"I wouldn't be surprised if the guy of my dreams came through that door right now!" Mabel declared, gesturing at the door. Dipper turned to see which door she meant, as did Sylvia.

The only person that came through was Mr. Pines, who looked around quickly as he cleared his throat. Mabel groaned in slight disgust. "Aw! Why??" she groaned as Dipper laughed at her. Sylvia's lips curved up in a slight smile.

"All right, all right, look alive people!" Stan barked. "I need someone to go hammer up these signs in the spooky part of the woods."

"Not it," Mabel said quickly, followed a second later by Dipper. Sylvia moved her hands in vehement, negative motions that showed no, she did NOT want to do it.

"Also not it," Soos said quickly, as he hammered something up. "Nobody asked you, Soos," responded Stan. "I know. And I'm comfortable with that," was Soos's reply. He then ate part of a chocolate bar. Sylvia just gave him a bemused look. 

"Wendy! Go put up these signs!" ordered Stan. Wendy reached lazily for the signs, making 'I'm trying' sounds. "I would, but I, ugh, can't, ugh, reach it, ugh..."

Sylvia's smile grew slightly. How was it that she'd never met these people before, and yet they'd done what all of her closest friends and family had been trying to do for the past year-- make her smile??

"I'd fire the whole lot of you if I could. All right, eenie, meenie, miney... you," and he pointed at Dipper. Dipper frowned. "Aw, what? Grunkle Stan, when I'm in that part of the woods I always feel like I'm being watched--" "Not this again."

Dipper ignored the flippant comment and held out his arm. "Just today my mosquito bites spelled out 'Beware'."

Sylvia leaned in slightly to see the word, indeed, written on it, in all capital letters. well, the 'E' at the end looked more like a 'B' from the extra mosquito bites next to it. Stan squinted at it before saying, gruffly, "That says 'BEWARB'." See?

Dipper scratched his arm as Stan continued, "Look, the legend of monsters in the woods are drummed up by guys like me so guys like that buy our merchandise." He pointed at a tourist nearby, before shoving the whole armful of signs into Dipper's arms. "So quit being so paranoid!!"

Sylvia fidgeted. Well, this would be a nice gesture; so... She tapped Dipper on the shoulder before he left. He turned back to look at her. She pointed at herself, then pointed at him. 

Sometimes she wished she'd bothered to learn sign language during this past year.

Dipper's brow furrowed before his eyes lit up. "Oh! You wanna come with me?"

Sylvia nodded with a small smile, and he smiled back. ".. thanks."

x.X. X.x

Hanging up the signs, Dipper sighed. "Ugh, no one ever believes anything I say."

Sylvia tapped her chest, and Dipper raised an eyebrow. "You do?"

She shrugged. Dipper smiled again and went back to hanging signs, Sylvia holding them as he pounded nails into the trees. "You're really quiet... not that that's a bad thing," he hastened to say. Sylvia made an 'OK' sign with her thumb and forefingers, and he seemed satisfied. "It's just... I've never met anyone who just doesn't talk that's not mute or deaf or something."

Sylvia shrugged, before pointing at him and making a thumbs up sign. "I'm good...??" Dipper said, to which Sylvia nodded and drew an 'at' sign in the air with her fingers. Dipper gave her a questioning look, and she drew it again. "Oh, at?" She nodded, and then held up three fingers. "Three?" She frowned and tilted her hand from side to side, before trying again. "Uh, triple?" She tilted her head from side to side and made a little horizontal sign and then wrote p, l, e in the air with her hands. "... t, tri?" Dipper muttered, before snapping his fingers. "Oh, try!" Sylvia nodded vigorously and pointed at her shirt, which was from Guess. He squinted at it. "Uh, Guess?" Sylvia nodded and tapped her lips. "... I'm good at trying to guess what you're saying??" 

Sylvia nodded vigorously and gave him another thumbs up. Dipper's smile grew a bit bigger. "Wow; thanks, I think..." She nodded and smiled to show that it was a compliment.

Dipper turned to hammer another nail into the tree, but there was a metallic clang. Dipper's eyes widened. "Huh??" Bang, bang. He tapped on the tree, and the metallic clang sounded again. Sylvia set down the signs and moved her hand forward, brushing away the dust on the tree and revealing... a sort of.. panel?

Dipper pulled on it, and revealed a small compartment in the tree, with a little machine inside. He reached forward and moved one of the switches. "Huh; wonder what, this does..."

A grinding sound... uh, sounded; and Sylvia looked over her shoulder  to see a large section of the ground sliding open. Walking forward, she kneeled down to see a red rectangle, before reaching in and pulling it out, blowing dust off. It was an old, red book with a golden, six-fingered hand on the front that said '2'. 

