10 Days. It's been that long since the Shack's been Bill-proof. To Dipper, it was too good to be true; there was no way Bill could enter the house right? Ford would have an answer.

If only the 60 something didn't fall into coma. How ever it happened and when, no one knew. Dipper entered the lab one night to find his Grand Uncle unconscious yet fortunately not dead. Lab accident, that's what everyone thought of it.

This made Dipper the Rift's guardian by default. Unsettled by the event, he became sleepless. He couldn't count the times that Mabel and Stan offered him rest, each attempt met with a reluctant no. They've been trying for 9 days now.

His feet dragged themselves towards the fridge, looking for anything to prevent his eyes from being shut. "Coffee... Mabel Juice...19 hour energy... Yup, that's what I'm looking for." Dipper got a mug and filled it up.

The taste of plastic dinosaurs married to chemical and organic liquid energy probably tasted worse than Taco Bell's toilet water. But to the young boy, the taste didn't make it bad; what did was the fact that it wasn't working. In front of him he could see a glowing figure with red hair call his name. He was hallucinating. Dreaming at worst.

That, or it was Wendy standing in front of the window. In which case, the drink worked.

"Whoa Dipper. You realize you swallowed a plastic dinosaur right?"

A few loud gags later, a plastic green brontosauraus fell out of his mouth.

"I'll live. Don't worry." About to walk away, the direction he took caused him to fall onto the floor. Stupid brontosaurus.

"Not without sleep you won't." Wendy gave the boy a hand which he took.

Dipper shook his head. "Ugh. I can't Wendy, the world hangs in the balance."

"And if it mattered so much, you'd take better care of yourself." The look on Dipper yelled 'No. Not a chance'. " But if you can't take a nap for like an hour, at least let me help you not cause Armageddon."

Dipper gave it thought. "Okay. If I fall asleep or anything, wake me up." Wendy nodded, following Dipper back upstairs.

He went to his room but suddenly remembered the one thing his room gave: comfort and safety. To him, both were a trap. The yellow demon could - no, certainly will - strike when Dipper would least expect. He would not give him that chance.

"Hey Wendy. You okay with us staying in the roof a while?"

"That's fine." She replied. She led the way towards her once private spot in the roof.

"Just need a place that y'know, isn't so sleep-friendly." Once up there in the roof, the setting sun highlighted Wendy's cooler and icebox. Wendy opened up the cooler to find nothing but water. Disappointed, she closed the box to see Dipper sitting on the edge of the roof.

"Feel awake yet?" She said as she sat next to him.

"With a view that could literally kill me if I wasn't careful, yeah." His legs dangled in the air while his eyes were locked on to the trees swaying in the breeze.

"Well it's a view to die for. You can see the whole town from here." Wendy stood up, looking opposite to where Dipper stared at. "Heh. Actually, I think I see Mabel from here."

"Haven't heard from her in a while. Must be having fun with her friends, sleepover probably. Meanwhile I'm stuck with... Well this." Dipper pat his vest, specifically the pocket where he placed the Rift in. "And you too. But not stuck with, more like-"

"I get it." Wendy cut in. Dipper stumbling around with words: funny a couple times, but it would be cringe-inducing to see him do it all the time. "Don't mind what you say too much man."

"With people, you ought to." Dipper replied, to which Wendy gave him a puzzled look.

"What do you mean?"

"All I'm saying is, be careful what you say to people. One day you might be talking about whatever, and the next... they're gone."

Silence followed. The gentle wind came to a halt.

"You ever knew much about Ford, Wendy?"

"Stan had a twin, who'd have thought." She replied. "I was as surprised as you probably were."

"I wasn't just surprised. I screamed with glee." Dipper chuckled at the thought. "Ford was Stan's opposite. Every single way compared to Stan." Wendy never gave his actions much thought nor noticed. "I know you hear them argue sometimes though at the end of the day, they got along."

"Now he's unconscious while, literally, the world's at stake as we speak. And... He's the only one who'd know what to do. Truth be told, I'm worried about him Wendy." She could hear his voice break a bit at that last sentence.

"Sometimes I try to remember what I last told him. And I really wish I told him he meant a lot." Dipper stopped speaking to let the tears fall down his cheeks.

She placed a hand on his back. "I know what that's like Dip. I don't remember what I last told my mom either. She was my hero. Believe me, I'd give anything to have her back." Dipper looked at her.

"Ford's gonna be up. If he's the true twin of old Stan, he's a strong one. He'll be OK." Wendy embraced Dipper. It's not the kind he would've wanted at the beginning of that summer; however, it was the one he needed the most.

Only Mabel's given him this much safety and comfort before. It amazed him to know that someone cared, someone whom he'd just met a mere 2 months ago. He had a million things he wanted to say. At last, he said something. "Thank you for being here."

