Wow, I'm so sorry about how long it took to update this story! I've been jammed with other crap going on, school and life are just throwing me in every direction possible. But, I'm finally back!

So, I think there's only going to be one more chapter in this story, maybe two, depending on how it goes. Either way, I hope you like how it turns out!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gravity Falls or GF characters, all those rightfully belong to Alex Hirsch, the one and only.

Happy reading!

…

It's been a month since Mabel's last visit from Bill Cipher, and she couldn't have been any lonelier. Her friends and family have been acting like they want nothing to do with her; Dipper and Ford have been spending the majority of their time working in the basement – even eating meals down there – or Dipper was hanging around Wendy. Soos had been brushing her off every time she asks to hang out, as he always seems to have something to do lately. Stan did nothing but watch TV and manipulate and convince customers into buying some makeshift attempt of a mythical creature that didn't exist. But sometimes, like right now, Mabel would peek out her window to find all of them outside together. Talking and laughing without her. And that's what bothered her the most.

She looked out her window for about the 5th time in despair, all of them hanging out outside. She didn't bother to try to join them anymore, as they always separate soon after she comes out. She felt her eyes water up as the thought about her family not wanting her anymore, and wiped them before she let herself cry.

"I don't understand…" she mumbled to herself. "This has to be Bill. He said he would make things better for me, why did he do this?"

She suddenly felt the urge to restart the habit that got her in this whole situation in the first place. To her, in that moment, self-harm sounded like the answer to everything. The more she thought, the lonelier she felt, and almost couldn't bare it anymore. She knew it would be stupid of her to give in to cutting again; that will just start the cycle all over. There has to be some way to reverse this, right?

Mabel started pacing back and forth in her room, trying to replace her negative thoughts with logical thinking. She had to fix this.

"I can't take this, I miss the family that cares about me," she whined quietly to herself. "I need to get Bill to come here somehow, and he won't show up in my dreams…" she said as she tried to fit the pieces together. Then she had an idea. I wonder…

Her eyes darted around the room, mainly scanning the bookcases, then glanced out the window again. They were all still outside laughing, but now walking towards the front door. She patiently waited on her bed for the downstairs bell to ring, and heard everybody scuttle to their usual spots in the shack; and just as she had hoped, Dipper was walking upstairs.

"Hey, Dip!" Mabel gleefully greeted him as soon as he opened the door. "Whatcha been doin' today?"

"Not that much," he replied, not even pausing to look at her as he spoke. Instead, he went straight to his backpack that was on his bed, and pulled out a red book - no, three red books from inside the bag. The journals.

Mabel knew this was her chance once Dipper set the books on the dresser and went back to his bag. She put her plan into action, and hoped she would also get some answers of out this.

"Hey, Dipper. Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," he replied with no interest, still rummaging through his backpack.

"Do you love me?"

Dipper stopped what he was doing and slowly turned to face his sister, clearly surprised at her question. "What?"

"Do you love me," she asked again, looking down while fiddling with her fingers.

"You're my sister. Of course I love you, Mabel."

"Do you care about me?"

"Yes, I care about you," he replied as if it was obvious. "Why are you asking me this?"

"You've been so distant lately, and you've been blowing off spending time with me but you're always around someone else," she said as she faked a sniffle to make it more believable, although talking about it did make small tears form from the corner of her eyes. "It's like you don't even want me around anymore."

"Aw, Mabes," he said with a half-sad smile, although with not much sympathy in his voice. He put his hand on her shoulder as reassurance, but to Mabel, it didn't feel sincere. It didn't feel like the touch of her brother that was usually always there to comfort her. "You know that's not true."

All she did was sit there and slightly nod, before asking, "Does that mean you'll spend more time with me?"

Dipper's expression suddenly shifted from fake sympathy to slight awkwardness. It was clear to her that he wanted to say no.

"Well, I actually can't right now. Ford and I have a project we're working on down in the basement," he explained his excuse to her as he turned back around to zip up his backpack and sling it over his shoulders. "But I'll be back up here later, okay?"

"Yeah, alright," she mumbled mainly to herself as he left the room. She sighed; that was more disappointing than she thought it would be. She knew Dipper all too well to think that he was acting this way without being under the influence of something – or someone – else. As much as that conversation hurt her, though, at least she got what she wanted out of it.

She looked over at the dresser and smirked, glad her plan had worked. She needed to distract Dipper enough to make him forget to pick the journals back up, and that's exactly what she did. She had limited time, though, and knew she had to act fast.

She picked up the journals one by one, flipping through the pages to find a particular shape. She frantically looked through #1 and #3, and finally found him while looking through #2. It was Bill Cipher, the one being she needed the most right now. She examined the page and found the content she needed: how to summon the demon. She was about to read it when she heard petite footsteps on the floor below, leading to the staircase. Dipper.

