Disclaimer: Finally! Exams are over! Man, it's been so stressful these past couple of days. I'm just glad to sit down and post this new chapter.
RillFipher: Oh, the possibilities with this are indeed endless. It's only going to get more interesting from here.
Gravity Falls isn't mine, only Elaine!
"Speaking"
Thinking
"Reading"
Edited: Aug. 6/18
Elaine's POV
Dipper sat on a barrel by the cash register, rereading the journal for the millionth time. I doubted he memorized all of its contents, but I guessed he just enjoyed going back over the really interesting investigations. He threw a glance down at me, but I only caught him doing that from the corner of my eye. I had decided to bring my own journal down with me, and do my entry while being around the twins. Not like I was letting them see what it held, but the added company was nice. Seeing how distracted I was, Dipper turned to his twin instead, who was sitting on the large globe and spinning it around.
"Mabel, do you believe in ghosts?" He asked her. Oh, so we've reached this point… I had no issues with ghosts, but… I held a little paranoia around the idea of life after death. Bill called himself a demon, but I didn't see it. Monster, yes. Demon? I felt there was more to that than he led on.
"I believe you're a big dork! Ha ha ha!" Mabel laughed, still twirling around in a circle. Dipper frowned and put his pencil on the globe, stopping it in it tracks and making Mabel fall off. I jumped upright, and clutched my journal to my chest. The sound startled me, and I wasn't mentally ready for any loud noises.
"Are you okay, Elaine?" Dipper asked me, seeing my wide eyes and tensed shoulders as I brought myself down from the scare. "You seemed more distracted than usual."
I gave him a nervous smile. "It's okay, Dipper. I just had a… a really bad dream, that's all."
Mabel picked herself up, dusting her sweater. "Are you sure? You were screaming like crazy in your sleep last night."
"I'm fine, guys. The whole Gideon incident simply had me rattled enough to mess with my head." Man, I hate lying. I leaned back against the wall, seeing the twins giving me suspicious looks. I mean, it wasn't entirely a lie. I was asleep, and the Nightmare Realm was horrifying… Bill, why couldn't you have healed me without causing me even more pain?
I knew very well that that the screaming I did throughout the night was because Bill was 'healing' my body, while my subconscious wasn't even aware of it. The triangle had spared no expense in being gentle though. Like Gideon with that talisman, the feeling of magic on my open wounds was torturous. I didn't feel anything in my head though. Nothing trying to enter my mind, but I supposed that was due to Bill already having access to it. When I had woken up, I sprinted to the washroom and removed the bandages from my arms, beating it there just before the twins could wake up. True to his word, Bill had fixed all of my major injuries, only leaving scars and minor cuts. To my disappointment, the burn mark of the dream demon was still etched onto my hand, leaving me to once again wrap it up.
Of course the demon wouldn't remove his branding… stupid. I mentally slapped myself, wondering how I could have forgotten he said it was akin to a 'locator'. At least I don't have to look like a freakin' mummy anymore. Now all I have to to keep it this way is by answering Bill's questions honestly... that shouldn't be too hard...
Dipper shrugged, letting the matter drop. The three of us looked up when Grunkle Stan had walked in from outside, decked out in his usual uniform when duping tourists. "Soos! Wendy!" Soos ran up to Stan, panting, while Wendy was laying against the cash register counter.
"What's up, Mr. Pines!" Soos asked, straightening back up again after regaining his breath.
"I'm headin' out. You two are gonna wash the bathrooms, right?" The two stared at him, with completely serious faces.
"Yes, sir!" Soos saluted.
"Absolutely not!" Wendy also saluted, while I sensed a small smirk was growing on her face.
"Ha ha!" Stan laughed before narrowing his eyes, glancing from them to us in the corner. "You stay out of trouble!" He closed the door, leaving us alone. Wendy gave Soos a mischievous smile, the one she was previously trying to hide, before walking over to a curtain. The patched up blue sheet hung beside a taxidermy mermaid in a fish tank, and I grimaced at the sight.
"Hey guys! What's this?" She pulled the curtain to the side, revealing a ladder going up to a hatch built into the ceiling. "A secret ladder to the roof?"
"Uh, I don't think Mr. Pines would like that," Soos said nervously.
