"I can't go on living this way, but I can't go back the way I came.
Chained to this fear that I will never find a way to heal my soul.
And I will wander 'til the end of time, half alive without you…"

"My Heart is Broken," by Evanescence

Chapter 2 – Midnight Rendezvous

"I must be crazy for doing this…"

Wendy Corduroy drifted around aimlessly through the thick fog that seemingly rose from the cold ground. Looking up at the sky, she saw that the full moon had been completely covered in overcast, shrouding her in total darkness. Wendy quietly shivered, wrapping her arms around herself, as chills went down her spine. However, the girl couldn't decide it was because of the unusually cold weather or due to the situation had she had currently found herself in.

As a child, her father had always warned her to stay far away from this place (which he had dubbed, "a rotting, diseased shantytown" in the middle of his fair town). Trying his best to scare his lumberjack princess straight, Manly Dan would often recall tales of what would happen to wayward children whom would do otherwise. He spoke of instances where careless kids had gotten themselves locked inside the empty freights, only to be accidentally sent off to other states, or how youngsters playing on the tracks would often lose a limb because they wouldn't notice the rare instance in which a lone train would come barreling down the road without warning.

The scare tactics may have worked on her when she was younger, but now that she was a grown up ("almost grown-up" she shortly corrected herself), Wendy knew better. As long as she was careful, there was nothing that could possibly go wrong. Besides, she wasn't looking for trouble; there was a particular reason that she had come to the spooky vicinity.

Wendy rubbed up and down her shoulders for warmth, recalling exactly how she ended up in the center of nowhere during the middle of the night…

Earlier that evening, right after Mabel left the Gift Shop, Wendy let out a sigh of misery. Despite of her incredibly downtrodden state, the fifteen-year-old knew that there were still plenty of chores to do before she could call it a day. Wendy went around the Shack, tidying up to the bare minimum in which Stan wouldn't bother her about its conditioning (the very last thing that she needed in her life at the moment).

When she returned, the redhead noticed a new surprise on her counter. A white sheet of paper dangled over the edge. "What the – " Wendy looked around the room for any sign of Dipper, "I didn't even see him come in or leave…" She scratched the tip of her head in confusion, "How'd he do that?"

With a roll of her shiny green eyes, Wendy quickly sped through the chicken-scratch as she tried her best to make out the sloppy handwriting:

"I don't know about you, but I'm tired of this back-and-forth stuff.
Can we please just talk this whole thing out? But not here…
Meet me later tonight at the old Gravity Falls Rail Yard.
When we're done, I've got one last surprise that you'll just die over.

I really hope you'll come, Wendy. I'll be waiting for you.

-Dipper"

Wendy leaned back on her stool as she thought about what to do next. As she just finished explaining to Mabel, she could care less about all of these over-the-top gifts and presents. Instead of playing all these games, the only thing that she really wanted from her young admirer was a simple, yet earnest apology.

Her memory flashed back to that night at Lookout Point. It had started out as a gorgeous evening. There had been a warm summer breeze flowing through the atmosphere as she sat peacefully in Robbie's barely-running van. Her emerald eyes were locked on the stars neatly hung in the night sky; they sparkled like the display was a sort of private showing for her and her alone.

"Huh, weird!" Robbie exclaimed, moving ever-so-close to her, "Nate didn't show up…" He reached over and placed an arm around the lanky lumberjack girl, "So, I-I guess it's just you and me. This isn't what I was planning at all!"

Surrounded by the pungent stench of cheaply-made body spray, Wendy fought the urge to cough aloud, instead choosing to smile back at her boyfriend. After all, he was making an effort to be somewhat-romantic; she didn't feel like busting his stones for trying…

All of a sudden, the peace was interrupted by the sound of thunder. Wendy peeked upwards to see that the sky was still crystal clear. She gasped as a huge object flew from the bottom of the hill in a heated fury, almost like a demonic form rising from Hades, only to violently crash on the plain.

At a stand-still, Wendy could see that the rumbling monstrosity was in truth, a familiar-looking red jalopy. Blinded by its headlights, she spotted a figure stepping out of each side of the car. The taller one remained as the tiny blurb ran straight in her direction.

Wendy placed her hand above her eyes of hopes of regaining a bit of sight. It stopped at her door, as it flailed its stubby arms around in a panic!

"Wendy! Stop!" a squeaky voice pleaded.

Instantly recognizing the tone, she rolled down the window and narrowed her eyes trying to make out her friend, "Dipper?"

