The ground was moist, morning dew had seeped into the gravel concrete and made a cool, wet surface the twins were laying on. Their bags had been dropped beside them, along with their general belongings. Telephones, chargers, laptops, and importantly, 5 of the journals Dipper had received the day before. The light sound of cars driving on a road close by mixed with the buzzing of small insects, who were rushing for a chance to get a drink of the sweet morning nectar. One of these insects was a large beetle, who crawled onto dippers face without realizing it. While not awakening the giant, the contrast in colors allowed for a much larger predator to spot it. A pigeon. The bird attacked, landing on dippers face and plucking the beetle off of him. Dipper awoke almost instantly, his eyes opening to meet the yellow eye of the bird
"AH, BILL" He yelled, shooting up from his position. Gravel fell from his back and side, leaving small groves where they were once embedded. The pigeon flew away, startled by the sudden noise. Dipper stood up with a limp, noticing his shirt had been torn in half. On his right breast, a heavily scarred outline of a pinetree. It enveloped the whole breast, and stretched down onto his lower abdomen.
"What the-"
"WHAT, BILL?" His sister shot up as well, her shirt noticeably also torn. Her abdomen was also scarred, with a star outline pushing from her lower abdomen to the bottom of her left breast. Dipper quickly took off whatever he had left of his shirt and tossed it over his exposed sister. "It was just a bird. Tie that on real quick by the way, your bra is in shreds"
Mabel looked down and gasped, with her hands shaking slightly from shock
"My favorite shirt!" She yelled. "Also, neat, a star" she poked it lightly, making a small boop noise with her mouth. The scar itself had a puffy, smooth kind of feel. It was sensitive, with a slight tinge with any pressure applied. "Hehe, it kind of tickles" she said, poking it again. "Mable, focus! We need to figure out where we are"
As Mable tied her brother's shirt around her chest, Dipper looked around for any clues on where they were. There were lights in the distance, with some car horns faintly heard in the distance. "Grab your stuff, we can head towards the lights and see what's up. Scrape off that gravel by the way, we don't want to look too, rocky?" He questioned his own words. "Rocky? Is that the right word? Or would it be dirty? Whatever, let's move!"
Dipper handed Mabel her bags as he grabbed his own, making sure to account for each journal that had been brought with him. "So, I assume you got that dream too?" Mabel said, making conversation as they push through the woods in front of them. "Oh, yeah. It was painful man" Dipper said, grabbing his left arm with his right. He ducked under some more brush, and kept speaking "They ripped my eyelids off. Like, just ripped them off!"
Mabel winced, "Oof" she said. "I just didn't really fight it. I couldn't feel the urge to move, or fight. I was just, paralyzed with fear really" Mabel shuttered slightly, before looking down at her stomach. The way the searing fire pierced into her flesh and branded her, was disgusting. Had she and Dipper been the only ones to have this happen to them? A loud car horn snapped her out of her train of thought as they came face to face with the guard rails on the side of the road. As the cars sped off, Mabel hopped the small rail. Dipper trailed just behind her, and both crossed the road in silence.
It was apparent that they were on a medium sized hill. However, where they were overlooking was miles away from where they had laid down to sleep last night. They were back at Gravity Falls. "What the fuck?" Dipper said under his breath. This can't be real right? He was still dreaming. How was he teleported more than 400 miles away? Was Bill alive after all and brought them here to toy with them?
Mabel looked out, Something about the town seemed different to say the least. The buildings were slightly dirtier, with more vines and sut on the sides. More trash littered the streets, with more groups of people hanging out in small pockets on various corners. "Dipper, doesn't Gravity Falls look weird?"
"Its always been weird Mabel. Plus, we havent been here in a solid 9 years, its going to look different". Dipper looked out at the town, and he squinted his eyes to focus in on some of the smaller details. He did agree it did look dirtier than before. Still, they needed to head down. He still had the way to the mystery shack memorized. He had lost contact with nearly everybody over time, except for grunkle uncle Stan and Ford. Those two were the only ones he could truly count on right now. Dipper began to climb down the slope with his sister on his side. When their feet hit the ground, he looked back up. A group of those boys had seen them, and one had even taken out his cell phone to record them. Dipper assumed it was because of his currently semi-exposed sister. "Hey, get behind me". Using his free hand that wasn't obstructed by a bag, he held her hand as she stayed behind him, ensuring that their cameras couldn't capture any video of his sister. He noticed another boy start dialing a number before putting it to his ear.
A really bad feeling is starting to pop up in Dippers gut. "Run," He said, picking up the pace a little bit. "RUN" He said, before breaking off into a full on sprint further into town. He could hear the group behind them, sprinting after them. "Hey! Slow down man!" They yelled. Dipper wasnt taking any chances however, especially with his sister. Shes been assaulted once, he sure as fuck isnt letting that happen again. Further into town, familiar faces came into view. The Deputies, Susan, and even Jimmy the grocery store owner. Their looks had been morphed from what they can remember. The deputies, rather than their rural country styled uniforms, were wearing what can be compared to a first class uniform for a Chinese police officer. Their wedding rings were much larger however. Lazy Susans eye was covered with an eye patch, and her uniform was much more stained than it had been before.
Dipper turned to the left, and pulled his sister with her. Mabel's heart was racing, what is going on today? Looking around, a couple of these shops were completely foreign, same with a few of the brand posters in their windows. Her eyes lock with a purple Mustang GT. Its roaring in the same direction as them. It pulls up on the sidewalk where Dipper and Mabel are, and an incredibly familiar face is visible through the window.
Tambry Jimenez. "Get in," She says. Without a second thought, Mabel hops in the front seat, leaving Dipper no choice but to follow. As they buckle up, Tambry rolls up all the windows and locks them inside. Her phone rings, and as she picks it up to answer it, Mabel takes notice of a picture hanging in the car rear view mirror. She picked it up in her hands as Tambry begins to speak on her phone. "Hey, yeah, I have them. Thanks for letting me know where they were-"
Dipper wasnt paying attention to the words she was saying till that moment. "Wait, did that guy call you?. Oh my god, Mabel, jump, and dont forget to duck and roll!" Dipper said, unbuckling his seat belt and trying to open the door. It wouldnt budge as Tambry slammed on her brakes, shoving Dipper forward and making him hit his head on the seat in front of him. "Put that seat belt on or I swear to god we will not move another inch."
Dipper scoffed at her, and began to get angry. "Who the hell said we even wanted to move another inch? Literally what on Earth is going on here?". Mabel turned around and faced her brother. "Dipper, I dont even know if we're on Earth anymore."
Tambry, ignoring what Mabel said, started yelling back at Dipper. "You guys have been gone for so fucking long. Your great uncles, your friends, everyone. We all missed you. We missed you, so fucking much". Tears began to welt in her eyes, and her voice choked in her throat. "You were dead. You ARE dead. So I need to take you to your Grunkles so we can figure out what the hell is going on."
Dipper opened his mouth, but Mabel cut him off. "Dipper, shes telling the truth." She took the photo off the rear view mirror, and handed it to him. It was a familiar picture. Soos, Grunkle Stan, Grunkle Ford, him, Mabel, and-
"Tambry? You were in this? But what about Wendy?" Dipper said, his eyes scanning every difference in his friends and Uncles. As she dried her tears with her sleeve, she spoke. "Whos Wendy?"
