Chapter 2

Special Delivery

"Dipper! Mabel! There's a package here for you!"

Two brown haired twins immediately perked up from their respective projects. Dipper had been reading another book in The Sibling Bros series while his sister Mabel was knitting a sweater. They both looked at each other in excitement and bolted down the stairs to where their mother's voice had been coming from.

As they hit the last step, they saw a box sitting in front of the door. A large stamp declaring it had been sent from Gravity Falls, Oregon confirmed the twin's suspicions: it was another care package!

In the 8 months since coming back to Piedmont, California after their supernatural summer in the small town, Dipper and Mabel had been getting small care packages from their great uncles, friends, and even some of the mythical creatures that resided in the small town. Dipper wasn't sure how they had managed to find their address, but as long as they didn't cause any trouble, he really couldn't complain.

The twins ferociously tore into the cardboard, not bothering with opening it the conventional way. As the box broke open, its contents spilled out onto the floor. It seemed this was a bigger package than normal. There were letters, gifts, two cases of Pitt Cola, among other things. Dipper and Mabel began sorting the items between the two until they got to a letter addressed to both of them.

"It's from Gruncle Stan and Great Uncle Ford!" Mabel squealed in excitement. She tore open the letter and began reading, "Dear Dipper and Mabel- So far so good!" Dipper grabbed the letter away from her and she frowned.

"Mabel, if you're going to stop after every sentence, I might as well read it," Dipper smoothed out the letter and cleared his throat," Dear Dipper and Mabel,

"Hope you kids are doing well back in Peidmont. Me and Ford- um there's some scribbling here… I think Ford tried to correct his grammar - I'll say it however I want! Oh sorry kids, the 'Grammar Police' is breathing down my neck. But, hey, when is the police not on my case? Anyway, just wanted to let you kids know that we just got back from the maiden voyage of the Stan O War 2 and, boy, did we find some cool and weird stuff! No babes… well except for that siren…

"Ooo, sirens! What skallywags our Gruncles are!" Mabel cooed.

"Mabel, sirens lead sailors to their deaths." Dipper deadpanned.

"Still skallywags!" Mabel asserted. Dipper chuckled and went back to reading.

"Anyway, me and my bro decided we were going to stay in Gravity Falls for a couple of months so we could see you when you come back for the summer. Soos was getting ready to spend a couple weeks in Portland with Melody and her parents, So I offered to run the Mystery Shack while he was there and he's letting us stay at the Shack till we leave again. Now Ford is complaining that I won't leave him any room to write. Anyway, can't wait to see you guys this summer!

"Greetings Dipper and Mabel, we have seen so many wondrous creatures on our travels. Mabel, I ran into a merman that said he had known you from the previous summer and he wanted me to tell you 'Hi'-" Mabel sighed and gave a small smile at the mention of Mermando, "We also pinpointed the source of the weirdness energy, it turned out to be the lost city of Atlantis, it was extremely fascinating, oh Dipper how I wish you could have seen it! I made some sketches in the journal once we got back to dry land. Speaking of the journal, in this package I have created a copy of all of my journals and combined them into one book, so that you may use it while at home to study the anomalies that may lie in Peidmont. Oh, and for Mabel, I sent a new and improved grappling hook! The old one's chord tends to snap after too many uses," Mabel fishes through he box and grabs the sleek gun.

"GRAPPLING HOOK!" She squeals and begins running around in circles.

"I cannot wait for you kids to come back to Gravity Falls this summer! We still have a lot of catching up to do.

Love, your Gruncle Stan and Great Uncle Ford"

Dipper smiled as he pulled out the new journal. It was massive compared to the other journals, but it still fit perfectly in his vest. He hadn't gotten a chance to study the first and second journals very closely before they were destroyed, this was a great opportunity to do so!

Suddenly, the doorbell rang and Mabel turned toward the door a huge smile on her face.

"Yes! Bella's here!" She ran towards the door about to pull it open.

"Aw, what? Mabel, don't you want to look through the rest of this stuff together," Dipper said dejectedly.

"Don't worry Dipper! We'll have time to go through it tomorrow! Right now, though, I have a sleep over to get to!"

"Mom let you have a sleepover on a school night?"

"I can be very persuasive!" At that moment she ripped open the door to reveal a girl Mabel's age. Dipper realized she wasn't one of Mabel's normal friends but decided not to question it. His sister was a social butterfly after all. "Dipper, this is my new friend Bella! Bella, this is my bro!"

"Uh, hey," Dipper waved awkwardly. The girl had long blonde hair, a backpack over her shoulder, and a pair of sunglasses on that here almost as big as her face. Bella smiled and held out her hand.

"Nice to see you again!" She said enthusiastically. Dipper was a bit taken aback by this reaction.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I've met you before," He apologized, he looked at her hand warily. Ever since the summer, a handshake wasn't as innocent and friendly as it used to be.

"I've seen you around school," She said quickly, still holding out her hand. Dipper begrudgingly shook it. Dipper didn't know what he had expected to happen from a normal handshake, but nothing did. Bella quickly followed Mabel up the stairs and they both ran into her room.

"Come on Dipper, get a hold of yourself," Dipper closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "He's gone, he can't come back." Dipper took the journal back out form his vest and looked at it for a moment. Even though he knew he didn't need the journal, it was comforting to have one back in his possession again. He was shaken from his thoughts at the sounds of high pitched laughter drifting from his sisters upstairs bedroom.

It was going to be a long night.