• I’ve been dragging my feet all day so I’m setting a three hour timer to finish the theory. I’m hoping to only post three updates today. When I finish the theory, when I finish transferring and editing and when I send it to my supervisor.
Content Warnings/Tags: Mutual pining, Angst, Horror, Trauma from the past, Possession
Summary: What was supposed to just be a quick trip to the forest ends up being exactly what Dipper feared…
How do you fail so miserably at trying to impress the goth guy you’ve been crushing on for a while and instead put him in danger?
A talent only Dipper has.
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Twigs snapped and leaves crunched beneath the soles of Dipper’s beat-up Converse the further into the woods they went. He could hear the distinct, heavy, combat boot-clad footfalls from Dib a few steps behind him.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think this is all some convoluted ruse to murder me…” Dib muttered as he glanced around. At this point he was just fully relying on following Dipper, who knew his way through these woods even in the dark. He’d be completely lost if he chose to leave him here.
Dipper huffed a slight laugh, “Trust me, if I wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t pick such a cliché place to do it.”
“How reassuring.” Came Dib’s sarcastic retort.
“Hey, you’re the one that insisted I show it to you. You’re the one that couldn’t wait till tomorrow. Just be patient, alright? We’re almost there.” Almost to where? Well, this little midnight stroll through the woods of Gravity Falls was the result of an eager Dib questioning everything Dipper has told him about this town. This place.
He was visiting here for the first time after Dipper told him he would be visiting for his summer break from college. The two had met a year ago on a paranormal forum online. They had gotten into a heavy debate on all things ghosts and whether or not orbs were a valid type of photographic evidence. They went from the comment threads to DMs, then to personal socials. One thing led to another, and the two ended up talking damn near every day. They were inseparable, figuratively, of course. Dipper had never felt this kind of connection with someone before, someone that actually understood his interests as deeply as he did. Someone that even challenged him in ways no one else could.
Their frequent messaging didn’t go unnoticed, as Mabel took to teasing him about it. Kept calling Dib his ‘online spooky nerd boyfriend.’ One day he was looking at a post by Dib; it had been a selfie. He hadn’t realized Mabel was peeking over his shoulder until she yelled, “Dipper likes goth guys!” And taking his phone. He was so embarrassed. But not as embarrassed as he was when she commented on the post using his phone, saying, “U look so hawt ;)”. Dipper deleted it as soon as he wrestled his phone back. He wanted to bury himself six feet under. Every time she teased him, he’d grow so flustered, and honestly he couldn’t exactly deny that maybe he had the smallest, tiniest crush on him. But it wasn’t like it mattered much. He had no idea if Dib was even into guys.
And so now, in the present, after much debate on the subject, Dipper was guiding him through the woods. Leading him to where it was located. Him. Was this a particularly good idea? Probably not. But Dipper figured as long as neither of them messed with anything, just one peek couldn’t hurt. If Dib wanted to see the physical evidence of the demon that tormented him and this town that one summer all those years ago, then fine. If that’s what it will take to get him to believe him fully, then he’d do it.
It wasn’t that Dib was necessarily skeptical about his story; he’d shown him the journal, and he was fascinated by it. It was just that Dib enjoyed seeing it for himself. The hard evidence of the truth. While Dipper would have preferred to wait until the next morning to have done this, well... it was hard not to give in. Dib was persuasive in his persistence. So here they were, in the middle of the pitch-black woods with only a flashlight and some moonlight to help light their path.
“Watch your step here…” Dipper called out as he stepped over a thick root.
“Oh fu—”
“Hey! I told you to be careful-“ With a heavy thud, Dipper found himself groaning, the wind knocked out of him as he’d fallen flat on his back. His eyes widened as he registered the weight that kept him somewhat pinned, and he looked up to see Dib. Right there. Mere inches between them. His flashlight rolling away after he had lost his grip on it.
“You…you okay?” Dib said, somewhat embarrassed from having fumbled and tripped like that. Though, his tone held a bit of concern for the boy he’d just dragged down with him and used to cushion his fall. That couldn’t have been painless.
“Ha…hahaha…” That was as much of a response as he got before Dipper squirmed and crawled out from underneath him, seeming to be muttering and rambling on about something Dib couldn’t quite make out. “-Anyway, where’s the—” Dipper paused as his eyes landed right on the object he had just been about to question the whereabouts of. His flashlight had rolled off and stopped right in front of it. Their destination.
