Chosen Successor

Homebound

Trees rustle around you, leaves swaying and dancing with the wind, its branches restless and unyielding. The ground beneath your feet was gravel, its small bits of rock crunching under your soles when you shift around. Pain and numbness that resided on the side of your leg was no more, and you open your eyes to take in your surroundings.

Everything was gone.

No Bill filing through papers, moaning and groaning about how much it was a pain to do so; no dust floating through the air, no smell of mildew or the faint stench of guts on the floor. Instead, pine invades your scenes, and the visage in front of you is one of familiar origins.

Your parents' home.

The red brick made a quant little cottage, wood roof growing vines of foliage and critters running along the top. Flowers bloom in pots along the windowsill, and the small pushes flourish with small red berries. The car sat in the driveway, the black SUV looking clean, just freshly washed. Home. With everything going on, it felt so long since you had been here. But... why were you here...?

You turn, looking behind you, but trees stretched for miles, the gravel road being the only thing to greet you. You breathe out and step forward. Your feet crunch as they hit the ground, and butterflies flutter away when you pass the flowers. The ochre door stood before you, the window of the door allowing you to get a glimpse of the blurry inside. Something inside moves.

Leaning away from the door, you place a hesitant hand on the doorknob, twisting the black knob with no resistance. Unlocked- something it normally wasn't. The door swings open and you step inside, feet making contact with the doormat on the inside.

It was exactly like you had left it. The pillow on the couch from your mother's own toss when she had lost her wallet was still in its position, the bags for the vacation where stationed at the door, and the keys were sat on one of the rolling suitcases. Everything was right. But...

You frown and close the door behind you, taking a step into your house. A voice calls out your name from your parents' room, your eyes shift to the stairs that lead to the bedrooms and you step forward, hand gripping the wood railing. The steps had the exact creaks of your home- but this can't be true, you were in the ruins! With an injured leg, Bill in front of you, and the dead monster behind him; with large walls and a high ceiling- the Axolotl's ritual room- you were there!

This wasn't possible. This was a dream. Just like the dream of you in the clouds, it felt too real. But you knew better- it doesn't mean anything. It was your mind playing random thoughts, nothing more.

You reach the top of the steps and look to your right, your parents' room. It was right there. The brass handle still had the same scratches, and the wood on the doorframe was chipped in all the right places. The knob meets your hand, cold, just like it always has been.

You open it.

And its your parents' room. They stand at the edge of the bed, their faces shielded away from you as they discuss amongst each other. They pause, and your mother is the first to turn to you with a somber smile on her face, which quickly brightens at your presence. Her blonde hair bounces when she shifts, a hand coming forward to beckon you.

"Goodness, you took long at the store, didn't you?" You move forward and stand beside her, to which she gently smiles and shows you her phone. A house in Gravity Falls. "This is the house your dad and I chose! Isn't it cute! Perfect spot for a vacation, don't you think?"

She hands the phone to you, tapping the screen to stop it from entering sleep mode. The phone sits heavy in your hand, the house staring back at you, haunting, mocking. Your mother sits on the bed and watches you look at the house.