Dipper, Pacifica, and Wendy
12:15 PM
The three of them went down the third floor through the staircase corridor. Once they reached the floor and its door, they noticed that a paved wall was next to them on their left, where the stairway to the second floor would've been.
Looking at this in bewilderment, Dipper raised an eyebrow. Pacifica and Wendy looked to their left as well, the former blinking at this oddity, while the latter just glanced at this with a weird look.
"Uh...okay," Wendy simply said.
"Well...guess we're not going to take the easy way out," Pacifica murmured.
Dipper looked at this paved section of the staircase for a moment before directing his attention to the door to the third floor. He went over to the door and reached for the handle, opening it. The women followed him as he went in, all of them entering the third-floor hallways.
When they arrived on the third floor, the lights above them were still dim as they flickered ominously. As soon as they entered the floor, their phones all made a sound simultaneously, indicating a text had come through.
DING!
The trio all got their phones out and looked at their text messages.
They were all different...each of them telling them what to do next.
Dipper
[This is where you all will split up. Go to the right end of this hall and enter Room 310. Navigate the room to go up to Room 312. Your next stop will be Room 314. You'll find a key to Room 313. Go to that room and through it to Room 308. Room 309 should be open. Go through the room to 302 and try to go to Room 304 to proceed to the next floor.]
Pacifica
[This is where you all split up. Go up the middle hall and enter Room 307. Find a key to Room 309. Go through the room to Room 302 and go to Room 303 to find a key to Room 304 to proceed to the next floor.]
Wendy
[This is where you all split up. Go to the left hall and enter Room 305 to find the next coin, along with a key to Room 301. Give your friends the coin and then go to Room 301. You'll decide what to do from there.]
...All three of them blinked.
"...What does...yours say?" Pacifica asked Dipper and Wendy.
"...I think this is when we're supposed to split up," Dipper said as he put his phone back in his pocket.
"...Well, that's perfect," Pacifica muttered.
"I mean, I think it was gonna be inevitable either way. But we have our guns, so we should be okay, right?" Wendy asked both Dipper and Pacifica.
"..." Pacifica rubbed her left arm a little, looking a little uncertain. "Well...I guess I will..."
Dipper turned his attention to Pacifica, giving her a look of reassurance. "Hey, no worries. I think you can handle whatever comes at you. You handle those Mannequins pretty well."
"Well, that's because one of you was in danger," Pacifica said, "I don't know if I could...handle a monster all by myself."
"Hey, you stood up to a ghost and demon. Those are kind of...um-" Dipper glanced at Wendy, a little sheepishly.
Wendy, upon knowing what and who he was referring to, said with a slight smile, "Hey, Dip, no worries. I know my great great grandfather wasn't a monster in general. Sure, he was a ghost cursing the Northwest family back then, but...uh..." she then glanced at Pacifica, whom she herself looked a little uncomfortable.
"...I-I really am sorry about that, by the way. I-I was just, well, you know, I was-" Pacifica began to say, but she was interrupted by Wendy.
"Hey, Pacifica. Don't worry. You're not your parents back then, and you're definitely not them now. And you also did a good thing back all those years ago by letting all of the town in your estate. You prove my two times great grandfather wrong," Wendy said with a smile.
"...I couldn't believe you were related to him back at that big guy's wedding...Soos, was it?" Pacifica asked either Wendy or Dipper.
"Yeah, that's him," Dipper said with a smile, "Man, it's been a long time since I heard from him..."
"Heh, yeah..." Wendy rubbed the back of her head, "We...really need to get back in touch with each other..."
"Yeah..." Pacifica said as she quietly mused.
...The three of them stood there in silence...
...It was then, Dipper had an idea.
"Uh, hey, Pacifica. If you don't really want to go into these rooms without someone with you right now, then you don't have to. You can wait here with Wendy while I go first to where I need to go."
"Huh? Really?" Pacifica blinked at Dipper.
"Yeah. I don't think there's a time limit on when you need to go to your destination, so...maybe you gals can wait here while I go to my objective?" Dipper asked them.
Wendy raised an eyebrow at Dipper, but looked over at Pacifica, who looked at the redhead. Seeing and thinking that she might need the assurance, Wendy smiled back at the blonde. "Hey, that's cool. Maybe we can catch up on some stuff?"
"Uh...sure," Pacifica said with a small smile of her own.
