I couldn't leave you with that big of a cliffhanger for long! I'm not that evil. Well, maybe I am, but this chapter was just begging to be written!

Four years ago...

It was very early in the morning when the party finally ended. Grenda and Candy had both been picked up by their parents, but Mabel and Dipper had to walk home. This didn't bother them too much. The twins liked having some quality time together, and Gravity Falls seemed like a whole different place during the witching hour.

"The Northwests really know how to throw a party, don't they, Dipper?" Said Mabel as she tried to stifle a yawn.

"Yeah." So maybe that night didn't get off to a great start, but Mabel had a great time. Plus, all the townsfolk got to join in, and Pacifica looked so good in that dress...

"Hey, Dipper, look at this!" Mabel pointed to a mushroom that was letting off a very bright glow.

"Stuff like that tends to happen in Gravity Falls, especially at this time of night. I wouldn't touch it though..." Dipper let out a yawn. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see something that looked similar to a small spark.

"Like that?" Mabel asked, pointing at the spark. Dipper turned his head to get a better look.

"Yeah. Like that." Dipper watched as the spark started to grow bigger and take on a shape of its own, mesmerized. "We should probably get home so we can go to bed and get some..." Dipper trailed off as the shape became more distinct.

It was a triangle. A singular eye started to form.

"Mabel, run!" Dipper turned around and pushed his sister in front of him.

"What is it?!"

"It's Bill. It's the witching hour. The veil between our worlds is thin enough for him to pass through without a host," Dipper huffed as he ran as fast as he could go. A loud, spine-chilling laugh rang throughout the forest.

"Are we playing a game of cat and mouse, Pine Tree? Let me even out the odds a little bit..." A strong wind blew, and Journal Number Three went flying.

"The journal!" Dipper changed course and dashed after the journal.

"Leave it, Dipper!" Mabel called, but either Dipper didn't hear her or he didn't care. He continued to run after the journal, leaving Mabel to fend for herself. She glanced over her shoulder to see if she could still see him.

That was her fatal mistake.

Mabel ran into something that felt like a brick wall and fell to the ground, battered and bruised.

"Well, well, well..." Bill rolled his eye downwards to look at Mabel, his hands on the area his hips would be if he had any. "If it isn't Shooting Star."

"Leave me alone, you stupid triangle!" Mabel screamed. Bill only let out another laugh and lifted Mabel up by her foot.

"Wouldn't want your brother to miss the show, would we?" Bill flies over the trees, bringing the poor, squirming, Mystery Twin with him, searching for her other half.

Dipper had finally secured the journal when he saw Bill flying in his direction. He knew he needed to think fast, so he started flipping through the pages until he found a spell that would create a force field around himself that could not be penetrated by any entity, including dream demons. No sooner had he finished the spell when Bill appeared above him, waving his sister like a flag.

"Hey, Pine Tree!" Bill gave Mabel another vigorous shake.

"You let her go!" Dipper yelled. Bill only laughed.

"Make me!" Bill turned his attention to Mabel, who was now almost unconscious. "You know..." he said in a considering tone, "shooting stars are quite pretty when they fall..." Bill dropped Mabel, laughing at the cracking sound she made and Dipper's sobbing screams. He floated down to the boy, intending to do something similar to him, only to be stopped by an invisible wall. Dipper also seemed to be hindered by this wall, as it prevented him from reaching his sister, which he was so desperately trying to do.

"You...you monster... Mabel..." Dipper tried to form a coherent sentence through his sobs, but he was unable to. "Mabel I'm sorry..."

"Now, isn't that cute," Bill mocked. "Now, how to get past this wall..."

Bill tried everything he knew, but was not able to penetrate Dipper's spell. He tried for hours, all the while with Mabel just barely clinging to life, and Dipper just barely clinging to his sanity. But the night would soon be over, and Bill would have to leave with Mabel before sunrise. If he couldn't have both Mystery Twins, he could at least have one.