"Huh?" Wendy said, moving her hand closer to the ladder.
"Uhhhh," Soos said.
"Huh?"
"You're freaking me out, dude!" He shouted, grabbing at his hat.
"Can we actually go up there?" Dipper asked Wendy, watching her start climbing up the ladder. He tucked the ladder into his vest, and we moved closer to the younger teen.
"Sure we can! Roof time! Roof time!" She chanted, and continued up to the roof.
"Roof time! Roof time!" Dipper, Mabel, and I chanted, and followed Wendy in ascending the ladder. Soos was left behind us, staring up at our backs worriedly. Wendy opened the hatch at the end of the ladder and climbed out of it. I stepped out right after the twins, and watched the redhead crawl over the roof past the fallen letter from the sign to the other side. A cool summer breeze blew through me, blowing any loose strands of hair around my shoulders. "Wow, this is beautiful. I should've come up here more often."
I hurried up over the room, find them staring down at the small flat part of the roof which had a cooler, a chair and an umbrella, and a bucket full of pine cones. "Alright, check it out!" Wendy shouted. We slid down the roof, skipping a little to regain our footing at the bottom.
"Did you put all this stuff up here?" Dipper asked. Wendy shrugged, walking up to the pine cone bucket and looking over the parking lot.
"I may or may not sneak up here during work, all the time, everyday," she replied. Wendy picked up a pine cone and threw at the totem pole, which had a target attached to it. How did she even get up there to tape it? "Yes!" She shouted as she hit the center.
"Cool!" Dipper shouted as we tried to hit the target ourselves. I fist-bumped the air when I hit the side of the target, impressed I even made the distance. Dipper ended up hitting the car below, making the alarm go off and blushed in shame.
"Jackpot!" Wendy shouted. "High five!" She held up her hand. Dipper stared at her in wonder, her hair blowing in the wind. Ah, so this was what a crush looked like as it formed. I could almost see the tiny hearts sprouting up around Wendy as he stared. "Don't leave me hangin'." Dipper grinned at her before bringing his hand to her, still blushing. "Oh hey, it's my friends!" A blue van pulled up below us, and a teen's hand stuck out the driver's side window to wave.
"Wendy!" The driver shouted.
"Hey, you guys aren't going to tell Stan about this, are you?" Wendy asked, actually a little nervous that we would rat her out. Dipper shook his head, and mimicked zipping his lips and flicking away the key. Wendy smiled, and zippered her lips too. That random little gesture was sweet, and I could see Mabel thought so too. Her brown eyes glowed, looking from the cashier to her brother. "Later dorks!" Wendy jumped onto the large pine tree next to the roof, and slid down several other trees until she landed on the ground. I stared in amazement as she touched down gracefully, kneeling down before getting back up and running into the open door of the van.
Man, she's good. "Let's get out of here!" The driver shouted again, and drove away down the road, leaving skid marks in the dirt.
"Later Wendy!" Dipper said, waving goodbye. "Hehehe! Good times!"
"Uh, oh!" Mabel said, grinning. Her hands were on her hips, swaying back and forth.
"What?" Dipper asked. Mabel poked him playfully.
"Somebody's in love!" She said in a singsong voice, while I sat down on the blue and white striped lawn chair behind them.
"Yeah, right!" Dipper said, waving her off.
"Dipper, I don't know a whole lot 'bout love, but it's obvious that you've got a crush on her," I threw in my two cents.
"Seriously, guys?" Dipper said. "I just think Wendy's cool okay? It's not like I lie awake at night thinking about her!"
"That's oddly specific," I added, as Mabel's bright smile kept growing. Oh, the gears in her head were turning. I just hoped she didn't get any crazy ideas. "But hey, who am I to try and figure out what preteen boys dreams about."
Dipper's eyes flew open at what I was hinting at, the previous blush returning tenfold. "Elaine!"
I burst out laughing, holding my stomach. "Ha ha ha! Come on guys, race ya back inside!" I winked at the flustered boy and sprinted back across the roof, listening to Mabel's laughter fade behind me. Oh yes, this was going to be fun. This was going to be very, very fun.
