Chapter Four

"Dipper?" Mabel asked, shaking Dipper a bit to wake him up. "Dipper!" Dipper opened his eyes, seeing that his sister was practically on top of him. Just like in the dream.

Was this real? Was this another one of Bill's tricks? Dipper gasped, pushing Mabel off of him and onto the floor.

"Dipper!" Mabel exclaimed. She hadn't expected to be pushed onto the floor.

"Just stay away from me!" Dipper shouted.

"Why? What did I do?" Mabel asked. She reached a hand out to her brother, but Dipper slapped it away. "Dipper?"

"How do I know?" Dipper asked.

"Know what?" Mabel asked as Dipper curled into a ball on his bed. "Dipper, talk to me!"

"Stay away from me, Bill!" Dipper shouted.

"Bill?" Mabel asked. "The triangle guy?" But Mabel couldn't get any more answers from her brother. Dipper had pushed himself up against the wall beside his bed and was mumbling about the journal under his breath.

It was then Mabel saw bruises on Dipper's neck.

"Grunkle Stan!" Mabel called. "Grunkle Stan, something's wrong with Dipper!"

"What's wrong?" Grunkle Stan asked when he reached the room at Mabel's shouting.

"He's got bruises all over his neck and he's mumbling like he's crazy," Mabel explained. Stan reached his hand out to Dipper's neck, but the boy slapped him away just as he had done before with Mabel's hand.

"Dipper, do you have any more bruises?" Stan asked. He received no response. "Where did you get the bruises?" Once again, no response.

"He could have gotten them from the monsters he had been hunting," Mabel said.

"There is no such thing as monsters," Stan responded. "He got these bruises from somewhere and isn't telling, so he's grounded until he does." Dipper didn't need to leave the Shack. He needed to stop Bill. "And I'm taking that journal until he fesses up," Stan added.

It was then that Dipper broke out of his mumbling.

"No!" Dipper exclaimed suddenly.

"Are you gonna tell me who did this?" Stan asked.

Dipper knew he couldn't tell. He couldn't just say that Mabel had been the one to do this because she hadn't. Bill had been using her to get to him. Not anymore.

Dipper vowed not to sleep.

Dipper's alive, everyone! I think this is one of the shortest chapters, but I don't really intend for the chapters to be super long. I also want to add that this is actually my first time ever writing a Gravity Falls fanfiction.

Also, I'm getting my first tattoo tomorrow! :D