"Oh boy," Stan said under his breath as he examined the shelves, which seemingly stretched infinitely towards the ceiling. "Come on Stan. . . use that old brain of yours. . ."

Soos sat with his arms and legs sprawled out on the carpeted floor. "What about Dipper and Mabel's first summer in town? That had to be a pretty big year, right?"

Stan nodded in consideration. "It's better than nothing." He scanned the bookcase until he found the right shelf. He slid a latter down to the section, then climbed until he found a volume set titled Stan Mysteries. He took each book out and tossed them on the floor. Once the shelf was empty, he slid back down the latter to examine the books.

He picked up the first of the volumes, titled Mysteries of the Mystery Shack.

"Do we seriously have to read all of these?" He opened the book to the first chapter.  "Please let there be pictures." As he ran his finger along the first sentence, a screen appeared before him out of thin air. He paused and stared at it in amazement. "Soos! Are you seeing this?"

"What?" Soos asked, sitting up. He was sitting opposite of the screen, staring right through it.

Stan pointed at the screen. "It's right there!"

"What is?"

Stan lifted his finger from the page and the screen was gone. He frowned and pressed a finger down on the words once more. The screen appeared again. It was slightly transparent and flickered like an old screen of a television. The screen had a bluish tint, similar to holograms in the sci-fi movies that Dipper had always been obsessed with.

The beginning of the chapter opened with an outside view of the Mystery Shack. The screen appeared to be showing everything from Dipper's point of view, as if he was filming the experience with a camera.

"My sister and I were sent to Gravity Falls to stay with our strange uncle, Stan. He had turned his house into a tacky museum filled to the brim of all sorts of oddities and 'creatures'. He called the place 'The Mystery Shack'. The real mystery is why anyone came."

Stan moved to another chapter after deciding that the first chapter was nothing more than an introduction.

"Today, Mabel and I discovered a secret room hidden behind a bookcase."

Stan felt his pulse quicken as he watched Dipper's hand twist the old doorknob to reveal an old room filled with old furniture covered in thick layers of dust. Dipper's narration paused as he coughed.

"What is this place?" Past-Mabel asked. She picked up an old pair of glasses, smiled and placed them on the bridge of her nose. "Hey, look Dipper! I'm a smarty pants!" She puffed out her chest. "The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell!" she said in a deep voice.

"You're only saying that cause you heard it from an episode of Rob Fredrickson, the Biology Person."

Stan closed the book with a snap. His heart pounded wildly pounding in his chest. His vision clouded. He blinked quickly until his head stopped spinning.

"Are you okay?" Soos asked.

"Yeah. . . I'm fine," he lied. "Here, I'll show you how these books work."

"What do you mean? Don't you just. . .read them?"

"No, these are, like, magic or something." Stan demonstrated by placing Soos's hand on the first page of a different book.

Soos gasped when the screen appeared. "This is so cool!"

"You think you got the hang of it?"

"Yeah," Soos responded, though he was obviously distracted by his new fascination with the book.

"I'm going to go look around and see if there's anything we're missing," Stan said, which was mostly another lie. He desperately wanted some sort of an excuse to clear his mind.

"Yeah," Soos repeated.

Stan strolled across the carpeted floor until he approached a corner that led  him to another hall. He examined the shelves until he reached a gap in between the bookcases. He had almost walked right past it. It a door. The door seemed out of place. The entirety of the library had been strictly made up of infinite bookcases. Stan couldn't recall seeing a door at all until that moment. The sign next to it read Staff Only in big, red letters that seemed to yell at the reader.  Stan rolled his eyes.

He chuckled under his breath as he reached to turn the knob. "Staff only my-"

The door swung open as an Organizer Dipper walked out with his cart. He stifled a scream of surprise, then scowled.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I was just-"

"Didn't you read the sign?" He pointed at it with his thumb. "This room is for Dippers only. Are you a Dipper?"

"Uhh...yes?"

