Dipper continued stepping away from the bushes nearby, careful not to make a sound. Suddenly, from not too far away, he could hear his twin sister's voice. Dipper guessed that he couldn't be far from the Mystery Shack now. "Okay..." he muttered to himself. "I guess I'll have to run for it.... Not far now!" Then he turned tail and fled, although he felt like he was forgetting something; the journal! He whipped around, expecting to come face to face with some terrible beast.
"Dipper!" a voice called. "Hey, look. It's me! Look! No, no, down here!" Dipper did as the voice he recognised vaguely said, and found himself spotting a small gnome waving its arms at him.
"Yo- you? Jeff, right?" he exclaimed.
"That's the name," the gnome replied.
"What are you doing around here?" Dipper questioned.
"Just hanging around - also, saw some weird lights coming from over here," Jeff answered. "What's that all about? Been going on for a while, but all of a sudden... WHOOP, Schmebulock begins to float! Then, one after the other, all of us follow!"
"Oh..." Dipper said. "Well, I noticed that too, but I don't know anything about it. Mysteries left unsolved, I guess?"
"Well figure it out!" the annoyed gnome cried. "Because out home ain't any good anymore."
Dipper slowly began to take a few steps back. This was something he'd rather not get involved in. The gnomes had caused him and Mabel (and, presumably, a few others) problems during the summer. Nothing all that threatening, however they'd rather avoid Jeff and the others. "Look, my sister's calling me, I gotta go!" Dipper explained hurriedly. "I'll, err... if I figure it out, I'll come find you. And Schmebulock."
"Hmm... okay then," Jeff agreed. "Promise?"
"Err, yeah. Uh, promise," Dipper answered. Jeff then instantly took his leave.
"Where's the journal...?" Dipper murmured as he glanced around, searching for the precious book. "Wai- wait...its at the Mystery Shack." He rolled his eyes at his own forgetfulness. Dipper then rushed off back in the direction of the shack to find Mabel. "Mabel! Are you oka-" he cut himself off. Bill Cipher was here. Why? "Bill? Mabel, what's going on?" he shouted, just as Bill zipped off into the Mystery Shack.