Hello wonderful readers! This is a re-upload of a story I posted on my original fanfiction account that I have since lost the password to (Oops). I was reminded of this story when I found an old draft of it in a folder on my old computer and realized I had never actually finished writing it. Better late than never I guess! I will be re-posting the old chapters as I edit and update them - also I have changed the title to something I like a little more than the original.

Some warnings for this story: Violence, blood, slight gore, and horror elements. I will post individual chapter warnings as needed.

Enjoy!

The room was still and quiet as Dipper laid in bed one night. The bright autumn moon was streaming in through the attic window casting a dim glow across the floor. He rolled over onto his side to look over at his sister's bed on the other side of the room. He watched the steady rise and fall of her shoulders beneath her covers and felt envious of her peaceful sleep. It was nearly three in the morning, but for some reason he could not fall asleep no matter how much he tried to.

After several more minutes of restless tossing and turning in his sheets, Dipper sat up with a quiet groan. He pinched the bridge of his nose irritably before hanging his feet off the side of the bed and standing up. He slipped on a pair of black socks that were laying on the floor to keep the chill off his feet before padding softly out of the room and down the stairs. He skipped the third and seventh steps that creaked loudly when stepped on and made sure to land on the center of the carpet where it was thickest when he jumped off at the end.

Not wanting to deal with the bell on the screen door at the front of the shack, Dipper went into the living room and unlatched the window above the armchair. As he opened the window his arms broke out in goosebumps when a cool breeze came though. He tip-toed back into the hall and grabbed a sweater hanging on the hook by the back door and put it on over his pajamas. He peeked into the kitchen to make sure Grunkle Stan wasn't making his midnight fridge before returning to the living room.

He climbed up on the chair back before lowering himself out the window and onto the slightly damp grass beneath the window. "I've become too good at sneaking out..." Dipper thought to himself with a chuckle. He turned and slid the window almost closed as quietly as possible. After he had finished, he looked down the side of the house towards the backyard and began walking. As he walked along the side of the shack, a cracking branch beside him made him pause and turn his head. He looked into the trees and saw a little light out in the trees, very dim and seemingly far away.

"What is that?" He thought, "it doesn't look like fire." Dipper stared at the light a moment before shoving his hands into his sweater pockets and starting to walk towards the tree-line. "I'll just take a quick look," he told himself. "What harm could a little peek do?" This was a terrible question. Dipper, being curious since birth, knew very well what harm a little curiosity could do; however, he put aside his worries and continued to walk.

He breathed in the cool scent of fallen pine needles as he picked his ways through the trees, pulling his sweater in a little tighter as a breeze shook the limbs above him. As he walked he kept his eyes on the light in the distance as it grew closer and brighter. For the first few minutes the walking was easy and soft, damp pine needles covered most of the ground with the exception of patches of grass. As the light grew closer, the foliage grew denser and the rays of moonlight became smaller and dimmer.

Dipper suppressed a shout as his foot connected with a protruding tree root. He winced as he gingerly rubbed his sore toes, leaning backwards against a nearby tree. He took off his sock to insure his toes weren't broken or bleeding. They looked fine to his eyes, but felt tender to the touch. As he was putting the sock back on, he looked back towards the source of the light. He was close enough now that the light was partially illuminating the trees in front of him making it a little easier to see. He began to walk forward again, wincing at the stiffness in his foot.

The ground began to rise into a small hill and dropped down onto his hands in knees to assist in cresting the hill. By now he couldn't be more than fifteen feet from the source of the light and he began to tread lighter as he moved between the trees. At the top of the hill there was a large rock that could hide him from view if he stayed crouched on the ground as he was.

Dipper pressed his back against the boulder and turned his head to peek around it and squinted in the bright light. When his eyes adjusted he looked towards the source of the light and saw "... a boy?" Dipper whispered.

He rolled quietly into his stomach and edged up to the crest of the hill for a better look. The ground dropped down into a small basin at the base of the hill Dipper was crouching on, at the base of the hill was a boy.

He was tall and lean with blonde hair with a black streak in the front that curled slightly at the ends. He was facing slightly away from Dipper where only part of his face was visible. He had tanned skin and his bangs fell over his forehead almost into his eyes and curling around his freckled cheeks. He was wearing a black T-shirt and jeans and Dipper could see more freckles dotting his arms.