"I don't have time for this- just leave, okay? Go find somewhere else to snoop around," the Dipper said, sounding flustered. He hunched over and walked away with the squeaking of his cart slowly fading as he disappeared down the hall.

Stan glanced at the door. A mischievous smile tugged at his lips as he dug into the pocket of his suit jacket and fished out a paper clip. He twisted it into a sharp point before jamming it into the lock and wiggling it around until he heard a faint click. He opened the door and slid inside.

* * *

The library was silent, with the exception of Wendy mumbling to herself as she searched for the right book. Chandeliers hanging from the ceiling casted a golden glow across the room. The air was thick with the scent of paper and a hint of coffee beans. Several Organizer Dippers roamed the halls with squeaking carts, filled with new books to shelve.

She hadn't found anything useful. Most of the books she had seen were documentations of his earliest adventures in Gravity Falls. The most interesting titles she had found were The Legend of the Gobblewonker and The Ghost of NorthWest Manor. She picked out the second one to take a closer look at the cover, which displayed an illustration of 12 year-old Dipper and Pacifica. Wendy opened the book and plopped herself on the floor. She ran her fingers across the pages and stared intently at the screen.

The scene took place on a rainy day inside of the Mystery Shack. Dipper was sitting in the recliner, watching something on TV. He groaned when he heard a knock at the door before getting up to answer it. The door swung open to reveal a figure in a trench coat and sunglasses.

Wendy immediately recognized the blonde hair. It was a twelve year-old Pacifica NorthWest.

"I need your help," she said.

Wendy wasn't expecting what happened next.

Dipper took one look at Pacifica before replying, "You're the worst." He slammed the door in her face.

Wendy's jaw dropped open. How could Dipper have treated his girlfriend like that? This led her to believe that something had happened between them when they were younger, before they were a couple.

Pacifica knocked on the door again. Dipper answered it.

"Look, you think it's easy for me to come here? I don't want to be seen in this hovel!" Pacifica's nose scrunched up in disgust as she swatted away flies. She removed her sunglasses. "But there's something haunting NorthWest manor. If you don't help me, the party could be ruined!"

Wendy had forgotten about NorthWest Manor. Not that she forgot it existed, but the fact that Pacifica resided there. Pacifica acted nothing like she did when she was twelve. Wendy never thought of her as a rich brat. She was so humble and caring. Wendy couldn't believe that the girl she was watching was the same person.

"And why should I trust you?" Dipper asked. "All what you've ever done is try to humiliate me and Mabel."

"Just name your price, okay? I'll give you anything!"

Mabel appeared next to Dipper and greeted Pacifica with a wave. "Hi, Pacifica! Excuse us!" She pulled her brother inside.

"Don't you see what this means?" Mabel said. "If you help Pacifica, you could get us invites to the greatest party of all time!"

"What? Mabel, this is Pacifica we're talking about."

"But it's Candy and Grenda's dream!" Mabel pointed to her friends who were seated in the living room across from her. They nodded vigorously with eager smiles.

Dipper turned back to Pacifica. "Ugh. Fine. I'll bust your ghost. But, in exchange I'll need three tickets to the party."

Pacifica clenched her teeth and narrowed her eyes as she reached into her purse. "You're just lucky I'm desperate."
She handed Dipper three gem-studded envelopes, then put her sunglasses on again. She began to walk away but stopped to look over her shoulder.

"Aren't you coming?"

Dipper glanced down at his stained t-shirt  and socks. "Uh. . . I'm gonna need a few minutes."

"Make it quick. We don't have all night," Pacifica snapped.

Wendy skipped forward towards the middle of the book. The screen changed to an image of Pacifica and Dipper running through the halls of NorthWest manor. Dipper began to run into the room ahead. "A silver mirror! We can use it to trap the ghost!"

Pacifica held him back by the collar of his tux. "We can't go in there! It has my parents' favorite carpet pattern. They'll lose it if we track mud in there!"

