That's Not All

Dipper couldn't sleep that night. His mind was racing with not only thoughts of the party he would have to endure the next day, but also of a certain blonde woman. He couldn't shake the mixed feelings he was having about her. Sure, she was beautiful, smart, funny, and seemed to like him, even though he still felt way out of her league and couldn't imagine why she would want to be with someone like him. But something deep down inside kept telling him there was something not right about her. Dipper was no stranger to the supernatural, and he certainly wouldn't think twice about a person in Gravity Falls having anything to do with the paranormal, but he couldn't let go of the weirdness surrounding this eccentric young woman who seemed out of place even in this town. Every little oddity and unexplainable thing she had said or done that he had dismissed over the last few days was beginning to eat at him. He had learned many years ago to listen to, and trust wholeheartedly, that feeling from his gut. He, of all people, knew that if something was too good to be true, then it definitely wasn't.

He thought back on their first encounter; how he had heard her say the name 'Bill'. He remembered their first physical contact when they shook hands and he felt that strong electrical current shoot through him, which she tried to easily dismiss as static electricity. A little static shock has never made me want to throw up before. He remembered the unsettling looks she gave him that first day, and how she hasn't looked at him that way at all since. He thought about how she was able to silently appear behind him, startling the crap out of him the other morning. There's no way she could have done that and make absolutely no sound, not with those boots...and not on these squeaky floors. He remembered the way she glanced at his to-do list for only a few seconds, yet knew exactly everything on it, and came up with a plan to get it all done in less than one lunch hour. He thought about her strange behavior in the restaurant; ordering alcohol and getting away with it, and her eating choices and habits, which, although strange, even he had to admit wasn't exactly paranormal. But it was still unsettling.

All of this Dipper contemplated, going over all the oddities in his head. What troubled him the most, though, by far, was the occurrence in the shop yesterday morning when the cornicorn figurine had fallen. How did she know I was staring at her? Maybe it was that weird feeling we all get sometimes when we feel like we're being watched...but what she said just doesn't make sense. She knew exactly what fell, even though she couldn't possibly have seen it from where she was, and she even said she made it fall in order to distract me. Why would she say that?

And then there was the yellow. Everything she wore was yellow, if it wasn't black. Her car was yellow. She seemed obsessed with the color. I'm surprised her fingernails aren't painted yellow. As it is, they are almost a glowing shade of blue. Almost like her fingertips were...little...blue...flames... Dipper's eyes widened and his heart rate picked up as he drew more of a visual semblance in his mind to the triangular nightmare of five years ago.

"I just know there's a connection to B-". He felt his throat tighten and mouth go dry. "A connection to Bi-..." He couldn't bring himself to say that name out loud, even if he was only whispering.

Dipper began to sweat under the blankets of his bed, and not because it was a warm summer night. He decided to get up and go for a walk, not too far, though, knowing he had a long day tomorrow. Ah, who was he kidding...he never slept well, anyways. It really didn't matter how long he would be out for.

He slipped on his clothes and shoes and quietly crept out of the room, keeping an eye on Mabel's sleeping form under the quilt on her bed. He really didn't want to wake her up. That would just turn into a hopeless, one-sided conversation about him and who he was thinking about that was causing him to not be able to sleep. As he sneaked around the door, quietly pulling it closed behind him, he heard a slight rustling come from Mabel's side of the room. He froze, holding his breath, hoping to God she didn't wake up. After a moment, he felt it was safe to continue and headed down the squeaky stairs as silently as he knew how.

Heavy feet stepped out into the stagnant night. The sky was clear. Stars shone brightly and the three-quarter moon was already prominent in its position amongst them, casting even more silvery sheen onto the landscape. It was still very warm, but the lack of wind and the humidity made the air heavy.