There was a silence that followed. A comfortable silence, the kind only friends would share.

"I'll be honest, I thought I'd be a shut in the whole summer. Gravity Falls sure proved me wrong."

"There's a lot you don't know about the town. It'd take a few summers to know it all." She gave him a wink. "Let's go. We have to get there before it gets too dark."

"Go where?" He asked. His mind raced as he tried to recall every possible plan he made with her. For the life of him, he could not remember.

"It's Movie Night Dipper!" At that, he mentally face-palmed.

"You didn't forget again did ya? Whatever, that's fine. I gotta use the bathroom before we go though. Meet me outside."

Dipper and Wendy walked through the forest. The path to Wendy's house had no street lamps or signs, but to both of them it felt impossible to get lost. As for safety... Dipper had fate in Wendy's hatchet.

The house was a beautiful two storey cabin, one any lumberjack would look at then promptly remember their own creations with shame. Behind the cabin was a spacious shed where the Corduroy's kept their lumber gear. Dipper was never told (he didn't need to be) but it went without saying: the shed was off-limits. It was a ticking time bomb with all its limb-hacking tools.

After some pocket searching, Wendy found the house keys. A few more moments later and she unlocked the door. "Nobody's home this time, so we have the place to ourselves." She gave the Pines Twin a grin.

"You know what that means."

"Oh yeah. Horror marathon!" He exclaimed.

They ran up the stairs literally tripping on each other's feet to get to Wendy's room first.

Wendy opened up her movie cabinet. "Let's see. Final... Destination. How's that sound Pines?" She pulled the CD out to show it to him.

"There's way to few movies in that series. Let me check." A few minutes of CD searching, and Dipper found a Freddy Krueger boxset. "Jackpot! This'll keep us up a while." He smiled as he set the TV up.

"What's Freddy Krueger about again?" Wendy sat on a spot in her bed. "It's about a monster that enters people's minds and kills them in it." Dipper sat down on the floor and pressed a button on the remote. The film began.

"Huh. Sounds appropriate." Wendy said under her breath.

Hours later...

Dipper woke up to find a Freddy Krueger movie still playing. The dream demon is about to slay yet another teenager. She gives her loudest scream before she's stabbed. The boy yawned, tired of the carnage by now. He knew he had to be home by now. 'Just have to tell Wendy I'm going back to the Shack.' He thought as he stood up.

Something clicked in his mind. Wendy was nowhere in the room. Suddenly, a rush of panic surged through his body. He couldn't tell what was worse: his friend missing from her room at 3 in the morning or that the Rift was vulnerable for an hour at least while he was asleep.

Then, the answer was final. He heard a noise from the Conduroy's shed. The boy searched the room for a flashlight and made his way to the source of the noise.

"Wendy!" He cried out. The shed was right in front of him. He pushed the door open

"Where are you? Oh, there you-" He dropped his flashlight. Its beam of light pointed itself to Wendy staring straight at him with a wide grin.

And bright, yellow eyes.

The scariest part was where she stood. Metal railings weren't a great place to stand on for anyone. It wasn't only the fall that made Dipper's heart beat twice as fast. It was the wood chipper. It continued to give a terrifying whirr noise just below her. It would rip her to shreds if she fell.

"Just whom I've been looking for. Pine Tree!" The voice sent chills up his spine. "My second favorite meat puppet. I've got a new favorite in the form of Ice Bag over here!"

"Leave her alone Bill! She didn't do anything to deserve this." Dipper shouted at the demon.

"Ah, but a deal's a deal. She wanted mommy dearest back. I only want to show them both the point of me showing up. Well, there's 478 metal points below me, and guess who's joining Mrs Conduroy down there tonight!" Bill let out a sinister laugh.

Dipper would regret the next few words he'd say his whole life.

"The Rift? That's what you came here for." Dipper pulled the Rift out from his vest with his left hand and stuck out his right palm. "I want to make a deal: Wendy's safety for the Rift."

Wendy's demon-possessed body walked towards Dipper. With the widest grin it could manage, the possessed teen looked at the boy and shook his hand.

"You won't regret this deal any time tonight, I promise!" the demon said as the flames rose from Wendy's palm. Once he received the snow globe, he threw it into the wood chipper. The demon exited Wendy, leaving her limp on the ground. Dipper grabbed her and carried her out of the shed. He ran as quick as his feet would let him; the possibility that Bill would follow him was completely plausible.

Somehow, he got to the log cabin's porch safely. He place Wendy down.A friend that was always there for him wouldn't die a gruesome Dipper, he agreed with the demon. The deal was worth it. For now.

That tear in the sky and the hundreds of screams however would say otherwise.