"Are you serious!?" Dipper said, clenching his fists in anger. He took another step forward but Pacifica jumped in front of him to block the doorway.

"We'll find another way!"

"Pacifica, we don't have time for this! Let me through."

Pacifica pulled him away.
"No! My parents will kill me!"

Dipper pulled against her grip, trying to drag himself towards the room.
"Why are you so afraid of your parents?"

"You wouldn't understand!"

Wendy grew bored of all of the fighting and moved ahead a few pages. Dipper had trapped the ghost in a silver, hand-held mirror. He and Pacifica shared a smile before she wrapped her arms around him.  Dipper was caught off guard, but did the same.

Pacifica quickly drew back and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'll pay you to forget that ever happened."

Wendy moved on towards the very end of the book. The ghost had escaped from the mirror and wreaked havoc among the guests at the party. Everyone in the room had been frozen into statues made of wood. Everyone including Dipper. His hands were frozen in a way that suggested he had been reading the journal to find a way to stop the ghost, but had dropped it when the ghost got him.

"Pull the lever, NorthWest. Open the gate to the town," the ghost commanded. "Let in the commoners and fulfill your ancestors' promise."

Pacifica stood across the room from the ghost. Her eyes were locked on him as her hand slowly reached towards the lever beside the doors.

"Pacifica Elise NorthWest!" her father shouted from under a trap door with her mother at his side. "Stop this instant! We can't let those people see us like this. We have a reputation to uphold!"

Pacifica glanced at her parents, then back at the lever. Her fingers trembled with hesitation.

"You dare disobey us?" her father asked. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a golden bell.

Pacifica's eyes widened in terror as he rang the bell. She closed her eyes and looked away, wincing from the noise.

Her father's face grew crimson. "Is this thing broken?"

Pacifica opened her eyes and slammed her foot on the ground, silencing her father.

"Our family name is broken! And I'm going to fix it!" She pulled the lever. The doors swung open. A sea of shocked citizens stared back at her before flooding in with cries of joy.

The ghost dissipated along with the chaos he had caused. The room appeared as it had earlier that night. No one would've known what had occurred.

"I was wrong about you," Dipper said to Pacifica. "And I'm sorry about what I said back there."

Pacifica shrugged. "I deserved it."

"You did the right thing," he continued. "Just look at how happy everyone is!"
Dipper gestured to the townsfolk. They all talked and laughed as though they were having the time of their lives.

"I'm sure that next year my parents are just going to lock everyone out again."
Pacifica crossed her arms and looked away.

Dipper glanced down at the carpet and grinned. "Guess what we're stepping on."

Pacifica looked down, then back at Dipper. She laughed before pressing her shoe into the carpet and stomping the mud with the toes of her high heels.

Once they had their fair share of payback against her parents, Pacifica smoothed down the skirt of her dress and fixed her hair.

"But seriously, I'm have to find someone to clean this up."

Dipper stared after her with a longing smile as she made her way across the ballroom to tug at the sleeve of one of the butlers.

Wendy closed the book. The screen cut off before vanishing into thin air. She leaned against the bookcase and exhaled.

Their relationship hadn't been how Wendy originally viewed it. She never knew that it was Pacifica who relied on Dipper. Dipper was the one who helped her stand up against her parents, making her a better person.

The book wasn't the one she had been looking for, but the one Wendy didn't know she needed.

* * *

The room was as dark as pitch. Stan waved his arms in front of him until his hands brushed against a thin, metal chain. He tugged at it, illuminating a single light bulb that filled the room with a faint, yellow light. The room appeared to be used for storage. It was filled with stacks of boxes, overflowing with old tapes. In the center of the room rested an old, square television set.

Stan drew the conclusion that this room was used as a place where memories weren't suited to be shelved, yet were still too valuable to throw away where ever it was that memories went to die.

He approached one of the boxes and began searching through the tapes. Most of them were broken, dented, or falling apart with the film spilling out. The labels consisted of anything from old phone numbers, grocery lists, to study guides.