"Well, okay then!" Dipper said with a smile, also thankful that the idea worked well, "In that case, I'll just get going then to where I need to go. I promise I'll be back!"
Dipper began walking over to where the right hall was as he reassuringly waved back at them.
...The girls stood there, silent...
"...Uh...I like what you did to your hair," Wendy said to Pacifica.
"Hm? Oh..." Pacifica bobbed her short hair with her hand, "Thanks. Just...wanted to do something different."
"Hm. Yeah, I kind of was thinking of cutting my hair, but...I thought against it," Wendy mumbled the last part.
"You did? Why's that?" Pacifica asked, "I mean, I'm just wondering. If you ask me, you have very nice long auburn hair. If I had that, I would not want it to be cut short."
Blinking at that compliment, Wendy smiled in appreciation, "Wow, that's...a compliment coming from you."
"It's true!" Pacifica said with an encouraging smile, "And let me tell you, you already look like a model, so I wouldn't be surprised you got offers from modeling agencies. I know New York would."
"Whoa...wow. Um...heh, uh, thanks, Pacifica," Wendy rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "You sure know how to make a lady feel special."
Pacifica shrugged with a smile still on her face, "It comes with having a mother who's obsessed with looks."
"Oh, heh...uh, yeah..." Wendy then all of a sudden looked almost a little uncomfortable, "But...yeah, about deciding not to cut it, I...well...I would look like someone that I...rather not remember..." she gave out a small frown.
"Oh..." Now Pacifica frowned apologetically, "Um...I-I'm sorry, I, uh...didn't, like, you know, hit a nerve or, um...anything, did I?"
"Hm? Oh, no, you're good. I was just...well, trying not to think about her..."
"...Oh...um...wh-who is this person, if you don't mind me...uh, asking?" Pacifica winced, "I mean, I'm sorry, I'm not, like, stepping on eggshells right now, am I?"
"Oh, no, really, you're fine...it's just..." Wendy glanced down for a moment, "...It's just my mother."
"...Oh..."
"...Yeah..."
...They went silent again...
...Until Wendy said, "At least your mother was there for you..."
...Pacifica stood there, a little dumbfounded by what she said...
"...Really, I'm...sorry for your loss, Pacifica," Wendy said to her.
"...Oh, uh..." Pacifica rubbed her arm again, "...I mean...um..." she shook her head, clearing it, "W-Well, I'm...also sorry that you...have to go through with...not having a mother..."
Wendy smiled softly, "Hey. It's okay. I turned out well without her."
Pacifica looked at the redhead and couldn't help but smile softly as well.
...They stood there, waiting for Dipper...
Dipper
As soon as Dipper reached the end of the hall where Room 310 was, he stopped to look to his left.
There was a gated barricade that was blocking the hallway up from where he needed to go.
"...Okay then," he turned to the door to Room 310, reaching for the doorknob and twisting it.
It opened, thankfully, and he went inside.
First, Dipper decided to turn on the light that was next to him when he entered the room. The lights began to flicker on, but it was still a little dim. From what the light could show, though, was something he didn't expect.
The room looked...familiar...
It was littered with boxes full of papers, almost like how he had his room back in San Francisco...
...Walking cautiously, Dipper observed the room he was in.
As he took tentative steps in the room, he looked to his left to a bedroom that had the door partially opened. Reaching for the door, he pushed it to see what was inside.
In the bedroom, there was a bed, the sheets all in disarray, and a nightstand with a cabinet to the back wall in front of the bed. It looked like someone slept here...
Dipper backed away from the bedroom and walked into the kitchen area to his right. He also sees that there were a few boxes of papers on the counters, as well as the table in the kitchen having plates of half eaten toast and eggs. The fridge, as well as the cabinets, and some of the open spaces on the counters, were all flooded by sticky notes, each with reminders and...equations?
...He picked up one of the sticky notes on the counter and read what was on it.
What would a portal to another reality have to do with Leprechauns?
...It was then, he realized...
...This whole room...was his room back in San Francisco...
"..." Dipper put the sticky note back on the counter and looked around the whole room again.
...Okay...someone definitely knows me too well...
As he kept looking, he spotted something from across the kitchen,
In the dim lighting, there was a desk...that looked just like his back at his place...
But there was something on it...a piece of paper.
...Walking over to where the desk was, he came up to it, seeing that just a single piece of paper was on the desk.
