Leaves, fallen branches, and vines whipped past as the pair ran through the forest maze. Thompson chased after Lee who, at this point, was little more than a red blur that led him through the trees. He huffed and wheezed onwards as sweat flowed from every pour and somewhere among the frenzy of thoughts racing through his mind, he silently cursed himself for every burger or bit of candy eaten. Even still, the image of that monster tearing Dave limb from limb was more than enough motivation to keep him going. In their haste, both Lee and Thompson had been separated from the rest of the group; Thompson could only hope the others were alright as he struggled to keep up with Lee.
Meanwhile, the other surviving members of the group were still reeling from what they had witnessed. Dipper had tried to talk to Wendy for the first time since their "almost kiss" but was quickly rebuked. Something told him that it didn't have to do with their current predicament entirely; she had seemed a little off ever since they met in the woods by the cliff's edge. Normally he would push the subject but staying alive was now at the forefront of his mind. At present he was simultaneously plotting his salvation and trying to comfort Mabel; hopefully he could coax her out of sweater town. Staring at the sweater that now covered his sister (a purple mass embroidered with stars and moons) Dipper attempted contact. "Come on Mabel I know things look bad now but we aren't going to last very long out here if we just stay put. We need to get moving." Her subtle shifting underneath told him that she was moving further into the purple folds on her safe place. Mustering all the patience left within him Dipper spoke in his best loving brother voice "Hey Mabel, do you remember what you told me before we moved here for the summer? You know, about how mom used to sing that song to you to calm you down whenever I would sleep over at a friend's house or go camping with dad? Because you missed having your twin around right? Not being close to your other half or whatever you called it?" A small "uh-huh" issued from the magenta mass. "Do you think maybe you could sing it for me again? Do you remember the words?" Dipper didn't hear any confirmation but he could see Mabel shaking her head, no, from underneath the sweater. "Do you think you could maybe just hum it for me?" Without receiving any reply a small but steady humming began to issue from the sweater. Quiet at first but slowly growing in volume. Dipper began to hum along with Mabel and before long he could see the top of her head poke out from the top. He helped her get her head through the hole and breathed a sigh of relief as Mabel began straightening her hair and drying her tears. They may still be doomed but at least his sister was back, in one form or another.
Robbie's frustration had been growing all night. First his girlfriend had brought that know-it-all kid and his sister with her to the party, then she dumped him after Lee exposed his bet, and now this whole situation was happening! He couldn't take it anymore and what rational thought not eaten by the alcohol was slowly leaving him with each passing second. He felt like he had to hit something and Dipper was the perfect target. He quickly crossed the distance between them and yanked Dipper into the air by his vest. "What is it with you kid!? Why is it that whenever there are ghosts or monsters you're around? And what was that back there? Why didn't you help Dave out? How do we stop that thing?" The questions were fired with such rapidity that even Dipper had trouble keeping up. Suddenly Wendy rushed Robbie and knocked Dipper out of his hands. She really does care he thought as his heart sored at the gesture. "Back off Robbie! He doesn't know how to beat this thing anymore than you do. Our best bet is to get out of these woods and send help for the others…if they're still alive." The last bit added with less bravado and more of a whimper. Still you had to hand it to her, despite the rapidly deteriorating situation, she was able to come up with a more sensible plan than the others. Robbie was about to give his retort when he was cut short by the sound of screaming abruptly silenced by a sharp Snap!
Thompson didn't know what had happened. He had been following Lee through the woods when it appeared as if he had tripped and fallen to the ground, but upon closer inspection he had been tackled by the same creature they had seen eviscerate Dave. Lee screamed in pure fright while the monster gleefully announced "I found you" before she silenced Lee the same way she silenced Dave. The wet tearing sounds of flesh being ripped apart echoed throughout Thompson's mind as he silently, guiltily thanked himself for being unable to keep up. That is until he stepped on a fallen branch while backing up from the gruesome scene. Now cursing himself, Thompson ran for his life as Crulley effortlessly kept pace. An ecstatic and insane glee evident in her features.
Hearing the screams of their friend, Robbie, Dipper, Mabel and Wendy dashed off in that direction. When Thompson came scurrying out from the brush a few yards in front of them, they breathed a collective sigh of relief. At least one of their friends was alright. They were about to call out to him when suddenly Thompson tripped and fell over. It looked as if he might get up when suddenly the newly risen Sarah materialized from the darkness and wasted no time in jumping on his chest, effectively pinning him to the ground. Thompson begged and pleaded for his life but there was no remorse. Mercy was something that had left the twisted form of Sarah Crulley long ago. The teens could only watch in horror as she uttered a low growl "Now you are found as well…so slow." She balled her abnormally long fingers into fists and began pounding on Thompson's head. Each blow left its mark *SMACK, SMACK* the sound of raw meat being thrown against the pavement again and again. Visibly shaken, Mabel tried to bring the group back to reality. "Come on guys we've gotta help him. I don't care if we don't know how to fight her we have to try someth~CRACK!" Thompson's skull spit open from the sheer concussive force of so many blows. Blood flowed freely from the open wound and he quickly faded away. Grinning that same horrible grin as before, Sarah picked Thompson up by his leg and dragged the body into the woods just as she had done with Dave.