(Time Skip)
"Random dance party for no reason!" Mabel shouted as she pressed play on the radio, having thrown in a cassette seconds ago. The music started playing loudly, being turned to its highest volume, and Wendy and I began dancing along too. Nothing as crazy Mabel and Wendy, but enough to look like a fool beside them. Mabel was right. I was opening up to them, and not being all turtle-like anymore. Well… not fully turtle.
"Go! Go! Go!" Wendy shouted.
Dipper watched them before continuing to write on the clipboard he was carrying. He nodded at the words he wrote on the page; 'I am pretending to write something down'.
"Dipper!" Wendy shouted over the music, startling Dipper and making him throw the clipboard before clumsily catching it. Not so funny when it's happening to you, huh?
"Uh what, yes?" He asked, throwing the clipboard behind him.
"Aren't ya gonna get in on this?" She asked, snapping her fingers as Mabel danced on top of the counter, swinging her arms and hips to the beat.
"Yeah, Dippin' Dots! Hop aboard the crazy train!" I cheered. "Choo choo!"
"I don't really dance," Dipper said, blushing.
"Yeah, you do!" Mabel corrected him, turning off the radio. She turned to Wendy and me, and leaned in close. "Mom used to dress him up in a lamb costume and make him do..." Mabel whispered the next part. "The Lamby Dance!"
"Now is not the time to talk about the Lamby Dance," Dipper said angrily to Mabel.
"Lamb costume?" Wendy asked with a small laugh, wondering she heard her right. "Wow, is there like little ears and a tail or…?"
"Well uh, uh..." Dipper stuttered. Mabel grinned and held up a picture for us to see.
"Dipper would prance around and sing a song about grazing," she said. I threw a hand over her mouth to smother her giggling.
"Mmmffff! Wow, that's-that's really something, Dipper." I ignored the glare from said boy, and lowered my hand when I was certain I wasn't going to burst out laughing again. "Why did you even keep that on you, and with you right now?"
"I dunno," she shrugged, still smiling. She pocketed the picture, patting her sweater to make sure it was in place. "I think it's for giggles."
The clock chimed on the wall, and we looked at the time. "Hey, look at that!" Wendy said, taking her nameplate off and putting it in her jeans pocket. "Quittin' time! The gang's waitin' for me."
"Wait!" Dipper shouted. "Why don't I-or we come with you?"I-I'm sorry, did he say 'we'?
"Ooh… I don't know," Wendy said. "My friends are pretty intense. How old did you guys say you are?"
Dipper shifted his eyes. "We're thirteen! So technically a teen."
"Sixteen," I said. "I'm the mature one." That earned a small chuckle from Wendy and Mabel, who knew I was joking with that.
"All right. I like your moxie, kid!" Wendy approved. "Let me get my stuff."
After Wendy left the room, Mabel put her hand to her chin. "Since when are we thirteen?" She asked. "Is this a leap year?"
"Come on, Mabel," Dipper said looking at her and I. "This is our chance to hang out with the cool kids. AndWendyandwhatever." He rushed the end of the sentence, but it was still clear enough for me to hear.
"He admits it!" I shouted as Mabel jumped over the counter.
"I knew it!" She shouted. "You love her!" Mabel danced around Dipper, pointing and singing. "Love love love love love!"
"Oh hey, what's that?" Dipper asked, pointing towards the door.
"Huh?" Mabel took the bait and turned. Dipper smirked, and flipped Mabel's hair over her face. The long wave of brown fell over her face, and covered most of her body.
"Bleh, bleh, bleh," Mabel stuck her tongue out through her hair, trying to spit it out of her mouth.
I laughed at the twins' shenanigans, and moved to open the gift shop's door. "Come on, guys. Wendy's waiting for us."
Mabel nodded, flipping her hair back over her shoulders as we went outside. We walked over to Wendy, who was standing with a group of other teens. Ah, so that's the group. Robbie had a long pointed face, with multiple ear piercings and raven bangs partially covering his eyes. Tambry had choppy purple hair, but a streak of pink going down the left. Nate had black stud earrings too, with a stubble and bushy eyebrows. Lee had a long face like Robbie, except his chin was more pronounced, his nose was longer, and he had blonde hair that fell just past his shoulders. As for Thompson, he had a mustache stubble and lines under his eyes. Overall, their appearances were much like their cartoon counterparts. Same outfits, same physical appearance. Except, you know, more detail.
