Chapter 10: Layla's Past
The next morning when Ford woke up, his head was aching terribly, noticing that inside the warehouse that he and Layla were in was covered in a light frost.
Layla was sitting by the fire as close as she could, her body shivering violently in the cold even with the Ford's coat wrapped around her. Her teeth chattered as she glanced over to Ford, also pointing at her head stating she has a headache too from the metal reacting to the cold.
With a grunt, Ford gets up and wanders over to her, taking a seat next to her to warm up his hands. Layla's hands were by the fire too, and it was the first time he had seen her hands bare without her gloves. Thick white scars licked across them, as he multiple times with knives, and the crisscrossed. The parts of her left hand that had only the partial appendages from her symbachydactyly had thick scars as if she had been burned before.
Layla notices his glance, but doesn't move her hands away. "A lot of things have happened during my sixteen years in the multiverse…" she barely whispers, her voice hoarse from not talking for so long before. "I've been hunted, stabbed, shot, beaten, burned, and oh so many more things while here…"
Ford gives her a sympathetic look, his hands still by the small flames of the fire. "Who did it to you?" he asks slowly.
"A lot of things…" she responds. "But mainly Magum." She then wraps the coat tighter around her, as if it was a security blanket.
"Rick mentioned that you and Magum… were a thing at one point?" Ford says, his voice low and slow, like he didn't want to know the answer but out of curiosity had to ask anyway.
Layla sighs, her eyes closed. She then began, "When I was about… I don't know, seventeen or something, I had heard about this group that was against Bill Cipher. I figured, 'Hey, maybe they can help me find my dad and get us home!'." She shakes her head at the memory. "When I went to the recruitment meetings that were secret at certain bars and stuff, I met Magum, who was the leader. He told me he had never seen a human female before in these parts of the multiverse, so he told me to join him.
"And I did… for the first time since being thrown into a different dimension I had great shelter, food, something to drink, a place to clean myself, and a warm bed… It was like a prayer coming to life. At first everything was fine, I learned to fight better, stealth, defense, weapons, even crafting some things. I even went on missions to steal plans from Cipher to bring back. Magum was happy at my process and he had invited me to join his private quarters… and it just went to hell from there."
Ford swallows in discomfort at the touchy subject. He knew she hated Magum with a burning passion, but her end statement confirmed his suspicious on their relationship.
"He became super possessive, dominant, abusive, the list goes on, Ford." Layla continues, her voice rising an octave in emotion. "Even if I left the room for a moment I'd be punished for leaving his side. Because of being with him all the time I learned that the group was just as damn bad as Cipher and just wanted to rule the whole universe and multiverse… and I knew I had to leave. Five years plotting to escape, five years actually attempting to escape… it all went by so slow…"
He then puts a hand on Layla's shoulder. "Well, you're not in that situation anymore… we got each other now, we'll keep each other safe." He sincerely tells her, a small smile on his face.
Her eyes flooded with tears. She does a sniffle and wipes her eyes with the oversized sleeves of the coat. "Thank you… thank you for that, Stanford." She tearfully says, her face taking on a slight pink blush.
Ford then stands up, offering her a hand. "Ready to get new clothes?" he offers. She takes his hand, her three fingered left hand to his six-fingered left hand. Ford hoists her up with little to no effort, him becoming much more athletically stronger since being there.
"Ready," she nods.
Together they drove through the city of the dimension they were in, trying to find a spot where a portal naturally opened. If this was Magum's home dimension, they the two of them had to leave as soon as they could. Layla points out one and Ford drives through, the world shimmering as he passed through. He screeches to a halt, trying to gather his new surroundings.
Around them looked like some kind of farmland, the grass looked like a wheat yellow from lack of rain. The sky was clear of any clouds, it looking as blue as the Earth's skies. In the distance there was a fairly large, dull red barn, it looking like it hasn't been kept up in quite some time. Next to it was another building half of its size, looking like a two story farmhouse.
"What the hell…?" Ford gasps. "H-how is this possible?"
