Dipper stared out into the darkness until the stinging of his eyes made him look away. The previous commotion made the now calm night seem as silent as the grave. Which was an apt phrase, seeing as both of them were close to being murdered yet again. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mabel pull herself to her feet and walk shakily towards him and grasp his upper arm. He nearly jumped out of his skin when she grabbed him and pulled himself away.
Mabel let go as he scrambled back from her. She kneeled down and collected the empty handgun from the grass beside him and tossed it towards the front door. It skidded across the wooden deck and landed with a 'thud' against the siding. "Hey, hey," Mabel said in a hushed tone, "you're okay…"
"Like hell I am!" Dipper shouted, all shock being driven from him as he wheeled on her.
Mabel physically pulled back in surprise. "Dipper I ju-."
"What were you thinking?!" He hoisted himself from the ground and scowled down at her. "He could have killed you!"
Mabel rose quickly and put her face close to Dipper's to shout back. "Yeah? Well you could've killed you!"
He could smell the alcohol on her breath. "Trying to save you!" Dipper spat back. "How can you be so reckless?"
She pointed an accusing finger at him. "Well maybe if you had just…" Mabel silenced herself before angrily turning from him and stomping towards the door.
Dipper followed quickly at her heels and grabbed at her forearm. "Just what, Mabel?" .
"Just stayed away from him in the first place, this wouldn't have happened!" She screamed back as she threw her hands into the air.
"Y-. B-. How ca-," Dipper seemed to stumble through several sentences before landing on one, "Well maybe if you could mind your own business the-."
"Him murdering you is my business!" She cut him off.
Dipper threw his hands into the air with an audible sound of frustration as he turned away from her and looked out into the woods. Dipper fumed outwardly in silence before beginning to stomp towards the trees.
"Where do you think you're going?!" Mabel launched herself off of the porch and grabbed onto her brother's arm.
"Away from you!" He growled down at her.
"Oh yeah?" She raised her eyebrow, and her voice, angrily. "Away from me, and towards Bill!"
Dipper yanked his arm from her and stared. They stood in silence as the porch light flickered. Dipper looked from his sister, to the woods, and back again. Dipper took a shaky breath and lowered his voice. His shoulders drooped and he let out an exhausted sigh. "Go to bed, Mabel," He said quietly, "everything will be better tomorrow."
Mabel's shoulder's lowered and Dipper saw her bottom lip quiver as she quickly turned away from him and headed to the door. The bell tinkled quietly as she pulled it open, and she stopped in the doorway.
"You know…" She mumbled over her shoulder, "when you say things like that, you sound just like mom." She let the door fall shut behind her and Dipper heard her trudge heavily up the stairs moments later.
Dipper stood just at the edge of the porch light, staring at the front door. He closed his eyes and felt the cool breeze that rustled through the pine trees behind him. The wind rippled through his shirt and made him shiver, not from the cold, but because the wind felt like hands dancing across his skin. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes and limped towards the door. He stooped down to collect the gun from the ground with a heavy groan, after he was inside, placed it on the hall table just inside the door. By the time he'd made it up the stairs and pushed the bedroom door open, Mabel was already in bed. Dipper hobbled to his own bed, not bothering to change clothes, and sat down on the edge. He picked up the journal on the nightstand and placed the palm of his hand against the gold hand on the cover.
He sighed.
"Maybe I should call Ford…" He mumbled into the silence. After a moment, he shook his head sullenly and tucked the journal beneath his pillow. Dipper looked back over at Mabel's bed. His sister was rolled in her blankets facing away from him. He didn't know if she was asleep or not but deemed it a better idea to just leave her be. He pulled himself into his own covers and closed his eyes.
"Goodnight Mabel," He mumbled into his pillow. He thought he heard his sister shift in her bed, but was already falling into the clutches of sleep before receiving an answer.
"Wakey, wakey…"
Dipper sat up and rubbed his eyes sleepily. He looked around for the speaker, but instead found an unfamiliar sight. He was no longer in his bedroom, instead all he could see around him were looming aspen trees. He pinched his eyes shut and shook his head before opening them again, but still, there were only trees.
Dipper pulled himself to his feet, and noted that his foot was not in pain. He spun in a small circle, surveying the area around him.
"Where… am I?" he mused aloud.
As he spun he saw a faint light out in the darkness of the forest around him. He had a sudden feeling of Deja Vu, but for the life of him could not figure out why. Dipper glanced around himself a few more times before deciding that towards the light was the only way to go. He began to walk, but made it only a few steps before a voice behind him broke the silence.
