Chapter Six
Ariel and Alex Pines were on the next flight to Gravity Falls. They would be finding out just who was hurting their child and they would deal with it accordingly. No one hurt their youngest baby without a fight.
Dipper continued to fight sleep that night, so when his parents pulled up in a rented car, he had heard it. Quietly, Dipper sneaked out of the attic to rush downstairs. Not even Grunkle Stan was ever up this early.
Dipper was surprised to see his parents speaking with Soos in the gift shop. Just how early did Soos even come in for work?
"So, you're the handyman?" Ariel asked.
"Yeah, that's me," Soos said. "Dude, your kids are rad. I love them guys."
"How much?" Alex questioned. Of course they would immediately be suspicious of the handyman.
"They're my friends," Soos said. "I look out for them and they look out for me."
"Mom? Dad?" Dipper asked, making his presence known. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Oh my god…" Ariel trailed off. "Dipper, you look awful." Dipper hadn't checked the mirror, but he knew he had to look pretty bad.
Ariel came closer to her son, getting down on her knees to be level with him. She ran her hands lightly over the bruises on his neck, to which he winced. They were still pretty painful.
"My god, Dipper…Who did this to you?" Ariel asked.
"No one did anything to me," Dipper fibbed.
Grunkle Stan suddenly appeared out of his bedroom, fully dressed.
"Sorry to keep you guys waiting," Stan said. "Morning, Dipper. Did you sleep at all last night?"
"What's it to you, tattle tale?" Dipper snapped. He was feeling the effects from losing sleep.
"It's for your own good, Dipper," Stan said.
"Are you hurt anywhere else?" Alex asked.
"No," Dipper fibbed, bringing his hand to cover his neck. Unfortunately, Ariel then saw Dipper's wrist, which was bruised from being chained up. It was an older bruise, but it was still there.
"He's lying," Ariel choked out. "Dipper, you don't lie. You just don't…."
"I'm not…." Dipper trailed off.
"Just tell us if you're hurt anywhere else," Alex persisted.
"Okay, my wrists, but that's it," Dipper continued to fib.
"He's lying," Mabel said suddenly from the top of the stairs.
"Mabel?" Dipper asked. "I'm not lying! Whose side are you on?"
"I'm on your side; I always am," Mabel said. "I'm just trying to get you better. I saw your chest and stomach while you were sleeping, but I haven't been able to check for anything else because you don't sleep anymore."
"So, what? You just go around stripping me and checking for injuries in my sleep?" Dipper asked.
"You were grabbing your stomach like you were in pain," Mabel said. "I was trying to help."
"Show us, Dipper," Stan ordered.
"No," Dipper protested.
"Dipper…" Ariel trailed off. "Please show me. I just want to help you."
"I'm not showing anyone anything," Dipper continued to protest.
"Soos," Stan ordered. Suddenly Soos was holding onto Dipper while Stan removed the boy's shirt. Ariel placed a hand over her mouth when she saw the bruises littering her son's chest.
"Mabel," Alex called. "Please pack you and your brother's things. We're going home."
Mabel looked down to the ground.
"Okay, dad," she said in a disappointed tone. She knew it was best for her brother, but she couldn't help but be disappointed that her first summer vacation was ended early.
"Dipper, stay in the gift shop. I'll be speaking with your parents in my office," Stan said. He walked with the two into his office, shutting the door behind them.
"Dipper?" Soos asked when the boy sat on a stool, upset about what had just happened, after pulling his shirt back on.
"What, Soos?" Dipper asked.
"I know you're mad, but Stan's only trying to do what he thinks will help you, little dude."
"What's right would be letting me stay here and giving me back my journal," Dipper said. "I need to finish this research."
"No research is more important than your safety," Soos responded.
"How did this happen?" Ariel asked when she sat in front of Stan's desk. "How did I send a happy boy here and come get someone who doesn't even act like my son anymore?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," Stan said. "He found an old journal and got a little obsessed with it."
"A journal?" Alex asked.
"It's more like a fake mystery cop-out," Stan said. "He just woke up one day mumbling something about the journal, covered in bruises, and refused to sleep."
"It sounds like something in that journal spooked him," Alex said.
"Then how do you explain the bruises?" Ariel mentioned. "Someone must be hurting him. Is there anyone in this town who would hurt him?"
"Everyone in this town is as dumb as a bag of rocks," Stan said. "You two take the kids home. I'll look out for the person who did this on my end."
"Don't tell anyone where we live," Alex said. "That way no one can find him."
"Of course," Stan responded. The three then returned to the gift shop where Dipper had dressed himself in his usual everyday attire and Mabel had returned with their bags.
"Got a new hat, huh, champ?" Alex asked, taking notice of the blue and white cap that was identical to the ones on display in the gift shop sitting on his son's head. Stan must have given it to him. Dipper loved to wear hats to hide his birthmark, though his bangs were so long, they hardly showed anyway.
"Yeah," Dipper said glumly.
"You should get some sleep on the plane," Ariel insisted, seeing the bags under her son's eyes.
"I'm not tired," Dipper snapped.
Ariel frowned. "Let's go, kids. We have a car out front." After Ariel said this, Mabel ran to Stan and began hugging him. Soos joined in on the hug.
"Bye, sweetie," Stan said. When Mabel let go of him, she ran outside to the car. "Bye, Dipper," Stan added. The boy twin only looked away from Stan. He moved to leave as Mabel had, but stopped.
"Dipper?" Alex asked.
"Can I have my journal back, Grunkle Stan?" Dipper asked. He couldn't defeat Bill without it.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Ariel said. "We'll be talking more about this journal later." Ariel then gripped Dipper's shoulders just roughly enough to walk him out the door and to the car.