Chapter 1
The days were ticking away, closer and closer to the end of school and into summer. Usually, normal kids would be planning celebrations or parties, but Dipper and Mabel knew better. Their parents being extremely faithful to the lord decided to send their children to church camp for the entirety of their summer. This meant that summer was the opposite of excitement for them. Usually it would seem fun and all, but church camp was not a fun camp. The scorching hot sun as you paddle in small canoes with several random people was not fun and not being able to explore the open forest behind the cabins was worse. They had no freedom there and it was more of a prison than anything. Other church camps seemed way better than this one, but their parents insisted on sending them to this one. The least fun one of them all.
The days passed and when the final day came, Mabel and Dipper filled their prayers with all the hope they could muster. Even if the camp had caught on fire and it was canceled, anything to free them from this burden was better than going. The dinner that night was silent as well. They tried with all their might to change the subject from church camp in hope that their parents would forget. Although that was highly unlikely.
Their sleep was peaceful but the dread returned in the morning. When they got dressed and headed down the stairs they were greeted by happy, starry eyes parents. Here it comes.
"Are you ready to go to your uncles church!" Womp, there it is- wait what. Mabel seemed to comprehend it faster than Dipper.
"You know we are!" Mabel seemed so bright, it was blinding. "But what about church camp?" He got elbowed in the rib for that. He was indeed that one kid. The kid who reminded the teacher of the test they had forgotten. But now, now was not the time to be that kid.
"We decided that the camp wasn't teaching you anything about being true to the Lord, so we're sending you to you Great Uncle Ford and his brother Stanley's church. Don't forget to be polite, call them Father, be thankful, it was very hard to convince them to let you stay. They are very busy men." Their mother seemed even more happy than Mabel. Dipper was still trying to get the realization that he wasn't going to get dunked in the toilet anymore. (He was the bullied kid at church camp) It was all worth it.
"The church is called Gravity Church, its located in Gravity Falls. Its a small town at the edge of Oregon. Its also very known for their wildlife and mysterious lore." His father stated blatantly and their mother nudged him a bit. "But dont forget why you're going. We want you both to learn how to take care of a church. Just in case."
Outside the house was a pickup truck that looked like it went through a tornado. A girl with long beautiful red hair sat at the drivers seat, waving at them. They both walked over to the truck, backpacks over their shoulder. "Are you Wendy?" Mabel squeaked and bounced a bit.
"The one and only." Her smile was so bright. Dipper smiled a bit at the smile and felt his sister nudge him a bit, winking a bit. "Get in the truck, we've got a while before we get to Gravity Falls. Better get on the road." They both nodded and threw their stuff in the back. Sitting in the truck was a tight fit with three people. Well, two since Dipper and Mabel were pretty small. At least compared to Wendy who was tall and strong looking. With the prettiest eyes you would have ever seen. Like an angel on earth- Mabel poked Dipper and he realized he had been staring at Wendy for the past ten minutes. Luckily Wendy didn't seem to notice.
The roads started to turn rough after the 2nd hour. They had hit dirt road and Dipper started to really wonder how far this town really was. He knew it was in the middle of no where, but this seemed crazy. There was woods all around them and the rich smell of greenery filled the air. The road was stretching far ahead of them as far as can see, overgrown by weeds and grass. It was so relaxing that Dipper felt like dozing, the rocking of the truck didn't help. He watched as the trees pass and he even saw a deer. It was so different than from the trees in town. These were wild and branches everywhere, while the ones in town were mostly for viewing than for oxygen.
He noticed on one of the trees that had passed was a weird metal thing bolted to it. It seemed more important than a sign and when they passed it, he felt a wave of electricity. It wasn't all that strong, but it made his hair stand on end. He looked over to Mabel who was chatting away to Wendy, neither of which took notice of this strange feeling. He decided not to ask about it in fear that he was just imagining it. It would be embarrassing in front of Wendy.
