What was normally a quiet and average evening for the city of Cheyenne in the state of Wyoming had suddenly become much more siren-filled.
Several police cars drove aggressively through the main roads and streets of the capital city. Reports of a robbery taking place at a gas station sounded over police scanners, sending out several issues for backup. Many cruisers arrived at the gas station and parked outside, making the entire scene a red and blue light show.
Across the street from the gas station was a lone motel. Through a window on the bottom floor, a pair of eyes stuck out through the blinds to watch the incident take place. The red and blue lights of the police cars flashed repeatedly, illuminating the night while reflecting in the watcher's eyes.
"What's going on out there, Ford?" a voice asked from behind him. "Is everything alright?"
Ford looked away from the blinds and back at his brother, Stan, who was lying in one of two beds in their motel room.
In the past twenty-four hours, Stan and Ford somehow managed to drive all the way from Glass Shard Beach to Cheyenne. Ensuring they wasted as little time as possible, the two alternated between continuing their drive back to Oregon and sleeping every eight hours without stopping for anything other than occasional gas refills and food. They didn't stay at any hotels prior, not wishing to prolong their arrival in Gravity Falls any longer than they needed to.
However, in the case of the night, it had become apparent that they would need to stop and finally wash up from the clothes they had been stuck wearing for about a week at sea. While they had the room, they decided they might as well spend the night there too rather than using it just for a quick shower.
"It appears like some sort of robbery is happening at the gas station across the street," Ford told him before looking back through the blinds again. "I don't think it has anything to do with us."
"A robbery, eh?" Stan asked before laying his head back in bed with a smile. "Ah, Wyoming. I've missed ya."
"Yeah, I don't think it has anything to do with another one of your state bans," Ford said as he continued to watch the police. "Hopefully that doesn't become an issue later in the night. We're only about a sixteen-hour drive away from Gravity Falls."
"Sixteen hours, huh?" Stan asked. "Guess we'll be there tomorrow night if we wake up early then, right?"
"That's the plan," Ford said as he walked into the bathroom and grabbed his toothbrush, placing a normal amount of toothpaste on it before proceeding to brush. "That is if nothing else impedes or halts our progress in any sort of way on the ride there."
"I doubt anything will get in the way," Stan brushed off. "Traffic's been alright, we've been mostly clear of idiot drivers, and we still got a fair bit of diner money left for gas and food! I say we're doing pretty well."
Ford spit out into the sink. "I agree. However, you never know what else may come up. Let's not jinx ourselves."
"Yeah, yeah," Stan said before suddenly getting jumped by the Snacken as it landed on top of his head. "AHH!" he screamed. "FORD! YOUR GODDAMN OCTOPUS IS ATTACKING ME AGAIN!"
Ford rushed out of the bathroom to see Stan freaking out as the Snacken wrapped itself around the back of his head. "Oh, for Pete's sake…"
"GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!" Stan pleaded as he leaned the back of his head over for him.
"Hold still!" Ford said as he put his hands gently on the Snacken's head and began to firmly pull it away from Stan. Suddenly, it popped off and Stan's head was free.
Stan rubbed the back of his head, feeling for scratches or marks. "Did it bite? Did it draw blood?"
Ford examined the back of Stan's head, spotting nothing. "No, you're just fine. Just a little Snacken saliva."
"Dammit, Ford!" Stan shouted frustratedly as he grabbed a small rag from the bathroom and wiped the back of his head dry. "That's the fourth time that thing has jumped on my head like that! You gotta do something about it!"
"Oh please, Stanley," Ford said, rolling his eyes. "It's just playing. It's only a youngling after all.
"My idea of 'playing' with an octopus ain't letting it try to swallow my head whole," Stan argued as he began rubbing his eyes on his way back to his bed.
"Just leave it alone, Stan," Ford said as he petted the Snacken's head.
"You're telling ME to leave it alone?!" Stan asked. "Hello?! Almost had my head swallowed for the fourth time here!"
"Fine, I'll keep it in the bathtub tonight if it'll make you feel better," Ford told him as he walked over to the bathroom and gently put the Snacken inside, to which it stared at him until he shut the curtain, leaving it alone.
"Yeah, it would," Stan responded. He then began to rub his eyes more roughly, which got Ford's attention.
