Dipper and Mabel had a lot of explaining to do in order for Stan to let them borrow the car for their hunt. And by explaining, Wendy soon realized that the twins had really meant lying.

"We're getting some fake ectoplasm for a new exhibit I came up with," Mabel explained in front of Stan's desk in his office. Dipper stood by her side, trying to look as professional as possible by nodding and adding his own comment every so often.

During their weekend hunt, they planned on hopefully returning with some real ectoplasm. Saying it was all fake was only a precaution to cover up their real mission. The twins knew how Stan felt about the supernatural, and he didn't want the twins to have anything to do with it.

"I know a place where we can get some downtown. The customers will pay to have a 'real' experience with a ghost. Someone can dress up as a ghost, and we'll dump the ectoplasm on the customers after a signal."

Mabel finished and waited for Stan's thoughts.

He nodded slowly with a considerate expression on his face.

"People paying money to get covered head to toe in some kind of mysterious liquid? I love it!" Stan exclaimed. "But you only get the car for forty-eight   hours, if there's any damage, it's commin' out of your paychecks."

Dipper frowned. "You don't pay us in the first place."

"Well then, how about I ground you instead?"

Mabel crossed her arms. "Grounding us is the only card you've been using lately. . .it really doesn't seem like a big deal anymore. You've kinda worn it out."

"I could extend your working hours. . ." Stan said a little louder this time. His eyes suddenly lit up and a mischievous smile tugged at the wrinkled corners of his mouth "Or I could frame that picture of you in that old lamb costume. . ."

Dipper's face reddened. "Okay, okay! It's deal," he said frantically. He snatched the keys from Stan's hands before marching out of the office.

Mabel giggled and followed behind while singing, "who wants a lamby, lamby lamby? I do! I do!"

"Mabel! Now is not the time to talk about The Lamby Dance!"

Soos, who had been waiting outside of the office, stopped Dipper after the two had exited the room.

"What's The Lamby Dance?" he asked curiously.

"It's nothing," said Dipper. "Just forget it."

"It's this adorable dance mom use to make him do when we were kids!" Mabel took her phone and showed Soos a picture of a young Dipper dressed in a frilly lamb costume.

Soos laughed and leaned in for a closer look.

"That's so embarrassing!"

Dipper crossed his arms indignantly and remained silent until they were done gawking over the picture.

"Can we please get a move on? We're burning daylight!"

Mabel tried her best to hide her smile and stop her giggling. "Sure, Mister Grumpy Grumps."

She grabbed some bags that had been pre-packed and walked outside to place them in the car. Soos and Dipper did the same with other things such as snacks, sleeping bags, flashlights, and other supplies.

"Hey everyone," Wendy greeted when she arrived with her own luggage.

"Sup!" Mabel smiled and helped Wendy throw her bags into the trunk before slamming it shut. "Ready for the ultimate weekend?"

"You know it!" Wendy followed everyone into the car and took the seat next to Soos in the back seat.

"I've never been on a road trip before," he told Wendy with a bright look of optimism and curiosity in his eyes.

Mabel turned to face them from her position in the passengers seat. "It's a lot of fun. Dipper and I never really got to go anywhere until we started coming here every summer."

Dipper nodded and gripped the steering wheel wistfully. "Yep. Summers were pretty dull back in plain, ole' Piedmont."

"Summers were pretty dull for me too, until I met you. . . guys. Just so you know," Wendy said quickly. She almost referred to Dipper alone, which would have been beyond embarrassing. If she hadn't caught her mistake, she probably would've considered throwing herself out of the moving car. The only flaw to that plan, was that Dipper hadn't turned the key yet. When he did, the old engine seemed to literally cough and sputter as a thick cloud of black smoke erupted from the exhaust pipe.

"Aw that's so sweet, Wendy!" Mabel replied. She turned back to her brother. "And that didn't sound too good. Are you sure this old clunker's gonna last this weekend?"

Dipper laughed. "Ha, let's just keep our fingers crossed it actually survives the first trip downtown."

When he pressed his foot down on the gas, the car sped forward, smashing itself into a tree. Everyone screamed as the car jolted backward and they were thrown back against the leather seats.

