Rev!Falls - Dipper and Wendy go grave digging
Corduroy can't help but wonder about the boy standing above her, the one paying her to dig up a grave; Dipper Pines. He's only been in this town for less than a year, and yet he, along with his sister, have practically become celebrities, the only ones the town of Gravity Falls has ever known. “Lil' Dipper,” as he has come to be called, is for all intents and purposes the sidekick of his magician sister, Mabel. They perform magic tricks, particularly those involving telepathy. Despite getting second billing, he doesn't seem to mind and he's famous in his own right. Hordes of teenage girls have become enraptured by his monotone voice and stone faced persona that cracks every so often to show a devilishly handsome smirk. They imagine any number of desirable traits to love, and not just his mysterious, “I could care less” heartthrob attitude. Wendy has no interest in someone three years younger than her. It was a little surprising that a celebrity like him would come to her family for help, but in time she's come to accept this. They seem to share a similar outlook on life, so, somehow, they get along. But if she were to be honest with herself, she'd recognize that he's a bit creepy, and definitely a twat.
Dipper called her up in the evening and asked her to grave rob someone that they had just finished burying earlier that day. So now here she is, shoveling up dirt in the middle of the night, while a thunderous yet rainless storm rages on. And yet, he just continues to stand there. Wendy finally felt the need to speak up.
“Hey, why can't you use your telepathy or whatever to dig up 6 feet worth of dirt?”
“Because then you wouldn't get paid,” Dipper replied as bluntly as he could.
“Five grand,” she muttered to herself.
“On the bright side,” Dipper paused to humorlessly chuckle at the irony of the phrase, “you do look like you're about to be done. I should start preparing my tools.” Dipper reached for the duffel bag he brought with him. Wendy only catches some of this through the corner of her eye.
“Seriously, are you gonna tell me why you dragged me out here?”
“I already told you, that's not important. All you really need to know is that I need to examine that body.”
“Couldn't you have payed off some jerk at the coroner's office for that?”
“No. Well, I’d like a second opinion.”
“Why? You know what, you're just gonna be vague again aren't you?”
“You catch on quickly,” Dipper remarked with a wry smirk that would leave most girls his age into hysterics, save for the one he was mocking. Wendy rolled her eyes. Despite her pessimistic nature, Wendy likes to think that she kept a cool head throughout most of life. A boy like Dipper tempts that notion. It should be reiterated that they are good acquaintances, but that boy just has an unnatural talent to grind people's gears.
Thunk. The shovel refused to sink any deeper. ''Dipper, I reached the coffin!” As soon as she finished her sentence, Dipper jumped down into the hole. Now that they stand next to each other, Wendy is able to get a good look of him. Dipper has deep brown eyes, which always seem to convey some kind of an intense ambition or longing. Contrasting this are his slightly rounded cheeks. His hair is brown and ruffled, and covers his forehead. By extension, it covers his birthmark, the one everyone knows he has, yet nobody gets the privilege of seeing. Admittedly, she thinks he looks more adorable than handsome. Of course, Dipper would never want to hear that, and luckily for him, she would never admit it. “Alright kid, now what?”
“Go get the crowbar from the my bag.”
“Wha- oh, sure.” As Wendy climbed out of the hole, Dipper knelt down and began swiping the remaining dirt to the side. A little surprising to see a prim and proper guy like him get himself dirty after an hour or so of standing, reading his journal. Wendy found the bag immediately after getting out. Upon opening it, she spotted the crowbar he need. As well as a flask of water. And a brick. And a small mallet, along with some stakes. “The fuck?” Dipper had just finished clearing the dirt, revealing the polished, burgundy lid of the coffin.
“Wendy.” Dipper snapped his fingers.
She tried to ignore the rest of the bag's contents, grabbed the crowbar and gave it to the boy.
He got to work quickly, prying at the edges of the coffin's lid. It's here that it really starts to dawn on Wendy how strange the situation really is. A boy asks a girl three years older out... to go grave robbing. Actually she wasn't really sure if he was here to grave rob anything. The crowbar is one thing, but that in combination with everything else he brought really called into question just what Dipper was planning. At that moment, a loud crack is heard coming from the hole. “Alright, I've got one end of it opened, now it's time for the other.” He continued to pry the lid open, yet his foot kept slipping a bit. It appears that from that angle, he couldn't get a proper grip. The more he struggles to do so, the more agitated he becomes. “Damn.”