While his great-uncle waited patiently at his vintage car, the boy stood before her with a worried look on his face. In his hands, he offered up an old-fashioned tape recorder.

"Look, Wendy; you've got to hear this…"

At first, she didn't know what to think. What could have been so important that he had to seek her out here and now? Dipper's expression had only raised her suspicions; it was only when Robbie reached over and attempted to silence her co-worker had she realized something was, indeed, wrong here.

"Let me just…close the window…"

Before Robbie had a chance to shut him out, Dipper was finally able to turn the player on. Wendy could hear a faint tune in the background. It was the song that Robbie had written for her – her song! But something was wrong. The words were twisted and trampled. Out of all of the mumbling, Wendy was able to make out one lyric clearly:

"You are under my control. Your mind is mine!"

Upon hearing it, Wendy pulled her head backwards in shock, "Whoa!" She immediately turned towards her beau, who looked like he was caught in the act, "Robbie, what's that doing in our song?"

The gothic musician mumbled on and on, piling lie after lie: "Baby, I promise; I don't know anything about those messages! In fact, I didn't even write that song. I ripped it off some other band!" Wendy's rage only grew with every sentence uttered. "I can't believe it…" she pondered. "It was supposed to be his way of saying that he was sorry, and now – it – my gift – is nothing more than just another lie!"

Fed up with everything, Wendy let her frustrations out and broke off her relationship with Robbie. As she slammed his van door shut, Wendy's thoughts changed towards her sweet-hearted companion; his concerned visage still burnt into her sub-consciousness. "My poor little guy…" she thought. "Dipper must have been going out of his gorge, thinking that I was in some type of trouble. It just goes to show that he's the only one I can count –"

All notions were silenced as Wendy raised her head. She expected to see the pint-sized teenager rushing to her side, squeezing her torso to death in a massive bear-hug, thanking the heavens that she was alright, or asking if she needed a ride home.

Instead, Wendy found Dipper and Stan literally jumping for joy, celebrating with one another like some stupid game had just been won. They were laughing and smiling and high-fiving each other as if they didn't have another care in the world.

"…on…"

Without batting as much as eyelash, Wendy stormed past the two males. She lowered her head so that they wouldn't see the tears starting to form in her green eyes.

"If anything, I'm the very last thing on his – their minds!"

As Wendy was about to set off on the long journey back home, Dipper called out after her:

"Um…hey!"

She stopped in her tracks; a small shred of hope still lingered in her heart. Wendy twisted her head to face "her rescuer."

"Uh, now that your night is free, me and Grunkle Stan are thinking, maybe bowling, or something?"

With that last comment, Wendy's heart sunk down to her feet. Before she fully turned around to lay into the ignorant boy before her, a horrible and depressing thought became locked in her mind:

"I hate to admit it, but maybe…maybe deep down, Dipper and Robbie aren't as different as they think they are…"

"Wendy?!"

The ginger shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts. Regardless of her mixed feelings, Wendy knew that she had to focus at the task at hand. She cupped her hands against her mouth and shouted into the mist:

"Dipper?! Is that you?! Where are you?!"

"Over here, Wendy!"

The high schooler blindly rushed into the dark, only to be led further on by her friend's voice. She had a feeling that coming all the way out here might have been a bad idea, but at the same time, Dipper hasn't really left her a choice. After she discovered the letter in the Gift Shop, the pip-squeaked detective was nowhere to be found; in short, Wendy had no way to get a hold of him and convince him otherwise.

Wendy had no intention of leaving her buddy by himself in this wreck-hole all night long even after what had happened between them. If anything, she knew how it felt to be left waiting for someone who was never coming.

While the idea of another "Dipper surprise" piqued her interest, Wendy simply had to remind herself of the experience with Robbie V.; in her eyes, she couldn't let a gift take the place of a real apology again. The more she thought about it, the more questions Wendy found herself asking. Why did they have to meet out here? And why in the dead of night? What had Dipper planned for her that couldn't have been said or done at the Mystery Shack?

"Dipper? How much further?"

Then again, Wendy's thoughts shifted to that of her ex-boyfriend. Over the last few days, Robbie hadn't made any attempt to ask for forgiveness or even say a single word to her since that fateful night. While Dipper didn't give Wendy the apology that she really wanted (or needed), she would be lying if she didn't admit that she appreciated that the thirteen-year-old was at least trying to make some effort towards her. Depending on his actions tonight, Wendy was even considering letting her minuscule friend off the hook for his blunder. As Mabel reminded her earlier that day, things haven't been the same since the duo stopped hanging out together.