"What's wrong with your eyes?" Ford asked, raising an eyebrow as he watched Stan.
"I don't know," Stan said. "They just started to hurt all of a sudden. A lot."
"Well, stop rubbing them! You could make them worse!"
"I beg to differ," Stan said as he continued rubbing.
"Stanley!"
"Alright, alright!" Stan said, taking his hands off his eyes, which were now completely bloodshot.
Ford gasped. "Jesus, Stanley! Your eyes!"
"What? What's wrong?" Stan asked.
He shot up from his bed and went into the bathroom again. He looked at himself in the mirror and got a look at his bloodshot eyes, which startled him at first glance.
"Yeah, that looks like a problem," he admitted.
"I told you that rubbing could make them worse."
"Well, the sight ain't too pretty but the pain ain't that bad anymore," Stan said with a smile. However, it quickly faded and he frowned, placing his hand on the side of his head. "Although, now I got a bit of a headache."
"Just go lie down," Ford urged. "I'm sure both will be gone in the morning."
"I hope," Stan said while walking back over to his bed, rubbing his head. "This is a weird headache. Not sure I've ever had one like it before." His eyes narrowed as they darted over at his brother. "Dammit, Ford! I swear if that octopus gave me something..."
"I highly doubt that it did, Stan," Ford said with an eye roll while toying with his wristwatch. "As long as its secretions and other fluids don't interact directly with your blood or your digestive system, you'll be fine. You should be more worried about the Snacken eating you alive than you should ever be about it giving you something. And considering it's still a baby, it looks like neither is likely."
"What the hell are you talking about? It swallowed my head whole yesterday!"
"And did it draw blood around your neck? Or did any of its insides enter your mouth?"
"Well... uh…" Stan began, thinking over the questions and trying to remember. "I hope not…"
"The answer is no. Because if they did, it would have most likely burned the insides of your stomach or given you violent salmonella poisoning. Or both. And either would've been instantaneous."
With this revelation, Stan stared at Ford blankly and almost fearfully. "God, all that happens from a bite?"
"What?" Ford questioned. "No, no. We're talking if its secretions or saliva accidentally entered your digestive tract. If it had bitten you, all of your blood would have coagulated within the hour of the bite, to which your heart would've soon stopped."
"How the hell do you know this?" Stan asked, eye twitching in disgust.
"Admittedly, I'm not one hundred percent sure on the Snacken," Ford said. "But results of other Kraken species across dimensions that I've researched have resulted in the same or similar results, so I think it might be safe to say the Snacken could induce a similar reaction."
"And yet... you brought one along with us…"
"For ethical research. It's not every day one gets the chance to study an anomalous being from another dimension that dropped into our own," Ford said. "You know what any of these other so-called scientists and researchers would do to it had they gotten their hands on it? Trust me, it's much safer in my hands."
"Right… well, just keep it away from me," Stan said. He pulled his bed sheets over himself, turned on his side, and put his head back on his pillow. "Anyways, get some shut-eye, Sixer. We still got another long day of driving tomorrow."
"Yes, yes," Ford nodded, pressing buttons on Meridian before making his way back to his bed. "We need to make a stop at a store at some point tomorrow to pick up some batteries to give Meridian a small charge. That way, we can alert Dipper and Mabel of our impending arrival. It's been some time since they've heard from us, and they could be growing worried that we haven't kept in touch since we closed in on the Arctic Circle."
Upon hearing Dipper and Mabel's names, Stan's eyes suddenly bulged open. "Are you sure you wanna do that, Sixer?" he asked, smiling sinisterly. "Rather than expecting us, I think those kids might appreciate a good surprise."
"Maybe so," Ford somewhat agreed while tucking himself into his bed, not paying attention to Stan's face. "But, it'd probably be nice for us to alleviate them of any potential concerns of theirs. Let them know that we haven't died."
Stan narrowed his eyes at Ford, frowning at this idea. "Not yet."
"What was that?" Ford asked as he settled himself in bed.
Stan's frown faded away and he found himself looking at Ford in confusion. "Uh... what was what?"
"You said something, didn't you?" Ford asked, glancing over at Stan with his head in his pillow.
"I... uh... I don't think so," Stan said, scratching his head. He suddenly couldn't recall if they were even talking before.
"Huh. I thought I heard you say something," Ford said, somewhat confused. "Oh well."
