Silence and darkness.
If this is what the Mindscape looked like, then I understood why Bill went mad.
"Hello? Anyone around here? Bill?" I called into the void.
There was no answer. Not even a flash of blue. Not even an insane laugh. Not even the high-pitched voice that he had. Nothing.
"Listen, I know you're the reason I'm in here in the first place, you Dorito!" I tried again, knowing that Bill would do anything to punish the person that insulted him.
But no one answered back.
"I'm getting more bored than creeped out, Cipher! Why bring me here if you're not gonna make me do anything?"
Silence. Nothing but defeaning silence. If this was what they called hell, then they were right: it was terrifying and could make you go insane.
"What are you doing here?!"
I whirled around, shocked at the new voice. It was somehow familiar, and when I found myself facing the person it had come from, I suddenly knew why.
He was breathing heavily, standing on what seemed to be the floor we were standing on. Chains shackled his two wrists and ankles, dragging him downwards. He seemed to be using all of his energy to focus into standing, because every once in a while, he would wince and shift his position.
But almost everything else was still the same: his golden hair, his golden eyes, and the clothes he was wearing. Everything added up.
"You're the kid from my dreams! The one who told me to find him!" I exclaimed.
The guy's eyebrows furrowed. "What are you talking about?"
Of course he didn't know what I was talking about. Bill had probably put him there without him knowing.
"You were in a dream I had. You were in the forest, and you looked just like this," I explained, gesturing to his current state, "but you were sitting. Maybe you were weaker? I don't really know, anyway, you asked me to find you and to help you."
The guy had glared at me when I had said he was probably weaker, but then his expression changed to one of pure and utter anger and frustration.
"NO!" he shouted, and I flinched as his shout echoed into the voids. His eyes filled with hatred weren't directed at me any longer, but I could see that they had turned a vivid red.
I backed away slowly as he started shouting a string of curses in a foreign language. "This wasn't part of the deal!" he screamed.
There was suddenly a low chuckle, and then a flash of bright white light. "Then again, none of this was."
I turned around to find nothing but a...cat? A pink cat?
"Ah, Hayden Pines!" the cat purred, and I rubbed my eyes as I looked down at it.
"Um..." I muttered, uncertain of what to say.
"Oh, don't look at me like that, child. I have one of the most purr-fect forms on Earth! Don't you dare judge." the cat scolded.
"Um...I'm sorry?" I guessed, not really sure about what to say. I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I was conversing with a cat - and a pink one that.
"Oh, shut up, Felicia." the chained guy behind me spat, looking up in disgust. "My form was far more superior."
"That's what you think, but everyone always knows you're there, right?" the cat taunted, slowly walking toward the guy.
"That's the point. What do I have to fear if I'm more powerful than everyone else?" the guy smirked. I had to hand it to him, even if Felicia (I guess that was the cat's name) had been the one to shackle him and was presently taunting him, he still had the courage and strength to taunt her back - and rather greatly, I would say.
"I could tell her, you know. Tell Hayden Pines everything. Why you're here, why you know her, why you look like this, where you're being kept prison." the cat said, waving her paw back and forth as she listed them. And as she did, the guy seemed to be getting more enraged and tried to tackle her to the ground.
"What's his name, Hayden sweetie? Ever bothered to ask who he is?" the cat asked, turning toward me.
"No...I never asked." I realized, blushing as I remembered that it was somehow disrespectful. "Sorry, what was your-"
"Not important!" the guy screamed, interrupting me. His eyes were desperate, pleading me to stop.
"Oh, but it is, isn't it, darling? Knowing his name might give you a clue to why he's here - why you're here, more importantly."
"No! It's a simple name, it doesn't mean anything! Please, don't!"
I seemed to be watching a game of ping pong. Felicia was on the right, pushing me to ask his name, while the guy was pleading me not to ask.
"But you can just not tell me if you don't want to." I reasoned out to the guy.
"I can't. I'm obliged to answer every question you ask, follow every command you give."
"Your own personal slave! Don't you want it?" Felicia said happily.
"What? No! What would give you the idea that I needed a slave?!" I exclaimed, both appalled and offended. Did Felicia think I was too weak? That I wasn't capable on my own? Why did I need a slave?
"...Hayden, you got to wake..."
"Dipper!" I exclaimed, looking around for my cousin. Strangely, there was no change in my surroundings, but I knew for a fact that it was Dipper's voice I had heard.
"She's waking up, Felicia. Aren't human feelings wonderful?" the guy chuckled happily. Felicia seemed to be fuming, and the black background of what I assumed to be the Mindscape was growing somehow paler.
"I'll be back. You'll see! You'll all see!" the cat growled, and then there was another flash light and Felicia was gone.