She went back over to Dipper and tapped him on the shoulder. She held the book to him silently. Dipper took it and held it in front of him, looking down at the book. "Huh?? What...??" He leaned against the tree and opened it, Sylvia sliding down to read it, curling up next to him so she could look over his shoulder.

"'It's hard to believe it's been six years since I began studying the strange and wondrous secrets of Gravity Falls, Oregon,'" Dipper read, eyes scanning the pages, before flipping through all of them. "What is all this--" he stopped on a page that read 'Trust No One!' "Unfortunately, my suspicions are being confirmed-- I'm being watched. I must hide this journal. Remember-- there is no one you can trust.'" He shut the journal. "No one you can trust..."

"HELLO!!" yelled Mabel. Dipper yelped and nearly hit himself in the face with his book, and Sylvia jerked slightly in surprise. Mabel's brown eyes narrowed in mock suspicion. "Why, Dipper! I had no idea you were such a charmer!!"

"Huh?? What do you--" Dipper turned to see Sylvia's face inches from his, and her face flushed hot red, as well as his. "Oh. Uh... I-- that-- was not on purpose..." He trailed off, leaning away. Sylvia did so as well, blushing. 

Mabel cocked an eyebrow, waggling it. "If you say so~" She sang, before leaning forward. "So whatcha reading? Some nerd thing??"

"U-uh; i-it's nothing!!" Dipper said, waving his hands quickly. Mabel made a slight 'derp' face before waving her hands in the air. "'U-uh, i-it's nothing!!'" She joked, before swiping her hand and smacking Dipper on the arm. "Come ON!! Are you really not gonna tell me?!"

Dipper hesitated. "Well..."

The goat from before started chewing on the edge of the journal, and Dipper said, "Let's go 

x. X. X.x

"It's insane! Grunkle Stan said I was paranoid, but according to this book, Gravity Falls has this secret dark side!" Dipper said excitedly. Sylvia was sitting on the floor, watching him walk around. He caught the odd look she was giving him. "Oh, Grunkle is just a shorter way of saying great-uncle," Dipper explained.

"Wow, you speak... Sylvia-ese!" Mabel said, wiggling her hands. "And. Shut. Up!" She jokingly shoved her brother.

Sylvia tilted her head. She'd never had a sibling before, but most people would take SUCH offense at such actions.

"And get this-- after a certain point, the pages just stop, like the guy who was writing it just-- vanished," Dipper said, waving his hands expansively. Sylvia stood up and reached into a nearby bookshelf, before pulling out a mystery book. Walking up to him, she pointed at him. 

"Me?" Dipper asked, and Sylvia nodded and put a thumb up. Dipper scratched his head. "... good??" Sylvia shook her head and tilted her head, before Mabel's eyes widened. "WAAAAIIIIT do you mean 'LIKE'! Like a Facebook like!"

Sylvia nodded furiously at Mabel, before looking back at Dipper and pointing at her book. "... mysteries!" Dipper said, snapping his fingers. Sylvia nodded with a big smile as Dipper pieced together, "I like mysteries? Yeah, they're my favorite genre!"

Sylvia grinned, wide enough to show teeth. She liked mysteries... or, at least, she thought she did. From what she remembered about life before... the incident.

She pointed at herself. "Uh, me..." Sylvia nodded and put up two fingers. "Oh, me too!" Dipper interpreted, and Sylvia nodded and put her thumb up.

The doorbell rang, and Dipper turned. "Who's that??"

Mabel giggled. "Guess it's time to spill the beans." She tipped over a can of beans that was just... conveniently sitting... on the table. "Whoop! Beans," she giggled. "This girl's got a date!"

Sylvia applauded (non-sarcastically) as Dipper raised an eyebrow. "Let me get this straight-- in the half-hour I was gone; you got yourself a boyfriend??"

"I guess I'm just IRRESISTIBLE!!" The doorbell rang twice, and Mabel looked over, her mass of long brown hair spilling over the couch seat. "Oh, COMING!!" Jumping up she ran to the front door. Dipper settled down in the chair a bit more while Sylvia examined the floor. Mr. Pines came in and said to Dipper, casually, "Whatcha reading there, slick??"

Sylvia watched as Dipper quickly threw the book under a seat cushion and yanked the magazine off of the table nearby. "Oh, uh, I was just catching up on, uh..." His expression changed to one of confusion. "Gold Chains for Old Men Magazine??"

Sylvia wondered if she wanted to know. She decided she didn't.

