Gideon Pines looked out the backseat window of the moving vehicle with an unchanging expression of boredom, the window faintly reflected the expression back at him.
His baseball cap set snugly over his head of thick, white hair. His freckles burning mockingly on the cheeks of his pale and pasty face. He hated those freckles.
This wasn't what he had planned for his summer, not in the slightest.
His parents insisted that he needed to spend time away from home, make some new friends and all that. Gideon would have chosen anything over spending the summer in some random small town, helping out his overly upbeat uncle, Buddy, with his weird mystery store.
Gideon was only fifteen, so he didn't really have a say in his parents' final decision. They loaded him onto the transit bus and sent him to Gravity Falls with one case of luggage and whatever he had collected in his savings jar.
He stared out at the passing pine trees, consuming his view in a dark forest green.
He turned on his gameboy and began to play a game of tetris. He glanced at the old man snoring in the seat next to him, saliva pooling in the corner of his mouth. The boy figured he was much to old to have his parents send him away for the summer.
He let out a laugh at the very thought as he turned his eyes back on his game console.
They were heading into the town, it would only be a few minutes before Gideon would be able to stretch his legs and fall asleep in a bed finally.
Hopefully, Uncle Bud had a bed for him to sleep in...
As Gideon arranged the falling blocks in his game, making sure each piece fit well, his mind began to wander.
It can't be THAT bad here. I'm sure there will be kids my age here.
Maybe I can make some new friends while I'm here!
That's a good thing, right?
The view was nice, Oregon was a very beautiful state. The nature was alive and vivid, the trees were tall, healthy, and green with life, and the lakes were crystal clear. Gideon always had a love for the outdoors, when he wasn't playing video games or reading, anyway.
There will be a lot to explore.
The white-haired boy felt a twinge of excitement in his stomach, then another of apprehension.
The bus was almost at his stop.
He stared out the window again at all the stores and houses in the town. His parents were right, it was a small town.
There were a few restaurants and a big supermarket that was probably the only one in the entire town. He looked at the small houses, the tourist attractions. Nothing too special, nothing too out of the ordinary. For such a small town, why would there be so many tourist-focused stores? The town was so tiny and probably only had a population of around a hundred people. He glanced at the huge passing billboard.
Welcome to Gravity Falls!
As the bus passed by it, he saw another advertisement on the back of the billboard.
A picture of two kids about his age, twins probably, wearing outfits with matching patterns of dark and light blue. The boy had an interesting sea green brooch around under the collar of his cyan button-up shirt along with a unique dotted birth mark in the middle of his forehead. The girl smiling beside him had a matching piece clipped onto her headband, her hair fell all the way down to the hips of her black skirt. They're eyes both shone the same piercing blue.
Telepathic Twins? Eighth wonder of the world?
Magicians, I'm guessing. This is probably what all the tourism is for.
Gideon shifted in his seat as the bus headed into the woods past the giant water tower, away from the main town area. As the bus drove through the tunnel of trees, he looked out into the woods. There was pine trees for miles, that meant tons of exploring and many opportunities to get lost. He looked out the window across from his row and saw a great lake. A few fishing boats were sitting on the water, the families on them were probably having a grand old-time.
The boy began to feel homesick already. He realized that he wouldn't see his parents for two whole months, he wouldn't see any of his friends back at home either.
The bus finally slowed and Gideon was snapped out of his melancholy trance by the hiss of the bus brakes.
Gideon looked at the still-asleep elderly man beside him, he sighed and tapped him on his shoulder.
"Hrrrwhaa?" The old man looked up, startled. "Are we in Seattle yet?"
"No sir," The white-haired boy replied. "I need to get up, this is my stop."
The man grumbled and got out of his seat slowly.
Gideon reached for his luggage up in the shelf above their seat, he swung the strap of his luggage bag over his shoulder, thanked the old man, and headed off of the bus.
As he climbed down the stairs of the bus, he felt consumed in the trees. All he could see for miles were trees, with the exception of the lake and the single winding road. He looked out at the place he would be staying for the next two months.
The Mystery Shack
The sign on the side of the small house-shaped building. This was definitely it, this was Uncle Bud's weird business that he was so passionate about. The freckle-faced boy carried his bag into the small store along with a small handful of eager tourists, clicking their cameras excitedly.
What drew them here?
Why of all places in the world would they want to stop HERE?
He entered the shop and was greeted with various amounts of question mark printed items: tee-shirts, snow globes, bobble heads, magnets, post cards, and all kinds of other things that tourists freak out over. All of them were expensively priced.
Thirty dollars for one magnet?