He leaned over to the nightstand, took off his glasses, and set them down on it. Pressing the lamp switch, he shut it off before returning his head back to his pillow and shutting his eyes.
"Good night, Stanley."
"Good night, Stanford," Stan returned as he shut his own eyes, turning his body to face the ceiling.
Unbeknownst to him, his eyes flickered a yellow glow that illuminated under his eyelids while attempting to sleep. Despite not seeing the glow itself, he felt the flicker in his eyes, which prompted him to open them and look up confused. He lifted his head from his pillow a little bit and glanced around the room, particularly over at Ford's bed, but saw that he was just lying in his bed fast asleep.
Not noticing anything else around the room, he shrugged off the weird feeling he had felt and laid back down on his bed. He pulled his sheets a bit closer as he stared up at the ceiling. Soon he began to drift off and his eyes shut again, unable to notice the yellow glow flickering through his eyelids yet again with his deepening slumber.
At the same time in Gravity Falls, the Mystery Shack had already closed up for the day. But Soos and Wendy were still at work. They finished hanging up a banner in the museum that displayed a black silhouette of a haunted house over an orange background.
"How's this looking?" Wendy asked him.
Soos got down from his step ladder and looked up at the banner from the ground. He smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. "Looking wicked, dude." She gave him a thumbs-up back before getting down from her own step ladder while Soos turned to a corner in the room. "How are things going over there, Ryland?"
In the corner, Ryland stood at a large table with an orange cover that had black silhouettes of spiders, bats, and witches. There was a setup of big empty bowls, along with paper plates and plastic cups to the side. He then brushed off a spot in the middle of the table with his hand and placed a watermelon on it. The watermelon had a carved face reminiscent of a jack-o-lantern.
"Looks like the snack table's pretty much done, boss," Ryland told Soos with a smile.
"Nice work, dude," Soos said.
"What else needs to get done?" Ryland asked.
"Nothing, I think. At least for today," Soos told him while looking around the museum. "But, I think the place is pretty much ready to go for Summerween tomorrow."
It was Thursday, June 16th, and the next day would be the second to last Friday of the month, the day Summerween took place. In preparation, Soos, as always, decided to have the entire Shack decorated for the event. Similarly to how Stan used to decorate the place, he had the front lawn looking like a spooky graveyard. There were also various banners around the exterior walls and the roof of the Shack. Meanwhile, the interior of the gift shop and the museum were similarly decorated with banners. There was also a lighting setup alongside a smoke machine for effects to be used the next night.
Soos wanted to throw the biggest Summerween party in town at the Mystery Shack, figuring it would be a fun way to celebrate while also raking in a bunch of money, as per usual Mystery Shack event purposes.
"Hey, Melody!" Soos called out, turning toward the museum curtains. "Come check this out!"
Within a minute, Melody stepped through the curtains and walked into the museum. "What's up, Soo-" she said, stopping herself short once she got a glimpse of all the decorations.
"What do you think, babe?" Soos asked. "We just finished decorating for Summerween."
"Oh my gosh, you guys. It all looks awesome!" she said excitedly.
"Yeah," Wendy nodded. "The place looks great with all the new stuff Soos bought instead of the same old, dusty Summerween supplies in the attic that he usually has us put up."
"Ha, glad I wasn't here for that," Ryland chuckled.
"The Summerween Superstore ain't cheap, dude," Soos told the two. "Took a bit out of me to actually pay for these new decorations this year, especially since we're still recovering a bit from the whole newspaper deal. I'm not sure how Mr. Pines used to pay for this stuff."
"Um, Soos. He never paid for it," Wendy said.
"Oh yeah..." Soos realized, stroking his chin. "Well, I know what I'm doing next year. Or should I say... what I'm not doing. Heheh," he chuckled while nudging Ryland in the arm with his elbow.
"Have Dipper and Mabel seen the place yet?" Melody asked.
"Have we seen what yet?" Mabel asked, just as her head suddenly popped through the curtains before she and Dipper both entered the room.
"Whoa, that was some convenient timing you two just had," Soos said.
"My Mabel senses were tingling," Mabel told him. "They go off when they detect any sort of mention involving me and Dipper."
"They also go off when she detects nearby traces of pettable animals, candy, her favorite anime, romantic comedy movie trailers, and the mailman," Dipper added.