Dipper plodded down the porch stairs and began walking in the direction of his favorite spot in the surrounding forest. Walking around the woods was always his preferred activity when he needed to clear his mind, or just be alone. As the trees became thicker around him, Dipper's mind began to drift to the creatures that used to inhabit this area. He was kinda glad about not having any risk of running into the annoying gnomes, or any of the more dangerous monsters that could do him some serious damage. He wasn't exactly prepared to fight off anything, having no backpack or provisions with him.

Only a few minutes in, the teen came across a downed tree covered with soft moss. It was one of the spots he would often go to read or write in his journal in private. He smoothed the ground in front of it, kicking some pine needles and cones out of the way, then turned and sat on the cool forest floor, leaning up against the sturdy tree trunk. He pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs. A heavy sigh left his lips as he closed his eyes and tried to clear his overloaded mind.

Sounds of the night began to fill his ears as he sat quietly, and he welcomed the pleasant distraction. Somewhere nearby, a cricket skillfully rang out its song; a slow and steady chirp relaying a happy sound. Seconds later, another one joined in, and Dipper listened as they harmonized together. The steady rhythm lulled him into an almost trance-like state, his consciousness on the verge of slipping into deep sleep.

The crack of a large branch succumbing to an unbearable weight suddenly brought him back to full awareness. The very harsh, assaulting sound came from behind him. He slowly turned to find its origin, being careful to keep himself crouched behind the tree and only peeking over it. He craned his neck and squinted in the low light that filtered through the branches. His eyes widened as the cause of the noise came into focus. Only about ten yards away from him stood a familiar bear with several heads.

Dipper slowly got to his feet, keeping himself between the tree trunk and the creature. "M-multi bear?" he stammered, trying to sound confident, but failing miserably. "Where did you come from? I thought all the magical beings in Gravity Falls were gone?"

He stopped talking as soon as the creature stood up on its hind legs and began to move slowly towards him. He wasn't sure what to do as the bear wasn't moving in a threatening manner, but he still wanted to maintain a decent buffer between himself and the creature he hadn't positively identified yet. As it slowly came closer, Dipper could feel his adrenaline begin to shoot through his body. He could now see why it had not answered him. All the mouths of each head had been roughly sewn shut. Even more disturbing than that, there were only dark chasms where all of its eyes should have been.

Suddenly it stopped its advance a few yards short of a very nervous Dipper, and leaned against a large tree as if to rest and relieve the burden of walking. It then lifted one of its massive paws to the mouth of its prominent head. A single claw was lifted, the razor sharp tip gleaming in the moonlight. Using that one claw, it began to rip through the stitching keeping the mouth closed. The action was clearly painful as the bear winced and blood began to ooze from the torn stitches. "Di-phmnn..." it moaned, trying to acknowledge the boy's questions.

Before Dipper could even begin to sort out what he was seeing or hearing, a bright blue flame erupted on the ground around the bear. The blinding light stung his eyes and he could feel significant heat emanating from it, but he managed to squint through the brightness and ignored the heat as he refused to look away from the poor creature. The flames crawled up the matted brown fur until the bear was fully engulfed. Then, as suddenly as it came, the flames disappeared, leaving no trace of the bear. The ground where it had stood was perfectly intact, save for the impressions made in the dirt caused by two paws which had bore all the weight of the massive creature.

What the... What just happened?! This has to be a dream. Yeah, that's it...I'm just dreaming. There was no Multi-bear, no blue flames... He closed his eyes. Wake up, Dipper. Just wake up already! He squatted down, placing his hands over his face, willing himself to wake up. This isn't happening. It's all in my mind. I'd been dwelling on this too much tonight and I'm just succumbing to my sub-conscious. That's all... "THAT'S ALL!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, not realizing until it had escaped his mouth that he was, finally, fully awake.

A small cracking sound to his left caused him to nearly jump out of his skin. He quickly stood and squinted in the low light, trying to see what had caused the noise; that odd feeling of déjà vu rising up inside him. Another small crack and rustling of debris from the forest floor had Dipper readying himself to run in the opposite direction. But then, he heard a familiar voice, and the live-wire that was his sister came into view.

