around and looked down.
"Who's there?" he called out.
It sounded like crying but it was too pretty. Some words could barely be made out due to the echo. Anxious to identify the source, Dipper started back down the staircase. His paranoia grew with each step he took. When he finally got to the bottom, Dipper was met with a strange sight. Crouched down on the floor as though she was praying was his twin sister Mabel.
"Mabel? What are you doing here?" Dipper asked in surprise.
Mabel ignored him and Dipper realized that she was singing. It was light and delicate like wind chimes, a far cry from her normal voice. Dipper could not help but smile a little at how pretty it sounded. Wait a minute? Mabel couldn't sing.
"Struggling man has got to move. Struggling man no time to lose. I'm a struggling man and I've got to move on".
Mabel was rocking back and forth as though she were keeping in time with a rhythm. Dipper frowned in confusion and a feeling of uneasiness settled into his gut.
"Mabel, are you okay? Talk to me" Dipper moved to turn her to face only to fall back at the sight.
Mabel was sliced down the front of her body and across her chest as though a cross was being drawn. Her sweater that was once white was now crimson and the pink knitted picture of her pet pig Waddles was sliced in four ways. But the horror did not stop there. The corners of Mabel's cheeks were carved into a Glasgow smile giving her a permanent grin. Her eyes, once portals to happiness, were now two black gaping holes. Blood flew like ruby tears down her entire body.
Dipper fought back the urge to vomit. His sweet, beautiful sister was carved like a deer ready for slaughter. Mabel raised her head and felt around blindly and stopped when she touched Dipper's face. The pain was making her twitch uncontrollably and she tried to hold out her arms for an embrace but she fell forward. Dipper snapped out of his stupor and reached his arms out to cradle his sister's dying body.
"Please stay with me Mabel, who did this to you?" Dipper asked frantically. Tears were brimming at the eye lids and his voice was cracking.
Mabel was choking on her own blood so Dipper couldn't understand her. Suddenly, she reached out a single finger and fearfully pointed it behind Dipper. Dipper turned his head to see what was frightening his sister. A figure that looked to be Dipper's height stood in the shadows.
"Come out and face me!" Dipper bravely said.
The figure cackled in amusement. It was a high pitched sound that sent a tremor down Dipper's spine but it did sound familiar. Dipper tried to keep focus and stared down the figure. The sound of dress shoes clacking against the marble floor echoed throughout the ballroom. The figure stepped into a patch of light and revealed itself to be a twelve year old version of Dipper, minus his signature trucker hat, and wearing a reverend's suit. The only difference was the pair of eerie yellow eyes that resembled marbles. He was twirling a bloodied knife in his hands absentmindedly. Stains of blood were splashed on to the suit but it went unnoticed. A smirk of amusement was etched on to his lips and he looked up at Dipper.
"Miss me, Pine Tree?"
"Gah!" Dipper shot up out of bed.
A layer of sweat glazed Dipper's skin and he was trembling. Every night for a month it had been the same nightmare over and over again. Suddenly Mabel burst into the room wielding a baseball bat.
"I heard screaming. What's going on?" Mabel asked keeping a fighting stance.
Dipper snapped his head to the door and held up his hands in surrender.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy Mabel. I'm al right".
Mabel relaxed and put the bat down on the floor. She looked at her twin sympathetically.
"Was it the nightmare again?" she asked and sat herself at the foot of the bed.
Dipper sighed but nodded. He shifted to the bedside table to turn on the lamp. Dark circles were caked under his eyes and his skin was pale despite living in California.
"Dipper, this nightmare has prevented you from getting any sleep. You're starting to look like a zombie" Mabel said worriedly.
"I know and I don't understand why it keeps happening" Dipper said.
"Maybe you'd feel better if you told me what the dream was?" Mabel suggested.
Dipper gritted his teeth. For the past month Mabel had been pushing him to tell her of the nightmare he had been having. It wasn't that Dipper didn't trust Mabel, he would trust his sister with his life, it was that he just did not want to worry her. Bill was supposed to be gone, they made sure of that. Mabel was already worried enough about him and he did not need to add this to the list.
Once the insomnia started in high school Dipper had become a bit of a recluse. He only had a handful of friends that were more like acquaintances and he did not participate in any sports or clubs. Mabel on the other hand befriended a group of artists and she joined the drama club. Her talent with fashion landed her a spot in the costume department. Throughout high school Dipper hung out in the library when he was not in class and studied the journal. At home, he would study it at night by black light. By now the journal was beginning to seriously fray but Dipper took care of it as though it were a newborn baby.