In the distance, Wendy could make out his small stature fading in and out of the fog. He paused and threw his arm back with a wave forward, "We're almost there!" Before she could catch up with Dipper, he seemingly vanished back into the haze.

"How is he going so fast?" Wendy wondered. "I can usually run circles around Dipper without even trying!"

The deeper Wendy traveled into the rail yard, the more the miasma appeared to clear up. The redhead looked around to see that rows upon rows of filthy rail cars surrounded her, almost like they popped up out of nowhere. Wendy gulped in nervousness as her dad's haunting stories came back to mind. Passing the open doors of the cargo containers, she could only question (not having the courage to actually peek into the gloomy corners) if there really were unfortunate souls seeking refuge inside.

Her thoughts swiftly changed towards the positive. What if Dipper's surprise was that he had found something incredible inside one of these things? Wendy's imagination raced at the endless possibilities: hidden treasures, a mystical creature of some sort, or even a forgotten surplus of Pitt Cola!

Wendy started to slow down as she lost track of her young cohort yet again, "Dipper?!"

"Just a few steps further, Wendy! You're almost there!"

Following her pal's instructions, she took a few paces forward, leaving the train graveyard. The fog returned thicker than before, forcing Wendy to feel around towards her next destination with her boots. The raised points underfoot let her know that she was near the path of tracks that enclosed the old lot.

Finding herself blinded once more by the thick mist, Wendy twirled around in search of where to go next, "Dipper, are we there yet?"

"Hmm…" he answered from the distance, "Just about…"

Suddenly, Wendy cried out in pain as something rose up from the earth and clamped tightly around her right foot. With a groan, she tried to lift her leg upwards, only to find that it wouldn't budge a single inch. In spite of her lack of sight, Wendy reached downward to examine what had taken a hold of her ankle. As her stubby fingers felt around, she noticed that it was an object of solid metal that had her in its grasp.

"What the –" Wendy asked herself as she continued to try to wiggle free, "Did I walk into a bear-trap or something?" After a moment to think about it, she dismissed the idea, "No; if it was something like that, I'd be in a lot more pain. There would be wounds; there would be a ton of blood. If only I could see what's going on down there…"

As if the fates heard her request, the smog started to clear up. Straining her emerald eyes, Wendy glanced downward, only to gasp in response.

Somehow, Wendy had managed to wedge her boot in between the rails of the train track.

"Oh…Oh man!"

A sense of claustrophobia started to rise from her chest. Wendy tried to kick herself free from the metal trap, only to have every thrust defeated. She dropped to one knee and seized her ankle with both hands as she tugged with all her might.

Her efforts only made the metal pinch the sides of her foot even harder. She could hear the nagging warnings of her father ringing in the back of her mind.

"Dipper!" Wendy yelled out. "I need you to *ARRGH!* to come back here! I'm…I'm in –"

The gingered teen looked to her left to see that the disappearing vapor had revealed one last revelation. At the other side of the track, her partner in crime stood silently watching over the redhead as she struggled in vain at her predicament. Dipper's arms were latched onto the rail switch embedded deeply into the ground.

Wendy's eyes widened as she quickly realized the truth: she had not gotten herself accidentally caught on the train tracks; Dipper had purposely trapped her on the rail!

"I'm…in trouble…"

She overlooked her chum, noting that something was definitely off about him. The boy simply stared at his damsel with his trademark blue and white pine tree trucker cap draped over his face. Wendy noted that for some reason, Dipper's complexion looked even more pale than usual, almost like he was a worn-out photocopy of himself.

The creepiest detail of all was that even with his face covered, Wendy could easily make out that he sported an eerie smile that stretched from ear to ear.

"How…?" Wendy tried to comprehend the reality of the situation as her thoughts wandered, "But, how did he…could he…? It would have taken some mad-scientist skills for him to get everything so perfectly…" The girl unquestionably had her doubts, but at the same time, here she was, stuck in this trap, with Dipper apparently guilty of being her captor.

Rising to a standing position, Wendy coached herself into maintaining a cool-headed mentality. With some luck, she thought that a little charm could help her learn why Dipper did this in the first place. She figured that if she was to appear angry in any fashion, he might freak out even further and leave her like this.

"Ok," Wendy admitted, holding her hands up in a faux-surrender, "Looks like ya got me…" She pulled on her stuck foot to demonstrate further, "…and good!" Offering a forced smirk, Wendy crossed her arms and asked, "So, now that we're all the way out here, what was it that you wanted to show me?"

