Dipper held open the door for Mabel, who mockingly curtsied before stepping inside. Familiar faces met them in the diner, from Lazy Susan to the grinning face of Soos, who was currently sitting in a booth and waving maniacally at them. Dipper waved back, and the twins made their way over to their old friend. As they passed, Wendy jumped from her counter seat and joined the three of them, abandoning her ginger-headed family. The four of them had experienced their fair share of the strange occurrences in Gravity Falls together, and knew that they could trust one another with anything that might come up.

As they made their way over, a pair of men immediately caught Dipper's eye. The two sat at the booth just beside theirs. While this would normally be cause of little suspicion, as tourists were not a rare thing, these guys felt... different. They didn't have the general tourist demeanor, nor any of the average items. No cameras, no cheap backpacks to be filled with overpriced merchandise from the various gift shops in town, nothing. Dipper couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive about the pair. In addition to the fact that the shorter of the two was eyeing Wendy like a fox that had just found its next meal. That too.

Dipper's childhood crush for the now nineteen year old was no longer as strong, but he still admired and thought of her as one of his closest companions. Wendy still worked at the shack during the summer, along with Soos. She had always been a role model to the twins, treating them as equals instead of kids, as her teenage friends had. Nothing had really changed in their friendship, even after she got into college. The same could go for their interactions with Soos. The beaver-toothed man still held onto his almost child-like enthusiasm for all things in life, most of all towards his employer's niece and nephew.

"Hey Hambone," he said as Mabel sat down across from him, and the two of them initiated the elaborate secret hand shake that they had been making additions to since their first summer in the town. Dipper slid into the dingy pleather seat beside Soos, wanting to keep an eye on the suspicious newcomers. The shorter of the two, whose back was to Dipper, was glancing back at his red-headed friend a few moments longer, before turning back towards his own companion, a taller man with wavy brown hair. Dipper's eyes lingered a moment longer on the back of the man's head, but soon was distracted by the conversation that was starting at their own table.

An hour, a plate of pancakes, and a few burgers later, Mabel and Dipper waved good bye to Soos and Wendy and left the warm atmosphere of the diner. The lingering rays of the sun were slowly fading, so Dipper pulled out the flashlight that had become a mandatory addition to their adventuring gear. Just before entering the worn path through the darkening pine trees, Dipper spotted Wendy and her troupe of red-headed brothers leaving the log shaped restaurant. They each waved, before Dipper and Mabel disappeared down the wooded path.

In the parking lot of Greasy's Diner, Dean and Sam sat in the darkness of the Impala. Halfway through their visit to the restaurant, Dean had felt someone glaring daggers into his head, a feeling he had been conditioned to respond to since before he could remember. He had turned to Sam, mentioned the feeling, and started to scan the room. That was when Sam noticed , in the next booth over, a teenage boy wearing a worn blue and white cap glaring at his brother. The kid was sitting at a table with three other people, one of which being the red headed woman that Dean had previously been leering at. Huh. No wonder Dean was feeling watched. Despite this, the brown haired boy's attention was soon caught by the growing conversation at their own table, and his intense green gaze left his brother's head.

Leaning forward a bit, Sam nodded towards the booth behind Dean. "It was just some kid. Nothing to worry about." Dean grunted a reply, and after a few moments glanced back himself. The table was now absorbed in their own conversation, their laughter occasionally coloring the air. Dean stared for a moment at the group, then turned back to his pie. After he had finished and paid, they left the diner, with one more glance on his brother's part to the group of four that had been sitting in the cracked plastic seats him. Now they found themselves sitting in the Impala for no real reason.

"So, why aren't we just heading back to the motel?" Sam grumbled from his slouched position, which he'd sunk into a few minutes after realizing Dean wasn't going to budge. Dean shrugged, his eyes glued to the glass window behind which the red headed girl and her friends sat.

Sam followed his line of vision, stating, "You're not going to get very far with a girl by stalking her." Dean glared at him, then relented.

"I know that man. I just got some creepy vibes in there."

Sam shot him a look, but let it go. "Alright."

Another fifteen minutes and the door opened, spilling the two teenagers into the failing light. One was the boy who had been glaring at Dean, and the other was a girl with long brown hair. They looked to be the same height, and both held similar features. Twins? The two of them were talking to each other as they crossed the dirt parking lot, heading for a path in the trees.