Some people just never change; old habits die hard. Uncle Bud was one of those people. He was always incredibly kind and soft spoken, someone you would expect people to walk all over. This was probably how he tricked people into buying such useless items. Complement their hair, they'll buy a magnet. Tell them they look well for their age, they'll buy a tee-shirt. It was all a scheme, a perfect swindle. And it worked. It worked very well and very gracefully. It was almost an art if one observed it for long enough.
At the register was a red-haired young woman, she seemed only a couple of years older than Gideon. She had freckles peppered over her cheeks as well, though they seemed to fit her a lot better than his did. She looked very nice, her hair tied up in a neat bun, a pair of reading glasses hooked snugly on the bridge of her nose as her eyes were focused on the book in her lap since there was nobody purchasing anything at the register at the moment. Her expression was one painted of listless indifference, in other words, she looked very bored.
Gideon walked over to her, adjusting his cap.
"Hello, I'm Gideon Pines, Uncle Bud's nephew." He started nervously as the red-head glanced up from her book with a faint irritation. "I'm going to be staying with you guys for-"
"I don't actually work here," She said mechanically, turning her focus back on to her book. "I'm just watching the register for my boyfriend while he's running an errand."
"Oh... Well, do you happen to know where Buddy might be?"
"I don't keep track of that creep." She said, not looking up.
"Errr... okay, do you know when your boyfriend might be back-"
"Look, kid. If you're just going to keep bugging me, at least buy a damn sticker or something so you don't waste my time completely."
Yeesh.
Gideon exhaled in frustration and walked over to one of the shelves full of overpriced snow globes. He looked around the store, there was only a few people in here; a young couple ogled at coffee mugs, an old man looked through the rack of various sweaters and zip-up jackets, and a mother whispered harshly at her child who was throwing a tantrum because she wouldn't buy him a seventy-dollar stuffed animal. The white-haired boy sighed, this was going to be a long summer for him, he could just feel it.
"And finally, we have reached the end of our Mystery Tour!" A voice called in from the back entrance of the store. "I hope y'all enjoyed it, and I would be much obliged if you gave the souvenir shop a look around! We're a small store and we don't got much, but we do the best for you guys!"
A large man in a large tuxedo outfit and ominous-looking fez cap came out from behind the beaded curtain of the back store, followed by around five or six tourists. His side-burns were very large and he looked surprisingly young for his age, being an uncle and all.
"Hey Uncle Bud!" Gideon waved, walking over to him.
"Do my eyes deceive me? Is that my favorite nephew, Gideon?" He drawled, smiling as he hugged him.
"Oh my goodness, you have grown so much!" He said, ruffling the boy's white-hair. "Last time I saw you, you were just starting second grade!" He chuckled.
"Yeah, it's been a while." Gideon replied.
"Well, I can guarantee you that you will have barrels of fun staying here with your best uncle!" Uncle Bud exclaimed, leading Gideon into the house part of the Mystery Shack.
"Well, I'm curious now," Gideon said. "What is so special about this town? Why do so many people come here?"
"Ah, I thought you'd never ask," His uncle smiled as he spoke. "This town has been said to be a mystery, there have been hundreds of reports of strange things happening here. People have claimed to have spoken to the paranormal, there have been dozens of missing person reports in this town alone, people have claimed to have spotted giants, talking animals, gnomes, sea monsters, and even Sasquatch! A lot of people don't believe these myths, but they're what I live for and that's why I wanted to start a business around here. Even if it is a little... exaggerated."
They walked up the stairs into a small room at the top of the house.
"This is where you'll be stayin', Gideon."
"Have you ever seen anything out of the ordinary, Uncle Bud?" The white-haired boy asked, setting his bag on the upstairs bed.
Uncle Bud paused, a sudden tenseness overtook him.
"Well yes," He gulped. "But those are stories for another time!" He quickly finished as he headed out of the room.
Gideon looked out of the small, triangular window of his room. The trees stretched out for miles, longing to be explored.
The boy let out a yawn, he was exhausted from his long trip and wanted nothing more than to take a nice nap. But the sun was still out, though it was late afternoon. He figured there was still a little bit of time to explore the new area.
I wonder what cool stuff I can find out there?
Gideon felt a wave of excitement flow through him as he hurried down the stairs to get some fresh air.
As he headed quickly out of the front of the store he saw the red-headed girl on the porch outside, she was talking the a dark-haired boy. He was wearing a green plaid shirt, his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, he smiled at Gideon.
"Ah, you must be Gideon!" He turned to the boy holding out his hand, his red-hair friend rolled her eyes.
"Yes, that's me." The white-haired boy shook his hand.
"My name's Robert, you can call me Robbie, though. I work here at the shack, it's nice to see a new face around here."
