These Chains [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter One: We're Back

"I can't wait until we get there! This is going to be amazing!" Mabel gushed, her hands on her cheeks. She grinned over at her twin brother, Dipper, who reluctantly smiled back, but only for a second. Noticing something wrong with him, she frowned and looked at him with concern in her eyes. They were on the bus heading for Gravity Falls, Oregon.

"What's wrong, Dip?" she asked him, nudging him lightly, as he wasn't looking at her but staring into the distance once again- like how he'd been doing the whole bus ride. He woke up from whatever he was daydreaming about and looks at his sister.

He blinked. "What?" he asked.

Mabel sighed loudly, then smiled at him to lighten the mood. "What's wrong with you, Bro? You were really excited about coming back to Gravity Falls with me, but now you're just sitting there being all sad and shit. Come on, we're gonna see Grunkle Stan, Soos, Wendy, and everyone else again." Then she nudged him again, this time a little less playfully and more so attention grabbing.

Dipper only smiled briefly at her again before saying, "I don't know, I've just been having a headache ever since we hit the Oregon boundary. I have no idea why. Maybe just nerves."

His sister only shrugged. "I don't know, maybe." Then she grinned widely. "When we get there Grunkle Stan can just get you something for that little headache for yours, huh?"

Dipper nodded, but grabbed his head as the pain ebbed even worse. He let out a deep, shaky breath and his vision started to blur. "I...I don't think this is just a 'little headache', Mabel," he said, laughing halfheartedly. Then he groaned in pain and sat back in his seat. Mabel reached out and touched his forehead, right on his birthmark.

"Your head is really hot, Bro. Maybe you should take a nap or something. I think you might have a fever." Then Mabel pulled her hand away slowly and smiled at him.

Dipper nodded and leaned back even further into his seat, snuggling in and getting comfortable. Then, before he knew it, he drifted off into sleep. And what he dreamed of didn't help him feel any better.

~~~~~~~

In his dream he was walking in the woods, which seemed to be somewhere in Gravity Falls, from what he could detect, anyway. It was night.

Everything was oddly quiet, which was slightly unnerving. Normally the hoot of an owl or the sound of the squirrel climbing up a tree, scratching the wood softly, would be there to make the mysteriousness of the woods less terrifying. But there was nothing. No noise except for the sound of Dipper's steps in the grass, looking around in the ominous darkness that encircled him.

Then after what seemed like hours of exploring, Dipee found himself in a clearing. He looked around to see nothing except for the trees and bushes. He sighed.

"Why am I here?" he asked, his voice echoing a few times before it stopped completely. Dipper wished his voice had continued to echo, because that would stop the agonizing silence. The terrifying darkness and silence of the forest added up to nearly giving the young man a panic attack.

Then he swore that he heard something he wasn't sure what it was. Maybe it was something along the lines of foot on leaves. Someone else was there. Yes, Dipper was sure of it. Someone else was there. Watching him.

The young man stood up and started to run, but he only heard the sound of whoever was with him behind him. He didn't like it. He his himself behind a tree and sat down on the ground, shivering. He held onto his head, trying to ignore the pain that was throbbing. He cried. Then he felt a cold hand touch his shoulder, and the person said something.

"Hi, Pine Tree," the person said. Dipper caught his breath, knowing who it was.

No, he thought. No, no, no, no, no! Please, no!

Then he heard Mabel's voice, loud in his ears.

"Dipper! Dipper! Wake up!"

Dipper shot open his eyes, panting heavily. He looked around p, wide-eyed. He was on the bus. He looked out the window. No mysterious forest, no scariness, nothing. Everything was normal. Dipper slouched in his seat.

It was just a dream.

Thank goodness, he thought, running his hand through his hair. Then he noticed Mabel staring at him and he looked back. Mabel felt her heart stop at the terrified look in his eyes.

"You...you were having a nightmare," she said softly, biting on one of her fingers. "Are you okay?"

Dipper thought for a minute. He wasn't okay. Something was wrong. He knew something was wrong. He just wanted to crawl into a hole and slowly die, anything to get rid of the aching pain that was in his head, making his brain ache in a way he'd never felt before.

"I'm fine," he told Mabel softly, putting a hand on her shoulder as if to assure her. "I'm...fine," he said again, this time trying to assure himself.

Mabel smiled, although the look in her eyes said that she didn't believe her brother. "Good," she replied, and pulled his hand off her shoulder. Then she looked forward again, as if she was trying to look out the front of the bus. Dipper leaned his head on the window and looked out of that.

"We will be arriving in Gravity Falls in approximately fifteen minutes," the bus driver said over the loudspeaker. Dipper let out a sigh of relief and closed his eyes. His headache was starting to cease a little, but the thoughts of his dreams still haunted him, horrifying him.

And about fifteen minutes later, they were both getting off the bus. Dipper got off first, holding his one bag, a duffel bag, in his grasp lightly. He stood still at the stop for a minute, waiting for his sister to get off.

Mabel bounded off the bus happily, holding to bags that were stuffed to their limit. Despite this, she was holding them happily and lightly, as if they didn't weigh anything. She was humming and smiling widely. She walked up to her brother and roughly dropped her bags on the floor.

"Okay, so we need to head for the Shack," Dipper said, already having devised a plan. "Since it's sunset now, we should probably be getting there once it starts to get dark, so we won't have time to go out and say hi to more people until tomorrow."

Mabel pouted for a moment, then smiled again and picked up her bags again. "Sounds like a plan!" she said in a singsong voice and ran off. Dipper quickly recollected himself and chased after her at top speed, shouting, "Wait for me!"

Then they were at the Shack, Grunkle Stan, Wendy, and Soos already waiting at the front door for them.

Dipper was taken back at how much everyone had grown. Grunkle Stan was very old, his face more wrinkled and frail then it had been eight years earlier. And Wendy had shorter hair and Soos...well, he was still the same old Soos he always was.

The twins greeted everyone with hugs and handshakes, then Dipper was the first to head upstairs to the attic, closing the door behind himself. Mabel was still downstairs, having a conversation with Soos. Wendy had went home, and Stan was counting all the money he had earned that day.

Dipper sat down on his bed, taking a deep breath and running his hand through his hair. Then he felt his headache coming back again. Then he started to remember his dream. He he was being chased. How someone had felt his shoulder. What that person had said was most important.

Hi, Pine Tree.

Dipper grabbed his head tightly, pulling at his hair. He shook his head, trying to stop himself from screaming.

No, he's not here, he thought to himself. This can't be happening...he can't be here...no. I don't...I can't...