"Sorry, Pine Tree, but I'll have to come back for you later." Bill tipped his hat and gathered up Mabel's limp form in his arms. "Remember. I'll be watching you. I've always been watching you."

And with that, he left. The sun rose, and Dipper's force field evaporated. He was found a few hours later, curled up on the forest floor, sobbing, saying the same thing over and over again.

Mabel, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

Present day...

"Stupid little Shooting Star."

Mabel tried to stay strong as Bill eyed her with mock disappointment. She would not let him see how scared she was.

"I gave you clear instructions, didn't I?"

Mabel nodded.

"Get the journal and get out of there, correct?"

Mabel nodded once more.

"And I did say that an hour would be more than enough time, didn't I?"

Mabel shivered. She didn't realize how long she had been gone until she was rudely and painfully torn away from her own dimension. The feeling of all the atoms in her body breaking apart was still fresh in her mind.

"So why did you use up all of your time and leave Dipper a little note in his vest pocket?"

Mabel did not speak. She glared Bill in the eye defiantly. The worst he could do was put her in the darkness again, but it would be worth it. Dipper knew she was safe now, at least somewhat, and he would come to rescue her. Besides, Mabel had a feeling Bill would soon be needing her for some purpose other than an extreme form of solitary confinement.

Bill tsked and shook his finger at her. "Naughty, naughty Shooting Star. I think another week in the darkness is too good for you."

I can take the darkness, no matter how long I'm in there, Mabel thought.

Bill snapped his fingers and Mabel felt herself become stiff and rigid. She was startled to find that she couldn't move.

No.

"I think a week in the darkness without mobility will be just fine, though, with nothing to do but scream."

And Mabel did scream. As soon as Bill left, she cried and screamed until her throat was sore.

"Dipper, help me!" She found herself screaming.

Dipper can't help you. He left you.

Yes he can. I'm his twin. He's my brother and I love him, and I know he loves me back.

Orion and May silently sipped their Pit Colas after Dipper's tale, not knowing what to say. The twins had agreed to go with Dipper and Pacifica after the note was found for an explanation. They did not expect to hear such a story.

After a few moments of silence, Dipper spoke up. "May I see your journal?" He asked. Orion silently passed Journal Number Four across the table to Dipper. Dipper pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket, the one that the instructions for the ritual he and Pacifica performed were written on. He flipped through the journal until he found an area where a page had been torn out and put in the paper he held in his hand. It fit perfectly. "I thought it was from one of the other journals, but I know those things cover to cover. I didn't see anywhere a page had been torn out," Dipper mumbled, half to himself. Without another word, he stood up and walked out.

"Where did he go?" May asked Pacifica.

"To get some fresh air," Pacifica replied. Telling the story over again after so many years must have been a little too much for Dipper. Pacifica wondered if she should have let him tell it in the first place.

"Is it true? The story he told?" Asked Orion. Pacifica nodded.

"Every word."

"How is he going to get her back?" May was now staring at Pacifica, her eyes wide with wonder and fear.

Pacifica bit her lip. Dipper had left that one important deal out of his story, and she wondered if she should tell the kids now.

"We don't know, but we'll find a way," Pacifica said, guilt clawing at her stomach. She decided to turn her attention to something else. "So, why do they call you Orion?"

Orion's face turned red. "No reason. Why do they call him Dipper?"

Pacifica smiled. "Don't tell him I told you this, but he has a birthmark in the shape of the Big Dipper on his forehead."

"You're not kidding?" Orion's eyes widened with surprise.

"Nope."

Orion removed his hat and brushed his bangs to the side to reveal a birthmark in the shape of the constellation Orion on his forehead. He immediately put his hat back on, his face red with embarrassment.

May gave Pacifica a suspicious look. "You're not going to make fun of him for it, are you?" She asked.