He studied every page of notes the author had written and had even done additional research in other books. This was where Dipper's birthday and Christmas money was invested. Some might say he was obsessed with the journal but Dipper was determined to know the secrets. Every summer he and Mabel continued to go back to Gravity Falls to visit Gruncle Stan and every time something new was discovered, which he added to Journal 3.
"No, I don't want to try and remember the dream. I mainly forget about it when I wake up" Dipper said dismissively.
Mabel crossed her arms and looked at her brother skeptically.
"Okay, but you should talk about it or at least write about it so that it gets out of your system" Mabel said maternally.
"I'll consider that. Maybe it'll give me some inspiration for my book" Dipper said with a shrug.
Mabel uncrossed her arms and a smile melted on to her face.
"Awkward sibling hug?" she said holding her arms out.
"Awkward sibling hug" Dipper replied and wrapped his arms around his sister tightly.
Once they released each other Mabel hopped off the bed and picked the bat off the floor. She left the room with a wave for her own room. Dipper leaned over to the table and grabbed his phone. It read four AM in white lettering on the screen.
Dipper grimaced at the time. "Damn".
He needed to up be in four hours to get ready to leave for Gravity Falls. In their senior year, the twins decided to attend college in Oregon. Mabel earned a scholarship that got her a spot in Portland University's fashion program. During their sophomore to senior year Mabel took AP classes that basically took care of her prerequisite classes so she could start the program no questions asked. She would live in a dorm when term started but come back to Gravity Falls every weekend. Dipper aimed to run the Mystery Shack when Stan retired so he would be attending the community college and then transferring into the university. While Dipper was extremely intelligent he had a tendency to be a bit lazy. In high school he hardly studied but still managed to pass his tests and assignments. Mabel would often tell him that would come back to bite him in the ass sometime, and she would be there to say she told him so.
Dipper however put effort into studying Latin so that he could better understand the spells in the journal, and pronounce them fluently. Thank god for online courses and willpower. Mabel's argument was so that Dipper would not sound like an idiot while chanting the spells. But Dipper knew that pronunciation was very important with spellcasting. He had just gotten lucky with ending up with spells that did not rely on pronunciation. But with most spells, if the pronunciation is not correct, the spells could backfire. Dipper did not want that written on his tombstone, death by laziness.
Since it was going to be very difficult for Dipper to get back to sleep, he decided to study the third journal. The cracked leather and dusty smell was soothing to the young man. Beneath its original scent was a different smell that only Dipper could detect. It was lightly sweet but also exotic, the scent of magic. Whenever Dipper took a whiff of the scent, his senses created memories of the years at Gravity Falls. Summers filled with adventures of solving ciphers, battling zombies, and time travel were ones that Dipper would never give up for anything.
Journals 1 and 2 were locked away in an antique trunk that Dipper found at a shop in town. It was sturdy and came with a lock which became an adequate hiding spot. Journal 3 had a special place in Dipper's heart so he frequently kept it with him unless he left the house that's when it would go into the trunk with the rest of the journals. The trunk was in the closet where Dipper could keep an eye on it until he loaded it into his car in a few hours.
Dipper flipped through the pages of the journal. Entries about gnomes, zombies, and unicorns brought back memories. As time went on Dipper filled in the blank pages with his own notes. In a way, Dipper had taken up the mantle of being the author. A specific page made Dipper stop and stare, it was Bill's page. Dipper narrowed his brown eyes at the illustration of the wise-cracking demon. Bill's picture of his triangular form in his cipher wheel stared at Dipper mockingly. The warning to not release him written in red ink reminded Dipper of blood. Mabel covered in a river of blood, empty eye sockets, permanent smile, Bipper smirking… Dipper shivered.
"We got rid of him, he can't come back", Dipper muttered firmly before shutting the journal, now suddenly tired.
He got up to unlock the trunk and place journal 3 with the other two. When he got back to his bed Dipper shut off the lamp and turned over to face the wall. Darkness once again enveloped him and Dipper willed himself to sleep. But sleep would not come easy because Bill's laughter was ringing inside his mind and lightbulb memories from seven years ago kept appearing. Frustrated, Dipper furiously rubbed his temples until the laughter disappeared. The teen lied back down on to his pillow and fell into a light sleep.
Author's Note: The song used in the beginning is Struggling Man by Jimmy Cliff. Thank you for the reviews and following my story, I really appreciate it. I accept constructive criticism but no flames.