He reached over to the piece of paper, grabbed it, and raised it up to his level to read what was on it.
...It said the following:
I could've saved her...
But I was a fool.
Now she's gone...
...Dipper stood there...processing the paper in his hand...
...Lana...
...Furrowing his brows into a glare at the paper, he slammed it back on the desk.
...They got a lot of nerve...
But then...his head started hurting.
Eyes squinting at the pain emerging in his mind, Dipper grunted, teeth gritting as he grabbed his head, the migraine going full force.
Shit...no, not again!
Struggling to stand, Dipper drunkenly staggered away from the desk and tried to make his way to the kitchen, the sink faucet more accurately. As he neared the kitchen, he supported himself on the counters so he wouldn't fall from the pain. Once he was near the sink (which he hoped there was working water in this apartment complex), he got his medication out of his trenchcoat, twisting the cap of the bottle quickly, and poured some out of it onto his hand. Having the meds in his hand, he used his other hand to turn on the faucet, and thankfully, there was water coming out of it; clean water too. He slapped the pills into his mouth and scooped up some water with both of his hands and drank the water in his cupped hands. Once he swallowed the pills and water, he supported himself on the counter, leaning over to let the medication do its thing.
Breathing heavily, Dipper's mind was calming down...shutting his eyes as the last drop of pain was fading away, he stood back up and took a deep breath.
Man...those are getting worse...
Dipper pushed the bridge of his glasses up to his face, as in a way to readjust himself.
"...Okay..." Dipper murmured.
After regaining his mental state, he turned his head to look to the left of the room. Next to the desk at its left was the TV area, where the television was on a TV stand and against the wall to the right of the area, and he could see a couch was up against the wall to the left of the room.
Now noticing this, Dipper went over to the TV area, walking over to see what was there.
As he walked up to the TV area, upon seeing the couch to his left and TV stand to his right, there was a wall...correction, there was a wall there, which the wall looked to have been caved in, making a hole for people to go through the next room.
Seeing that this could be the way, Dipper approached the hole in the wall.
Getting close to the hole, Dipper positioned himself to slide through it, going through the gap in the wall sideways. Once he brushed and squeezed through the hole, he was in the next room, Room 312.
And this room...was a lot different than the last room.
It looked a lot like...
Dipper's eyes widened.
...It looked like...a girl's...sorority dorm room.
Why would he think this?
First off, the walls of this room were decorated with posters of different music bands (some were girl bands, while the others were just pop singers) on the walls, different knick knacks on counters and cabinets, such as the cartoon character 'Ducktective', small horse sculptures, and a piggy bank that looks like their past pet pig...
Also, the room seemed to be decorated with various bright colors of pink, yellow, and white...
...This room...also looked familiar...
"...M-...Mabel?" Dipper called out in a soft hush, holding onto some foreign hope…
This whole room...it was...Mabel's old apartment room in college.
As he kept walking forward, he observed more of his surroundings. There was a TV stand with a television on it up ahead and a pink bean bag chair in front of it. To his left, there was the kitchen area, where there was a pack of sugar, a large packet of dinosaur gummies, some fruit punch mix, and a magenta-colored pitcher on the counters. He kept walking, taking a left and seeing that the door to this room was ahead. However, on the right side there was a door that led to someone's bedroom...
He paused...and took another step, and another, until he was over to that bedroom door. Stopping in front of the door, he stared at it...there was a sign on the door that said, "No Boys Allowed! ...Except for Men. Men Are Allowed.".
...That's the same sign she put on her door...back at her old apartment and back at home...
Dipper looked back at the kitchen area again to see all the ingredients for the sugary concoction.
...And...Mabel used gummies this time for her 'Mabel Juice'...she said it makes it more 'flavorful'...
He glanced at his right to see a poster that had the singer Alec Benjamin on it.
...That singer was...is...that singer is Mabel's favorite...he liked how he sings...thought he was cute...I remember her getting that poster in our freshman year in college, once her boy band phase went away...
...Turning to the door in front of him, Dipper stood there...raising his hand to reach the doorknob, he grasped it, but stopped.
...Is...Is she here?
...He twisted the doorknob and opened the door...
...Inside, there was a dark-pink bed...a nightstand with a lamp on it...a banner on the wall that said 'UCLA'...and a cabinet up against the wall next to the foot of the bed.
There was something on the top of the cabinet.