"They're the ones who deliver my fashion-designing supplies! Of course I get overly excited when I receive mail!" Mabel explained that last addition. Suddenly, she gasped once her eyes caught sight of how the museum looked. "WAIT A MINUTE! Spooky decorations? Jack-O-Melons? Dare I ask- IT'S SUMMERWEEN?!"
"Tomorrow, hambone," Soos nodded. "We just finished decorating the Shack today."
"Wait, Summerween's tomorrow? Already?" Dipper asked. "I thought it was later in the month."
"It's always the second to last Friday of the month," Wendy said. "The last time you guys celebrated it with us, it was on the 22nd. It's almost a week earlier this year because the month ends on a Thursday. But don't worry. It's still the same thing you remember."
"This is actually my first Summerween," Ryland said. "Gravity Falls really is strange. I mean, a town that celebrates Halloween twice in one year? Who would've thought?"
"Oh my gosh, you're gonna love it!" Mabel said as she quickly walked up to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "It's pretty much exactly like Halloween, but better and more Summer-y!"
"So... not exactly like Halloween then?" Ryland asked.
"I said pretty much."
"Fair enough," Ryland shrugged as he smiled at her.
There was a sudden knock at the gift shop door, grabbing everyone's attention.
"Huh, what's somebody doing here at this time?" Melody asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, we already closed up hours ago," Soos added.
Being closest to the gift shop and, with that, the door, Dipper walked back out of the museum and up to the door. He placed his hand on the knob and opened it up, finding himself coming face-to-face with someone he hadn't seen in a good while.
"What's going on, Dipper?" Derrick said with a smirk.
"Derrick!" Dipper exclaimed with a smile.
The two proceeded to engage in their handshake, slapping their palms and the back of their hands against one another's before ending in a fist bump.
"Dude, where have you been?" Dipper asked. "We haven't seen you since the whole deal with the gnomes and the dragon."
"Well, once I realized my own stupidity from that adventure almost got me incinerated by a dragon, I needed some time to... uh... recover," Derrick explained. "In other words, I was traumatized, and I needed help after that night."
"Yeesh, and I thought you were joking about that," Dipper said, scratching the back of his neck. "Are you alright?"
"Nope," Derrick flat-out admitted. "But I'm here for once."
"Yeah... at, like, 9 PM..." Dipper told him.
"I was in the area," Derrick said. "What's the issue? It doesn't look like you've been sleeping."
"Hey Dipper!" Mabel's voice cut in from behind him as she made her way over. "Who's at the do- awww, man..." she groaned upon sight of Derrick.
"Hello to you too, Sparkles," Derrick told her with an eye roll.
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't you have better places to be at this time?"
"Nah, not really."
Mabel stood beside Dipper with her mouth stretched out awkwardly, not having any idea how to respond. Not that she even wanted to keep talking to him anyway.
"I'm walking away now," she announced before walking back into the museum, leaving the two back to their own again.
Derrick turned back to Dipper. "I gotta ask, what's up with the graveyard get-up out here? Did someone forget to put away their Halloween decorations?"
"Heh, funny enough, those are just the Shack's Summerween decorations for tomorrow," Dipper said.
"Summerween?" Derrick asked, raising his eyebrow.
"It's a thing around here. Gravity Falls loves Halloween so much that they celebrate it twice a year. So, they came up with Summerween, which, as I said, is tomorrow. And Soos is planning a big party here tomorrow night."
"A town that celebrates Halloween twice a year, huh?" Derrick said as he stroked his chin. "Who would've thought?"
"That's exactly what Ryland said," Dipper said with a chuckle. "Speaking of, you wanna come inside and join us?"
"I'm good," Derrick said, shaking his head. "As I said, I was only in the area and just wanted to see what's up. I gotta head back to my granddad's place though."
"Alright, dude," Dipper said, putting his hand on the door. "But, uh, you are doing a bit better now, right?"
"I guess you can say that," Derrick said with a shrug.
"Well, hey, if you're feeling up for it, you should totally pull up tomorrow night for the party!" Dipper invited. "I mean, a house party isn't really as exciting as getting chased by gnomes and dragons, but then again, that's probably for the best."
