The above artwork does not belong to me.

Jazz was worried sick. There had been no sign of Danny in days. Where had he gone? She knew that he would never take off like that unless someone was in trouble.

And even worse, no matter how she tried to convince her parents that nothing was wrong, they were determined to send a search party to look for him. Jazz had kept up the bluff that he was at the Pines' place for as long as she could; after all, that's where he was probably headed when he left. But Mr. Pines had called them this morning and asked where Danny was, saying that he hadn't seen the boy for as long a time as the Fentons.

So when an invisible something grabbed her hand and dragged her into Danny's room, she was more relieved than scared.

Her brother shut the door and turned visible. "Danny!" Jazz yelped, overjoyed to see him. He grinned sheepishly. She scowled. "Where have you been?"

Danny tiredly leaned against the wall. "Well . . ." he gestured to the cuts and scrapes on his face, which were the only signs of injury visible at the moment.

Jazz's face turned soft. "What did you get yourself into this time?"

He shrugged, but she could tell that he was unnerved. "I was sort of attacked by this . . . monster. Not a ghost, a monster. It . . . it was a shapeshifter."

For a moment, Jazz said nothing. A shapeshifter? Ghosts were one thing, but strange creatures roaming through the woods? "How did you say it attacked you?"

Danny shifted uncomfortably. "I was, uh, walking through town when I saw Dipper in the forest, so I went to talk to him. But it wasn't Dipper. It was this . . . this thing that tried to drag me off to wherever."

His sister was about to ask him more when she heard her father walking a little ways down the hall. With a quick look at Danny, she slipped out of door before Jack could see that she had been in Danny's room.

Jack Fenton caught sight of Jazz and scowled a bit. He handed her a heavy, compact net launcher. "We're going to find your brother, Jazz. A local saw him walking through town a few days ago when he just headed off into the forest. He's gotten lost in those dangerous woods, no doubt!"

Jazz nodded, trying to look determined, but she was afraid that her expression gave away more of the genuine worry that she felt than anything else.

Her dad smiled at her a little. "Come on, Jazzypants, your mother is waiting."

* * *

They quickly got a search party together. Almost everyone in town wanted to help, including, to Jazz's surprise, Pacifica. The Pines twins, Wendy and her friends, Stan and Soos all came, too, not that that shocked her. They were joined by a few other residents of Gravity Falls, including Wendy's family and the sheriffs.

"All right, everyone!" Maddie Fenton called, getting everyone's attention. "Danny is lost out in the woods, and we have to find him! Split into search parties, cover as much ground as you can. But stay safe. Who knows what could be in those trees?"

"Justice!" Wendy's father yelled. She rolled her eyes from the other end of the crowd.

They all divided into groups. Jazz told her parents that she would be joining another party and left by herself. Danny wouldn't come near if she was with other people. She just hoped he'd heard through the door and hidden in the woods.

She walked for fifteen minutes before she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning, she saw Danny behind her. "What do I do?" he hissed. "Should I just sneak off and wait until they find me?"

Jazz didn't know how to answer. Honestly, what was the solution to this mess?

* * *

"I think I heard something," Mabel whispered. She, Wendy and Dipper had gone off on their own, hoping that they wouldn't run into the shape-shifter.

Ahead of them, through the trees, Dipper caught a glimpse of orange hair. "Jazz?" he muttered. "Why is she alone?" Then he noticed someone else. "It's Danny!"

He made a move to push his way over there, but Wendy held him back. "Wait for a moment," she murmured. "Whatever's going on here, I don't like it."

They listened closely, though they all felt a little guilty for eavesdropping. "What do I do?" Danny was asking. "Should I just sneak off and wait until they find me?"

His sister paused, considering. "Well, on one hand it'd be suspicious if they found you so quickly, so close to town. But on the other, if you hide too well, it might take them another day to find you, and that could be dangerous. Dad already thinks it was a ghost, I can tell."

Danny groaned. "But what should I do? I've already thought about all of this, and I can't decide!"

Dipper was frozen, totally immersed in the siblings' conversation. What were they talking about? Did this have to do with the secret that they'd mentioned earlier? And if Jazz had known that Danny was in the woods all this time, then why hadn't she brought him back to the mansion? There were so many questions swirling around inside his head that his brain couldn't even form a coherent theory.

The black-haired boy hissed out a breath. "You know what, I'll just walk a little ways, plop myself down and wait. I just hope nothing happens before they find me."

He and Jazz parted ways after that, Danny limping deeper into the woods, travelling in a diagonal line. He looked as if he'd been hurt. Jazz sighed, muttered "Why do I always get dragged into this?" and trudged off.

All three spectators' eyes were wide with shock. None of them had realized to what great lengths Danny would go in order to keep his secret, whatever that secret happened to be. It dawned on them then that maybe Danny wasn't the easygoing, generally carefree person that they had thought he was. Was the boy they were friends with anything like the real Danny?

* * *

Ford Pines cracked his knuckles. He was the only one in the Mystery Shack, and he planned on taking full advantage of that.

He knew that he was snooping, but he just couldn't help it. That Phantom boy was off somehow. And the term 'halfa'? What did that mean?

Phantom had been in too big a rush to take the data stick when he'd left, but Dipper and Mabel had destroyed it anyway. Ford, however, always had a back-up plan. Just in case.

The scientist opened his documents and pulled up the one titled "Error: Could not save correctly". The name was a ruse, of course, and not a very impressive or creative one, but it served its purpose well enough.

Ford took a deep breath and opened the file. His eyes read over the information in seconds, and he backed up and scanned the whole thing again. No, this can't be right. This doesn't make any sense.

Something clicked in his mind. The shifter had called Phantom a 'halfa'. Half-a. Half a ghost, and half a . . .

Stanford sucked in a little gasp. The halfa could be anybody, and they would never know. Unless- unless . . .

Suddenly, it all made so much sense.

Updated [1/3/16] Sorry, readers, the below author's note is old, from when this story had very few votes. I do see and appreciate all of your votes, but I don't feel like erasing or rewriting the note, so please remember that I am thankful for all votes I have received!

Hello, mah peeps! Please read this!

I have a question for you guys. I know that people like this story. I've received a few comments and it's even been added to one or two reading lists. So, riddle me this:

Why is no one voting?

I understand that people forget, and all that.  Which is why I am here to remind you!!! If you like this story,  and you want to show it, please go back and vote for the chapters. It'll take you a second, and you'll have done your good deed for the day. And if you want me to change or improve something, let me know!

Also, no pressure. I won't take offense if you don't end up voting. I can't tell you what to do. But please think about it, okay?

-TheCloudedLeopard