She set journals #1 and #3 back on the dresser, but shoved journal #2 under her pillow, making sure it was fully hidden. She grabbed a magazine from the bookcase beside her, and had just enough time to make it look like she'd been laying there for a while, just as he walked through the door.

He didn't even say hello as he strolled across the room towards the dresser. It wasn't until he picked up the journals when he realized that one was missing. He scanned the room, and patted down his vest pockets, yet found it nowhere.

"Mabel, have you seen the second journal?" he asked her as he checked under the bed.

"No," she replied in a monotone, flipping through the pages of her magazine. "It's probably in the basement under some sciencey junk."

"It's not down there, I already checked," he said back, a little panic rising in his voice as he searched his room. "Twice."

"Well, maybe you dropped it outside?" She suggested to him, for once wanting him to leave the room. After all, she had business to take care of.

"I doubt it. You're sure you haven't seen it around?"

"Positive."

He looked around the room one last time before leaving with a disappointed frown. "Well, tell me if you happen to see it," he said as he left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Mabel let out a sigh of anxiety as soon as she heard the doorknob click shut. She picked up her killer lying skills from her Grunkle Stan, as she observed him at his mischievous talent every day. She still hated lying to her family – and in general – but she knew it was for the best at the moment. After all, how was she going to pull this off without being a little sneaky?

She pulled the red and gold book from underneath her pillow and set it on her lap, opening it up to the bookmarked page: summoning Bill. She silently read the instructions to the invoking spells, recalling the times she, Dipper, and Soos performed Bill-related spells like these on Stan when Bill had traveled into his mind. She hoped things wouldn't be as chaotic this time.

After reviewing the given instructions, she closed the book shut with a thud, knowing what she had to do. She was going to call Bill to her and demand her family back. This is going to work. It has to, she assured her nervous brain trying to fill her with doubt. I'm not backing out of this, she mentally told herself, and decided she was going to leave at midnight.

She slid the journal back in its hiding spot under the pillow, making sure it was hidden. She hopped off of her bed and looked back outside and saw that nobody was out there. She turned around and walked towards the door before twisting the knob open and walking down the stairs. She passed everybody up in the house – Soos in the kitchen, Stan in the living room, Wendy in the store, and Dipper and Ford probably in the basement – before walking out the front door without a word. She walked towards the trail in silence, wondering how to spend these next few hours by herself.

…

Eventually, dusk had finally arrived, while Mabel was in deep exploration of the forest. She had wandered to the magical landing where her, Wendy, Candy, and Grenda met (and fought) those unicorns. She picked up a crystal that was implanted in the ground and smiled, remembering that day with the girls. They all bonded so much that day, and had so much fun together. She wished she could have that day back.

The darkening sky disrupted her from her memories, reminding her that she had to get home. She dropped the crystal in her pocket and turned around towards the trail that led her there. She walked swiftly, being sure to beat the sun this time. The sky was barely lit by the time she had reached The Mystery Shack, meaning she had made it home just in time.

She swung open the front door with a ring of the bell, and saw nobody. She heard familiar noises coming from the living room. She recognized those noises from her favorite murder-mystery TV show: Duck-Tective. It made her a little upset that they were watching what they knew was her favorite show without her, but she also wasn't very surprised; she was used to these kinds of things now.

She passed everyone in the living room, not even stopping to greet them, and made her way back up the stairs and into her bedroom. She glanced at the clock that hung on her wall: 9:09. Duck-Tective should be over at 9:30, meaning Dipper would be up here and in bed within an hour.

Mabel sighed, knowing she had at least thirty more minutes to kill by herself. So she reached and pulled out Journal #2 from under her pillow, flipping it back open to the page she left off. She skimmed the page again, making sure she had everything she needed in her already-packed backpack underneath her bed.

Six candles and a lighter, a picture of me, salt... yep, that's everything, Mabel mentally checked off her list. Everything needed to be absolutely perfect; as simple as it looks, it's actually a very dangerous ritual. Not to mention that she would be performing the entire ritual on her own; one slip-up and you could find yourself trapped in the Mindscape. Dipper was usually the one leading her during these sort of things, but she would just have to figure it out for herself this time.

She felt herself yawn and forbid herself to get tired, while Dipper walked into the bedroom. He tiredly opened the door and kicked it shut behind him, and immediately started walking towards the bed. His sluggish demeanor showed that he had a long and tiring day, and planned on ending it soon. He plopped down face-first, unmoving for a few moments. Mabel had thought he fell asleep like that when he sprung up, wiping the corner of his mouth. Mabel giggled at him.