"Yeah, it probably is," Derrick agreed, eye twitching momentarily at the memory. "But that said, I don't want you thinking I've gone soft on the idea of dealing with crazy Gravity Falls stuff just because of what went down last time. If anything, now that I'm back, I wouldn't mind getting into some action again."
"Oh. Well, that's great too!" Dipper said excitedly. "Now that you know I'm not crazy and the things I've been telling you are true, facing more anomalies with you on the team now would be neat! Plus, I'm sure the others would love to have you along."
"EHEM!" Mabel's voice exclaimed from inside.
"Except Mabel," Dipper added without even taking a second to look back. "But I'm sure you knew that already."
"I did," Derrick shrugged. "But that all sounds good to me anyway."
"Yeah, man, just maybe try to call ahead of time in the future," Dipper said as he fist-bumped Derrick.
"No phone, bro. Remember?"
"Oh, right..." Dipper said, having totally forgotten that Derrick had his phone taken away in addition to him being cast off to Gravity Falls.
"It's whatever," Derrick said while walking off the porch, beginning to head on his way. "I'll definitely see you at the party tomorrow though. I don't wanna miss any potential action on a day when a weird town has a weird celebration."
"Don't get your hopes up too high," Dipper warned. "It's just supposed to be a normal party as far as I'm aware. I wouldn't expect anything too crazy to happen."
"Whatever you say, Dip," Derrick called out to him with a wave. "See you tomorrow!"
"See you, Derrick!" Dipper waved back.
After watching him go off on his way, Dipper soon shut the door. He turned around and got a look at the rest of the gift shop, which he had no chance to closely examine before. But now that he looked at it, he was able to see how much time and effort Soos had been putting into the place this year for Summerween. There was clearly a much closer eye for detail in the decorations compared to how someone like Stan would cheaply put things together at points. Despite the Shack maintaining its usual tourist trap identity under his name, he seemed to have a lot more heart for the business itself.
It was odd, of course, but admirable.
And then there was Summerween itself. He hadn't even started to think about the holiday before today, but it was here already.
Being sixteen, nearing seventeen in two months, the consequences of growing older had begun to strike as the years passed. He hadn't gone trick-or-treating with Mabel since they were thirteen. However, that didn't mean they didn't still celebrate Halloween.
Upon entering high school, Mabel became heavily involved in arranging Halloween festivities for the school every year. Her high spirits for the holiday spread amongst her peers as she made it her mission to make sure Halloween continued to be something to look forward to, no matter how old she got. While she and Dipper had grown out of trick-or-treating, dressing up remained something for any age. And if she wasn't going to trick-or-treat anymore, she was surely going to get together with all of her friends in costumes and throw the best Halloween bash possible.
That said, she never considered the parties to be a better alternative for trick-or-treating. Still, she enjoyed them as a substitute for her more mature years (although she had promised Dipper that she would be back in the trick-or-treat game once she was an adult with twenty kids so she could show them who's boss).
Dipper didn't mind not trick-or-treating anymore, although he still carried nostalgia for those times just like his sister. Even then, with Mabel's parties, he was happy enough just to have a reason to keep doing fun, matching twin costumes every year with her.
One year, the two dressed as a brand of cold and flu medicine, with Dipper being the sleepy nighttime variant, and Mabel being the bright and smiley daytime variant.
The year after, they dressed as a pair of inmates, sporting orange prison suits and fake scars and tattoos painted on their faces and arms.
And just last year, both of them did a two-person horse costume because Mabel had run out of ideas. They did a coin toss for who got to be the head of the horse, which Mabel won, making Dipper a horse's bottom half last year. He remembers Derrick taking lots of pictures.
He was not crazy about last year.
Last year aside, it just amazed him that despite being teens now, they still managed to find a way to make great Halloween memories. And tomorrow offered a chance to make even more.
"Summerween, huh?" he said to himself, wondering just what their second Summerween was about to have in store for them.
"I know, right?" Mabel said, her head suddenly popping from behind the register counter, startling Dipper.
"The hell?! I thought you were in the museum!" Dipper exclaimed.
"Oh, Dipper..." she said playfully as she sat up on the counter. "Haven't you learned by now that I'm everywhere and anywhere? Watching your every move?"
"That'd be really disturbing and wrong if that was true," Dipper said, internally cringing in disgust as he thought about it.