"Where are they going?" Sam posed the question that was undoubtedly also on his brother's mind, turning to face him. Dean's brows were creased and a slight frown lit upon his face.

The boy had pulled out a flashlight, and before they disappeared from view he glanced back, and waved at someone. Turning his head, Sam caught sight of the red-head Dean had been watching standing at the threshold of the diner with her siblings. She waved back, and the pair soon were on their way, down a path in the trees almost invisible in the dark.

Sam's head whipped around suddenly as a swift blur of shadow caught the corner of his eye, highlighted for an instant by the glare of the kid's flashlight. But as soon as the form had appeared it was gone, the surrounding woods fading to black as the light of their flashlight slowly bobbed away. Sam jumped up, startling Dean, but he was unable to see anything more in the pitch black trees.

"Dean, did you see that?"

Dean, a gruff look on his face, replied, "What? It was probably an animal or something. We are out in the middle of nowhere."

"I dunno." Sam exhaled, returning to his bored slump in the seat. "When is it ever 'just some animal' with us? You did say you were getting some weird vibes. "

Dean shrugged off his question. It was obvious to the younger brother that he was just as exhausted as he was, and ready to collapse on the cheap motel beds for a couple of hours. Although it was no comparison to a high speed, life threatening hunt, or escape, from some supernatural being, driving for hours on end did take it out of you.

"What's out that way anyway?" Dean questioned, turning the key in the ignition. Sam pulled out the map he had picked up earlier that day, and scanned the diagram. "That's what, heading west?" He ran his finger along the paper. "The only thing out that way are some homes and a place called the Mystery Shack."

Dean snorted. "Mystery Shack huh? That's original." Dean put the car in gear and made to pull out of the parking lot, but a sudden knock on the driver side window made him stop. The red head from inside was standing beside the Impala, slim knuckles poised against the glass.

Dean's interest peaked immediately, and his tired demeanor immediately disappeared. He rolled down the window, and said in his best suave voice, "Can I help you?" Behind her, Sam caught sight of her father, sitting in a parked car across the lot. The bear-like man was in the driver's seat, glaring daggers in their direction. He flexed his enormous furry biceps in an impressive display. and the message he was sending was clear. Touch her, and they were as good as dead. With no way to stop his brother's flirting, Sam kneaded his temple.

True to form, the girl completely ignored Dean's attempt at flirting, and instead gave him an unimpressed look. "Dude, if you're going to creep on people, don't make it so obvious. Just wanted to let you know." Without receiving a reply to her statement, she sauntered off, leaving behind a flabbergasted Dean. Sam couldn't help but smirk as his brother gaped like a fish, having not expected to be turned down that quickly.

It took a few moments, but Dean regained his composure. "Let's just get back to the motel," he grumbled, finally pulling the car out, leaving behind the warm glow of the diner for the darkness slowly enveloping the tall trees.

Flashlight in hand, Dipper whirled his head around. They were almost to the shack, not more than a hundred feet or so until the break in the trees. Mabel, who had been skipping ahead a bit on the pine-needle covered trail, stopped when Dipper paused. "Dipper?" Looking around a bit longer, he turned back to his sister. "Sorry, I thought that I heard something. You never know in these woods." he said, earning a grin in reply. "Hey Dipper... I bet I can beat you back to the Mystery Shack!" she chirped, before taking off towards their Great Uncle's home. "Hey!" he shouted, his voice filled with laughter, before running after his sister.

Unbeknownst to the care-free pair, shadowed forms hidden in the foliage watched their return to the shack, before melting into the dark forest without a trace.

Yo.

Quick rundown. It's been three years since I first updated this fanfiction. I haven't read it myself in a very long time, and the majority of it is unedited. A friend of mine brought it up the other day, and I know the torture of reading fanfiction that haven't been updated in years. So what I'm going to do is post what I've got, unedited as it is. I don't intend on going back and revising the majority of this fanfiction, as I'm no longer as huge of a fan of Supernatural.

The original story was written in a single document, which I was cutting into chapter-sized bits before I lost interest. I don't know yet how I'll be posting it, but what may happen is I post the chapters I've cut individually, then put up the rest in one big shebang. It depends on how much time I'm willing to invest in it, and if it peaks my interest again. Three years is a long time, it may be cringe-worthy enough that I want to fix it. Who knows.

Regardless, it'll get posted up here eventually. I'm off to go reread this, I'll give an update on my plans when I post the next chapter. Sorry for the wait!

-Missa