Sorry this took far too long folks, I made the mistake of attempting to continue too many stories at once. Now I know not to do that.

"PIIIIIINETREEEEEE!"

The door to the Mystrey Shack slammed open to admit a flamboyantly dressed and very loud Bill Cipher. He strode in and stopped at the glare sent by Stan from the door to the living room.

"Have you seen Pinetree? I need to hurt him for failing to inform me of food," the demon asked noisily. Stan grunted and walked off with the stack of money he'd been counting, throwing an "Ask Mabel," over his shoulder. Bill followed the sounds of cooking, giggling, and pop music into the kitchen.

"Don't stop believing!" she sang off tune. Bill ducked to avoid her flailing and spinning, and caught the spoon with his magic as it sailed from her grip. He set it back down in the pot of macaroni on the stove, and turned the heat off as she continued bouncing around the kitchen singing.

"Hold on to that feeling!" She jumped up onto a chair and mimed an air guitar, wobbling precariously on the unbalanced chair. Bill caught her and set her on the floor before she face planted. She giggled as the guitar solo played and kissed him on the cheek, snatching the spoon out of the pot.

"Hope you like sprinkles!" she said as she shoved it towards the demon's mouth. He pushed the offending item away and wiped his cheek, grumbling. The girl was far too friendly for her own good. Good thing he had a fondness for the twins.

"Where's your brother?" he asked. Mabel hummed as she tasted the macaroni, and added more shredded cheese from a bowl before answering.

"Dunno. Haven't seen him since this morning," she answered. "I tried texting him an hour ago to see what he wanted for dinner, but he didn't answer. His loss." Bill pulled some bowls from the cupboard so she could start filling them. "If he doesn't come back soon there'll be no more of this special patented Mabel-roni!" She scrunched up her face. "Maca-Mabel?"

Bill shrugged as she came up with different names for her creation. "Stanford! Food!" he shouted as he set the table.

They'd all sat down and were about to tuck in to Mabel's questionable dinner, when Stan looked around. "Someone's missing," he stated. "Where's my nephew?"

"He told me he was going out to write a bit, enjoy nature, geeky stuff like that, but that was this morning," Mabel glanced at her bright pink watch. "It's been eight hours." She and Stan looked at Bill.

"Hey, I may be an all-seeing dream demon and master of the mind, but that kid's good at hiding when he wants to be left alone"

Stan picked up his fork and started eating. "He's probably at Wendy's or fell asleep or something. If he doesn't come back soon, too bad. Cold leftovers for him."

An hour later, Mabel paced the length of the living room, phone clutched in her hand. "You sure you haven't seen him?" she asked.

"Not since I left," came Wendy's answer. She'd left for college a couple weeks ago, and there'd been this big send-off for her. The twins were excited at the thought that in a few short years, they would be going too. "He called me yesterday, but other than that, nada."

Mabel sighed. "Thanks anyways. I'll tell you when we find him."

"Good luck. And tell Bill I said hi." The phone clicked off. She slipped it into her pocket and turned to Stan. He'd just gotten off the phone with Lazy Susan, asking her if she'd seen him. Mabel gave him a questioning look; he shook his head. She didn't know either.

Things were looking bad. Where was her brother? He wouldn't just disappear like that, it wasn't like him. Even if he'd fallen asleep, he should be awake by now. Unless-

Oh no. Unless something in the forest got him.

"Bill!" she called for the demon. He popped into existence next to her. "I need you to do a sweep of the forest, see if you see anything out of the ordinary. He might still be in there!" she said.

"Already done, toots." He nervously adjusted his bow tie. "He wasn't there either. I can usually sense him no matter where he is, but this time, I can't. The only explanation is if he's not on this plane."

"The Mindscape?" Mabel ventured.

He shook his head. "The Mindscape is my domain, Star. If Pinteree were there I'd definitely know. No, the only explanation is that he's in yet a different plane, or something's blocking his mental signature."

She rubbed her temple. The day had started so well, and now Dipper was missing. Possibly trapped in a separate plane of existence. If she weren't so terrified she'd laugh. Typical Dipper.

Grunkle Stan walked over and put a hand on both of their shoulders. "I've got a search party set up and ready to go. We're gonna do a sweep of the outer edges of town and some of the woods. Areas you can't go, Cipher." Said demon huffed, annoyed at his connection to the town. If only he wasn't tied to this stupid place, if only he could leave, then he'd be able to come and help them.

"Mabel, you stay here. There are things out there in the woods. Things I don't want hurting you. You can call others, keep asking around. And wait here in case he comes back."

She wanted to protest, but the steely look in his eyes deterred her. He'd already possibly lost one kid, he didn't want to risk her. She nodded, resigned to her fate.

