She raced through the forest like a bat out of Hell, arms extended outward as she cut through the low hanging branches and scattered shrubbery, the jagged edges of bark slicing through the palms of his hands. But Wendy didn't care – she too fueled with adrenaline to notice the blood seeping through her wounds and trickling down her fingers. She needed to get away. Needed to find her friends, wherever they were.

Wherever they were hiding.

Shards of hail pricked her skin, the clap of thunder sending a jolt straight through her racing heart. Her body begged for air, but her legs kept on moving, determined to get away from the thing that had attacked their campsite. The thing that dragged Dipper away. Stan urged them to stay together, for it was easy to get lost in this black sea of trees. But when they heard their friends frightful screams into the distance, Wendy immediately charged deeper into the forest, the sound of Stan and Mabel's voices echoing behind her.

But there was nothing in her wake. Empty paths lead into various directions, but Wendy couldn't remember which path she had taken that lead back to Stan and Mabel. Every tree looked the same, every bush matching the other. The ground was covered in dead twigs and fallen leaves and the ground felt soft and spongy beneath her feet once the downpour started to occur. She was lost, with no way to contact her friends and figure out where they were. She felt stupid for running off.

And when she heard the guttural sound of a throaty growl, stupidity immediately morphed into fear.

Clouds of fog could be seen coming out of her mouth with every exhale of breath she took, the temperatures dropping fiercely the deeper he fell into the forest. Daggers pierced her chest with every inhale of breath she took and it didn't take long before Wendy's knees finally gave out.

Twigs and damp soil smeared across her face, her fingers clawing into the earth to drag her tired body through the forest. She could feel its presence hovering dangerously over her and Wendy wanted nothing more than to get away as safely as she could.

Paranoia flooded her senses. It was almost like she could feel its jagged nails scraping along her spine, feel its frozen breath lingering at the nape of her neck, its teeth crooked and pointy and gleaming in the silver moonlight that peaked through the darkened storm clouds.

"Wendy …" It whispered, sharp and menacing. "Wendy!"

"WENDY!"

Her eyes shot open, peering into the distance just enough to see past the showering hail. "Dipper?"

"Wendy! Over here! Hurry!" Her friend called, sinking into the trees until all Wendy could see was the back of his head.

"Dipper! Dude!" Wendy screamed, finding her strength and rushing to her feet, kicking up clumps of mud and soil as she tore through the forest.

"Hurry!" Dipper urged desperately, his figure coming back into view as Wendy ran faster. The mass amount of trees began to split, less and less coming into view until Wendy noticed that they were coming close to a cave. Without any hesitation, Dipper slipped through the small entrance and urged Wendy to follow.

Sliding on her stomach, Wendy slipped into the cave and gulped large amounts of air, raindrops sliding against her exposed shivering skin and soaking clothes. She opened her eyes, not even realizing they were closed and blinked owlishly when she noticed how incredibly dark the cave was.

Hoisting herself up, she reached out into the darkness and quickly grabbed onto Dipper once she felt her friend's presence. "Dipper! Dipper, are you alright? Are you hurt? What the hell happened? How did you get away?"

The questions kept flowing as she examined her friend as best she could through the darkness, her fingers grazing over his arms and chest to see if she could feel any cuts or bumps. Nothing out of the ordinary, which made Wendy sigh in relief, holding Dipper close. "You had us worried sick, man. We thought we … we thought we had lost you."

"Where are the others?" Dipper asked with cold precision. It was a tone Wendy wasn't used to hearing from the young boy and she flummoxed, taken aback.

"Uhh," she ceased her hung, but still kept her arms wrapped around Dipper's frame. "I don't know. I lost them in the forest when I heard you screaming."

"Hmm…" Dipper hummed, pulling himself away from Wendy's grip. The tone in his voice was almost as cold as his skin, so cold it turned the raindrops sliding down his frame into little shards of ice. What the hell was wrong with him? Why was Dipper acting like this all of a sudden? He'd never willing pull away from a hug from me.

Absentmindedly, Wendy slowly reached for her small hatchet she kept on her belt loop, her eyes slowly adjusting through the darkness as Dipper's small frame slowly started coming into view. "Dipper…?"

"I guess you'll have to do," he interrupted her, the undertone of his voice raspy and so unlike himself. "I'm sure the others will emerge at the sound of screaming. After all, it worked on you."

"You…" She fell backwards on butt, kicking her feet and pushing herself out of the cave as Dipper grew closer. "W-What the fuck are you!?"

"Oh, don't you worry," the creature grinned maliciously, growing immensely taller, it's jagged, pointed teeth gleaming in the moonlight until it charged forward, striking Wendy at the neck and pinning her down into the spongy soil. Thunder crashed and lightning struck, a strip of light highlight the features of Dipper's face, his eyes pitch black and feral, his smile curved into a vicious grin. But when he spoke, Wendy swore she could hear the cracks of her friends innocent voice, buried underneath a tone that was demonic and sinister.

"Your Big Dipper is still here," it whispered, controlling Wendy's fingers to pierce through the skin of her neck. "He's still here … screaming at me, begging me not to make him watch you die."

Tears streaming down her face, Wendy screamed and screamed.