[DISCONTINUED]Revival of the Void (A BillDip Story)

Phantom Identity

"Aren't you excited Dipper?!"

A set of joyful giggles erupted from Mabel's mouth, snapping Dipper out of his trance. After all this time she was still so friendly and vivacious. Dipper really thought that being halfway through your teen years and just finishing middle school would get to her at least a little.

"Wha- Oh yeah, of course. I really want to get some new information for the journals," He said, closing Journal number 3 and redirecting his attention onto his sister. "But I'm guessing you're more excited about seeing Waddles and Grunkle Stan."

"How did you know?" Mabel raised a questioning finger at Dipper. An amused sigh was emitted from his lips. She wasn't serious.

"Maybe because you were up all night knitting a sweater way too small for a human being, and another saying 'Did you miss me?' with Grunkle Stan's face on it."

"Oh, right. You saw that." Mabel replied, pulling the slightly wrinkled sweater out of her bag. "It's so cute! I can't wait to put it on Waddles." She squeled, hurridly jumping off the bus as it slowly rolled to a complete stop. Dipper rolled his eyes. His sister never really had changed over the years. Still happy, giddy, and silly.

"Mabel, your bags!" Dipper yelled. Yep, still happy, giddy, and, silly.

Not to mention absent-minded.

"Oops." She giggled, and grabbed her bags, but not before giving Dipper a grateful pat on the head. "WOMP." She then jumped back off the bus to run over the Grunkle Stan and Waddles, seemingly squeezing the life out of them. Dipper smiled, Mabel's happiness is infectious.

Debating on whether or not it was the hours of sitting down without moving or tiredness did nothing to change the fact that Dipper tripped on the way down the steps of the bus.

Instead of the hard ground, rug burns, and overall pain he was expecting, Dipper met the warm arms of a stranger.

"Watch your step there, kid."

That voice. It sounded, familiar? Dipper couldn't quite remember where he'd heard it, but they'd met before.

He was sure of it.

Dipper quickly collected himself. "Thanks, I-" Dipper held his tongue for a brief moment. He couldn't have been imagining things, yet when he looked up, the man with the familiar voice was gone.

"Wait, WHAT?" There had to be a logical explanation for this.

.

.

.

Right?

__________________________

Mabel didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, but her brother seemed to be acting weird. He claimed to see someone when he was getting off the bus. Mabel shrugged it off, confused. Nobody was there.

Stan let the twins inside, a welcome party comprised of Soos and Wendy was there to greet them.

"Soos!" Instead of the surprise glitter bomb Mabel released, Dipper opted for a fist bump and quick hug. Wendy snatched his hat off his head and ruffled Dipper's usual messy hair. He laughed and readjusted his hat. He thought it'd be awkward seeing her after the whole crush thing, but she had gotten over it pretty quickly, and so had he.

It wasn't really meant to be, and Dipper wasn't as sad as he initially thought he'd be. With introductions out of the way, Wendy returned to her original position, slouching behind the counter as per the norm.

Mabel went on playing with Waddles as usual. "Hey, Dipper! I'm going to talk to Candy and Grenda, they should be here any second!" She gigled happily and ran to open the door of the shack to greet her friends.

Dipper nodded and went up to the attic, as Mabel and her friends had their 'girl time', which just meant looking at hot boys on the web and reading cheesy romance novels. He went up the stairs, each step slightly creaking. Opening the door of his shared room, Dipper walked over to his side of the room. He sat down of his cheap, yet functioning bed and flipped through Journal 3 again.

"Reading that again? You're awfully curious." It was the same voice from before, at the bus. Dipper nearly jumped up, his body settled on violently flinching. He looked around. Nobody was there, but he could've sworn he'd seen a bright flash of yellow out of the corner of his eye.

What the hell was going on?

"No, NO. I'm just imagining things." Dipper decided maybe looking for new information for the journals could wait until tomorrow. 16 hours of driving from Piedmont to Gravity Falls was tiring. He sighed and pulled up the covers, nit bothering to change.

______________________

This can't be possible.

Dipper couldn't sleep. Mabel had long ago settled down into bed. Grunkle Stan had finished restocking downstairs. Everything was quiet, and yet Dipper still couldn't sleep. Deciding that a walk would clear his mind and tire him out in the process, he pulled on a black hoodie and skinny jeans, and his signature hat. Dipper quietly tip toed downstairs, avoiding objects strewn about the floor.

Stepping outside, he relished in the cool air blowing, creating a whisper through the trees. The forest was calm, but the night time animals and supernatural creatures were out and about. He looked around, and as usual, felt like he was being watched.

Even with the growing feeling of stares, the walk on Dipper's usual route was peaceful. Dust erupted with every step he took, the ground worn from years of walking the same stretch of land. He quietly hummed while his fingers brushed over the familiar pine trees. Everything was fine, save for the occasional gnome or two.

Dipper was soo feeling tired and started off back to the shack for some sleep. As he walked back on the same path, the forest seemed to grow quieter.

Too quiet, almost.

The low hum of mosquitos and cicadas was overpowered by the rustling of grass and the snapping of several twigs. He froze. Dipper looked around for a stick, some kind of weapon. Hell, even a rock would do. He was NOT dying at 15. During his rushed search, he felt something wet and sticky. Dipper quickly retracted his hand and brought what was left of the substance on his hand up to his nose.

"Blood?" Dipper pulled his flashlight out of his hoodie pocket, thankful he had brought it along. After a few seconds of struggling to find the power switch in the dark, bright light illuminated the ground. His eyes quickly adjusted to the sudden flood of light and he locked on a drop of blood, two.

Dipper quickly spotted another few drops near the first . It seemed to be forming a trail. His heart jumped up to his throat. Should he really be trying to solve a mystery in the middle of the woods, where no one could hear his screams? The trail lead off the path, each time Dipper saw blood, it was closer to the last sighting and in larger quantities. How could anything bleed this much?

Dipper pushed past a couple bushes into a clearing. A minute or two of scanning the area with his flashlight, and something had finally caught his eye.

A man with a long gash on his arm, bleeding profusely. A pained groan escaped his lips.

No. It couldn't be. Dipper knew he wasn't crazy! He remembered that voice! It was the same person yet again.

The man who'd caught him near the bus.