Discovering the Inexistent

Chapter II

"Soos that doll is AWESOME!" Mabel yelled as Soos finally returned from his journey to find a doll for the next Mystery Shack attraction.

"Hot Belgium Waffles, Soos! That doll looks possessed...it's perfect!" Stan exclaimed and he was right. The doll was no larger than Stan's forearm but somehow looked so remarkably like a human it was unsettling.

"Uh...Grunkle Stan? The doll's eyes seem to be following me," Dipper interjected.

"Oh don't be such a wimp, kid - the doll has character!" He smiled then looked at the eyes of the doll and shifted uncomfortably, "but you know what? We're painting the eyes red anyway so don't you worry."

Soos chuckled, "yeah, dudes, if you think this is bad you should've seen those bat fairies in the forest this morning they—"

"Yeah, yeah, Soos we get it now hurry up and let's glue those wings on. Mabel will you do the honors?" Stan was smiling again, proud of his idea and the money that was sure to follow.

"You got it, Grunkle Stan!" Her toothy smile then quickly adjusted to a glare of focus. "Wings." Dipper passed her the wings. "Glue." Sous uncapped the glue. Tongue sticking out, Mabel carefully placed the wings on the back of the doll.

Everyone held they breaths as Mabel worked - she was by far a better crafter than Stan and while she happily repaired the props he had previously made for the museum, she was determined for her project to withstand the trials of time.

With one last flourish of the glue brush, Mabel sat back as a signal of success. "All done! We just gotta let it sit for a couple hours to dry."

"Alright! You did well, kid. Should we watch TV while we wait? I think Ducktective Reruns will be on in about five minutes." Stan shrugged and Mabel, smiling opened her mouth to reply and Soos started moving to the TV room, but Dipper cut her off.

"Actually, Grunkle Stan, I don't think we have any red paint, so I was thinking Mable and I should go to the store real fast to get some."

"I don't know—" Stan started.

"Soos could drive us and the sooner we get that doll up the quicker we'll be able to rake in the money!" Dipper hurriedly said.

"Well ok, but don't get too much. I don't want to end up spending a ton on red paint only for a couple brush-strokes worth."

"Not a problem!" Dipper reassured and he ushered his sister and friend out of the door.

"All right, dudes! Road trip!" Soos pumped his fist and went to his truck. Mabel pulled Dipper aside.

"Dip, why are we going to get paint? You know I have plenty in my crafting supplies." Mabel asked.

"We gotta get Soos to show us where those bat fairies are without Stan being suspicious - you know him." Dipper replied.

"Oh," Mabel thought for a second, "is there anything about them in the journal?"

"That's the thing; everything in the journal pertaining to them is super cryptic. I want figure out what it means but I have a feeling that to do that I'll need to see them myself." Dipper explained and Mable nodded her head in understanding, thoughtful.

"Yo, dudes! You coming or what?" Soos called and the twins, sharing a glance, rushed to his truck with determined looks in their eyes.