This is not lost on Wendy, so she decides to come down and help.
“It's fine, I don't need your help.”
“You sure about that?”
“Yes, I'm pos-” Before he could finish, Wendy had moved behind him and wrapped her arms around him. The sudden intimacy had him flustered, and even more so after she reached down to grip the crowbar.
“Shut up and pull with me.”
“Gyuh-got it.” With their combined force, they were able to open that end of coffin with an extra loud crack. With her help, they were able to break it open far easier than Dipper was able to alone. The rainless storm gave way to a light drizzle.
Dipper opened the lid while Wendy led herself out of the hole. She held her hand in front of him. Before he could grab on, she pulled away quickly.
“You've got something to say to me first, Pines?”
Dipper grit his teeth and looked side-to-side before he answered. “75 hundred.”
It wasn’t the answer she was looking for, but she decided it was good enough. She shrugged and then lifted him out of the hole. They both looked down to see the corpse.
Harry Philips; aged 31 when he passed. He was a minor journalist who had been working at the Gravity Falls Gossiper for several years. He lived alone, with no known family members save for a second cousin whom he had no little to no contact with. Nonetheless, he was an amicable person with plenty of friends and a luster for life. He made great contributions to the paper, and his determination would even put Toby Determined himself to shame. Perhaps he was too determined, because something got him killed while investigating his most recent story. Or so, that's how the theory goes. Either way, he was now just another body at the Gravity Falls memorial cemetery. And now, not even a day after he was put into the ground, a know-it-all jerk and a nihilistic delinquent dug him right back up.
“I know he was just buried today, but he hardly looks dead at all.”
“Yes, that's the problem,” Dipper said with a stake in one hand and the mallet in the other.
“Seriously, kid, what's with that stuff? Are you afraid he's gonna come back as a vampire?”
“Yes.” The absolute sincerity in his voice left her stunned. “The circumstances surrounding Philips' death didn't seem too odd, not until I heard about the actual cause of his death.”
“How would you even know that?”
“Let's just say I did go to the coroner's office. What tipped me off is too much to explain right now; I'm afraid we may be running out of time.” Once again he lowered himself down, placing the stake and mallet on the edge of the hole. “May you hand me the brick?”
She reluctantly obliged. “This is insane. You're insane. Lil' Dipper, vampire hunter. Is this just what you do in your free time?”
“On occasion, if the situation calls for it. Truth be told, this is actually the first time I had to deal with a vampire.” Once again, it's the sincerity that leaves Wendy disturbed.
“You hunt vampires today, then what's next, unicorns?”
“If I do, Mabel certainly wouldn't be joining me again.”
“What is wrong with you!? You're way too old to be playing make-believe. You're a teenager for fuck's sake, not a child!” She tried to yell at Dipper's face, but she saw him holding the corpse's mouth open with the brick in his other hand. “Forget childish, you're sick!” Wendy stormed off with her hands in her pockets.
“W-Wendy!” Dipper tried to get himself out to stop her, but it was hard to do. He could see that she was already halfway to her car. Instead, he slammed the ground and went back to the business at hand; feeding Harry a whole brick. Dipper recalled a story from Italy, in which the remains of a woman from the 16th century were discovered with a brick in the jaw. The locals of her time suspected her to be a vampire, so the brick was placed to prevent her from eating people. Dipper took the idea, but applied another ingredient: runes, which would be deter the works of necromancers, engraved into the brick. Necromancers, vampires, it seemed close enough. But Dipper is not one to just leave it at “close enough,” which is why he brought the stakes and holy water, along with some other tools Wendy had not found yet.
With the brick still in one hand, Dipper inspected the teeth of Harry's corpse. No significant decay has occurred, which again was part of the problem. In addition, he could see no changes to the canines of the jaw. It was perhaps a silly thing to check for. According to the journal, teeth alterations don't occur automatically because of vampirism, but rather occur as a conscious transformation. Though it could sometimes happen out of instinct. Harry wouldn't display this trait just as a result of becoming a vampire, but checking for it could indicate if he was conscious or not. Satisfied with his search, he smooshed the brick against Harry's mouth, seeing if it could fit. Unable to get it through, he placed the brick inside his coat's inner pocket. He turned to the edge of the hole where he left he stakes and mallet, and he grabbed a different item which he had swiped from the coroner's; a mouth opener. He knelt back down and placed his gloved hand in the dead man's mouth. As he pried it open, he could feel the ridges of the teeth. It felt different.