"That's a good issue," Mr. Pines said casually. Sylvia decided that she DEFINITELY didn't want to know.

"Hey family! Say hello to my new boyfriend!" Mabel said, walking into the room. Her boyfriend was a guy wearing a black hoodie with brown hair hanging over one eye and jeans. He had a little...

Sylvia's eyes widened by a single hair. Was that blood on his face?!

"'Sup??" asked the guy.

"Hey," said Dipper. Sylvia waved. Mr. Pines said casually, "How's it hanging??"

"We met at the cemetery. He's really deep," Mabel gushed, squeezing the boy's arm. A slight look of surprise came across her expression. "Oh! A bit of muscle there. That's... what a surprise," she mumbled, making Sylvia grin slightly.

Dipper looked a bit suspicious, but he continued, "So what's your name??"

"N-normal... MAN," blurted out the boy. Sylvia raised an eyebrow as Mabel gazed dreamily at him. "He means Norman."

Dipper's eyes narrowed even more. "Are you bleeding, Norman??" Ah, so he'd noticed it too.

Norman looked at the 'blood' or whatever it was dripping down his cheek before saying, gruffly, "It's jam."

Mabel gasped, clapping her hands to her cheeks. "I love jam!"

Norman shifted. "So... do you wanna go.. hold hands or... whatever?"

Mabel gasped again. "Oh, oh my goodness..." She then giggled, before skipping out the door. "Don't wait up!"

Norman waved. Or, at least, he tried, but he ended slapping himself in the face. Then when he tried to leave he ran smack-dab into a wall.

Sylvia raised an eyebrow but said nothing, but when she looked over at Dipper the two of them nodded slightly.

The two of them retreated to the attic, Dipper putting the journal flat on the floor so Sylvia could read it. Even so the two of them were shoulder to shoulder. "Okay, let's see.. 'known for their pale skin and bad attitudes, these nefarious creatures are often mistaken as... teenagers?! Beware Gravity Falls' evil..." Dipper gasped. Sylvia's eyes widened again, putting a hand to her mouth as Dipper whirled to face her, eyes wide. "ZOMBIE!!" he yelled.

Sylvia covered her ears while Dipper screamed, before turning to the window. Her eyes widened a bit and she grabbed Dipper's shoulder. Dipper quickly turned to the window to see Norman staggering towards Mabel, arms outstretched. Dipper looked as though he were about to have a panic attack. "Oh no-- MABEL!!"

They leaned forward to see what would happen. Norman put his hands around Mabel's neck, and Dipper looked as though he were going to jump out the window to try to save Mabel, but Sylvia put a hand on his shoulder as Norman backed away, revealing a daisy chain.

Dipper gasped and put his hand to his head, looking panicked. Sylvia didn't really know how to deal with panicking boys, so she just awkwardly patted him on the back as he spoke. "Is my sister really dating a zombie, or am I just going nuts??"

"It's a dilemma, to be sure," Soos spoke up, making Dipper yelp slightly. Soos continued, "I couldn't help but overhear you talkin' to yourself in this empty room."

"Soos, you've seen Mabel's boyfriend-- he has to be a zombie, right?!" Dipper said to Soos. Soos used the wrench he was holding to scratch his head. "Hmm... depends. How many brains did you see the guy eat??"

Dipper deflated a bit. "... zero."

"Hey dude, I believe you. I'm always noticing weird stuff in this town. Like the mailman?? Pretty sure that guy's a werewolf."

Sylvia blinked as Soos continued, "But ya gotta have evidence. Otherwise people are going to think you're a major league cuckoo clock."

"As always, Soos, you're right," said Dipper calmly. Sylvia sat back as Soos said, "My wisdom is both a blessing, and a curse. Also, are you two dating??"

"What? No, wh--" Dipper flushed pink. Sylvia realized she'd left her hand on his back by accident, and snatched it away, the color of a pomegranate. 

Soos raised an eyebrow, but before he could comment Mr. Pines yelled, "Soos! The portable toilets are clogged again!!" He turned back to the two of them, said calmly, "I am needed elsewhere," and walked off.

Dipper frowned thoughtfully, before turning to Sylvia. "Hey, there's no way to ask this question, but... could you help me find some evidence? You know, to prove Norman's a zombie."

Sylvia nodded with a small smile. Taking a small pad of paper off of the desk, she wrote 'Seems like fun' on it before showing it to Dipper.

Dipper grinned when he saw her answer. "Um... thanks. I know you don't have to, but... thanks."

She nodded again.

This DEFINITELY proved to be a very interesting summer.