∞§HAUNTED§∞ ◊Gravity Falls AU◊ (Redone!)

Chapter 1

*slides in* AYYY GUESS WHO FINALLY DECIDED TO ACTUALLY REDO THIS
I'm not at home and I left the cover I made for this on my desktop though ;-;
welp...
ENJOY!

Mabel stared at her scrapbook. She stared at that last photo of her brother.
He had died 3 years ago in a car crash. She still hadn't gotten over him. Still hadn't accepted the fact that he was gone.

"Thinking about your brother?"
She looked up to see Grunkle Stan. She had been sent up north to Gravity Falls while her parents went to New York.
She nodded, looking back down at Dipper's photo.

Stan sighed. "Kid, I know how it feels. But you just got to hang in there."
"It feels like there's nothing to hold onto."
"Mabel, trust me. You have your parents to help. Not everyone can say that, you know?"
She looked up. "Yeah, I guess."

"Now perk up, kiddo. The tourists here aren't gonna rip themselves off!"
She gave a weak smile before running downstairs and into the Gift Shop. But Grunkle Stan's pep talk didn't help -- She couldn't stop thinking about the horrific scene. The car had crumpled like a soda can being crushed, and Dipper had been bleeding badly... of course it was Dipper who got hurt-- He always took the blame, and everyone was so hard on him... If only I could turn back time, and try to save him, try and --

"Excuse me, how much is this?" A tourist asked as he held up the chic-en (a chicken wearing chic clothes. It's a stupid pun.), snapping her out of her thoughts.
"Oh, um.. that's 200 dollars. It's super rare." Mabel mumbled. She jumped as one of the pine tree hats tumbled off a shelf, flying out the open door. Leaping to her feet, she darted after it. She didn't stop to think why, which probably would have been the logical thing to do before going into the dark and probably dangerous woods, but Mabel had never been logical.
A gust of wind lifted the hat off of the ground, but it snagged on a branch.

Mabel jumped, trying to reach it, but failed. She kicked at the roots in frustration.

Bang.

Mabel stumbled back, grasping her foot. She looked down at the roots.
Now that she looked at them, they were rusty, and caked in dust.

Her eyes traveled up to a nick in the 'wood'. She dug her nails in, and tugged on it.
It swung open, revealing a busted-up... thing. She wasn't sure what it was.
Mabel flipped one of the switches, and turned at a whirring noise. There was a cubbyhole in the ground. She leaned over the edge.
Before her sat a scratched, worn journal bearing a six-fingered hand on the cover.
She flipped it open. The name of who it belonged to was ripped out. Turning the page, she began reading aloud.
"I can't believe it's been six years since I began investigating the strange and wondrous secrets of Gravity Falls, Oregon..!"

The pages were covered in illustrations, and notes about the odd creatures depicted in the journal.
She froze on one of the pages.
It was sloppily written, unlike the neat cursive covering the other pages. It almost seemed rushed.
"Unfortunately, my suspicions have been confirmed. I'm being watched. I must hide this book before He finds it. Remember, in Gravity Falls, there is no one you can trust..."

Mabel stared at the page. Underneath the paragraph, 'Trust no one' was written in big, bold letters. The wind kicked up once more. It landed on a page with dribbles of ink covering it.

Wait, those weren't just random streaks...

Her breath caught in her throat. The streaks of ink sketched out the Big Dipper.
Is it a coincidence...? Or is there something more...?
She shook off the feeling, slamming the book shut. She ran back to the Shack, unaware of the eerie wind following her.
The words written in the journal rang in her head.
I'm being watched. Trust no one.
Deep down, she knew someone was watching her as well.
But it was topped by another thought;
Was I meant to find the journal?