"Here we are, the border of Gravity falls." Wendy seemed to boast. The sign that passed was large with big bold letters of 'Gravity Falls'. The road didn't seem any different except after a while, they were going downhill. Below was a small town with houses surrounding it. There was a church sitting up on a hill on the other side of the town, he guessed that's where they were heading.
"Are you a Sister at the church, Wendy?" Dipper picked up on a snippet of Mabel and Wendy's conversation and turned to look at them, he was curious too.
"No, i'm one of the caretakers. I clean up around the place, making sure that nothing gets destroyed by age. My whole family does it actually. Its become sort of a family job for us." She smiled at them with the pretty smile she always gave them. So nice and warm and- another nudge from his sister. He needs to stop doing this before Wendy notices. She was so cool and he got a small glimmer of hope. Maybe he would see her often at the church if she worked there.
They passed through the town, the building looked old but the streets were lively. He guessed that it was that type of town so small that everyone knew everyone. He didn't want to be the new stranger in town but he quite literally was. Eyes watched as the truck passed and people wave, mostly to Wendy. When the drive slowly became uphill, he looked forward to see a church slowly grow in front of them. It wasn't all that big mostly the size of Dipper and Mabel's house. But it did make sense since it was such a small town.
When they pulled up into the 'parking lot' of the church, they were greeted by two men, that they could only hope to be their uncles. It wasn't a lot, it was more of a grassy clearing for people to park their cars. Though it didn't seem they needed cars since the church was so close to the town. It was just up a hill so driving seemed useless.
"Welcome to the church, I'm guessing you two must be the kids. I'm Stanley and this is my brother Stanford. We're the priests of this church." Stan seemed to be the cheery of the two because Ford seemed like he was not a people person. He seemed out of place and a bit uncomfortable.
"I'm Mable, and this is my brother Dipper! We're so glad that we didn't need to go to church camp- I mean glad to spend time with our Grunkles!" Dipper seemed to be just the same as Ford, cause he could feel the bead of awkward sweat appear on his face. Being thrown into the spot light like this was not feeling too well.
"Grunkles?" It was Ford this time. He raised an eyebrow and even Stan seemed to be a bit puzzled. "Great Uncles silly! It would be weird to call you Father when we're not in work so I thought that this would make it easier!" Dipper face palmed. The whole reason of calling them Father was because it was something to use outside of church to give them respect. But they didn't seem to care at all. They barely seemed like priests in all honesty. Something about them seemed a bit off.
"Well kids, let me show you your rooms. It'll be a bit small!" Stan waved them to follow and Mabel skipped happily after him. It must be small since this church was small. At least it looked sturdy. When he entered the inside was surprisingly clean. The benches were perfectly cleaned, looking brand new. The stained glass windows were beautiful and the pedestal was littered with flowers. Fake flowers, they were covered in a thin layer of dust.
"This place is beautiful!" Mabel squeaked and pranced around. "The only church iv'e been to was the one at church camp! And that was-" She shivered clung to Dipper. "It was awful." She murmured. The memories were obviously haunting her. It still haunted Dipper. They continued on through the church, going out the back door and into what seemed like another property. It was a shack that looked homely and small. It was the same size as the church but it looked a bit more, home than church. They were brought up to the attic area which was coated in dust. Cots sat in the corner waiting for them, and the empty space was mostly taken up by boxes of photos and old clothes.
"The clothes are for charity and the photos are of memories. Don't touch either." Ford grumbled before leaving. Stan laughed a bit, watching his brother leaving. "He's just old and grumpy. You kids settle in, I can help you move some boxes later. Wendy, help them fix the cots. I know for one that they're broken. Forgot about them." He walked after his brother and Dipper slouched. If they had known that they were coming, it would be nice to have had a warmer welcome. And who puts the charity in the attic? Isn't that for charity? Dipper sighed and looked at Wendy. She smiled that perfect smile and walked over to the cots.
"Can one of you guys go get the tool box from Ford? He's bound to have it and I dont see how we can fix these without it. I may be good at my job, but i'm not a miracle worker." She laughed and Mabel ran off. Before she left, she gave Dipper a wink and slid down the ladder, hearing an oof and then her foot steps fade. He sighed. What was she wanting? For him to flirt her up?