"Tired, Dipper?" She inferred with a raised eyebrow.

"Mhm," Dipper groggily replied as he rubbed his eyes. This will be easy, Mabel thought as she hid a smirk.

Dipper got up and walked towards the dressing, pulling off his t-shirt and vest on his way over there. He opened his pajama drawer and pulled out his favorite light blue pair. He tugged off his shorts and pulled the cozy pants over his legs, before putting the matching shirt on. He rubbed his eye again with a yawn and said, "You know, I still never found journal #2." He walked over to the other bed.

"I don't know where you could have put it," Mabel replied, starting to feel a little nervous. She bit her lip.

Dipper just gave a shrug and said, "Whatever, I'm too tired right now." He hung his hat on the bedpost and jumped back into his bed, flipping off his lamp switch. Now sitting silent in the dark, Mabel waited for him to say something else, unless he was already going to sleep. When he was quiet for a few moments, Mabel said what she assumed her brother wouldn't.

"Goodnight, Dipper. Love you," she called over to her twin on the other side of the room. There was a shuffle in the sheets before she heard, "Night, Mabel. Love you too," as a faint reply. Mabel sighed and laid on her back, feeling the book cover against the back of her head, reminding her of what she had to do. Dipper was really tired tonight, so she probably wouldn't have to wait too long.

She laid there for about an hour, mentally acting out her plan to sneak out. She decided the best way out was the back door, as it lacked an entrance bell and didn't creak as much when opened. The only thing was that she had to walk right past Stan's room, which was a problem because she had no idea how Stan occupied his late-hour free time. Or he could be watching TV in the living room, where she would also have to walk past during her escape.

She listened for any noises, and her ears picked up Dipper's heavy breaking from across the room, slowly escalating to faint snores. She figured that was a good time to make her leave.

She sat up in her bed and reached under the pillowcase for the journal. Once she had it, she silently slipped off of her bed and landed on her tip toes before lowing herself to her own height. She slowly started walking towards the door, one step at a time, when Dipper suddenly shifted in his sleep. His sudden movement made Mabel tense up, but she relaxed when his body began its steady pace once again, knowing she had nothing to worry about.

Twisting the doorknob as quietly she could, she pulled open door enough to where she could barely slip in between the crack and squeeze right through, exiting out the other side. Once she shut the door was a muffled click, she breathed a sigh of relief, yet knew she had more challenges to face. Next challenge: creaky stairs.

She stared down the stairs at the top step, peering into the depths below. She listened for noises once again, yet heard nothing, so she started to make her descend. She gently pressed her foot on the first step down, wincing as the creak echoed in the hallway. She paused before starting again, going faster and lighter so each creak was quick and faint.

Now on the first floor, she looked to her left and found her target: the back door. She started tip-toeing down the hallway, pausing to check the living room for her great uncle. She peered around the corner, and saw that Stan had fallen asleep in his chair with the television on mute. He was facing her direction, which meant if Mabel made any noise while sneaking past, he'd wake up and plant his eyes right on her.

Ever so carefully, she tip-toed past the living room doorway. Her foot landed on a particularly squeaky floorboard, as she stepped down and winced as the creak echoed throughout the wooden shack. She look over at Stan and froze when he started to shuffle around. He was mumbling something in between snores, before shooting up in his seat, eyes wide open.

"MABEL!"

She gasped as her eyes were locked on her uncle, his eyes giving her a blank stare that seemed to go right through her. Something wasn't right.

"Stop putting glitter in my coffee! That's not sugar!" Stan yelled to nobody before slumping back into his chair, snoring away.

Mabel muffled a giggle before walking past the doorway, surely safe from waking up her uncle. "Sorry, Grunkle Stan," she mumbled to herself. "Even in your sleep you can't escape my glittery wrath." She grinned to herself.

She finally made it to the back door, but didn't stop there. She held her breath as she twisted the knob and opened the door, not breathing in air until she was safely outside on the porch. Once outside, she let the held-in air escape her throat, before inhaling fresh air. She smiled in self-satisfaction before she realized the extra weight in her left hand. She looked down and found herself still holding the journal; she had been so focused on sneaking out without getting caught that she forgot her mission in the first place. The golden, six-fingered hand reflected in the moonlight, shining in Mabel's eyes. She lowered the book to look out into her surroundings, which was only the forest. Gulping, she took her first step out into the woods.

…

I tried making this chapter longer since I took soooo long to update. Again, my apologies! I won't take so long this next (or last) chapter, I promise!

I hope I didn't lose any readers because of my absence. I love all of your support! You only have to deal with me for one more chapter.

Reviews are greatly appreciated, like always :) or criticism. Whatever works!

Until chapter 7,

-Lylah