No one could believe what they had just seen, another friend had died right before their eyes, one that they had known for a long time, one that they actually liked (or at least one with a car). Once again they fled. No one knew where they were going but running was easier than coping with what just happened. They ran through the trees over fallen logs and past the various mystical wonders held within the gravity falls woods. Wendy was at the head of the group, her lanky legs made her a natural runner. Suddenly she stopped dead and it didn't take long for the group to realize why. Stretched before them lay the most horrible sight yet. There were bodies, lots and lots of bodies strung up or impaled upon a tree. The mangled and broken limbs of the victims appeared as extra branches for the tree like some macabre art project. No one in the group could speak; they just stared, transfixed, held by the horror before them. A sudden rustling in the bushes jolted them back to life as Sarah Crulley walked out from the brush still dragging Thompson's wasted form. She laughed to herself as she threw him onto one of the branches, impaling him and thus adding one more body to the tree. The bones under her skin creaked as they became disjointed and her form took on an even more inhuman appearance as she scurried up the tree like a spider to where she had impaled Thompson. The whole scene reminded Robbie of something from The Grudge. She did something to Thompson's face, rehanged her joints, and leapt into the night (presumably to hunt for more victims).
The teens stood where they were for what seemed like hours, too afraid to move, but eventually morbid curiosity took over and they decided to examine the tree. The scene was even more gruesome up close. People were hung from the tree some by their necks others by whatever appendage was still attached to their torso. Others were impaled upon the branches of the tree as if it were some warped, perverted trophy wall. Truly though, the most horrifying aspect wasn't the mangled, broken limbs or the torn flesh. No, it was the faces. As the group approached they realized what Sarah Crulley had been doing to Thompson when she crawled up to him. No matter how badly damaged the body or what they may have suffered at their end, each face had its eyes removed and the mouth sewn into a horrid smile just like Crulley's. I guess now we know why she was called the smiling death Dipper thought grimly. He quickly flipped through his number 3 book, finding the section on Gravity Falls land marks, he read aloud to the rest of the group (mostly to keep his mind off of the sight before him).
The Tree of Human Suffering: This tree is one of the more gruesome landmarks in Gravity Falls. It is known to appear to individuals with the darkest souls or those marked as "condemned" (Dipper couldn't help but *gulp* at this part). The tree has had many uses over the years like suicides, hiding spot, etc. Though most often it takes on the form best suited to the user's needs. The tree has been most notably used by the likes of Rex Barber, Jon Heder, and Sarah Crulley.
As Dipper was about to continue on Wendy let out a sharp *gasp* as tears formed in her eyes and strangely enough, Robbie was sharing her reaction. Dipper couldn't understand why, sure it was a grotesque sight, but after everything they had been through tonight he was beginning to harden inside. It wasn't until Dipper walked over to them and examined the broken form hanging from the tree that held their gaze did he fully comprehend. The features may have been badly mangled but the tattoo on his neck and the short black hair slicked back was a dead giveaway. He, Dipper Pines, was staring at THE Alan Greenly. The case had been made famous across the country not more than a year ago. Something about the sleepy town of Gravity Falls being rocked by the disappearance of their high school quarterback Alan and his friends: Michelle, Amy, Luke, and Jeff. The story had made national news and Dipper had to admit that he had been rather excited to go to Gravity Falls this summer because of it. He didn't know if he would get very far, but the tantalizing possibility that he might solve the Greenly disappearance and be recognized as a professional sleuth really spoke to him. However, now that he had solved the mystery, it didn't really matter to him anymore. Something about staring death in the face made him rethink his whole career choice. Maybe a job as a quiet job as a university professor would be less terrifying. It was at that moment a sudden realization struck Dipper. "Hey! This is Alan Greenly the Gravity Falls high school quarterback. So guys must've known him right? Or maybe either of you knew about him? I was only asking because I heard about the case and I wanted to…" Dipper finished the last part rather lamely as the rage in Robbie's eyes became more and more visible with each word spoken. "OF COURSE WE KNEW HIM! Dumbass. He…he was our friend and he was the one who introduced me to…..to Wendy." At the mention of her name Wendy simply looked away, the memory apparently too painful for her. Dipper too looked away; ashamed at how stupid and insensitive he had been, asking about their friend when they clearly wanted a moment of silence.