"Great. Bill, stay here if you want, continue searching, do your demon-y thing, I don't care. Call one of us if you find him. Same goes for you, Mabel." He grabbed his jacket, pulled a flashlight and his gun out of the closet, and left. Bill mumbled out something about going to continue the search and disappeared. Mabel was alone.

She held out for all of three seconds, before her knees wobbled and she collapsed on the couch with a cry. Broken sobs echoed through the house. Technically, it was more likely he was lost, or had slipped and hit his head, passed out for a bit. Maybe he'd just fallen asleep and was perfectly fine. Mabel's twin-instinct told her otherwise though. She would know if her brother was alright, but all she felt was dread. Something had happened to Dipper, and she was worried to death over it. If anyone could find him though, Bill would be the one. He had to.

Her tears slowed to a stop after a while. She looked around the empty shack, the silence pressing on her eardrums. No use wasting time here, she thought. I have to help somehow. Mabel knew a couple of hiding places Dipper liked to frequent when he wanted to be alone. She was the only one who knew of them, and if he were there, it would be up to her to find him. Stan and Bill and the other search parties might happen upon them if they were careful enough, but the chances were slim. She grabbed another flashlight out of the closet and walked out the door.

It was chilly outside, but Mabel had on one of her signature sweaters so she was fine. The sun had dipped below the horizon a while ago, so the yard was bathed in shadows. She clicked on the flashlight and followed the bright beam towards the woods.

After their first summer in Gravity Falls, they'd mapped out pretty much all of the woods near their house. They both knew this place inside and out, and all the secrets it contained. It had scared Mabel when they first started exploring, but apart from the occasional gnome, most avoided the daylight. Now, however, was their time. Night. She just hoped her bright flashlight would keep them at bay long enough for her to find her brother.

After about a minute of traveling, the trees got dense. The branches caught on her hair in a lot of areas, and after untangling herself for the sixth time, she pulled a rubber band off her wrist and tied her long hair out of her face. She continued a bit faster. At one point she walked into a small not-so-clear clearing, and looked up to the bright moon. That one moment of distraction had Mabel tripping over something. She sat up and dusted the dirt off her sweater before looking for what tripped her up.

The root-covered end of an uprooted tree. This was it! The tree pointed to the stream that ran through one of Dipper's most frequented hiding spots, which should only be a few yards from here. She ran off the direction it pointed, splashing into the stream. She followed it those last few feet where there was a copse of trees. Ducking under where the branches hid an opening into the clearing, daring to hope her brother would be here, she turned around to see-

Nothing.

Mabel deflated. There was no sign of Dipper. But this was his favorite hiding spot! During the day the sun shone through the branches of the trees and warmed up the place without it getting too hot, but if it did, the cool stream that wound around one edge was the perfect place to rest. He had described it as "A wayfarer's paradise", and Mabel often had to drag m away from it to spend time with him. If he wasn't here, where was he?

She figured it was possible he was hiding somewhere else, but she'd rally thought he was here. There were all the signs of someone being here that day: footprints, places where the grass had been laid on, churned mud at the edge of the stream, light blood spatters on the rocks-

Mabel nearly screamed as she rushed to the creek side. There was a small rusty stain at the very edge of a rock, as if someone had fallen and hit their head. She worried he might have slipped and done that, passed out even, but where was his body? Did he get washed away in the stream? No, it was too slow and shallow to do that.

She squinted at the ground surrounding the area he fell. There were signs of shuffling around, then a sort of dragging mark that led out of the clearing. Oh no oh no oh please. Something had dragged her unconcious brother out and away. She rushed to follow the dragging marks, but was dismayed to find they faded as they went on. Mabel looked around frantically for any sign of a trail, desperate. No go. She pulled her phone out and fumbled to dial her Grunkle's number.

After a couple rings, he picked up, "What is it Mabel?" his gruff voice said.

"I-I think I found where he last was, b-but..." she stuttered out.

"But what?"

She let out an anguished sob. "He's not here! There's his blood on the rocks and signs that someone dragged him away, but I don't know where he is!"

Stan tried to soothe her sniffling. "It's okay honey. Where are you?" She relayed instructions on how to get to the copse surrounding the secret spot.

"Okay, we're on the way with one of Wendy's dad's bloodhounds. If any dog can sniff that unbathed kid out, it can. Go on home and try and get some rest."

Mabel sniffed and said "Okay." She hit the 'end call' button and slipped it in her pocket, before heading the direction she knew led back to the Mystery Shack. She passed many shifting shadows this deep into the forest, but felt she was safe. Bill wouldn't let anything touch his Shooting Star, after all.

Now hopefully he'd be able to find what touched his Pinetree.

Hooray for angst.

Also dID YOU GUYS SEE THAT NEW EPISODE LIKE HOLY SHIT