"Some dimensions do have an Earth feel to it… but it's not really Earth." Layla explains. "For all we know the rain is acid to our skins, or the crops are poisonous to us unless we do something special to them." He felt her shrug her shoulders, her arms tightening around him as he moves forward.
They get to the farm house and Ford knocks on the door. After a minute of no response, he throws his shoulder against the door for it to crack open. He peeks his head in, his weapon in hand, all while his brown eyes darted around to look for a threat.
"Clear." He states as he fully goes inside the home. Layla follows close behind, her electric blue eyes looking around.
"Looks like someone hasn't lived here in a while…" Layla comments. She drags a finger across a table the decorated the hallway they were in, thick dust piling onto her finger.
Dust was covering everything, from the walls to the counters, even the air felt like it was dusty. Their footsteps were seen on the floor as if they were walking through snow, dust bunnies forming as they lifted their feet. Ford checked every room in the farmhouse, finding no signs of life of either friend or foe.
"I wonder what happened..." Ford whispers, him looking around what appeared to be a kitchen he had wandered in.
"Who knows?" Layla exasperates. "I'm gonna go upstairs and see if there is running water or something like it so I can bathe… I still feel the way he touched me." Layla gives a shudder and heads upstairs, finding a wooden staircase that was by the north window.
Ford decides to fully explore the home. The house was fully furnished, it was just all dusty and dirty. It honestly reminded him of his grandmother's house in New York… the more he looked around, the more it actually did remind him of his grandmother's home. His heart racing, he goes into one of the drawers in the kitchen that he knew his grandmother had kept a copy of his grandfather's funeral paperwork.
He opens the drawer, seeing the name of his grandfather on a stack of yellowed paper.
"What that f-?!" Ford was cut off by the sound of Layla's scream. "Layla!?" he shouts. He then runs up the same stairs that she had disappeared up to. His gun was in hand, if she was looking for a bathroom before, and if this place was what he remembered, he knew exactly where he was going. He kicked down the door, his gun pointed ahead of him.
Layla once again screams, but this time at Ford and she threw something at him. Whatever she threw was heavy and hurt his nose, him groaning in pain. When he looked forward he saw Layla… but she had nothing on. Immediately his face turns red and spins around and runs out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
"I am so sorry!" Ford apologizes through the door. "I heard you scream and thought you were in trouble!"
"It was a damn spider!" Layla's voice replied muffled through the door.
Ford rolls his eyes, even though she couldn't see it. "Well, you made it sound like one of those cheesy horror movies with a killer about to stab you through the shower curtain!" he counters. He then hears the water begin to run, him sighing. He closes his eyes and when he opens them the whole scenery changed.
Instead of reminding him of his grandmother's house, the hallway he was in looked more like a cabin. In a way it reminded him of his house in Gravity Falls, except this one seemed extremely small compared to his home. He stands up, slowly walking around. Ford ended up in a room that belonged to a teenager, the room covered in a thick layer of dust. On the bed however was a set of new clothing that was about Layla's size, a long black trench coat, a dark purple sweater, black pants, and a pair of black riding boots.
"What the fricken hell is going in this damn place!?" Ford shouts, his hands to his brown hair.
First the place looked like the home he enjoyed going to as a child, now this house looked more like probably Layla's childhood home. The door creaks open behind him and Ford spins around, Layla having a thick towel wrapped around her hair and another around her body, his trench coat gripped tightly in her hand that was holding the towel. Her eyes widened, looking around the room, her barely registering that Ford was even there, but she still tossed him his coat without thinking.
"Why… why is my room here?" she gasps, her hand going to small wooden chest that was at the end of the bed. She opens it and inside was a bunch of old stuffed animals and what looked like old photo albums.