Going over to the cabinet, Dipper looked down at the object.
It was...a scrapbook...of their times in Gravity Falls...
...He...He couldn't look inside the book...
Two emotions were stirring inside of Dipper.
The first one being, of course, anger...angry that they would take this far enough to give him a rise of fury in him.
It apparently worked.
The second emotion was...melancholy. Maybe with a hint of fear. Like he didn't really want to look at the scrapbook because the nostalgia would hit him big time, the memories he made with his sister in that town in Oregon...with his friends...with his Grunkles...
His Grunkles...
...Why? Why would they say that...?
...He didn't want to think about his Grunkles anymore.
...I never gave up.
...Four years he didn't communicate with them...he didn't communicate with Stan and Ford...
I don't know why they would ever...give up like that...they sound like they want to, but yet...they sound hopeless...
...Shaking his head to clear away painful memories, Dipper backed away from the scrapbook.
What's the matter? Why not remember all those good times?
...Dipper froze.
...I need to get out of here.
And so he did, turning away from the scrapbook and exiting the bedroom. He then rushed over to the room's door, swiftly opening it, glad that it's not locked.
He was in the hallway again...on the opposite side of the gate barrier...
...That...
"...I...I need to keep moving," Dipper said to himself.
He turned to his right to see that the room across from him, being Room 313, was a little way over. However, his next destination was said to go up to the next room that was next to Room 312.
Dipper kept going...over to Room 314.
Upon arriving at the room door, he stopped as he began to mentally prepare himself for what he might encounter.
...Whoever is doing this is throwing a lot at me...I need to get my bearings in order.
Taking a deep breath, Dipper readied himself as he grabbed the doorknob to Room 314...twisting it, it appeared to be open, which he let swing open...
...What he found was...a bizarre, yet...surprising sight...
First and foremost, Dipper encountered...a person...
Blinking at this person that suddenly appeared out of nowhere, Dipper looked at this...man...this pale-looking man...and instantly he recognized who it was.
"Wha...wait, you're-" the man said, but Dipper beat him to it, saying this man's name.
"Gideon!?" Dipper said in a shocked tone, eyes widened as he blinked in surprise.
"...Dipper!?" the man known as Gideon exclaimed in shock as well.
...They both stared at each other in bafflement.
"Wha...What are you doing here?!" Dipper asked Gideon.
"Me!? I should ask you that!" Gideon said in disbelief.
"I..." Now noticing that the room was bare except for a small table in the back right corner, Dipper shook his head as he said, "Uh, look, it-it doesn't matter! I'm here for a mission! I don't know how you got here, Gideon, and I wish I could catch up with you, but now-"
"Wait, on a mission? Ar-Are you lookin' for Mabel?" Gideon asked curiously.
Dipper froze. "Y-...Yes?"
"I...I think she's been kidnapped!" Gideon revealed, "She's been kidnapped and kept here f-for six years, I think!"
"What!?" Dipper exclaimed in shock. "H-How do you know that!?"
"I-I talked to her! On this-" Suddenly upon remembering, Gideon got the portable two-way radio out of his pocket, turned it on, and spoke to it, "Mabel!? Mabel, are you there!?"
Dipper looked on in shock, wondering if this was all just a cruel joke or if he actually...if he really is going to see...hear his sister-
"Huh? Gideon? Yeah, I-I'm here, what's wrong?"
The detective's mind froze, his eyes widened, a hitch in his breath...
That...That voice…
The voice almost sounded the same...he remembered it...he remembered that funny and sweet nasally voice...there's no denying it...
His eyes behind his glasses...they began to water...tears started to come out of his eyes, letting them fall down on his cheeks.
He smiled...a relieved, hopeful, and teary smile.
"I...I think there's someone you need to talk to. I'm...I'm with your brother...Dipper," Gideon said as he looked up at his once enemy-turned-friend with a smile on his face.
"Dip...Dipper?" said the voice of...
"...Mabel..." Dipper choked up, his eyes shimmering with tears as he looked so...so at ease...
I...I found her.
"Dipper? Is that you?"
"...Y-Yes...i-it's me, Mabel. It's me..." Dipper's smile turned wider. He took the radio from Gideon and spoke into it, "Mabel? Please, tell me it's you."
"Huh? W-Well, of course it's me, Dipping Sauce...are you okay?"