Dipper's eyes widened in surprise, just before Harry opened his own eyes. The boy backed up before falling onto the wall of the hole. This allowed Harry to sit up right, with his eyes wide open. The two locked eye contact. Dipper knew from his visit to the coroner’s office that Harry had light, gray eyes. But now his eyes have become much more pale, so much so that it almost looks like they’re completely white. He took his eyes off of Dipper's and began to inspect his surroundings.
“Oh,” Harry moaned, “ohhh am I dead?”
“Mister Philips, you're dreaming. Go back to sleep.”
“Lil' Dipper? You're Lil' Dipper! And this is,” he whipped his head side to side and began flail his arms, “a grave! Oh, if I'm dreaming, then this must be a nightmare!”
“You don't know the half of it.” Therein lies the most awkward aspect of this problem, Dipper was never good at explaining the supernatural to people. How this town could be a hotbed for paranormal happenings without anyone noticing remains as one of the biggest mystery for Dipper Pines. The only explanation which has evidence to back it up is that all the townsfolk are morons. The majority of that evidence being his ego placing him above them already. It's a bit of confirmation bias, to be honest.
Harry tried lifting himself up but Dipper kept him down. “Let me go, please!”
“No no, just calm down. Don't do anything rash.” Despite Dipper's calm demeanor, the undead reporter attempted to leave once more. Primal panic began to overtake Harry, and he started to thrash around in the grave.
“No, NO, you let me go!” Harry barked in a throaty voice that sounded like it came from something less than a man. Recognizing the rising danger, Dipper stopped trying to physically restrain Harry and decided to rely one his tried and true solution. The boy reached for the sapphire amulet around his neck, but the man in front of him ended up crashing into him in a fit of hysterical rage. In the scuffle, the amulet became dislodged from his necklace and lost in the now damp soil.
“Idiot!” Dipper used his legs to push Harry away. Muttering swears under her breath, Dipper dropped to look for the amulet. Harry clawed at the dirt walls around him, moving with no thoughts except for those that would be shared with a starving animal.
“I need tog et out of here I need to get out fo here I need to get out fo here I NEED FOOD.” With a sudden boost of strength, Harry leaped out of the hole. “Whoah.” He was never a lazy fellow, nor was he very athletic, so the gains he made in one jump took him by surprise. This feeling doesn't last long, as it begins to sink in where the setting of his rude awakening is. Many times has he been to the memorial cemetery to attend a funeral or just pay respects to a the dead. Hell, he can recall one or two times he's woken up in the cemetery. Never has he ever woken up from a hole in the cemetery, however. He watches as the wind blows through the dead tree branches, leaves shining wet from the rain gliding through the air, and the pitch black sky without a single star in sight. Since when has there ever been a starless night in a town with moderate at best light pollution? Only in Gravity Falls.
The only sources of light right now are a couple lanterns across the area and a red truck out near the back gates. Despite the distance, he can hear the unintelligible noise the passenger listening to. His eyes take a bit to focus, but Harry is able to see a young redhead minding her own business within. He sees with more detail than he ever could before. He sees her pale skin, masked by a slight coat of dirt. How supple it is. How good it looks to bite from. He begins shambling towards her.
From inside the red truck, Wendy pays no attention to the outside world. She figured that she'd listen to her music while waiting for the creep to finish whatever business he had in stored. Shee didn't want to think about what he was doing to that body. Little did she know that the body was shambling quickly towards her, nearly stumbling over mounds of dirt and worn down tombstones. And little did she know, that creep had just found his amulet. Underneath a small heap of soil, the sapphire amulet is able to shine through, revealing itself to its master. Without wasting a second more, Dipper uses it. The amulet radiates a sky blue aura. His dark brown eyes are overtaken by a shade of turquoise blue. The dirt lifts from the ground beneath him, and Dipper pushes himself out of the grave. He quickly sets his thoughts on Wendy and newly risen ghoul. He spots the undead fool immediately.