It was almost ominous the way the light seemed to cast dramatic shadows over the statue. Bill, in all his moss-covered, petrified glory. Dib sprung to his feet, eager to get a closer look and completely forgetting their awkward tumble.
“So this is it? This is him? Yknow, I thought he’d be way bigger...” he said as he went to reach out to it, only to be stopped when a hand quickly snatched his wrist.
“Don’t touch him.” Dipper blurted out. Then fidgeted, letting go of the other boy’s wrist. “I mean… You shouldn’t touch him. We don’t want to risk anything..." Dib furrowed his brows, though obliged as he dropped his hand to his side.
“But you said you defeated him, right?”
“Well, yeah, but—“
“And as long as I don’t make some deal with him, then there’s no real danger. It’s not like he’ll just suddenly come back to life.”
“I suppose that’s true, but… I don’t think we should risk it. You saw him. That’s what we came for. Now we can go.” Dipper’s voice wavered with unease.
“…Fine.” Dib heaved a sigh.
“Lead the way; I can’t even tell where we came from.”
With that, Dipper turned around and began the trek back through the trees. Unbeknownst to him, Dib had not immediately followed. He’d only realized it after he walked a handful of minutes down the path, pausing and turning as he noted no other footsteps but his own.
“Dib?” Eerie silence was his response. He snapped his head all around him, trying to see if he could catch any glimpse of the other boy. His grip on his flashlight tightened. “Ha-ha, very funny, Dib. You can stop now!” He called out, not doing too well in concealing the shaky nerves that were seeping into his voice.
It was obvious Dib was just playing a joke. He shouldn’t be so easily spooked… Dipper took a few steps back, trying to see if he was hiding nearby, but the longer he stood there with nothing but the sounds of the woods surrounding him, the more his breathing began to pick up.
“Okay! If you don’t quit messing around, I’m leaving without you!” He didn’t really mean it. He wouldn’t be able to sleep if he just left his friend-who-he-may-or-may-not-have-a-crush-on all alone in these woods. Who knew what might happen? He could get lost and never find his way back; he could fall into a random river and be turned into some strange creature; a gnome could kidnap him! His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a crunch.
CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH
Somewhere nearby, and he couldn’t stop the squeak from slipping out when he turned around, and Dib was right here, less than a few inches in front of him. He was so close he could smell him, and he instinctively took a shaky step back.
“What the hell!” Dipper yelled.
Dib was quiet before he gave a smile. “Sorry about that; it was just a little joke…” He leaned in even closer. “Didn’t expect you to be this jumpy, pinetree~”
“Of course I’d be! I thought you…” Dipper trailed off as he furrowed his brows, “Wait…what did you call me?”
“Hmm?”
“You called me pine tree…”
“…yeah. You know. Cause your last name is Pines, and we’re surrounded by a few pine trees…”
Dipper quietly observed Dib. Maybe he was overthinking it… That’s not exactly a unique nickname to come up with, all things considered. It could just be a coincidence. Yet…his gut felt like something was off. Way off. And he knew at this point in his life that sometimes his gut was all he had. Even still, he could just be jumping to conclusions, and standing around in these eerie woods in the middle of the night wasn’t exactly helping.
“Alright… then let’s keep going. I’d like to head back already..." Dipper said, the tension in his shoulders still not quite leaving.
They walked for a while, what seemed like a good 20 minutes. They should have been back at the shack by now, and yet it was as if the further they walked, the longer the trek continued. Dipper was becoming more and more unsettled by the minute, at one point stopping and looking around.
“There’s something wrong…we’ve already been through this way.” Dipper said, using his flashlight to shine over some familiar bushes. “It’s like we’re going in circles... but that doesn’t make any sense! We should have been back by now. We were walking in a straight line..."
Dib stuffed his hands in his pockets. “You know, it’s okay to admit you're lost. I won’t laugh.” He teased.
Dipper huffed at that. “We aren’t lost. We couldn’t be. I know these woods. We should have spotted the shack by now. This isn’t—"
The already chilly night air suddenly felt like ice. It made a shiver go down his spine as he had cut himself off.
“This isn’t what…pine tree…?”
Shakily, Dipper turned slowly to face Dib. There was a shadow cast over his eyes.
“…Real…” The word passed through his lips in a whisper.
That’s when Dib began to laugh. But it wasn’t Dib. That wasn’t his voice. It was there, but it was someone else as well. Two voices becoming merged. Becoming hideously synced into one. It was grating. Dipper wanted to cover his ears and scream. But instead, he clenched his hands into fists and kept them at his sides.
