~~~~~~~~~Gabe's POV~~~~~~~~~

Hours passed since then. The moment we got home, Dad started giving me another one of his long lectures. As mentioned before, he's always been strictly against violence, so he's always a little mad when I get into a fight. On the other hand, Mom was just proud that I won the fight, as usual.

After that, I went to my room and passed out on my bed the moment my head landed on my pillow. I was still so tired from everything that my body could barely handle standing up, not to mention confused.

But for the moment, I let everything go, and let myself rest for the first time in a while.

However, in the middle of the night, I was awaken by a sudden force. It was as if the sound of my heartbeat grew ten times louder, for only a second, shaking my whole body awake.

I looked out of my window, a pit forming in my stomach. We felt the same thing earlier back at the treehouse, the same force that lasted for only a second. It wasn't painful or anything, more of a sense we had, like some sort of calling.

And I couldn't just let it be..

Grabbing his winter clothes and quickly getting changed, I opened my window and climbed out, walking into the cold woods.

The only sound around me were my footsteps as they crushed the snow beneath by shoes, along with the quiet wind that zoomed through the trees. Still, there was something clearly wrong with the forest, a change I had never felt before.

If only my aunt Alyse were here, or her son Alister, they can easily sense whatever happens in the forest faster than any of us.

Not too much time had passed when I heard other footsteps close to me, my body tensing up. I still wasn't fully healed from my fight, but I had recovered at least half of my energy by now, so I got ready for whatever watched me through the trees.

...

"Gabriel..?"

My shoulders rose up a little, turning to see Lara standing a little far from me, only her face was visible because of her clothes, and I could see the confusion on her face. "What are you doing out here..?"

I didn't reply; she hasn't attacked us since we spoke to her again, but could I really fully trust her? I wasn't sure.

But I didn't need to answer, she already knew, her face darkening a little. "You felt it too, didn't you..? That weird force..?"

"... yeah, I did.. I'm trying to look for what's doing this."

"Me too, I worry something may be wrong with this place.. But I haven't found anything out of the ordinary.."

I didn't sense any lies from her, so I let myself relax, if only a little, then looked around. "We have to keep an eye out, anything can be found here."

"Yeah.."

That's how the two of us continued searching around together. Though, as we continued walking, a question started to bug my head, looking over at the girl with the pink hair.

"... Hey Lara?"

"Yeah..?"

"Why did you come back to Gravity Falls?"

I noticed her face grow a shade paler, biting her lip as her ears flattened back a little. She then let out a small sigh, sticking her hands in her jacket pockets.

"To tell you the truth, I had no intentions of ever coming back here, it just brings me back to all the horrible things I did.. But one day, I got this weird letter telling me to come back, and since it's my last year of high school, I decided to move until summer.. I thought that maybe you or someone in your family sent that letter, but none of you ever asked me about it, so I know it's not yours.."

"Is that why you were so nervous when I approached you?"

"Partially, yeah.."

I thought for a while, my thoughts connecting. "Maybe the one who sent the letter was Courtney. You did say she appeared in your home out of the blue, and just happened to know you and your dad."

"It would make sense.. Though I still don't fully understand why she wants to bring him back.. I doubt he wants to come back here either.."

"Mm."

However, I stopped walking when I noticed her freeze in place, her eyes glowing a bright lime green, her already small pupils shrinking even more.

"Lara?"

No answer, she simply stared right at me. Or more accurately, staring passed me. But there was nothing behind me, at least, nothing I could see, and I didn't sense anything either.

She took a sharp gasp, eyes going back to normal as she breathed a bit heavily. "Duck!"

"What?"

"DUCK!!"

Before I could react, she threw herself at me, wrapping her arms around my torso and forcing us both to fill to the ground, when a sharp noise soured above us.

I groaned a little at the sudden force against my back, then opened my eyes, seeing a sharp dagger deeply stabbed into the tree right next to us, my eyes widened.

"What the hell..?!"

Lara pulled away, grabbing my arm and pulling me up, both of us now standing as we looked at the direction the dagger came from.

A cold chill went down my spine as I saw Wes slowly walking over to us, his previously hazel eyes glowing a deep pink, holding another one of the same dagger. He then raised his hand, and the dagger than was stabbed into the tree quickly zoomed back to his hand, now gripping both.

"So, we meet again, Anderson~.."

Thanks for reading!!! 'Till next time!!!

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