Hey guys! Oh my goodness, what wonderful reviews I got for the last chapter. I'm so grateful to all of you! Well, here's another chapter. Enjoy, guys! I hope it offers some explanations!

And as always, I don't own Gravity Falls.

"Where are you…. Not here, not here…. Not here either… GOD DAMMIT, WHERE ARE YOU?!" Dipper Pines snarled as he turned his belongings upside down. He had raced the three blocks, his footfalls echoing around the empty streets, to Mabel's house to find the front door swung open, creaking in the summer breeze. He had assumed that his sister had left it open in her trance, and climbed the stairs three at a time, launching himself into his room with all the athletic skills of a wounded elephant.

He needed that book.

He swore under his breath, feeling the panic rise in his gullet like razorblades as he turned the room inside out, his eyes frantically searching every nook and cranny as he threw clothes, his quilt and papers behind him as he desperately probed. He was about to flip the mattress when he heard it.

"Looking for somethin', Kid?"

Dipper yelped as he span around to face a familiar figure in the doorway, its shadow stretching into the half-destroyed room. It stooped low, leaning heavily on the iconic walking stick, a fez balanced carefully on the head. Two eyebrows crowned a pair of crotchety eyes which glittered with mischief, and hooked gently under his arm was the leather bound source of Dipper's desperate search.

"Close yer mouth, If I wanted to see someone's tonsils I'd meet the Gobblewonker," Grunkle Stan croaked, his old mouth curled into a cheeky smile. His nephew gabbled as he pointed accusingly at the book in his Grunkle's fingers. The old man followed the young man's arm and inspected his face with concentration. "Ya got a little somethin' under your nose. What happened to you?"

"Oh…. That," Dipper wiped his lip with an index finger and sniffed, the metallic taste of blood running down his throat. "Wendy did it,"

"Wendy did that? Huh… that's interestin'" Stan grumped. "Makes sense though,"

"Makes… what do you mean sense?!" Dipper squeaked. "Nothing about today makes the least amount of sense! First I go into town, get assaulted by one of my oldest friends, watch my sister turn into a zombie and she glowed, Grunkle! SHE GLOWED LIKE A FUCKING LAMP! And now you appear with my book in my sister's house and you expect me to make sense of this day?!"

"Finished?" His Great Uncle raised an almost bored eyebrow at his nephew before him, who looked like he was almost ready to have a heart attack. Dipper's breathing slowed as he composed himself, and stood up to full height; only to have a cane rap onto his head. Dipper winced as he held his hand to his head, which was now screaming in pain.

"And that's for swearing in front of me,"

"Sorry, Grunkle Stan," The young man grumbled as he rubbed his head in an effort to lessen the pain. "So, what do you know about my book?"

The old man wheezed through his laughter as he hobbled in, throwing the tome on Dipper's desk with a hollow "thump". "What don't I know about it?! Kid, I helped write the blasted thing!"

"Really? You wrote this?"

"Whoa kid, I didn't say I alone wrote it," The old man turned the cover, the musky smell of the pages provoking a nostalgic feeling in the young man's stomach. "I said I helped write it. And the other ones,"

Dipper stared at his great uncle, the shock sinking in. He wished he could ask so many other questions, so much so they were positively exploding out of him. But he chose to ask a more sensible question;

"How did you get in here anyway, Grunkle Stan?"

"You've seen the front door, kid," The old man flipped through the tome as he spoke. "Considering this town has been going nuts over the last few days, and that little creep Marcus, I wanted to check on your sister,"

The young man couldn't help but smile. His Great Uncle had always been gruff and more than a little grouchy, but he had quite the soft heart when it came down to it. Especially for Mabel. He recalled the summers they had spent with him, and where the old man had fallen short for responsibility, he had always made up for in a kind of gruff, unconditional love. It had always seemed that Mabel and their uncle had a soft spot for each other, and had been one of the deciding factors when Mabel had settled in Gravity Falls. Mabel had felt that if she was nearby, she could keep an eye on the crotchety old man, and Stan had felt that he could watch over the flighty young woman, and stop her from getting into too much trouble. It had been the perfect arrangement.

They had also made it no secret that they wanted Dipper to join them there.

"Right Dipper, could you describe what was happening to your sister?" His uncle spoke, the grouchy voice interrupting his thoughts. He scratched his head and wiped his nose on a tissue as he probed his brain for the memory.

