Hello again! I was so surprised that people liked this so much and now I'm so nervous that I'm going to disappoint you. This chapter is a setup for the rest of the story, so it's a bit odd. I hope you like it!

It's been a whole night since I made the deal. I have returned to the Mystery Shack for provisions, and am now prepared to follow Bill Cipher to my destiny. This empty journal was something that I grabbed along the way. It will be the first installment in my own series of journals, separate from the original ones. Better than the original ones. I will also be filling it with records of my own experiences, and drawing pictures of what I find. This entry is just something to start.

I went through our old room to get it. Mabel was sleeping in there with Waddles. She looked so innocent and sweet, no one would have guessed the treason she's capable of. But still, I can't help but wonder: is this really what I want? Do I want revenge on her and Stan? I certainly want them to see how I feel about them, but I don't want to hurt them. Bill seems to want to destroy them, however, and I'm not entirely sure what to do about it. Do I trust him?

Stan was in the living room. I had to sneak past him. I don't know where the author is. Nobody seems to be upset thus far about my disappearance. They probably didn't even notice when I slipped away after the portal closed. I'm certainly curious about what they were doing with the portal in the first place, and how the author got stuck in there, but I'll find out on my own. Mabel can ask the questions. I'll do all the thinking. As of now, I absolve my bonds from everyone but myself. Surely there are loads of secrets that no one has ever-

Dipper's hand paused over the paper as Bill Cipher appeared. He quickly slapped the notebook shut as the triangle leaned over his shoulder.

"Get out of my space," Dipper muttered.

"Pine Tree, I'm not in your space. Your space is my space now. We have a deal – I'm bound to you until the treaty is resolved and our pact is broken. Same goes for you – your space is my space as long as we're together."

"Great."

The two were situated in the basement of the Mystery Shack, sitting in the charred remains of the portal. Dipper didn't know why he had returned to the lab, but there was some kind of sick comfort to be found in the place where his heart had been shattered. It was surely sunrise by now, though, and he knew that they should leave before his family awoke.

As if speaking Dipper's thoughts (as he very well may have been), Bill suddenly floated over to the door. "We better get going, kid. There's a long road ahead of us, and your very grumpy uncle stands between us and it. Nobody's up yet, so we should leave now."

"Alright." as much as Dipper hated being told what to do, he knew that it was wise to do what the demon suggested. He heaved himself to his feet, slinging a backpack over his shoulder. It held water, soda, granola bars, clean clothes, a few blank notebooks, extra pencils, a magnifying glass, and all of the other necessities for uncovering the mysteries of Gravity Falls.

As softly as humanly possible, Dipper moved up the stairs and pushed the vending machine open, suddenly envying Bill's ability to float soundlessly over the ground. The two crossed the gift shop, pausing to cringe as a floorboard creaked, and proceeded out the front door. The bell jingled (they had both forgotten the bell), and Dipper quickly slammed the door shut and took off across the lawn to hide in the woods.

Moments later the door opened and Grunkle Stan peered out to look around. Shrugging, he yawned and withdrew back into the shack. It was strange to see him act so naturally when the entire shack was in shambles from the gravity anomalies that he had caused.

"Where to next?" Dipper hissed the question to Bill, who was examining a leaf on the ground. The triangle turned away from his discovery to look at Dipper.

"We gotta go through town to get there," he explained. "I'm going to hide once we get close, but I'll still be with you. So don't freak out. Act natural."

"Freak out," Dipper muttered. "Yeah, like I'd ever do that."

The town of Gravity Falls was in complete disarray – Dipper supposed that this was why no one had come to arrest Stan yet. The citizens had retreated into what was left of their homes, but social workers and policemen were still milling about and investigating everything. In the time that Dipper had spent in the town, he had been amazed at the incompetence of anyone who had any authority. The town was full of rednecks and idiots, and yet he loved it.

No, not loved.

Felt...a vague sense of attachment. He was attached to it. Why shouldn't he be? He'd had a tough family life until he came here, where suddenly it was peaceful. Everyone was welcoming, even if they were idiots.

Due to the fact that everyone was completely focused on trying to figure out what the hell had happened to destroy every building in the town, Dipper easily slipped by. Bill had explained to him that their destination lay in the forest beyond the town, a place that Dipper had never before explored. Excitement made him lightheaded. He wondered why he had never been out there before.

"Great job, kid," Bill congratulated Dipper when he reappeared after they had cleared the town.

Dipper rolled his eyes. "Those people are such idiots. They were so focused on their stupid stuff that they didn't even notice me. Why don't they look for answers somewhere else? They're obviously not going to find anything here!"

"That's what sets you apart from them, city boy. You know where to look for things – that's what makes you so smart for coming to me!"

"I'm smart even without you."

"But I know how to get things. And every genius needs a guy who knows how to get things."

"I guess," Dipper agreed.

The forest beyond the town is strange. At first it looks like any other part of Gravity Falls, but now that we're deeper in and have stopped for the night I'm seeing really strange things. I've included pictures and descriptions of things that I've already found – there are mushrooms out here that glow, and they release their spores at night. They come in several colors and they grow on the ground, in the trees, and in other places where you don't realize they are until night falls and they light up like lanterns. It's beautiful, especially now, as I'm writing this.

Dipper paused for a moment. Mabel would love this, he wrote, but quickly remembered and scratched it out, frowning.

I'm excited to see what else awaits me out here. There's so much that no one has ever noticed, and it's exhilarating to think that I could be the first person who ever stopped to notice these things. Other people wouldn't look as hard, and they would miss these beautiful moments that I see. I admit that I'm always moving too quickly, and that I'm often too far in my own head to see these things. It was my sister who taught me to stop and see things in this light, and for that I am grateful.

I should get some rest. Bill told me that tomorrow, we're going to start out on our real journey, but he won't tell me what it is. I guess I'll just have to be patient. I'll write again tomorrow. ~The Author

So if you read this, hello again! You guys are amazing, and thanks to everyone who favorited or followed or REVIEWED! Please give me tips on how to improve or ideas for where the heck this is even going (please guys I need the helps)!

It's still break, so I'm writing more than usual. I kind of cranked this out, though, so...uh, it's not the best. I didn't know what to really do to bridge between events so this kind of happened.

I feel like this chapter is really dull and badly written compared to the last one, but I promise the next one will be better. I'm also going to give Mabel the next chapter. Ya know, for diversity and hopefully a deeper story :)

For anyone who's a new reader: please enjoy!

Thanks for reading,

-Squeeb100