Chapter 30: A World So Cold
Never in his life have he ever felt so cold.
His body was numb, an icy feeling trickling through his veins. He could barely breathe, his breaths small and infrequent. His brain was still processing on what had happened… why did it happen? Was there a different solution? Still as a statue, he gazed at the broken body before him, feeling the back of his neck sting as the acidity of the rain fell onto his skin. There were no words, there were no tears… Just a dead numbness.
Then finally, Ford just started screaming.
His scream turned into a cry, his voice distorted with grief and sorrow. He collapses to his knees, the puddles of the acid rain dissolving through the pants, burning his leg in the process. There was nothing he could do as slowly Layla's body started dissolving away, the acid eating through her skin. It stripped her skin and muscle, then finally through her bones. It must've been hours that Ford had been there before her body was finally gone.
How did it happen…? Everything almost seemed too fast for his brain to process. One moment he was hearing her voice, and the next she was simply gone. Why did it happen? What did Magum want to prove? That he was stronger than Ford? To prove that he was much more dangerous than Bill Cipher? Or was this in a way a punishment from Ford's past mistakes in life?
The same questions buzzed in Ford's mind. How and Why?
Numbly, Ford stands up, his body shaking violently. He felt as if he was going to be sick, his chest ached painfully to the point where a simple thought of some sort of cardiac arrest came to mind. He takes one final look to where Layla had fallen, though there was no longer a body, and he hangs his head low as he stumbled away.
Ford drags his feet, barely wanting to lift them. It felt like there was no point anymore, no hand to grab his as he was led to some sort of misadventure. There was no warmth against him, all he felt was an icy chill in his veins. There no humming, there was no gentle sway of long black hair.
But nothing was there.
Just like when he had tried to grab for her hand…
He felt his vision go blurry, something hot staining his face. Silent tears were falling free as his hand slid toward his holster on his left side. All six fingers wrapped around the handle on interdimensional gun and he pulls it out, the gun feeling extremely heavy in his hand. Slowly, he raised it to his left temple, his finger shaking at the trigger, threatening to pull it.
I need you to get away.
Ford's hand stops shaking, the gun slipping from it and crashing to the ground. Motionless he stood there, letting the acid rain burn him on his exposed skin. He felt his eyes widen as more tears fell. He couldn't do that to himself… not when she had given up her life for him.
"I wasn't worth it…" he whispered to no one in particular.
Ford was about to make a deal with another demonic entity, one who was potentially more powerful and much more evil than Bill Cipher, to protect Layla. Although it wasn't a true guarantee that she wouldn't be harmed, it meant that she would be alive.
"How is it that I feel so empty…?" he once again whispers to no one in particular. "I have been alone for many years of my life… I shouldn't feel like this…"
But he did, all because he once again trusted someone. He trusted Layla with all his heart and gave all his love too. If hadn't let her in, maybe she would be alive and he would've died a long time ago. He let her in, broke his shell, and he fell in love with her.
Promise me you'll wake up.
I will…
His heart caught in his throat. She will never wake up again.
I need you to get away.
"Get away…" he softly says to himself. He lowers his left hand and balls it into a fist. With a swift motion he picks up his gun and slides it back into his holster. He raises the hood of his coat up and began walking back to the warehouse where he and Layla had stayed before. Their supplies were still there, and he quickly packs up his items.
A soft fabric brushes against his hand. He looks down, seeing the scarf that Layla had worn next to where she had slept. His hand reached to the spot where she had been sleeping before, the bedding cold to the touch, it no longer even holding the slightest of her body heat. Once again his heart caught in his throat as he grabbed the scarf, him already smelling her scent on it.
I love you.
Ford's eyes fluttered, him releasing a yawn. He never got to sleep from before. Without even thinking about it, he curls up onto the bedding that Layla had used, her scent somewhat calming him. He could almost hear her cling bottles together as she slowly got drunk, or her humming, or even her singing.
That song she had sang before…
"A star that shines as clear as day, made me wish I can go out and play, but remember the night holds a strange magic air, and this warning to you is to be fair." Ford began to sing, although very hoarsely as more tears fell.
