This is a preview for Two Minutes to Midnight's sequel: "May God Have Mercy" (though the title is likely subject to change). Expect the sequel story in late December or early January! I'm very excited about writing it so I hope you enjoy!

There was a ringing in Dipper's ear and his head was buzzing. He struggled to keep his eyes open and even more so to push himself from the ground. The most he managed to do was prop himself up on his forearms and lift his head. The Mystery Shack was destroyed. It was just a burning ruin of what it once was. Bits of flaming debris littered the lawn that surrounded the establishment. Tears welled in Dipper's eyes and he forced himself to look away. It wasn't the time to cry – not yet. He had to find his family. He had to make sure they were alive.

"Grunkle Stan…" Dipper muttered to himself with a painful groan.

His great uncle had fallen on hard times. He'd been very weak since they forced him to stop drinking and attend AA meetings for his alcoholism. Stan was also much older than everyone else. His bones broke with the slightest movement it seemed, and he bruised easily. Age was beginning to weigh him down and Dipper had noticed how quickly he got breathless nowadays. He hoped he was okay.

"God have mercy, please be okay…"

His body surged with pain. Dipper had likely broken a few bones. His head felt light and he would be on the verge of passing out if he didn't do anything. He dug his fingers into the dirt beneath him before balling his hands into fists. He had to find Grunkle Stan and the others. Just as the teenager's mind began wandering to his great uncle Ford, screaming alerted him. He tried looking back but his body was stiff and sore and the slight movement he had managed crippled him with pain.

Who was screaming?

It…it kind of sounds like…Bill… Dipper thought and his blood froze as he realised what that could mean for Ford.

Dipper tried to get up. He had to see what was panicking the demon. He had to make sure nothing bad had happened to Ford. However, as soon as he tried to push himself up, he fell onto his face. His arms were too weak to push onto his feet and Dipper wasn't even sure his legs could support him. His heart continued racing in his chest. The ringing in his ear persisted to a deafening degree and he couldn't make out what Bill was saying. It couldn't mean anything good. He hoped the demon was just exaggerating. He hoped that once Dipper found the strength to get to him, he would find that Bill had just freaked out over nothing.

But he knew better so he couldn't hope.

"Damn it…" He hissed to himself and tried pushing himself up again. "Come on, Dipper…get up, get up, get—"

Dipper managed to push himself further from the ground. He almost managed to get to his feet when a dizzy spell hit him and he fell back onto the ground. His body was utterly exhausted and once he recuperated from his unexpected dizziness, he knew he wouldn't be able to get up again. But he couldn't let that weigh him down. Dipper had to find Grunkle Stan, he needed to make sure Ford was okay, he had to reassure Bill that whatever was panicking him wasn't as bad as he thought.

He had to find Mabel.

He had to stop Mabel.

"Gotta find…Mabel…"

Dark spots began clouding his vision and as much as he fought to stay conscious he was losing his battle.

"No, no, no…" Dipper hissed to himself and tried to stand once more, "Gotta…get to the others…come on Dipper…come on—"

But he fell and he could hardly see anything anymore once he hit the ground again. He couldn't help the wave of exhaustion that washed over him. He was too weak to fight it – too weak to stand. His head fell heavily against the grass and the ringing in his ear intensified. God, Dipper felt terrible – like someone had thrown him into a meat grinder or something. His head – now that was the worse of the pain. He felt like his left ear had been torn clean off. For all he knew, it could easily have happened. Everything was just so chaotic…so wrong.

"Damn it…" Dipper cursed to himself before losing consciousness.

To think all of this had started a little over a month ago when a string of murders drew the Pines family's attention. Had Dipper known things would have turned out the way they did, he would have looked the other way and beckoned the others to ignore the mystery that had once begged to be solved. He would give anything to go back and fix things before they all went to shit.

Mabel…