Hello everyone! I hope you are staying home and healthy! I've been going a little stir crazy lately, and I definitely haven't put to much time into the new Animal Crossing game, nope! In short, I haven't been writing like I should have been, but (due to allergies) I got a little sick and now that I'm feeling better, I am more focused. That means more writing! So, here is chapter 3, I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer Song! I don't own gravity falls, this isn't very long, yeah!

The forest was just as grand as I thought it would be. I smiled, my eyes slipping shut. The forest was a familiar sort of comforting. I could spend forever here.

"Maddie?" I snapped out of my daze, eyes finding a concerned Dipper. "You okay, I've been calling your name and…"

"I'm fine, just remembering stuff from when I was a kid." I smiled and started forwards into the woods. "Let's get these signs up before Stan gets worried."

"I don't think Stan likes me very much." Dipper muttered hanging up his first sign.

"What makes you say that?"

"Dunno, just a feeling…" Dipper moved on to another sign. "It's just- he always ignores my ideas and calls me paranoid."

"I don't think it's ever a bad thing to be cautious" I paused considering my words carefully. "Even if I don't feel exactly the same, I do admit that sometimes I do feel as if I'm being watched."

"So, I'm not crazy?"

"Well I wouldn't go that far."

"Haha very funny Maddie." Dipper smiled as he hammered up another sign.

"I do try" I got to work on my own signs, and we where quickly coming down to our last few. "You know these signs will lead anything from the forest straight to-"

A metal clang rang out through the woods and I dropped my remaining signs in surprise. Spinning around I noted an equally startled Dipper.

"What was that?"

Dipper dug his fingers into the tree and pried open a secret panel. It creaked loudly and I quickly looked around the forest. Nothing appeared to have been attracted by the doors noise, so I returned my gaze to Dipper.

"Maddie, you're seeing this to, right?"

"Yeah, as long as you're seeing it to"

I moved over to Dipper and peered inside. There were two levers and without saying anything we each grabbed one. With a nod, we each pulled, and a loud clang sounded from behind us. Spinning around I spotted a newly open hole. We both approached slowly, and I glanced inside. It was a book, an old, dusty book. Dipper picked it up and blew some of the dust off and I sneezed.

"Sorry Maddie"

"Yeah, yeah just open it!"

Dipper opened the cover revealing a torn piece of paper. It looked as if someone had purposely tore the name out. Dipper flipped the page and began to read.

""It's hard to believe it's been six years since I began studying the strange and wondrous secrets of Gravity Falls, Oregon." Dippers eyes widened as he continued. "Unfortunately, my suspicions have been confirmed. I'm being watched. I must hide this book before he finds it. Remember: in Gravity Falls there is no one you can trust."

Dipper read and I shivered glancing around the forest suddenly feeling a little less comfortable then I had before.

"No one you can trust…" Dipper frowned glancing around the forest much the same way I just had.

"HELLO!" Mabel screamed jumping out from behind some bushes.

I jumped backwards tripping over the open door and Dipper let out a high-pitched yell. Mabel cracked up and I gave her the stink eye standing back up.

"How did you do that?"

"I followed the trail of signs and then jumped out at you." Mabel grinned happily. "You were taking too long, and I got bored."

"Mabel," I groaned, rubbing my back.

"What'cha reading there, some nerd thing?" Mabel suddenly leaned towards Dipper.

Dipper stammered, quickly hiding the journal behind his back. "Uh, uh, it's nothing!"

"'Uh, uh, it's nothing!'" Mabel imitated, laughing at her brother before she frowned slightly. "Are you actually not going to show me?"

A goat wandered into our sight and Dipper gave it an odd look. "Let's go somewhere more private"

One trek back to the Mystery shack later we had all migrated to the living room. I don't think Dipper put the book down the entire walk back. I could already see an obsession forming and I began to mentally prepare myself for the inevitable fallout.

"It's amazing!" Dipper exclaimed as he paced. "Grunkle Stan said I was being paranoid, but according to this book, Gravity Falls has this secret dark side."

Dipper flipped to a page and held it up to Mabel.

"Whoa! Shut up!" Mabel exclaimed with fake enthusiasm, shoving Dipper's shoulder lightly.