"I hope you guys like your stay. It may be a small town that doesn't seem like anything. But it gets fun once you get to know everyone." Wendy was sitting on one of the cots. Obviously trying to figure out what was broken about it. "Uh, yeah. Great, its been great already!" Nice Dipper. You sound like an awkward penguin. Wendy still smiled though. "Good! I can show you around later!" She got on the floor and looked under the cot. Poking at it a bit. An awkward silence hung in the air.
Stomping foot steps came running down from bellow and the ladder rattled as a bright and shining Mabel busted in with a box full of tools. "I got the tools!" She was gasping for air, having run all the way back with a tool box. He didn't understand why she was so happy though. They were literally staying in a dirty attic with Uncles that obviously didn't want them.
"Thanks Mabel! Wanna help?" Mabel nodded and rushed over to Wendy and fell to her knees. "Dipper, you can see whats wrong with the other cot. Ill join you after this one." Wendy started to show Mabel what to do and Dipper was left to his own devises. He poked at the cot, looking where it was squeaky and what it needed fixed. The thing looked hopeless but he didn't want to be the party pooper. Mabel seemed to be having fun at least an it wasn't as bad as church camp.
"That's the way! Just tighten up that screw and we should be done." Dipper watched them as they worked. Wendy was so nice. She was strong and dependable too. He sighed and started working on his cot. It looked like it was missing a few springs here and there. He also found that it was missing several screws, there was nothing to really fix. It just needed a lot of work.
"Hows it going Dipper? Got it down?" Wendy was behind him with Mabel, watching as he observed the broken bed. "Its missing a lot of springs and a couple of screws. Its also a bit rusty." She was so close. She smelled like nature.
"Well then, can you go ask Stan if he's got anything? He's sort of a- collector." She seemed a bit hesitant at his hobbies, but he didn't really want to know what the truth was. He didn't seem like the type of person with a very safe hobby. "He should be in his study, dont forget to knock." She and Mabel went back to poking the old cot and making conversation. This church seemed to be a lot larger than he thought. A study? In this small place? Bigger on the inside it seems.
He made his way down the ladder and headed down the hall to a row of doors. He should have asked for directions because this place really was bigger on the inside. He knocked on one of the doors that seemed to be used a lot. It looked like an old door that use to be used on a school. There was a window but it was too foggy to see through. The door opened to Ford instead of Stan and Dipper suddenly regretted his choice of door. What type of study would be behind a door like this?
"What do you need kid?" He didn't sound grump, just really irritated. "I'm looking for Stan, Wendy said he'd be in his study. Would you mind pointing me in the right direction. This place is a lot bigger than I first thought." Oh dear, Dipper sounded so nervous when he really shouldn't be. He was so awkward around people it wasn't even funny. "Last door of the hallway." "Oh, uh thank yo-" The door was shut before he had the chance to finish. How rude. Dipper headed down the long hallway to a better looking door than before. He should have tried this one instead. He knocked and he heard shuffling inside before the door was opened to Stan, who smiled at him. It seemed so forced.
"Whatcha need?" He asked, he too seemed to be on a bit of edge. If they really didn't want the kids there they could have just said no to their parents. "Wendy said you might have some spare parts for the cots. We need some screws and springs." Stan laughed a bit. "I knew they were broken, but never that broken. Come on in, ill try and find them. Don't touch anything though its a bit messy and can be dangerous if something falls." Stan walked back in and Dipper followed. Stan left Dipper in what seemed like the main room before going through another door.
Dipper sat on a chair that wasn't taken by stacks of papers and old junk. Wendy wasn't kidding when she said he collected. There were weird statues and strange things in jars. There was even a row of teeth in a plaque on the fire place. For a priest, this was weird. Dipper poked around a bit, not wanting to disobey Stan, but some of the documents were talking about strange things. He gently skimmed over a couple words before one caught his eye. 'Demon'. He wanted to read more because something about demons in a priests study seemed beyond suspicious. But before he could snoop anymore, Stan came back with a box full of what seemed like spare parts.
