Wow! Two reviews?! Thanks so much, guys! Anyway, that was just the prologue to their adventure. We'll be getting closer to the paranormal in this chapter! (At the bottom, there's a cipher. Solve it using the code Dipper discovers! For those who don't remember, it's three letters back!)
Ever had a moment of pure peace? Alone, everything's quiet, and you feel as though you're indestructible, like nothing could go wrong? So did Dipper in the attic, reading his book.
Poor Dipper.
"DIIPPPPEEEERRRRR!" Mabel yelled too loudly, even for a floor down from the attic. Dipper was just getting into an interesting part of the journal with something along the lines of Atabash. Dipper closed the book, trying to memorize the page number while doing so. He then yelled back,
"WHAT MABEL?!" Followed by the sound of the creaky stairs and a fast paced fry med on them. The door flew open, revealing a very perspired Mabel, sweating and panting.
"HAVE YOU *Pant* SEEN *Pant* WADDLES ANYWHERE? I CAN'T *Pant* FIND HIM!" She was wearing a sweater with a lollipop on it today, with red and white striped running slanted down the side. Dipper shook his head, and said,
"Mabel, aren't you overreacting? I'm sure he's somewhere around the house, probably eating the leftovers again." Last time Waddles was left unattended, he ate all of the pancakes out of the 'fridge.
"But Dipper! I haven't seen him ALL DAY! Aren't you worried? He could have been in a disaster!" She said, putting more emphasis on the horror of the situation. Dipper turned, putting his feet on the floor and off of the window seat, and said,
"Don't worry, Mabel. I'll help you find your pig. Where was he last night?" After putting Journal 3 in his vest again.
"In the living room, where he likes to sleep in front of the TV and annoy Grunkle Stan." Mabel said, obviously relieved to have her twin's help.
"Okay, did you check in the living room?" Dipper asked, oblivious to the fact that Mabel had probably turned the shack upside down looking for her pig. Mabel huffed and crossed her arms, then said,
"Dipper! I checked the entire house and my completely hidden and secret candy stash!"
"Okay, okay! We'll just look outside- Wait, your what?"
"Nothing! Onwards Dipper! To find Waddles!" With that, Mabel triumphantly marched out of the room, leaving a confused Dipper behind. He then shook his head and ran after her, closing the door behind him.
Little did he know that when he closed the door, the triangle in the center of the window vanished.
Running to the front of the shack, the Mystery Twins successfully managed to knock over two lamps, the vacuum cleaner, break a lightbulb on the ceiling, and break a random elephant tusk. Grunkle Stan was not going to be happy. A few customers managed to avoid hurricane Mabel, but other were pushed into random merchandise. The only thing that stopped them was the familiar voice coming from the counter.
"Hey dudes! What's going on?" Soos, handyman, man-child, friend had watched them storm in and disrupt life as we know it.
"No time to talk, Soos! We have a pig to find!" Mabel said as one would state their authority.
"Can I come with you? I can find Wendy and get her to look over the shack for while. Then we can have, like an awesome adventure!" Dipper was about to say no, brut he quickly remembered how Soos had helped them escape the pterodactyl, and owed him one. He'd make good company, anyway.
"Sure, as long as you help look for Waddles. Deal?" Dipper asked.
"Deal!" Soos said energetically. "This is great!" He ran off for a second, then came back. "She said, Sure, whatever. Let's get moving, Dino Bros!" then he glanced over at Mabel for a second, before finishing with, "And Bro-ettes."
All the while the poor customers and tourists in the gift shop had no clue what was going on.
"So, where would Waddles be? He couldn't go far, he's just a pig." Dipper said, trying to hurry up all the while.
"Did you check the backyard? There's always random stuff there. Would a pig be random?" Soos answered while asking his own question.
"Yes!" Mabel said, looking down at the ground. Soos and Dipper looked at her for a moment, but understood what she cheered about once they saw the ground. There were faint hoof prints in the dirt on the left side of the shack. Pig prints, by the looks of it. The trio kept there eyes glued to the ground as they followed the prints to the backyard, where they mysteriously stopped.
"So now what?" Dipper questioned. Pigs just don't vanish, but then again, this IS Gravity Falls.
"Maybe we should check that shed, dudes." Soos said, pointing to a building straight in the middle of the backyard. Mabel rushed forward, and swung the door open. Her eyes searched frantically, but paused when they noticed something else.
"Dipper?" She said, slowly and nervously. "Come here for a second..." She finished as she motioned to the door of the shed. Dipper jogged over, followed by a huffing Soos. Gazing inside, he was dumbstruck.
Inside the shed were map coating the walls so much that you couldn't see the wood that made up the outside of the shed. In the corners were stacks of books pulled up, with names like Codes for Kids and Cryptids: A Guide to the Monsters of the World. There was a board with all sorts of pictures tacked to it. Some showed just plain things, like footprints or tufts of hair, while other showed blurry pictures of creatures Dipper couldn't identify. But that wasn't the freaky part. The freaky part were the red, bold letter drawn on the maps. Some of them were:
WHERE DID HE HIDE THEM FROM ME?!
DOES STAN TRUST ME ANYMORE?
HAVE I FINALLY LOST IT?
I KNOW IT EXISTS! I SAW IT!
McGUCKET CAN LIE, BUT HE CAN'T HIDE!
The final part was most chilling. Just one phrase, written over and over again:
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHA!
"Dudes, do you know what this means?" Soos said, breaking the nervous silence.
"Someone drank too much hot chocolate and had a crazy moment?" Mabel asked. Suddenly, a small rustling noise was heard in the back of the shed. Dipper instinctively put his arm across Mabel, prepared for anything. Then, out of a small, brown burlap sack, a little creature dashed forwards. When it got into the light, Dipper could see what it was.
A gourd. To be more precise, a gourd with a human face and emotions. It ran passed them, sobbing, and ran into the woods.
The trio chased after it, shed forgotten.
WKDW'V PA VKHG!
