The Things We Leave Behind (Gravity Falls Fic)

Chapter 10: I Guess With All I've Seen, This Isn't All That Strange

Dipper's POV:

"Goodnight, Mabel," I say to my sister as I turn out the lamp. She mumbles an incoherent response and turns over in her bed, immediately falling asleep. I sit quietly for a couple minutes, just listening to her deep breathing. When I was sure she really was asleep, I pulled out my flashlight and Journal Number Three, clicking on the light and aiming the beam at the pages, flicking through, searching for something, anything that describes either of the newcomers. Something about them just wasn't right.

I remembered that when Saige showed up out of nowhere, I did the same as I did now, and I could find nothing, but just to make sure...

I heard thunder rolling outside the triangular attic window above my head. Some freak storms we've been having recently. I went back to looking. So far, nothing quite described either of the two new people. While I was flipping through the papers, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move outside the window, and I glanced up. Nothing there. I looked back at the Journal. There was nothing here... I guess I just needed more information.

For some reason, I found my gaze traveling to the window again. Suddenly, lightning flashed outside, revealing a silhouette that looked vaguely like... Marceline.

It was only for a second, but it appeared that Marceline had been outside my window.

My window, which was two stories off the ground.

I jumped out of bed and ran to the window, pressing my face to the glass and looking out.

Nothing there.

My eyes widened, and I shivered. It can't be... it's impossible...

I glance at the book, lying open on my pillow, then back outside. I took a deep breath, closing the journal, turning off the flashlight, and climbing back into bed, my eyes sliding shut.

---

The next day, I wake up to someone shaking me. Mabel was standing over me, "Dipper! Get up! Grunkle Stan is waiting for us!"

I groaned, shoving my sister off, "Fine, fine, I'm getting up, now move!"

I stand up, getting dressed quickly and then pulling on my signature hat with the blue pine tree on it. I head downstairs to begin the daily chores, but not before tucking Journal Three under my shirt.

Yeah. No one would notice that I suddenly had a six pack.

I walk up to Grunkle Stan, "Alright, what do you want me to do first?" He held out some signs.

"You never finished putting these up."

"And you waited this long to have me finish?" I say, confused.

He glares at me, "Just hang them up, okay?"

I sigh, taking them and heading outside, trudging down a path in the woods, passing the signs I had hung up earlier and then finally coming along some trees that haven't yet been used for advertisement. I dropped all but one sign on the ground, hammering the remaining sign into the tree. I reached down for another one, but was distracted by a noise deeper in the forest.

Setting down the hammer and the nail, I crept further into the trees, hiding behind pines as I went.

I soon found the source of the noise. Angel and Marceline, Saige's "Friends from Mexico."

Wait... was that a...

"...dumb bear trap," Angel said, in an annoyed tone. The trap was caught around his leg. He should be screaming in pain.

Marceline was fiddling with the catch, trying to figure out how to make the trap release. Angel tapped her on the shoulder, and she moved aside, and he pried the trap apart, allowing him to pull his leg out of it's powerful steel jaws.