Wendy gasped and gripped the back of Mabel's seat.

"Dipper, do you actually know how to drive this thing??"

"Well. . ." Dipper said slowly. He seemed to be at a loss for words. ". . .I never exactly got my license."

"He failed the test three times in a row!" Mabel exclaimed. Her giggles had resurfaced.

"What about you, Mabel?" Wendy asked.

"Pffft, I can barely trust Mabel to drive the golf cart across the parking lot," Dipper scoffed.

"Are you telling us that this is illegal?!" Soos shouted. His pupils shrank and he stiffened in fear. "I don't think I'm very comfortable with you guys driving anymore."

Dipper turned back to the wheel.

"No, it's okay. I know how to drive. The pedals are just a little touchy, is all. Like Stan always says, 'If we just avoid the cops, we'll be alright'."

This time he carefully switched to reverse, ever so slightly pressed down on the gas, and the car backed away from the tree as if the whole fiasco had never happened.

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

The drive was much longer than either Wendy or Soos had anticipated. It had taken over an hour to reach their destination.

"Here we are," Mabel said in a voice that reminded Wendy of a quirky tour guide or a flight attendant.

Soos and Wendy leaned forward in their seats to take
in the view from behind the windshield. A small yet intimidating convenience store loomed ahead of them. Cobwebs were strung between the windows while yellow police tape was wrapped around the entrance. The warning signs now came across as more of a challenge, like starting a new round in a video game.

"There aren't spiders here, are there? I hate spiders." Soos cringed and seemed to vibrate in his seat.

"Spiders aren't what we need to be worrying about," Dipper replied. This didn't seem to help Soos, who now stared at the twins with a fear-stricken gaze.

Without any further advice, he stepped out of the car and moved to the trunk to unpack. Everyone else did the same. Soon enough, all four now had an assortment of bags slung over their shoulders and were staring at the store, waiting for someone to make the first move.

"Come on, let's go kick some ectoplasmic butt!" Mabel exclaimed before courageously marching forward and proceeding to rip away the boards and police tape that cluttered the entryway.

Dipper and Wendy stepped forward to help while Soos stood aside and watched rather awkwardly while the work was done.

"Aha! Now we're in!" Mabel grabbed hold of the doors and pulled. Nothing happened. It was as if the doorway had been glued shut.

"Locked," Dipper muttered. He rubbed his chin and examined the lock. The only way in would have to be by key, which they didn't have. This meant the only option would be to pick the lock.

"You know the drill." Dipper nodded towards Mabel.
She took a clip from her hair, brushed the loosened lock of hair behind her ear, and jammed the clip into the lock.

"This might be a while, so you guys might as well get comfortable," Mabel said.

Wendy and Soos sat down on edge of the sidewalk that led to the store's front. Meanwhile, Dipper helped Mabel by handing her various tools she requested.

Only a few minutes passed before Wendy heard the sounds of bicycles being furiously pedaled. The noise was accompanied by the sound of a different kind of wheel, like a skateboard grinding against the concrete of the paved street.

The noises were vaguely familiar to Wendy. Almost nostalgic.

Then it hit her. Could it possible be? But Tambry would never. . . but then again, they hadn't really been hanging out a lot lately. It wouldn't exactly come as a surprise for her friends to deliberately track her down.

So Wendy watched as her friends came into view, like a gang of bikers. Only, they were actually much less intimidating on their assortment of bikes, skateboards, and rollerblades.

Tambry led the group on her black and pink skateboard, she wasn't wearing a helmet, most likely just so people could see her bright purple-dyed hair. Lee and Nate followed closely behind on their old bikes. Thompson was obviously struggling to keep up with the others because of his neon green and yellow rollerblades, making him the oddball of the group.

Wendy stood up from the sidewalk and watched stoically as her friends skidded to a halt and removed their protective gear.

"Sup, Wendy!" they greeted her in unison.

"What're you guys doing here!?" Wendy exclaimed rather coldly.

Tambry stepped forward after picking up her skateboard and tucking it under her arm. "We're here to join the ghost hunt, right guys?"

The boys nodded while exchanging looks of pure excitement towards one another.