"Are you lost?"
The voice made Dipper jump slightly before he turned towards it. Dipper's first thought was that it would've been impossible for not to hear the person come up behind him. His second was that the boy in front of him seemed vaguely familiar. He was tall and dark with freckles dotting his cheeks. He had sparkling blue eyes that blinked up at Dipper beneath his platinum blonde hair.
Dipper shrugged and looked around him before looking back to the boy, "I… guess I am. Where are we? And who are you?"
The boy smiled warmly. "I'm..." he paused for a moment, his smile faltered for a moment before returning, "you can call me Will." He looked over Dipper's shoulder before walking past him in the direction of the light. Dipper turned to where Will was walking and was about to speak when Will interrupted. "My house is this way." He gestured in front of him. "You can come if you want. I'm sure mama has almost finished dinner."
Dipper didn't move, he was busily studying the boys face. He was certain he had seen him before, but couldn't place where.
"Unless you'd rather stay out here in the dark," Will said, pulling Dipper from his daze before he started walking again. Dipper shook his head quickly before half-jogging up next to Will, and then slowing to walk beside him. As they walked, Will began to hum quietly to himself.
"Hey… uh, Will?" Dipper spoke up as they neared the light.
"Yup?" Will responded cheerfully.
"Have we ever met before?" Dipper nearly ran into Will's back when he stopped suddenly. Will half-turned to look back at Dipper, a curious look in his blue eyes. Will furrowed his brow and tilted his head in a way that sent a chill down Dipper's spine for reasons he couldn't think of.
"No…" Will spoke quietly, almost too quiet to hear, "I don't think we have." Before Dipper could even process what Will had said, he was already back to the cheery attitude he'd had before. Will turned his back to Dipper and started back on his path, this time with a bit of a skip in his step.
Dipper hurried to catch up to the other boy and spoke through slight pants. "What d'you mean by that?"
Will continued to skip through the trees as he answered. "I just mean you may have met my brother." It was now Dipper's turn to knit his brow. He was still so certain that this boy seemed familiar, but he couldn't put a face to this 'brother' Will was talking about, or place Will himself. His brain felt foggy, like he was trying to think through a haze.
"Maybe…" Dipper mumbled. He felt a sudden ache in the left side of his chest and rubbed it absentmindedly as he walked quickly after Will.
Will giggled a little as he slowed to allow Dipper to draw even with him. "You'd never forget him if you had met him," Will mused aloud with another small laugh. "Mama says he's quite the little devil."
Dipper raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?" Now that they were nearing the source of the light, he could see Will's face more clearly. Will smiled faintly to the empty space ahead of him.
"Yeah," Will looked down at the ground, still smiling, "he's… exciting."
"In what way?" Dipper chuckled a little at the expression on his face.
"Well, we're twins," Will answered, looking over at Dipper, "but we're very different."
"I'm a twin," Dipper chimed in, "Mabel and I are pretty different too."
"Probably not as different as we are," Will chuckled, "he's not nearly as… nice as I am." Dipper considered this for a moment, but was interrupted before he responded. "We're here," Will said brightly.
Dipper looked towards the clearing, standing in the middle was a small cottage with warm gas lamps glowing brightly on the porch. Dipper thought it looked like a cottage out of a fairy-tale, slightly out of place in the dark woods. But, he also thought the house seemed sort of… off, but still couldn't decide why. Will skipped ahead of him and up the front porch steps. He pushed the door open with a faint creak and called into the house. "Mama? I'm home! I brought company." Dipper followed Will into the house and awkwardly stopped in the hall after he closed the door.
"You have a lovely home," Dipper said politely.
"Thank you," Will said with a smile. Will started to walk across the open living room towards a hallway on the other side. "You can make yourself at home Dipper, I'll be right back."
"O-okay…" Dipper mumbled. He had a sudden shiver run down his spine despite the warmth of the room. "Did I tell him my name?" He thought as he looked around the room he was in; it was small. The walls were painted a soft blue color, but the paint was chipping in the corners and behind the plush-looking couch that was nestled against the far wall. There was an ancient-looking box television set across from it. Next to the couch was an end table with a few lit candles that were filling the room with flickering light, next to the candles were three small pictures in wooden frames. Dipper decided to examine the pictures, as there would likely be a picture of Will's brother somewhere in them.