Once he reached the bottom of the box, he moved on to the next. He glanced down at his palm. The glowing hourglass was half empty. He still had time. Not much, but enough to continue his search.

This time, he moved through the tapes as quickly as possible. He scanned the titles at such a fast pace he could hardly process what he was reading. Finally, he found it. The tape labeled Stan's Safe.

Stan grinned out of excitement and relief. He turned to the television and slid the tape inside. He pressed the play button, and the screen filled with static before clearing to reveal a new scene, taking place inside of Stan's office.

"What are you doing in here?" Stan heard his own voice ask.

"No-nothing!" Dipper stammered, whipping around to face Stan.

"Were you trying to open that safe?"

There was a long pause before Dipper let out a sigh of defeat. "Yes. I'm sorry."

"First of all, you've got to stop looking through my stuff or I'll have to call your parents, and second of all, you weren't even picking the lock right."

Past-Stan bent down to the safe. He punched the code into the keypad, then opened it to reveal a single piece of paper resting inside.

"See? There's no buried treasure or anything exciting in there."

"What is it?" Past-Dipper asked.

"It's the deed to the Shack," Stan explained. "Now, will you stop sneaking in here?"

The screen flooded with static again before cutting off completely. The light bulb began flicking furiously before exploding, sending shards of glass flying through the air. Stan ducked and covered his head with his arms. He lifted his head and spun around on his heel when he heard a faint whisper.

"Who's there?!" he shouted. He quickly retrieved the tape before attempting to make a run for it. His shoe caught on a loose wire. He fell against a wall, gasping in pain as he slid down onto the cold, concrete floor. He felt bits of the broken glass biting into the skin on his palms.

There was another faint whisper. It was sharp, almost like the hiss of a snake. Stan shrank back as a familiar shadow began to form on the wall across from him. The slitted pupil of Bill Cipher glared down at him.

"Why if it isn't little Stanley Pines! Pleasure to see you again," Bill taunted.

"You're only getting this tape over my dead body," Stan growled, sticking it inside of his jacket.

Bill laughed. It sounded nothing like his usual cackle. This one was almost silent. It was bone chilling. "What makes you think I'm only here for the tape?"

"I'm not letting you in my mind again."

"Well obviously I couldn't get into your mind even if I wanted to," Bill said. "At least. . .not with that chain around your neck."

Stan reached a hand to the spot just above his chest where the chain rested. He had searched years for it. It had been forged with hair from the mane of a unicorn, which repelled dark spirits and unworldly beings from its wearer.

"If you don't want the tape, what do you want from me?"

"I'd like to offer you a deal. You see, it's not everyday I find one of my best customers in such a vulnerable position. Get rid of the chain and I'll spare the kids."

"You wouldn't!"

"Oh. I'd love to," Bill said smoothly. "I'm in need of some new puppets. And as a bonus, if you hand over the code, I'll spare that old shack of yours."

Stan felt his throat tighten. He knew that if Bill got his hands on the code, both he and and Gideon would have access to the Mystery Shack. Stan was familiar with Bill's deals, which never worked out as as he promised. Would Bill really spare Dipper and Mabel? Either way, Bill would win. There was no point in accepting or denying his offer.

"I'll give you some time to think about it," Bill said. "Use it wisely! There's not much left. . ." He snapped his fingers. Stan cried out when he felt his hand begin to burn.

He looked down at his palm to see the hour glass drain even faster until barely a quarter of the time was left. He looked up at Bill with narrowed eyes and bared teeth.

"See you soon," Bill cackled before disappearing, leaving Stan alone in the dark.
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A/N: I accidentally published part 6 for like one minute, which could've been awful because it would've spoiled the entire episode. I kinda had a mini heart-attack but thank goodness I realized what I did in time lol

The other two chapters are almost ready to go!! Then there's the very last episode (part 2 of the season 1 finale) which shall be announced once this episode is wrapped up.

Thanks for tuning in!