"This should be enough right?" Stan placed the box next to Dipper smiling. "Yeah, I think it should be fine. I knew Wendy said you were a collector, but this..." He didn't want to sound rude, but it was quite weird. He gave another once over before grabbing the box and standing up.
'Yeah, its just some old stuff from a while back when me and my brother ran around town. I was addicted to weird old stuff." Stan gave what seemed like a forced laugh. It was rough to listen to because it wasn't natural at all. Dipper laughed nervously too. Something seemed really off. But Dipper just fled out the door and went back to the attic where Mabel was now showing Wendy her sweater collection. "This one is a bit small on be but I still love the pict- Oh hey dip-dop! You find the stuff?" Mabel smiled brightly and pranced over to him and picked up the box. "Wow! Look at all this junk!." She ran back to Wendy who was back at looking to the cot.
"That junks going to hopefully fix this. Wanna help Dipper?" Wendy looked over to Dipper who was not looking around the room. "Oh, uh i'm fine. Mabel loved to do this type of stuff anyways." He went back to looking around the room after Wendy shrugged and started beckoning where Mabel should start. The whole room seemed a bit weird. This whole town was. Everything seemed a little bit too off. It gave such a strange feeling, but he didn't want to be rude and ask about it. Thinking of the town, he remembered the weird metal thing on the tree. He debated if he should go check it out or not, but the walk seemed a bit too far to walk. And he didn't want to ask Wendy because she was already helping them a whole lot. So he kept his mouth shut.
That night it was hard to sleep. The noises at the shack were much worse than in the day. It was louder, and yet quieter. The noises he heard were not human. This place gave him the creeps and his uncles seemed like more of baby sitters than family. They were hiding so much that it was just eating away at Dipper. It was gnawing at him like termites in the support beams. His mind was lacking sleep but he was not tired. Beside him on the other side of the room was a sleeping Mabel. She didnt seem to be bothered by the noises at all. It seemed that he was the only one who was suspicious. It irritated him but he wanted to keep quiet. He wanted nothing to be wrong. He wanted to have at least one normal summer.
The noises grew a bit louder, but this time is came from the window, not the cabin. It sounded like screaching, not like a humans though. The flash image of the paper on the desk came back to him. He fought every urge to get up and check what it was. He didnt want to know. He didnt want to see what that flash of light was, or yelling that sounded like their uncles. He sighed and got up, putting on his vest and climbed quietly down the ladder. He went to the back door and peered out. It was dark, besides the forest line. The shadows were no longer shadows, they were illuminated by a blue shimmering light , the light hypnotizing him. He slowly crept through the brush, hiding behind a tree.
There was a creature, so obscure that Dipper felt his jaw drop. Demon, yes that is what you call a demon. Ford and Stan were on either side of it, Ford holding a bible and Stan holding a rope attatched to its foot, with Wendy helping him hold it down. Wendy? The Demon was screaming words from a forbidden language and all he could do was stand there, watching. Ford yelled a couple more words before slamming the book shut. The demon gave a final laugh before turning into a vapor, the light fading. Dipper felt his feet move. He found himself heading for the door to the shack. He burst through the door and threw off his shoes. His mind was racing and all his thoughts were blurred together. He shook off his vest onto the chair and flung himself into his cot. He clutched his eyes so tight he could see white.
Sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, please sleep dear god please just fall asleep.
He felt panicked but found himself asleep. His dreams were troubled with the image of his uncles and the demon. Its body shiny with some sort of liquid, it be blood or sweat. Maybe even both. Its four arms flailing as its hoofed foot was tied by Stan, and Wendy. When he awoke, he found Mabel on top of him yelling happily.
"First day of church Dipper! First day of church!" He kept silent, looking over his train of thought again. He better keep quiet, not say a word. Dont trust anyone. "Guess we better get ready, huh?" He gave a nervous laugh and forced a smile. But Mabel seemed too happy to notice. He got up and headed to the bathroom, this was going to be a long summer.