"You can't! It's way too dangerous! Besides, we haven't even finished picking the lock, yet."

"I can pick a lock," Tambry suggested. Without waiting to get Wendy's approval, Tambry walked ahead toward Dipper and Mabel. The twins turned away from the door, looking surprised to see the group of kids.

"Step aside, let the master do her work," Tambry said boldly, taking the hair clip from Mabel and jamming it into the lock herself. Everyone fell silent in utter fascination. It had only been a minute before Tambry pushed the doors open, then dropped the clip back into Mabel's hands.

"What the- how did you. . .?" Mabel sputtered, looking back and forth from the doors to Tambry.

"Who are you?" Dipper asked, looking confused. "Wendy, do you know this girl?"

Wendy felt her stomach drop like she had just fastened her seatbelt on a rollercoaster.

"Maybe," was all she could bear to answer.

Tambry rolled her eyes and wrapped an arm around Wendy. "Yeah, she does. I'm Tambry, her best friend."
Tambry's voice was dripping with the attitude of a much older teen. She narrowed her eyes and began loudly chewing and smacking her gum.

"The real question is who are you two losers?"

Dipper and Mabel shared a look of obvious dislike.

"I'm Dipper and she's my sister, Mabel." Dipper locked eyes with Wendy. "Wendy, I want to talk to you, alone," he added.

Tambry didn't loosen her grip on Wendy's shoulder, so she practically had to pry her arm away before joining Dipper. He motioned for her to walk into the store with him so they could have the most privacy.
Mabel closed the door behind them, then turned to face the kids with a look that a strict teacher might give her disobedient students.

"How did they find us?" Dipper asked. "And how did Tambry know about the hunt?"

He didn't sound angry this time. His eyes looked pleading, like he knew that Wendy was capable of stepping up and being responsible for her actions.

Wendy closed her eyes and quickly prayed that she would be strong enough to do so, to tell the truth.

When she opened her eyes she immediately and quickly responded to Dipper's question. She spoke fast, as if hoping that the sooner the answer left her mouth, the more gently Dipper would react.

"I was talking to her over the phone last night. She thinks that I'm weird for hanging out with you and Mabel instead of our friends. I didn't like what she was saying about you and Mabel, so I tried to defend you. Instead, I accidentally spilled the mission. I didn't mean to, I swear! If you only heard how she talked about your family, I had to defend you. . ."

Wendy fell silent and stared up at Dipper.

"I know that you've had to forgive me a lot lately, but I hope that you can try to again. Just one last time."

Dipper smiled and bent down on one knee. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and said, "don't be so hard on yourself. You're only human. We all make mistakes! It means the world to me that you told the truth. Never forget that Wendy. As long as you're honest with me, there's no way I'll run out of forgiveness."

Wendy's knees began to tremble, threatening to buckle. She had never felt so light-weighted in her entire life. For the moment, she felt like she had left earth. Right now, it was just her and Dipper. Floating in space.

Dipper stood up.

"Let's get out of here, I'll tell them to leave. You can tell them it's my fault if they blame you. I wouldn't want for your reputation to be tarnished," he told Wendy with a wink.

Wendy beamed and followed behind him as he pushed the doors.

They didn't open.

"What's going on?" Dipper muttered and shoved his shoulder against the glass. He pounded his fist on the glass. Mabel turned to face him. She detected the alarm in his voice and tried opening the door from the outside.

No luck.

"The doors are locked," Dipper told Wendy. "They're not budging."

Wendy slowly backed away from the doors. She nervously peered around the dark interior of the store. "We- we're trapped? Are you sure?"

Dipper scanned the room and protectively placed his hands on both of Wendy's shoulders.

"Don't worry, there's gotta be a way out of here."

The temperature suddenly dropped. A strange feeling seeped through Wendy's skin and settled into her bones. Her stomach churned and her normal heart beat changed into a strange skipping pattern.

"You won't be leaving any time soon, young trespassers."

Wendy screamed jumped at the sound of an unidentified voice. Dipper wrapped his arms tightly around her, shielding her.

"Who's there?!" Dipper shouted furiously.

The strange voice's response sent chills down both of their spines. . .

"Your worst nightmare."