Pairs

The Man in the Woods

Dipper sat on the roof, watching the forest for any nocturnal oddities he might find, the journal sitting next to him. Mabel had Candy and Grenda over for the night, and he did not want to be a part of that. So he decided to camp out on the roof. He was better prepared this time, and it was too high for wolves to use him as a chew toy. It was maybe 6:30, or sometime around then when he spotted it. The sun was beginning to set, and off in the distance he saw a bright flash come from the woods.

This was it! Maybe Dipper would actually find something tonight. He sat upright, camera and pen in hand, ready in case he saw anything. After about thirty minutes of nothing, however, he was about ready to give up looking, but then a car drove up to the Shack.

"Why would someone be coming here now?" Dipper wondered aloud, holding his camera steady. A man stepped out of the car, and it promptly sped away. The man looked around, as if to see if anyone was nearby, then stared directly at Dipper.

The man was dressed in nicer clothes, with fluffy brown hair tied back in a ponytail. He seemed strangely familiar, but Dipper couldn't quite place his finger on it. And his eyes. He'd only barely looked at Dipper for a split second, but it was enough to send shivers down his spine. The man's eyes were piercing; cold, almost. Dipper got the feeling that the stranger was more than he appeared.

The man stood in front of the Mystery Shack, as if lost in thought, a faint smile that looked almost wounded on his face. Dipper watched intently, waiting to see if he would do anything. But nothing happened. The stranger just stood, for several minutes, maybe hours. Dipper wasn't sure. It seemed like forever, and like no time at all.

And then the man vanished. Dipper blinked, and he was just, gone. There one second and not the next. There was no noise, no sign he had left, or ever been there in the first place. No footprints, nothing. He did a double take, and then, being Dipper, immediately consulted the journal.

The only thing he could find on teleporting were leprechauns, phoenixes, and something that looked like a cross between a chameleon and a horse, and the only creature with invisibility was something called a Demiguise.

"Well, looks like we've got a new mystery on our hands here," he mumbled, drifting off to sleep. How long had he watched that guy? Whatever, he could find out more tomorrow. Right now, Dipper was too tired to think clearly, and the racket beneath him wasn't exactly helping.