Pacifica shook her head. "Of course not. Like I said, Dipper has a similar one, just of the Big Dipper instead of Orion." Pacifica couldn't help but be suspicious. It's not enough that the twins look and dress similar to Mabel and Dipper, but Orion had a birthmark similar to Dipper's as well. She wondered how many other similarities the two sets of twins had. Pacifica remembered Dipper saying something about people who had the same birthdays being connected in one way or another, and she wondered if that was the case here.

"So, which of you is older?" Pacifica asked. May beamed.

"I am by five minutes!" She exclaimed.

"But we were both born on August eighth," Orion pointed out. "So we're technically the same age."

"But I'm still older. And taller!"

"By a millimeter!"

This was too weird. There were too many coincidences. Pacifica had to tell Dipper about this. "I'm going to go check on Dipper," She said before exiting the room. Orion watcher her go and waited before she was out of earshot before turning to May.

"I don't trust them," he said.

"You've been way too suspicious of people ever since you found that journal telling you to trust no one. I think Pacifica is nice, and I like Dipper. Plus, they saved us," May pointed out.

"I'm serious this time!" Orion grabbed his journal and flipped through the pages. "Look at this." He pulled out a page and handed it to May. "This is the page that Dipper had. It's a about a ritual to summon a demon in order to bargain for the life of another person. Why would Pacifica say that they didn't know how to get his sister back when Dipper obviously had the instructions to do it?"

May studied the paper. Her face fell. "This doesn't necessarily mean-"

"But that's not all," Orion said, cutting his sister off. "But turn the paper over."

May did as her brother instructed. On the back of the paper was a drawing of a triangle covered with a brick pattern, completed with a singular eye, a top hat, and a bowtie. "I've seen this before…" May mumbled. "It's weird. I always feel like it's watching me."

"That is a demon with the name Bill Cipher. He's the demon that kidnapped Mabel, and that ritual was created specifically for him. And guess what else? In order to bargain for another's life, you need to give up a life, such as a sacrifice."

May's face turned white and she thrust the paper back at Orion, not wanting to hold onto it any longer. "Is that…"

Orion nodded. "We need to get out of here."

Pacifica found Dipper on the front porch, sittin on the steps and holding the small sticky note tightly in his hand. She sat next to him and he looked over at her. His eyes were red and tears stained his cheeks.

"Are you okay?" Pacifica murmured. She grabbed his strong, rough hand in her own soft, petite hand.

Dipper shook his head and went back to staring at the shooting star. "I don't want to give those kids to Bill, but I've worked so hard to get Mabel back, and after all of these years I finally have a chance…" Dipper stiffened as Pacifica reached up and kissed his cheek.

"What?" She whispered, her lips next to his ear. "I thought you liked me, Pines."

Dipper stood up, tearing his hand away from Pacifica's. "Pacifica, I don't really think this is the time."

"Why? You never have time for me anymore! All you have time for is this useless hunt for your sister!" Pacifica stomped her foot. "I love you, Dipper!"

Dipper turned to Pacifica, his eyes sad and angry. "I love you too, Pacifica. I just don't have time for a relationship right now. Just wait until this is all over."
"Just wait until you're in jail for kidnapping and murder, you mean," Pacifica grumbled.
Dipper took a menacing step towards the pretty blond girl. "What did you say?" He growled.

"Oh, don't pretend it's not true! You know what you're doing, Dipper, and it's not right!"

"It's the only thing I can do!"

"We both know that's not true!"

Dipper paused, breathing heavily. "Are you suggesting that I just leave my sister with that monster," his voice was so full of venom that it made Pacifica shiver.

"I- I'm sorry," She mumbled.

Dipper took a deep breath. "No. I'm sorry. We need to stay strong together, okay? No more arguing, and no more kissing either. Not until this is all over."

Pacifica nodded her head in agreement. "So, what do we do now? Do we take them home, or do we let them stay here until the third day?"

Dipper walked up the steps of the porch and through the door to the Mystery Shack. "Leave that to me."

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