Halloween was Miss. Anabelle Knight's favourite time of the year. In school anyway. She thought is was great fun for everybody to dress up for the day - teachers and students alike - and she took it in her stride. Her costume changed drastically every year; once she was a fictional detective, the next year she was a fairy. Some called her childish but much to their chagrin, she wholeheartedly agreed. Why would she become a teacher if she did not love children?
There was one person who wasn't childish though and it bothered her. Dipper Pines. An enigma if ever she saw one. He never misbehaved - that's what children did - he always had a mask of indifference upon his face - but children were normally hyper-emotional, weren't they? He never seemed to listen in class - normal - but he got 100% in every test he did - not normal. His notes were written in strange languages, he wore a long shirt or a sweater all the time even in the blistering California heat. And that truckers hat. Once she even caught him murmuring to him self. She had only seen him smile once. His sister had a hand on his elbow, a reassuring gesture, and was smiling softly at him; he was echoing the smile but with a hint of relief mixed in.
His twin was also strange. Mabel Pines. However her strangeness was completely different to Dipper's. Always slightly too loud, bright, energetic. Her obsession with stickers, sweaters and friends tended to make her a tad overwhelming for other kids, save a couple. She wasn't mysterious… Or was she? One of Anabelle's standard after summer activities was having the children write about their summer. Both of the Pine twins simply sat in silence, staring at their paper almost as if they were trying to… will it away.
Halloween always made even the stoniest of students crack a smile - she'd seen it. Something about their peers making fools of themselves made people laugh. It worked for everybody else, it would work for Dipper Pines.
Anabelle was carrying on her tradition with a fairytale this year. They were fascinating and a new one had caught her attention recently. It was hardly a fairytale but she wasn't sure what else to call it; old folklore? It was strange, about a demon but not the usual kind - all red and burning - this demon was yellow and a triangle of all things. Strange. But interesting.
She had painted her face with the triangular deity. Bought a cheap pale suit and dyed it yellow, black bow tie to top it off. She liked it. It turned out Dipper did not.
\000/
Mabel was in first, she always was, Dipper came straight after, he always did.
"Heya Miss. Knight!" Called Mabel, that too wide yet somehow sincere smile like a beacon on her face. Slowly, as Mabel took in Anabelle's appearance, that beacon began to fade. "Uh, Miss, what are you wearing?"
Dipper's head had been stuck in a book but at this comment the hat covered head looked up. Anabelle had never seen such fear in a child's eyes before. She hoped she never would again. Sleeved arms fell to his side and pale hands shook, dropping the book. She stood shock still as the boys small frame shook more and more. Dipper backed up against the wall; eyes wide, head frantically moving side to side.
"You're gone," the other children were staring now, "you're gone," he slid down the wall, "you're gone".
Suddenly he was up like a rocket, "no," it was strained, "NO! NONONONONONONO!" in the blink of an eye he was gone, only the door swinging showing his departure. Then Mabel was up and on her way out shot Anabelle a look. 'change'. Anabelle threw off the yellow jacket and bow tie - there wasn't much she could do about the trousers - then politely asked the teacher next door to keep an eye on the kids. She took off at a sprint down the corridor while rubbing at her makeup with her sleeve.
She slowed when she heard a soft "it's okay, he's gone," coming from the boys toilets. At the sound of the door the twins tensed up. Anabelle's hands came up in front of her. "It's alright, just me," she whispered. Mabel gave an apologising look, Dipper was still panicking. Mabel took his hands and knelt down in front of him, looking into his eyes.
"What's your name?"
"Dipper Pines,"
"How old are you?"
"Thirteen,"
"Where are we?"
"Piedmont general high, California,"
"Is Bill here?"
"No,"
"Is Bill gone?"
"Yes,"
"Are we safe?"
There was a pause. "Yes". The shaking had ceased but Dipper was still breathing heavily. Mabel gave one more look to Anabelle before she spoke to her again.
"Sorry about that, we'll be heading back to class now," she moved for the door with Dipper in tow but Anabelle moved to block them.
"No," she didn't shout or scream, didn't ask, didn't command, it was a simple statement. "What was that?"
Mabel's expression was guarded, her eyes narrowed, almost as if she was evaluating an opponent. "You don't want to know,"
"Yes I do,"
"You wouldn't believe me,"
"You'd be surprised,"
"No I wouldn't," Dipper was standing on his own now, admittedly a bit wobbly. He started to pull up his top. Anabelle was confused, Mabel was confused too although seemed to know what he was doing. "Dipper?" He looked at her, then to Anabelle then back to Mabel.
"I trust her," he croaked. He coughed just as he got free from the confines of his shirt.
The scars were everywhere. Some looked like normal cuts, although the quantity was not normal, some looked like burns, some bites, some appeared to be puncture marks, some were intricate patterns and symbols that might have been beautifully fascinating were they not etched into human skin. His back was the same story but one thing - a large wheel was an angry red against his pale skin. It had symbols around the outside and in the centre… "Bill Cipher. That's his name. He's not a fairytale."
The stories never gave a name. Here it was. And this boy hadn't read a story. He'd lived a nightmare.
"Dipper always protected me so I'm not anywhere close to him in scars. Bill never really targeted me either, I was never possessed or anything. He took an interest to Dipper though."
"He's real?" Annabelle paled.
"Not any more," Dipper's mouth was set in a hard line, "no more."
\000/
The Pine twins explained all about their summer while Anabelle called reception claiming illness, they didn't leave out a single detail. It felt good to let it all out but Dipper knew it would be a long time until his scars even started to fade.