It was a slow day at the Mystery Shack. The Tourists were so few and far between that even Stan had given up looking for suckers, and decided that an afternoon nap would be a better use of his time. In his absence, crew and visiting relatives were doing whatever they pleased. Wendy was reading a tabloid magazine, and Mabel was peeking over her shoulder and frequently giggling at the headlines. Soos was trying to figure out a Rubik's Cube that he had found at the bottom of the discount bin. While Dipper, true to his cause, was reading up on supernatural phenomenons.

All was quiet until a light ring of the bell announced to everyone that the Mystery Shack had visitors. Everyone turned towards the door, except for Wendy, who looked like she couldn't be bothered. However, even she turned slightly as she realized who the unexpected visitor was...

"Pacifica." Dipper and Mabel muttered almost in unison. Putting his book discreetly aside, Dipper walked over to her and said:

"What do you want? Stan is having a nap, and he doesn't want to be disturbed right now."

«Suits me fine, since my business is with you and Pollyanna here», Pacifica replied, pointing at Mabel.

"My name is not Pollyanna, silly!", Mabel chuckled. "Although I've been called that many times. I wonder why…"

"So everyone else, scram!" she commanded, looking at Soos and Wendy. Wendy was about to leave the room before Pacifica came. Lazy afternoons like these was the perfect time for her to sneak away for some r&r on her secret rooftop spot. But there was no way she was going anywhere on Pacifica Northwest's command.

"Okay, miss!" Soos replied.

"Soos, no!" Wendy yelled. "You take orders too easily. Don't go anywhere just because that brat is telling you to!"

"Okay, Wendy!"

Pacifica glared at the redheaded teenager. "Are you challenging me, Corduroy?" she said furiously, "Careful, remember your dad works for my family business!"

So the Northwest family gets their money from timber, Dipper observed, remembering Wendy's father, the hulking lumberjack known as Manly Dan.

Wendy looked unimpressed. "Good luck trying to talk your parents into taking it out on my dad!", she dared the rich girl. "He has the most seniority, the highest attendance, and is head of the union. Your parents can't afford to lose him, and they know it!"

Pacifica gritted her teeth, but didn't know how to reply, much to Dipper's glee. Wendy kept finding new ways to impress him, even if it wasn't necessarily her intention.

"Anything you can tell Mabel and me, you can tell Wendy!" he announced confidently.

"You don't understand!" Pacifica snapped, "I'm being stalked by a former boyfriend!"

Wendy snickered. "That's all? I can totally help you there! I've had ex-boyfriends stalking me before…"

"Ex-boyfriends who has been dead for four years?"

In the silence that followed, you could've heard a pin dropping on a pillow.

"I don't care what you say, Wendy", Soos muttered nervously, "I'm outta here anyway!"

"Me too", the teen replied, moving towards her secret ladder to the roof. "I've already had enough ghost encounters for a lifetime."

Mabel and Dipper looked at each other, then at Pacifica.

"Seriously, though", Dipper began when Soos and Wendy had left the room, "are you saying you've seen a ghost?"

"Call it what you want", Pacifica answered reluctantly, "But I know what I saw, and what I saw was a kid who's been dead for four years."

"Who's this kid?"

"His name is..was Henry Hamilton-Smythe minor. We had a…fling when he was eight and I was nine."

"You had a boyfriend when you were nine?" Mabel exclaimed, "And you think I'm too eager to find a boyfriend, at the age of twelve!", she said smugly to her twin brother.

"I said it was a fling! Nothing serious. Our parents kept bringing us together for playdates because they were business partners. And quite frankly, Henry was more smitten with me than I was with him." She shrugged. "Come to think of it, that describes every relationship I've ever had with a boy, really."

"When did you last see him?", Dipper asked, trying to sound professional.

"Last night, in my room…" the rich girl began hesitatingly. "He said something about just needing a little bit more time to live out his life…I'm not sure what he meant, but I could tell he was coming on to me."

"Coming on to you?" Mabel said, intrigued. "How old was he?"

"Eight, just like he was when he died."

"So you're into younger guys?" Mable continued. "I mean, he was younger even when you were both still alive..."

"Anyway", Dipper intervened, "where did he come from?"

"From a musical box."

"A musical box?"

"Yes, an antique that's been in my family for generation. It plays 'Old King Cole'."

"Interesting…Can you describe your first encounter with this…kid from the musical box?"

Pacifica sighed. "It happened a week ago. I was getting ready for bed when I crossed the corridor to get to my bathroom. The musical box was sitting on an antique cabinet – another family heirloom – and just as I passed it, it began playing by itself. It made me stop and look for a moment. Then a voice out of nowhere said: 'Play me my song, here it goes again', and – " she hesitated – "Henry…appeared."

"Appeared?"

"Yeah, out of nowhere. He suddenly just materialized when the music started playing."

"Huh. Sounds like a ghost." Dipper said analytically. "Did he touch you?"

"No, but not for the lack of trying." Pacifica answered, looking slightly disgusted. "He kept trying to kiss me, but I dodged him."

"So what did he say?"

"I told you, he said that he needed just a little bit more time to live out his life."

"What else?"

"Lots of nonsense…let's see…'play me old King Cole so I may join with you. All your hearts now seem so far from me'…and 'I am lost within this half-world'. Then when he made advances at me, he said 'brush back your hair, and let me get to know your face.' Then he said…" She hesitated again. At this point it was obvious that Pacifica felt very upset. "You're a lady. You're mine. Brush back your hair, and let me get to know your…flesh."

Both twins gritted their teeth.

"Whoa, a real pervert!" Mabel exclaimed.

"And how often has this happened since?", Dipper asked, trying to keep his cool.

"Twice. The last time it happened was last night."

"Lost within this half-world" sounds like something a ghost would say, anyway" Dipper concluded.

"Yeah, like I said, call it whatever you like. So, will you investigate it?"

"Not so fast", Dipper tried. "Why should we do anything to help you?"

"Because", the blond girl said confidently, "you obviously think this is a supernatural case, and everyone in town knows that Dipper Pines can't resist the temptation to investigate anything that might be supernatural. You have quite the reputation already."

Dipper sighed. "Mabel", he said turning to his twin sister who was sitting on the abandoned cashier counter, "Am I that predictable?"

"I knew you were going to say that", the brunette replied, "So I guess the answer has to be yes."

"Are you up for it?"

"Sure!", Mabel replied as she jumped off the counter.

He turned to Pacifica. "So where do we begin?"

"I see no reason to waste time. Come to my place at nine thirty this evening."

"Will do!" Mabel said cheerfully, saluting her.

"But use the kicthen entrance."

"We'll be using the main entrance, end of discussion!" Dipper said firmly, crossing his arms.

Crossing her arms back at him, the blonde frowned slightly, but all she said was:

"Fine."

TBC