Mabel looked up with tears in her eyes and pointed her hook at Dipper. One of the hooks at the end had the blue hat speared onto it.

"I'm sorry," Mabel said again.

"Wait! No! What are you doing?"

Mabel pulled the trigger, and in a flash, she was gone.

...

Our story tonight: The famous Stanford Pines, owner of the Mystery Shack, was found unconscious in the woods along with his niece, nephew, and the star of the Tent of Telepathy, Gideon Gleeful. Two of Pines's staff members were in the woods and they claim they heard shouting and went to investigate. They then came upon the unconscious group, one badly hurt. The four were rushed to a hospital. Gideon, Stan, and Mabel Pines all woke up hours later, claiming to have no recollection of the incident. Mabel's twin brother, Dipper Pines was found with a grappling hook lodged in his shoulder, but doctors were able to remove it safely.

"He will be able to use his arm again eventually, but that hook did some serious damage," says Doctor Hanson, one of the doctors who helped save the boy, "It is such a pity to see something like that happen to someone so young, I hope they catch whoever the culprit was."

All four of the victims have returned safely home and are still recovering from what happened. The town police are still looking for any lead that would help them find who committed this terrible crime, but for now, we can only hope and wait.

Wendy switched off the TV with the remote and let out a sigh. It had been a little over a week since the incident had actually happened, but what she had seen that day was burned into her memory.

Wendy took to her room and snuggled under the covers. Stan had already reopened the Shack, and she had to get to work tomorrow. Fortunately, he had let the twins get out of work. Wendy didn't think she'd be able to stand seeing them so much as sweeping the floor. When she had come into work yesterday, Dipper had his arm in a sling and his shoulder was heavily bandaged, and even Mabel hadn't fully returned to her silly self.

Wendy had a hundred questions she wanted to ask them, but she still kept to herself. Unbeknownst to anyone but herself, Wendy had seen more than what she let on. Wendy reached under her mattress and pulled out a blue-green journal. She flipped to one of the more recent entries and read:

I had given up on the search for Dipper a long time before, I don't know if Stan or Soos stayed with it, but that would mean they were up all night looking. I had gone back to bed, and it took me a while, but I eventually fell asleep, but then something woke me up really early, and I had a nagging feeling that something was wrong. Some echoing shouts confirmed my suspicion. I got dressed and headed back out into the woods. I didn't know where I was going, but it was as if my feet were leading me somewhere, I just sort of knew where I was supposed to be. It felt like hours, but at one point I tripped and fell onto my stomach. I was about to get up, but then I saw feet standing on the other side of the bushes. Stan's feet. I was about to stand and let him know I was there, but then suddenly, he was gone. I heard Mabel shout his name, and I wriggled closer under the bush so I could have a better view. I was surprised by what I saw. The first thing I saw was Mabel, clutching Dipper's trademark hat in her hand, but then I saw Dipper himself, but something wasn't right. I couldn't see his eyes, and he had a threatening smile, but that wasn't the worst of it, he was floating in the air, a good 15 feet off the ground, and his voice…it wasn't his voice at all, it was deep and dark, and sounded strange coming from his mouth. I don't remember what he said, but I remember that it shocked me. Then Mabel took her grappling gun out of her pocket and stuck one of the hooks through the hat. She whispered something about being sorry, then she pointed it at Dipper's chest. I think I jumped up and screamed at that point. Mabel fired and Dipper tried to move to avoid the hooks coming at his heart, but he didn't move enough and the hook with his hat on it got lodged in his shoulder. I saw a spurt of blood and looked away. I heard the deep voice scream, but then it grew weaker, until there was only a soft moan that wasn't the creepy voice at all…it was Dipper's. There was a thud, and I dared to look back again. Dipper lay on the ground, his eyes were closed and he was limp. I didn't know if I should run for help or see if he was even alive, but at that moment something even stranger happened. From Dipper's mouth, and from his eyes like tears, came a white smoke, a lot of white smoke. The smoke curled all around, and seemed to settle into familiar shapes. There was a flash so bright I had to cover my eyes, and when I looked back, as if out of nowhere, there was Mabel, Stan, four almost identical books, and…what's his name….the kid with the big hair and the magic show…can't think of it, were all lying there, perfectly still. A stood frozen for a moment, then I ran. I ran through the forest, shouting for Soos. I practically ran into him. I took him back to where everyone was. We called 911, and we were left with everyone until they showed up. I don't remember what exactly what happened, but I tried to stop the Dipper's bleeding, and Soos confirmed that everyone else was breathing. The next thing I remember was being in a hospital room being asked all sorts of medical questions and questions about what happened. I'm not sure why I did, but I lied about everything. I claimed that I came in and found them there, and had no clue what happened before, and to be honest, I really don't know what happened. It was all so strange. I want so badly to ask one of them what happened, but right now, all I really want is for everyone to be okay.

Wendy closed the journal and gently slipped it back under the mattress. She switched off the light and snuggled down deeper under her covers.

"Soon," she whispered to herself, "Soon I'll know what this is all about."

...

Mabel awoke with a start. She blinked a few times to clear her vision, then looked worriedly at the bed across the room. She let out a sigh when she saw Dipper laid out on his back, snoring softly. Mabel laid her head back down on her pillow, but she didn't close her eyes. Ever since she had come back from the hospital, she had been waking up in a panic, wondering where Dipper was, and for a while, he wasn't there because he was still having his arm fixed. Even after he came back, Mabel still found herself shooting up, trying to find her brother.