Mabel sat apart from the group. Kneeling with fresh tears streaming down her cheeks. She couldn't move and could no longer retreat back into her safe place, sweater town. The world had been cruel to her; it had taken sweater town and her innocence along with it. She could only kneel there staring up at the bodies of the other teens in their group. Tambry and Nate hung naked impaled on the same branch together forever, Dave's body was so broken that she only recognized it by the Moby hat, Lee was in much the same shape, and then of course there was Thompson hanging just above the others. Mabel would have alerted the rest of the group about the fate of the others but she thought it best that they didn't find out just yet. They seemed distraught enough with the corpse they were staring at. Her thoughts began to drift back to home, her family, her friends, and happier days she and her brother had spent in Gravity Falls with their Gruncle Stan. Just then Mabel saw it, a flash of white amongst the decaying and the dead. Quickly she reached into the mass of bodies and pulled out a single sheet of paper. It looked as if it had been tacked to the tree long ago with a hastily scrawled message but its significance was obvious. She quickly rushed it to her brother who would undoubtedly be able to make use of it.
At that moment Dipper was alone again wishing that he could take the whole day back. No asking Wendy out, no "almost" kiss, no ghosts or ghouls, and more importantly no death. He would just sit in the Attic of his Gruncle's house reading another Hardy boys-esque novel while Mabel read her Teen magazine talking about all the boys she would like to kiss. It wasn't much but he could be happy with that. Suddenly a sheet of paper was thrust in front of him and like a divination from on high his prayers seemed answered. The sheet itself was old and beginning to yellow helped by the gore that covered the page, but it was easy enough to see that the page and handwriting were the same used by the author of the Dipper's number 3 book. Dipper was elated for the moment, maybe the mysterious author had found a way to escape this madness. The note was so hastily scrawled and splotched with blood that reading it was made difficult but Dipper did his best as he read aloud.
Not much time now. She's after me, always after me. The others are dead no one else made it. I tried to help Mark but his foot was stuck. The metal, it was so tight. I tried to pull him free but I couldn't so I left him to die, give her something to play with, slow her down. Mark screamed for hours. I won't though. The only way to beat her is survive her game for a month. She will follow you no matter where you go but on the sunrise of the last day she will fade away into the darkness. If you are reading this you must be playing her game as well. Don't lose hope. I have spent many years studying the wonders of Gravity Falls and have set up a cabin with food and a number of spells and incantations designed for situations like this It's not far only a few hundred yards due north from here…..the problem is getting to it before she gets you.
It sounded as if the author had troubles of his own while unlocking the mysteries of Gravity Falls maybe even a mental break down or two. Dipper wondered if the author ever made it to his bunker, maybe he didn't and was now hanging on the tree just above him. Just another victim hidden amongst the mass of bodies. It didn't really matter because for the first time Dipper felt hope that they might survive. One small sliver of hope. "So wait, all we have to do is make it to this cabin place, wait around for a month, and that monster will just leave us alone? That's dumb." ladies and gentlemen I give you Robbie, a true beacon of wisdom (rolls eyes sarcastically). Naturally, the group descended into chaos after Robbie's insight. Dipper thought the cabin was their only shot, Robbie wanted to double back and head for the cars, Wendy argued for a group staying at the cabin while one person went to alert the authorities, and Mabel…. well, she offered up a very Mabel-esque solution. It wasn't until Dipper climbed up on a fallen log and shouted "enough" did the clamor finally die down. "Listen to yourselves fighting. I know it has been a rough night and I am about ready to throw in the towel here but I have been following the author of this book for the whole summer and he has yet to let me down. I think our best bet is to listen to his advice and try for the cabin. If you don't want to go that's fine but I'm going to go for it and I am leaving right now!" Wendy had to secretly admit to herself that this "little kid" showed some serious moxie and it kind of turned her on.
Before anyone could react or offer up an alternative a low and soft humming could be heard coming from the nearby brush. Everyone spun around to find the source and to their horror the faint outline of Sarah Crulley could be seen standing amongst the trees. There was no time to act, she would be on them in seconds and this game would be over even before the passing of the first night. Robbie inched closer to Wendy and whispered "Hey babe, let's ditch these kids, we can still make it if she has someone to play with. You know like the author of that page did. So, what do ya say? Come on let's go!" Wendy couldn't believe what she was hearing. First Robbie made a bet that he could sleep with her, then he acts like a jackass this whole time (not mention provoking Crulley in the first place), and now, after everything the group had been through that night, he wanted to throw the twins to that creature!? Wendy couldn't take it anymore. With her energies and emotions completely played out she snapped and rationality left her. "You're right, she should have someone to play with" were the last words she spoke to Robbie before grabbing him by his hoodie and throwing him into the waiting arms of Crulley. Robbie could only watch wide eyed as Wendy and the twins ran, soon to be enveloped by the shadows of the forest.