"Yes! Yes, I'm-I'm fine! I just...I just want to know if you're alright!" Dipper asked desperately.
"Y-Yeah, I'm alright, Dipper! I'm...well, I'm just confused as to where I am, and...yeah...I don't know how I got here though. Like, all I remember is going to a party and...I'm here. In Maine, from what Gideon told me..."
"A party?" Dipper asked, surprised at this info. "Th-The one that I dropped you off from?"
"Yeah...I...I don't know what happened, but...well, that's all I know..."
Disturbed by this, Dipper tried to think of any plausible theories that made Mabel not remember anything for the past...six? Seven years is what he thought...
"Are...Are you drugged right now, Mabel?" he asked her.
"I mean...well, my head feels yucky...but maybe it's because I'm having like, information overload, or something?"
"..." Dipper got serious as he held onto the two-way radio and frowned in determination. "Don't worry, Mabel...I...I'll find you. I'm just...I'm just so glad, so, so happy you're alright!" he choked up at the last part of the sentence, not wanting to shed any tears until he actually found her. "Don't worry, Mabel. I'll...we'll save you. Pacifica and Wendy are here with me as well, and I promise you, we, will, bring, you, home."
"Wha...Pacifica and Wendy are here as well?"
"Yeah. For different reasons, but...we're all in this together. I don't even know how Gideon is here, but he'll help too. Right, Gideon?" Dipper asked Gideon.
"O-Of course!" Gideon said with a frantic nod.
Nodding back to the albino, Dipper told his sister, the one he's been looking for for seven long years, "We're gonna save you, Mabel. We're gonna find you, and we're gonna bring you home."
"...I...I'm so happy you're here right now, Dipper. I'm so...I'm so confused, scared mostly, but...I-I know you and Gideon, heck, I know even Wendy and Pacifica will find me...thank you, Dipper."
Not helping to contain one tear coming down his face, Dipper said with a warm smile, "Of course...I love you, Mabel. You're gonna be okay."
"I know...I love you too, Dipper."
"Yeah...okay, I'm gonna give Gideon the radio back now. We'll see you soon."
"Okay...I'll see you soon, Dipping Sauce."
"Right...bye."
"Bye..."
And Dipper gave the radio back to Gideon. Gideon turned off the two-way communication and pocketed it. The albino man looked back up at Dipper with a reassuring smile.
Dipper couldn't help but smile at Gideon as well. "Thank you."
"Hey...just, you know, repaying the debt," Gideon says.
"Heh...it's hard to believe we used to be enemies."
"Yeah...so, Wendy and Pacifica are here as well?"
"Yeah..." Dipper looked over to the table at the upper right corner of the room. "...Hold on."
He went over to that table and saw what was on it.
The key.
Picking it up, Dipper observed the key, there being a tag hanging at the end that says "313".
Turning around, Dipper went back to Gideon and said to him, "Come on. We'll talk outside of this room."
"Uh, okay..." Gideon complied and followed Dipper out of the room.
Once they exit the room, Gideon asks Dipper, "Okay, so, uh...I'm guessing you're here to find Mabel?"
"Heh...yeah..." Dipper couldn't help but smile, "Wow...I...I actually found her."
"Well, actually, I found her first, but who's countin', heh," Gideon joked good-naturedly.
Dipper chuckled, "Right..." he looked at Gideon for the time being, "Uh...um, hey, so, Gideon. It's, um...it's been a while."
"Oh, uh, yeah, it...um, certainly has," Gideon said as he rubbed the back of his buzz-cut head.
...They stood there for a couple of seconds, until Gideon then began to say, "So, uh, what has been going on lately at your end, Dipper?"
"Oh, I, uh...well, I became a priv-...well, supernatural private investigator, I guess I should say. I've been doing cases and...you know, stuff."
"Oh...wait, supernatural private investigator? Really?" Gideon asked with a raised eyebrow.
Dipper blinked at that response, "Uh...yeah. You'd be surprised by how many calls I get on the West Coast."
"...Well, I mean, whatever puts you food on the table, I suppose," Gideon semi-joked.
Looking at the albino with an unimpressed stare, Dipper then rolled his eyes and said to Gideon, "Okay then, well, what have you been doing as of lately, Gideon?"
"Oh, well, I'm at my final residency at Harvard! I'm becoming a psychologist!" Gideon said with a hint of pride.