Things had been awkward for the past few days. After coming back from the hospital, no one seemed to know what to do next. The pyramid was gone…for good as far as anyone knew. Dipper had come back with his arm in a sling, but with no headaches or nightmares, and there weren't any teleporting books lately. Even so, it still was miserable to be left wondering. Mabel reached over the end of her bed and pulled up her box of sweaters. Pushing the knitwear aside, she revealed a golden six-fingered hand with a 4 in the middle of it. Mabel pulled the journal out of the box and flipped through the pages. Stan had gone and returned everyone's books to their rightful owners, and though everyone hated the idea of holding on to them, they all agreed they wouldn't want anyone else to get a hold of them. Mabel usually hated the idea of so much as touching the cover, but occasionally, when no one was looking, she'd browse the pages full of fantastical secrets about the town. Like Dipper's, her book also ended abruptly, but Mabel took advantage of the blank pages to draw in pictures and write the stories of what had happened. At the very last page, there was a sketch of the little pyramid that had caused so much trouble, and whenever Mabel turned to that page, she always found herself quickly shutting the journal.

Dipper was less subtle. For the first few days, he hadn't so much as touched the red covers, but since about two days before, Mabel noticed he was beginning to flip idly through the pages every now and then. Unlike Mabel, he didn't even try to hide it. If Mabel walked in on him while he was reading, he would look up and give a little smile, and if Mabel had something she wanted to say, he would set the book aside.

"Why are you still reading that book?" she asked finally. Dipper held the book in his lap and turned the pages with his good arm. He looked up when Mabel spoke.

"Well," he started, but he didn't finish.

"After all the trouble that caused, you'd think you wouldn't lay a finger on that book," Mabel went on, sitting next to him on the bed.

"Yeah," Dipper agreed, flipping the cover shut so that the six fingered hand was on top, "But really Mabel, even after everything, this book has all the secrets of Gravity Falls, and...and stuff we need to survive."

Mabel didn't say anything.

"And...I guess I'm not afraid of it anymore," Dipper finished, setting the book aside, "I feel..safe now."

"At what cost?" Mabel muttered, "I almost killed you."

"Stop saying that," Dipper said firmly.

"But I did! Look at your arm!"

"Mabel," Dipper said quickly, putting a hand on her shoulder, "Even if you did kill me, I could never be more proud of you."

"What?" Mabel asked, blinking back tears.

"You made the right choice under pressure, and it could have cost you everything," Dipper said, looking her straight in the eye, "You were a leader, and a good, no a fantastic leader at that."

Mabel gave a little laugh, "Yeah, I guess I was."

Dipper smiled back.

Mabel stretched and let out a yawn. "Well, I'm tired, you wanna go to sleep?"

"Yeah, sleep sounds good," Dipper agreed, stretching as well.

Mabel reached into her drawer and pulled our her nightgown with the horseshoe design on it.

"Aren't you going to change?" she asked when Dipper didn't move from his spot.

"I don't have to... I sleep in my clothes all the time," Dipper pointed out.

"At least change your shirt," Mabel fussed, "You have to have worn that same shirt all week."

"Not...all week," Dipper protested, but he began to remove it anyway.

"Ow, Mabel? Could you give me a hand please?" Dipper asked when the shirt got tangled around his bandages.

"Ya, here, hold still."

Mabel gently untangled the shirt on the front, and then stepped around to the back to loosen it up there, but then she stopped.

"Hey Dipper, what's this on your back?" she said, gently touching by his lower spine.

"What's on my back?" Dipper asked, trying to look over his shoulder.

"It's a handprint...six fingers and with a big '3' in the middle," Mabel explained, tracing the fingers on his back.

"Like on the book?"

"Yeah."

"That's...weird, I don't remember putting that there."

"Do I have one?" Mabel asked, lifting the back of her sweater and trying to see her back.

"Turn around," Dipper ordered, spinning his finger in the air.

Mabel turned and Dipper gently touched her lower back. "Yeah, you do," he breathed, "Except yours has a '4' on it."

"Why? Why are those there?"

"I dunno, maybe...maybe Stan knows what it is," Dipper said, then he shrugged, "But I guess we could wait until morning to ask, I think I hear him snoring."

They paused, and sure enough, a loud and unpleasant snore was coming up from the basement. The twins smirked at each other, trying to hold back a laugh.

"Well darn, I was hoping for the number one," Mabel said, reffering to the print on her back, "Guess that makes you the 'alpha twin' huh?"

"No way, four means you scored a whole 'nother point above me," Dipper said with a smile. Mabel wrapped her arm around Dipper's back and rested her head on his shoulder.

"It's nice to have you back," she said with a smile.

"Yeah, I missed having such a hilarious sister," Dipper said putting his arm around her back, and resting his head on hers. They stood there together in silence, and knew at that moment, that everything was going to be okay.

...

Soos glances at the woods around him. He is in the same place where he and Wendy had stumbled upon the missing persons the night before. He knows eerie setting would haunt him in his memories, but something still draws him to the strange place. A ray of sunlight peers through the trees and causes something to glitter behind him. Soos pushes the pine needles away to reveal a red journal with a six-fingered hand in the middle. Imprinted on the hand is a solid black 5. Soos picks up the book and flips through the pages. Soos glances around him, as if he feels like he is being watched, then he tucks the journal under his arm and walks away.

AN: OMIGOSHYAYIT'SDONE!
WeORNfgAOEbvnAEOGh

Well dudes, thus ends the longest story I have ever written. I'm kinda pleased with myself. :)

Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing! You guys rock! I would have never made it past chapter 1 without you guys!

I forgot to mention it last chapter, but big thanks to TheBigZ1 for helping with the title!

AHH! I LOVE YOU ALL! GOOD NIGHT!