Chapter 2

Dipper's Pov.

I wake up the next morning feeling tired. I roll out of bed and trudge downstairs. I spot Mabel in the kitchen drinking some Mabel juice. She looks up at me through her eyelashes and I know she's worried and wants me to give her some sign that I'm fine but I'm too tired to even smile so instead I grab my backpack and shout goodbye as I head out the front door. I hear her shout bye back and I can hear that her voice is edged with worry and fear. I roll my eyes at her tone and head toward the forest.

Ford said that there was something odd happening in the forest. He didn't give me any details nothing just the task of finding out what it is or what's causing it. Oh the fun! When I became his apprentice I thought that it would be like when we were younger before we left but it's like he's changed or maybe I changed. I feel a small thrill of excitement at the thought of the mystery at hand and then just as quickly as I felt it it's gone. I vaguely remember when I was thirteen and obsessed and thrilled at the thought of uncovering all the mysteries of the town but after I saw how much trouble it got me into I guess I just lost my drive, my spirit and my everything. I guess you could say I lost my soul.

::_::_::

As I'm heading back to the shack after yet another gruelling day of finding nothing I accidently slip and slide face down a bank into a clearing filled with strange looking lilac flowers. I sit up slowly and scan my surroundings and something catches my attention. To my left is a boy with blond hair sitting in a yellow sweater with a pyramid pattern near the bottom. He's sitting with his back faced to me and he looks relaxed.

I'm about to say something but before I can say anything he suddenly whips around as if he sensed me here. His eyes go wide with shock and he bolts up then poof he's gone. I stay still for a moment trying to process everything and as I'm about to get up he reappears standing over me.

Now that he's up close I notice that he has green eyes but not a normal green no his eyes are both bright and dark and they had tiny flecks of gold in them and they looked like they hold a thousand secrets. He has a bit of a tan enough of one to be noticed but not quite golden brown yet. He's ditched his yellow sweater for a yellow trench-like coat with a pyramid-like brick pattern near the bottom and a crisp white shirt and black slacks all topped off with black formal shoes and a thin top hat. He smiles down at me and it sends shivers down my spine. The smile looks so familiar almost like I've seen it somewhere before. I know he can see the confusion written on my face which just makes him smile even wider.

"It's nice to see you again PineTree."

My eyes go wide with shock and fear. No it can't be him. But the proof is right in front of me, it's in the words he just said. No one ever calls me that not since that day. Mabel made the mistake once about a year ago and that's when it all started. I stare in shock. I just can't form words.

Bill Cipher is back!

Bill's Pov.

I hadn't been expecting to see PineTree today I hadn't even been planning to revel myself to him and the fact that I'm back but then he just kind of showed up right at the moment I happened to be thinking about him. And as happy as I had been to see him I was just as equally furious. Furious that he had gotten that glimpse of me in that venerable state. I didn't and don't want him to see that venerable and fragile part of me.

I stare down at him. His eyes are a greeny hazel and filled with shock and fear but behind all that I can see pain, a lot of pain. He's gotten taller and he ditched his short sleeve shirts for long ones and he has a light tan although it looks like he hasn't spent much time in the sun for more than a year. I look at his arms and see muscles taking form. I let my eyes wonder down his arms to his sleeves that have been pushed up leaving his wrists bare. My jaw almost drops at the thin white shallow scars that are there. I'm about to look back at his face and scold him when something else catches my eye.

There is the bottom of a tattoo pecking out from underneath his sleeve. He got a tattoo? My curiosity gets the better of me.

"So PineTree what tattoo did you get?"

He recoils at the question as if I hit him in the face.

"It's n-n-nothing and besides it's n-n-none of your business."

I quirk my eyebrow at this. What could he possibly be hiding?

I drop down into a crouch over him and he flinches at the sudden movement. Is he really that afraid of me? The thought hits me like a physical blow but I push it aside and reach out toward his left arm. He tries to jerk his arm away but I've already pinned him in place with my magic.

I first gently run my fingers over his wrist. I can feel the pain behind each one of his scars and once again it hits me like a physical blow that I was the root of the pain and that I wasn't there to take away his nightmares or to at least ease his pain a little bit. I force myself to reach further up and pull back his sleeve.

My jaw drops at the sight. It's the cipher wheel and underneath it is cipher code, three words inked onto his flesh, 'Dead Man Walking'.

"It's me?"

He turns his head away in shame. That explains the sleeves. Not only is he hiding the scars that everyone knows are there but he's also hiding this.

"PineTree why did you get this?"

"I wanted something to remind me what I survived and that I survived so I got the cipher wheel and then I got the code to remind myself that on the inside I'm dead and no one understands that."

I stare at him shock clearly written on my face. Before he can say anything else or notice the underlying hurt I let myself disappear to my house near the edge of the clearing. It's just slightly to the right of the clearing and constantly shielded with my magic so that no one sees it.

Is the kid really that afraid of me that he got a tattoo of me and my code just to remind him of his pain and suffering? I know now that what I did was wrong but I didn't think I had left such a lasting scar on him.

I turn toward the window and see that he's still lying there just staring up at the sky. In this moment he looks like an empty shell of the Dipper I remember. He used to have this happy energy that surrounded him. It was one of the reasons that I started watching him. From day one when he arrived I could sense his curiously that hid his pain. I stated to watch him and the more I watched him the more I wanted to protect him and help him but then he started to get really close to finding Ford and I panicked. Ford knew the truth about me and it would have meant that the hate would have fully set in. My plan was simple take over the world but keep Dipper close and safe. Show him my world and how much he would have fit in but things never go according to plan do they.

He finally gets up and pulls his sleeves back down. He sets off again. He looks shaken but that's not my problem not anymore. I turn away from the window and feel my heart tug but I won't listen not this time but even as I walk towards the lounge I know this resolve won't last for long.