The falls

chapter 25

Jessica and Neomi stood in the living room of the Mystery Shack, hands full of unicorn hair they'd gotten the day before, their clothes still stained with traces of the bizarre scuffle they'd had in the woods. Neomi's eyes still sparkled with excitement, while Jessica seemed more focused and contemplative, already processing their next step.

"We need to get this hair woven into a protective barrier," Jessica said, taking a piece and examining its strange luminescent glow. "If Bill's really planning to come back, this might be the only thing keeping us safe."

Neomi sat down at the old wooden table and started helping Jessica twist the unicorn hair into finer strands, her fingers moving with a sort of purpose that made Jessica glance at her.

"Are you still thinking about that dream?" Jessica asked, her voice quieter now.

"Yeah," Neomi admitted. "It's just... the way Bill looked. He wasn't a triangle anymore, but I could tell it was him. And that poem you recited—how did you know it word for word? and another thing, he said there were still some interdimensional rips caused by the old portal and that it was only a matter of time before someone released him and he could use them to recreate the apocalypse."

Jessica sighed, glancing out the window toward the eerie woods. "I found it scribbled in some of Dipper's notes. Ford must've mentioned it to him at some point. I don't know why Dipper would've written it down, though... maybe he knew Bill wasn't truly gone."

Neomi's hands slowed down. "But if the unicorn hair is as powerful as Ford said in the journals, then this should work, right?"

"Yeah," Jessica replied, though a part of her couldn't shake the lingering doubt. "We just have to make sure we string it around the whole Shack."

The two of them worked in silence for a bit, fingers weaving, twisting, and creating long strands that would soon circle the entire perimeter. Finally, Neomi broke the quiet.

"You know, I'm not sure why that first unicorn said I wasn't pure of heart," she said, chuckling softly. "After everything we've been through, you'd think I would've earned some points."

Jessica smiled. "Well, pure of heart or not, you got us the unicorn hair. And that's what matters. And don't let a unicorn decide if you are a good person or not. you decide that through your actions."

Once they had enough, they stepped outside, starting at the front porch and carefully wrapping the magical hair in a thin, barely visible line along the edges of the Shack. The air around them seemed to grow heavier, the tension of the task pressing in.

"You think this will really hold Bill back?" Neomi asked as they reached the final corner of the Shack.

"If unicorn hair has half the magic Ford says in the journal that it does, it should."

They both stood back, looking at the nearly invisible thread of protection encircling the Mystery Shack.

"I still can't believe that poem was in Dipper's handwriting," Neomi said. "It's like... all of this has already been set in motion."

"Yeah," Jessica said softly, "but we're ready."