The new girl in Gravity Falls; by Joona Irene

The importance of players

By Joona Irene

~~still Dipper POV~~

        Nowhere. Lilac was nowhere. It was dark by the time we gave up. Every store, restaurant, we even checked people's homes. Nowhere.
I slumped onto the recliner, defeated. Mabel had her chin in her hand and sighed.
        "I really thought she'd be under that bench." she said wearily. Grunkle Stan walked in and yawned.
        "You kids are still up? It's unnatural for children to be awake for so long." he said, confused. "Don't tell me you're looking for that girl again...Lilac, was her name?"
        "She just left!" I said, throwing my hands in the air. "We checked every where! Mabel even looked under crates and benches. Why would Lilac just leave..." Light bulb. "Mabel!" I looked at her. "The bus station! What if she actually...left?"
        "No, she wouldn't." Mabel said, concerned. "She would have said goodbye first, wouldn't she?"
        "Not if Bill got to her." I said darkly. I grabbed my jacket. "Let's go check the bus station."

        "Nope." said the man. "I haven't seen any girl with really white hair all day. Sorry kids. Also, what are you doing up so late?"
        "Are you sure?" I asked, desperate. "You have to be sure!"
        "I'm as sure as I am positive that it's gonna rain tomorrow." said the man. He tipped his hat before walking back into the station. Mabel and I sighed again.
        "Okay, so she didn't leave," Mabel said, a small smile on her face. "But she's still here in town. Maybe she went back to the tree? Doesn't she normally sleep there?"
        "Yeah, okay." I agreed. "And if she isn't there, then we'll go back to the shack and...look again..."
       
        We stared up through the branches.
        "LILAC!" Mabel cried. "LILAC ARE YOU THERE?"
        "She isn't here, Mabel." I said, tired. "She's just hiding."
        "Yeah, that's the spirit Dipper." Mabel punched my arm with a smile. "It's just one big game of hide and seek!"
        "Ow!" I said, rubbing it. "That wasn't what I meant."
        "But that's how I heard it!" she said pointedly. Then she yawned. "C'mon Dipper, let's go home."
Lying awake, I heard Mabel toss and turn in her bed. I couldn't sleep either. From being tired all day to running around town and then worrying about a girl who might not be a girl in the first place, I needed rest. But my eyes just wouldn't close. I looked over at Mabel, then threw my blanket over my head. I pulled out the journal and flipped to the very back, where I'd hidden the scrap of paper we found in the tunnel.
        I took out the flashlight I hid under my pillow and studied it. It matched the paper alright. I compared the scrap to every page, looking for any difference at all. I couldn't find any.
        Why is that important? I wondered. If the Author wrote in a journal under the tunnels, then...what? Did he write more? And why couldn't we find anything else? Why just the one page?
        I looked along the seams of the journal, searching for a sign that a page was torn out. But again, nothing.
        I yawned and turned off the flashlight. I slid the journal and flashlight back under my pillow and closed my eyes, still contemplating all those questions.

        "Hey Pine tree!" I opened my eyes quickly, recognizing that voice.
        "Bill!" I groaned. "Go away! L-Leave me alone!"
        "Not a chance kid." Bill said, floating in a relaxed position. "You force my hand!" He held a deck of cards out, and began shuffling them.
        "Why do you keep visiting me? What do you want?"
        "What I want?" Bill laughed. "Kid, let me tell you something. Do you know how hard it is to play a game by yourself? You need players!" With that, he broke the deck, letting all the cards spill outwards into the empty blackness we were in. I swatted away the ones that flew in my face.
        "So this is all just a game to you?" I asked angrily. "Why is Lilac involved?"
        "Lilac?" Bill cackled. "She's the most important of you all!"
        "Why?" I demanded. Bill blinked slowly. Or maybe he was winking, it was difficult to tell with just the one eye.
        "Do you really want to know?" Bill asked. He waved his hand and the ace of spades appeared. He grabbed it from the inky black, looking at it.
        "Of course I want to know!" I yelled. "I want you to leave her out of this! She's just a girl-"
        "You don't believe that!" Bill said, throwing the card at me. "Don't lie to yourself kid it's a sign of low self esteem." He laid back in the empty air. "So you wanna know why Lilac is important, huh? I can tell you. Or, if you prefer..." Suddenly he was holding a piece of paper. The ace of spades card was still floating in between us, slowly floating closer to me. I tried to look closer at whatever Bill was holding now, but all I saw was a murky black figure amongst messy hand writing.
        "What is that?" I asked softly. "What does that have to do with Lilac?"
        "Oh, it's just a documentation made by the same author of the other three journals. Nothing super special. It has a partial record of a creature that's been kept secret from the world, a creature that's erased itself many times from the tapestry of time."
        "Wha...I don't understand." I said, still confused.
        "Kid, this is possibly the biggest secret to Lilac you'll ever get. And I'm practically handing it to ya. Of course you'll have to give me something in return, but that can be discussed later." The page disappeared into thin air. "The page is hidden somewhere and I know it's exact location. So, wanna find it?"
        "N-No." I said. "I don't. No more deals, Bill! That's got nothing to do with Lilac and I'm not falling for your tricks ever again!"
        "Tut Tut Pine tree." Bill chastised. He reached for the playing card and it snapped back into his hand. He fiddled with it. "Next time I won't be so generous."

        I woke up with a gasp. It was very, very early in the morning. I moaned, rubbing my eyes. I looked over at Mable, and smiled when I saw she was sound asleep. Then I felt a wave of exhaustion wash over me. I slumped over, my eyes blinking slowly, still sticking to their lids a little. Why can't Bill just leave us alone?