"Mabel! Hand me the butterfly net, and hurry!"

The twelve-year-old girl looked around her frantically, but the net was nowhere to be seen.

"Mabel!"

She got down on her hands and knees, and began rooting around in the underbrush. She found something, gripped it tight, and raised it from the ground, brushing dry, crinkled leaves off of it. Without a second's thought she lept up and handed it to her brother, who groaned.

"Mabel, this is a tree branch!"

Perhaps she should've looked at the item before handing it to Dipper.

"It would be really nice if I had that net right now!" her brother hollered, panicked. There was something else in his voice, too...he sounded...scared?

She got down on the ground once again. Why can't I find it? she wondered. Then, an idea struck her suddenly, like a van full of 'd looked everywhere in the underbrush, on the trail, and inside the withered trees' trunks, but she'd never once thought to look up.

"MABEL!" called Dipper again. After he yelled to her, there were multiple whistling sounds, like something zipping through the air.

She saw it, hanging there in the tree above. Scuffling toward the trunk, she grabbed onto it and began to shimmy up the crusty surface. She was so close to the butterfly net, it was nearly in her hands-

The bark underneath one of her hands detached from the tree trunk, and Mabel lost her balance. She fell back down the tree about two feet before catching herself on one of the branches.

"MABEL!" The zipping noises were all around, and they were overwhelming. Mabel wanted to look to quench her curiosity, and to see what they were. But she knew she had to get that net.

She pushed herself up. Her hand just barely touched it...and…

She grabbed the handle, and with a small sound of victory, she scuttled back down the red tree. She turned around, waving the net and running to Dipper, enthusiastically saying, "I got the butterfly net, Dipper! I got it! Dip-"

She stopped dead in her tracks. The net slid from her suddenly sweaty palm and bounced off of the mossy rock on which she stood with a metallic ring. She didn't pick it up, though. Her eyes were glued on the lump of blue, orange, and brown that lay on the floor in front of her. Time froze as Mabel realized everything had gone completely silent - the squirrels, scurrying busily through the trees, the woodpeckers peck peck pecking at wood, in search of bugs to eat, the gentle breeze of a cool summer day sighing as it glides through the forest on soft feet.

Underneath that crumpled mess of orange, blue, and brown, was her brother. He looked too small for his clothes, as he lay there on the green and yellow moss. His breathing was shallow, and every time the boy's lungs released a breath, there was a longer pause before the next inhale.

Mabel fell to her knees beside Dipper, pushing away the dead, torn leaves that were still on the ground from last fall. She rolled him over onto his back, and set his head on top of a nearby soft, collapsing section of rotted wood that had come from a tree that had fallen long ago. Her brother's eyes peered up, up toward the canopy, then rolled around from inside of a scratched, pale face, and only stopped when they found her.

"Mabel…" he said, his voice just a breath. It sounded like part of the breeze. If Mabel hadn't seen her brother's lips move, she would have thought the trees were singing to her in hushed tones.

"Dipper," she said, her voice small. "Dipper, look at me, bro! I'm gonna go get help. We're gonna get through this-" She began to stand, but Dipper grabbed her wrist. His grasp was disturbingly weak. Mabel, though she could've easily swatted it away, and run off to find someone who could fix this, fix Dipper...she stayed, bringing up her other hand and cusping it over the top of the hand that held her wrist.

"No, Mabel...there's nobody close around, I studied the map before coming, the area's...practically deserted…"

She wasn't sure what to do. Simply sitting beside her brother, watching the life slowly drain from him, paling and graying his skin, and making his eyes nothing but blank mirrors that stared back up at her with a serene calm - she couldn't just sit there, and watch it all happen.

Dipper was dying.

She hadn't gotten him the net in time.

It was her fault.

"Wha-what if there's a tourist or something. I mean, this is Gravity Falls! There's always tourists!"

Dipper focused his last ounce of strength toward holding on to her. "Don't leave me," he breathed.

Mabel sat back down. She could do something….there had to be someone around….anyone.

Dipper's eyes fluttered shut, but his hand still held onto her, like it was his only tie, his lifeline. He was drifting from the shore, away from the edge of the dock, the waves carrying him into the fog that hung over the water. She was a frail rope, stretching, reaching, and holding onto him.

She had to go get help, to find a way to save Dipper! But she couldn't leave him - he didn't want her to go away. They were born together, side-by-side, and they'd grown up throughout the years, always the perfect fitting piece to each other's puzzles and troubles. They'd sung and danced synchronized jigs, helped each other through the loss of household pets and close friends, and had always been there to complete each other's sentences. And - oh boy! - the adventures they'd shared in Gravity Falls. A place of mystery and danger, a place so thrilling it pulls young minds run on curiosity in and it...it…

They'd always been there for each other, and just as they were born at each others' side, Dipper wanted to die by Mabel.

