He heard the sound of the crickets chirping outside, not helping to subside the feeling of being watched once again. He shut his eyes regardless, slipping into unconsciousness.
Chapter 2 - The Curse
It was a beautiful day. The sunshine poured through the window, adding an orange-red hue to the room and only making the two warmer in their beds. Mason slowly opened his eyes, and was about to go back to sleep when-
"Mason! Mabel! Get ready, we're going somewhere!" yelled Ford from downstairs. The children immediately hopped out of bed, feet pitter-pattering against the floorboards. In a few minutes, they were downstairs, dressed appropriately.
"Ah, there you two are. I figured I'd take you somewhere special for breakfast this morning." He led them into the car, making sure they all fastened their seat-belts before driving off. Mabel looked eager, and wanted to ask where they were going, but she didn't want to spoil the surprise, and Ford wouldn't tell her anyway.
Gravity Falls wasn't that big of a town, and they soon made it to their destination. It was a large building that was painted purple. It looked like it had just opened recently. The glass windows showed cakes, cookies and other delicacies that made Mason's mouth water at the sight of them. At the front top of the building was a sign that said NORTHWEST BAKERY, a paper informing customers of the store hours taped onto the door. As soon as Ford pushed the door open and the bells rang, the smell of brownies and cinnamon rolls filled his nose, and he couldn't help but feel at home, his shoulders and muscles relaxing a little.
"Hi, welcome to Northwest Bakery. Do you need a moment before you order?" a young woman asked, her brown hair wrapped up in a bun. Her name tag read Priscilla. "Yes please, thank you." Ford responded before turning to the children. "What would you two like to get?" he asked as they stood by the Donuts section.
"The chocolate one with the rainbow sprinkles!" exclaimed Mabel. She was always fancy like that. He smiled before he went back to studying his options.
"I'll just get a glazed one." he said simply. Ford nodded in understanding.
Priscilla returned, and his Grunkle ordered. "One Chocolate Confetti, a glazed donut, and a Columbian coffee for me, please." She rang it up on the register. "To go or dine-in?" she asked, lifting her head up. "Dine-in." he responded.
Soon enough, their order was ready and they sat at a table by one of the windows, enjoying their tasty breakfast.
"So, have you two been liking your stay so far?" Ford asked.
"Yeah, actually!" he said, smiling. "That triangle window is kinda weird. It's cool, though. I'm guessing you had it built in when the cabin was constructed?"
Mason's sudden interest in such a thing caused Ford to flinch a bit, and he averted his gaze. "Sure…" Mason noticed, but said nothing. Was it just him, or was this whole town just plain out... strange?
Ford noticed Priscilla walking towards them with a child that looked to be Mason's age and a man who he assumed was her husband.
"Hi, we figured that your... grandchildren?" the man, Preston, asked.
"Great niece and nephew." he corrected kindly.
"I see. We figured they would like to meet our daughter, Pacifica. We came to town and opened this bakery recently, and she hasn't made very many friends." he continued.
"Oh, sure! they just came here yesterday. I'm sure they would love some company other than myself." he said, glancing back as Mason and Mabel. "I'll leave you three to it. If you need me, we'll be talking in the parking lot."
"Erm... hi." the blonde girl greeted awkwardly.
"Hi. Name's Mason. And this is my sister Mabel. What brought your family to town?" he asked, trying to start a conversation.
"Oh. They wanted to come here - of all places - to start their future in pastry baking." she complained with a hint of sass. "I don't think it's stupid, it's just... they could've gone to San Francisco or something. What about you?"
"Our parents in Piedmont wanted to send us here for the summer, I guess. Our Great Uncle Ford lives in a cabin literally in the middle of the woods."
The girl suddenly shook with fear, eyes widened to the size of saucers. 'T-the woods?!"
"Uh, yeah..." Mason looked confused. "What's wrong with the woods? Are you afraid of bears?"
"No, no, not at all. It's just..." she lowered her voice to a whisper. "I haven't been here long, but a lot of the townsfolk here say that the forest is cursed by some demon named Bill Cipher?"
"That's a strange name!" Mabel replied, not taking the situation seriously. Not that a 10 year old would understand, anyway.
"Curse?" Mason inquired further.
"Lazy Susan, the woman who owns that diner over there," Pacifica pointed out the window, "says that he's been trapped in the forest for years and he's been searching for a way to get out. She told me that he'll kill anything or anyone, and he watches this town from the eyes in the trees."
"Eyes in the trees?!"
"Yeah," she said. "That's what everyone's been telling me. I'm not sure if the rumors are true, but it sounds pretty scary."
He looked out of the window, staring at the forest. And what wasn't helping, was that he felt curiosity begin to spark in him, instead of caution.
"I'll be right back!" the blonde yelled. "My dad is calling me!"
Mason hummed in response, continuing to stare out the window. What it true, what they said? He couldn't help but wonder.
Sixty degrees that come in threes. Watches from within birch trees.