Though, just because they looked like characters from the show, didn't mean that they were exactly like them. "Hey guys!" Wendy said, making her presence known after she fired a candy into Thompson's stomach, having been held upside-down by Nate and Lee. "These are my pals from work, Mabel, Dipper and Elaine."
"Hello," I said, giving a small nod.
"I chewed my gum so it looks like a brain!" Mabel said cheerfully, sticking out her tongue which had a piece of pink gum on it. "Blah!"
"She's not one for first impressions," Dipper informed them. "Unlike this guy!" He pointed to himself and smiled, but started to sweat when no one answered. "...this guy..."
"So are you like, babysitting, or-" Robbie started, reaching into the truck and pulling out a black guitar. He strummed it for a moment, before adjusting the strings' tightness.
"Come on, Robbie!" Wendy interrupted him. "Guys, this is Lee and Nate." She pointed at the blonde and brunette boys, who were punching each other playfully. "Tambry."
Tambry, who was still texting on her phone, didn't look up. "Hey..."
"Thompson, who once ate a runover waffle for 50 cents," Wendy said.
"Don't tell them that!" Thompson said nervously.
"And Robbie," Wendy finished, pointing at the emo teen. "You can probably figure him out."
Robbie flipper his black hair out of his face and looked at them. "Yeah, I'm the guy who spray painted the water tower," he told us.
"Oh, you mean the big muffin!" Dipper said, making me mentally groaned. Way to ruin a first impression, Dipper.
"Um, it's a giant explosion!" Robbie said, offended. Everyone looked up at the water tower in the distance, poking out over the pine trees.
"Hehe! Kinda does look like a muffin!" Lee agreed as he and Nate started to laugh. Robbie glared at Dipper, making the younger boy shrink back. And such, the rivalry begins.
"Let's hurry it up, guys," Wendy said clapping. "I got big plans for tonight." Everyone started climbing into the van, and I sat in the back with Mabel. Dipper soon joined us, placing himself in the middle after being stopped by Robbie in the shotgun seat. After everyone was settled, Thompson cleared his throat.
"Okay just-before we go, my mom said you guys aren't allowed to punch the roof anymore, so..." Thompson started. The teens stared at him before breaking into grins, and started punching the roof simultaneously. Wow. They actually made dents in the ceiling from doing this so often.
"Thompson! Thompson! Thompson!" They chanted as they punched, while the twins and I watched in amusement. Though, Dipper looked more confused than me and Mabel. The excitement was infectious, and some part of me was happy to be around people my own age. Thompson sighed and started driving, taking us out of the parking area of the Mystery Shack and off down the dirt road until it met pavement.
I relaxed against the seat, closing my eyes. I'm sure they won't mind if I get a little sleep before we get there. Besides, a haunted convenience store will probably take a lot out of me…best if I rest up...
"Elaine! Wake up, we're here!"
My eyes slowly opened, and I noticed that the car was indeed parked, with the other teens already getting out of the vehicle. Wow, that was quick. I barely even closed my eyes. I felt that my head wasn't still resting up against the seat anymore, but instead on something soft... and breathing…!
"Ohmygosh!" I shouted, bolting upright. Dipper still sat next to me, and I blushed at the bit of drool on his vest. I was using him as a pillow!? "I am so sorry, Dipper! I-I thought I was laying against the backrest!"
Dipper chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. Though, from the red in his face I could tell he was just as flustered as I was. "It's okay, Elaine," he said awkwardly. "You seemed pretty comfortable, and you haven't had a lot of sleep lately, so..."
I breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled at him. "Thanks," I said, unbuckling my seat belt. "Um… c-can we keep this between ourselves? I really don't want Mabel to find out I was using you as a pillow."
Dipper nodded, and reached over to open the door that Mabel had used. "Come on, we better go join the others." We got out of the vehicle and walked over to Mabel and the teens in front of the Dusk 2 Dawn's wired fence. In the time I had drifted off, the sun had set, and the fog had crept in. Yep. Totally adding to the ghost encounter we're about to have. If Mabel had noticed the damp spot on the collar of Dipper's vest, she didn't say anything. She was too focused on our target for the night.