"W-we should get out of here…" Ford insists, his voice shaking, putting on his trench coat. Now the room was shifting again. The bed became replaced with a bunk bed, the top bunk neat whilst the bottom was messy. A blanket was folded over a rope line, a sign taped to the red plaid called "Fort Stan". There was a piece of paper taped onto the wall that had a painting of one hand with five fingers and the other with six, the five fingered one being labeled "Stanley" while the six fingered one was labeled "Stanford". Ford's eyes widened when his childhood setup of his and Stanley's room was, one of what he considered was the happiest times of his life. Even the walls had Stanley's odd doddles next to Ford's more sophisticated drawings with lists of facts about the supernatural.
Layla's new change of clothing still stayed on the bed, but on the bottom bunk. She snags them and backs up to Ford. "Do you know what the actual fricken hell is going on here!?" she hissed at him.
"Not a damn clue…" Ford replies, seeing the room shift again. This time it looked like the science fair back in high school…
The one that Stanley had screwed up Ford's future…
"We're getting out of here." Ford stoically says to Layla, gripping her free hand and dragging her out of the room. She continued to see the room shift, seeing how there was a brilliant science project but then it shifted to a ruined one.
Once again the hallway had changed, but Ford drags Layla to where she had showered and puts her in there. "Get dressed and we are leaving ASAP," he orders, his voice strained. "We need to start moving. You said we have to find your father's research right?" Right as he was talking the door was slammed in his face and by the end of his last sentence Layla opens the door, her in the new clothes.
"Yeah…" Layla agrees. "My thing is though… how do I have clothes here?"
There was creak of floorboards, causing both Ford and Layla to spin around, Ford with his gun and Layla with a knife she had found in her coat. In front of them was a silver haired man with a long beard. He had dark blue eyes with thick glasses, him wearing a torn up brown overcoat, his shirt northing but black strings, and his pants and shoes were torn and muddy.
"Hello, Layla…" the man hoarsely whispered, his voice cracking with age.
Layla drops her guard with a gasp. "D-dad…?" she says in disbelief. "I-is that you…?"
"Dr. Bartek…?" Ford then mumbles. The man certainly looked completely different than the posters he had seen before.
"Ah… so you're Bill Cipher's new target, eh?" the old man asked. "Stanford Filbrick Pines…"
"Ford." Ford curtly tells him. "Just call me Ford."
"Why not 'Stan'?" the old man gave an amused smile.
"That's my twin's name." Ford answered, his voice rising in anger. Was this homicidal maniac of a scientist trying to push his buttons? "But… why the hell are you here?"
Dr. Bartek was looking at his daughter, his smile widening. "Ah, Layla, you look just like your mother…" he comments.
"I-I do?" Layla stammers. "You've never mentioned that before…"
"And to answer your question, Ford, I built this place." Dr. Bartek absently said. "It's a hideaway in the pocket dimensions, very similar to Earth. The technology I found goes into your subconscious and arranges the room to what you want, or what you really wanted to see.
"Like Layla wanted to see her room in Gravity Falls. You wanted to see your and your brother's room. Then it goes and takes bad areas from your past and brings them to haunt you. Like I can see a room filled with corpses with amputated limbs. You… saw a science fair… and they say I'm odd. I like to psychologically mess with people… and you seem to be an interesting case Ford."
Ford shouts, "How about you cut the bullshit, Dr. Bartek, just hand over your portal research so we make sure Cipher doesn't get it!" his face was red with frustration and anger, his blood boiling at the mention of the science fair.
Dr. Bartek tilts his head to the side. "I don't have it." He says simply, an insane smile crossing his face. "I haven't had them for sixteen years."
"WHAT!?" Layla screeches, her going up to her father and grabbing him by his collar. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T HAVE THEM!?"
The man laughs, his laugh sounding deranged. "I don't have them… do I have to spell it out for you, my dear girl?" he says to her, his voice taking on a condescension tone. "You're smarter than that Layla Amelia Bartek." She then let's go of him, him taking a step or two back. "That's a good girl… but I've made my progress on my research…" he continues.
"What research!?" Ford demands, him raising his gun slowly at the old man. He notices Layla's eyes plead to not do that, so he lowers the gun.