Dipper crossed the room over to the table. When he reached it, he could smell the strong scent of sugar cookie that was emanating from the candles. He picked up the first picture on the table. Centered in the picture was a large waterfall, and there was a figure standing in front of it. Dipper raised the picture closer to his face to make out the figure more clearly. Upon closer inspection, Dipper thought the figure looked an awful lot like… "Me?" Dipper muttered, eyes wide.
He quickly set the picture back down, nearly dropping it, and picked up the slightly larger one behind it. Centered in this picture was a building nearly identical to the Mystery Shack. Dipper used his free hand to rub his eyes quickly before looking back at the picture. He nearly dropped this picture too when the picture inside was now different than before. It was now a picture of the house he was standing in.
He reached for the third picture on the table, setting down the other at the same time. There were two people in this photograph, one was very clearly Will. The other person looked exactly like Will, only his hair had a black streak towards the front and his eyes were gold instead of blue. He was also almost a head taller than Will. As he looked at the two boys in the photo, Dipper's chest began to hurt again. He set the picture down and pulled out the collar of his shirt. He looked down at the aching spot, but there was nothing there that could have been hurting him.
"Hey, Dipper? You ready for dinner?" Dipper turned at Will's voice.
"Yeah I ju-." Dipper froze. Standing beside Will in the hallway was the other boy from the picture. The other boy was looking down at a book in his hand, seemingly disinterested in the conversation. "That's… your brother?"
Will looked from Dipper to his brother. "Yeah," Will put his hand over the book his brother was holding, causing him to look up. "This is my brother, Bill. So, have you guys met?"
"Uh… I…" Dipper furrowed his brow and looked Bill up and down in confusion. He knew this kid was familiar, something about him was pulling at the back of his mind; however, he still could not place him.
Bill, on the other hand, smiled widely at Dipper before looking to his brother. "Oh yes, we've met."
"Excellent!" Will returned a kind smile, seemingly ignoring Dipper's confusion. "I'll go tell mama we're ready for dinner." Will turned from both of them and walked back down the hallway. Bill leaned back against the wall he was standing by and surveyed Dipper quietly.
"I-I'm not sure we have met…" Dipper said. Bill tilted his head and said nothing in response. After a long silence, Dipper quickly moved to change the subject. "Where did you get this picture?" He held up the picture of the waterfall. Bill simply shrugged. Dipper's chest ached once more, but more than before. He exhaled heavily and set the picture back down.
They stood in silence again.
Bill pushed off the wall and crossed the room to the couch beside where Dipper stood, never taking his eyes off of the other boy. Dipper turned his body to follow Bill as he moved. Ever since he'd stepped in the house, Dipper had been having a steadily growing feeling of dread. It seemed that feeling had grown much more since Bill entered the room.
Bill sat down on the couch, his chin in his hand, regarding Dipper quietly. After another period of silence Bill spoke, "you're sure we've never met?" Dipper opened his mouth to answer but was cut off. "Because I know you," Bill smiled widely up at Dipper. Again, Dipper tried to speak but was interrupted. "How about I give you a reminder?" Bill lowered his voice as he spoke.
Dipper was about to ask what he meant, but Bill quickly grabbed Dipper by the wrist and dragged him onto the couch beside him.
Dipper fell forward, but twisted his body before landing on his back on the couch. "What are yo-?!"
"Shhh…" Bill hushed. He quickly swung his leg around Dipper's hips and pinned his shoulders down to the cushions.
Dipper struggled to throw the stronger boy off of him by pushing at his shoulders and knees. "The hell are you doing?!"
Bill grunted when Dipper struck him in the side. "Oh calm down, will you?" He grabbed both of Dipper's wrists and pinned them against the couch beside his head. "You always struggle so much."
Dipper, overcome by confusion, greatly reduced his efforts to get free. "What… what do you mean 'always'?"
Bill tilted his head and smiled at the boy beneath him. "Oh, of course," he breathed softly, "how else could you be here?" Bill leaned forward close enough for Dipper to feel his breath on his skin.
"What are you talking about?" Dipper leaned his head back and away from Bill's.
"You need to wake up, darling," Bill cooed. "If you wanted to see me so badly, you could have just said so. You didn't have to come all the way here."
Dipper shook his head in confusion. "Who the hell are you?! What are you talking about?!" He began to thrash against his captor again.
Bill giggled, sending a shiver up Dipper's spine. "Don't worry, I'll remind you." Bill transferred both of Dipper's wrists to his left hand, and placed the palm of his right hand on Dipper's chest. Dipper felt a sharp burning sensation beneath his shirt and cried out in pain.