"Yeah, it would," Mabel agreed with a chuckle. "Nah, but seriously, you've been here alone in silence for like five minutes just staring off and smiling before you started talking to yourself. That's about as weird, honestly."
"I'm just looking around. Reminiscing in those old Halloween days."
"Those were the good times, weren't they?" Mabel said with a smile. "It's been three Halloweens since we last went trick-or-treating."
Her smile faded once the thought marinated in her head, to which she glumly sighed.
"Guess all that talk last Summerween about not having a lot of Halloweens left for it was just as true as we thought."
"I guess," Dipper said as he thought back to it. "But hey, that doesn't mean these past few Halloweens haven't been great in their own right. I mean, we may not be wheel-barreling candy around the entire neighborhood, but you've still been getting just as sugared up with that fruit punch you always make for your Halloween bashes. You still start every November off with a sugar hangover."
"Yeah, that's true," Mabel nodded. "But still. It just feels like something's been missing these past few Halloweens. Even the last time we went trick-or-treating after our summer here. It felt empty."
"Well, to be fair, it was raining that night."
"That's not what I meant," Mabel said, shaking her head. "I mean the magic that made Halloween so special wasn't there like it was all those years before."
"Maybe it's because we've grown up?"
Mabel stared forward for a moment. "Could that really be it?"
"I don't know. Maybe," he said. "I just don't see what 'magic' you might be referring to."
"I guess it's complicated," Mabel admitted as she hopped off the counter and leaned her back against it. "Maybe this Summerween could be different. I mean, our last Summerween was everything we could've wanted. Maybe we'll get that again this year. We won't be trick-or-treating, but we're back in Gravity Falls. Back with all our old friends and…"
She stopped herself short once she realized what she was about to say. Her eyebrows tilted sadly again as she glanced over at a wall behind the register. On it, there was a picture frame that held an image of their great uncles, Stan and Ford, who stood smiling for the picture. A caption was on the bottom of the frame, reading 'Founders (well, one of them)'. Mabel walked over to it and picked it from the wall, looking down at it in her hands.
"...family."
Dipper walked over to her, looking at the picture from over her shoulder. He frowned, feeling exactly what he knew she was feeling.
"If Grunkle Stan was here right now, he'd be planning on how he was going to scare the trick-or-treaters tomorrow," Mabel said glumly.
"And if Great Uncle Ford was here right now, he'd probably be building some machine that prevents cavities and tooth decay so we wouldn't have issues eating all the candy we want," Dipper added.
Mabel sighed. "They said they'd be back before the end of the month. We're already over halfway through June! Should we be worried?"
"Pfft... what?" Dipper questioned. "Mabel, this Stan and Ford we're talking about. I'm sure they're fine."
Still unsure, Mabel took her cell phone out of her back pocket. "I'm gonna try to start a video call with them." She pressed a button to call on the screen, patiently waiting as it started to ring. However, after a few rings, the call hung up due to no response. "Nothing…"
"Who knows what they might be up to?" Dipper said, trying to reassure her. "They could still be in the Arctic Circle looking for the alien-like activity like they told us before. They might not have a signal strong enough to be able to call."
"Are you seriously not worried about them at all?"
"I didn't say that! I'm just…" Dipper began before stopping himself. He sighed before dejectedly looking back up at her. "Of course I'm worried. They're our family, and I have a lot of faith in them. But I know they're not invincible. Anything could happen to them out there, especially if they're out dealing with weirdness."
Mabel glanced down one last time at the picture in her hands before putting it back on the wall. "I know we still have an entire summer ahead of us. And the bit of summer that has already passed has been great. I love hanging out with all our old friends and the new ones we've made. But... seeing Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford again was one of the main reasons we came back. And even if we've been doing okay without them, it just hasn't been the same."
"Yeah..." Dipper nodded in agreement as he stuffed his hands in his hoodie pockets. "It really hasn't."
"I just hope they're okay," Mabel said, looking back at the picture on the wall.
"Me too, sis," Dipper said as he stepped beside her to look at the picture as well, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Me too…"
Ford continued to lay peacefully in his bed, his snoring filling the silence of the late evening darkness. Although he was sleeping soundly, he wasn't a heavy sleeper. Not unless he was really tired, which he wasn't all that much at that moment. Which meant that something as minor as a small breeze in the night was able to grab his attention.
