There was a loud knocking before the door swooshed open, defeating the purpose of signaling presence in the first place. Dipper lifted an eyelid open and shifted his gaze towards the entrance where his sister stood wearing a floofy white t-shirt, a red weaved cardigan, and a pair of jeans.
"Rise and shine!" she shouted, her smile couldn't get any wider.
"May I ask what is so important that it deems to wake me up at—" he looked at the clock that hung on the wall above his desk—"nine in the morning?"
"One should always get an early start on the day. Especially when that day consists of breakfast at our favorite food place!"
"Enlighten me," Dipper joked as he sat up.
"Please don't confirm my suspicions that you're a lot dimmer than you look. Anyway, get dressed. I shall awaken the grunkle-y uncle," Mabel exclaimed. Before Dipper could get a word of protest out, she was gone, her footfalls bouncing off the rickety walls. Letting out a sigh with a smile, Dipper got up and began to get ready. As he did so, he found himself staring at an old photo of him and Mabel from their first summer, still young and loving all the craziness of this town. Then life hits and you have to think more towards the "real and important" stuff. A lot of feeling stirred around as he thought about those days, some pleasant, some less pleasant. But there was one resounding feeling out of all of them, one he'd carried on with him since moving here permanently to the Falls.
"Dipper! You ready?"
Shaken out of his reverie, Dipper pulled on a jacket, "yeah, I'm coming!"
"If the fancy flour bothers you so much, I guess I'll have to stoop to the level of paying for my own meal."
"C'mon kiddo, I'm just playing. Whatever you want on me. I mean it."
Mabel leaned to the side and whispered in her brother's ear, "and that, my friend, is reverse psychology at work."
"Well done," he approved with a wink and a thumbs up.
"So I hear you're having a bit of trouble with the case," grunkle Stan asked as he perused the menu.
"Oh, indeed. I've hit an undeniable roadblock. I can't for the life of me fathom what the killer could possibly be after with these victims. There's hardly been any actual evidence to work with too."
"Oh, Mabes, I started getting to work cracking the some of the ciphers. When I get some free time later in the day I have no doubt I'll be able to get them solved."
"Yeah? Gosh, that'd be so great. I'm just hoping those will give me an idea of… something ."
"Hi, are you all ready to order?" a lady came up, her face covered in freckles and her light brown hair put up in pigtails.
"Some coffee for me please, black," Stan started. Mabel locked eyes with her brother and mouthed something, to which he nodded.
"He and I both want a glass of orange juice. For the food, I wanna try out these cupcake-flavored pancakes."
"I'd like the eggs, bacon, and toast combo."
"And the steak omelette for me."
"Ok. I'll bring your dishes out in a bit," she said before walking away.
"Oh, I don't think I've even mentioned this to you before. You remember Pacifica Northwest right?"
"Sure I do. I take it she stayed around?"
"Yeah. We sort of became… business associates if you will. She decided to use a portion of her wealth to help the town by investing in new businesses, community projects, and similar activities. With her monetary backing, the local government has been able to improve on things like education and other services. She's helped a bit with the Shack, and I've helped in her with some of her own projects. Would you wanna stop by her place after this? I'd planned to meet with her today to help with something. She's nearly ditched her snobby persona from when we were kids."
"Sure, I'd love to. Though now this new development brings something into question. Just how has your relationship with her developed over the years I've been away," Mabel raised an eyebrow.
"Please, stop. You're being ridiculous."
"Am I? Maybe it's time to bring out my old matchmaking skills," she whispered to herself. Dipper couldn't be more thankful that the waitress came back with their food. A chance to change the subject.
Passing through the open gates and coming to a stop at the end of the roundabout in his Cadillac, Dipper and Mabel stepped outside and looked up at the Northwest manor. Just as graceful and extravagant as expected of the rich family, but it was also different in a weird way. She just couldn't pinpoint why. Stepping up to the front door, Dipper pressed the doorbell, a fancy tune playing. The door finally opened and there stood Pacifica wearing a short dress that was white above the waist with a flowered print below it, pearls hanging around her neck.
"Hello Dip—wait, Mabel?"
"Hey Pacifica. Been a while, hasn't it?" she returned with a smile.
"Uh yeah, it has. Come… come on in."
Pacifica led them beyond the grand hall and up the stairs into a large room that seemed to serve as a living room-slash-office, with couches, tables, lamps, and desks all in different sections. Sitting down, the blonde heiress motioned for them to follow.
"Crazy, I never thought I'd be seeing you again. You went to work as an investigator right? Someone failed to mention you were coming at all."
"Well it seems we were both kept out of the loop. I had no idea you'd been helping the town and Dipper and whatnot."
"How the times have changed huh? I guess now is the time I should apologize for being such a jerk when we were younger. I can't…."
"Don't worry Pacifica, that's water under the bridge. It's just good to see you again. We definitely need to catch up sometime."
"Sure, I'd like that."
"So you wanted my advice on something?" Dipper interjected.
