Smiles (A Reverse Falls Story)

A Mystery Found

The forest is dark and expansive. Pacifica really wants to explore, but it seems like it would be really easy to get lost in. And since she has to go right back with the firewood, she'll have to make sure to be quick. Otherwise her parents might worry, and she definitely doesn't want them to worry!

As she steps into a semi-open clearing, Pacifica glances around. There are some sticks around here, that look really brittle and good for burning. And there's a log leaning against that tree. She heads straight for that log and tries to lift it, bouncing on her toes. Perfect! Although it's kinda heavy. Her arms shake as she holds it. 

Crack!

She whirls around, dropping the log. Where did that noise come from? She stares warily into the dark trees, curious to see if whatever was lurking was friend or foe. Hey, is that a pair of... eyes? Something is definitely there. She takes a step back, backing into the tree. 

The creature seems to be drawing closer. Pacifica places her hands behind her on the tree, ready to defend herself. Her heart pounds. Time to prove her mettle. Three... Two... One...

She lets out a yell as the creature bursts out through the bushes. No scary monsters are getting HER today. Wait... Clucks??? 

Pacifica bursts out laughing as her chicken jumps into her arms. "You followed me!" She can't believe that he's what she's been so scared of! She gives him a gentle squeeze in greeting. That was sweet of him, to follow her all the way out here. 

Clucks lets out another cluck, looking at something behind Pacifica. She cocks her head and turns to see, letting out a soft gasp as she did so. When she'd placed her hand on the tree, it must have caused a hidden panel to fall open, revealing a compartment in the tree, now open before her. Inside seems to be a very old looking... radio... device? 

"Woah!" She grins, setting Clucks down for the moment. "This thing looks ancient!" She moves closer, fiddling with a few dials on the top. Maybe she can get it to work, and bring it home! That would be the coolest radio ever! 

From behind, there comes a sudden loud whirring. Clucks lets out a rather chickeny scream (not that he's a chicken, but like, he's a chicken, you know?) and when Pacifica whirls back around AGAIN she can't even see Clucks anywhere. 

"Clucks?" 

She notices that yet another panel seems to have opened up in the ground. Who built all this? And what do they have against her lovely chicken? For as she walks closer, she can see that Clucks has fallen in, mildly shocked looking but honestly not that much more than usual. She kneels down next to the compartment and reaches in to retrieve him, stroking his feathers comfortingly. 

"That was scary, huh?" She says softly. Clucks clucks. 

And that's when she notices what he was on top of. 

"What's this?" She reaches back into the shallow pit, brushing cobwebs off of the cover of an old dusty book. It has a six fingered hand with a 3 in the center on the cover. "3?" 

After exchanging a look with Clucks, she starts to flip through the pages, seeing that it's some sort of journal. Pages and pages of writing and drawings, all about... Paranormal creatures? Her eyes widen. "This is crazy!" Pacifica grins brightly. Gravity Falls is even more exciting than she'd expected! Gnomes, and vampires... Demons and woodpeckerpeckers... it's just so amazing!

A page with big letters catches her gaze, and she pauses, reading aloud. "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."

This is insane. Who's 'He'? Is that who was watching the person who wrote this? 

"Trust no one?" She looks up from the pages, completely shocked. 

Now THIS is an interesting find.