Chapter 2: "TRUST NO ONE"

The Pines twins had just made it back from a long day of monster hunting when they heard the familiar jingle of a bell, signaling that some unfortunate soul had crossed the threshold into the infamous Mystery Shack gift shop. Many a tourist had lost their money buying some worthless piece of junk that their Grunkle Stan passed off as an ancient relic or some other such nonsense.

"Hey, come on Dipper. Let's go see who it is."

"Ugh, Mabel. It's probably some boring tourist who doesn't know anything." Dipper replied frankly, tired from their little adventure through the woods that was fruitless yet again.

"Besides the Shack is closed. Grunkle Stan will just kick them out of the store anyway."

"Oh lighten up Dipping Sauce. I know you're curious to find out who it is." Mabel said, and then proceeded to make weird noises and poke his face with her forefinger.

Dipper yelped when she almost caught him in the eye.

"Okay fine. As long as you promise to stop doing that!"

"Yay!" Mabel exclaimed, as she skipped toward the source of their newest distraction for the day, with her twin brother grudgingly in tow.

The Mystery Shack hadn't changed much since the twins had arrived here from Piedmont, California, when their parents dropped them off to spend the summer with their great-uncle Stanford Pines in his house/tourist trap, in the small town of Gravity Falls, Oregon. At first, Dipper thought that this was going to be the most boring summer he would have to endure. That all changed when he found 3, the mysterious book that was hidden in the woods near the Mystery Shack. Ever since, the seemingly plain town grew into a place filled with frightening mysteries and other strange occurrences. Why in the time that they had spent there, Dipper had saved his sister from an army of gnomes, took pictures of a giant lake monster, defeated their Grunkle Stan's collection of cursed wax figures, saved Mabel again (although Mabel would constantly say that she had saved him), this time from a little circus side-show freak with a magic amulet, not to mention his encounter with the ghosts haunting the old convenience store and his test of manliness with the Manotaurs. Even though his sister would have figured out someway to make the summer enjoyable, Mabel too liked going on these adventures with him, even if more times than not she would end up in some sort of danger. It helped keep her mind off the abysmal luck she was having finding her "epic summer romance".

Yes, it had all started with that tattered old book, with its cryptic messages whose author had seemingly disappeared before they were able to finish writing, and filled with knowledge of the different magical creatures that roamed the area around Gravity Falls. In his free time, Dipper spent it either reading all the information the book had to offer or he would jot down any new discoveries he had found on his and his twin's adventures.

The hidden warnings and ciphers in the book continued to haunt Dipper. He had been able to crack some of the codes, but they hadn't really shed anymore light on the dark secrets of the small town. The warning he took most to heart had been scrawled into the page like the writer had been under great stress, perhaps running away from the person or thing that they had said was watching them.

TRUST NO ONE

While Dipper had obviously made exception with his sister, Grunkle Stan, and now with getting to know them more in the month they had stayed there, Wendy and Soos, Dipper didn't really trust anyone else in Gravity Falls, tourist or resident. So when the twins came upon the gift shop, Dipper began to feel his paranoia set in, preparing himself for the strange intruder that had stepped into what was now their home.