Previously:
"No thanks, Grunkle." Minnie.
"Nope, sir!" Pacifica.
"S-sure, I guess." Gideon.
"Thanks, Gideon! I need you," he started cheerfully as he shoved a bunch of signs and couple of tools into the white haired boy's arms, "to go hang these in the spooky area of the woods. And be back before curfew!"

Gideon quietly hammered the signs into the huge pine trees in hopes to hurry back in time. Sometimes he hated how timid he sounded, especially around girls. He sounded like a little kid (even though he's only eleven), and he was so short on top of it. As he mourned the cuteness he had, the boy payed no attention as he slowly ran out of arrows to hang up for the Mystery Shack.
No, it took the sound of metal being hammered into metal to snag his mind back into reality. He looked around for the source of the echoing noise. When he failed to find it, Gideon shrugged and hammered into the tree once more. Clang! Clang! Gideon froze and stared at the tree. 'A metal...tree...?'
He drops the sign, hammer, and nail at the base of the tree before feeling over the tree curiously. Grime came away from the tree, revealing a window-like hollow visible to him. It took him all his strength and willpower to wrench the door open, sweat beading on his forehead as he tried his hardest. When it finally opened, the old mechanism inside seemed to wait to be toggled with; the two levers were just tantalizing to his rampant curiosity and his hands twitched with the urge to see what they do. Maybe moving them wouldn't be so bad, they were just little levers after all.
Gideon's hands ended up on the levers and lead to him test one toggle before testing the other when nothing happened. Barely a moment later, a rumbling sound is heard behind him and the goat, that somehow followed him, was running away with several loud bleats. The child quickly turned on his heels, blue eyes landing on the weird hole behind him. Okay, maybe moving them was bad.

"H-huh...?" Gideon mumbled as he moved towards the very hole that could be bad. He couldn't stop himself, curiosity was strong in this one. Once at the edge of the hole, he leaned over and blinked in surprise. Inside the metal hideaway was a tattered, red leather-bound book with a golden symbol that reminded him of and the number three written on it. Why would someone hide a book so securely?

Chubby child fingers quickly flipped through the book, stopping only to look at a small eyeglass momentarily. He continued onto the next page and set to reading the page covered in elegant script, weird symbols, and such.

"It's hard to believe it's been six years since I began studying the strange and wondrous secrets of Reverse Falls, Oregon."

He paused for a moment, wondering what was exactly going on. The book was just so strange. Another page was quickly turned, more symbols and even several realistic drawings of supernatural beings were shown to Gideon. Another page made him halt, if only to stare at large red letters, TRUST NO ONE. His eyes then scanned the entry made by the author as his curiosity bubbled and boiled inside him.

"Unfortunately, my suspicions have been confirmed. I'm being watched. I must hide this book before he finds it. Remember: in Reverse Falls there is no one you can trust."

"No one...you can trust? Huh," mumbled Gideon faintly.
"Who said that?" Gideon turned around and shrieked girlishly, surprised to see his cousin leaning over him curiously. The girl raised an eyebrow, shaking her head slightly.
"U-uh, no one!" The boy quickly hid the book in his hoodie, trying to keep it as much of a secret as possible. Minerva noted his reaction, but let him be. He'd tell her eventually.
"Okaaay then," she drawled. "You ready to come home now?"
"Y-yeah!" He nodded and seemed to debate a bit internally. "A-and I-I'll tell you when we get to the a-attic."
"Sure thing, cuz." Well, that was fast.

"So this town is a hub for spooks?" Minerva was leaning over the couch's arm, looking at Gideon and his new book in interest.
"S-seems like the a-author thought so," he sat beside the skull-like end table. The book was open between the two, its current page listing information on gnomes. Minerva found them rather unnerving in appearance.
"So what's your plan? Are we gonna search for these creatures ourselves...?"
"I-I was-" He was interrupted by the sound of a door being opened and shut, followed by the heavy thudding of feet.
"MINNIE!" hollered Pacifica as she pounced on her friend, "I GOT A DATE WITH A CUTEH PATOOTEH!"
Minerva winced slightly from the impact, but whom wouldn't when a human bullet comes at them like Pacifica did. It wasn't until the blonde stopped constricting the other girl that she properly registered what her friend said. Tick, tick- BA-BOOM!
"A date?! With whom? AND WHEN DID THIS EVEN HAPPEN?!" The girl freaked loudly at her friend as she shook her. How could she get a boyfriend within ten minutes?
"Weeelll, I decided I was gonna go visit the cemetery and so I did. Then I met this really cute guy," Pacifica gushed, a blush rising up to her cheeks. "He's so cute and deep, and did I mention cute? Oh, I told him to come get me here, just so I could introduce him to you, mah bestie!"
Before she could open her mouth in order to object, the doorbell rang loudly. Pacifica jumped up and ran to the door, her windbreaker fluttering behind her as she ran. Stan passed through the room with a smile and a wave, walking towards the kitchen. But then he paused when he saw Gideon move the journal behind him from the corner of his bad eyes.
"Hey, kiddo. What're you reading?"
"U-uh, the Lord of Rings...?" He prayed internally that the great uncle would just leave now.
"Aahh, good book. Enjoy then."
Minerva was still sitting where Pacifica left her. She seemed close to breaking from the suddenness of the new summer, whirlwind romance of her boy-loving friend. Even when she returned with a tall teen in a black hoodie, the grey haired girl was still trying to process the information.
"So, bestie, this is mah cuteh!" Pacifica introduced dramatically.
"'Sup," the so-called 'cuteh' greeted.
"Good afternoon," the semi-broken girl greeted back dully.
"S-so, wh-what's your name..?" Thank you, Gideon, for speaking up for your cousin.
"Uh, Normal...Man?"
"Shh, he means Norman," giggled Pacifica from behind her hand. Minerva and Gideon both ended up suspicious about this Norman. Was he using a pseudonym? "Anyway, don't wait up for me, bestie!"
The Pines duo could do nothing as they watched the smaller girl lead the tall teen away. Minerva slowly moved her head to face her cousin with a blank face.
"I don't trust him any farther than I could throw him," she stated, "and why would a guy be in a graveyard during the day? Suspicious, I do think so."
Gideon looked at the book and nodded, "A-agreed."

And so, in the duty of a best friend, I made Gideon help me protect the naive girl from the stranger. Thank you for finding that book, cuz.