He woke up every night in a cold sweat, and sometimes in floods of tears as well, for no apparent reason. He wasn't stressed about anything, or upset or scared in any way… just lonely. He wasn't even homesick in spite of having limited contact with his parents for over a fortnight. Besides, it wasn't like he was away from his family. His twin sister was sleeping in the bed next to him and their great uncle was… somewhere.
This night was no different to any of the others.
Suddenly sitting bolt upright, he glanced over at Mabel, who was snoring softly in her sleep. Yellowish moonlight trickled in from the triangular window between the two single beds, illuminating the sullied floorboards and highlighting every crack, every speck of dust and every cobweb within its reach. That included him.
His eyes struggling to adjust to the newfound light, he blinked several times, squinted and swivelled around in his bed to face the wall, turning his back on the sallow moonlight. Frustrated with himself for not being able to sleep through the night despite his exhaustion, he gritted his teeth together and growled inwardly - just quiet enough so that Mabel slept through it.
Determined to get back to sleep, he ignored his ever-intensifying headache and slumped back down in his bed, hiding himself underneath the flea-bitten blanket his great uncle seemed to think would keep him sufficiently warm. (Mabel didn't seem to mind it though, and she had no better luck than him when it came to sleeping arrangements.) He squeezed his eyes tight shut and willed himself to get back to sleep, but he was still awake twenty minutes later. The light from the window was gone, however, vanishing without a trace. It had dissolved into the velvet black sky behind it and darkness poured in, flooding the room in its place, finally allowing Dipper to drift off to sleep again.
That was when everything got strange.
Normally he didn't remember his dreams, but he wasn't sure he would ever forget this one. At first he thought he had sleepwalked into the kitchen and woke up there, but this theory was quickly debunked by the glowing triangular shape hovering in the doorway. It did occur to him later on that considering everything that had happened within the two weeks he and Mabel had been there, glowing 2D shapes with arms and legs wearing top hats and bowties didn't really disprove reality. It probably would have been less disturbing if it had had no facial features at all, let alone just one enormous expressionless eye.
It blinked (or winked) at him once - excruciatingly slowly - before floating into the kitchen with its arms and legs dangling limply from its golden body, and stopping just in front of Dipper. "You look tired," it chuckled slyly, leaning back slightly to get a better look at the human in front of it.
"Yeah, well I am asleep. I'm dreaming," Dipper shot back, feeling as if he should be offended simply by the creature's presence even though it hadn't said anything insulting. "You're in my dream," he added, folding his arms across his chest and scowling. It wasn't in his nature to be so irate, but the torment of his family members continuously making cruel - almost spiteful - jokes at his expense for the last week or so had made him distrust everyone - and everything - that entered his life, for fear that their supposed kindness was just part of another joke.
"The name's Bill Cipher," the creature smirked, seemingly unfazed by the human's annoyance. Dipper just scowled. "Well, well, isn't someone in a bad mood? I know all about you, Pine Tree. I know all about how they're treating you. But I just want you to know that you're not completely alone. There are others just like us - intelligent, resourceful… ingenious even - but you have to do something for me in order for me to introduce you to them, Pine Tree." Bill stuck out his hand, a blue flame appearing just above it, and his eye seemed to glimmer with anticipation.
He may have sometimes felt completely isolated by his great uncle Stan and his twin sister, but after surviving weeks of living in Gravity Falls and spending almost every day of his time there combating monsters, Dipper had learned not to do anything without consulting the journal that contained information about all of them first. Bill must have known this already, because the flame suddenly extinguished itself and he dropped his hand to his side and narrowed his eye.
"I knew you wouldn't have the guts," he spat in disgust. "But don't think I won't be watching you, Pine Tree. You'll cave in soon enough… and then you'll come crawling back to me."