"What do you mean, waking up?" I asked, choosing to ignore the weird cat's actions.
"You're in a coma, Hayden. And today is the fifth day of it. Dipper's started talking to you, you're waking up." the guy explained.
"I never helped you." I realized with a tinge of guilt, staring sadly at his chains.
"Forget I ever existed. I'm a figment of your imagination. I don't need your help, you don't need to find me. Everything was a dream." the guy said hurriedly.
"Are you kidding me? Look, you might not want me to find you, but I know you're in the forest somewhere. And trust me, whatever you have with that, um...cat, me and my family can help. I've got an amazingly smart father and he has this sort of strong twin brother, and there's my cousins Dipper and Mabel, and they're sorta like a dream team duo...why are you laughing?"
I had noticed him chuckling halfway throughout my explanation, and he shook his head slowly. "Hayden. You're really amazing."
I blushed. "Um, thanks? Dude, we've just met."
"Yeah. I know. But I'm not exactly the 'good first impression' type, to be honest." the guy chuckled, shaking his head.
"Why can't I help?"
"You can never ever ever help me, Hayden Pines. You just can't. I won't allow you to."
"But I can, technically speaking?"
The guy pondered - it was hard not knowing his name when we kept talking - for a minute, but then laughed.
"Hayden, Hayden, Hayden. You really are one of a kind."
"At least let us find you?"
The guy's mouth quivered. "Forest. All I can say."
"That's stupid!" I groaned. Forest? I knew that already! Besides, where else in Gravity Falls would you hide a chained teenager?
"Trust me, it's for your own good."
"You're starting to sound like a cliche story on the internet. Like those petty romances where the girl falls in love with the guy."
"And I take it you read them? You can't possibly know what they're like if you haven't read them."
My face grew hot as the guy laughed softly again. There was this sort of amusement to his face, and even a sort of wistfulness - like he didn't want me to leave.
"...missing out on everything..."
"Mabel." I sighed, hearing her call out. Of course she would be telling me about all her sleepovers - I assumed that was what she was talking about when she said I was 'missing out'.
"Faster than I thought." the guy murmured, shaking his head.
"I'm waking up too fast, huh?"
"Well, I wouldn't say too fast. Your father would argue it's been too long."
"Ya little gremlin, better wake up soon."
"Uncle Stan." I giggled.
"You're starting to hear what they say fully. Just a few minutes and you're out of here."
"And what about you? Are you in a coma, too?"
The guy sighed. "No, but I wish I was." He gestured to his chains and I sent him a sympathetic smile.
"Well, if I really can't..."
"Nah, I put a force field around me."
"I surpassed it last time."
"Well, 'last time' wasn't me. It was that stupid Felicia. She's weaker than I am, so it'll take years of mastery to pass this force field."
I rolled my eyes. "I've met you for what, five minutes? And you're already becoming the most conceited guy I've met."
He winked. "It's an honor."
We both shared a look and laughed, and suddenly I felt a pang near my chest. The last time that happened, Dad had come rushing towards me. Now, the guy only sent me a look.
"Think I'll remember you when I'm out?" I asked, between gasps for air.
"Normal people don't usually remember me, but you're not exactly 'normal', now are you?"
"So you mean you've actually met people in comas before me? What are you, some sort of coma angel?"
He let out a laugh, shaking his head. "Oh, Hayden, you are a laugh! Coma angel! What a riot!"
I was about to answer when I heard the most important voice I knew I needed.
"Please. Please, don't leave me."
"Dad." I whispered, looking up and wishing I was there to comfort him, to tell him I'd never leave him, to tell him I needed him as much as he needed me.
"Hey." I turned around to find the guy still looking at me, a somehow wistful look on his face. "Take care if yourself out there, Hayden."
He was starting to fade from my sight. "I'll find you. I promise I'll find you." I said with determination.
He only smiled, and in that moment I wanted to force him to tell me everything he was hiding from me. I was only trying to help, what was so wrong about that?!
He lifted a chained hand, giving me a small wave. Everything was getting whiter by the second, and bright lights seemed to be blocking my view. "I promise!" I shouted, a final effort to reassure him.
He never heard me.
A few moments later, I opened my eyes to the sight of a blank, boring wall. Then there were four shouts of my name and I was being hugged to death.
I had made it home. I was back in Gravity Falls. Back with my family. Back with my friends.
And back to the forest, where I was sure I would fulfill my promise.
No matter what.
A/N: I can't believe I made this for a day and I couldn't update as fast T^T I hate a.) internet connection pace and b.) teachers who shower you with things to do.
Disclaimer: All mentioned characters from Gravity Falls and Gravity Falls itself is owned by Alex Hirsch and Disney. Hayden Miranda Pines is a figment of my imagination.
- psychopathicdorito