Mabel wasn't sure how long it had been, watching her brother lay on the cold stone and rotted log, his breath slowing in a gentle ritardando, gradually easing into nothing but a slight wheezing.

She lay her head on his chest so she could listen to his last inhales and exhales, his last threads of life. He opened his eyes the slightest of a bit, just to look at her, and she could have sworn she saw the very corner of his mouth twitch upward, as though to say, Hey Mabel, it's okay. It'll be just like when I went to summer camp a year ago - you might miss me at first but you'll soon ease into a new rhythm.

What was she going to do without her twin? He was the other side to her puzzle, the one who always had the answer when she didn't! Dipper was the one upon whom she could depend, could entrust with her deepest, darkest secrets.

Dipper's grip on her wrist slackened. He'd held on until the very end, until he simply couldn't anymore.

"No, no, no!" she cried, her voice rising in pitch. "Dipper, wake up. Wake up, Dipper!" She looked at him through eyes full of tears. "Why won't you wake up?" Mabel whined.

She still held his palm in both of hers. It was so cold. Why was it so cold?

"Help!" she yelled, her voice cracking. "Help! He's-he's dying!" She placed her forehead on his chest and sobbed silently, the wails having nowhere to go but inside, all tight and stiff, where they wracked through her whole body. She shook uncontrollably.

"It's a little late for that, Shooting Star," came a voice that shook the trees. "The kid's already dead."

Mabel jolted upright, sniveling and wiping at tears in her eyes. She scowled, recognizing the voice and the wretched demon it belonged to. "BILL," she screamed. "You did this, didn't you? It's your fault!" She grabbed the nearest rocks that lay next to her and Dipper and began throwing them with all the strength that she could muster, but no matter how many she threw, or where she threw them, the entity easily dodged every single one. He even dodged the butterfly net when she chose to throw it, too.

"I see you're angry. But I can help!" Bill said cheerily. "Look kid, I'm here to strike a deal."

"I don't want any of your stupid help, Bill! I want my brother back!" she said, collapsing onto the ground next to Dipper. She turned so she could see his face. She moved some of his hair off of his face and tucked it behind his ear, then readjusted the hat he always wore - no, had worn. Not present tense. Not anymore.

"Oh, but that's just why I came." The demon came closer, and set its hand on top of Mabel's shoulder. She instantly recoiled, withering away from it.

"Get away from me, you creep!"

The yellow triangle floated a foot away, as though to take a defensive step back. He said, with feigned hurt in his voice, "Come on, kid. I'm the only way you'll ever get to see your brother alive again."

Mabel glared at Bill. "You never keep your deals. You're just a big, glowy jerk!"

Bill waved his cane around. "What I do is called business, kid. It's something you'll understand when you grow up." He poked her head with his cane. She cringed and rubbed the spot that'd been touched. "So, what d'ya say? Want him up and running, or what?"

Mabel narrowed her eyes. "Where's the catch?" she inquired, with an accusatory tone. "There's always one. What? Are you gonna make him a psycho killer or something? Are you gonna wipe his memory?"

Bill waved a hand. "Shooting Star, I'm hurt! Do you really think I'd do those things?"

She didn't respond, but instead glared at him.

"I'll tell you what. All you have to do is let me jump inside him, do a little fixing, then I'll be out before ya know it!"

"What's in it for you?" she asked warily.

Bill rolled his eye. "Please, if I wanted him gone, he'd be dead already. Hey, no pun intended."

Mabel didn't appear to be amused.

"How about it?" Bill stuck out a hand, which was enveloped in blue flames.

"Well…" Mabel felt hot, and she began to sweat. She considered accepting the demon's offer. Then she looked and saw Dipper's face, calm and peaceful. "No. I won't do it, Dipper wouldn't want me to."

"He would do it for you. He would do anything for you."

Mabel knew Bill was speaking the truth. Still, she frowned. Very bad things had happened last time the demon had struck a deal with one of the twins.

"Leave us alone," she said, after a moment of thought.

"Very well, Shooting Star. Just remember, the deal can only be made for another twenty-four hours, or your brother is gone for good."

Then the demon vanished, leaving Mabel with a sick feeling inside, and a big decision to be made.

I hope you enjoyed reading this! Please leave a review, and let me know if it's worth continuing. I have an idea of where this story could go.