Despite his stumbling, the ghoul was covering considerable distance and closing in fast. From under the noise blasting throughout the truck, Harry moans loudly. The truck is now only a few feet away, Harry can already taste the girl's flesh. He reached his arms forward, about to grasp the door.
At that moment, a blue aura encompassed his arms and his eyesight. He was then ripped away from the door, so fast and hard that it was like he was falling backwards. As Harry tried to gain control of himself, he turned his body and fell face first into the ground. Despite his hard fall, the force continued to drag him across the dirt. Fortunately, the face slide was short lived. Unfortunately, Harry found himself looking up at the brown-haired boy with cold blue eyes of fury.
Harry had previously gone to one or two of the Pines Twin's shows. Mabel had always been the star of the show, with her exuberant smile and infectious lust for life, her following is almost cult-like. Dipper on the other hand was always more low key. His face always remained expressionless, as flat as his monotone voice. He only smiled when Mabel called for it, and it was always a wry, short-lived smirk. Harry always read the same thing on his lips, a statement of utter contempt for the people below him. No stronger was that feeling than seeing that contempt from down on the dirt.
“Oh, let me go. No,” The last thing he wanted to do was to beg at the feet of teen with a “couldn't care less” attitude, especially one as non-receptive as Dipper, “Help me. I don't know what's going on, but I-I just want something to eat. I won't hurt anyone.”
“I don't know how I'm going to do this; do I hold you down and go through all the steps,” his eyes bled an even harsher shade of blue as the amulet glowed with power, “or should I just crush your head and call it a night?”
“Why can't- can't you tell me what's going on? Why can't you help people?”
“You're ill, terminally ill, and I've come to relieve this town of the burden you'll bring.”
“I'm not sick; I'M DEAD! Why am I being punished? Why are you doing this to me?” He tried his best to not start crying, but given his condition he there wouldn't even be any tears. He grabbed two fistfuls of dirt as his sorrow mutated into rage. “I can see it. Behind the blue, behind your brown eyes. I saw what was behind all that: contempt and disgust. You don't care about me. You don't care about Gravity Falls. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!” Harry got up and made apparent how much height he has over the young magician.
Even as Harry towered over him, teeth beginning to protrude from his mouth and his eyes becoming more bloodshot, Dipper did not answer. The aura emanating from his amulet radiated brighter. He looked around – behind Harry, above them and even down – but he said nothing. It seemed like Dipper was ready to unleash all manner of arcane fury on the indignant vampire, and likewise, the vampire ready to tear Dipper apart limb-by-limb. Instead, the amulet's light began to fade, as did the sapphire hue of his eyes. Once the innocuous brown had returned to Dipper's eyes, he gave Harry one of his trademark devilish smirks. The kind of smirk given by the devil himself, the one that lures women into temptation and lesser men into a fit of jealous rage. As it turns out, Harry is such a lesser man.
“I'M GONNA KI-” a metal bar, broken off from the cemetery gates collided into the side of the vampire's skull, forcing him into a state of pain and discombobulation. Dipper used this chance to trip him up and send him falling back into the grave, where the boy had left a few more items for him.
“Fucking hell” Wendy cursed, short on breathe, “what was that about!?”
Dipper thought about how he would want to answer Wendy's question, but a though occurred to him like it had not too long ago; he was never good explaining the supernatural to anybody. He thought he was doing a good job with Wendy just a moment ago, but now, the words are stuck in his throat.
“Dipper? Hey, are you okay?” And with that, he saw an out.
“I'm not sure, I think... I think the corpse that we dug up tried to attack me.” Dipper tried to put on a face of shock while still retaining his mostly neutral face. A quick glance back at Wendy told Dipper that it was working.
“I... don't even,” a guilty expression almost overcame Wendy's face before she threw it away for anger, “is that guy dead? He's gonna wish he was in a second!” She made her way to the hole, but Dipper stopped her.
“Dead or not, he's not gonna be a problem anymore. If you didn't kill him you certainly did knock his lights out.”
“Well we still gotta do something about him. We should call the cops.”
“And let them know that you broke into a cemetery and went grave-robbing?” Wendy quickly calculated the which option had less cons.
“Well don't forget, this all your idea to begin with.”
