We Are The Broken (Gravity Falls)

Chapter 16

Cif ignored Dipper and Mabel, not knowing how to speak to them about the sudden murder of their great uncle. It was only eight o'clock that evening, the evening of Stan's death. No one was speaking, and Mabel's eyes were still stained with tears.

Cif swiftly walked down the staircase to see Mabel lying on the couch, sobbing with her head down. Dipper was quietly comforting her, sitting by the edge of the sofa, his arm on her shoulder.

"Cif, where are you going?" Dipper sighed bleakly, looking up to see that Cif had her coat on.

"Just down the street," Cif told him dully.

"You're not going to back to Gideon's house, are you?" Dipper asked, closing his eyes and looking from Cif back to Mabel.

"Yes, I am, are you really surprised?" Cif answered as she opened the door to the shack.

"No, Cif, you're not, it's not a good night, and between all of the residents being so angry with Gideon, and the chance of Bill destroying the town at any time, you could easily be killed," Dipper looked to Cif seriously, not knowing what else to say.

"You're not my parent," Cif snapped at Dipper, "this is important and you are aware of it."

"It's too late," Dipper tried to inform Cif, "I don't want you out there."

Cif ignored Dipper, turning her back to him and hurrying out the door, not knowing what else to do.

What was going to happen? Cif thought. Stan was dead, and soon enough Cif's parents would discover what happened and she would have to leave the town.

Cif was completely lost. This was no job for a little girl who had no clue what was going on, who had only been in this town a few weeks and didn't know half the things she should about Gravity Falls.

How did she get into this anyway? She didn't care and she just wanted out. She actually wanted her parents to come and get her so that she could go back to her dull life in Vermont.

"I just need help," Cif said to herself as she walked through the town. "How do I solve this anyway? I never asked for this!"

There was no answer, nothing except the wind whispering throughout the evening.

Cif approached the forest at the edge of the town. She really hated the forest, it had such a dark, depressing feel to it.

It was nearly dark outside by now, and Cif was having trouble navigating her way through the scary forest, shivering with nervousness.

As the sun set, Cif arrived at Gideon's house nearly thirty minutes later, hurrying inside to speak to him, though she had no clue what she was going to say. It had been such an emotional, terrifying day, and with Stan gone, Cif had no idea who to ask for help. Bill could easily kill her and Gideon right this very instant if he wanted to. Cif knew this perfectly well, and it horrified her beyond belief.

It was nearly nine o'clock now, though it didn't matter to Cif, it wouldn't matter if it was midnight, for that matter.

Cif shivered, buttoning her coat quickly. She was used to cold weather, ever since she was born she had lived in Vermont, one of the coldest states in the country. It wasn't just cold weather that made Cif shiver, it was a very dark, threatening feeling she got whenever she was in this part of the forest. It was like something telling her she shouldn't be there, an awful feeling.

Minutes later, Cif arrived at Gideon's house, knocking on the door, which was pointless since the door didn't even have a lock on it.

How stupid of me, Cif thought. She opened the door a second later, entering the bleak, worn down house.

Cif could never decide if she loved or hated this house. It was in ruin, it was falling apart, and it had the most depressing, uninviting atmosphere Cif had ever known. However, there was something about this house that was beautiful, not traditionally beautiful, but beautiful in the oddest of ways, the saddest of ways.

Is that even possible? Cif wondered. Could something be both tragic and beautiful at the same time? She didn't think so, honestly. How could something so horrible, so sad, be so beautiful?

This bewildered Cif beyond even her oddest thoughts, but there was something absolutely enchanting about that awful house.

"Hello?" Cif called after a moment.

"Hi, Cif," Gideon said dully when he saw Cif standing in the doorway looking at him.

"Are you alright?" Cif whispered sadly as she sat down in the living room.

"I guess so," Gideon told her quietly, "Stan and I never got along anyway, I just feel so bad for Mabel, and Dipper too, of course."

Cif nodded in agreement, looking around the house. "Me too, I can't believe Bill would kill Stan, it's- it's just awful."

"It really doesn't surprise me," Gideon admitted, "Bill did kill my parents too, don't forget."

Cif just sighed. "I didn't forget," she whispered, "I'm so sorry."

Gideon sat down next to Cif, not knowing what else to say. It was obvious he hated talking about his parents being killed, what child wouldn't?

There was a silence, and Cif spoke again after a moment.

"Are you afraid?" She asked nervously.

"Afraid of what?" Gideon asked her.

"Dying," she told him quietly, "being killed by Bill."

Gideon thought for a moment before answering Cif sorrowfully. "I really don't think so, honestly." He said dully.

Cif was shocked. "What?" She asked breathlessly, "Why on Earth would you say such a thing?"

Gideon looked at her sadly. "I'm not going to lie to you, Cif, I've wanted to be dead for a long time now, not much really scares me nowadays."

Cif stared at him, horrified. "Why would you ever wish to be dead, that's an awful thing to say."

Gideon shrugged, not listening to Cif. "Well, I don't really have much to be happy about anymore. My parents are dead, I live in a house that's falling apart as we speak, and this entire town hates me, not to mention the fact that I hate the town."

"I know life seems bad right now," Cif said gently, "however, things always get better."

"I don't really see how my life could ever get better," Gideon told Cif.

Cif just shook her head. "Fine, don't listen to me, but I hope you know that if you died, I probably would too."

"Thanks, Cif," Gideon said finally, sounding a bit happier. "No one's ever said anything like that to me, it means a lot, really."

Neither of them said anything for a long while after that, not knowing what to say, just happy to be together after such an awful day.

They had no idea tomorrow would be much, much worse.