"Oh...really?" Dipper blinked, "Wow, that's...pretty impressive, Gideon. I mean, Harvard? Wow, you're going up right now."
"Ah, it's just...I thought I could help people through psychology or whatever..." Gideon rubbed his arm, "You know, just...trying to quote unquote 'redeem' myself, I guess."
Frowning at that, Dipper began saying, "Hey, Gideon...don't worry about the past, okay?"
"I know, I know...it's just...y-yeah, you know," Gideon said with a shrug and an almost shame-filled face.
Dipper looked at Gideon for a moment, thinking the shorter man might want to change the subject...so Dipper did, apologizing as he said, "Hey, um...I'm really sorry I didn't like...uh, get in contact with you and the others after, um, you know...after Soos's wedding and all that."
"Oh, hey, i-it's okay. We all had college, jobs, and...you know, other things. I-I didn't hold any of y'all against that," Gideon reassured.
Dipper gave out a small, but melancholy smile, "Thanks...I really need to keep up with everyone. It's just...well, ever since Mabel went missing seven years ago, I just spent most of my time focusing on that."
"Seven years?" Gideon blinked. He then contemplated that, "...That would mean she finished her junior year, right?"
"Yeah," Dipper nodded, "Wewent to UCLA for college. She disappeared at a party that she went to, to celebrate her senior friends' graduation."
"..." Gideon was silent as he thought more on that.
Dipper sighed solemnly, "She was 20 at the time..."
"...Uh...okay..." Gideon murmured.
20? ...But Mabel said...21 to 22...
Upon seeing Gideon's thoughtful face, he asked in concern, "Uh, you okay, Gideon?"
"...Um...yeah, I'm...I'm fine," Gideon says, "Hey, uh...how did you get here, actually? I mean, how did you know that Mabel was here?"
"Oh, well...it was by a letter from her. It said that she was in this town," Dipper told him.
"A letter?" Gideon blinked again, "Hey, I...got a...letter..." Gideon reached for his breast pocket and got out the letter. He opened it up and read it...
"Wait, you got a letter from Mabel as well?" Dipper asked him.
...For some reason, even after Dipper asked him, he was still staring at it. After a couple of seconds, his expression changed into something...confusion.
Dipper blinked also, getting his attention, "Uh...Gideon?"
"...Uh...y-yeah...?" Gideon sounded...unsure.
Raising an eyebrow at his tone, Dipper asked him, "Um...can I, uh...see what your letter says?"
"...Um...y-yeah, s-sure..." Gideon said, strangely giving it to Dipper slowly.
Looking at him a little oddly, Dipper plucked the piece of paper away from Gideon. He read the note...
"..." Dipper squinted his eyes to see if what he was seeing was correct. "...Gideon. This...This isn't Mabel's handwriting."
"...Oh..." Gideon sounded...nervous, "U-Um...r-really? What, uh...What makes you say that?"
"...For one, Mabel likes to write with a pink inked pen. This is written in blue ink...and some of her lettering isn't quite right. Like, the capital 'D' isn't swirled...she usually likes to do that swirly thing to her letters when she writes in cursive. And...this says that she's now a substitute teacher...when we were at UCLA, she was studying to be an archaeologist..."
"..." Gideon was silent.
"...I think...you were tricked, Gideon," Dipper said to him, but looked at him a little suspiciously.
"...Oh...I...but she said to meet her at...Rosewater Park..."
Now Dipper looked at him questionably, looking at the letter again. "...There's...nothing that says Rosewater Park."
"...O-...Oh...I...I thought there was something that said...to meet her...at a park..." Gideon said, his whole expression showing confusion and puzzlement.
"Uh..." Dipper was also a little baffled.
"...C-Can I see that letter again?" Gideon asked him.
"Um...sure," Dipper gave the short albino man the letter back.
Gideon read the letter that he...received...
Dear Gideon,
Hey there! How are you? I know we haven't spoken for quite some time. Things have been a little hectic lately. I'm a substitute teacher now for an elementary school! Can you believe that? It's just like yesterday I was in Gravity Falls acting like a kid myself...
I've heard that you're in Boston trying to get your master's degree in psychology! That's really cool, Gideon! Hehe! Who would've thought little ol' you would be a psychologist? I guess you have changed for the better...
Listen, I've been thinking...maybe...well, I know we had our differences back then, but we're older now, and probably a lot more mature than we once were. And from what I've heard, you really sound like you're genuinely trying to help people now.