"Right, yes. Here," standing up, she walked over to the desk, she collected a bunch of papers before coming back over to them.
"It's this contract for something I'm doing with the lumberjack family. I wanted to ask you if the terms seemed fair before I met with them."
"All right, I'll take a look for you," Dipper offered, holding his hand out for the paper. As Pacifica and her brother discussed business-related matters, Mabel found herself drifting off back to the case. With the markings carved into the skin, it could be the murderer is just mentally ill. It could also be a sort of cult following; thinking of that brought back memories of Gravity Falls' secret society. Or… maybe it was something business-related. Maybe, in some way or other, they'd all crossed the same person? And the person finally got back at them.
Peek-a-boo.
Mabel shot up in reaction to the voice. Dipper was facing the papers in his hand, but his eyes were directed at her. Had he heard it too?
"You okay?" he asked, his face full of concern and confusion. No, he hadn't. Must've been her thinking that she heard something. Pacifica was looking at her too now.
"No, no, don't worry, I'm fine. I just thought I heard something. My imagination. You guys take your time. I'll just walk around for a bit. Do you mind?"
"Of course not. Go ahead," Pacifica answered. Mabel left the room and wandered through the manor in an attempt to clear her head. Oddly she had come up with several new possibilities to explore while sitting with Dipper and Pacifica, but she couldn't be sure of any of them as of yet. Indeed some sort of cult activity seemed a likely candidate considering the markings and bloody nature of the deaths. Suddenly wanting to make it home to look into these, she waited by Dipper's car outside. After thirty-so minutes her brother finally showed up.
"Hey. Sorry, it took a little longer than expected."
"No problem, Dip."
"Are you sure you're all right?"
"I'd just been lost in thoughts about the case, is all. Seriously, you need to relax."
"Okay, fine, I'll take your word for it. As soon as we get home I'll show what I got out of those ciphers."
"Thanks. And um… you still have those journals lying around somewhere right?"
Dipper gave her a look of surprise, "I do, and you're welcome to look at them, but why?"
"I started getting the idea that maybe this is some kind of cult. The journal talked a little about the Society of the Blind Eye remember? I mean it's a long shot considering there have been kills in more than just Oregon, but maybe it mentions some other underground organizations. I just wanna take a peak."
Dipper started the car and began the trip home.
"Hmm, interesting. Because of the scarring of the ciphers on the victims? I can't remember if there was a page talking about any cults or something, but I've done the most looking through journal #3 so who knows if there's something in the other two."
After they got back to the shack they entered his room. On his desk was a mess of papers with letters scrawled in a bunch of directions. He pulled out one and showed it to Mabel.
ORSBER GUR PENFUVAT YVTUG NAQ GUHAQREVAT EBNEF RAWBL GUR PNYZ ORSBER GUR FGBEZ
BEFORE THE CRASHING LIGHT AND THUNDERING ROARS, ENJOY THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM
TNNWA GMEAE GHDII BHADB DSEIG TRTRI LIKES HHIXK NENY
THE END IS NIGH WITH A BRIGHT X MARKED IN A BLEEDING SKY
"How did you figure them out?"
"I started on the assumption that they were probably simple substitution ciphers. It wasn't too hard once I set my mind to it."
Reading them over, her idea felt more and more accurate. It was crazy talk, almost like some impending doom was coming. Maybe a strange demonic cult that believes Judgement Day is soon to be upon us.
"It definitely helps to support my suspicions. This sounds like some weird chant for a coming apocalypse."
"Surely a deranged group," Dipper muttered, his eyes squinting in thought.
"I guess I'll show this to the officers back at the station tomorrow, see what they make of it. This might be my big break!"
"Ah, you know I'm always here for you. I'll have the other two solved soon."
"But don't forget to keep this place up and running too. It's good to know with you around, there are some more legit attractions."
"Well, I actually care to look for all that supernatural stuff so I bring back souvenirs from time to time."
"Good. I think I'm gonna start on a bit of research. Now that I'm on the hunt for a possible cult, there might be older, related cases from surrounding areas that can help me with this one."
"Ok. I'll call you down for lunch when it's ready. Oh and here," Dipper opened up a drawer to his desk and pulled out three volumes.
"Great! I'll start looking through these. I know how dear to your heart they are," she placed a hand on his shoulder, "so it's an absolute honor that you let me look at them."
Before Dipper could retort with a comeback, Mabel went up to her room to get to work. Once she was out of sight, Dipper closed the door to his bedroom and set to organizing his papers. If anyone were around him now they probably would've noticed the yellow glint in his pupils.
She's so close and yet so far to it all.
We're driving out tomorrow… do I get the details in advance this time?
You don't need them yet. Besides, it'll make for conversation while we're headed there.
You can be so annoying when you wanna be.
And you are an absolute riot when I mess with you.
…
Aww, c'mon, don't ignore me. If I leave you alone to relax for the rest of the day, can you promise to be more energetic tomorrow?
I won't make any promises with you of all people but….
That's not a no so that means it's a yes. I can't wait… ~Pine Tree.