He turned in his bed, and such a breeze blew against his face. He shivered at that moment, and his snoring stopped upon becoming conscious again. He pulled the sheets over himself more to further cover himself up, but it didn't help. He felt another cool wind brush up against his face.
I guess the AC is set too low.
He opened his eyes slightly as he pulled himself up in bed. He then rubbed his eyes before leaning over to the nightstand and grabbing his glasses, putting them on. Now able to see, his attention was suddenly drawn to the open door of the hotel room. Not too far from it, there was a street dog of some sort cautiously sniffing his backpack on the floor.
"GAH!" he exclaimed, startled by the unexpected sight of the dog.
His startled scream sent the dog running back out of the room fearfully. Taking a second to calm down and process the fact the door was open, he raised an eyebrow in confusion. He had no idea why the door had been opened, considering he had made sure to lock it before going to bed.
Suddenly, as he glanced around the room from his bed, he realized something.
"Stanley?"
No response.
Ford looked over at Stan's bed and noticed that there was a lump under the bedsheets. However, it was hard to identify it in a dark room. And so he got up from his bed and walked over to his.
"Stanley? Wake up," he said as he placed his hands on the lump on the bed.
However, he was able to quickly tell that the lump didn't feel right. His hands sunk into the lump with a feeling of softness. After feeling around the bed a bit more, he put his hand on the covers and pulled them off of the lump. Despite the darkness, the outdoor moonlight illuminated the room just enough for him to tell that in its place laid a bunch of the motel's pillows. Ford instantly started to grow anxious at this discovery.
"Stanley?!" he called out through the room. He turned back toward the open door and ran over to it. He put his hands on the doorway as he stuck his head outside, quickly glancing around. "STANLEY?!"
After a second, his eyes caught the back of Stan's nightwear, spotting him walking aimlessly through the motel parking lot.
"There you are!" Ford called out as he caught Stan walking, letting out a quick sigh of relief before becoming instantly confused. "What the hell are you doing out here? Do you know what time it is?"
Stan didn't respond, however. Instead, he kept walking straight through the lot without even taking a second to look back or pay any apparent mind to Ford. Seeing him continue making his way toward the main road, Ford started to grow even more confused.
"Stan, did you hear me?!" Ford called out again, beginning to speed-walk after him. However, Stan continued to not react. "Hello? Is your hearing aid on?"
Stan kept ignoring him while beginning to walk onto the sidewalk next to the lot beside one of the main roads. Then, he stopped walking and stood still in place. He appeared as though he was waiting to cross the street. However, there were no cars actively driving by at that moment.
"Are you ignoring me?" Ford asked as he continued to slowly catch up to Stan. "Dammit, Stan! I know you can hear me!"
Ford was weirded out by Stan's odd behavior, which had been consistently growing weirder since they left the Arctic. But now, it had reached a whole new low, as he wasn't even speaking back to him at all.
As he continued to contemplate potential reasons for Stan's behavior, he suddenly heard the screeching tires of a nearby speeding vehicle. He stopped walking and looked left of the main road, spotting a speeding truck that just turned a corner onto the street ahead. As it continued at its fast speed, Ford glanced back at Stan, who was walking closer toward the edge of the sidewalk.
Things clicked in his head and his heart dropped at that moment as he started running over to him. "STANLEY! NOO!"
Stan stood on the edge of the sidewalk, patiently waiting as the truck continued speeding. As soon as it made close enough contact, Stan made a leap onto the road in front of it.
However, his distance was immediately cut short as Ford quickly dove a hand forward, grabbing ahold of the back neck of his wifebeater and pulling him back onto the sidewalk with all of his strength. The driver was caught off guard by Stan's actions and began swerving for a moment as he continued driving down the road past the two without hurting anybody.
Ford felt as though his heart was beating at a few thousand miles per hour, even though he knew that was impossible. He glanced to the side and saw Stan picking himself off of the ground, dusting himself off. Ford then picked himself off the ground as well and grabbed ahold of his brother's shoulders angrily.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?!" Ford screamed in his face, tearing up slightly.
"I…" Stan tried to say.
"WHY WOULD YOU TRY TO DO THAT?! WHY WOULD YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT TRYING TO DO THAT?!"