So...how about we start over? We can talk and catch up! In fact, I know the perfect place! It's a town called Silent Hill, Maine, and it's really gorgeous! It has a pristine lake and the town is so charming! What better way to meet up than right there?
...
...
There was nothing left.
"...But...I thought there was...more..." Gideon said, a loss of words.
Now concerned, Dipper walked over to Gideon, cautiously trying to approach him. "Gideon? Are...Are you alright?"
"...Dipper, I...I think...I think I've...y-yeah, I think I've been...duped..." Gideon said as he looked up at him.
Frowning, Dipper asked Gideon, "Do you happen to know who would've done this to you?"
"...I...I don't know..." Gideon shook his head, "Uh, D-Dipper, I think we, um, need to keep moving."
Blinking at that, Dipper just said, "Uh, okay. Sure..."
"Yeah..." Gideon stood there for a second, until he said, "So, where to?"
"Uh..." Dipper looked down at the key in his hand and at the room that was across the hall. "...Follow me."
Dipper led Gideon to where Room 313 was. Getting the key out, he unlocked the door to the room. Before he could open the door, he paused and told Gideon, "Do you have a weapon with you?"
"Oh, uh, yeah. A gun. It's, uh, right here." Gideon pulled his shirt up to reveal the gun that was in the hem of his pants.
Blinking at that, Dipper said, "Oh...you found a gun as well?"
"Uh, yeah, on the second floor in one of the rooms."
"Huh...okay then," Dipper turned back to the door, "...Do you have any bullets in them?"
"Heh, I, uh, got a whole case of them in my pocket."
"Hm...alright then," Dipper then reached for the doorknob and twisted it, opening it.
Once he opened the door, they went inside the room...
It all looked...like a normal apartment room...to the left, there was furniture set in the living area, a couch, a coffee table, cabinets, a recliner chair, a TV stand with a television on it, and pictures were all on the walls. And on the upper right, there was the kitchen, with a table below the kitchen area. There was also a closet to the right of the room next to the table. Lastly, there was a hallway in between the living area and the kitchen that went straight ahead.
All in all, the room looked...like it was lived in...
"...Okay..." Dipper mumbled.
"Wow...nice place," Gideon commented as he looked around.
"Hm..." Dipper went ahead and checked the living area to see if anything stood out.
Gideon followed Dipper, but noticed something to his right, where the kitchen is.
In the kitchen, on its right, there was a wall, away from the counters, cabinets, kitchen appliances, and the fridge...but occupying that wall...was a red door.
A red door that has a leaning rectangle symbol on the top part of it.
Blinking at this oddity, Gideon went over to the red door.
As he entered the kitchen and approached the front of the red door, he observed it. The leaning rectangle had nine square holes inside the rectangle shape.
"...Well, this is odd," Gideon mumbled.
Upon hearing Gideon while observing the living area, he turned to him and asked, "What is?"
"...Why would there be a red door here?" Gideon asked mainly to himself.
Raising an eyebrow, Dipper went over to where Gideon was. When he reaches there, he sees what Gideon sees...
...Just an eroded wall that exposed the bricks in the wall.
"...That...is strange..." Dipper looked at this a little peculiarly and glanced at Gideon questionably.
"Hm...I wonder where it leads..." Gideon wondered.
Dipper just stared at Gideon for a moment, and back at the wall.
"...We...probably should keep looking for more clues," Dipper suggested.
"...Right," Gideon nodded, "We'll look at this later."
The detective blinked at Gideon.
Look at it later? It's...just a wall...
But Gideon went on ahead as he walked around and out of the kitchen. Looking back at Gideon, Dipper couldn't help but feel...a little worried for the albino man.
...Is Gideon okay?
Deciding to just go on with the search, Dipper exits the kitchen area. When he was in the hall, he stopped and looked to his right.
Upon looking down the hall, he sees at the end of it...it was a door.
This door was a green color and it was all worn-looking...
Interested in seeing this contrast in a room like this, Dipper went over to the hallway to the door at the end of it. He looked at the worn green door in front of him, wondering what it's purpose was.
...He reached for the doorknob, twisting it...
...And it opened as he pulled the doorknob.
"..." Dipper opened the door wide as he pulled it...and it revealed the hallway to the other room...
Blinking at this, Dipper poked his head inside the other side of the room.