Dipper simply stared, his mouth slightly open as he realized that the boy himself was the source of the bright light illuminating the dark forest around them. He noted the slight movement of the boy's lips as he appeared to be speaking. Dipper tried to lean forward a little to make out what he was saying but it seemed to be in a different language.

Suddenly, the boy stopped speaking and the light disappeared leaving Dipper in almost darkness.

He ducked quickly back behind the rock and clapped a hand over his mouth. It was difficult to see in the darkness as his eyes began to adjust. He blinked heavily a few times before lowering his hand from his mouth. He tilted his head in an attempt to listen for any signs of movement.

"I know you're there," Dipper heard the boy say. He pressed his back flat against the rock, breathing heavy. He was almost certain the boy never turned and saw him, but clearly he had been discovered somehow. "Come out," the boy spoke again his tone sharper than before.

Dipper debated heavily whether showing himself was a wise decision. He quickly decided that if the boy proved to be dangerous, running and hiding was always an option. Dipper sucked in a sharp breath before he stood up and moved around the side of the boulder to face the clearing, but no one was there. Dipper was puzzled, he was certain he didn't hear the boy move.

"There you are!" A voice exclaimed loudly behind him. Dipper cried out in surprise and spun quickly on his heel to face the source of the voice, in the process his stumbled backwards and fell with a thud onto his back. The boy was standing only a few feet from him, rocking back and forth on his heels.

Dipper stared up in shock with his mouth slightly open. How had this boy gotten behind him without him noticing?

The boy lifted and eyebrow and crossed his arms across his chest. "Um... You alright?" He asked.

"Uh... I..." Dipper murmured quietly, trying to form words. Any words. He blinked hard, his eyes still not fully adjusted to the darkness.

The boy leaned forward, arms still crossed. His eyes caught the bright moonlight that filtered through the trees and Dipper was caught in them. They were an unnatural bright gold with flecks of brown around his dark pupils. They reminded Dipper of the sun in the fall.

"What?" The boy asked again. "You stupid or somethin'?"

Dipper scoffed indignantly and shook his head. He managed to find his voice again. "Who are you calling 'stupid?'"

The boy looked down at him quizzically for a moment. "Do you want to play a game?" He asked suddenly.

Dipper furrowed his eyebrows. "A game?"

The boy nodded excitedly and shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "Yes."

Dipper was intrigued. What an odd thing to say to a stranger in the woods. "Uh... What game?" Dipper asked. He picked his hands up from the grass and wiped them on his jeans.

"An easy one. Kind of like tag," The boy replied, rocking on his heels again.

Dipper had never been good at tag, and something about this kid was off enough to tell Dipper this was a bad idea. "But still…" he thought.

"What harm could it do?" The boy asked, almost as if he'd read Dipper's mind. "It's just a bit of fun."

"I guess we can play then," Dipper said with a nervous smile and a half-hearted chuckle. "What are the rules?"

"Oh, it's easy. There's just one rule: don't let me catch you," He said as he began to remove his hands from his pockets with something in his right hand.

Something about his tone unsettled the brunette. Dipper looked apprehensively at the object the boy had pulled out of his pocket. "W-what happens if you catch me?"

"If I catch you," the boy smiled widely, brandishing a small knife in his hand, "You die."

Dipper felt his heart in his throat and his mouth went dry as he looked at the silver blade glinting in the moonlight. "W-." He swallowed hard. "What?"

The boy giggled and stepped to the side, gesturing towards the trees with his dagger. "Go on," He crooned. "I'll give you a head start."

From that moment Dipper was on autopilot. He scrambled off the ground where he had fallen and over the crest of the hill into the trees in the direction he had come from. He didn't know how far the shack was, and really he didn't care, he just needed to get away. He tripped over a rock jutting up in the dirt and rolled the rest of the way down the hill. When he came to rest at the bottom he scrambled back onto his feet. He glanced over his shoulder as he began to run again and saw the boy still standing still at the top of the hill.

Dipper turned back and took off as fast as he could. Branches caught onto his sweater, and whipped him in the face as he frantically smacked them out of his way. He couldn't breath, his heart was pounding in his ears. Suddenly, something whisked close by Dipper's head and lodged into the tree in front of him. Dipper stopped and stumbled backwards upon realizing it was the boy's knife stuck two inches deep in the trunk.