He heard the sound of running feet followed by Will's voice in the room. "Bill?! The hell are you doing?!"
Bill's focused eyes stayed on Dipper as he answered. "Helping our friend wake up." He pressed his palm down harder onto Dipper's chest, causing him to scream louder. Dipper turned his head to Will pleadingly and he began to move towards them, but he suddenly seemed to decide against it and stayed where he was.
"Look at me," Bill said harshly.
Dipper pinched his eyes shut as a sudden weight seemed to crash over him that mingled with the burning in his chest. He kept his eyes closed until the weight he'd felt subsided as Bill lifted his hand from his chest. He took several deep breaths and opened his eyes.
Bill was still seated on top of him, but he now could remember why Bill was so familiar. He remembered everything. Dipper stayed completely still, looking up into Bill's calm eyes.
"How do you feel, love?" Bill asked sweetly as he released Dipper's wrists.
Seeing an opportunity, Dipper quickly shoved Bill off of him and scrambled off the couch. Bill shouted in surprise and quickly pulled himself onto his feet, turning to where Dipper was now backing away. Bill took swift steps forward, the all-too-familiar-knife materializing in his hand. But, before Bill could reach him, Will stepped in between them.
"Get out of my way," Bill growled to his brother.
Will raised his chin in defiance. "Don't hurt him again," he chided calmly.
Bill let out a harsh laugh. "I'm not gonna hurt him that bad, idiot. And besides, he likes it."
Dipper took another step back, further behind Will. "Like hell I do!" He shouted over Will's shoulder.
Bill tilted his head. "Then why are you here?"
"Because you brought him here you ass," Will answered for him, taking a step forward.
Bill lowered his shoulders and took a step back, "Wh-. No I didn't!"
There was a beat of silence. "But… then how… why are you…?" Will half-turned to look at Dipper. He looked between his brother and Dipper several times. "Bill…" He lowered his voice, "What… what did you do to him?"
Bill chuckled dryly and shrugged. "Not a whole lot," the knife in his hand disappeared and he crossed his arms. "We just played a few games."
Will's eyes widened. "You didn't!" He shouted. He suddenly wheeled on Dipper. "You didn't!" Dipper took another step back as Will advanced on him.
"Wh-what are you do-?" Dipper was silenced when Will suddenly grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked it down, revealing the scar that had returned to his chest. He stared at it wide-eyed until Dipper pushed him away aggressively and yanked his shirt back up.
Will looked down at the ground for a long time, the room silent, before looking back to his brother. "...Why?" Will looked horrified.
Bill sneered at him mockingly. "Because I wanted to, duh."
"He's a human!" Will shouted back, pointed a finger back at Dipper. "You can't jus-!"
"I can, and I did," Bill spat.
Dipper shrank back from both of them until his back was pressed to the front door. The two began to argue loudly back and forth. As they did, the room began to darken and the candles flickered violently as if being blown in the wind.
Will quickly turned to Dipper and spoke very quickly. "You need to wake up. Right now." he ordered.
Dipper shook his head. "Wake up? What do you me-?"
"You just have to!" Will shouted frantically. He wheeled back around to his brother who was glowering at him from across the room. "And you! You need to stay away from him."
"Fine!" Bill shouted back angrily, throwing his hands into the air. Dipper's knees felt like they were about to give out beneath him. Bill's harsh eyes found Dipper standing at the door. "I'll wake him up!" He hissed.
Before Dipper could say a word of protest, Bill was storming across the room. Will grunted in pain as Bill shoved him aside and he slammed into the wall. Dipper, quite uselessly, tried to move further back but was impeded by the door at his back.
Bill stopped advancing when he was mere inches from Dipper's body, their noses almost touching. "It's time to wake up, darling," Bill hissed menacingly, "let me help you."
Dipper doubled over in pain at a sudden burning in his right side. He exhaled limply and looked down to his side. Bill's knife was stuck several inches into the right side of Dipper's stomach. Dipper's knees buckled and he fell forward onto Bills shoulder, his hands clutching at Bill's back. He gasped in pain as hot tears began to spill down his cheeks.
"Shh… shh…" Bill hushed, "just close your eyes." Bill used his free hand to grasp Dipper's shoulder and push him more upright against the door. Dipper's blurry eyes saw Bill tilt his head with a wicked smile. "Sleep tight…"