“How are you doing this! How did you—"
“Oh pine tree, why are you asking such stupid questions? Use that big, beautiful brain of yours; I’m sure you can figure it out~”
As if with lightning speed, ‘Dib’ went from being a couple feet away from him to their faces being centimeters apart. Dipper gasped and tried to back away, but an iron grip circled around his wrist as Dib loomed over him. He could see his eyes now. His pupils.
“That’s not possible! You were gone! You couldn’t have just come back—“
“And yet here I am! You should really get with the program, pine tree. Your little friend here practically gave me this vessel on a silver platter~! Didn’t put up much of a fight either… almost like he wanted—"
Dipper’s fists landed a harsh blow right across Dib’s face before Bill could finish that sentence. His grip had loosened, and he slipped free, immediately breaking into a run. He had to get away from him. He had to figure something out.
There was no way he could go back to the shack. Whatever Bill was doing, he created some kind of a loop. He’d just keep going in circles with no way of breaking out of it and finding his way back. And Dib... he had to still be in there somewhere. There was no way he was ever going to believe what Bill said. That Dib would have ever wanted this. He glanced down at his fist, his adrenaline too high for him to feel any aches from landing such a hard blow. He felt guilty, but…he would just have to apologize for punching him in the face later. When all of this was over.
Dipper was panting heavily as he ran and tried to find somewhere, anywhere, he could hide. Everything was so quiet he could only really hear his own breathing. It was as if there were no longer any other living things here. As if the wind didn’t even exist anymore either.
It felt suffocating.
Or maybe that was his panic setting in.
With a cry, Dipper face-planted onto the floor as he tripped on something. Whatever it was, it was hooked around his ankle and wouldn’t budge. He shone his flashlight down and saw it was like a root. A vine? It was getting tighter as if it were sentient. Dipper tried to pull his leg out of it harder, but it sent a sharp jolt of pain.
Another vine seemed to burrow from out of the earth and wrap around his neck, slamming him back down against the floor. His hands shot up, trying desperately to pry it off, choking slightly as he struggled against it. He stilled, however, at the sound of footsteps approaching.
“Well, well, well…You certainly seem to be a little...tied up...at the moment~” Bill said tauntingly, every word dripping with amusement. “You’ve gotten stronger, Kid. Pack more of a ‘punch’ since I last saw you.”
As he spoke, he knelt over Dipper, whose hands were still occupied with trying to rip the vine off his neck. He could barely breathe, let alone speak. Still, he forced his words out the best he could.
“Dib…you have…you have to fight it… I know you’re still in there…” Dipper managed to choke out.
Bill laughed, at Dipper’s expense of course. “Poor little pine tree…what? Is the lack of oxygen making you delusional? He can’t hear you~”
Tears pricked at the corners of Dipper’s eyes. “Dib…please…you can…you can beat him…”
“I’d thought you would have been a lot happier to see me. oh well!”
With that, Bill reached out to Dipper, his hand coming towards him only for it to suddenly stop and hover over his head.
“What the—”
Bill tried again, yet his hand refused to move. He gripped it with his other hand, tugging at it roughly.
“That’s not possible! You shouldn’t even be awake right now—you...shouldn’t..." He staggered back.
The vines, however, did not loosen, only tightening more painfully.
“D…Dib…” Dipper whispered with what little he was able to.
“Fuck...OFF!”
The vines released Dipper, who doubled over coughing as he finally filled his lungs with much-needed air.
Dib was gripping at his head, jaw clenched and a sheen of sweat on his skin. It was taking everything in him to take back control. He could hear Dipper…the desperation… He couldn’t let that monster go anywhere near him.
He struggled against Bill’s hold. It was like pulling himself out of quicksand. But even so, Bill didn’t have his full strengths. Not at the moment, and that became more and more apparent the harder Dib fought for control.
With one final cry, Dib fell to his knees, his hand still gripping at his head as he panted.
As soon as Dipper was no longer seeing double and caught his breath, he scampered to Dib’s side. He knelt beside him and slowly outstretched a hand to Dib. Carefully, he tilted Dib’s head up, meeting his gaze.
A big sigh of relief escaped him, and he threw his arms around Dib, hugging him tightly. “It’s you…it’s really you…” Dipper whispered.
Dib blinked in surprise. Though he couldn’t complain, the hug felt nice. Dipper felt nice. He slowly wrapped his own arms around him, returning the embrace. He felt anchored.
“Yeah... it’s me...” he said softly.
Though a thought crossed his mind, causing his grip around Dipper to tighten as his blood ran cold.