“And when that check clears it all be worth it.” She reluctantly agreed. “Good, good. I'll get my stuff, you've done more than enough for today.”
“Yeah, I saved your life.” She stopped talking and gave the boy an expectant look.
“Oh right. 10 thousand?”
“I'll be in the truck,” she said with much satisfaction. They both turned away from each other and they went to their respective destinations. Once she makes it to the truck, she begins to think. She's not sure if she bought Dipper's performance back there. Someone like him shouldn't be spooked so easily. She thinks that maybe she should question it more. Or maybe, if she doesn't question it and let things happen as they may, then there's be no need to uproot her life. She bottles up these uneasy doubts and gets the truck started.
Dipper inspected the hole. There lies Harry face first into the coffin he was resting earlier in the day. He let out a weak, pained moan as the hawthorn branches Dipper had laid send numbing pain throughout his body. Dipper had previously bought hawthorn tree seeds in case he needed to use the branches for some concoction or spell. Turns out they make for agonizing yet potent tranquilizers for the damned. Like a wounded animal, the vampire put on a pathetic display. Dipper felt it was time to put an end to this misery. He took out a few of the stakes from his coat and began to levitate them with his amulet. Mabel was always the one adept at throwing knives, but Dipper was no slouch either if he could successfully eyeball it.
Aiming the stake, he hurls it forward, plunging it deep into Harry's body. Despite the agonized wails coming from beneath him, Dipper isn't sure if it struck the heart. Fortunately, he has two more shots to get it right and he wastes no time doing so. The second landed in the middle of the target's back, while the next was more accurate and landed directly to the left of the first stake's placement. Immediately, the dead man began to convulse violently, with dark blood oozing out all the wounds. Looks like it did the trick.
Looking to the dirt pile aside him, he grasped the amulet one more time and pushed the mound pack into the hole. He's really glad that it's over now, since using the amulet so much was giving him a killer headache. He just wanted to head home and rest, and Wendy probably wanted to do much of the same. He zipped up his duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder. As he made his way to the truck, he began to muse about his partner in crime.
Wendy Corduroy, the only daughter in a family of groundskeepers, she's the only one whose attitude matches their grim occupation. She was one of the first people the Pines twins met when they moved to Gravity Falls not too long ago. Since then, Dipper has found her to be a reliable asset. She's not above breaking some rules and she can't be bothered to ask the true nature of Dipper's work. But outside of their partnership, Wendy seems to be the only person in this town who “gets” him. If he didn't know any better, he might consider her his only friend in Gravity Falls.
Friend. Aside from his sister, he doesn't have many people close to him. Even his Great Uncle Lee, whom he and his sister live with, isn't someone he considers himself close to. If he would consider her a friend, even for a fleeting second, shouldn't he try to be more grateful? Maybe she shouldn't be left in the dark so much. He isn't able to give much thought to these questions as he finds himself before the truck. Inside, Wendy is smoking a cigarette, making sure to blow out the smoke through the window. Dipper taps on the window, getting her attention. She puts out the cigarette and unlocks the doors. After putting the bag in the back, Dipper seats himself in the front.
“What took you so long?”
Dipper was going to ignore the question and just tell to get driving, but then he got a look of her eyes. Her bright greens eyes stick out the most out of her dark attire. Even her naturally red hair was faded from some of the dark dyes she uses. In that moment, he hesitated, double thinking if he should be truthful.
“Uh hello?”
“Sorry, it was nothing. It's been a long night.” He looks away, turning his attention to fiddling with his gloves. Wendy started the car.
“You know, I wish I didn't hit that guy so hard. Actually fighting him would've made my night a lot better. Maybe I'll get lucky next time.”
“Next time,” Dipper smiled in uncharacteristically genuine fashion. “Of course. Wendy?”
“What?”
“Thank you.”
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Happy Halloween!
This is the first bit of writing that I've ever uploaded to the net. I hope people read this and enjoy. I don't really have a pulse on the GF fandom in current day, so I don't know how relevant Reverse Falls is anymore. A while ago, I was looking at RevFalls artwork and it inspired me to write this. I also had Hellsing and the Hammer horror films on my mind too. Anyways, like I said, this is my first work available to the public, and I hope to make more.
Later... PEACE!