"There you are! Are you alright? I've been trying to find you but didn't know which way you had gone and then I heard you scream and I could finally tell which direction you went and..." she finally paused for a second but then immediately continued. "...Uhg! Why did you have to go off and scare me like that?! And the screaming! What's up with that?! Aaahh!" she shouted in order to let out the last of her frustration and worry. "Ok, I'm ok now...I think." She sat down on the fallen tree trunk, breathing heavily after having sprinted towards her screaming brother.

Dipper just sighed aloud, happy to see it was just his sister, and also upset that his sister had followed him out here. "Look, Mabes-" he was immediately interrupted.

"Are you hurt?Did something bad happen?Why are you even out here?Wha-" this time, Dipper quickly closed the short gap between them, slapping a hand over the mouth that wouldn't stop with the questions long enough for him to get a word in edgewise. He made a mental note of having to do that to her a lot lately.

"Mabel!" he scolded. "How am I supposed to explain if you never shut up?!" he declared before releasing his hold on her face. She just nodded, but was trembling in anticipation of what he would tell her.

"I'm fine. I just came out here because I couldn't sleep and needed to clear my head. I must have dozed off and had a bad dream," he explained, hoping beyond hope his sister would accept it and not pry too much.

No such luck...this was Mabel, after all.

"So is that why you screamed? You were having a nightmare?" she asked, still very much concerned over the fact that her brother would wander out into the forest in the middle of the night, and fall asleep no less.

"Yes, yes. That's all, sis. You don't have to worry about me so much. I'm nearly an adult, remember?" He playfully nudged her with his elbow, giving her a sarcastic wink.

Mabel was still worried, though, the gears of her mind clearly mulling over something. "That's all.." she repeated, half under her breath. A confused look washed over her face. "That's what you said when you screamed. What does that mean, Dipper? What were you dreaming about?"

"Look, Mabel...I've tried before to talk to you about this particular concern, and you wouldn't listen to me. I just...I guess I was just dwelling on my thoughts too much tonight and they manifested into a very realistic dream that I was trying desperately to wake up from." He looked up to see a very melancholy look on his twin's face; regret and guilt starting to overcome his own. "I-I'm sorry, sis...I didn't mean-" He was cut off by Mabel's soft voice, the one nobody ever heard unless she was really upset.

"No, I'm the one who's sorry. You're right. I never stop to let you explain what's bothering you, or really listen to your concerns. I'm too busy trying to blow off the serious stuff, or trying to make light of your problems, that now you won't even come to me when you need someone to talk to." She began to tear up, a drop spilling over out of the corner of her eye.

Dipper sat down next to her, putting an arm around her shoulder. "It's ok, just...will you let me talk about it now? And really listen to what is bothering me?"

At that, Mabel's face lit up. "Really?! You really want to talk to me about this? I promise, I'll listen intently and not rush to judgment and won't interrupt or anything!" Her giddiness was coming back, but Dipper knew she would not let it overtake her. He had faith that she knew she needed to take him seriously now, and would do what she said she would.

"Of course I want to talk to you about this, you're my big sister." He knew that remark would bring a smile to her face, and it did. She gave him a face-splitting grin, pulling him into one of their famous awkward sibling hugs.

Dipper closed his eyes as he hugged her back, but immediately froze when he opened them and caught sight of the ground behind them. It was the same spot near the large tree where the Multi-bear had stopped advancing toward him in his dream, when he was watching from the other side of the fallen tree they were now sitting on. There, in the dirt of the forest floor, were two deep impressions that were clearly made from the paws of a massive creature. A massive bear, to be more precise.

"U-uh, Mabel?" he asked with fear in his voice as he continued to hold on to his sister.

"Yeah, Dip?" she replied casually. She hadn't noticed his fear.

"I was wrong. That's not all..."