Oddly enough, Dipper maintained his stance, not responding to Wendy's acknowledgement. His only change in movement was that the sinister grim grew somewhat deeper.

"So, what?" Wendy raised an eyebrow in confusion, "You're just going to stand there without saying anything?" She narrowed her eyes at the shorten teen as she placed her fists on her hips, "What's this all about, Dipper?" Wendy used her hands on highlight her lodged boot again, "Don't cha think that this is a bit "extreme" in trying to get my attention?"

Once again, the tiny male refused to answer her back. His hands tightened around the iron switch.

Wendy was starting to lose her patience. "Look, man," she leveled with him. "You're starting to creep me out a little bit. If you have something to say, then just say it already!"

Even though she had raised her voice at him, Wendy still received no response from Dipper.

"Say something!" she ordered, trying to yank her leg to freedom. "You need to open that thing and let me out, or else, you'll be sorry!"

Dipper offered a small chuckle under his breath. He shook his head back and forth, denying her request.

"LEMME OUTTA HERE, DIPPER! RIGHT NOW! I'M WARNING YOU! LET ME GO BEFORE SOMETHING BAD – "

She was instantly cut off by a blaring sound echoing in the distance; a haunting indication that her premonition was moments away from becoming true. A pair of bright yellow could be spotted a few miles away. The tracks beneath Wendy's feet started to vibrate at an alarming rate. Goose flesh broke out across her entire body.

Wendy looked back at her friend, "Listen, Dipper," she nervously stammered, taking her octave down a few notches. "I know things have been crazy between you and me over the last few days, but I know deep down, you wouldn't want to hurt me, right?" She beamed down at him with pleading eyes, "You gotta get me outta here, Dipper; before it's too late and something happens that you can't take back. Do you understand me?"

Her pleas went unanswered as Dipper merely stood and watched as Wendy came closer and closer to a doomed fate with every passing second.

The approaching train's whistle rung throughout the dead-night-air, prompting Wendy to turn her head in its direction. She knew that it was a warning for her to get out of the way, but the conductor behind the controls had no idea that the unfortunate adolescent was literally bound to the track, akin to a hapless damsel in distress in one of those old-timey black and white movies Dipper and her used to marathon though on rainy days.

"Dipper, please," Wendy begged, spinning around to face her friend, "Don't do –"

Her words immediately became lost in her throat as she seen that Dipper was no longer there at her side.

"Ohhh…" a hushed cry escaped Wendy's lips. She couldn't believe what had just happened. Her one-time devotee and best bud had just left her to die.

"DIPPER!" she shrieked, twisting and turning her leg violently, nearly to the point where it was about to pop out of its joint. "PLEASE COME BACK! *UGH* *UGH* DON'T LEAVE ME HERE LIKE THIS, PLEASE!"

The train's horn grew louder as it continued to barrel down the road at a distressing pace. Wendy knew better that even if it were to slam on its brakes at this instance, there would be no way the caravan would be able to stop in time before clipping her.

Coming to terms that she was all alone in her distress, Wendy fell to one knee again in an attempt to squirm out of her dilemma.

"Okay, my boot's caught, but maybe I can squeeze my foot out…"

She used her hands to try to widen the part between her leg and the shoe. Unfortunately, the metal rod's grip was too tight, preventing Wendy from separating her ped from the oversized wader.

Wendy let out an aggravated grunt in defeat as she tried to think of a new strategy. The increasing rumbling constantly reminded the panicked girl that her time was fleeing with every wasted moment.

She examined the surrounding area for a hint to lend to her escape, only to find herself focusing on the rail switch where Dipper had positioned himself earlier.

"If only I could reach that thing…" Wendy thought, "I can get myself out of this mess…" A split second later, lightning struck her; a desperate idea rose up from her fretful subconscious. Wendy speedily unbuttoned her green flannel shirt, exposing her bare arms to the freezing ambiance.

"I can be cold later…if I'm still alive, that is…"

Tying the long-sleeved ends together in a knot, Wendy made a makeshift lasso and prepared herself to try to snag the pole at the other end of the road.

"Here goes nothing…"

She lunged her body forward to let the green rope fly through the air, only to have her foot pulled back in mid-throw. The lasso came up short, missing the mark by a huge margin.