"What are you-"
"DO YOU KNOW HOW FAR WE'VE COME?!" Ford angrily continued. "WERE YOU SERIOUSLY GONNA THROW IT ALL AWAY IN FRONT OF ME? YOUR OWN FAMILY?!"
"Ford, listen-"
"Is this about Mom?!" Ford cut off again, calming down his voice a little bit.
"What?! Ford, I-"
Ford then cut him off with a very sudden hug. "For Christ's sake, Stanley..." he said tearfully. "I miss her too, but hell, even I know she wouldn't want this if she still remembered us. I know you're upset, but this isn't the answer, Stanley. This isn't the answer."
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Stan asked frustratedly as he pushed Ford away. "What is this?! Why would I do what?! What has to do with Mom?! Why are you hugging me and getting emotional for no reason?! And most importantly, WHY IN THE HELL ARE WE NOT IN OUR ROOM?!"
"What?!" Ford questioned, now getting frustrated himself. "Stan, I just saw you try to jump in front of a speeding truck!"
"What? Why would I do that?!"
"I don't know! That's what I was asking-"
Ford cut himself off as he realized something. His frustration soon started to fade away as his concern grew instead.
"Wait a second, you... you don't remember?"
"No! I have no idea what you're talking about! The last thing I remember is falling asleep!" Stan told him. "Then I woke up right here, with you screaming and yelling at me!"
"Because my own brother had just jumped in front of a truck!" Ford exclaimed. "Do you know how close you were to getting yourself killed?!"
"Again, Ford. I don't remember any of this."
"How do you not remember? This makes no sense. I just saw you do it. I JUST saved your life! And you're trying to say that you 'woke up' right here on the sidewalk beside me as if you potentially sleepwalked through everything else?"
Stan started rubbing his eyes. "Ya know what, Ford? I really don't know what you want me to say."
"You're rubbing your eyes again," Ford noticed aloud.
"Yeah, because I'm tired!"
However, underneath the streetlight, Ford was able to see that Stan's eyes had suddenly become bloodshot again. His concern for his brother began to grow even stronger.
"Um... Stanley?" he said while reaching his hand out to him.
"I'm tired, Sixer," Stan said as he began to walk back toward the motel room. He placed his hand on the side of his head and rubbed it as he started to stumble. "And I'm feeling sorta dizzy…"
"Dizzy?" Ford repeated to himself as his eyes focused on Stan's stumbling movement. As if he needed any more confirmation that something was wrong.
"So let's just get back to the motel room and get some…" Stan said before he suddenly stopped walking, swaying in place. "G-Get some…"
"Stan? Are you okay?"
Before he could answer, Stan started leaning forward until he suddenly collapsed on the ground. His eyes twitched open for a moment before shutting, knocking him entirely out.
"STANLEY!" Ford screamed as he ran to Stan's side, kneeling beside him on the ground. He put his hands on his chest and began shaking him back and forth. "STAN!"
Receiving no response, he put an ear against his chest. He heard a normal heartbeat, signifying that he hadn't died. He then put the back of his hand against the side of his face, feeling the intense heat of a potential fever. And a bad one.
It was more than clear at that point that Stan needed help and fast. With his wristwatch still dead and unable to make calls at that moment, Ford desperately glanced back and forth between the parking lot and his brother frantically.
"HELLLLP!" he screamed out into the open desperately. "SOMEBODY, PLEASE! I NEED HELP!"
He looked back down at his brother, placing the back of his hand against his face again. He couldn't tell exactly since he had just done it, but it had felt like his face had somehow become even warmer. Many things were going through his head at that moment to be able to process a clear thought, however, so he didn't think too much about it. His brother was unwell and needed medical attention immediately. And that's all that was important to him at the moment.
"Hold on, Stanley. You're gonna be alright," Ford assured while he put his hand on his chest, verifying there was still a heartbeat present. "I sure hope so…"
And so the mid-season begins… Everything that the story has been building to so far has come at last.
I do wanna go ahead and thank those of you who have read up to this point. We're not anywhere near the end, of course (we're actually very, very far), but I still just wanted to go ahead and give my thanks while we're here. I can only assume if you've gotten this far, you're at least somewhat invested, and I greatly appreciate that.
-Absolute Rift
(Chapter updated as of February 27, 2024)