Then he heard the laughter. Manic, excited laughter that echoed in the darkness of the trees. "Better watch out..." Dipper heard the boy sing-song somewhere behind him. "I never miss twice."

Dipper frantically scrambled around the tree and began running again. Off to his right Dipper noticed a pile of large rocks and he veered off towards them. He slowed as he approached them, checking over his shoulder as he did so and saw nothing. Beneath one of the larger rocks was a small cave and Dipper flung himself into the space. He pressed his back into the rear wall of the little hole and tried to quiet his heavy panting as he wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead.

"Why?" He thought woefully, "why couldn't I have just gone to sleep?"

Dipper's breath hitched in his throat when he heard the crunch of leaves and steady slow footsteps approaching from somewhere outside. Then he saw feet. The boy's sneakers were mere inches from the entrance of Dipper's hiding place, facing away from him. Dipper closed his eyes and held a hand to his mouth to keep his heavy breaths at bay. After what felt like ages, Dipper heard the footsteps move away until they faded out and Dipper was able to breath again and open his eyes.

Very slowly, Dipper crept to the opening and pulled himself out onto his knees. He supported himself on his hands and attempted to steady his shaking breaths. He pressed a hand to his chest and felt his rapidly pounding heartbeats.

"There you are."

Dipper froze, eyes wide in terror and fixed on the ground in front of him. He turned over to see the boy crouching on top of the rock Dipper had just been hiding under. The boy leapt down from the rock - knife in hand - and began to step steadily towards Dipper. Dipper turned back onto his stomach and tried to pull himself to his feet. He was pushed sharply back down onto his stomach and tilted his head to see boy's sneaker pressed to his back.

"Oh come now," the boy said with a toothy smile, "I've caught you. No more running."

Dipper tried desperately to squirm out from under the foot on his back. He managed to turn over to one side before the boy kicked him sharply in the side. The kick rolled Dipper a few feet across the forest floor and knocked the breath from his lungs.

"Stop struggling!" The boy said in annoyance, brushing his streaked bangs from his face. He flipped the knife once in the air before walking towards Dipper again

Dipper held his side in pain, he couldn't breath and his vision blurred. He could see the blurry figure of the boy move over him and straddle his chest. Dipper felt his arms being pulled away from his side and hoisted above his head. Dipper fought weakly to get free as the boys smiling face came back in focus.

"Why are you doing this?" Dipper asked. His voice sounded scratchy and his throat stung.

The boy looked a little puzzled as the smile left his face. "Because I can," He stated simply. He transferred both of Dipper's wrists to one of his hands. With the other, he brought the blade of knife up to Dipper's cheek and pressed it against his skin. Dipper cried out in pain and thrashed against the boy's hands holding him.

"Stop!" Dipper shouted. "Get off of me!" Dipper yanked his right hand free and swung blindly in front of him. He connected his knuckles with the boy's jaw. The boy stumbled backwards holding his face with one hand and the knife with the other. Dipper lifted a leg and kicked out as hard as a he could, hitting the boy's thigh and causing him to fall. The brunette scrambled backwards against a tree and used it to help support himself, too exhausted to stand. He clutched at his side and looked up to see the boy staring at him, a small string of blood dripping from his lip.

The boy put two fingers up to his lip and looked at the blood on his fingertips curiously. He looked back at Dipper with his golden eyes, a vague smile on his face. "Okay..." the boy said softly. "I'll let you live." Dipper felt the most amazing relief at those words, which was then replaced with a new sense of dread as the boy continued. "You're too much fun for me to kill you," he paused, "yet." The boy placed the knife into his pocket. He looked down at Dipper's shaking form and smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said, before turning and disappearing into the dark trees.

Dipper watched the boy leave, and continued to watch the tree-line for several minutes after he disappeared from view. The brunette exhaled a shaky breath and stood slowly, clutching his aching side. He looked up to the now brightening sky and determined which direction to go to get back to the shack. He began to stumble on shaky legs, slowly and steadily, pausing to catch his breath or wipe the blood from his cheek as he walked.

"How am I going to explain this to Mabel?" He thought.

By the time the shack came into view, the early morning sun was beaming through the trees and the birds had begun to sing. Dipper stumbled onto the lawn and leaned against the totem pole just in time to see Mabel through the window he'd left cracked open. Dipper sighed softly, then collapsed onto the warm grass as his vision faded out.

But as he fell, Dipper swore he could see a glint of gold out in the trees.