"Come on! Come on!" Wendy pulled the shirt back in order to make another attempt. The deafening horn blasted in her ears, ruining her concentration. She took a deep breath and focused, knowing that her next actions would be the difference between life and death.

"Okay, Wendy-girl. You can do this. You kicked butt at this kinda stuff back at the Lumberjack Games. You won then, and you'll win now…"

The gawky teen went to take her second throw, only to be startled by the increasing shaking of the ground underneath her legs. The lariat went over the switch, barely missing it by mere inches.

"Darn it!"

Wendy turned to see that the train was now narrowing down upon her; it would only be a few minutes away from striking her. She grit her teeth and with an exasperated grumble, Wendy tossed the loop through the air one last time. Her freckled face lit up as finally, the shirt-rope hit its mark.

"Yes!"

Pulling back on the flannel, Wendy tried her best to pull the rail controller back in the other direction. Inch by inch, the redhead felt the pressure being removed from her right foot.

*HONK! HONK!*

"Just…a little…more…"

Unexpectedly, Wendy heard a sound that nearly dashed her hopes:

*RRRRRRIIIIIIPPPPPPP!*

Her mouth dropped open as Wendy noticed that the more she lugged on her shirt, the more it was being torn down the middle. Her heart felt as if it wanted to leap out of her chest!

*HONK! HONK!*

Taking the fabric by both hands, Wendy decided to take her chances. Using all of her weight, she heaved backwards as much as she could before the lasso broke into two pieces. Wendy stumbled about, only to remain anchored by her trapped foot.

*HONK! HONK!*

Quickly regaining her balance, Wendy noticed that the switch had moved even further towards its natural state. The pressure had been greatly reduced on her pinned appendage. She tried to raise her foot straight up, only to see her boot get caught under the edges of the metal rods once more.

*HONK! HONK!*

"Maybe if I try to slip out of my boot one last time…"

Using her hands to spread the tops of her shoe open, Wendy closed her eyes and jerked her leg as hard as she could. Despite the painful, scrapping feeling against her arch, the ginger could feel her restriction growing looser. At the last second, Wendy's socked foot came flying out of the boot with a soft *PLOP!*

With the train mere feet away, she dove from the tracks, landing roughly face first on the dirt-covered ground. She could feel the wind from the passing carriage caressing her, lightly blanketing her in a layer of dust.

"You stupid kid!"

Wendy turned her head to see the train conductor hanging out of his window, shouting and shaking his fist at her, "Ya got some sorta death wish or somethin'? What were yer thinkin'?!"

As the train continued to fly by, the exhausted cashier lowered her head as she struggled to regain her breath. Staring at the star-studded sky, Wendy reflected on the last few moments, trying her best to process and even accept what had just happened.

"I…I still can't believe it…" Wendy thought to herself, "Dipper….he…he tried to…" She had to stop from finishing the sentence as the meager thought made her tremble. If Wendy wasn't here to witness his wicked turn firsthand, she never would have believed it herself.

As she contemplated further about it, a sense of guilt came across the gingered teenager's mind, "Did I make him snap?" Wendy remembered how many times Dipper tried to offer somewhat of an olive branch over the last few days, only for her to cruelly turn him away. Had her actions somehow broken down the sensitive child's psyche, making him lapse into madness?

"No!" Wendy shook away the notion as she sat upright, "There's no possible excuse for this…for everything he did tonight! No matter what happened between us, nothing could justify him leaving me like that!"

Her anger grew as she recalled the conductor's words, "The old geezer was right! I was stupid! Stupid for thinking anything good would come outta this place; from that kid!" Wendy rose to her feet, and dusted herself off as she looked around the distance, "What was I thinking?"

The train finally disappeared back into the darkness. Wendy spotted her still-lodged boot in the rail, shredded into a thousand little pieces. She gulped at the possibility that she could have been inside of the footwear when the destruction occured. Her green eyes also noted the tattered remains of her flannel shirt spread across the road.

Wendy turned around to make the long journey back home. If only she had the strength and energy to do so, she would go over the Mystery Shack and tan Dipper's hide this very moment; she would have to settle for the morning. After taking a few uncomfortable lop-sided steps with only one boot on, Wendy stopped and peeled it off, along with her red and orange plaid socks.

As the unforgiving wind chilled the enraged young woman to the bone, Wendy made her way towards her family's secluded cabin in the woods. The various pebbles, shrubbery, and other shrapnel spread across the roads ahead painfully pierced and poked at the soles of her bare feet with each step, only increasing her fury towards the boy that Wendy thought she knew so well…