Dipper, either oblivious or ignoring Mabel's lack of enthusiasm, continues, "And get this! After a certain point, the pages just stop... like the guy who was writing it mysteriously disappeared!"

Mabel was being weird, well weirder than normal. I tried to focus on what Dipper was saying, I really did, but something was wrong with Mabel. Normally she'd be just as excited by the prospect of adventure as Dipper was. Then the doorbell rang, and I felt my stomach sink. I wasn't gone that long!

"Who is that?" Dipper sounded really annoyed at being interrupted.

"Woops, looks like it's time to spill the beans" Mabel flipped over a can of empty beans. "Whoop, beans."

"Mabel..." I gave her a look.

Mabel grinned and swelled with happiness "This girls got a date!"

"Let me get this straight- in the half hour we were gone, you already found yourself a boyfriend?" Dipper shook his head exasperated.

"Wait hold up- boyfriend!?" I squeaked, caught off guard.

"Yep!" Mabel beamed, "he's handsome"

"Mabel you're 12"

"What can I say? I guess I'm just irresistible!" Mabel bounced from foot to foot. "I can't wait for you to meet him!"

As if he was listening the doorbell rang again. Mabel rushed off to answer it and I mentally pulled up the protective older sibling speech that I totally hadn't practiced in the mirror a few times. Satisfied that I remembered it, I moved behind Dipper reading over his shoulder. The journal was cool, and I could see why Dipper was having a hard time putting it down.

"What are the two of you reading?" Stan suddenly walked into the room.

Dipper jumped, fumbling with the journal before stuffing it behind a pillow and grabbing a random magazine. I tried my hardest not to start laughing.

"We were uh- catching up on-" Dipper made a face as he read the title, "Gold Chains for Old Men Magazine?"

"That's a good issue" Stan nodded taking a sip of a cola.

"Hey family!" Mabel reappeared in the doorway, "say hello to my new boyfriend!"

I hid any negative reaction I may of hand. If first impressions held true for everyone, I wouldn't put much on this boy. He looked like he had just crawled out of the woods and he was setting off several of my alarms.

"Sup"

'Sup' I mentally mocked, okay I was a little biased.

"Hey" Dipper shuffled awkwardly, and I could tell he felt the same way.

"How's it hanging?" Stan wasn't even paying attention to anything Mabel was saying.

"Pleasure" I muttered giving him the stink eye.

Mabel was as oblivious as Stan to the feelings of the other people in the room.

"We met at the cemetery. He's really deep." Mabel grabbed onto his arm and squeezed, and I held back the urge to pull them apart. "Oh, little muscle, that's- what a surprise…"

"Okay!" I stepped forward and separated the two under the pretense of shaking the teens hand. "What's your name?"

"Uh- Normal…MAN!" I stepped back frowning as Mabel stepped forward.

"He means Norman."

"Are you bleeding Norman?" Dipper was giving the teen an evil eye that could rival my own.

"It's jam" Norman muttered, his eyes shifting around.

"I love jam!" Mabel reached onto Norman's arm, "look at this!"

Norman finally seemed to register the mood and turned to Mabel, "So, you wanna hold hands or whatever?"

Mabel giggled her face flushing pink, "Oh, oh, my goodness."

Mabel gripped his hand grinning like a ninny. I mentally groaned, she was to far gone to be saved.

"Don't wait up!" Mabel rushed towards the door pulling Norman behind her.

"Be back before dark!" I called wincing as Norman was dragged straight into a wall.

"So that was something" I muttered turning to Dipper who was already reabsorbed into the Journal, Stan having wandered off a while ago.

I moved back behind Dipper and began to read along with him. Eventually we both got tired of all the distractions of the living room and had moved upstairs. Dipper had found a nice windowsill to sit on and I had followed him to it. I had grabbed one of my books and was calmly reading as Dipper read the journal under his breath behind me.

"Known for their pale skin and bad attitudes these creatures are often mistaken for… teenagers?! Beware Gravity Falls' nefarious…" Dipper read getting progressively louder before he cut himself off with a gasp.

"Dipper?"

"Zombies!"