"In the shadows there are people who are not what they seem, they'll want to take you down the deathly black water stream, don't take their hand within yours, or forever you'll be put behind the deathly doors.
"A star that shines as clear as day, oh how it made me wish to go out and play, so I took the hand of a shadow that called and beckoned me, and now I feel my soul become free."
His eyes closed as he drowsily broke off the song, exhaustion taking over him.
"Well, well, well! If it isn't my good ol' pal, Stanford Pines!"
The first thing that caught Ford's attention was Bill's shrill cackle. Ford whips his head around a wheat covered landscape, him seeing an old wrecked boat in the distance along with a swings set on a beach.
"Show yourself you damn demon!" Ford bellowed angrily. "I don't have time to play your stupid sadistic games, Cipher!"
The triangle appeared, his size massive, taking almost the full field of wheat. His one eye in the center was looking straight through Ford, and if the demon had a mouth to smile, he would.
"Well, looks like Lover Boy here lost his little girlfriend!" Bill laughs, his body glowing with each word. A bottle of what looked to be like wine appears before him and so does two glasses. He pours the blood red liquid into the glasses and one was materialized to Ford.
Ford glanced at the glass, the wine looking suspiciously like blood. A mental flash passes through him as he saw Layla's blood pooled beneath her, the blood trickling from her mouth… He wanted to vomit. Ford knocks the glass away, the blood red drink staining the wheat below, the liquid forming what looked like a body…
"You son of a bitch!" Ford screams with fury, his face reddening as Bill just laughed at him.
"What?" Bill asked innocently, blinking his one eyes in mock bashfulness. Suddenly cheese appears next to Ford. "Would you like some cheese with that whine, Fordsy?" His shrill laugh echoes around as Ford stood there fuming.
"You had something to do with it… DIDN'T YOU!?" Ford accused, him looking as if he snapped his fingers flames would blaze. Even though this was his mindscape, his thoughts were not rational right now due to his grief.
Bill feigns idiocy, "Me, Stanford? Why, I never! Like I know what Magum does with his spare time… following him while he was tracking you and little Miss Bartek was all I was doing." He narrows his eyes towards Ford, the expression giving the illusion of a smile. "Or maybe I do know something…"
"CIPHER!"
Bill waves a finger at Ford, making the tsk sound at the brunette. "Like I will give away my secrets so easily… maybe you should just find me and beg for death."
Ford's eyes narrowed. Like hell he would give up his life now, not when Bill still threatened Earth and that Magum was still roaming.
Bill betrayed his trust and Magum killed the woman he loved.
"Mark my words, Bill," Ford began darkly as a notepad appeared in Bill's hands as he began writing. "I will find you, I will kill you, and I will kill Magum. You two are not getting to Earth… you both aren't going to hurt the people I care about anymore!"
The notepad disappears from Bill's hands. "Oh, I'd like to see that, Ford! Not unless I have my fun with you first! And remember… I can still enter dreams in the other dimension… I mean, I believe you have a permanent visitor at your house that I can whisper to…"
"S-Stanley…?" Ford gasped in shock. "YOU LEAVE HIM OUT OF THIS!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Ford. I barely have to do anything," Bill mused. "And besides… I see and know everything!" Images flash on his body, showing a bus and two small silhouettes to an image of something that resembled a snow globe. "I already have something planned, Ford… and I believe our little friend Magum has his own plans too…"
Ford narrows his eyes angry, clearly baffled. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN, YOU DEMON!?"
"O'LL VS AWDUPOJ YIC!" A sudden circle appears as Bill enters the center, emblems decorating the circle. Ford recognized it as Bill's zodiac wheel, the one he had seen in Gravity Falls and the one Rick had shown him. Each symbol was highlighted a brilliant white as it went around, getting faster and faster to the point where a bright flash of white filled the mindscape.
Ford jolts awake, his hand to his chest to calm his beating heart. Once it slowed he noticed that his hand was gripping tightly to Layla's scarf.
I will kill them both… they will not toy with me any longer.
A/N: Sorry this took so long and was short! I just started my college classes again this week!
Who now wants to decipher what Bill said? It's the same cipher used for the short story "The Mystery of Ford's Past" that Dipper was speaking in.
Thanks for reading as always!
~Skye Hendersen~