The hallway...looked worn and crumbled.
"..." Dipper entered through the door, going inside the hallway of the other room. Turning his head back, he called out to Gideon, "Hey, Gideon, there's a door that goes to the other room!"
But then-
SLAM!
"Huh?" Dipper turned around fully to see that the green door closed in on itself. He rushed over to it, and grabbed the doorknob.
It didn't budge.
"What!?" Dipper exclaimed.
He tried to open it, but it wouldn't move.
"What the-..." Dipper called out to Gideon, "Gideon!? The door is closed! I can't open it! Can you hear me!?"
DING!
Dipper looked down at his pocket where his phone is. He got it out and read the text.
[Leave him.]
Furrowing his eyebrows at the text, he mutters, "Why should I?"
DING!
[He'll be fine. Just get to your objective. Although it was nice seeing another old 'friend', wasn't it? Even though you were enemies one time?]
"..." Dipper gritted his teeth in seething anger.
How does this guy know so much about us? ...And what does he want with Mabel?
DING!
[I don't know what you're talking about.]
"...Huh?" Dipper uttered, confused.
DING!
[Oops. Sorry. You must have been thinking out loud to yourself.]
"...But..." Dipper looked down at the text on his phone.
I...couldn't swear I just thought it to myself...
DING!
[Either way, go through the room and meet up with Pacifica. She should be able to open the door to Room 309 now. Follow the previous directions.]
"..." Dipper frowned at the text.
...Who is this guy?
Seeing that the texting ended there, Dipper put his phone in his pocket again and turned around to look down through the hall.
"...I guess I'm leaving Gideon alone for now..." glancing down, he thought about Gideon's behavior at the hall and in the room back there. "...I wonder what's going on with him, though...?"
Well...I can only hope he'll be alright...
Dipper walked through the hall...and came into a dilapidated version of the room that he was once in.
Hm...two sides of a coin...
Seeing that nothing was of worth here, Dipper walked over to the room entrance. He grabbed the doorknob and pulled the door...going into the second hallway on the third floor.
Gideon
"Hm?" Gideon turned his head back to see where Dipper was.
...He couldn't see him anywhere.
"...Uh...Dipper?" Gideon called out.
He turned his whole body around and walked over to the hallway.
Once he did he looked down through it...
...There was nothing there at the end of the hall, except a stand and a flower vase...with flowers in it.
...But there was something else on the stand.
Blinking at this, Gideon walked over to the stand.
As he got close to it, he saw what was on the stand...
...A pink hair comb...with a depiction of a white skull with crossbones under it that was embedded on the spine of the comb.
...It looked...familiar...
...Gideon's eyes widened.
...He slowly picked up the comb...
Observing it, he looked at it, noticing the detail of the comb...
...Is...Is this...w-was...this...
CLICK!
"Ack!" Gideon jumped at the sound, dropping the comb on the stand. Turning around, he looked down through the hall again.
...Walking over down the hall, he came up in between the living area and the kitchen...looking to his left, he saw the red door...
...Gideon walked over to the red door, approaching it cautiously.
As he got closer...he stopped in front of it.
"...H-Hello?" he asked anyone behind the door.
...No answer...
...Gideon reached for the doorknob...placed his hand on it...twisted it...and pulled the red door.
...It was open...
As he pulled the door, he could see what was on the other side of the door.
...It actually led outside...but the door led to another apartment complex that was extremely close to the one he was in...where there was another open door on the wall of it...
...Baffled by this, Gideon looked at this strange anomaly.
"..." he decided to see what was on the other side...so he stepped over to the other apartment complex. With one big step, over the gap, he reached over to the other side...
...And the door to that other side...closed.
The door that closed was also the same red door with the same rectangle symbol on it...
What Gideon doesn't know is...what he just entered...was a darker version of the apartment complex...
He will soon experience true Hell...
And that's it for this part! Next chapter, we'll get to Pacifica and Wendy! And soon, back to Gideon! And then, Dipper, Pacifica, and Wendy! Hooray! XD But yeah, do tell me what you think of this chapter! A lot of mystery is to be had here, am I right? ;D
As for this story, I might do the next chapter, since people voted for me to keep doing this one on Tumblr. So we'll see! :D
Either way, thank you all for reading! Leave a review, fave, and a follow! :)
Keep on rocking everybody! :D
-TSP