"Nice to meet you, Robbie."
"Likewise! Oh, and this is my girlfriend, Wendy." Robbie turns to her, she smiled.
"We have already met." She glanced down at Gideon with a small scowl before turning her attention back to Robbie, a complete change of expression.
"Oh, awesome! Hey, be careful in those woods, Gideon. They say weird stuff happens out there." He glanced out in the distance. "If you stray from the main trail, you will most likely get lost."
Gideon laughed.
"Don't worry, I'll be careful!" He headed out past the totem pole near the bus stop. "It was nice meeting you!"
"Same here, kiddo! See you around." Robbie called out before turning back to talk to Wendy.
Gideon began to head into the woods, the green stretched for miles as he headed down the dirt trail. There were many signs nailed to the trees; arrows pointing to the Mystery Shack.
I guess that's one way to advertise.
He looked up, the sun was beginning to set. He headed deeper into the woods, he regretted not taking his flashlight.
Wow, I wonder how big these woods really are?
I bet if I walk long enough, I'll end up in some lost civilization.
Now, THAT would be really cool!
Gideon felt his foot catch on something.
"AUGH!" He shouted before falling flat on his face. His yell echoed throughout the woods, hopefully he didn't disturb any of the "magical creatures" that might be lurking in these parts.
He stood up and brushed the dirt off his shirt and shorts.
Scraped knees and face. Great.
Just how I wanted to start off the summer.
He looked behind him and saw a tree root.
"Stupid tree." He muttered before giving the nearby tree a swift kick.
CLANG!
"What?" He walked over and knocked on the tree.
BANG BANG!
It was hollow and it was cold. In fact, it wasn't even a tree. It was metal!
Gideon hit the tree again; another clang followed. He walked over and brushed the coat of dirt around the tree. A small door appeared. He dug his nails in the crack of the door trying to pry it open. It creaked open, cobwebs clung to it desperately. Inside of the tree truck was a small metal box, old and cracked. There was a small screen on the front, the rest of the front was covered in various buttons. The boy clicked one of the two levers at the top.
Nothing happened.
He clicked the other one.
A loud mechanic sound whirred behind him. Startled, he turned around quickly. A trap door had opened up, Gideon slowly walked toward the trap door and hesitantly looked down, fearing something horrid might crawl out and grab him.
It was only a book, thickly covered in dust and cobwebs. He reached down cautiously and pulled the book free from the cobwebs. Blowing the dust off of the cover, it was ripped and torn and a faded crimson color.
Oh my God.
He opened the book carefully to the first page and began to read.
"June 18,
It's hard to believe it's been six years since I began studying the strange and wondrous secrets of Gravity Falls, Oregon.
In all my travels, never have I observed so many curious things! Gravity Falls is indeed a geographical oddity."
He flipped through the pages; floating eyeballs, gnomes, various symbols and hurried scribblings. He read another page.
"Unfortunately, my suspicious have been confirmed, I'm being watched.
I must hide this book before He finds it.
Remember- In Gravity Falls, there is no one you can trust.
TRUST NO ONE!"
"Mabel!" A strange voice called close in the distance.
Gideon snapped up at the sound and his heart began to race even quicker. He quickly closed the book and tucked it under his arm. It was getting dark.
A sharp and feminine giggle pierced his ears.
"What is it Dippy?" Another laugh. "You 'fraid I might find the book without you?"
Gideon's grip tightened around the book, he needed to get out of here now.
He walked quickly back up the trail, heading back to the Mystery Shack.
"No, Mabel," The other voice replied. "I was just making sure you didn't get lost."
"You're so adorable, Dipper. Thinking that I'd get lost in these woods? How kind of you to watch out for your dear sister." The girl's voice replied.
Gideon quickened his pace, these people sounded like trouble. And they mentioned a book, most likely referring to the one he was carrying under his arm.
"Yes, always trying to look out for you," The voice again. "Now, where did the spirits tell you the book was exactly?"
"They said to look in the trees," Mabel knocked on one of the many trees. "This one isn't it."
"We don't have all day for this nonsense!"
"Well, if you wanna get technical, the day is just about over anyway."
"Mabel-"
"Wait!" Mabel wrapped her hand around the amulet on her headband. "I sense something."
Gideon's breath caught in his throat, he broke into a sprint.
"About time."
"We're close, they tell me we are."
"Good, let's look around the area."
Another laugh.
"Ooh, Dipper! They tell me we're not the only ones here, either..." Her smile began to broaden, her grip tightening on her glowing amulet.
Her brother returned the grin and wrapped his fingers around his own amulet, it was always fun to play with friends.