"Uhm… she glowed… she was in a kind of trance… she went into the forest… she was still in her nightdress…. Oh, and I touched her shoulder with a bloody hand," Dipper held up his hand that was streaked with red, turning a rust brown as it dried. "But the blood sort of repelled off of her,"

His Grunkle's brow furrowed as he flipped the pages further. Without looking up, he spoke. "And that broken nose?"

Dipper sniffed. "I told you, Wendy did it. But she wasn't acting right. She was really… quiet. So was her kid… and she seemed in a trance too, but she must have thought I was trying to hurt Charlie or something,"

"Uh huh… yeah, it's fitting together… when the kid went missing, don't you think it was a bit weird that he was found alive at all?" Grunkle Stan met his nephew's eyes. "Let alone healthy and just a bit dirty? Right in the middle of the forest?"

Dipper blinked as the realisation sunk in. Yep, he reasoned. That was definitely bizarre. "Come to think of it, that's when Wendy started acting weird. She didn't even notice us the whole way back to the town, and didn't even say goodbye,"

The old man grunted as he settled on a page. "Charlie wasn't the only kid to go missing and be found in the forest over the past few days. Take a gander at this, would you?"

Dipper leaned in closer as he followed his Grunkle's finger, which settled on the heading of the stained, grubby paper. "Fairies?" He read aloud. "Really, Grunkle? You think fairies are doing this?" Dipper fought the urge to laugh at the absurdity of it. Ghosts, maybe. Gnomes, definitely. But those pink sparkly things that his sister adored as a young girl?

"Of course I think fairies!" The old man looked incredulously at his nephew. "Just read, would you?"

Dipper leaned in closer toward the book, his eyes scanning the messy handwriting before him as he read aloud.

"Fairies are creatures that live deep in the heart of the forests. Small, predatory creatures, they are extremely dangerous for their appetites for children and heavy use of magic. Every few centuries when their food stocks run dry, they will target groups of people and take their children, leaving behind their own kind, or changelings, to distract the parents. Sufferers of changeling influence will experience total devotion to their "children", to the point of excluding all others and other activities, total personality shifts, and often, eventual death through starvation,"

Dipper gulped. "This is terrible..." He croaked. "Pretty much everyone in Gravity Falls is a parent…"

"Keep reading, would ya?" His uncle pointed back to the page. Dipper resumed reading the ink before him, biting his lip in dread.

"When hunting for prey, the fairies will choose a host, or a 'Mother' to take care of the kidnapped children. Usually this is a woman who is barren, and desires a child beyond everything else, as they are more vulnerable to their manipulations. It is unknown how they treat the Mothers and Children, but it is presumed well as their lives are halted at the time of their kidnapping, living hundreds of years, but staying the same age. Proceed with EXTREME CAUTION,"

Dipper blinked as he looked up. His eyes were focused, his hands flat on the table as he breathed deeply. He closed his eyes, his mind working like clockwork under his brown bangs, his face the picture of deep thought. He thought about the two women he was closest to, one who was in danger of starving to death with that little monster under her roof, and the other somewhere in the forest, surrounded by a group of stolen children. They had taken advantage of them.

And they were killing the town.

"Grunkle Stan?" The young man turned to the older figure that stood beside him. "Let's get my sister,"

"With pleasure!" The old man grinned widely as he grabbed the book. "Have any idea where they might be?"

"I've got a hunch," Dipper smirked as he began to descend the stairs, tapping away a text on his cell as he stepped. "But I think we're going to need some help,"

"Who've you got in mind, kid?" Stan questioned as he joined his nephew on Mabel's porch, shutting closed the door behind him with a clack. His nephew grinned knowledgably as he watched a cloud of dust speed toward them. The cloud grew closer, and was accompanied by a loud, steady music beat. The cloud rumbled to a stop beside them, the music revealing itself to be the strains of "Don't Start Unbelieving". A window rolled down and a figure leaned out of the cab.

"Someone call for a lift, dudes?" Soos reached out his fist, which was met by Dipper's. "You know it!" Dipper beamed as he clambered in, followed closely by his Grunkle as he held out his hand for the old man to grasp.

"Where to, boss?" The middle aged man revved the engine.

"Follow that glitter trail, Soos!" Stan pointed to the ground, where a little trail of sparkles led toward the forest. "She never stopped doing that, did she?" The old man gruffed.

"That's Mabel for ya," Dipper shook his head and smiled as they sped off, the pickup spluttering its way toward the road that led through the fabled Gravity Falls forest.