Dr. Bartek then reaches into his overcoat and grabbed a vial. The vial had a pale green liquid in it. It honestly looked radioactive… Ford's stomach flips uneasily, him having a dark feeling what he meant by research.
"Dad…" Layla says lowly. "What did you do…?"
"I found it, Layla!" Dr. Bartek's shouts with insane joy. "It took years… and a lot of those monsters and even humans I had sent here… but I did it!" his daughter looks at him, completely frightened. "This… this can rearrange your genetic code, it can activate and deactivate codons and can help restore lost appendages, nervous tissues…" he then glances at Ford's hands, noting the extra finger on each hand. "It can even remove extra appendages."
"How many people, humans and monsters, did you kill for this, Dad!?" Layla cries. "You said to me you weren't going to that anymore when I was a kid… but you did anyway! I bet Mom left because of you not me! But why wouldn't she take me with her!? Why-?!" she then gasps and puts her left hand to her mouth. "YOU KILLED HER DIDN'T YOU!? YOU BASTARD!"
Dr. Bartek rolls his eyes, annoyed at the accusation. "So what if I did…? The anomaly runs on her side of the family, she was perfect genetic subject to see if I can help you. Layla, don't you see? I did this all for you, sweetheart!" His statement seemed a little forced at the end…
"You killed my mother!" Layla sobs. "You lied to me saying she hated me because of my hand, that I wasn't normal!" she then grabs Ford's gun out of his hands, him making a grunt in surprise. "It wasn't for me you did this for… who made you?! Was it Bill!? Was it part of your deal, you had to do this by a certain point or you'll die or something!? Were you doing this all to save your own ass!?" she points the gun to her father's face. "Tell me the truth. NOW!"
A deranged cackle escapes her father's mouth. "My dear, dear, Layla Amelia… you want the truth…? Maybe I didn't like your anomaly… I blamed Gravity Falls for years with its weirdness factor, and your mother was born there, so of course the oddities and anomalies was bred into her DNA… But Bill Cipher… he opened my eyes… to cure anything! Cancer could disappear, AIDS, bodily defects… people can become gods… the more I experimented, the more I felt like God! But why should I bless people with my research all willy nilly?! Bill Cipher had a plan… and he still does…
"He's right on how humans are pathetic sacks of flesh! HE WILL CLEANSE OUR WORLD AND MAKE IT BETTER! All I need to do to secure my future is hand you two in…!" he concludes as he presses a button that was on top of the vial's cap. The room then began glowing a red, a loud siren blaring. "Now you two freaks can die for all I care!" he then cackles an insane laugh, his body arching backwards in amusement.
Layla pulls the trigger and a blue plasma of energy goes through the insane man's head. The hole took out his eyes and nose, destroying part of the skull, metal and brains oozing over the edge of the wound. Dr. Bartek collapses onto his knees and falls to the side, his blood and brains spilling out.
The gun in Layla's hand shook and she drops it, it making a thud on the ground. Her breathing becomes ragged and tears were spilling over her eyes. She then collapses onto her knees, putting her hand on the red light tinted floor, her body shaking with sobs.
Layla Bartek had killed her own father, a man who flat out told her he never cared for her truly and saw her as more of an experiment from the start.
"Layla…" Ford whispers to her. "We need to go… we can't have Cipher catch us…"
She then stands up with a firm nod and she let him take her hand to drag her out of the house. As the two drove away from the building, Ford uses the mirrors to see that the building were giant warehouses, all part of Bartek's illusion. It was nothing but a giant trap.
Ford feels Layla tighten her arms around him, hearing her sob gently into his back. His heart ached for her, she didn't deserve what just happened…
And another reason to stop Bill Cipher, so he doesn't do this to another person again, to manipulate to rip apart a family just to get what he wanted.
A/N: We found out a little bit what happened between Magum and Layla! And holy crap, Dr. Bartek... wow, I wrote him a little evilly...
Thank you for reading as always everyone!
~Skye Hendersen~