"There it is fellas!" Wendy announced. "The condemned Dusk 2 Dawn!"
"Ha! Cool!" Lee and Nate said.
"Neato!" Mabel agreed, standing in between me and her brother.
'Why'd they shut it down? Was it like a health code violation, or-" Dipper started.
"TRY MURDER!" Nate shouted.
"Yeah, some folks died in there, the place has been haunted ever since!" Lee told him.
"This town has such a colorful history!" Mabel grinned.
"That's one way to put it," I muttered.Colorful… yeah.
"Wha… are you guys serious?" Dipper asked nervously.
"Yeah! We're all gonna die!" Wendy gasped in exaggeration. "Chill out man!" She playfully punched him. "It's not as bad as it looks!" Dipper spared a look at the sign mounted on the fence, and I patted his shoulder. Whoever sprayed over the prosecuted part and wrote that they'd die if they entered really needed new material. One at a time, we started climbing the fence until there was only Dipper and Nate left. Dipper was on the top of the fence, straddling it and gripping the bar with his hands. "Come on, Dipper!"
"Okay okay!" Dipper said, trying to place his feet into the holes of the fence. "Just gotta get a foothold..."
"Dude, your sister did it!" Robbie pointed at Mabel. The moody teen had his guitar strapped onto him, letting it hang off his back.
"Woop, woop, woop, woop, woop," Mabel said as she ran sideways on the ground in a circle. I stood next to her, shaking my head. Man, she was such a dork. But… since I've been put into the same grouping as them, I guess she's my dork.
Lee decided to hurry things along, and climbed up next to Dipper. "Hey, you know what. Just… there you go," and shoved the boy twin onto the ground. "Ha! S-sorry dude!" Dipper's hat fell beside him a soft thump, as a loud of dirt came up from the landing.
"Good job throwing the kid off the fence, genius!" Nate said.
"Your mom's a genius," Lee countered, jumping off the fence. The group walked up to the abandoned building, and peeked through the window as Dipper still sat there on the floor.
"Wow! This place is amazing!" Wendy exclaimed. Robbie went over to the door and tried to pull it open, only for the glass doors to rattle instead.
"I think it's-it's stuck!" He said.
"Let me take a crack at it!" Dipper offered, putting his hat back on and walking over.
"Oh yeah. I can't get in, but I'm sure Junior here is gonna break it down like Hercules!" Robbie said sarcastically.
"Come on, leave him alone. He's just a little kid," Wendy told Robbie. Little kid? Wendy, you're only three years older than him. Dipper, hurt at her words, went and pulled his hat down in determination. He walked around the building to a dumpster and climbed onto it before jumping up onto the roof.
"Kid, what are you doing?" Tambry asked over the rest of the teens shouting. They watched Dipper walk up to the vent and started punching it multiple times.
"Go Dipper! Punch that metal thing!" Mabel cheered. Dipper finally punched the grating into the vents, letting it fall down into the shaft and walked inside.
"Hey Dipper, take it easy!" Wendy shouted in worry.
"Who wants to bet he doesn't make it?" Robbie asked, turning around to look at us. Just as he said that, Dipper opened the door, grinning and motioning them to go inside.
"Good call inviting this little maniac!" Lee told Wendy as he walked in.
"Your new name is Dr. Funtimes!" Nate congratulated Dipper, pointing at him. Mabel high fived Dipper as she passed him, while Robbie rolled his eyes and walked silently past.
"Nice work!" Wendy punched Dipper in the shoulder playfully, making him smile at her praise. I walked up to Dipper, smirking.
"Way to go, kid," I said before waltzing into the store myself. The entire store was pitch black, and we could barely see each other. Dipper dashed in behind me, letting the door swing shut.
"Do you guys really think it's haunted?" Thompson asked as we all stood in the center of the dark room.
"Na! Thompson are you kidding me?" Nate asked, chuckling. In the darkness, I could see out of the corner of her eye the door sign flip from open to closed by itself.
This, is not gonna be a good evening.
Yeah, it's a short chapter, but can ya blame me for spending my week doing so much studying?
Next week we'll continue the episode, and I may or may not break this episode into three chapters. It honestly depends on how quickly I write.
I've also started working on another story, so my time is now divided between them, but GFA will come first.
Until next time!
Angel
